● February 2025 "The Mountain Top Messenger" Newsletter
(please click on above link to open current newsletter)
Well, here we are February, first month of the promised monthly writing on the Ten Commandments.
And here I am backing off just a hair, let me explain. I am indeed planning on
covering the Ten Commandments this year and as I started preparing what I wanted to say
about the first commandment, I realized two things. First, there are eleven months remaining
in the year and second, I realized that I wanted to talk a little about the small catechism itself
as it will be the source of most of our facts on the doctrinal side of my writings. So other than
that I am about ready to begin, February looks like a normal month with Lent not starting until
March 9th, so we will have some stuff planned for then, but we can talk about that later. So
with that being said, let us begin.
First a little history, as you may already know, Dr. Martin Luther wrote his small catechism in
1529 with it first being published in May of that year. This is essentially the same catechism
that we use today. In our newest synodical rendition Luther's catechism goes from page 12 to page
40, and covers the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles Creed, The Sacrament of Baptism,
Confession, the Sacrament of the Altar, Daily Prayers, Table of Duties, and Christian
Questions with their answers. A lot of information jammed into 28 pages. The remaining 400 pages of the book
are the explanation, this is not Luther's work but has been created by
the Synod to help address and answer question that may arise fand
may not be covered by the small catechism itself. All of the answers
in the explanation are both Biblically and doctrinally sound and in the
newest version, copyright 2017, includes even more Biblically supportive references.
So the question might be raised; why do we need a catechism? A good question and I believe
Luther's response to that question would be fun to look at, I am not going to insert the
whole thing, but I believe this first part is the most direct and to the point, while hitting the nail
most soundly on the head. To preface his writing just a bit, Luther went on a tour of what
might be considered his district to check on the state of the churches there, here are his findings:
"The deplorable, miserable condition which I discovered lately when I, too, was a visitor, has
forced and urged me to prepare [publish] this Catechism, or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain,
simple form. Mercy! Good God! what manifold misery I beheld! The common people,
especially in the villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian doctrine, and, alas! many
pastors are altogether incapable and incompetent to teach [so much so, that one is ashamed
to speak of it]. Nevertheless, all maintain that they are Christians, have been baptized and
receive the [common] holy Sacraments. Yet they [do not understand and] cannot
[even] recite either the Lord's Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten Commandments; they live
like dumb brutes and irrational hogs; and yet, now that the Gospel has come, they have nicely
learned to abuse all liberty like experts." (Luther's Preface to the Small Catechism, Pg
363)
One of the things I find refreshing in Dr. Luther's writings is that he has a habit of not pulling
any punches and while I would image his congregations wouldn't particularly enjoy being
called dumb brutes and irrational hogs, sometimes, the truth hurts. And at this time in history,
the church was hurting, and a large part of that was through lack of knowledge. And as you
can see it was not only the laity but the clergy as well. At this same time Luther also wrote
his Large Catechism which was intended more for the clergy and lay leaders, and if you
have never read it I would indeed recommend it. It is very similar in style and layout as the
small catechism, however in much more detail.
One other thing we should note is Luther took several
steps to help with the instruction of the small catechism.
In his original catechism he included wood
block prints on each of the subjects, these were designed
to help those who could not read, follow along,
and understand what was being taught. He also put
the responsibility of teaching the catechism on the
head of the household. It wasn't the pastor or priest
who was to do the teach, but the head of the household,
in most cases the husband/father in the house.
At that time it was the pastor who was to be the examiner.
As we go forward, starting next month with our First
Commandment I hope this background information
was helpful to you. I have small printed files of just the
original catechism available at no cost and if you
would like a copy of the newest printed catechism
book, we can get those for you and I believe they run
about $10-15 a copy, if you don't have one, and by the
way, there is nothing wrong with the older versions, such as the blue one or the maroon one,
they still contain a lot of good information. If you would ever like to discuss any of the items
you may run across in there please feel free to see me anytime.
Next month, the First Commandment: Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods.
The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious
to you, the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.
Pastor Rick
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