550 THE GERMAN REFORMATION. A.D. 1517 To 1530.
§ 89. Luther's Catechisms. 1529.
I. Critical editions of Luther’s Catechisms in his Works, Erl. ed., vol. X XI. (contains the two catechisms and some other catechetical writings); by MONCKEBERG (Hamburg, 1851, second ed. 1868); SCHNEIDER (Berlin, 1853, a reprint of the standard ed. of 1531 with a critical introduction); THEODOS. HARNACK (Stuttgart, 1856; a reprint of two editions of 1529 and 1539, and a table of the chief textual variations till 1842); ΖΕ2Ζ- SCHWITZ (Leipz. 1881); CALINICH (Leipz. 1882). See titles in SCHAFF: Creeds of Christendom, I. 245. The Catechisms are also printed in the editions of the Symbolical Books of the Lutheran Church, and the Little (or Small) Catechism, with English translation, in ScHarr’s Creeds, etc., vol. III. 74-92. The text in the Book of Concord is unreliable, and should be compared with the works mentioned.
II. Discussions on the history and merits of Luther’s Catech., by KOcHER, AUGUSTI, VEESENMEYER, ZEZSCHWITZ, and others, quoted by SCHAFF, I. c. 245. Add Kostuin: M. L., Bk. VI. ch. IV. (II. 50-65).
The Catechisms of Luther are the richest fruit of the Saxon church visitations. Intended as a remedy for the evils of ignorance and irreligion, they have become symbolical standards of doctrine and duty, and permanent institutions in the Lutheran Church. The Little Catechism, which is his best, bears the stamp of his religious genius, and is, next to his translation of the Bible, his most useful and enduring work by which he continues a living teacher in catechetical classes and Sunday schools as far as the Lutheran confession extends. He here adapts the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to the capacity of children, and becomes himself a child with children, a learner with the teacher, as he said, “1 am a doctor and a preacher, yet I am like a child who is taught the Catechism, and I read and recite word by word in the morning the Ten Commandments, the Articles of the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, and cheerfully remain a child and pupil of the Catechism.” A great little book, with as many thoughts as words, and every word sticking to the heart as well as the memory. It is strong food for men, and milk for babes. It appeals directly to the heart, and can be turned into prayer. In the language of the great historian Leopold
§ 890. LUTHER’S CATECHISMS. 1529. 551
von Ranke, “it is as childlike as it is profound, as comprehensible as it is unfathomable, simple and sublime. Happy he whose soul was fed by it, who clings to it! He possesses an imperishable comfort in every moment; under a thin shell, a kernel of truth sufficient for the wisest of the wise.” ! Catechetical instruction was (after the model of the Jewish synagogue) a regular institution of the Christian church from the beginning, as a preparation formembership. In the case of adult converts, it preceded baptism; in the case of baptized infants, it followed baptism, and culminated in the confirmation and the first communion. The oldest theological school, where Clement and the great Origen taught, grew out of the practical necessity of catechetical teaching. The chief things taught were the Creed (the Nicene in the Greek, the Apostles’ in the Latin Church) or what to believe, the Lord’s Prayer (Pater Noster) or how to pray, and the Ten Commandments or how to live. To these were added sometimes special chapters on the sacraments, the Athanasian Creed, the Ze Deum, the Gloria in excelsis, the Ave Maria, Scripture verses, and lists of sins and virtues. Cyril’s Catechetical Lectures were a standard work in the Greek Church. Augustin wrote, at the request of a deacon, a famous book on catechising (De catechizandis rudibus), and a brief exposition of the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer (Enchiridion), which were intended for teachers, and show what was deemed necessary in the fifth century for the instruction of Christians. In the middle ages the monks Kero (720) and Notker (912), both of St. Gall, Otfrid of Weissenburg (870), and others prepared catechetical manuals or primers of the simplest kind. Otfrid’s Catechism contains (1) the Lord’s Prayer with an explanation; (2) the deadly sins; (8) the Apostles’ Creed; (4) the Athanasian Creed; (5) the Gloria. The
1 To this and other testimonies, may be added that of KG6stlin, II. 68: “Der Kleine Katechismus steht in erster Reihe unter den Schriften des Reformators.”’