96. Luther's Catechetical Publications.
Luther not only stirred up others to bring the Catechism back into use, but himself put his powerful shoulder to the wheel. From the very beginning he was, time and again, occupied with reading the text of the Catechism to the people, and then explaining it in sermons. From the end of June, 1516, to Easter, 1517, he preached on the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. (W. 1, 394; 2, 74; 9, 122.) In 1518 the explanation of the Ten Commandments appeared in print: "Decem Praecepta Wittenbergensi Praedicata Populo. The Ten Commandments Preached to the People of Wittenberg." (1, 398. 521.) Oecolampadius praised the work, saying that Luther had here "taken the veil from the face of Moses." Sebastian Muenster said: Luther explains the Ten Commandments "in such a spiritual, Christian, and Evangelical way, that its like cannot be found, though many teachers have written on the subject." (1, 394.) Agricola published Luther's sermons on the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of 1518 with some additions of his own, which fact induced Luther to publish them himself. April 5, 1519, his Explanation of the Lord's Prayer in German appeared in print. It was intended for the plain people, "not for the learned." (2, 81 to 130.) July 2, 1519, the Humanist Beatus Rhenanus wrote to Zwingli that he would like to see this explanation of the Lord's Prayer offered for sale throughout all Switzerland, in all cities, markets, villages, and houses. Mathesius reports: "At Venice Doctor Martin's Lord's Prayer was translated into Italian, his name being omitted. And when the man saw it from whom the permission to print it was obtained, he exclaimed: Blessed are the hands that wrote this, blessed the eyes that see it, and blessed will be the hearts that believe this book and cry to God in such a manner." (W. 2, 75.) This work passed through many editions. In 1520 it appeared in Latin and Bohemian, and as late as 1844 in English. March 13, 1519, Luther wrote to Spalatin: "I am not able to turn the Lord's Prayer [Explanation of the Lord's Prayer in German of 1518] into Latin, being busy with so many works. Every day at evening I pronounce the commandments and the Lord's Prayer for the children and the unlearned, then I preach." (Enders 1, 449.) Thus Luther preached the Catechism, and at the same time was engaged in publishing it.
The Brief Instruction How to Confess, printed 1519, was also essentially an explanation of the Ten Commandments. It is an extract from Luther's Latin work, Instructio pro Confessione Peccatorum, published by Spalatin. Luther recast this work and published it in March, 1520, entitled: Confitendi Ratio. (W. 2, 59. 65.) As a late fruit of his Explanation of the Lord's Prayer in German there appeared, in 1519, the Brief Form for Understanding and Praying the Lord's Prayer which explains it in prayers. (6, 11-19.) In 1519 there appeared also his Short and Good Explanation Before Oneself and Behind Oneself ("vor sich und hinter sich") a concise explanation how the seven petitions must be understood before oneself ("vor sich"), i.e., being ever referred to God, while many, thinking only of themselves, put and understand them behind themselves ("hinter sich"). (6, 21. 22.) June, 1520, it was followed by the Brief Form of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, a combination of the revised Brief Explanation of the Ten Commandments, of 1518, and the Brief Form for Understanding the Lord's Prayer, of 1519, with a newly written explanation of the Creed. With few changes Luther embodied it in his Prayer-Booklet, which appeared for the first time in 1522. Here he calls it a "simple Christian form and mirror to know one's sins, and to pray." The best evidence of the enthusiastic reception of the Prayer-Booklet are the early editions which followed hard upon each other, and the numerous reprints during the first years. (10, 2, 350-409.) In 1525 Luther's sermons on Baptism, Confession, and the Lord's Supper were also received into the Prayer-Booklet, and in 1529 the entire Small Catechism.
After his return from the Wartburg, Luther resumed his Catechism labors with increased energy. March 27 Albert Burer wrote to Beatus Rhenanus: "Luther intends to nourish the weak, whom Carlstadt and Gabriel aroused by their vehement preaching, with milk alone until they grow strong. He daily preaches the Ten Commandments." At Wittenberg special attention was given to the instruction of the young, and regular Catechism-sermons were instituted. In the spring of 1521 Agricola was appointed catechist of the City Church, to instruct the young in religion. Lent 1522 and 1523, Luther also delivered Catechism-sermons, Latin copies of which have been preserved. In the same year Bugenhagen was appointed City Pastor, part of his duties being to deliver sermons on the Catechism, some of which have also been preserved.
Maundy Thursday, 1523, Luther announced that instead of the Romish confession, abolished during the Wittenberg disturbances, communicants were to announce for communion to the pastor and submit to an examination in the Catechism. As appears from Luther's Formula Missae of this year, the pastor was to convince himself whether they were able to recite and explain the words of institution by questioning them on what the Lord's Supper is, what it profits, and for what purpose they desired to partake of it. (12, 215. 479.) To enable the people to prepare for such examination, Luther (or Bugenhagen, at the instance of Luther) published a few short questions on the Lord's Supper, culled from one of Luther's sermons. This examination became a permanent institution at Wittenberg. In a sermon on the Sacrament of 1526, Luther says: "Confession, though it serve no other purpose, is a suitable means of instructing the people and of ascertaining what they believe, how they learn to pray, etc., for else they live like brutes. Therefore I have said that the Sacrament shall be given to no one except he be able to give an account of what he receives [in the Sacrament] and why he is going. This can best be done in confession." (19, 520.)
Furthermore, on Sundays, after the sermon, the Catechism was read to the people, a custom which likewise became a fixture in Wittenberg. According to a small pamphlet of 1526, entitled, "What Shall be Read to the Common People after the Sermon?" it was the text of the five chief parts that was read. (Herz., R. 10, 132.) These parts came into the hands of the people by means of the Booklet for Laymen and Children, of 1525, written probably by Bugenhagen. He also reorganized the Wittenberg school which the fanatics had dissolved; and, self-evidently, there, too, Catechism instruction was not lacking. In a similar way religious instruction of the young was begun at other places, as appears, for example, from the Opinions on Reformation by Nicolaus Hausmann (Zwickau), of 1523 and 1525. Melanchthon's Instructions for Visitors (Articuli de quibus egerunt per visitatores), drawn up in 1527, and used in the visitation of 1528 and 1529 as the guide by which pastors were examined, and pointing out what they should be charged to do, provide, above all, for Catechism-preaching on every Sunday, and give instructions for such sermons. (C. R. 26, 9. 48.)
Thus Luther's strenuous efforts at establishing the Catechism were crowned with success. In the Apology of 1530 Melanchthon declares triumphantly: "Among the opponents there is no Catechism, although the canons require it. Among us the canons are observed, for pastors and ministers instruct the children and the young in God's Word, publicly and privately." (526, 41.)
97. Immediate Forerunners of Luther's Catechisms.
Luther's entire pastoral activity was essentially of a catechetical nature and naturally issued in his two Catechisms, which, more than any other of his books, are the result of his labor in the congregation. Three writings, however, must be regarded as their direct precursors, viz., the Short Form of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, of 1520, the Booklet for Laymen and Children, of 1525, and the three series of Catechism-sermons of 1528, delivered in Bugenhagen's absence. True, they are not yet real catechisms, but they paved the way for them. The Short Form is a summary and explanation of the three traditional chief parts. In the preface to this work, Luther expresses himself for the first time on the value and the coherence of these parts, which he considered to be the real kernel of the Catechism. In the Short Form he also abandoned the traditional division of the Creed into twelve parts, choosing, instead, the threefold division of the later Small Catechism. In 1522 he embodied the Short Form into his Prayer-Booklet, in consequence of which it was given extended circulation. It has been called Luther's first catechism, and Luther himself regarded it so for in his German Order of Worship he recommends its use for catechetical instruction. In it are summed up Luther's catechetical efforts since 1516.
The Booklet for Laymen and Children appeared at Wittenberg in 1525, at first in Low German (Ein Boekeschen vor de leyen unde Kinder), but done into High German in the same year. Though Bugenhagen is probably its author, no doubt, the book was written at the suggestion and under the influence of Luther, parts of whose earlier explanations it contains, and who also since 1526, made use of it in his public services. Besides the three traditional parts, it offered for the first time also those on Baptism (without the baptismal command) and on the Lord's Supper. The wording of the text was practically the same as that of Luther's Enchiridion. Several prayers, later found in Luther's Enchiridion, were also added. Hence the Booklet for Laymen and Children is properly considered a forerunner of Luther's Catechisms.