Catechism – What Does This Mean?

Child and Pupil of the Catechism

Encore Post: The cornerstone of Lutheran doctrine is Luther’s Small Catechism. In it, the reformer summarized the teachings of Holy Scripture in simple terms, designed to help fathers and pastors teach their children. So successful was this work and its companion, the Large Catechism, that it became the foundation of instruction in the faith for all Christians. For the last few years, What Does this Mean? has run this series just before each Lent and into the Easter season. We’re getting a head start on it this year.

[First is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism.]

Martin Luther was troubled. On a formal visit to the churches in Saxony, he discovered that Christian education in the faith was almost non-existent. Even the pastors could not recall the Lord’s Prayer or the Creed. For this reason, he wrote his Large Catechism and Small Catechism. A catechism is a book that explains the basic truths of the Scripture, typically by asking and answering questions. In the preface to his Large Catechism, Luther answered the common objections to memorizing and meditating on the catechism in this way:

“I am also a doctor and preacher … yet I do as a child who is being taught the Catechism, and ever morning, and whenever I have time, I read and say, word for word, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, etc. And I must still read and study daily, and yet I cannot master it as I wish, but must remain a child and pupil of the Catechism, and am glad so to remain.” — Martin Luther, Large Catechism, Preface 7

If an athlete hopes to compete at the highest level and perform at the top of his game, he needs to work out daily. Most of his routines are basic skills performed over and over again. It is not that he has forgotten them or never learned them, but that they must be second nature to him and done in perfect form. Only then can he execute the most complicated of his moves well. The same thing is true for a musician. She will run through scales and warm-up exercises to ensure she can produce the notes perfectly when she attempts the most beautiful and complex pieces.

For Luther and for us, daily meditation on the catechism works the same way. As we review the basics of the faith, we can better understand what God wants us to believe and how he wants us to live. Building on these things helps us face whatever challenges come our way each day and enjoy the blessings he gives us.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Absolution: A Sacrament?

We Lutherans have two ways to speak about Absolution. In some instances Absolution is spoken of as a Sacrament, and in other places, it is not. It might be a good time to remind ourselves how the Evangelical Lutheran Church defines a Sacrament. How we define the term Sacrament makes all the difference.

Luther in his Large Catechism follows in line with Augustine when he defines what a sacrament is. “The Word is added to the element, and it becomes a sacrament.” We should also state Luther looked at the Sacraments as vehicles by which the Lord Jesus Christ gives forgiveness of sins. Hence, why Luther spends much more time speaking about the Word that is added to the physical element than the elements themselves. In the Sacrament of Baptism for instance, the element is water, but Luther asks the question, “How can water do such things?” The answer Luther gives speaks specifically about the Word being added to it. He asks a similar question when dealing with the Sacrament of the Altar where there are two physical elements, bread and wine. He asks about the eating and drinking. Luther answers similarly. It’s the Words that make the elements into a Sacrament for the forgiveness of our sins.

Absolution does not have a physical element. It merely is the Word of Christ of forgiveness. There is nothing to which the Word of Christ is added. By Augustine’s definition Absolution is not a Sacrament.

But Luther’s use of Augustine’s definition is not the only definition for “Sacrament” that finds its way in to the Book of Concord. Melanchthon gives another definition when speaking about them, by which we can understand Absolution to be a Sacrament. Even Luther himself in his Large Catechism, speaks of Absolution as the third Sacrament. Melanchthon gives this definition for Sacrament: “Rites which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added.” For Melanchthon’s definition there is no physical element for the Word to adhere itself. And later Melanchthon plainly says that Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution are Sacraments.

So which is it? Is Absolution the third Sacrament? The answer all depends on the definition which we use when speaking about the term Sacrament. Ultimately though, it does not matter what we call Absolution. It is Christ’s gift of forgiveness of our sins, spoken to us by Christ’s under-shepherd, speaking in the stead and command of Christ.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

What is it?

When Martin Luther visited the churches of Saxony, he discovered that everyday people knew very little about the Christian faith. To help pastors and parents learn the basic truths of the Christian faith, he wrote a little book called The Small Catechism.

A catechism is a book which uses questions and answers to teach people about the faith. One of the most common questions Luther asked in his catechism is: “was ist das?” which means “what is it?” or “what does this mean?”

This blog is named for this question. My goal is to share the Christian faith in an organized way. I hope to provide for you a way to remember the details of what Christians believe, to make sense of more formal writings in Christian theology and understand how such teachings relate to each other. In scholarly language, this is called systematic theology.

In order to be straight with you, let me tell you a little bit of my background. I am a Confessional Lutheran clergyman, a member of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. I serve as the Electronic Resources Librarian at Concordia Theological Seminary, a graduate school of theology. We prepare pastors and deaconesses for service in the church and provide advanced education for missionaries and leaders of the church. Before coming to serve here, I served as a pastor for two small town Indiana Lutheran churches. I also served as the Archivist and Historian of the Missouri Synod’s Indiana District. I occasionally write for The Lutheran Witness magazine and other periodicals. I use my Facebook profile (https://www.facebook.com/cosmithb) as a way to be a reference librarian in the 21st Century, sharing resources my Facebook friends find useful.

Expect that my assumptions, viewpoint and leanings will come from that background. While my comments here will be faithful to the Bible, Lutheranism’s confessions as contained in the Book of Concord, and the doctrinal statements of my church body, this blog is not an official statement of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod or my seminary. These words are solely mine.

Comments are always welcome here or by email at cosmithb@gmail.com.