Luther's Small Catechism, with Explanation

This book provides an overview of the teachings of the whole Bible, and follows the catechism of Dr. Martin Luther. You study the meanings of the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, The Lord's Prayer, the Lord's Supper, Baptism, and many more things. All of these topics are presented with Bible verses that show this is what the Bible teaches.

This Concordia publication has Luther's small catechism with 200 pages of scripture verses and explanations. This is an excellent study for anyone, young or old. I am in my forties and found this a great way to remind me of the clear truths of christianity. Luther's writings have a way of always bringing you back to the basics and the basics are always relevant to whatever you are going through in your life. It is only when you get away from clear doctrine that the gospel seems less than relevant to your daily life. The catechism is a great review of the truths of the christian faith.

"The deplorable, miserable conditions which I recently observed when visiting the parishes have constrained and pressed me to put this catechism of Christian doctrine into the brief, plain, and simple form. How pitiable, so help me God, were the things I saw: the common man, espcially in the villages, knows practically nothing of Christian doctrine, and many of the pastors are almost entirely imcompetent and unable to teach." Thus begins Martin Luther in his incomparable little guide to the Christian faith. The Small Catechism is simple enough to be understood by a child, yet challenging enough for the most mature Christian. In his book Luther outlines the basics of the Faith: The Ten Commandments, The Creed, The Lord's Prayer, The Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Confession (the Office of the Keys), and The Sacrament of the Altar. Luther also adds Daily Prayers, a Table of Duties, and Christian Questions with Their Answers. The addition featured above also contains more elaborate question and answers involving the six chief parts. Luther was at his finest as a theologian and a pastor when he penned the Small Catechism. Don't just read this book, it must be continually reviewed, memorized, and taken to heart.

The explanations and diagrams are helpful and first rate; no other catechism is as in depth with the explanations or has as many diagrams to illustrate theological points. Only the Lutheran Church of Australia's Small Catechism even comes close, with very distant second when it comes to useful diagrams. This Small Catechism with explanation is right up there in overall quality with the LCMS's and the ELS' (Evangelical Lutheran Synod) Small Catechism. Some of the explanations, however, decidedly support Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) positions. For example, any prayer, even grace before a meal, is taught as an "act of worship" and, thus, one should not pray with others with whom he is not in fellowship. This of course is one of the more "extreme" WELS positions being espoused. But then again, this is a WELS catechism! So a reader should be aware of the doctrinal positions being taught when using this catechism.Only two negatives, however, mar this fine production. First, this Catechism uses the NIV translation exclusively as its Bible text. The LCMS's catechism uses the NIV, but favors the NKJV where the NIV strayed from the original text. The ELS catechism uses the NKJV exclusively. Second, the translation of Luther's Small Catechism is a bit breezy and slightly paraphrastic. For this reason I must give this valiant effort 4 stars instead of 5.

This is the backbone of the Lutheran faith. It's comprehensive on every sigle subject within religion today. It is an excellent read for all Lutherans to better understand their faith and for non lutherans to grasp a look into this area of christianity.