The Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, 1529

The Annotated Luther

Martin Luther, Kirsi I. Stjerna

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781506413556
• eBook ISBN: 9781506413563
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

With great detail, Kirsi I. Stjerna introduces and annotates Luther's Large Catechism, which the reformer offered as a radical reorientation in the matters of theology and spirituality. After diagnosing what appeared to him as his church's failures to provide proper spiritual care, Luther set out to offer a new compass for religious life. The sweeping reforms he proposed took root primarily through preaching and education as people embraced the new vision and transmitted it to their children. He believed all Christian people—laity and clergy—needed a guide to comprehend the basic biblical, creedal, and sacramental teachings. The order with which Luther proceeds in the Large Catechism is deliberate, with a distinct theological rationale; the Commandments express God's expectations; the Creed proclaims God's promise; the Lord's Prayer translates law and gospel into a personal discourse with God; and the sacraments offer tangible expressions of God's grace and signs to lean on in faith.

Image Credits

278: Courtesy of the Rare Books Collection of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

288, 301, 305, 327, 331, 336, 359, 389: Courtesy of the Richard C. Kessler Reformation Collection, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.

309, 403: The Granger Collection / New York.

318: Courtesy of the Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.

The Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther 1529 (Kirsi I. Stjerna)

a.Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, in the Book of Concord, ed. Timothy Wengert and Robert Kolb (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), [introduction, 377–79,] 379–480. Der Große Katechismus, in Die Bekenntnisschriften der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche, 6. Auslage (Göttingen: Vanderhoeck & Ruprecht, 1967). See the new critical edition with parallel texts of the Early Modern High German and Latin, Die Bekenntnisschriften der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (Vollständige Neuedition), ed. Irene Dingel (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014); and Die Bekenntnisschriften der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche: Quellen und Materialien (Vollständige Neuedition), ed. Irene Dingel (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014).

b.For interpretation of Luther’s catechisms in English, see Timothy Wengert, Martin Luther’s Catechisms: Forming the Faith (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009); Charles P. Arand, That I May Be His Own: An Overview of Luther’s Catechisms (St. Louis: Concordia, 2000); Robert Kolb, Teaching God’s Children His Teaching: A Guide for the Study of Luther’s Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 2012). The most comprehensive study is in the five volumes of Albrecht Peters, Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms (Ten Commandments, Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Baptism and Lord’s Supper, Confession and Christian Life), trans. Thomas H. Trapp et al. (St. Louis: Concordia, 2009–2013).

c.See the Small Catechism, in TAL, vol. 4, forthcoming.

d.Decem praecepta Wittenbergensi praedicata populo (WA 1:394–521).

e.E.g., An Exposition of the Lord’s Prayer for Simple Laymen (1519) (LW 42:15–81). Luther’s A Personal Prayer Book (1522) included his 1519 preaching material on the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer (LW 43:5–45). See also TAL, vol. 4, forthcoming.

f.WA 30/1:2–122. The English translation of the third series is included in LW 51:135–93.

g.BC, 347.

h.For the basis of the translation see the final section of the introduction, p. 288.

i.The German Frecklinge und Bauchdiener were pejorative terms, relating to Rom. 16:18, for gluttony.

j.Luther’s Personal Prayer Book, Betbüchlein, from 1522, was an enhanced version of his Brief Explanation of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer (the Kurze/shorter form). See LW 43:3–45 and TAL, vol. 4, forthcoming.

k.Pfarrkinder (“parishioners”) in its literal translation is “parish children.”

l.A proverbial expression, “They have split their shoes.”

m.The words Gedenken (Ger.) and meditatio (Lat.) can be translated in different ways: the word meditation, used in the LW translation, associates with a specific prayer technique, whereas Luther’s emphasis here is more generally on intentional reading and use of the words.

n.Andacht (Ger.), a term used for an attitude of devotion and reverence, but also for a prayer event; e.g., evening devotion.

o.Even if Luther typically addresses the devil in personal terms, his masculine pronoun er (Ger.), “he” in English, is translated here and throughout as “it.”

p.“To cause damage to someone by means of arson,” a typical expression with Luther.

q.Eph. 6:11, 16.

r.Gott selbs (Ger.) and ipse Deus (Lat.) are translated as “even God” here and following.

s.A proverbial expression.

t.See n. 45 above, p. 292.

u.This was the original brief preface of 1529, based on a sermon from 18 May 1528.

v.This wording about the five parts does not agree with the text in Luther’s Small Catechism and Large Catechism, or his translation of the Bible.

w.Literally, neben mir (Ger.), “next to me,” or coram me (Lat.), “in front of me.”

x.Den Feiertag heiligen (Ger.), “day of celebration”; sabbati sanctifices (Lat.). The words used here imply “keeping holy,” “sanctifying,” or “hallowing.”

y.The words ehebrechen (Ger.) and moechabers (Lat.) mean “to break a marriage.”

z.The words for “covet” are the common synonyms for “desire” (Ger.: begehren; Lat.: concupiscere).

1.The 1530 Augsburg Confession, the first public Lutheran confession in twenty-eight articles, was presented at the long-awaited imperial Diet at Augsburg by Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560), Luther’s closest colleague at Wittenberg. Melanchthon crafted the text on the basis of previous working documents prepared by a group of Wittenberg theologians, including Luther. The confession was presented in German (verbally) and Latin to Emperor Charles V, who immediately rejected it with Catholic theologians’ Confutatio. Melanchthon’s Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531) is also included in the 1580 Book of Concord. See BC, 107–9. Also, Charles P. Arand, Robert Kolb, and James A. Nestingen, The Lutheran Confessions: History and Theolog y of the Book of Concord (Minneapolis: Fortress P...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Publisher's Note
• Series Introduction
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• The Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, 1529
• Image Credits