Luther's Small Catechism

Der Kleine Katechismus
	Title page of Luther's Small Catechism (1536, originally published in 1529)
Original title	Der Kleine Catechismus
Language	German
Publication date	1529

Luther's Small Catechism (German: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, the Office of the Keys and Confession and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is included in the Book of Concord as an authoritative statement of what Lutherans believe. Martin Luther took it upon himself to solve the problem of regular household Christians not being able to truly understand the key points of Christianity. He wanted to create a simple and understandable book for the regular person to grow their knowledge in the religion [1]. It was made to help shape every Christian's life and develop their faith. Many Pastors in the early 1500s did not have the knowledge that the Small Catechism contains, which Luther saw as a problem because then many people could not hear these important aspects. He said, “Yet all the people are supposed to be Christians, have been baptized, and receive the Holy Sacrament even though they do not know the Our Father.”^[1] Martin Luther intended this book to simplify the values of Christianity for all. This book is still used today in many services.[2]

The Small Catechism is widely used today in Lutheran churches as part of youth education and Confirmation. It was mandatory for confirmands in the Church of Sweden until the 1960s.^[2] It has been translated into most European languages.

References

^ https://www.faithlutherancorning.org/the-small-catechism#:~:text=Luther%20wanted%20the%20Catechism%20to,prepare%20to%20receive%20Holy%20Communion.
^ "Lilla katekesen" (in Swedish). Church of Sweden. Retrieved 21 October 2017.

External links

Works related to Luther's Small Catechism at Wikisource
Media related to Luther's Small Catechism at Wikimedia Commons
Luther's Small Catechism (1921 Triglotta version)
Project Wittenberg version
Luther's version in German
The Small Catechism public domain audiobook at LibriVox

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[1] ttps://www.faithlutherancorning.org/the-small-catechism#:~:text=Luther%20wanted%20the%20Catechism%20to,prepare%20to%20receive%20Holy%20Communion.

[2] "Lilla katekesen" (in Swedish). Church of Sweden. Retrieved 21 October 2017.

[1]

[2]

v t e Lutheranism
Luther's Small Catechism	The Ten Commandments Apostle's Creed Lord's Prayer Sacrament of Holy Baptism Confession Sacrament of the Eucharist
Chief articles of faith in the Augsburg Confession	I. God II. Original Sin III. The Son of God IV. Justification By Faith V. The Office of Preaching VI. Of The New Obedience VII. Of The Church VIII. What the Church Is IX. Of Baptism X. Of the Lord's Supper XI. Of Confession XII. Of Repentance XIII. Of the Use of the Sacraments XIV. XV. Ecclesiastical Usages XVI. Of Civil Affairs XVII. Of Christ's Return to Judgment XVIII. Of Free Will XIX. Of the Cause of Sin XX. Of Good Works XXI. Of the Worship of the Saints
Practices	Divine Service Confirmation Common table prayer Sign of The Cross Matins Vespers Easter Vigil Liturgical Calendar Wreath of Christ
Movements	Gnesio-Lutherans Crypto-Calvinism Philippists Sacramentarians Ubiquitarians Lutheran orthodoxy Pietism Laestadianism Old Lutherans Neo-Lutheranism High Church Lutheranism Evangelical Catholicism Confessional Lutherans

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Germany Latvia Israel

See also

References

External links