The Large Catechism

Description

Published in 1529, Martin Luther’s Large Catechism includes a number of different texts written by Luther and offered to teachers and parents as aid they can rely on while teaching and instructing their children and to clergymen as help in educating their congregations.

The Large Catechism is organized in 5 parts: The Ten Commandments, The Apostle’s Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, Holy Baptism and The Sacrament of the Eucharist. The book was written by Luther with educational purposes in mind, therefore the language used in the book is straightforward and simple, often a little blunt. One of the features that makes the text truly remarkable is that it preaches the importance of living a godly life, rather than a worldly one, but it does so without urging the reader to leave the world in order to follow God.

This pragmatic approach towards salvation is what made Protestant Reformation, the religious and cultural movement initiated by Luther, so successful – Luther believed that salvation is possible for anyone who follows Jesus and it does not require any mediation by the church, a concept that attracted large masses and gave birth to one of the most important cultural and religious movements in the history of Western civilization.

The book is one of the most important documents of Protestantism, but it is also much more than that: a text of universal importance that provides guidance for today’s readers just as much as for the clergymen, congregations, educators and pupils of the 16th century. The book is short and it uses simple language, but it is also a very profound and spiritual reading that will help the reader acquire a deeper understanding of the message of the Scriptures and is, therefore, important not only for Lutherans, but for readers of any denomination and any age really.
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