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Page 21
Thus we might go on quoting page after page of words of
admiration and praise, from the greatest minds in our and other
Churches, of the contents and arrangement of this little book. Neither
can we charge these writers with extravagance in their utterances. For
the more we examine and study the pages of this little book, the more
we are convinced that it is unique and most admirable in its matter
and plan.
Let each one look for a moment at himself, and then from himself
into this little book.
I come into this world ignorant, yet full of presentiments and
questions. I learn my first vague lesson about myself and God. I
naturally ask: For what purpose has God put me here? What does He wish
me to do? The Catechism answers: To do His will, to keep His
commandments. Here they are, and this is what they mean. I study them,
and the more I study them, the more am I convinced that I never did
and never can perfectly keep this law.
I ask again: What shall I do? My Catechism tells me I must have
faith. I must believe. But what shall I believe? Answer: This summary
of truth called the Apostles' Creed. It tells me of my Creator--His
work and providence, and His gift of a Redeemer. It tells me of that
Redeemer and His redemption; of the gift of the Spirit, and His
application of redemption. It not only tells me what to believe, but
in the very telling it offers me help to believe.
But I am still weak and more or less perplexed. Whither shall I
go for more strength and Grace? My Catechism furnishes the answer: Go
to the great Triune God. Ask Him in prayer. Here is a model. It will
teach you how to pray.
I learn what it is to pray. But again I ask: How do I know that
God will hear my prayer? Is He interested in me personally? Has He any
other means besides His written Word to assure me of His love and to
give me, in answer to my prayers, more strength to believe Him and
love Him?
My Catechism points me to my baptism. It teaches me what it
means, and how that in it I have God's own pledge that He is my
Father, and that I am His child. Here then is a fountain to which I
can return again and again when weak and perplexed.
Further, my Catechism teaches me concerning my Saviour's last
legacy of love before His death for me, His Holy Supper. In it He
holds out to me and gives to me, personally and individually, Himself
and all His heavenly Grace.
Thus does this little Catechism meet me in my perplexity, take me
by the hand, and lead me through the labyrinth of the wonders of
Grace. Thus does it tell me what I am, what I need, and where and how
to get what I need. It takes me to the wells of salvation. It draws
from them living water. It holds it to my parched lips. It gathers the
precious manna of the Word, and feeds me when I am faint and weary.
Such is Luther's Small Catechism. Is it any wonder that we love
it? Is it any wonder that we count the study of it a part of the Way
of Salvation in the Lutheran Church?
We have something yet to say on the manner of teaching it and the
results of faithful teaching and learning.
CHAPTER XI.
MANNER AND OBJECT OF TEACHING LUTHER'S CATECHISM
We have spoken of the importance of catechisation. We have seen
that Luther's Small Catechism is indeed a priceless Bible manual. It
sets before us, in matchless order, God's plan of salvation. It is so
full and yet so brief, so doctrinal and yet so warm and hearty. "The
only Catechism," says Dr. Loehe, "that can be prayed." "It may be
bought for sixpence," says Dr. Jonas, "but six thousand worlds could
not pay for it."
No wonder that no book outside of the Bible has been translated
into so many languages, or circulated so widely. Thirty-seven years
after its publication one hundred thousand copies were in circulation.
The first book translated into any of the dialects of the American
Indian, it was from its pages that the red man read his first lessons
concerning the true God, and his own relations to that God. At the
present day it is taught in ten different languages in our own land.
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