Small Catechism

Luther's Little Instruction Book

(The Small Catechism of Martin Luther)

I. The Ten Commandments: The Simple Way a Father Should Present

Them to His Household

A. The First Commandment

You must not have other gods.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear, love, and trust God more than anything else.

B. The Second Commandment

You must not misuse your God's name.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will not use His name

to curse, swear, cast a spell, lie or deceive, but will use it to

call upon Him, pray to Him, praise Him and thank Him in all times

of trouble.

C. The Third Commandment

You must keep the Sabbath holy.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will not look down on

preaching or God's Word, but consider it holy, listen to it

willingly, and learn it.

D. The Fourth Commandment

You must honor your father and mother. [So that things will go

well for you and you will live long on earth].

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will neither look down

on our parents or superiors nor irritate them, but will honor

them, serve them, obey them, love them and value them.

E. The Fifth Commandment

You must not kill.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will neither harm nor

hurt our neighbor's body, but help him and care for him when he is

ill.

F. The Sixth Commandment

You must not commit adultery.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that our words and actions

will be clean and decent and so that everyone will love and honor

their spouses.

G. The Seventh Commandment

You must not steal.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will neither take our

neighbor's money or property, nor acquire it by fraud or by

selling him poorly made products, but will help him improve and

protect his property and career.

H. The Eighth Commandment

You must not tell lies about your neighbor.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will not deceive by

lying, betraying, slandering or ruining our neighbor's reputation,

but will defend him, say good things about him, and see the best

side of everything he does.

I. The Ninth Commandment

You must not desire your neighbor's house.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will not attempt to

trick our neighbor out of his inheritance or house, take it by

pretending to have a right to it, etc. but help him to keep &

improve it.

J. The Tenth Commandment

You must not desire your neighbor's wife, servant, maid, animals

or anything that belongs to him.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We must fear and love God, so that we will not release his

cattle, take his employees from him or seduce his wife, but urge

they to stay and do what they ought to do.

K. The Conclusion to the Commandments

Q. What does God say to us about all these commandments?

A. This is what He says:

``I am the Lord Your God. I am a jealous God. I plague the

grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who hate me with

their ancestor's sin. But I make whole those who love me for a

thousand generations.''

Q. What does it mean?

A. God threatens to punish everyone who breaks these commandments.

We should be afraid of His anger because of this and not violate

such commandments. But He promises grace and all good things to

those who keep such commandments. Because of this, we, too, should

love Him, trust Him, and willingly do what His commandments

require.

Part Two: The Creed

The Creed: The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to His Household

I. The First Article: On Creation

I believe in God the Almighty Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Q. What does this mean?

A. I believe that God created me, along with all creatures. He gave to

me: body and soul, eyes, ears and all the other parts of my body,

my mind and all my senses and preserves them as well. He gives me

clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and land, wife and

children, fields, animals and all I own. Every day He abundantly

provides everything I need to nourish this body and life. He

protects me against all danger, shields and defends me from all

evil. He does all this because of His pure, fatherly and divine

goodness and His mercy, not because I've earned it or desrved it.

For all of this, I must thank Him, praise Him, serve Him and obey

Him. Yes, this is true!

II. The Second Article: On Redemption

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the

Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried, descended to Hell, on the third

day rose again from the dead, ascended to Heaven and sat down at the

right hand of God the Almighty Father. From there He will come to

judge the living and the dead.

Q. What does this mean?

A. I believe that Jesus Christ is truly God, born of the Father in

eternity and also truly man, born of the Virgin Mary. He is my

Lord! He redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, bought and won

me from all sins, death and the authority of the Devil. It did not

cost Him gold or silver, but His holy, precious blood, His innocent

body -- His death! Because of this, I am His very own, will live

under Him in His kingdom and serve Him righteously, innocently and

blessedly forever, just as He is risen from death, lives and reigns

forever. Yes, this is true.

III. The Third Article: On Becoming Holy

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the community

of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,

and an everlasting life. Amen.

Q. What does this mean?

A. I believe that I cannot come to my Lord Jesus Christ by my own

intellegence or power. But the Holy Spirit call me by the Gospel,

enlightened me with His gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true

faith, just as He calls, gathers together, enlightens and makes holy

the whole Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus in the one, true

faith. In this Church, He generously forgives each day every sin

committed by me and by every believer. On the last day, He will raise

me and all the dead from the grave. He will give eternal life to me

and to all who believe in Christ. Yes, this is true!

Part Three: The Lord's Prayer

The Our Father

The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to His Household

I. Introduction

Our Father, Who is in Heaven.

Q. What does this mean?

A. In this introduction, God invites us to believe that He is our real

Father and we are His real children, so that we will pray with

trust and complete confidence, in the same way beloved children

approach their beloved Father with their requests.

II. The First Request

May Your name be holy.

Q. What does this mean?

A. Of course, God's name is holy in and of itself, but by this

request, we pray that He will make it holy among us, too.

Q. How does this take place?

A. When God's Word is taught clearly and purely, and when we live holy

lives as God's children based upon it. Help us, Heavenly Father,

to do this! But anyone who teaches and lives by something other

than God's Word defiles God's name among us. Protect us from this,

Heavenly Father!

III. The Second Request

Your Kingdom come.

Q. What does this mean?

A. Truly God's Kingdom comes by itself, without our prayer. But we

pray in this request that it come to us as well.

Q. How does this happen?

A. When the Heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that we

believe His holy Word by His grace and live godly lives here in

this age and there in eternal life.

IV. The Third Request

May Your will be accomplished, as it is Heaven, so may it be on Earth.

Q. What does this mean?

A. Truly, God's good and gracious will is accomplished without our

prayer. But we pray in this request that is be accomplished among

us as well.

Q. How does this happen?

A. When God destroys and interferes with every evil will and all evil

advice, which will not allow God's Kingdom to come, such as the

Devil's will, the world's will and will of our bodily desires. It

also happens when God strengthens us by faith and by His Word and

keeps living by them faithfully until the end of our lives. This

is His will, good and full of grace.

V. The Fourth Request

Give us our daily bread today.

Q. What does this mean?

A. Truly, God gives daily bread to evil people, even without our

prayer. But we pray in this request that He will help us realize

this and receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

Q. What does ``Daily Bread'' mean?

A. Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as:

Food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money,

possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees,

devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace,

health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors and

other things like these.

VI. The Fifth Request

And forgive our guilt, as we forgive those guilty of sinning against

us.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We pray in this request that our Heavenly Father will neither pay

attention to our sins nor refuse requests such as these because of our

sins and because we are neither worthy nor deserve the things for

which we pray. Yet He wants to give them all to us by His grace,

because many times each day we sin and truly deserve only punishment.

Because God does this, we will, of course, want to forgive from our

hearts and willingly do good to those who sin against us.

VII. The Sixth Request

And lead us not into temptation.

Q. What does this mean?

A. God tempts no one, of course, but we pray in this request that God

will protect us and save us, so that the Devil, the world and our

bodily desires will neither deceive us nor seduce us into heresy,

despair or other serious shame or vice, and so that we will win and

be victorious in the end, even if they attack us.

VIII. The Seventh Request

But set us free from the Evil One.

Q. What does this mean?

A. We pray in this request, as a summary, that our Father in Heaven

will save us from every kind of evil that threatens body, soul,

property and honor. We pray that when at last our final hour has

come, He will grant us a blessed death, and, in His grace, bring us

to Himself from this valley of tears.

IX. Amen.

Q. What does this mean?

A. That I should be certain that such prayers are acceptable to the

Father in Heaven and will be granted, that He Himself has commanded

us to pray in this way and that He promises to answer us. Amen.

Amen. This means: Yes, yes it will happen this way.

Part Four: Holy Baptism

The Sacrament of Holy Baptism:

The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to His Household

I. Q. What is Baptism?

A. Baptism is not just plain water, but it is water contained

within God's command and united with God's Word.

Q. Which Word of God is this?

A. The one which our Lord Christ spoke in the last chapter of

Matthew:

``Go into all the world, teaching all heathen nations, and

baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and of the

Holy Spirit.''

II. Q. What does Baptism give? What good is it?

A. It gives the forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the

Devil, gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, just

as God's words and promises declare.

Q. What are these words and promises of God?

A. Our Lord Christ spoke one of them in the last chapter of Mark:

``Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever

does not believe will be damned.''

III. Q. How can water do such great things?

A. Water doesn't make these things happen, of course. It is God's

Word, which is with and in the water. Because, without God's

Word, the water is plain water and not baptism. But with God's

Word it is a Baptism, a grace-filled water of life, a bath of

new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul said to Titus in the

third chapter:

``Through this bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

which He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our

Savior, that we, justified by the same grace are made heirs

according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful

saying.''

IV. Q. What is the meaning of such a water Baptism?

A. It means that the old Adam in us should be drowned by daily

sorrow and repentance, and die with all sins and evil lusts,

and, in turn, a new person daily come forth and rise from

death again. He will live forever before God in righteousness

and purity.

Q. Where is this written?

A. St. Paul says to the Romans in chapter six:

``We are buried with Christ through Baptism into death, so

that, in the same way Christ is risen from the dead by the

glory of the Father, thus also must we walk in a new life.''

Part Five: Confession

How One Should Teach the Uneducated to Confess

I. Q. What is confession?

A. Confession has two parts:

First, a person admits his sin

Second, a person receives absolution or forgiveness from the

confessor, as if from God Himself, without doubting it, but

believing firmly that his sins are forgiven by God in Heaven

through it.

II. Q. Which sins should people confess?

A. When speaking to God, we should plead guilty to all sins, even

those we don't know about, just as we do in the ``Our

Father,'' but when speaking to the confessor, only the sins we

know about, which we know about and feel in our hearts.

Q. Which are these?

A. Consider here your place in life according to the Ten

Commandments. Are you a father? A mother? A son? A daughter?

A husband? A wife? A servant? Are you disobedient, unfaithful

or lazy? Have you hurt anyone with your words or actions? Have

you stolen, neglected your duty, let things go or injured

someone?

Part Six: The Sacrament of the Altar

The Sacrament of the Altar:

The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to his Household

I. Q. What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

A. It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under

bread and wine for us Christians to eat and to drink,

established by Christ Himself.

II. Q. Where is that written?

A. The holy apostles Matthew, Mark and Luke and St. Paul

write this:

``Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the night on which He was

betrayed, took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to His

disciples and said: ``Take! Eat! This is My body, which is

given for you. Do this to remember Me!'' In the same way He

also took the cup after supper, gave thanks, gave it to

them, and said: ``Take and drink from it, all of you! This

cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you

to forgive sins. This do, as often as you drink it, to

remember Me!''

III. Q. What good does this eating and drinking do?

A. These words tell us: ``Given for you'' and ``Shed for you to

forgive sins.'' Namely, that the forgiveness of sins, life and

salvation are given to us through these words in the

sacrament. Because, where sins are forgiven, there is life and

salvation as well.

IV. Q. How can physical eating and drinking do such great things?

A. Of course, eating and drinking do not do these things. These

words, written here, do them: ``given for you'' and ``shed for

you to forgive sins.'' These words, along with physical eating

and drinking are the important part of the sacrament. Anyone

who believes these words has what they say and what they

record, namely, the forgiveness of sins.

V. Q. Who, then, receives such a sacrament in a worthy way?

A. Of course, fasting and other physical preparations are

excellent disciplines for the body. But anyone who believes

these words, ``Given for you,'' and ``Shed for you to forgive

sins,'' is really worthy and well prepared. But whoever

doubts or does not believe these words is not worthy and is

unprepared, because the words, ``for you'' demand a heart that

fully believes.

Morning Prayer

My Heavenly Father, I thank You, through Jesus Christ, Your

beloved Son, that You kept me safe from all evil and danger last

night. Save me, I pray, today as well, from every evil and sin, so

that all I do and the way that I live will please you. I put

myself in your care, body and soul and all that I have. Let Your

holy Angels be with me, so that the evil enemy will not gain power

over me. Amen.

Evening Prayer

My Heavenly Father, I thank You, through Jesus Christ, Your

beloved Son, that You have protected me, by Your grace. Forgive, I

pray, all my sins and the evil I have done. Protect me, by Your

grace, tonight. I put myself in your care, body and soul and all

that I have. Let Your holy angels be with me, so that the evil

enemy will not gain power over me. Amen.