Luther put his Small Catechism together during a time of biblical illiteracy among the common people, as well as the clergy. He wanted to develop a tool to teach the basics of the Christian faith. Luther’s Catechism starts with God’s Law—how God calls us to live, with the Ten Commandments. After bringing to light our own shortcomings in keeping the Law of God, he shares the Apostles’ Creed and explains who God is and what He has done to save us as lost and condemned sinners. The rest of the catechism includes instruction relating to the Christian life—how to pray (Lord’s Prayer), and how God keeps us in His grace—Holy Baptism, Confession (and absolution), Office of the Keys, Sacrament of the Altar. The catechism finishes with a section on daily prayers. It’s a short book and an easy read, but inside are beautiful truths of Scripture of what God has called us to—to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Luther’s intent was to provide this tool for families so they would first of all know what God has done for them, but secondly, to protect them from the false teachings of the day running rampant in the church. As an AFLC, we believe that the Word of God is the final authority in the congregation. Congregations have a responsibility then to know what God’s Word says, in order to protect themselves and others from the abuse of false teaching. This is why we teach the catechism in confirmation. But the catechism isn’t just for confirmation students, it’s for all believers.

That being said, it’s good to teach it in our homes to our children, but also to learn it for ourselves. Concordia Publishing House has developed a great tool for this by putting the catechism to music. On this CD, there are 67 songs, each about a minute long. We’ve started to sing the First Commandment (and its meaning) during our family devotions, and our two-year-old just about has it down. He asks us to sing it. When we get that one down, we’ll move on to the next one. The wording is a little different from the AFLC catechism, but the meaning is still the same. Being able to sing these songs is a great aid to memorizing. As a pastor, it’s wonderful to have as a tool for confirmation students, as well as a great gift to give to new parents in connection with their child’s baptism. A correlating songbook is also available as an option. I would recommend this resource to Sunday school teachers, parents, kids, and to be honest, I’ve appreciated it as a pastor too.