Table Of ContentCopyright © 2022 Concordia Publishing House
3558 S. Je�erson Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118-3968
1-800-325-3040 • cph.org
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of Concordia Publishing House.
®
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible,
®
English Standard Version ), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James or Authorized Version of
the Bible.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International
® ®
Version . NIV . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by
permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
™ ®
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version .
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Quotations marked NRSV are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©
1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used
by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Unless otherwise noted, quotations from the Lutheran Confessions in this
publication are from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, second edition; copyright ©
2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Brackets from Concordia.
Hymn texts and quotations from the service orders with the abbreviation LSB are
from Lutheran Service Book, copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights
reserved.
Quotations marked TLSB are taken from the notes, introductory material, or original
articles from The Lutheran Study Bible © 2009 by Concordia Publishing House. All
rights reserved.
Quotations marked LSCE17 are from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation,
copyright © 1986, 2017 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
This work uses the SBL Hebrew Unicode font developed by the Font Foundation,
under the leadership of the Society of Biblical Literature. For further information on
this font or on becoming a Font Foundation member, see http://www.sbl-
site.org/educational/biblicalfonts.aspx.
Manufactured in Hong Kong
CONTENTS
Abbreviations
Contributors
Foreword
Matthew C. Harrison
Introductory Essays
General Introduction
John T. Pless and Larry M. Vogel
What Is Catechism?
Gerhard H. Bode
Martin Luther’s Approach to the Bible
Erik H. Herrmann
The Large Catechism as a Handbook for Prayer and Meditation
John T. Pless
The Large Catechism in Africa
Moses Keya Okoyo
Luther’s Large Catechism in Regions of Asia and Oceania
Alexey Streltsov, Henry Rowold, Wilando T. Roa, Eben Ezer Aruan,
Gregory Lockwood, Damodhar Christu Das
The Large Catechism in Europe
Werner Klän
The Large Catechism in Latin America
Roberto E. Bustamante
Luther’s Large Catechism and the Lutheran Churches in North America
Lawrence R. Rast Jr.
Martin Luther’s Prefaces to the Large Catechism
Introduced and Annotated by Robert Kolb
Part I: The Ten Commandments
Introduced and Annotated by Charles P. Arand
Appendix 1: Essays on the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments Today
Gilbert Meilaender
The First Commandment: Idolatry Today
Michael A. Lockwood
The First Commandment and Apologetics
Angus J. L. Menuge
The Second Commandment and the Divine Name
Charles A. Gieschen
The Second Commandment: Contemporary Christians and Honoring
the Name of God
Ruth Ang-Onn Whiteford
The Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep It Holy
Steven Paulson
The Third Commandment: Word, Worship, and Adiaphora
Charles P. Arand
The Fourth Commandment: Authority in the Home, State, and Church
Carol Geisler
The Commandments and Social Justice
Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.
The Fifth Commandment: Legalized Murder
Ti�any Manor
The Fifth Commandment: Lawful Lethal Force
Joel D. Biermann
The Fifth Commandment: Hatred as Murder
Warren L. Malueg-Lattimore
The Sixth Commandment: Marriage as the First of Institutions
Gilbert Meilaender
The Sixth Commandment: Sexual Purity
Andrea Schmeling
The Sixth Commandment: Divorce and Cohabitation
Matthew Rueger
The Sixth Commandment: Encouragement for Christians
with Gender Dysphoria and Homosexual Attraction
Stephen N. Lee
The Seventh Commandment: Honesty and Work
Ricardo Willy Rieth
The Seventh Commandment: You Shall Not Steal
Robert Benne
The Seventh Commandment: Martin Luther on Poverty
Wade Johnston
The Eighth Commandment: Reputation and Truth-Telling in a Changing
World
Thomas D. Park
The Ninth and Tenth Commandments: Justice for All, Exemptions for None
John Arthur Nunes
The Ninth and Tenth Commandments: Coveting and Contentment
John T. Pless
The Close of the Commandments
Thomas J. Egger
The Close of the Commandments: Wrath of God, Fear of God
Larry M. Vogel
Part II: The Apostles’ Creed
Introduced by Charles P. Arand
Appendix 2A: Essays on the Apostles’ Creed
What Is a Creed?
Jack D. Kilcrease
The Holy Trinity
James G. Bushur
Article I of the Apostles’ Creed
Introduced and Annotated by Charles P. Arand
Appendix 2B: Essays on the First Article
I Believe in God the Father
John T. Pless
God as Creator
Richard J. Serina Jr.
God the Creator: Objections and Denials
Joel D. Heck
Our Stewardship of Creation
Charles P. Arand
Article II of the Apostles’ Creed
Introduced and Annotated by Jacob Corzine
Appendix 2C: Essays on the Second Article
The Person of Christ
Jacob Corzine
Martin Luther on the Atonement
Robert Kolb
Christ and the Ecumenical Councils
Joel C. Elowsky
The Fall into Sin
Robert Kolb
What Is “Gospel”?
William M. Cwirla
Saving Faith, Confessing Faith
Samuel H. Nafzger
Article III of the Apostles’ Creed
Introduced and Annotated by Mark Mattes
Appendix 2D: Essays on the Third Article
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.
The Church
Naomichi Masaki
The Mission of the Holy Catholic Church
Larry M. Vogel
Future Eschatology
Paul R. Raabe
The Resurrection of the Body
Herbert C. Mueller Jr. (†)
The Life Everlasting
Edward G. Kettner
Virtual Christianity
A. Trevor Sutton
Part III: The Lord’s Prayer
Introduced and Annotated by John W. Kleinig
Appendix 3: Essays on the Lord’s Prayer
What Is Christian Prayer?
Larry M. Vogel
The Lord’s Prayer as a Model
Carol Geisler
The Theology of the Cross in the Lord’s Prayer
James Arne Nestingen
The First Petition: Hallowing God’s Name
Peter C. Bender
The Second Petition: Mission as the Expansion of the Kingdom of God
Klaus Detlev Schulz
The Second Petition: The Two Kingdoms
Joel D. Lehenbauer
The Third Petition: The Will of God
Roland Ziegler
The Third Petition: The Holy Cross in Christian Life
Harold L. Senkbeil
The Fourth Petition: Prayer for “Our Entire Life”
Paul W. Robinson
The Fifth Petition: Praying as Sinner and Saint
Timo Laato
The Fifth Petition: The Christian Life—Forgiven and Forgiving
Joshua C. Miller
The Sixth Petition: Temptation
John T. Pless
The Seventh Petition: Evil—The Foe(s)
Esko Murto
The Seventh Petition: Deliver Us from Evil—On Suicide
Stephen Pietsch
The Seventh Petition: Evil—Persistent and Personal
Robert H. Bennett
The Seventh Petition: A Good, Blessed Death
Peter J. Brock
The Means of Grace
The Word of God: The Chief Thing in the Sacraments
Joel D. Lehenbauer and Larry M. Vogel
Part IV: Baptism
Introduced and Annotated by Robert Kolb
Appendix 4: Essays on Baptism
Martin Luther’s Baptism Texts
Jerald C. Joersz
The Baptism of Jesus
Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.
Infant Baptism and Saving Faith
Mark D. Tranvik
Election
Robert Kolb
Baptism and the Christian Life
Gene Edward Veith Jr.
Part V: The Sacrament of the Altar
Introduced and Annotated by Roland Ziegler
Appendix 5: Essays on the Sacrament of the Altar
The Presence of Christ
Naomichi Masaki
Closed Communion
Larry M. Vogel
Frequent, Worthy Reception
Bryan Wolfmueller
Part VI: Brief Exhortation to Confession
Introduced and Annotated by John T. Pless
Appendix 6: Essays on Confession and Absolution
Holy Absolution
Matthew C. Harrison
Why Private Confession?
Brent W. Kuhlman
Indexes
Acknowledgments