Luther himself reckoned his Catechisms among his most important books.
In his letter to Wolfgang Capito, July 9, 1537, he writes: "I am quite
cold and indifferent about arranging my books, for, incited by a
Saturnine hunger, I would much rather have them all devoured, _eo quod
Saturnina fame percitus magis cuperem eos omnes devoratos._ For none do
I acknowledge as really my books, except perhaps _De Servo Arbitrio_ and
the Catechism." (Enders, 11, 247.) Justus Jonas declares: "The Catechism
is but a small booklet, which can be purchased for six pfennige but six
thousand worlds could not pay for it." He believed that the Holy Ghost
inspired the blessed Luther to write it. Mathesius says "If in his
career Luther had produced and done no other good thing than to give his
two Catechisms to homes, schools, and pulpits, the entire world could
never sufficiently thank or repay him for it." J. Fr. Mayer: "_Tot res
quot verba. Tot utilitates, quot apices complectens. Pagellis brevis,
sed rerum theologicarum amplitudine incomparabilis._ As many thoughts as
words; as many uses as there are characters in the book. Brief in pages,
but incomparable in amplitude of theological thoughts."
In his dedicatory epistle of 1591, to Chemnitz's _Loci,_ Polycarp Leyser
says: "That sainted man, Martin Luther, never took greater pains than
when he drew up into a brief sum those prolix expositions which he
taught most energetically in his various books.... Therefore he composed
the Short Catechism, which is more precious than gold or gems, in which
the pure doctrine of the prophets and apostles (_prophetica et
apostolica doctrinae puritas_) is summed up into one integral doctrinal
body, and set forth in such clear words that it may justly be considered
worthy of the Canon (for everything has been drawn from the canonical
Scriptures). I can truthfully affirm that this very small book contains
such a wealth of so many and so great things that, if all faithful
preachers of the Gospel during their entire lives would do nothing else
in their sermons than explain aright to the common people the secret
wisdom of God comprised in those few words and set forth from the divine
Scriptures the solid ground upon which each word is built they could
never exhaust this immense abyss."
Leopold von Ranke, in his _German History of the Time of the
Reformation,_ 1839, declares: "The Catechism which Luther published in
1529, and of which he said that he, old Doctor though he was, prayed it,
is as childlike as it is deep, as comprehensible as it is unfathomable,
simple, and sublime. Blessed is the man who nourishes his soul with it,
who adheres to it! He has imperishable comfort in every moment: under a
thin shell the kernel of truth, which satisfies the wisest of the wise."
Loehe, another enthusiastic panegyrist of Luther, declares: "The Small
Lutheran Catechism can be read and spoken throughout with a praying
heart; in short, it can be prayed. This can be said of no other
catechism. It contains the most definitive doctrine, resisting every
perversion, and still it is not polemical--it exhales the purest air of
peace. In it is expressed the manliest and most developed knowledge, and
yet it admits of the most blissful contemplation the soul may wish for.
It is a confession of the Church, and of all, the best known, the most
universal, in which God's children most frequently meet in conscious
faith, and still this universal confession speaks in a most pleasing
personal tone. Warm, hearty, childlike, yet it is so manly, so
courageous, so free the individual confessor speaks here. Of all the
confessions comprised in the Concordia of 1580, this is the most
youthful, the clearest, and the most penetrating note in the harmonious
chime, and, withal, as rounded and finished as any. One may say that in
it the firmest objectiveness appears in the garb of the most pleasing
subjectiveness."
Schmauk writes: "The Small Catechism is the real epitome of Lutheranism
in the simplest, the most practical, the most modern and living, and, at
the same time, the most radical form. It steers clear of all obscure
historical allusions; it contains no condemnatory articles, it is based
on the shortest and the oldest of the ecumenical symbols. It is not a
work for theologians, but for every Lutheran; and it is not nearly as
large as the Augsburg Confession." (_Conf. Prin.,_ 696.)
McGiffert says: "In 1529 appeared his [Luther's] Large and Small
Catechisms, the latter containing a most beautiful summary of Christian
faith and duty, wholly devoid of polemics of every kind, and so simple
and concise as to be easily understood and memorized by every child. It
has formed the basis of the religious education of German youth ever
since. Though preceded by other catechisms from the pen of this and that
colleague or disciple, it speedily displaced them all, not simply
because of its authorship, but because of its superlative merit, and has
alone maintained itself in general use. The versatility of the Reformer
in adapting himself with such success to the needs of the young and
immature is no less than extraordinary. Such a little book as this it is
that reveals most clearly the genius of the man." (_Life of Luther,_
316.)
O. Albrecht writes: "Reverently adhering to the churchly tradition and
permeating it with the new understanding of the Gospel, such are the
characteristics of Luther's Catechisms, especially the Small Catechism."
"On every page new and original features appear beside the traditional
elements." "The essential doctrinal content of the booklet is thoroughly
original; in it Luther offered a carefully digested presentation of the
essence of Christianity, according to his own understanding as the
Reformer, in a manner adapted to the comprehension of children--a
simple, pithy description of his own personal Christian piety, without
polemics and systematization, but with the convincing power of
experienced truth." (W. 30, 1, 647.)--Similar testimonies might easily
be multiplied and have been collected and published repeatedly.
The best praise, however, comes from the enemy in the form of imitation
or even verbal appropriation. Albrecht says: "Old Catholic catechetes,
and not the worst, have not hesitated to draw on Luther's Large
Catechism. If one peruses the widely spread catechism of the Dominican
monk John Dietenberger, of 1537 (reprinted by Maufang in his work on the
Catholic Catechisms of the sixteenth century, 1881), one is frequently
edified and delighted by the diligence with which, besides older
material, Luther's Large and Small Catechisms, as well as the Nuernberg
Catechism-sermons of 1533, have been exploited" (W. 30, 1, 497.)