Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran ChurchBente, F. (Friedrich)
Religion
Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Bente, F. (Friedrich)
Formula Concordiae -- Catechisms; Lutheran Church -- Catechisms
Shortly after the completion of the Large Catechism Luther made
arrangements to have the Small Catechism appear in book form. May 16
Roerer sent two copies of the _Catechismus Minor._ But, as stated above,
all copies of this edition were completely used up. The edition has been
preserved in three reprints only, two of which appeared at Erfurt and
one at Marburg. Th. Harnack published the one Erfurt and the Marburg
reprint, and H. Hartung the other Erfurt reprint in separate facsimile
editions. Evidently these reprints appeared before the second
Wittenberg edition of June, 1529, was known at Erfurt and Marburg. In
estimating their value, however, modern scholars are not agreed as to
whether they represent three direct or one direct and two indirect
reprints. Albrecht is of the opinion that only one of the three may be
looked upon as a direct reprint. Judging from these reprints, the
original edition was entitled: "_Der kleine Katechismus fuer die
gemeinen Pfarrherrn und Prediger._ The Small Catechism for Ordinary
Pastors and Preachers." Aside from the five chief parts, it contained
the Preface, the Morning and Evening Prayers, the Table of Duties, and
the Marriage Booklet. On the other hand, these reprints omit not only
the word Enchiridion, but also the question, "How can bodily eating and
drinking do such great things?" together with its answer. Now, in case
all three should be direct reprints, the omitted question and answer
evidently were not contained in the first Wittenberg edition either. On
the other hand, if only one of them is a direct reprint, the mistake
must be charged to the original Wittenberg impression or to the reprint.
That the omission is an error, probably due to the printer, appears from
the fact that the omitted question and answer were already found on the
charts; for the Hamburg book edition of the charts in Low German has
them, as also Stifel's written copies of the charts. (W. 30, 1, 573.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account