ROUGHLY EDITED COPY CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY EDUCATION NETWORK CUENET LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS 2-5 DR. ROBERT KOLB CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY: CAPTION FIRST, INC. P.O. BOX 1024 LOMBARD, IL 60148 800-825-5234 *** THIS TEXT IS BEING PROVIDED IN A ROUGH DRAFT FORMAT. COMMUNICATION ACCESS REALTIME TRANSLATION (CART) IS PROVIDED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION ACCESSIBILITY AND MAY NOT BE A TOTALLY VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS. *** LC2-5 >> HELLO. I AM ERIC. I'M ENJOYING THIS INTRODUCTION. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SURE I AM UNDERSTANDING THINGS CORRECTLY. DID LUTHER PRETTY MUCH JUST TAKE THE CATECHISM OVER FROM THESE MEDIEVAL CREATURES? DO I HAVE THAT RIGHT? >>DR. ROBERT KOLB: GOOD QUESTION, ERIC. IT'S GOOD TO BE WITH YOU. YES AND NO IS REALLY THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION. LUTHER TOOK THE HABIT OF CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION OVER FROM THE MIDDLE AGES. BUT HE DID A COUPLE OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. AND IN TERMS OF OUR RIGHT, I SUPPOSE IN A SENSE WE HAVE TO MAKE THOSE JUDGMENTS BASED ON THE STUDENTS BEFORE US, THOSE WHO ARE LEARNING THE FAITH FROM US, WHETHER THEY ARE TEENAGERS, WHETHER THEY ARE PRETEENS, OR WHETHER THEY ARE OLDER PEOPLE COMING TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH FOR THE FIRST TIME. BUT LUTHER HAS A BASIC PATTERN FOR INSTRUCTION THAT I THINK WE SHOULD RETAIN BECAUSE I THINK IT'S SO WELL SUITED FOR EVERY KIND OF PERSON WE MEET IN NORTH AMERICA IN OUR DAY AND AGE. LUTHER TOOK THE BASIC PARTS OF THE CATECHISM. HE LOOKED AT THE AVA MARIA, THE PRAYER TO MARY, AND SAID THAT'S NOT PART OF CHRISTIAN DEVOTION. THAT HAS BEEN ABUSED. EVEN IF IT'S BASED IN PART ON A TEXT, IT IS A WRONG USE TO BE PRAYING TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN FOR THE KIND OF HELP THAT WE SHOULD EXPECT FROM OUR LORD -- DIRECTLY FROM OUR GOD. SO THAT FELL BY THE WAYSIDE. HE ALSO MADE AN IMPORTANT CHANGE IN THAT HE CHANGED THE ORDER OF THE CREED, THE LORD'S PRAYER, AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. HE PUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FIRST BECAUSE, AS HE SAID SOME SEVEN YEARS BEFORE HE ACTUALLY WROTE THE CATECHISMS, BECAUSE THE CHRISTIAN, FIRST OF ALL, HAS TO KNOW WHY HE NEEDS A SAVIOR. AND SO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ARE PUT THERE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CATECHISM TO GIVE US AN ANALYSIS, TO GIVE US A DIAGNOSIS OF WHAT IS GOING WRONG WITH OUR LIVES. THEN COMES THE MEDICINE HE SAID. THE CREED TALKS ABOUT HEALING THE WOUNDED SINNER. IT REALLY TALKS -- LATER IN LUTHER'S LANGUAGE, IT TALKS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF THE PERSON WHO IS DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS. AND THEN LUTHER SAID THE LORD'S PRAYER GIVES US THE BASIC FOUNDATION OF LIVING THE WHOLE LIFE OF FAITH IN THE WORLD. ONCE HE SAID, "WOULD NOT THE LORD'S PRAYER ITSELF BE A SUFFICIENT EXERCISE OF OUR FAITH?" I THINK THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS NO. LUTHER HIMSELF IN THE SMALL CATECHISM GOES ON TO TALK ABOUT CHRISTIAN CALLINGS IN EVERYDAY LIFE. BUT PRAYER AND ESPECIALLY PRAYER AS LUTHER INTERPRETED THE LORD'S PRAYER IS A FOUNDATION NOT ONLY FOR OUR TURNING TO GOD BUT ALSO FOR OUR BEING TURNED TO OUR NEIGHBORS IN THE MIDST OF THE STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN AND EVIL, THE DEVIL, THE WORLD AND OUR FLESH IN THIS LIFE. AND SO WITH THE ORDER OF THE CATECHISM, LUTHER ATTEMPTS TO ADDRESS HUMAN LIFE AS WE EXPERIENCE IT. SOME PEOPLE WOULD SAY THAT THE KEY TO HIS CATECHISM IS JESUS CHRIST, MY LORD, IN HIS EXPLANATION OF THE SECOND ARTICLE. BUT I THINK YOU COULD ALSO ARGUE THAT THE KEY TO THE USE OF THE CATECHISM COMES IN THE FOURTH ANSWER UNDER BAPTISM. THERE HE TALKS ABOUT THE MESSAGE OF PAUL IN ROMANS 6 OR COLOSSIANS 2 AS A MESSAGE THAT GUIDES THE REPETITION OF GOD'S BAPTISMAL PROCESS IN OUR DAILY LIVES OF REPENTANCE. AND HE STRESSES OUR NEED EVERY DAY TO DIE TO SIN AND TO BE RAISED TO ETERNAL LIFE. ETERNAL LIFE THAT BEGINS ALREADY IN THE MIDST OF THIS WORLD. AND SO LUTHER REALLY TAKES THE CATECHOL TEXT OF THE MIDDLE AGES. BUT HE TRANSFORMS THEM THEOLOGICALLY SO THAT THEY COME RIGHT INTO THE MIDDLE OF OUR EXPERIENCE, RIGHT INTO THE MIDDLE OF OUR LIVES. AND CHANGES THOSE LIVES UNDER THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. *** THIS TEXT IS BEING PROVIDED IN A ROUGH DRAFT FORMAT. COMMUNICATION ACCESS REALTIME TRANSLATION (CART) IS PROVIDED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION ACCESSIBILITY AND MAY NOT BE A TOTALLY VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS. ***