ROUGHLY EDITED COPY CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY EDUCATION NETWORK CUENET LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS 2-8 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. *** LC2-8 >> MAY WE START JUMPING INTO THE CONTENT OF THE CATECHISM NOW? I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY LUTHER BEGINS WITH THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. SOMEHOW THE CREED, WHICH DEFINES WHAT WE BELIEVE, SEEMS A MORE LOGICAL PLACE TO START. OR THE LORD'S PRAYER, WHICH SEEMS A MORE GENTLE PLACE TO START. WHY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? >>DR. ROBERT KOLB: THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. BECAUSE IN MY OWN EXPERIENCE I TRIED ONCE TO ACTUALLY BEGIN WITH BAPTISM, WITH THE BAPTISMAL IDENTITY OF CHILDREN. BUT I THINK THERE'S GOOD SENSE IN BEGINNING WHERE LUTHER BEGAN. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT IS THERE TO SAY, FIRST OF ALL, THE PROBLEM WITH HUMAN LIVING THAT MAKES ALL THE INSTRUCTION THAT'S GOING TO COME AFTERWARD WORTHWHILE, THE BASIC PROBLEM WITH HUMAN LIVING IS NOT ANY OF THE OTHER THINGS, THOSE THAT SEEM TRIVIAL, SUPERFICIAL. BUT THOSE THAT SEEM TO GO RIGHT TO THE HEART OF OUR EXISTENCE. NONE OF THAT IS QUITE AS IMPORTANT AS THE FACT THAT WE HAVE BROKEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR CREATOR AS PERSONS CREATED IN HIS IMAGE. WE WERE CREATED FOR A RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE AND TRUST WITH THE GOD WHO MADE US. AND WE HAVE TURNED OUR BACKS ON HIM. WE HAVE REBELLED AGAINST HIM. WE HAVE DOUBTED HIS WORD. WE HAVE DEPARTED FROM HIM. AND THAT'S THE MESSAGE THAT LUTHER IS TRYING TO GET ACROSS IN THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. HE IS SAYING HUMAN BEINGS WHO ARE MADE AT THEIR VERY CORE, AT THE VERY CENTER OF THEIR LIVES, THEY WERE MADE TO FEAR, TO LOVE AND TO TRUST IN GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS. THERE'S BEEN A GOOD DEAL OF DEBATE ABOUT JUST WHAT FEAR MEANS IN THIS CASE. AND A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD ARGUE IT MEANS TO RESPECT GOD. IT'S WHAT THE CHRISTIAN WITH A PURE HEART DOES. THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARGUE THAT LUTHER WAS WRITING THIS FOR REAL LIVE SAINTS AND SINNERS, PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE OF THE DAILY CHRISTIAN LIFE. AND AS HE ONCE SAID HIMSELF, "MY LITTLE HANS" -- WHO I FORGET WAS TWO OR THREE YEARS OLD AT THE TIME -- "KNOWS THAT I LOVE HIM. BUT I'M SO MUCH BIGGER THAN HE IS THAT HE ALWAYS HAS A LITTLE FEAR LURKING IN THE BACK OF HIS MIND AS I PICK HIM UP IN MY ARMS." AND SO IT IS WITH REAL LIFE SINNERS WITH GOD. FEAR IS INDEED RESPECT. BUT FEAR IS ALSO THE TERROR THAT COMES WHEN WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE OFFENDED THE MAJESTY OF OUR ALMIGHTY GOD. SO IN THE FIRST COMMANDMENT THERE'S THAT ELEMENT AS WELL AS THE LOVE AND THE TRUST. I THINK WE GAIN A GOOD DEAL FROM LOOKING AT ERIK ERIKSON, THE 20TH CENTURY PSYCHOLOGIST, PSYCHOLOGICAL DOGMATIST I LIKE TO CALL HIM. I DON'T LIKE HIS BOOK ON LUTHER. I THINK THAT'S BAD HISTORY. BUT HIS UNDERSTANDING THAT HUMAN IDENTITY RESTS UPON TRUST. THAT'S THE WHOLE OF THE HUMAN BEING'S ORIENTATION. THAT'S WHAT FAITH IS. THAT OUR BASIC ORIENTATION TO ALL OF REALITY IS FORMED IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF OUR LIVES, ACCORDING TO ERIKSON THEORY, BUT THEN REALLY GOVERNS THE WHOLE WAY WE LIVE THE REST OF OUR LIVES. THAT PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY INDEED REFLECTS WHAT LUTHER SAW AS THE HEAD OF THE BIBLICAL MESSAGE THAT YOU AND I ARE MADE TO TRUST GOD. AND THAT TRUSTING GOD IS THE VERY HEART OF WHAT MAKES US HUMAN IN THE VERTICAL DIMENSION, IF WE CAN CALL IT THAT, OF OUR LIVES. SO THE FIRST MESSAGE THAT WE HAVE TO GET ACROSS, THE FIRST THING WE HAVE TO REMIND OURSELVES OF, BUT THE FIRST KIND OF THING THAT WE HAVE TO GET ACROSS TO PEOPLE AROUND US WHO DON'T KNOW THE TRUE GOD IS THAT GOD IS OUR CREATOR. GOD IS A PERSON. WE ARE PERSONS BECAUSE HE HAS CREATED US IN HIS IMAGE. AND THAT THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR CREATOR IS THE FUNDAMENTAL RELATIONSHIP, THE BASIC FOUNDATION, OF ALL HUMAN LIVING. *** 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. ***