On Theology and the Christian Life - Cultivating Catechesis Part Two: At the family altar

In Luther’s Small Catechism there are Six Chief Parts of Christian Doctrine — the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Holy Baptism, Confession and the Sacrament of the Altar. Each of these brief parts is headed by this instruction: “As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to his household.” What Luther instructs here is the very command of the Scriptures. “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). In this way, holy scripture pictures the Christia...