tly. For it may be regarded as a piece of good luck if one has hit
upon an exact translation, even if the passage is very clear and
certain, as I daily experience in the translations I am making. Now,
that this matter may come to an end, and that the offense of the German
booklet which you have published may be removed, I shall present to you
and everybody, as plainly and as clearly as I am able to do, this
article as we Germans believe it, and as one ought to believe according
to the Gospel. There you may see whether I have stated correctly what
you believe or how much we differ from one another. Perhaps my German
language will be clearer to you than your German and Latin is to me."
(11, 431.) Luther, then, was familiar with the catechism of the
Bohemians, which contained, besides the chief parts of the ancient
Church, also the doctrine of the Sacraments. This, therefore, may have
suggested to him the idea of publishing a small book for children with
questions and answers, which would also contain the parts of Baptism and
the Lord's Supper. Such at least is the opinion of Cohrs, Kolde,
Koestlin, Kawerau, and Albrecht. (W. 30, 1, 466.) But we have no sure
knowledge of this. At any rate, it is not likely that it was the book of
the Bohemian Brethren which prompted Luther to embody the Sacraments in
his Catechism. The further assertion of Ehrenfeuchter, Moenckeberg, _et
al._ that Luther in his Table of Duties followed the Bohemian Brethren,
is incorrect, since the Table of Duties appeared much later in their
catechism.

IX. The Small and the Large Catechism of Luther.

99. Luther Beginning Work on Catechisms.

Luther first mentioned the plan of publishing a catechism in a letter of
February 2, 1525, to Nicolaus Hausmann. He informs him: "Jonas and
Eisleben [Agricola] have been instructed to prepare a catechism for
children. I am devoting myself to the Postil [last part of the Winter
Postil] and to Deuteronomy, where I have sufficient work for the
present." (Enders, 5, 115.) In a letter of March 26, 1525, also to
Hausmann, Luther repeats: "The Catechism, as I have written before, has
been given to its authors, _ist seinen Verfassern aufgetragen worden._"
(144.) However, when Jonas and Agricola (who soon moved from Wittenberg
to Eisleben) failed, Luther resolved to undertake the work himself,
which, according to his letter of February 2, he had declined merely for
the reason that he was already sufficiently burdened. Th