Luther’s Large Catechism with

Annotations and Contemporary

Applications Pless. Rev. John. T. & Rev.
Larry M. Vogel
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/luthers-large-catechism-with-annotations-and-contem
porary-applications-pless-rev-john-t-rev-larry-m-vogel/
Copyright © 2022 Concordia Publishing House

3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118-3968

1-800-325-3040 • cph.org

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of

Concordia Publishing House.

®
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible,
®
English Standard Version ), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing

ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James or Authorized Version of

the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International
® ®
Version . NIV . Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used

by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

™ ®
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version .

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible,

copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the

United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Quotations marked NRSV are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©

1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used

by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Unless otherwise noted, quotations from the Lutheran Confessions in this publication

are from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, second edition; copyright © 2006

Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Brackets from Concordia.

Hymn texts and quotations from the service orders with the abbreviation LSB are from

Lutheran Service Book, copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights

reserved.

Quotations marked TLSB are taken from the notes, introductory material, or original

articles from The Lutheran Study Bible © 2009 by Concordia Publishing House. All

rights reserved.

Quotations marked LSCE17 are from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation,

copyright © 1986, 2017 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

This work uses the SBL Hebrew Unicode font developed by the Font Foundation,

under the leadership of the Society of Biblical Literature. For further information on

this font or on becoming a Font Foundation member, see http://www.sbl-

site.org/educational/biblicalfonts.aspx.

Manufactured in Hong Kong

CONTENTS

Abbreviations

Contributors

Foreword

Matthew C. Harrison

Introductory Essays

General Introduction

John T. Pless and Larry M. Vogel

What Is Catechism?

Gerhard H. Bode

Martin Luther’s Approach to the Bible

Erik H. Herrmann

The Large Catechism as a Handbook for Prayer and Meditation

John T. Pless

The Large Catechism in Africa

Moses Keya Okoyo

Luther’s Large Catechism in Regions of Asia and Oceania

Alexey Streltsov, Henry Rowold, Wilando T. Roa, Eben Ezer Aruan,

Gregory Lockwood, Damodhar Christu Das

The Large Catechism in Europe

Werner Klän

The Large Catechism in Latin America

Roberto E. Bustamante

Luther’s Large Catechism and the Lutheran Churches in North America

Lawrence R. Rast Jr.

Martin Luther’s Prefaces to the Large Catechism

Introduced and Annotated by Robert Kolb

Part I: The Ten Commandments

Introduced and Annotated by Charles P. Arand

Appendix 1: Essays on the Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments Today

Gilbert Meilaender
The First Commandment: Idolatry Today

Michael A. Lockwood

The First Commandment and Apologetics

Angus J. L. Menuge

The Second Commandment and the Divine Name

Charles A. Gieschen

The Second Commandment: Contemporary Christians and Honoring

the Name of God

Ruth Ang-Onn Whiteford

The Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep It Holy

Steven Paulson

The Third Commandment: Word, Worship, and Adiaphora

Charles P. Arand

The Fourth Commandment: Authority in the Home, State, and Church

Carol Geisler

The Commandments and Social Justice

Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.

The Fifth Commandment: Legalized Murder

Tiffany Manor

The Fifth Commandment: Lawful Lethal Force

Joel D. Biermann

The Fifth Commandment: Hatred as Murder

Warren L. Malueg-Lattimore

The Sixth Commandment: Marriage as the First of Institutions

Gilbert Meilaender

The Sixth Commandment: Sexual Purity

Andrea Schmeling

The Sixth Commandment: Divorce and Cohabitation

Matthew Rueger

The Sixth Commandment: Encouragement for Christians

with Gender Dysphoria and Homosexual Attraction

Stephen N. Lee

The Seventh Commandment: Honesty and Work

Ricardo Willy Rieth

The Seventh Commandment: You Shall Not Steal

Robert Benne
 The Seventh Commandment: Martin Luther on Poverty

Wade Johnston

The Eighth Commandment: Reputation and Truth-Telling in a Changing

World

Thomas D. Park

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments: Justice for All, Exemptions for None

John Arthur Nunes

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments: Coveting and Contentment

John T. Pless

The Close of the Commandments

Thomas J. Egger

The Close of the Commandments: Wrath of God, Fear of God

Larry M. Vogel

Part II: The Apostles’ Creed

Introduced by Charles P. Arand

Appendix 2A: Essays on the Apostles’ Creed

What Is a Creed?

Jack D. Kilcrease

The Holy Trinity

James G. Bushur

Article I of the Apostles’ Creed

Introduced and Annotated by Charles P. Arand

Appendix 2B: Essays on the First Article

I Believe in God the Father

John T. Pless

God as Creator

Richard J. Serina Jr.

God the Creator: Objections and Denials

Joel D. Heck

Our Stewardship of Creation

Charles P. Arand

Article II of the Apostles’ Creed

Introduced and Annotated by Jacob Corzine

Appendix 2C: Essays on the Second Article

The Person of Christ

Jacob Corzine
 Martin Luther on the Atonement

Robert Kolb

Christ and the Ecumenical Councils

Joel C. Elowsky

The Fall into Sin

Robert Kolb

What Is “Gospel”?

William M. Cwirla

Saving Faith, Confessing Faith

Samuel H. Nafzger

Article III of the Apostles’ Creed

Introduced and Annotated by Mark Mattes

Appendix 2D: Essays on the Third Article

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.

The Church

Naomichi Masaki

The Mission of the Holy Catholic Church

Larry M. Vogel

Future Eschatology

Paul R. Raabe

The Resurrection of the Body

Herbert C. Mueller Jr. (†)

The Life Everlasting

Edward G. Kettner

Virtual Christianity

A. Trevor Sutton

Part III: The Lord’s Prayer

Introduced and Annotated by John W. Kleinig

Appendix 3: Essays on the Lord’s Prayer

What Is Christian Prayer?

Larry M. Vogel

The Lord’s Prayer as a Model

Carol Geisler

The Theology of the Cross in the Lord’s Prayer

James Arne Nestingen

 The First Petition: Hallowing God’s Name

Peter C. Bender

The Second Petition: Mission as the Expansion of the Kingdom of God

Klaus Detlev Schulz

The Second Petition: The Two Kingdoms

Joel D. Lehenbauer

The Third Petition: The Will of God

Roland Ziegler

The Third Petition: The Holy Cross in Christian Life

Harold L. Senkbeil

The Fourth Petition: Prayer for “Our Entire Life”

Paul W. Robinson

The Fifth Petition: Praying as Sinner and Saint

Timo Laato

The Fifth Petition: The Christian Life—Forgiven and Forgiving

Joshua C. Miller

The Sixth Petition: Temptation

John T. Pless

The Seventh Petition: Evil—The Foe(s)

Esko Murto

The Seventh Petition: Deliver Us from Evil—On Suicide

Stephen Pietsch

The Seventh Petition: Evil—Persistent and Personal

Robert H. Bennett

The Seventh Petition: A Good, Blessed Death

Peter J. Brock

The Means of Grace

The Word of God: The Chief Thing in the Sacraments

Joel D. Lehenbauer and Larry M. Vogel

Part IV: Baptism

Introduced and Annotated by Robert Kolb

Appendix 4: Essays on Baptism

Martin Luther’s Baptism Texts

Jerald C. Joersz

The Baptism of Jesus

Leopoldo A. Sánchez M.
 Infant Baptism and Saving Faith

Mark D. Tranvik

Election

Robert Kolb

Baptism and the Christian Life

Gene Edward Veith Jr.

Part V: The Sacrament of the Altar

Introduced and Annotated by Roland Ziegler

Appendix 5: Essays on the Sacrament of the Altar

The Presence of Christ

Naomichi Masaki

Closed Communion

Larry M. Vogel

Frequent, Worthy Reception

Bryan Wolfmueller

Part VI: Brief Exhortation to Confession

Introduced and Annotated by John T. Pless

Appendix 6: Essays on Confession and Absolution

Holy Absolution

Matthew C. Harrison

Why Private Confession?

Brent W. Kuhlman

Indexes

Acknowledgments
 ABBREVIATIONS

AC Augsburg Confession

ACW Ancient Christian Writers. New York: Newman, 1946–

AE Luther’s Works: American Edition. Vols. 1–30: Edited by Jaroslav

Pelikan.

St. Louis: Concordia, 1955–76. Vols. 31–55: Edited by Helmut

Lehmann. Philadelphia/Minneapolis: Muhlenberg/Fortress, 1957–86.

Vols. 56–82: Edited by Christopher Boyd Brown and Benjamin T. G.

Mayes. St. Louis: Concordia, 2009–

ANF The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers

down to A.D. 325. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson.

Revised by A. Cleveland Coxe. 10 vols. Buffalo: Christian Literature

Publishing Co., 1885–96. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994

Ap Apology of the Augsburg Confession

BoC Book of Concord

BSELK Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche. Edited by

Irene Dingel. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014

Catholic Charles G. Herberman et al., eds. The Catholic Encyclopedia. New

Encyclopedia York: Robert Appleton, 1907–14. www.newadvent.org/cathen

Christian Edited by Erwin L. Lueker, Luther Poellot, Paul Jackson. St. Louis:

Cyclopedia Concordia, 2000. http://cyclopedia.lcms.org

CJ Concordia Journal

CTCR Commission on Theology and Church Relations (LCMS)

CTM Concordia Theological Monthly

CTQ Concordia Theological Quarterly

Denzinger Heinrich Denzinger, ed. Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et

declarationum de rebus fidei et morum. 34th ed. Edited by Adolf

Schönmetzer. Freiburg: Herder, 1967.

FC Ep Epitome of the Formula of Concord

FC SD Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord

K-W Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert, eds. The Book of Concord: The

Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress,

2000

LC Large Catechism

LCC Library of Christian Classics. Edited by John T. McNeill and Henry P.

van Dusen. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953–

LCMS The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Lenker John Nicholas Lenker, ed. Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin

Luther. Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1903–

LQ Lutheran Quarterly

LSB Lutheran Service Book. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. 2006

LSCE17 Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. St. Louis: Concordia, 2017

1 A Select Library of the Christian Church: Nicene and Post-Nicene

NPNF
Fathers: First Series. Edited by Philip Schaff. 14 vols. New York, 1886–

89. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994

2 A Select Library of the Christian Church: Nicene and Post-Nicene

NPNF
Fathers: Second Series. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. 14

vols. New York, 1890–1900. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994

Peters Albrecht Peters. Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms. 5 vols.

Translated by Holger K. Sonntag, Daniel Thies, and Thomas H. Trapp.

St. Louis: Concordia, 2009–13

PL Patrologiae cursus completus: Series Latina. Edited by J.-P. Migne. 221

vols. in 223. Paris: Garnier Fratres, 1844–64

SA Smalcald Articles

SC Small Catechism

Tappert Theodore G. Tappert, ed. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959

TLSB The Lutheran Study Bible. St. Louis: Concordia, 2009

WA D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe. 73 vols. in 85.

Weimar: H. Böhlau, 1883–

WA Br D. Martin Luthers Werke: Briefwechsel. 18 vols. Weimar: H. Böhlau,

1930–

WA TR D. Martin Luthers Werke: Tischreden. 6 vols. Weimar: H. Böhlau,

1912–21
 CONTRIBUTORS

REV. DR. CHARLES P. ARAND—Eugene E. and Nell S. Fincke Graduate Professor of

Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. EBEN EZER ARUAN—Pastor of the Gereja Kristen Luther Indonesia (Indonesian

Lutheran Christian Church)

REV. PETER C. BENDER—Senior Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church and Academy and

Director of the Concordia Catechetical Academy, Sussex, Wisconsin

DR. ROBERT BENNE—Professor of Theological Ethics at the Institute of Lutheran

Theology, Brookings, South Dakota

REV. DR. ROBERT H. BENNETT—Executive Director of Luther Academy and Guest

Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary,

Fort Wayne, Indiana

REV. DR. JOEL D. BIERMANN—Waldemar A. and June Schuette Professor of

Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. DR. GERHARD H. BODE—Associate Professor of Historical Theology at

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. PETER J. BROCK—Senior Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church (Bingen), Decatur,

Indiana

REV. DR. JAMES G. BUSHUR—Carl and Erna Weinrich Chair of New Testament and

Early Church Studies and Director of Deaconess Formation at Concordia

Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

REV. DR. ROBERTO E. BUSTAMANTE—Professor of New Testament Exegesis and

Doctrinal Theology at Seminario Concordia el Reformador, Dominican Republic

REV. DR. JACOB CORZINE—Associate Professor of Theology at Concordia University

Chicago, River Forest, Illinois

REV. WILLIAM M. CWIRLA—Pastor Emeritus in The Lutheran Church—Missouri

Synod

REV. DR. DAMODHAR CHRISTU DAS­—Principal at Concordia Theological Seminary,

Nagercoil, India

REV. DR. THOMAS J. EGGER—President and Gustav and Sophie Butterbach Professor

of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. DR. JOEL C. ELOWSKY—Professor of Historical Theology and Dean of

Advanced Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

DR. CAROL GEISLER—Freelance writer and member of St. John’s Lutheran Church,

Orange, California

REV. DR. CHARLES A. GIESCHEN—Academic Dean and Professor of Exegetical

Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

REV. DR. MATTHEW C. HARRISON—Assistant Pastor at Village Lutheran Church,

Ladue, Missouri, and President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

REV. DR. JOEL D. HECK—Professor of Theology at Concordia University Texas,

Austin, Texas

REV. DR. ERIK H. HERRMANN—Professor of Historical Theology, Director of the

Center for Reformation Research, and Dean of Theological Research and

Publication at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. DR. JERALD C. JOERSZ—Served as Associate Executive Director of the LCMS

Commission on Theology and Church Relations (1977–2007)

REV. DR. WADE JOHNSTON—Associate Professor of History and Theology at

Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

REV. DR. EDWARD G. KETTNER—Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at

Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

DR. JACK D. KILCREASE—Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology

at the Institute of Lutheran Theology, Grand Rapids, Michigan

REV. DR. WERNER KLÄN—Professor Emeritus at Lutherische Theologische

Hochschule (Lutheran Theological Seminary), Oberursel, Germany

REV. DR. JOHN W. KLEINIG—Retired lecturer in biblical theology at Australian

Lutheran College, Adelaide, South Australia

REV. DR. ROBERT KOLB—Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at Concordia

Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. BRENT W. KUHLMAN—Serves at Trinity Lutheran Church, Murdock, Nebraska,

and editor of Logia Forum

REV. DR. TIMO LAATO—Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies at the Lutheran

School of Theology, Gothenburg, Sweden

MR. STEPHEN N. LEE—Member of Calvary Lutheran Church Chapel, Madison,

Wisconsin

REV. DR. JOEL D. LEHENBAUER—Executive Director of the LCMS Commission on

Theology and Church Relations

REV. DR. GREGORY LOCKWOOD—Professor Emeritus at Australian Lutheran

College, Adelaide, South Australia

REV. DR. MICHAEL A. LOCKWOOD—Pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia and

faculty member at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Baguio City, The Philippines

REV. WARREN L. MALUEG-LATTIMORE—Associate Pastor of Trinity Evangelical

Lutheran Church, The Bronx, New York, President of the Black Clergy Caucus of

the Lutheran Church, and a Doctor of Theology Student at Duke Divinity School

DEACONESS DR. TIFFANY MANOR—Director of LCMS Life Ministry

REV. DR. NAOMICHI MASAKI—Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of

PhD in Theological Studies and Master of Sacred Theology programs at

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

REV. DR. MARK MATTES—LUTHERAN BIBLE INSTITUTE CHAIR OF THEOLOGY,

GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY, DES MOINES, IOWA

REV. DR. GILBERT MEILAENDER—Senior Research Professor of Theology at

Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana

DR. ANGUS J. L. MENUGE—Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at

Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, Wisconsin

REV. DR. JOSHUA C. MILLER—Pastor of Jehovah Lutheran Church, St. Paul,

Minnesota

REV. DR. HERBERT C. MUELLER JR. (†)—Served six terms as President of the

Southern Illinois District and as First Vice President of the LCMS (2010–19)

REV. ESKO MURTO—Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Tampere, Finland

REV. DR. SAMUEL H. NAFZGER—Served as Executive Director of the LCMS

Commission on Theology and Church Relations (1975–2008)

REV. DR. JAMES ARNE NESTINGEN—Professor Emeritus of Church History at Luther

Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

REV. DR. JOHN ARTHUR NUNES—Pastor of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

and an author and speaker

REV. DR. MOSES KEYA OKOYO—Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

Kenya, Southern Lake Diocese, Migori, Kenya, and former professor at Neema

Lutheran College, Kenya

REV. DR. THOMAS D. PARK—Theological Educator to Asia with the LCMS Office of

International Mission, Chiayi, Taiwan

REV. DR. STEPHEN PAULSON—Chair of Lutheran Theology at Luther House of Study

at Kairos University (formerly Sioux Falls Seminary), Sioux Falls, South Dakota
REV. DR. STEPHEN PIETSCH—Lecturer in Pastoral Theology and Director of Pastoral

Formation at Australian Lutheran College, Adelaide, Australia, and Chairman of

the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand Commission on Theology and

Inter-Church Relations

REV. DR. JOHN T. PLESS—Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

REV. DR. PAUL R. RAABE—Professor in Biblical Studies, Grand Canyon University,

Phoenix, Arizona, and Professor Emeritus at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis,

Missouri

REV. DR. LAWRENCE R. RAST JR.— President and Professor of American

Christianity and American Lutheranism at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort

Wayne, Indiana

REV. DR. RICARDO WILLY RIETH—Permanent Professor at the Programa de Pós-

graduação em Educação (Mestrado/Doutorado), University Luterana do Brasil

(Lutheran University of Brazil), Canoas, RS, Brazil

REV. WILANDO T. ROA—Former Director of Theological Education by Extension at

Lutheran Theological Training Center, Baguio City, The Philippines

REV. DR. PAUL W. ROBINSON—Professor of Historical Theology and Director of

Library Services at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. DR. HENRY ROWOLD—International Research Professor Emeritus of Concordia

Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri

REV. DR. MATTHEW RUEGER—Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Hubbard, Iowa

REV. DR. LEOPOLDO A. SÁNCHEZ M.—Werner R. H. Krause and Elizabeth Ringger

Krause Professor of Hispanic Ministries, Professor of Systematic Theology, and

Director of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis,

Missouri

MRS. ANDREA SCHMELING—Pastor’s wife and contract writer for The Lutheran

Church—Missouri Synod

REV. DR. KLAUS DETLEV SCHULZ—Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

REV. DR. HAROLD L. SENKBEIL—Executive Director Emeritus for Doxology: The

Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel

REV. DR. RICHARD J. SERINA JR.—Associate Executive Director of the LCMS

Commission on Theology and Church Relations

REV. DR. ALEXEY STRELTSOV—Rector of Lutheran Theological Seminary of the

Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Novosibirsk, Siberia (Russia)

REV. A. TREVOR SUTTON—Senior Pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church, Lansing,

Michigan

REV. DR. MARK D. TRANVIK—Professor of Reformation History and Theology at

Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota

DR. GENE EDWARD VEITH JR.—Retired literature professor who served at Concordia

University Wisconsin and Patrick Henry College

REV. DR. LARRY M. VOGEL—Served as a domestic missionary, parish pastor, and as

Associate Executive Director of the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church

Relations (2009–20)

DR. RUTH ANG-ONN WHITEFORD—Adjunct Professor of New Testament and a

classical Christian schoolteacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma

REV. BRYAN WOLFMUELLER—Pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches,

Austin, Texas

REV. DR. ROLAND ZIEGLER—Robert D. Preus Professor of Systematic and

Confessional Lutheran Studies at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne,

Indiana
 DEAR READER!

You have before you one of the greatest resources for Christian faith and

living ever produced by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The text of

Martin Luther’s Large Catechism, written by Luther prior to his Small

Catechism after following a comprehensive visitation of the parishes and

pastors of Electoral Saxony, is a literary and theological treasure for all

matters of the apostolic faith. This volume puts the Large Catechism front

and center, for full view, a section of our precious Book of Concord that

often seems tucked away, unread, rarely receiving the attention it deserves.

Luther’s Large Catechism: With Annotations and Contemporary

Applications provides thoughtful introductions to the various sections of the

catechism (which follows the topical order of the Small Catechism), as well

as detailed commentary not unlike The Lutheran Study Bible. Do you ever

wonder what a specific text in Luther’s catechism means? It’s all here. As in

The Lutheran Study Bible, you will also find many (some eighty!)

wonderful, brief excursive essays on all matters of Christian teaching,

informed by the pulsating and blessed Gospel of the free forgiveness of

Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross and the delivery of its benefits of

forgiveness, life, and salvation in the Church’s means of grace. The essays

are prompted by Luther’s ever creative, orthodox, and fertile text, and, at the

same time, they deal with the most contemporary and pressing issues in the

life of the church today. These essays, along with the annotated text, will

provide endless opportunity for personal study and enrichment, growth and

deep understanding of Christ and His Word of life.

Thank you, Concordia Publishing House! Thank you, Chairman Larry

Rast and all the members of the Commission on Theology and Church

Relations! Thank you, Joel Lehenbauer and Rick Serina. Thank you, Larry

Vogel and John Pless for serving as general editors! Thank you, in

memoriam Paul T. McCain, whom the Lord used to advance this project at

Concordia Publishing House. Paul’s unending love for God’s Word and

Luther’s pure teaching caused him to spend much of his life getting the

treasured texts of the Lutheran faith into the hands of readers around the
globe. Finally, thank you to all the contributors, men and women from

diverse places and races, scholars, pastors, teachers, and practitioners of the

biblical, Lutheran faith. If we had but this volume alone, in addition to our

precious inerrant Scriptures and the Book of Concord, we’d have reason to

fall on our faces before God and sing a grateful Te Deum.

Luther writes in the preface of the Large Catechism:

Therefore, I again beg all Christians—especially pastors and preachers

—not to think of themselves as doctors too soon and imagine that they

know everything. (For imagination, like unshrunk cloth, will fall far

short of the measure.) Instead, they should daily exercise themselves

well in these studies and constantly use them. Furthermore, they

should guard with all care and diligence against the poisonous

infection of contentment and vain imagination, but steadily keep on

reading, teaching, learning, pondering, and meditating on the

catechism. And they should not stop until they have tested and are sure

that they have taught the devil to death, and have become more learned

than God Himself and all His saints.

If they show such diligence, then I will promise them—and they shall

also see—what fruit they will receive, and what excellent people God

will make of them. So in due time they themselves will admit that the

longer and the more they study the catechism, the less they know of it

and the more they will find to learn. Only then, as hungry and thirsty

men, will they truly relish what now they cannot stand because of

great abundance and contentment. To this end may God grant His

grace! Amen. [Longer Preface 19–20]

Epiphany 3, 2022

Matthew C. Harrison

Assistant Pastor, Village Lutheran Church, Ladue, Missouri

President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

John T. Pless and Larry M. Vogel

In his 2013 President’s Report, President Matthew C. Harrison urged

the LCMS convention to strengthen its catechesis, especially for adults.

2013 Convention Resolution 3-13A addressed catechesis broadly, resolving

that the CTCR, in concurrence with the Office of the President, revise the

“synodical catechism”—An Explanation of the Small Catechism. The same

resolution also asked that a “catechetical compendium for adults” be

1
prepared “which would be more comprehensive and apologetic in scope.”

Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation was published in 2017.

Even as field testing was underway for the Small Catechism with

explanation, the 2016 LCMS Convention adopted Resolution 5-12 on the

use of Luther’s catechisms. In addition to addressing the Small Catechism

and its explanation, the resolution returned to the idea of a more

comprehensive catechetical resource for adults. It gave the CTCR, in

concurrence with the Synod’s president and seminaries, the task to “explore
2
the creation of an annotated and expanded edition of the Large Catechism.”

Consistent with these resolutions of the LCMS, we are overjoyed to

introduce Luther’s Large Catechism: With Annotations and Contemporary

Applications. This book is intended to fulfill the Synod’s request for a

“catechetical compendium for adults” that seeks to be both “comprehensive

and apologetic.” As we make our way through the twenty-first century, it is

important for Christians to be well-grounded in their beliefs. Our Lord Jesus

requires nothing less of us when He commissions His followers to “make

disciples” of the nations, and then summarizes how to do that by saying

“baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy

Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded” (Matthew

28:19–20). Baptize and teach—that is what it is to make disciples. That is

the whole purpose of catechesis: teaching the baptized what the life of faith

in Christ is all about. That was Luther’s goal. That must be our goal today.
 Luther’s Large Catechism itself, together with the annotations and

essays that follow, seeks to teach the baptized. This is not a book primarily

for pastors, though we hope it will be a helpful resource for all called church

workers, including pastors. This is for the whole church—for the ordinary

layperson who wants to grow deeper in faith and understanding and be able

to give “a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). It is the goal of

this book both to edify or build up readers with a deeper understanding of

God’s Word and to equip them with knowledge so they can respond to

challenges to the confession of the Lord’s truth in our culture.

Luther’s Large Catechism: With Annotations and Contemporary

Applications opens with introductory essays about catechetics and the Large

Catechism in particular, including a look at how the Large Catechism is

used in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Following this introduction, the book is arranged according to the Six Chief

Parts of Christian doctrine: the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed,

the Lord’s Prayer, Holy Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and

Confession. After an introduction, the text of Luther’s Large Catechism for

that chief part is presented with annotations. The annotations provide

Scripture references, background information, and explanations of how

Luther’s words continue to apply to us today. Following the presentation of

Luther’s text, an Appendix offers brief essays that unfold contemporary

points of conversation, application, and apologetics. The essays will help

readers apply Luther’s words from five hundred years ago to the present as

we seek to live as faithful Christians. At various points in the margin of

Luther’s text, this symbol will appear, indicating that there is an essay

that provides further consideration or application of a point Luther is

making. The icon will repeat in the annotation associated with that point on

that same page to identify the essay (or essays) in question. Finally, for those

who want to dig even deeper, each chief part and essay concludes with

suggestions “For Further Reading and Study.”

Luther’s Large Catechism was published in 1529. Some may ask why

so many different authors have given so much time and attention to a

document that is nearly five hundred years old. On the one hand, we do so

because it is one of the writings that Lutherans use to confess and explain

our beliefs. The Large Catechism deserves our equal attention together with
all the other writings in the Book of Concord: the three great ecumenical

creeds, the Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession,

the Smalcald Articles with the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the

Pope, the Small Catechism, and the Formula of Concord (both its Epitome

and Solid Declaration). In one sense, all these writings stand on the same

level and are all deserving of close attention as authoritative interpretations

of the Bible; that is, they speak back to God what He has said to us in His
3
Word. As a result, every Lutheran pastor in our fellowship is conscience-

bound by his solemn promise to know these writings (including the Large
4
Catechism) and to preach and teach according to every one of them.

On the other hand, however, in the day-to-day life of the Lutheran

church the writings of the Book of Concord are not all on the same level.

The Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds are, for most of us, so ingrained that we

know them by heart and, more important, take them to heart. Our voices

unite to confess them before God and one another in the services of God’s

house, in devotions at home, and in our personal life of prayer.

The words of the Small Catechism are second only to the creeds in the

daily lives of countless Lutherans. Through the catechization of children

and adults these words also have been committed to the mind and heart.

That was as Luther intended when he published his Small Catechism. In his

Preface, Luther laid out three steps for learning the basics of Christian faith

and life. First, he wanted people to learn by heart the words of each chief

part—the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism,

Confession, and the Lord’s Supper—and, second, to learn what the words

mean. That is all the Small Catechism does as it goes point by point through

each of the chief parts, giving the words and a brief explanation. But

Luther’s Preface then suggested a third step: “In the third place, after you

have taught them this short catechism, then take up the Large Catechism
5
and give them also a richer and fuller knowledge.”

Our goal is to invite readers to explore the Large Catechism in a way

that builds on the creeds and Small Catechism to “give them also a richer

and fuller knowledge.”

It is good to remember that Luther didn’t invent “the catechism.” For

centuries Christians had used catechisms to teach the basic Christian

beliefs. Neither was Luther the first Christian teacher to focus his catechism

on the three key texts of the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the

Commandments. But Luther did make one highly significant innovation.

Charles Arand comments on this in his Introduction to the Apostles’ Creed,

noting that Luther changed the order from Creed—Lord’s Prayer—Ten

Commandments to Ten Commandments—Creed—Lord’s Prayer, before

then adding brief teachings on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper together with
6
Confession. Let Luther explain his reasoning for this important ordering:

It was not unintended in God’s particular ordering of things that a

lowly Christian person who might be unable to read the Bible should

nevertheless be obligated to learn and know the Ten Commandments,

the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Indeed, the total content of Scripture

and preaching and everything a Christian needs to know is quite fully

and adequately comprehended in these three items. They summarize

everything with such brevity and clarity that no one can complain or

make any excuse that the things necessary for his salvation are too

complicated or difficult for him to remember.

Then Luther explains how these three parts work together:

Three things a person must know in order to be saved. First, he must

know what to do and what to leave undone. Second, when he realizes

that he cannot measure up to what he should do or leave undone, he

needs to know where to go to find the strength he requires. Third, he

must know how to seek and obtain that strength. It is just like a sick

person who first has to determine the nature of his sickness, then find

out what to do or to leave undone. After that he has to know where to

get the medicine which will help him do or leave undone what is right

for a healthy person. Then he has to desire to search for this medicine
7
and to obtain it or have it brought to him.

A WORD ABOUT “FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY”

We asked the author of each essay to suggest a few titles for further

reading and study. In addition, we (the editors) added one or more titles to

the list that may be of interest to readers. The lists are, of course, by no

means exhaustive.

The annotations throughout the volume and the “For Further Reading

and Study” lists include many reports of the CTCR. All of the CTCR
reports are available online at www.lcms.org/ctcr. This link takes readers to

the CTCR home page at the LCMS website. Scroll down and click on

“Browse CTCR Documents” to access the entire library of reports and other

CTCR documents, which are organized topically.

A WORD ABOUT TRANSLATIONS

The English Standard Version of the Bible has been used for all

Scripture quotations in this book, unless otherwise noted. An index of

Scripture references is provided for your convenience.

The Large Catechism is readily available both as a separate volume and,

since 1580, in its “home” as one of the writings that make up the Book of

Concord. The English translation used for the Large Catechism text in this

volume, as well as for almost all of the quotations from the Book of

Concord throughout the essays, is from Concordia: The Lutheran

Confessions: A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord (Concordia, 2006).

The most recent academic translation into English is The Book of Concord:

The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Fortress Press, 2000),

edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert. When referenced in this

volume, it will be designated with the abbreviation K-W. In the presentation

of the Large Catechism, text contained in braces (for example: “Some

neglect the catechism because of great and high art ‹giving their mind, as

they imagine, to much “higher” matters›” [Longer Pref 1]) indicates words

that have been added from a later edition of the Large Catechism, such as

the German text from 1580 or the Latin text from 1584.

Concordia Publishing House offers two editions of Luther’s Large

Catechism as a single volume. One is F. Samuel Janzow’s translation

Luther’s Large Catechism: A Contemporary Translation (1988), which

includes more than 250 questions. The other is Luther’s Large Catechism

with Study Questions (2010), which uses the same text you will find in this

volume but with the addition of study questions by Paul T. McCain. Other

editions include Luther’s Large Catechism: Anniversary Translation by

Friedemann Hebart (Lutheran Publishing House, 1983) and Luther’s Large

Catechism translated by John Nicholas Lenker (Augsburg, 1935, 1967). A

valuable feature of Lenker’s translation is the appendix of additional

writings of Luther included after each of the chief parts.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the many people who

faithfully devoted time, prayerful attention, scholarship, and hard work to

make this volume possible. The number of individuals—scholars, pastors,

and laypeople from around the world—is too great for us to name them all

here. You will find the name of the author or the annotator indicated at the

start of each catechism section and each essay. In addition to these authors,

however, we cannot neglect to thank Sandra Geis from the CTCR office,

who devoted countless hours to organizing, formatting, and proofreading

documents, as well as giving careful attention to myriad administrative

details. We must also express our gratitude, in memoriam, for the Rev. Dr.

Herbert C. Mueller Jr., who was a champion of this project while still

serving as first vice president of the LCMS, and then contributed an essay

on the resurrection of the body shortly before his death in 2020. This

volume presents a level of collaboration that beautifully illustrates

Scripture’s assurance that there are “varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit”

(1 Corinthians 12:4).

We pray that these pages may be for you a treasure trove of sound words

as you, like Timothy, “follow the pattern of sound words that you have

heard” (2 Timothy 1:13).

John T. Pless and Larry M. Vogel

Editors

1
2013 Convention Proceedings of the 65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran

Church—Missouri Synod (St. Louis: LCMS, 2013), 123.

2
2016 Convention Proceedings of the 66th Regular Convention of The Lutheran

Church—Missouri Synod (St. Louis: LCMS, 2016), 161.

3
The Greek word for confess (homologeo) literally means “to say the same thing.”

The Lutheran church is a confessional church. That means that Christian doctrine,

drawn from the Word of God, can be expressed in clear statements of the faith. We

recognize the Book of Concord as a confession of the church because it is in

agreement with Holy Scripture. Among other things, that means we do not hold to
 the Confessions simply as historical heirlooms, but as true expositions of the

Scriptures, having abiding validity in the church today.

4
When our pastors are ordained, they are asked to make this promise: “Do you

promise that you will perform the duties of your office in accordance with these

Confessions and that all your preaching and teaching and your administration of

the Sacraments will be in conformity with Holy Scripture and with these

Confessions?” (Lutheran Service Book: Agenda [St. Louis: Concordia, 2006],

166).

5
SC Preface 17 (LSCE17, Appendix, “Luther’s Preface”).

6
See pp. 297–300.

7
Personal Prayer Book (1522), AE 43:13–14.
 WHAT IS CATECHISM?

Gerhard H. Bode

When Martin Luther first published his Large Catechism (Deudsch

1
Catechismus) in April 1529, he was producing a handbook intended for

pastors and preachers. He applied the name “catechism” to the work not

chiefly because it was a book, but because of what the book contained,

namely, instruction in the basic teachings of the Christian faith and life.

That the word “catechism” should be used to designate this kind of teaching

was nothing new.

The word “catechism” is derived from the Latin verb catechizare,

meaning “to catechize” or “to instruct.” The Latin verb is related to the

Greek word katechein, which refers to oral instruction. Forms of the latter

verb are found in the New Testament (for example, Luke 1:4; Acts 18:25;

Romans 2:8; 1 Corinthians 14:19; and Galatians 6:6). In the early church,

the word “catechism” meant either the process of teaching and learning the

Christian faith or the doctrinal content of that instruction. While

communicating the faith often came in the form of oral instruction—for

example, in rudimentary lessons or in preaching—it was also written down

in texts. The first-century writing Didache, also called Teaching of the

2
Twelve Apostles, was much like an early catechism. It was a handbook

offering instruction in the Christian life and worship, as well as admonitions

—warnings and encouragements. Teaching in North Africa, Augustine

(354–430) used the Latin noun catechismus to designate a manual of

3
elementary instruction in the Christian faith and life. Such manuals were

used to train up youth and adults prior to Baptism.

The early church viewed baptismal catechesis as a process involving

first the hearing of the message of God’s Word, then believing it, and then

enlightened prayer and action. This understanding reflected Paul’s words in

Romans 10:13–15: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will

be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And

how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to

preach unless they are sent?”

Early Christians believed that the Holy Spirit is involved in these three

stages of hearing, believing, and praying. The Book of Acts recounts the

first Christian mission and the working of the Spirit in this way. Right

hearing of the Word of God affects the mind and the heart and is seen in the

faith of the hearer and in their words (confession) and actions; they call to

God in faithful prayer, hope in Him, love Him, and act according to His

will.

The threefold emphasis on catechesis through hearing, believing, and

praying is a recurrent theme in Augustine’s teaching, and he followed this

approach in his baptismal catechesis. Faith is right knowledge but also a

proper attitude in right worship, expressed in faith, hope, and love. He

exposited the Apostles’ Creed to teach the object of faith, the triune God.

He explained the Lord’s Prayer to teach about the object of hope, a God

whose promises are anchored in Christ and in God’s love for us in Him.

Finally, Augustine exposited the Gospel to teach the object of love, God
4
Himself, and of one another in Him. Teaching the Christian faith, then, is

for Augustine about getting the message of God’s Word right, but it is also

about the right worship of God in faith, hope, and love. Hearing God’s

Word and believing it moves a Christian to call upon God in faith, hope, and

love. This process does not end in Baptism but is continued throughout the

Christian life. There is a continual repetition of Scripture reading,

confession of the Creed, prayer, and singing of hymns—all of which are

part of the formation of faith, but all of which also lead to the formation of

Christian doctrine and the confession of the Christian faith in the world.

Hearing, believing, and praying are part of the formation of a Christian

informed and formed by the catechism.

When infant Baptism became common practice, the understanding of

catechism changed to involve not only the baptismal rite, with its tradition

of the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, as well as the exorcism, but also the

pledge by parents and sponsors to train up the child in the Christian faith.

Responsibility of teaching the faith after Baptism was also added to the
church’s understanding of catechism and might employ the question-and-

answer method of instruction.

During the Middle Ages, teaching the catechism came to include

preparation for the sacrament of penance, and the young were taught

contrition, confession of sins, and how to make satisfaction to God. For this

reason, the Ten Commandments were added to the catechetical texts. As a

way of teaching how to make satisfaction, many medieval catechism

teachers included the Hail Mary in their instruction. Other catechisms listed

the seven deadly sins, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven works of

mercy, the eight beatitudes, etc. The form of catechism comprised the oral

teaching of the faith, the parts of the catechism in written texts, preaching

on catechetical themes, and the means to evaluate the knowledge of priests

and other servants of the church.

The Reformation introduced a new understanding of the component

parts of the catechism and the way they interrelated to instruct and form

people in the Christian faith. In his catechisms, Luther retained the

traditional teaching of the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, as well as of the Ten

Commandments. His view of the Law/Gospel dynamic was reflected in the

structure of the catechism’s teaching. In his Personal Prayer Book (1522),

Luther described the impact of God’s Word in the Decalog, Creed, and

Lord’s Prayer as a salutary message for those suffering from the sickness of

sin:

Three things a person must know in order to be saved. First, he must

know what to do and what to leave undone. Second, when he realizes

that he cannot measure up to what he should do or leave undone, he

needs to know where to find the strength he requires. Third, he must

know how to seek and obtain that strength. It is just like a sick person

who first has to determine the nature of his sickness, then find out

what to do or leave undone. After that he has to know where to get the

medicine which will help him do or leave undone what is right for a

healthy person. Third, he has to desire to search for this medicine and

to obtain or have it brought to him.

Thus the commandments teach man to recognize his sickness. . . . The

Creed will teach and show him where to find the medicine—grace—

which will help him to become devout and keep the commandments.

The Creed points them to God and his mercy, given and made plain to
 him in Christ. Finally, the Lord’s Prayer teaches all this, namely,

through the fulfillment of God’s commandments everything will be

5
given him. In these three are the essentials of the entire Bible.

Later, Luther expanded his teaching of catechism to include treatments

of Baptism, Confession, and the Lord’s Supper, which worked together with

the first three parts to show how God, by means of His Word and

Sacraments, works in daily life to bestow His love, forgiveness of sins, life,

and salvation. Luther maintained that the Holy Spirit is at work in “such

reading, repetition, and meditation” of the catechism, and “He bestows ever
6
new and more light and devoutness.”

Luther understood that the catechism shares the same object and claim

as the Scriptures, as expressed in John 20:31: “These are written so that you

may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing

you may have life in His name.” Luther described the catechism as “a short
7
and brief summary of all the Holy Scriptures.” The Epitome of the

Formula of Concord later called Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms “‘the

layman’s Bible [Laien Bibel ]’ because everything necessary for a Christian

to know is included in them, which is handled more extensively in the Holy

8
Scriptures.” Already in 1528, in his first series of catechetical sermons of

that year, Luther called the catechism the “children’s sermon or Bible for the
9
laypeople,” understanding it as the instrument for bringing the biblical

message to the laity.

Since the Middle Ages, parish clergy traditionally had served as

teachers of the catechism to the laity. During the Reformation, teaching the

catechism in various forms emerged as one of the primary tasks of Lutheran

pastors. Indeed, both of Luther’s catechisms were intended for use by

pastors. That Luther aimed his Small Catechism at parish clergy is evident

from the title page: “Handbook: The Small Catechism for Ordinary Pastors
10
and Preachers.” The Large Catechism, homiletical and devotional in

nature, offered a more extensive exposition of the teaching for pastors and

preachers. In both catechisms, Luther highlighted the basic teachings of the

Scriptures and furnished explanations of them. The purpose of the

catechism is clear: that all people, young and old, should learn what the

catechism teaches, “for in these three parts [Ten Commandments, Creed,

and Lord’s Prayer], everything that we have in the Scriptures is included in
11
short, plain, and simple terms.” Luther recommended that once the

catechism lessons had been learned, people also should be taught psalms or

hymns to “supplement and strengthen them,” suggesting that in this way a

pastor will “lead the young into the Scriptures . . . and make progress in
12
them daily.” The catechism introduces people to the central teachings of

the Christian faith and teaches them how to put this faith into practice in

their daily lives.

The catechism remains one of the most important ways of training up

people of all ages in what it means to be a baptized child of God. While

serving as a means of cultivating the Christian faith in congregations,

homes, and schools, the catechism presents the teaching of the Scriptures in

a simple way, shaping our understanding of who God is and who we are

before God. The goal is always communicating the faith—the teaching of

God’s Word—but also forming the way of life in accord with that Word. In

this way, the catechism is passed down from generation to generation,

informing and shaping believers as people of God—believers in Jesus—for

a life of faithfulness before Him.

FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY

Arand, Charles P. That I May Be His Own: An Overview of Luther’s Catechisms. St.

Louis: Concordia Academic Press, 2000.

Bender, Peter. Lutheran Catechesis: A Comprehensive Guide to Catechesis for a

Lutheran Congregation. Sussex, WI: Concordia Catechetical Academy, 1999.

Harmless, William. Augustine and the Catechumenate. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical

Press, 1995.

Kolb, Robert. Teaching God’s Children His Teaching: A Guide for the Study of

Luther’s Small Catechism. St. Louis: Concordia Seminary Press, 2012.

Luther, Martin. Ten Sermons on the Catechism (1528). AE 51:135–93.

Pless, John T. Luther’s Small Catechism: A Manual for Discipleship. St. Louis:

Concordia, 2019.

———. Praying Luther’s Small Catechism: The Pattern of Sound Words. St. Louis:

Concordia, 2016.

Wengert, Timothy J. Martin Luther’s Catechisms: Forming the Faith. Minneapolis:

Fortress Press, 2009.

1
Readers who know German may think that Deudsch is a misspelling of Deutsch.

Rather, the word as spelled here is simply an earlier version of the modern German

spelling.

2
Online at https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0714.htm.

3
De fide et operibus 12.19. See Augustine, On Faith and Works, ACW 48 (New York:

Newman Press, 1988).

4
Augustine, Handbook on Hope, Faith, and Love (Floyd, VA: SMK Books, 2012).

5
AE 43:13–14.

6
LC Longer Preface 9.

7
LC Longer Preface 18.

8
FC Summary Content, Rule, and Norm 5.

9
WA 30/1:27.

10
This was not to exclude the use of the Small Catechism in the home, as the

headings to the chief parts indicate (“As the head of the family should teach . . .”).

11
LC Short Preface 18.

12
LC Short Preface 25.
 MARTIN LUTHER’S

APPROACH TO THE BIBLE

Erik H. Herrmann

Martin Luther’s devotion to the Scriptures emerged during his life as a

monk and flourished in his work as a reformer until the end of his days. As

a monk, Luther’s piety was shaped by many of the traditional practices of

monastic culture going back to the time of the earliest church fathers.

Although there were harmful things about monastic life and “monkishness”

that needed to be rejected, such as the compulsory vows and the self-
1
righteousness, there were also beautiful things that Luther valued and

wanted to pass on to all Christians. Much of what he loved had to do with

his love for the Scriptures.

The central activity of monks and nuns was the routine reading and

praying of the Bible, particularly the Psalter (the Book of Psalms), which

was prayed weekly in its entirety. Through such daily and weekly rhythms,

Luther came to know all of the psalms by heart, a treasure he would carry

with him throughout his life. It is thus not surprising that his first set of

lectures as a university professor was based on the Book of Psalms. In these

lectures he would wrestle with what he found to be the central themes of the

whole Bible—righteousness, forgiveness, faith, and repentance. Like others

before him, he considered the whole of Scripture’s subject matter to be

present and comprehended in the Psalms, especially the topic of faith:

“What, indeed, is the entire Book of Psalms but thoughts and exercises
2
upon the First Commandment?”

Also like many in the monastic tradition, Luther could liken reading the

Bible to a kind of holy eating—biting into a nut, sampling nectar, or tasting

the honey from a honeycomb. The language of “tasting” indicates the

spiritual nourishment that the Scriptures give—“taste and see that the LORD

is good” (Psalm 34:8), and His Word is “sweeter also than honey and

drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10). Yet it also means that the
interpretation of Scripture is not simple, quick, or easy; it requires

“chewing” (ruminatio)! It is not enough merely to read the text (lectio); one

needs prayer (oratio) and repetitive, fastidious study (meditatio). Monastic

culture valued the careful attention to the Bible’s grammar (its way of

speaking, its modus loquendi) and its personal, spiritual relevance (that is,

not simply what the text means, but what it means “for me”).

The monastic tradition often thought that interpreting the Scriptures

meant discerning some deeper spiritual meaning that lay hidden under the

literal sense of the text (such as allegory). But Luther quickly found that the

real difficulty lay not in finding hidden messages but in believing what was,

in fact, plainly stated in the Scriptures. The Gospel was not hidden but

found in clear passages that, when read according to their intention and

context, assured the reader that the “righteousness of God” was the gift of

Christ to the one who has faith (see Romans 3:22; 1 Corinthians 1:30), “the

righteous shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:16–17). Truly to

3
believe such words—the “sweetest words” for Luther —was the real

spiritual meaning (and miracle of the Spirit’s work)! And because such

words so often ran counter to intuition or experience, this was also the real

test of faith, the ongoing trial of the Christian life (tentatio): “For where

God’s Word is preached, accepted, or believed and produces fruit, there the
4
holy cross cannot be missing.”

Luther’s approach to the Bible was also shaped by the context of the

University of Wittenberg and his obligations as a professor of theology.

Traditionally, late medieval theological lectures were dominated by

commentary on dogmatic textbooks and philosophy, but Luther

immediately turned the focus back to the Bible, beginning with lectures on

the Psalms (1513–15), then Romans (1515–16), followed by Galatians

(1516–17), and then Hebrews (1517–18). This means that his work as a

reformer began well before he posted the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Yet

for Luther the Scriptures not only belonged in the cloister and the classroom

but also in churches, schools, and homes. Thus the centerpiece of Luther’s

reforming work would be his translation of the Bible into the language of

the common people.

Luther’s reforming work with the Scriptures was furthered by his

association with the Renaissance humanists of northern Europe. These

pious intellectuals and educators called for a return to the textual sources of

the Christian religion (their slogan was Ad fontes!—“Back to the sources!”).

They hoped for a renewal of theology and Christian piety by using the best

scholarly tools to study Scripture, especially rhetoric, history, and the

5
biblical languages of Greek and Hebrew. Luther’s eager adoption of such

tools was animated by his firm conviction that it was through the grammar

and rhetorical expression of the sacred authors that the Holy Spirit

enlightened hearts and awakened faith: “The languages are the sheath in

which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are the casket in which this
6
jewel is enshrined; they are the vessel in which this wine is held.” Thus the

Scriptures convey to us the very presence of God: “[The Spirit] is nowhere

more present and more active than in the holy letters themselves, which He
7
has written.”

It is no surprise, then, that one of the most important things that Luther

can say about the Scriptures is that they are the Word of God. They are not

just the most ancient, authoritative texts of the Christian faith; they are more

than a historical reference point for the church’s origin story. They are the

viva vox, the “living voice” of God. They not only record what God said in

the past, but they continue to be His present speech, God speaking and His

address for today: “God’s Word is not like some other silly babbling, like

the story about Dietrich of Berne, for example. But as St. Paul says in
8
Romans 1:16, it is ‘the power of God.’”

In this way Luther tends to distinguish himself from several other

reformational approaches to the Bible then (and now). On the one hand,

some theologians and reformers (those Luther would dub “enthusiasts” or

“Schwärmer”) argued that one should seek after God or expect to find Him

apart from His Word, preferring instead a direct experience or revelation

from the Holy Spirit. While Luther did not deny God’s freedom to reveal

Himself to us in any manner, he insisted that God promised to be present

and active in His Word and not elsewhere. That promise, then, should not be

despised but should give assurance and inspire in us trust and gratitude.

“Although the work is done and the forgiveness of sins is secured by the

cross, it cannot come to us in any other way than through the Word. . . .
How do they know about it? Or how can they receive and make the

forgiveness their own, unless they lay hold of and believe the Scriptures and
9
the Gospel?”

Other reformers shared Luther’s high view of Scripture but regarded the

Bible as an exhaustively prescriptive text, pertinent for every aspect of

private and public life. This approach could be observed especially among

those who effected reforms in Switzerland and in southern Germany in the

cities along the Rhine River (Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Heinrich

Bullinger, and, later, John Calvin). According to this perspective, all

Christian teaching and practice must find explicit authorization from the

Scriptures. (Today this may find expression as seeking after “biblical

principles” for everything from dieting to finances and parenting.) What is

10
commanded is required; what is not commanded is forbidden. Thus not

only were various biblical commands treated with renewed obligation (such

as the prohibition against images or forbidding work on the Sabbath), but

debates ensued on matters over which the Scriptures were silent or appeared

to have no explicit command (such as singing uninspired hymns or

baptizing infants). Suspicion of all human tradition even extended into the

political sphere with attempts to form a biblically determined society in

places such as Zürich, Geneva, and Strassburg.

Luther’s assessment was more focused: “We do not condemn the

doctrines of men just because they are the doctrines of men, for we would

gladly put up with them. But we condemn them because they are contrary to
11
the gospel and the Scriptures.” This subtle but significant difference

underscores what lay at the center of Luther’s approach to the Bible. The

chief purpose of Scripture was to disclose to us the heart of God revealed in

the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Was Christum treibet,” Luther famously wrote;

that is, “Whatever urges on toward Christ,” this is the central theme and
12
work of the Scriptures. Yet the evangelical intention of the Bible is

diminished when its doctrine concerning godly conduct is treated in the

same manner and with the same sense of urgency and weight as the biblical

promise that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not

counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Luther recognized that such homogenization of biblical doctrine was a

fundamental confusion, a failure to distinguish between the two ways and

words of God that run through the Scriptures: God’s command and promise,

the Law and the Gospel. God’s Law is indeed the most salutary doctrine of

life, telling us what to do and how we should live, yet it “makes no

Christian. For God’s wrath and displeasure abide upon us still, because we
13
cannot keep what God demands of us.” On the contrary, as the Law shines

its bright light on what is righteous and holy, it exposes our deep moral and

spiritual failings, our invincible obsession with ourselves, our misplaced

faith, and our misdirected love. Even so, through this word of Law, God

works for our good by tearing down our idols and destroying our self-

satisfaction to make way for a very different word, one that raises us up and

gives us life. This word, the Gospel, is unlike the Law in every way, for it

does not deal with what we have done or left undone, but with God and “the

deepest abyss of His fatherly heart and His pure, inexpressible love. He has

created us for this very reason, that He might redeem and sanctify us. In

addition to giving and imparting to us everything in heaven and upon earth,

He has even given to us His Son and the Holy Spirit, who brings us to
14
Himself.”

For Luther, this distinction of Law and Gospel unlocks the mystery of

God’s dealings with His people throughout the story of Scripture. In every

encounter—whether in the call of Abraham, Jacob’s midnight wrestling

with God, Moses’ dying vision on Mount Nebo of the Promised Land,

Gideon’s clash with the Midianites, Jonah’s days in the abyss of the great

fish, Job accosted by the Deity in the whirlwind, Gabriel’s visitation to

Zechariah the priest that stopped his voice and to the Virgin Mary which

inspired her song—in all these things, God is made known as He who

uproots and destroys, builds and plants, wounds in order to heal, kills in

order to make alive. And so Christ is the crescendo and cornerstone of this

mystery, whose dying destroys death and whose resurrection begins a new

creation.

This distinction of Law and Gospel is thus not only the key to
15
interpreting the Scriptures, but it is how the Scriptures interpret us. Luther

structured the first three parts of the catechism to reflect this very thing:

first, the teaching of the Law in the Ten Commandments, then the Gospel in

the Creed, followed by the response of faith in the Lord’s Prayer. As with
the Book of Psalms, Luther understood the catechism as a summary of the

entire Bible: “For in these three parts, everything that we have in the
16
Scriptures is included in short, plain, and simple terms.” As such, Luther

exhorted all Christians to remain students of the catechism and the

17
Scriptures, to “hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.”

By the end of his life, Luther had lectured on nearly every book of the

Bible for more than thirty years, preached more than 7,000 sermons (2,300

of which we still have), and prayed the entire Psalter weekly. Yet he never

believed that he could exhaust the meaning or interpretation of the Bible. In

his final written words, scribbled on a scrap of paper two days before he

died, Luther reflected on a lifetime of reading the Scriptures and remarked

that unless one had “ruled over the churches with the prophets for a hundred

years,” one could hardly say that they have “tasted the Holy Scriptures

sufficiently.” Instead, one can only marvel and with gratitude “bow before
18
it” and “adore its every trace.”

FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY

Bayer, Oswald. “Luther as an Interpreter of Holy Scripture.” Translated by Mark

Mattes. Pages 73–85 in The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther. Edited by

Donald K. McKim. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

CTCR. Gospel and Scripture: Interrelationship of Material and Formal Principles in

Lutheran Theology. 1972.

———. The Inspiration of Scripture. 1975.

George, Timothy. Reading Scripture with the Reformers. Downers Grove, IL: IVP

Academic, 2011.

Kolb, Robert. Luther and the Stories of God: Biblical Narratives as a Foundation for

Christian Living. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

——. Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God: The Wittenberg School and Its

Scripture-Centered Proclamation. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. Luther the Expositor: Introduction to the Reformer’s Exegetical

Writings. Luther’s Works: Companion Volume. St. Louis: Concordia, 1959.

1
See AC XXVII.

2
LC Longer Preface 18.
3
See, e.g., Sermons on John 6–8 (1530–32), AE 23:248.

4
LC III 65.

5
For more on the Renaissance humanists and the Reformation, see Lewis W. Spitz,

The Renaissance and Reformation Movements, rev. ed. (St. Louis: Concordia,

1987); Robert Rosin, “Luther on Education,” in The Pastoral Luther: Essays on

Martin Luther’s Practical Theology, ed. Timothy J. Wengert (Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 2009), 117–30.

6
To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany (1524), AE 45:360.

7
Vindication of All the Articles of Luther (1520), WA 7:97.2–3 (AE 71). Cf. WA

12:413.32–34: “God is everywhere, but He is really to be found in the Holy

Scriptures, in His Word, more than anywhere else.”

8
LC Longer Preface 11.

9
LC V 31.

10
For example: “The Church of Christ makes no laws or commandments without

God’s Word. Hence all human traditions, which are called ecclesiastical

commandments, are binding upon us only insofar as they are based on and

commanded by God’s Word” (“The Ten Theses of Berne (1528),” in Reformed

Confessions of the Sixteenth Century, ed. Arthur C. Cochrane [Philadelphia:

Westminster Press, 1966], 49).

11
Avoiding the Doctrines of Men (1522), AE 35:153.

12
See Preface to James and Jude (1522, 1546), AE 35:396.

13
LC II 68.

14
LC II 64.

15
LC I 101: “The Word is so effective that whenever it is seriously contemplated,

heard, and used, it is bound never to be without fruit. It always awakens new

understanding, pleasure, and devoutness and produces a pure heart and pure

thoughts. For these words are not lazy or dead, but are creative, living words.”

16
LC Short Preface 18.

17
LSCE17, Third Commandment. See LC Longer Preface 7–11 and LSCE17,

Question 50.

18
Table Talk no. 5677 (1546), AE 54:476.
 THE LARGE CATECHISM AS A HANDBOOK

FOR PRAYER AND MEDITATION

John T. Pless

Wilhelm Löhe (1808–72) observed that out of all the catechisms in

Christendom, Luther’s Small Catechism alone could be prayed. Can this

assertion be broadened to include also the Large Catechism? While texts of

the Small Catechism can easily be transformed into petitions of supplication

and thanksgiving, this is not the case with the Large Catechism. Luther’s

poetic prose in the Small Catechism lends itself to prayer. In the Large

Catechism, Luther’s exposition of the chief parts is much more didactic as

he narrates the doctrinal content of these central Christian texts with a

polemical edge that is lacking in the Small Catechism. Nonetheless, the

Large Catechism still functions as a tool for prayer and meditation as

Christians grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ Jesus.

Martin Luther’s catechisms both the small and the large were born in

the pulpit. Heinrich Bornkamm (1901–77) describes the birth: “The Large

Catechism is one of Luther’s greatest artistic achievements. From this initial

work a second sprang forth, The Small Catechism. While the mastery of the

larger work lies in the wealth and liveliness of its articulating the faith, the

beauty of the smaller work lies in the precision with which it made matters

of faith luminous and memorable. Without the preparatory condensation of

the catechetical sermons into The Large Catechism, there would have been
1
no crystallization of the entire substance into The Small Catechism.” Not

only were the catechisms derived from preaching, they would serve the

hearers in providing an interpretative framework to understand the sermon

and meditate on the commands and promises of God.

For Luther, meditation was not a turning inward but an exercise in

listening to the external Word of God. In his Genesis lectures, he states:

“Let him who wants to contemplate in the right way reflect on his Baptism;

let him read his Bible, hear sermons, honor father and mother, and come to
the aid of a brother in distress. But let him not shut himself up in a nook . . .

and there entertain himself with his devotions and thus suppose that he is

sitting in God’s bosom and has fellowship with God without Christ, without
2
the Word, without the sacraments.” Meditation is never without the Word

of God. The Large Catechism is a tutor and guide for such meditation and

the prayer that flows from it.

In his Longer Preface to the Large Catechism, Luther reminds his

readers that when it comes to this meditation, he must remain like a child

who is being taught the catechism: “Every morning—and whenever I have

time—I read and say, word for word, the Ten Commandments, the Creed,

the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, and such. I must still read and study them
3
daily. Yet I cannot master the catechism as I wish.” In the same preface,
4
Luther extols “the profit and fruit God’s Word produces,” and how the

continual meditation on this Word is necessary so that we may be nourished

in the faith and equipped to withstand satanic assault: “We not only need all

this every day just as we need our daily bread, but we must also daily use it

against the daily and unending attacks and lurking of the devil, the master of
5
a thousand arts.” Our profound neediness and God’s command should

prompt us to meditate on God’s Word:

He solemnly commands us in Deuteronomy 6:6–8 that we should

always meditate on His precepts, sitting, walking, standing, lying

down, and rising. . . . Clearly He did not solemnly require and

command this without a purpose. For He knows our danger and need,

as well as the constant and furious assaults and temptations of devils.

He wants to warn, equip, and preserve us against them, as with a good

armor against the fiery darts and with good medicine against their evil
6
infection and temptation.

Oswald Bayer has observed that for Luther theology is not simply “faith

seeking understanding” but “faith enduring attack.” In the Large Catechism,

the reformer clearly recognizes that meditation on the Ten Commandments,

the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer are a necessity if faith is to be maintained

against the assaults that we encounter each day from our sinful flesh, the

world, and the devil.

Meditation on the First Commandment is foundational, for it anchors us

in trust in God above all things. Those who do not fear, love, and trust in the
living God meditate on Mammon and derive their security from its false

promises: “Such a person has a god by the name of ‘Mammon’ (i.e., money
7
and possessions), on which he sets all his heart.” Meditation on the First

Commandment overlaps with meditation on the First Article as our hearts

are set on God who alone is the Creator and Donor of all good things.

Meditation on the First Commandment draws us out of carnal security and

opens our eyes to all the blessings, both temporal and eternal, that the triune

God has bestowed on us.

Luther understands the Third Commandment as speaking directly to

such meditation. The Sabbath Day does not make the Word of God holy.

Rather, it is the other way around: the day is made holy by the Word of God.

Regardless of the day on the calendar, this commandment means “we

should daily be engaged with God’s Word and carry it in our hearts and

upon our lips. . . . We must especially teach the use of the Ten

Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, and so direct our whole
8
life and being according to God’s Word.”

The Large Catechism teaches meditation on God’s Word following the

pattern of Psalm 1. We are not to grow dull or become self-satisfied with

what we think we know:

Likewise, those fussy spirits are to be rebuked who, after they have

heard a sermon or two, find hearing more sermons to be tedious and

dull. They think that they know all that well enough and need no more

instruction. For that is exactly the sin that was previously counted

among mortal sins and is called akadia (i.e., apathy or satisfaction).

This is a malignant, dangerous plague with which the devil bewitches

and deceives the hearts of many so that he may surprise us and

9
secretly take God’s Word from us.

Luther’s exposition of the three articles of the Creed may best be

understood as a meditation on the Giver and the gifts:

Here we see that God gives Himself to us completely. He gives all that

He has and is able to do in order to aid and direct us in keeping the

Ten Commandments. The Father gives all creatures. The Son gives

His entire work. And the Holy Spirit bestows all His gifts. . . . For as

long as we live here, we shall daily have enough to do to preach and

10
learn this.
 The Lord’s Prayer is the voice of faith speaking to God on the basis of

His command and promise. In contrast, Luther scorns the “babbling and
11
bawling in the churches” uttered out of hypocrisy and false belief. God’s

promises—such as Psalm 50:15: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will

deliver you”—“ought to encourage and kindle our hearts to pray with

12
pleasure and delight.” Luther’s treatment of the Lord’s Prayer urges

readers to meditate on the deep treasures that God invites His children to

pray for in each petition. “Each is so great that it ought to drive us to keep
13
praying the Lord’s Prayer all our lives.”

Luther’s treatment of Baptism reveals that it is not a sacrament of

initiation seen only in the rearview mirror. It is no mere “outward thing,”

14
but God’s work. We meditate on what we value, and so we meditate on

Baptism: “Here you see again how highly and preciously we should value
15
Baptism, because in it we receive such an unspeakable treasure.” The
16
Christian life is a daily return to Baptism, occupying us for a lifetime.

In Part 5, Luther urges his readers to make both a salutary and frequent

use of the Sacrament of the Altar, inviting attention to the words Jesus used

to institute this Supper of His body and blood. “Everyone who desires to be
17
a Christian and go to this Sacrament should know them.”

In summary, the Large Catechism unfolds and unpacks the chief parts of

Christian doctrine that we may read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them.

In this life, we are never finished with them; we are indeed to continue to

grow into these texts as they strengthen us in faith and as they are weaponry

for the war against the devil, who seeks to extinguish trust in our triune

God. The Large Catechism is a practical application of Luther’s three rules:

oratio (prayer), meditatio (meditation), and tentatio (spiritual attack).

FOR FURTHER READING AND STUDY

Bayer, Oswald. “Promise and Prayer.” Pages 346–54 in Martin Luther’s Theology: A

Contemporary Interpretation. Translated by Thomas H. Trapp. Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 2008.

Haemig, Mary Jane. “Prayer.” Pages 156–70 in vol. 3 of The Oxford Encyclopedia of

Martin Luther. Edited by Derek R. Nelson and Paul R. Hinlicky. New York:

Oxford University Press, 2017.

Kleinig, John W. “Daily Provision—Daily Devotion.” Logia (Eastertide 2018): 74–75.

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
then over seventy years old and very frail, to brave a blizzard, even
for the purpose of administering a Presidential oath. However, he
decided to wait until the weather had given its ultimate indication
before changing the programme. He said afterward that as he drove
to the Capitol there were many brave citizens in the streets who gave
voice to as hearty cheers as could possibly be expected under the
circumstances.
I was being taken care of by Captain Archibald Butt, so I had
nothing except the weather to worry about. With a last hopeless look
out of doors I proceeded to don my Inauguration finery, feeling duly
thankful that it was not too springlike in its character. The
newspapers say I wore a purple satin suit, and a small hat trimmed
with gold lace and a high white aigrette. This is as good a description
as any, though it might have been more flattering, considering the
importance I attached to the subject. I remember the hat perfectly.
The aigrette was not quite as high as it started out to be. It had nearly
met an untimely end at a reception the day before where it collided
with a lighted gas-jet. Fortunately it was put out before it was greatly
damaged, but it had to be trimmed down some, and I imagined that
it exuded a faint odour of burning feathers.
At least two years before the election, when no one could
anticipate who would be the next President, President Roosevelt had
announced at a Cabinet meeting that he did not intend to ride back
to the White House with his successor. It was a precedent which he
did not like and which he desired to break. Mrs. Roosevelt went, with
her family and friends, directly from the White House to the station
to wait for her husband to join her after the Inauguration. It was
about half past eleven when Captain Butt and I started in a limousine
for the Capitol where we arrived to find the “scene set” for the
ceremonies in the Senate Chamber.
Our children were already in the gallery, waiting eagerly. It was an
event in their young lives never to be forgotten, and I believe that
Robert and Helen were in properly receptive moods. My son Charlie,
however, seems not to have been so confident. Charlie is a great lover
of adventure stories and it is a favourite tradition in the family now
that he carried with him to the Senate Chamber a copy of “Treasure
Island” with which to while away the time in case the Inaugural
address should prove too long. Charlie was only eleven years old and
I consider it a great tribute to his father’s eloquence that “Treasure
Island” was not opened that day.
This Inauguration was said to be, by persons who had seen many,
one of the most impressive ceremonies that ever opened the
administration of a President. The oath of office is usually
administered and the Inaugural address delivered from a large
platform erected in front of the Capitol before which ten thousand
people can assemble. But the ten thousand people are sure to have
been waiting in a massed crowd for an hour or more; they are always
tired and uncomfortable, so when they finally discover that few of
them can really hear anything, and that they have seen all there is to
be seen, they begin to move about and talk, the noise and agitation
greatly detracting from the impressiveness of the ceremony. Because
my husband’s Inauguration took place in the Senate Chamber it was
no less “in the sight of all the people.” There was room on the floor of
the Chamber for the whole official personnel of the Government of
the United States, resident in Washington. There were the retiring
President and his Cabinet, the Justices of the Supreme Court in their
robes of office, the Senate and the House of Representatives, besides
the foreign Ambassadors and the whole Diplomatic Corps in their
brilliant uniforms, while the galleries were crowded with official
families and a substantial number of unofficial auditors.
 MR. AND MRS. TAFT RETURNING TO THE WHITE HOUSE
MR. TAFT’S INAUGURATION

It was a great presence; and the taking of the oath and the
delivering of the Inaugural address before assembled national
authority and the world’s representatives, in a solemn silence in
which every word could be heard, left a deep impression.
As soon as Mr. Taft had finished speaking Mr. Roosevelt walked
rapidly up, and giving his hand a mighty grasp, said something which
sounded like “Bully speech, old man!” and hurried out of the
Chamber accompanied by members of his Cabinet who were to see
him off at the station. My husband told me afterward that what he
really said was: “God bless you, old man. It is a great state
document.”
Since the ex-President was not going to ride back to the White
House with his successor, I decided that I would. No President’s wife
had ever done it before, but as long as precedents were being
disregarded I thought it might not be too great a risk for me to
disregard this one. Of course, there was objection. Some of the
Inaugural Committee expressed their disapproval, but I had my way
and in spite of protests took my place at my husband’s side.
By the time the Inauguration ceremonies were concluded the skies
had cleared and the sun had come out. Mr. Taft left the Senate
Chamber with the Committee, followed by the assembled dignitaries
in the order of precedence. With Captain Butt I hurried from the
gallery and joined him in the great hall under the Dome, on his way
to the platform on the North Side where the Inauguration would
have taken place but for the weather. In front of the temporary
structure many people had gathered, and as we descended to the
front they called for the new President. In response he stepped to the
platform where the Inaugural oath was to have been administered,
and bowed repeatedly.
A platoon of mounted Police and our escort, the Cleveland City
Troop, with their elaborate and beautiful uniforms somewhat
bedraggled by the morning’s sleet and mud, met us at the steps
leading down from the platform. We entered the official coach and
four and were slowly driven down through the Capitol grounds to
Pennsylvania Avenue, and thence to the White House. As I have said,
the clouds had rolled by; the day was cold but bright; the expected
and expectant crowds were thronging the sidewalks and filling the
stands, and our greeting from them was all that my fancy had
pictured it.
For me that drive was the proudest and happiest event of
Inauguration Day. Perhaps I had a little secret elation in thinking
that I was doing something which no woman had ever done before. I
forgot the anxieties of the preceding night; the consternation caused
by the fearful weather; and every trouble seemed swept aside. My
responsibilities had not yet begun to worry me, and I was able to
enjoy, almost to the full, the realisation that my husband was actually
President of the United States and that it was this fact which the
cheering crowds were acclaiming.
There was nobody at the White House to bid us welcome except
the official staff and some of our own guests. But it didn’t matter.
There is never any ceremony about moving into the White House.
You just drive up and walk in,—and there you are. The aides and
ushers who greeted us at the entrance, treated our occupation of our
new residence so much as a matter of course that I could not help but
feel something as Cinderella must have felt when her mice footmen
bowed her into her coach and four and behaved just as if they had
conducted her to a Court Ball every night of her life. I stood for a
moment over the great brass seal, bearing the national coat-of-arms,
which is sunk in the floor in the middle of the entrance hall. “The
Seal of the President of the United States,” I read around the border,
and now—that meant my husband!
But I could not linger long because my duties as a hostess began at
once. I was not unused to the accepted regulations of official life, so,
in spite of a slight feeling that the whole thing was unreal, I was not
embarrassed as I walked into the great dining-room and took my
place by the door to receive guests for the first time as mistress of the
White House.
I had left to the efficient management of Captain Archibald Butt as
many of the details of the day’s programme as was possible. Some
time before I had carefully gone over the plans with him, we had
provided for any reasonable emergency, and I knew my instructions
would be carried out. Captain Butt—later Major Butt—had been
military aide to President Roosevelt; we had known him well, both in
the Philippines and in Washington, and we were glad to have the
opportunity of continuing him in that capacity. Whatever Major Butt
did was done faultlessly—always. During the three years he was with
us—day in and day out, upon every possible occasion, in the closest
intimacy—I never ceased to wonder at his genius for work, his
comprehensive grasp of important matters and of small details, his
extraordinary accuracy. His very presence inspired the utmost
confidence. Archie Butt, as everybody called him, became our close
and dearly loved friend. Indeed, we felt that he belonged to us, and
nothing in all our experience ever touched us as deeply as the tragedy
of his death. Returning from a short vacation abroad, he went down
on the Titanic, facing death like a soldier, after the lives of nearly all
the women and children had been saved.
We had invited a large number of people to the usual Inaugural
luncheon. The cook and several of the staff of servants were to
accompany Mrs. Roosevelt to Oyster Bay, but they remained until
the afternoon of the Fourth when the staff I had engaged were
installed. There are a few old, official servants who remain in the
house from one administration to another, keeping in operation an
uninterrupted household routine, so there was no reason why the
Inaugural luncheon should not be carried through with the same
smoothness and despatch to be expected on ordinary occasions. But
again we reckoned without the weather. The difficulties of traffic,
added to the crush on the avenues, made it impossible for our guests
to arrive on time and they continued to straggle in throughout the
whole afternoon, each one wishing to apologise in person and make
special explanation. This, of course, made anything like systematic
reception out of the question and the result was that the luncheon
really ran into and became a part of the tea for my husband’s
classmates of Yale, which was scheduled for five o’clock. There was
some confusion, but much goodwill and frank enjoyment and the fact
that the President was not there to receive his classmates caused
nothing more than a few repetitions of, by that time, familiar
comments on the elements.
Mr. Taft was reviewing the Inaugural Parade and the last of it did
not pass the reviewing stand until after nightfall. He came in,
however, in time to exchange greetings with old-time, enthusiastic
friends, the members of the Yale class of ‘78, and to hold them longer
than they had intended to remain. When the last of them had wished
us Godspeed and said good-bye, we stood, the five of us,—my
husband, my three children and I,—alone in the big state dining-
room, and tried to realise that, for the first time, the White House
was really our Home. The great walnut-panelled room, with its
silvered chandeliers and big moose heads, seemed very empty with
only the Taft family in it, after all the clatter and chatter that had
been sounding there all day. We gazed at each other for a moment,
with slightly lost expressions on our faces, and then nature asserted
herself in the new President.
 © Harris & Ewing.

THE PRIVATE DINING-ROOM OF THE

WHITE HOUSE, AND THE FAMILY
SITTING-ROOM AT THE END OF THE
LONG UPSTAIRS CORRIDOR

“Let’s go up stairs, my dears, and sit down!” said he.

Poor man, he had not experienced the blissful sensation of sitting
down since early that morning; so we proceeded out to the elevator,
which Charlie, true to his boy nature, had, of course, already learned
to operate. For once, I am glad to say, it did not stick between floors.
This was a habit to which it became addicted in later days, a habit it
was sure to indulge on occasions when the President proudly used it
for taking a large party of men upstairs after dinner. But this time he
was able, without delay, to reach the best easy-chair in the sitting-
room where he remained until I prodded him once more into activity
by reminding him that he must get into evening clothes else the
Inaugural Ball could not take place.
Not having been taxed so greatly, I was not yet ready to succumb
to fatigue; besides I was now eager to roam around the house, to
familiarise myself with the mysteries of my new home and to plan
the assignment of rooms among various members of the family who
were to come to us that very night.
The second story of the White House, where all the family living
rooms are, corresponds in spaciousness with the floor below, which,
with its broad hall, its great East Room, its large reception rooms and
state dining room, is familiar to the public. Upstairs there is a very
wide hall running the entire length of the building. The rooms
occupied by the President and his wife are in the southwest corner
and at that end of the house the hall is partially partitioned and
screened off and pleasantly furnished with desks, sofas and easy-
chairs to make a fairly large and very private family sitting-room. It
was here that I left my tired husband while I went on my first tour of
exploration.
At each of the four corners of the house there is a suite; all
arranged on the same plan, exactly alike, except as to decoration.
Each consists of an exceedingly large bedroom with a spacious bath,
and a smaller room adjoining which may be used as a bedroom or
dressing-room. I went first into the large bedroom which my
husband and I expected to occupy. The windows of this room look
out on the White House gardens where the large fountain plays, and,
beyond, on the Washington Monument, the Potomac River and the
distant Virginia hills. This, I think, is the most glorious vista in
Washington, which is a city of splendid vistas, and seeing it that
March night by the long line of lights which stretch across the
Potomac bridge and meet the lights of Arlington, it was, indeed,
inspiring.
The room was the room where Lincoln slept, indeed, where every
President since Jackson has slept. A tablet under the mantel states
this fact. It is the room which must necessarily have more intimate
and personal association with the men who have occupied the White
House than any other. Other parts of the house have been the scenes
of great historic events and of magnificent hospitality, but here, one
after another, the Presidents of the United States have really lived
and been at home.
Its furnishings have, undoubtedly, been changed many times and
yet I found it to contain many old and interesting pieces. The most
striking object in the room was an enormous four-poster bed with a
great curved canopy of wood, decorated with carved and gilded
eagles and upholding heavy draperies of blue and white brocade. In
this bed, we had been told, the Prince of Wales slept when he visited
this country in 1860, but on the first night I discovered that,
whatever its historic interest, I did not like it as a bed to sleep in. I
soon replaced it with two smaller mahogany beds and I dispensed
altogether with the draperies. There were canopies of the same
gilded eagles over the windows, and the curtains suspended from
them, as well as the upholstery of the sofa and chairs, were of the
same blue and white brocade. Some of the furniture was colonial,
some Victorian. The colonial furniture in the White House is very
good and there is quite a lot of it in all the bedrooms, but many of the
bureaus and wardrobes are of the scarcely-to-be-called beautiful
style of the Victorian era. I secured for our room, later on, the beds, a
dressing-table and some chairs, all colonial. These were about the
only pieces of furniture I bought for the White House. I also
substituted heavy chintz for the brocade draperies and upholstery,
and did away with the canopies entirely, as they seemed to me to be
too heavy for a sleeping room. The small room in the corner of our
suite Mr. Taft used for a dressing-room.
The corresponding suite across the hall I gave to Helen, my
daughter. It had been occupied by both of the Misses Roosevelt and
before them, I believe, by Mrs. McKinley. It had been fitted up in
pretty flowered chintz for Miss Ethel Roosevelt, after Miss Alice had
married, and we left it unchanged.
I strolled down the hall, which contains only a large table and a
few portraits of Presidents for which there is no wall space down
stairs, and looked into the Library which is exactly in the center of
the house on the south side. It is oval like the Blue Drawing Room
beneath it and it is a little dark in the daytime, being shaded by the
roof of the south portico. This was Mrs. Roosevelt’s favourite room
and it had been fitted most charmingly with many of her own
belongings, but as they were now gone and my own had not yet been
moved in, it looked rather bare. The furniture had not been
upholstered for many years and it was a little shabby. Later on I had
it all recovered and the walls of the room retinted, and when I had
put in some of the Oriental tapestries and handsome pieces of
furniture which I had brought with me from the Far East it made a
very beautiful and livable room. We used it a great deal, especially
when there were guests, but for the family the sitting-room at the
end of the hall was always the favourite gathering place.
Opposite the Library a short corridor extends to the window under
the roof of the front portico and on each side of this doors open into
smaller bedrooms; smaller, that is, in comparison with the four large
ones. Even these would be considered large in an ordinary house.
One of them I assigned to the housekeeper and the other to my two
sons. The boys’ room was rather dark, with its windows directly
under the roof of the portico; and it was furnished, moreover, in dark
red, a colour which does not add light to gloominess, but the boys got
it because they were the members of the family who would care the
least and who would be the most away.
The great staircase descends from the central hall just beyond
these rooms and facing the staircase is the President’s Study. The
eastern end of the building was all used as offices until the new
offices were built and the house restored in accordance with the
original plan. The Presidents with large families must, indeed, have
been in an uncomfortable situation when they had to confine
themselves to the rooms in the west end, the only rooms then
available for living purposes. The facts are that such families found
the house to be less commodious than a “five-room flat,” as the wife
of one President expressed it. I believe the Roosevelts, until the
house was remodelled, were unable to accommodate one guest.
 © Harris & Ewing.

TWO WHITE HOUSE BEDROOMS

SHOWING FINE OLD COLONIAL BEDS

There is a story that when Prince Henry of Prussia was in

Washington, President Roosevelt invited him to ride. The Prince
accepted and just before the appointed hour appeared at the White
House in his street clothes, accompanied by a valet bearing his riding
clothes. He had very naturally expected to change at the White
House, but it happened that on that day there was not one room that
could even be prepared for a Royal dressing-room, so the President
was compelled to request His Highness to return to the German
Embassy to change. I believe this incident had the effect of hastening
the deliberations of the members of the Appropriations Committee
of the House who were then leisurely figuring on the amount
necessary for the restoration.
Senator McMillan, who was at the head of the District Committee
in the Senate, and who, in his lifetime was the leading spirit in the
improvement of Washington, in the revival of the L’Enfant plan, and
in the creation of a Commission of Fine Arts to pass upon
contemplated structures and changes, conferred with Mr. and Mrs.
Roosevelt and with Senator Allison of the Appropriations
Committee, and by an amendment in the Senate, in the spring of
1902, to which Speaker Cannon and the House Appropriations
Committee assented, the necessary funds for this restoration were
eventually provided and, most fortunately, the whole work was
committed to Mr. James McKim, of McKim, Meade and White, who,
among all the architectural monuments to his genius which he left,
left no greater evidence of his mastery of his art than this. He added
the gracefully beautiful terraces on either side, equipped with electric
light standards, and in accord, really, with the original plan of the
house, and utilised them in a most ingenious way. He made of the
one on the west a very dignified and convenient approach, through
the basement, for large companies attending state entertainments.
Cloak stands for the accommodation of thousands were fitted into
each side of this passageway and guests now are able to dispose of
their wraps and proceed to the staircase leading up to the main hall
on the first floor without the slightest interruption or discomfort.
The ample and airy space beneath the high portico on the south
side was used for domestic offices and servants’ quarters, thus
greatly increasing the capacity of the house, and the construction of
the very convenient executive office building, reached by a covered,
or cloistered passage from the White House basement, was carried
out on lines so like in style and appearance to the north portico, so
low and classically simple, that it detracts nothing from the general
effect and interferes in no way with the dignified outlines of the
home of the Nation’s Chief Magistrate.
During the reconstruction the President and Mrs. Roosevelt lived
either at Oyster Bay or in a house a few steps from the White House
on Lafayette Square. Mr. McKim frequently consulted Mrs.
Roosevelt as to interior changes and many of her views were
adopted, so that the woman’s side of the new White House was well
looked after.
The work took longer and cost more than was expected and this
elicited much criticism of the architect as well as of the architectural
result. His aim had been to make as little outward change in the
main lines as possible and yet to make as great a change as space
would permit in interior accommodation. Considering what he had
to accomplish his success was remarkable. But the Philistines among
the Congressmen and Senators, who don’t like architects anyway,
found much to complain of. In their daily visits to the President they
did not, by Mr. McKim’s plan, reach him through the historic front
entrance, supported by the great, white pillars, but they were
relegated to a business office, simply and conveniently equipped, and
it offended the sense of due proportion of some of them as to who
were the real power in the government, the legislative
representatives calling on business or the social guests of the
President.
But now, after all the ignorance, ill-feeling and prejudice displayed
in the most unjust attacks upon Mr. McKim, those whose judgment
is worth anything, and that includes the whole body of the people of
the United States, rejoice in their hearts that the greatest of
American architects was given a free hand to adapt to modern needs,
but also to preserve in its dignity and beauty, this most appropriate
official home of the Head of the Republic.
These observations may not be in place just here, but they
occurred to me on the first evening of my occupancy of the White
House, and I congratulated myself that I was to enjoy the results of
that successful reconstruction of what had been a most
uncomfortable mansion.
The President’s Study, as it is now called, is the only room of the
old Executive offices which has not been changed into a sleeping
room. It is now the President’s more personal office where he can
receive callers more privately than in the new office building. A small
bronze tablet under the mantel tells, in simple words, the history of
the room. Here all the Presidents since Johnson held their Cabinet
meetings, and here the Protocol suspending hostilities with Spain
was signed in McKinley’s administration. A picture of that event,
painted by Chartran, hangs in the room and conveys a remarkably
vivid impression of the men who had a part in it. The faces of
President McKinley, of Justice Day, who was then Secretary of State,
and of M. Cambon, the French Ambassador, are especially striking.
This room, in which there had been a great many personal mementos
gathered by Mr. Roosevelt in his interesting career, also looked, after
their removal, rather bare on that evening of my first inspection and,
save for the pictures and the tablet, had little in its character to make
real in one’s mind the great events that it had witnessed. Yet, as I
roamed around that evening, the whole house was haunted for me by
memories of the great men and the charming women whose most
thrilling moments, perhaps, had been spent under its roof, and I was
unable to feel that such a commonplace person as I had any real
place there. This feeling passed, however, for though I was always
conscious of the character which a century of history had impressed
upon the White House, it came, nevertheless, to feel as much like
home as any house I have ever occupied. That Study, which seemed
at the moment so much a part of American history and so little even
a temporary possession of the Taft family, was later hung with
amusing cartoons illustrative of events in Mr. Taft’s career, with
photographs of his friends, and with what are called at Yale
“memorabilia” of his varied experiences, and it became, in time, for
us all, peculiarly his room.
The Blue Bedroom, where we had slept the night before as guests
of the Roosevelts, belongs to one of the four corner suites and I
planned to give it to my sister Eleanor, Mrs. Louis More, and her
husband, while the smaller room in the same suite I assigned to Miss
Torrey, our Aunt Delia—and during our administration apparently
the country’s “Aunt Delia.” She had been staying with us at the
Boardmans’ and was probably enjoying the Inauguration of her
nephew more than anyone in Washington. The last of the suites,
which was exactly like the blue suite except that it was hung in pink
brocade, I gave to my husband’s sister and brother-in-law, Dr. and
Mrs. Edwards of San Diego.
When I had finished my explorations and arrangements I glanced
at the clock in the Pink Room and discovered that I had no time to
lose before beginning that important toilet which would make me
ready for the Inaugural Ball, the last, but not the least of the
Inaugural functions.
 I hurried to my room and found the hairdresser waiting for me. I
sat down with a feeling of great comfort and submitted myself with
hopeful patience to her ministrations. But she was so overcome by
the greatness of the occasion that, although she was quite
accustomed to the idiosyncrasies of my hair, she was not able to
make it “go right” until she had put it up and taken it down twice,
and even then it was not as perfectly done as I had fondly hoped it
would be. I believe this hairdressing process made me more nervous
than anything else in the whole course of the day.
While it was going on, my new gown lay glittering on the bed,
where the maid had placed it, and I was very anxious to get into it. It
had given me several days of awful worry. It was made in New York
and the dressmaker had promised that I should have it at least a
week before it was needed so that any necessary changes could easily
be made. But day after day went by and no dress,—the third of March
arrived and then I began, frantically, to telegraph. I finally received
the reassuring advice that the dress was on its way in the hands of a
special messenger, but the special messenger was, with many other
people, held up for hours by the blizzard and did not arrive at the
Boardmans’ until after I had left for the White House, wondering,
disconsolately, what on earth I should wear to the Inaugural Ball if it
happened that the messenger couldn’t get there at all. The suspense
had been fearful and it was a comfortable relief to see the gown all
spread out and waiting for me.
It was made of heavy white satin which I had sent to Tokyo to have
embroidered, and the people who did the work surely knew their art.
A pattern of golden-rod was outlined by a silver thread and cleverly
fitted into the long lines of the gown, and no other trimming had
been used except some lace with which the low-cut bodice was
finished. It fitted me admirably and I hoped that, in spite of all the
mishaps in my preparations, I looked my best as I descended from
the White House automobile at the entrance of the Pension Office.
The Pension Office was not built for balls, Inaugural or otherwise,
and on the evening of March Fourth, 1909, after a day of melting
sleet and snow, the entrance was not especially inviting. Neither was
the dressing-room which had been assigned to me. I suppose that for
years it had rung with the ceaseless click of scores of typewriters and
that its walls had beheld no more elaborate costume than a business
blouse and skirt since the occasion of the last Inaugural Ball which
had marked the beginning of the second Roosevelt administration
four years before. But as I needed to do very little “prinking” it really
didn’t matter and I quickly rejoined the President and proceeded, on
his arm, to the Presidential Box, this being a small round gallery
above the main entrance of the great ballroom which is itself, in
everyday life, the principal workroom of the Pension Office.
A brilliant, an almost kaleidoscopic scene spread before us. The
hall is of tremendous proportions, pillared with red marble and with
walls tinted in the same colour. Every inch of floor space seemed to
be occupied. The bright colours and the gleam of women’s gowns
met and clashed, or harmonised with the brighter colours of
diplomatic uniforms. Officers of the Army and Navy, in full regalia,
mingled with the hundreds of men in the plain black of formal
evening dress. It was a wonderful glittering throng, more
magnificent than any I have ever seen. It was not possible to
distinguish individuals except in the space directly below the box, but
there, as I looked down, I saw a great semi-circle of faces—
thousands, it seemed to me—smilingly upturned toward us. The din
of human voices was terrific; even the loudest band procurable had
difficulty in making itself heard. But the scene was so gay in colour,
and the faces that gazed up at us were so friendly and happy that I
felt elated and not at all overwhelmed.
The first person whom my eyes rested upon in the box was Aunt
Delia, already installed in a chair near the back and drinking in the
scene with visible pleasure. Aunt Delia, at that time, was eighty-three
years old, but not for anything would she have missed one feature of
this crowning day of her life. Having no children of her own, she had
for many years given the greater part of her thought and interest to
her nephews and nieces, and she followed every step in my
husband’s career with an absorption, not to say an excitement, as
great as my own. All day long she had travelled from ceremony to
ceremony, conducted by Lieutenant Reed, one of the Naval aides.
She would arrive, leaning on his arm, among the first at each
appointed place, ready and eager for any new event. She didn’t miss
even the late supper of birds, salads and ices which was served to us
later that night, before we left the Ball. And now she sat in the
President’s Box, her soft, white hair arranged by the best hairdresser,
gowned in rich, old-fashioned, black velvet, adorned with all the
good old lace which she had been treasuring for years for an occasion
justifying its display.
The Vice-President and Mrs. Sherman arrived shortly after we did
and shared the box with us. They also had with them a large family
party and were both so jolly and so much in the festive spirit that
formality disappeared. Many friends and officials of distinction
came, in the course of the evening, to pay their respects; and
members of our own family came and went at intervals as they were
inclined.
I may as well say here that my husband and I both came from such
large families that all Washington, at the time of the Inauguration,
seemed filled with our near and dear relatives. Mr. and Mrs. Charles
P. Taft took a comfortable house for ten days, while Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Taft and Mr. Horace Taft were at the New Willard.
About eleven o’clock the President and I descended to the
ballroom floor, followed by Vice-President and Mrs. Sherman and, as
is the custom, proceeded slowly down the length of the hall and back
between the closely packed rows of people who stood aside to make
room for our promenade. This ceremonious parade was not as trying
for me as it may sound, for not only did I have the reassurance of my
husband’s arm, but the crowd was too large to seem very personal.
So I was quite serene, except for frequent spasms of anxiety lest my
gorgeous length of train be stepped on.
Except for this ceremony, and for a short supper which was served
to us and a few invited guests in a private room, the President and I
remained in the box until shortly after one o’clock when we once
more descended and made our way to a waiting automobile which
very quickly whisked us away to much needed rest.
However, I must still have had energy enough left to worry over
domestic arrangements since the last thing I remember of that
eventful day was a hearty laugh from my husband when I exclaimed
in sleepy tones: “I wonder where we had all better have breakfast in
the morning!”
 CHAPTER XVII
THE WHITE HOUSE

The members of my family, and especially my children, are prone

to indulgence in good-natured personalities and they like to make
the most of my serious attitude toward my domestic responsibilities,
saying that I make them three times as difficult as they need be by a
too positive insistence on my own methods.
Perhaps I did make the process of adjusting the White House
routine to my own conceptions a shade too strenuous, but I could not
feel that I was mistress of any house if I did not take an active
interest in all the details of running it.
The management of the White House is, of course, a larger task
than many women are ever called upon to perform, and, incidentally,
the same “white light that beats upon a throne” sheds its sometimes
uncomfortable radiance upon the usually unprepared heads of
America’s Chief Executive and his family. Accustomed as I had been
for years to publicity, yet it came as a sort of shock to me that nearly
everything I did, and especially my slightest innovation, had what the
reporters call “news value.”
I have lived too much in other countries ever to underestimate the
importance of outward form, yet I think I may claim a wholesome
regard for and a constant acquiescence in the principles of
democratic simplicity, though not the kind of “democratic simplicity”
which is usually written in quotation marks.
I made very few changes, really. As a matter of fact no President’s
wife ever needs to unless she so desires, because the White House is
a governmental institution thoroughly equipped and always in good
running order. Each new mistress of the house has absolute
authority, of course, and can do exactly as she pleases, just as she
would in any other home, but in the beginning I confined my efforts
largely to minor matters connected with the house service itself. I
wished to install certain members of the house personnel of my own
choosing, and this I did. Later I made some changes in a few
important social usages.
There are certain duties connected with the White House routine
which have been performed by the same employés throughout one
Administration after another and each new President’s wife finds
these men invaluable and wonders, I am sure, how the White House
could ever be run without them. For instance, there are Mr. Warren
S. Young, who has been for thirty years the Social Executive Officer,
and Colonel W. H. Crook, who became Chief Custodian under
Lincoln in 1865 and is holding the same office to-day. The duties of
each of these men are delicate in the extreme, but they know their
work down to the minutest detail and it would be difficult to measure
their value to the woman who, in public opinion, is wholly
responsible for the White House.
As to my own innovations, I decided in the first place to have, at all
hours, footmen in livery at the White House door to receive visitors
and give instructions to sightseers. Before my time there had been
only “gentlemen ushers” who were in no way distinguishable from
any other citizen and many a time I have seen strangers wander up to
the door looking in vain for someone to whom it seemed right and
proper to address a question or to hand a visiting card. The
gentlemen ushers I retained, the head usher, Mr. Hoover, having
become invaluable through similar service under every
Administration since Cleveland’s first, but I put six coloured men in
blue livery at the door, two at a time, relieving each other at intervals,
and I think many a timid visitor has had reason to be thankful for the
change. Incidentally they lend a certain air of formal dignity to the
entrance which, in my opinion, it has always lacked.
These footmen received everybody who sought to enter the White
House. If it happened to be a party of tourists they were directed to
such parts of the building as are open to the public at stated hours; if
it were a caller, either social or official, he or she was conducted to
one of the drawing rooms. But sensible as this innovation seemed to
me, it met a varied criticism from the adherents, sincere and
otherwise, of our too widely vaunted “democratic simplicity.”
 Another change I made was the substitution of a housekeeper for a
steward. I wanted a woman who could relieve me of the supervision
of such details as no man, expert steward though he might be, would
ever recognise. The White House requires such ordinary attention as
is given by a good housekeeper to any house, except, perhaps, that it
has to be more vigilantly watched. Dust accumulates in corners;
mirrors and picture glasses get dim with dampness; curtains sag or
lose their crispness; floors lose their gloss; rugs turn up at corners or
fray at the ends; chair covers get crumpled; cushions get crushed and
untidy; things get out of order generally; and it is a very large house.
Kitchen helpers grow careless and neglect their shining copper pots
and pans and kettles; pantry boys forget and send in plates or glasses
not polished to perfection; maids forget to be immaculate and linen
is not properly handled; they are just like employés in other homes
and they need a woman’s guidance and control. I engaged my
housekeeper before my husband’s Inauguration and she reported for
duty on the morning of March fifth.
If I could remember how many turkeys the President gives away
every Christmas I could tell just how many persons there are in the
White House service. I know it is something like one hundred, but
they go to employés of all kinds, to important house officials, to
minor officials, to servants of high and low degree, to gardeners,
stable boys, chauffeurs and all.
The staff of the White House proper is not so numerous, eighteen
or twenty perhaps, including cooks, kitchen maids, butlers, boys,
housemaids and laundresses. There was one coloured cook, Alice,
who prepared the meals for the servants’ dining-room and who had
been in the White House twenty years.
My head cook, whom I engaged, was Swedish. She was a miracle of
a cook, but she displayed a romantic tendency as well. She must have
been about forty, apparently quite staid, when she acquired a
husband, a policeman on duty at the White House, and, in due
course, a baby. She had been married only a little over a year when
her husband contracted tuberculosis. We had always been very much
interested in her, deploring the home-making tendency which took
her away from us, so when we learned of her misfortune Mr. Taft
immediately took steps to have her husband sent to Ft. Bayard, the
Military Tuberculosis Sanatorium in New Mexico. The cook, who