Introduction

Master. Since a master should be a second parent to his students, not of their bodies but of their minds, I recognize that my duty calls me, dear child, not merely to instruct you in learning and good conduct, but to fill your mind, while it is still young, with sound beliefs and true religion. Childhood should be trained in godliness no less than in the arts of civilization, and indeed far more so. With that in mind, I intend to examine you through a series of short questions, so that I can know with confidence whether you have applied yourself well to these matters.

Scholar. For my part, most respected master, I will gladly answer your questions as best I can, drawing on what my mind has been able to grasp and retain, and on what I can now recall of what you have taught me from the holy scriptures.

Master. Very well then. Tell me: what religion do you profess?

Scholar. The religion I profess, most respected master, is the one whose Author and Teacher is the Lord Christ himself, and which is therefore rightly and properly called the Christian religion, just as those who hold it are called Christians.

Master. Do you then acknowledge yourself to be a follower of Christian faith and godliness, and a student of our Lord and teacher, Christ?

Scholar. I do acknowledge it, sincerely and freely. More than that, I place in it the whole of my happiness, for it is the highest good available to any person, and without it our condition would be far more wretched than that of the animals.

Master. Good. Then I would like you to give me a brief and clear account of what Christian religion and godliness actually are, since the name itself is so honored and sacred. Offer me some definition of it.

Scholar. The Christian religion is the true and faithful worship of God and the keeping of His commandments.

Master. From whom do you think it should be learned?

Scholar. From none other than the heavenly word of God Himself, which He has left to us in written form within the holy scriptures.

Master. What writings are you referring to when you speak of the word of God and the holy scriptures?

Scholar. Only those that were first published through Moses and the holy prophets, the friends of Almighty God, who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament; and afterward, more plainly still, in the New Testament through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and through His holy apostles, who were themselves filled with the Spirit of God. These writings have been preserved to our own time, whole and uncorrupted.

Master. Why did God choose to reveal His word to us in written form?

Scholar. Because we, on our own (such is the darkness of our hearts), are incapable of understanding the will of Almighty God, and yet true godliness consists precisely in knowing Him and obeying Him. God, taking pity on us, has opened that will to us and set it out with clarity; and what He has so clearly set out He has preserved in the book of the two Testaments, which we call the holy scriptures. He did this so that we would not be tossed about uncertainly from one direction to another, but would instead find in His heavenly teaching something like a sure and certain path into heaven.

Master. Why do you call God's word a Testament?

Scholar. Because it's clear that when we think about religion, the most important thing is understanding the will of the living God. The word "Testament" signifies not just any will, but a final and unchangeable one, and this reminds us that in matters of religion we should follow nothing beyond what God Himself has taught us there. Just as there is only one true God, there is only one genuine form of worship and one pure religion devoted to that God. Without this principle, we would constantly be inventing new religions for ourselves. Every nation, every city, and every individual would end up with their own private version of faith. We would be guided not by true religion and genuine godliness, which are the beginning and foundation of all virtue, but by superstition, which is nothing more than a deceptive imitation of godliness. This is made painfully obvious by the countless so-called religions of the ancient pagan nations, which were really nothing better than foolish superstitions, despite the fact that those same peoples were often remarkably wise in worldly affairs.

Master. Are you saying, then, that everything necessary for godliness and salvation is contained within the written word of God?

Scholar. Yes, absolutely. It would be a mark of intolerable arrogance and foolishness to think either that God left us an incomplete doctrine or that human beings could perfect what God left unfinished. That is precisely why the Lord has strictly forbidden anyone from adding to or removing anything from His word, or from turning away from it in any direction.

Master. If that's true, then what is the point of all the things so frequently decreed in councils and church assemblies, or taught by learned men in their preaching and writings?

Scholar. All of these things serve either to explain difficult passages of God's word and resolve controversies that arise among people, or to establish the outward governance of the Church in an orderly way. They do not exist to create new articles of religion. Everything necessary for salvation must be learned from God's word: how true and uncorrupted worship is to be offered to God; what obedience God requires, since that obedience alone shapes a godly life; what trust we should place in God; how God is to be called upon and all good things attributed to Him; and what form should be observed in celebrating the divine mysteries. All of these things, I say, can only be learned from God's word. Without that knowledge, they are either completely unknown or carried out in the most absurd ways, so that it would be far better they were not done at all. The Lord Himself testifies that ignorance of Scripture is the mother of all errors, and in His own teaching He consistently appeals to the written word of God and directs us to learn from it. For this reason, even in ancient times, God's word was read aloud in churches, and the help of teachers was sought whenever they could be found, as the histories of the Church make clear. And the Lord Himself, just before His ascension into heaven, gave His chosen apostles one primary charge: to instruct all people throughout the world with His word. Paul, following that same example, ordered that teachers be appointed in every church to instruct the people, because he understood well that faith and everything belonging to godliness depends on the reading and hearing of God's word, and that apostles, teachers, prophets, and interpreters are therefore absolutely essential in the Church of God.

Master. Do you think, then, that we are bound to hear such teachers and interpreters?

Scholar. We should receive them just as we would receive the Lord Himself, insofar as they teach only what they have received from Him. Christ Himself confirms this: "He that heareth you, heareth me; he that despiseth you, despiseth me." Beyond that, He has given these preachers of His word the power to bind and loose, so that whatever sins they pardon or retain on earth through the word of God will likewise be pardoned or retained in heaven.

Master. Is it enough to hear them speak on religion once?

Scholar. We should be students of Christ to the very end, or rather, without any end at all. It is not enough to begin; we must also continue. We are so prone to dullness and forgetfulness that we need to be taught and reminded repeatedly, urged forward again and again, and, as it were, pulled by the ear. Things heard only once or rarely are far more likely to slip from the mind. For this reason, as was noted earlier, every Sabbath day the people gathered together, the word of God was read aloud, and any qualified interpreters present were heard. This is clear from the ecclesiastical histories, and the custom continues in our churches today, established by the authority of the apostles and therefore of God Himself.

Master. Do you think, then, that the word of God should be read in a foreign language that the people cannot understand?

Scholar. To do that would be to mock God and His people in the most blatant way imaginable, shamelessly abusing them both. God commands that His word be read plainly to young and old, men and women alike, precisely so that everyone may understand it and learn to fear the Lord their God, as He Himself makes clear throughout Scripture. It would be a cruel joke, then, if the word of God, which God Himself appointed to teach His people, were read to them in a language they don't understand and from which they can learn nothing. St. Paul addresses this very issue and draws a clear conclusion: the unlearned cannot say "Amen" to a prayer of thanksgiving they don't understand; readers and hearers become strangers to one another when anything spoken in the congregation goes over the heads of those present. Paul himself would rather speak five words in church that people can understand than ten thousand words that leave them in the dark.

Master. Is it enough, then, to have done our duty if we simply make the effort to hear and understand the word of God?

Scholar. No. We must not only hear and understand the word of God, but also receive it with a firm and settled conviction, embracing it as the truth of God that has come down from heaven. We must love it sincerely, submit ourselves to it with a genuine desire to learn, and shape our minds to obey it, so that once it is planted in our hearts it may take deep root and bear the fruit of a godly life, ordered according to its rule, and so lead us to the salvation for which it was ordained. It is therefore certain that we must put every effort into reading it, studying it, and hearing it both privately and publicly, so that we may genuinely profit from it. But profit we cannot, in any meaningful sense, if it is presented to us in a language we don't know.

Master. But can we reach the kind of perfection you're describing simply by reading the word of God, diligently hearing it, and sitting under those who teach it?

Scholar. Since it is God's wisdom that we seek, all our efforts in teaching or learning it would be pointless unless God graciously instructs our hearts through His Spirit. As Paul teaches, planting and watering are useless unless God gives the growth. Therefore, if we are to grasp the wisdom of God hidden in His word, we must earnestly pray that He would illuminate our minds, which are clouded by deep darkness. For the Lord has promised to send us a teacher from heaven, the Spirit who will guide us into all truth.

Master. Into what main parts do you divide the whole word of God?

Scholar. Into the law and the gospel.

Master. How do we tell these two apart?

Scholar. The law sets out our duties: both godliness toward God, meaning the true worship of God, and love toward our neighbor. It strictly demands our full obedience, and to those who obey it promises eternal life, while to those who disobey it pronounces warnings and punishment, and ultimately eternal death. The gospel, on the other hand, contains the promises of God. To those who have broken the law, provided they repent of their wrongdoing, it promises that God will show mercy through faith in Christ.

Master. So far, then, you have explained that the word of God reveals His will, contains everything necessary for salvation, and calls us to study it earnestly and listen carefully to those who teach and explain it. Above all, you have said that we must seek through prayer a teacher sent from heaven, and you have described what the word of God is and what it consists of.

Scholar. That is correct.

Master. Since Christian religion flows from God's word as water from a spring, just as you have already divided God's word into its parts, now divide religion itself for me as well, drawing it out of God's word and breaking it into its components, so that we can clearly determine what each part is meant to accomplish and, so to speak, what target each one is aimed at.

Scholar. Just as God's word has two principal parts, so does religion: obedience, which the law commands as the perfect rule of righteousness, and faith, which the gospel requires as it embraces the promises of God's mercy.

Master. It seems, though, that religion may have either more parts or different ones, since the holy scriptures sometimes use other terms when dividing it.

Scholar. That's true. Sometimes theologians divide the whole of religion into faith and charity, and sometimes into repentance and faith. They substitute charity for obedience in some cases, since the law requires perfect charity toward God and other people; and in other cases, because we fail to render either the obedience or the charity we should, they replace it with repentance, which sinners most urgently need in order to receive God's mercy. Others, preferring a more detailed framework, identify four parts: first, from the law, a knowledge of our duty and the condemnation that follows when we abandon it; second, from the gospel, a knowledge of and trust in our deliverance; third, prayer and the seeking of God's mercy and help; and fourth, thanksgiving for our deliverance and for all the other blessings God gives us. But whatever names different teachers use, they are pointing to the same realities, and everything else ultimately refers back to those two central parts: obedience and faith, which together contain the whole substance of our religion. When many writers add invocation, thanksgiving, and the sacred mysteries closely bound up with these (what are commonly called the sacraments) as separate parts, they are in fact already included within those first two. No one can truly fulfill their duty to God, whether in trust or in obedience, who will not, when necessity presses on them, flee to God, attribute all things to Him, and, when the time and occasion are right, make proper use of His holy mysteries.

Master. I agree with you that everything can be reduced to these two parts, if one is willing to treat the subject with precision and some strictness. But since children cannot be expected to follow the most rigorous kind of division, I would prefer that you divide religion into more parts in a somewhat plainer way, so that the whole subject becomes clearer. Let us handle these things more broadly, then, so long as we handle them more openly as well.

Scholar. Since you prefer to deal with me in plainer terms, I can conveniently expand two parts into four, dividing all of religion into obedience, faith, invocation, and sacraments.

Master. Very well, then. Since I want this discussion of religion to be as clear as possible, let us follow this order: first, to examine obedience, which the law requires; second, faith, which looks to and embraces the promises of the gospel; third, invocation and thanksgiving, which are most closely connected to each other; fourth and finally, the sacraments and mysteries of God.

Scholar. And I, honored master, will gladly answer your questions according to my limited understanding, as I have been taught by the holy scriptures.