Antidote to False Doctrine

The core texts of Martin Luther’s Small Catechism always included the Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, and Lord’s Prayer. Along with the other chief parts that are found in the catechisms, Luther also provided explanations of the sacraments, a table of scripture passages for the household (showing Biblical decrees for various vocations), prayers, and liturgical orders, etc. Each of these builds on what Luther lays out as the foundations of faith.

The upcoming Bible Study at Good Shepherd will cause us to drill-down on what it means to be a Christian. In our time together we will see how what Luther gave us is truly a user’s guide to both the Bible and the hymnal, as it serves as a road map to the very heart and core of the Bible. We discovered in our recent study of “Has American Christianity Failed” (Bryan Wolfmueller) how easy it is for us Christians to misinterpret the Bible, so our study will give us tools to help identify the wrong turns in our journey.

St. Luke writes (Acts 2:42) that those who were baptized on the Day of Pentecost “were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” This word “teaching” is a great word; in Greek, it is “Didache”. Didache means “teaching” or “doctrine.” What we will be exploring each Wednesday afternoon will be the teaching/doctrine which we have received from the Lord in His Word. Our teaching/doctrine is not our own, but the Lord’s. This teaching/doctrine has as its source the Holy Scriptures. We confess each Sunday in the Creed that we believe in “One holy Christian and apostolic Church.” The doctrine or teaching drawn from Holy Scripture is what the apostles taught, and we will learn the same. Therefore, four books will serve as our primary sources: The Bible, the Large and Small Catechism, and our hymnal.

I am honestly looking forward to everyone’s participation. Our time together will serve as a wonderful antidote to the cancerous false-doctrines that are so prevalent in American Christianity today.