Luther’s Large Catechism: Baptism

Martin Luther, The Large Catechism (1529), Part Fourth

Martin Luther (1483–1546)

Keeps one foot dry and the other in the Word.

Catch rate: 135 / 255
Base research: 130
Stat total: 240

Base stats

Every stat is a checkable fact about the actual book, not a designer's mood. Bars are drawn against the highest value any book reaches.

Stamina60

Contend62

Defend54

Popularity64

Total240

Why these numbers

The game's own explanation, as a reader sees it in the backpack.

Stamina 60

STAMINA — Moderate. It is one part of a short book.

Contend 62

CONTEND — Moderate. It is a teaching book, not a polemic.

Defend 54

DEFEND — Solid. It answers the objection that water cannot do anything.

Popularity 64

POPULARITY — High. It has been read aloud in churches for five hundred years.

Cited for this book

Luther wrote the Large Catechism in 1529 for pastors who had to teach it. Its section on baptism says it is God’s command and God’s work, that the water is nothing without the Word and everything with it, and that a Christian has enough in baptism to learn and practise all his life. When he was afraid, he is said to have written on his table: I am baptized.

Moves learned

By levelling up. A book that develops keeps what it knew and learns the rest on its new schedule.

Lv	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr	Acc	PP
1	Random Verse	Bible	Argument	10	100%	30
1	No Human Trifle	Faith	Argument	66	100%	15
9	A Bath-Keeper’s Baptism	Faith	Argument	62	100%	20
17	Nevertheless, I Am Baptized	Faith	Argument	58	100%	25
30	Chapter…	Bible	Scripture	—	—	12

The quotes behind its moves

How to read these. In Scholar’s Dream, books argue with each other. Each thing a book can do in a debate is a move, and most moves carry a real quotation — the words the book puts on the table when it uses that move.

Strong against lists the opposing books and arguments a move was written to answer. Used against one of them, it hits much harder than usual: ×2 means twice the normal force, ×4 four times. It is the game’s way of saying: this is the sentence that answers that argument. Open an entry to read why.

“I can boast that Baptism is no human trifle, but instituted by God Himself, moreover, that it is most solemnly and strictly commanded that we must be baptized or we cannot be saved, lest any one regard it as a trifling matter, like putting on a new red coat.”
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Part Fourth, “Of Baptism” (trans. F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau, 1921, public domain).public domain

No Human Trifle

FaithArgument · power 66 · 100% accurate

In the gameLuther on why baptism is not to be treated lightly. It was instituted by God, and God has commanded it. It is not like putting on a new red coat.

“For if the Word is separated from it, the water is the same as that with which the servant cooks, and may indeed be called a bath-keeper’s baptism. But when it is added, as God has ordained, it is a Sacrament, and is called Christ-baptism.”
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Part Fourth, “Of Baptism” (trans. F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau, 1921, public domain).public domain

A Bath-Keeper’s Baptism

FaithArgument · power 62 · 100% accurate

In the gameLuther’s joke with a serious edge. Without the Word, he says, baptismal water is the water the servant cooks with. With the Word it is a sacrament, and he calls it Christ-baptism.

“Nevertheless I am baptized; but if I am baptized, it is promised me that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body.”
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Part Fourth, “Of Baptism” (trans. F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau, 1921, public domain).public domain

Nevertheless, I Am Baptized

FaithArgument · power 58 · 100% accurate

In the gameLuther’s advice for a conscience under attack. Say it out loud: nevertheless I am baptized, and if I am baptized, it is promised me that I shall be saved.