A Q & A with Professor John T. Pless

A Q&A with Professor John T. Pless

Q. What was your process in writing A Small Catechism on Human Life?

A. I teach both Theological Ethics and Catechetics at Concordia Theological

Seminary, so I’m regularly working with both the Small Catechism and issues in ethics. I organized the book around the general theme of life—both the biological/physical life that we have as creatures and the eternal life that we are given through faith in Christ Jesus.

Luther’s description of the creaturely life that we enjoy, in his exposition of the First Article, was especially important. God carries the verbs. He creates life and He gives us all that we have in body and soul. He supports and protects the life He gives from conception to death, and after death there is the promise of the resurrection.

Q. How do you find answers to tough life questions and ethical issues in the Catechism? When Luther wrote the Catechism they didn’t have the same issues as we do today, like abortion, stem cell research, and other ethical conundrums.

A. Of course, we face all kinds of complex bioethical issues that would have never occurred to Luther in the 16th century. Yet the Catechism is timeless because is draws from the

Holy Scripture. It sets our living and dying in the context of the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed. Luther begins the Catechism with the First Commandment, with God and His claim over all of life. We are not autonomous. We are creatures, not self-creators. Immediately this plunges us into the thick of moral debates today that make extravagant claims for human freedom without reference to God. I attempted to let the Catechism frame my discussion of a variety of life issues anchored especially in the First Commandment and the three articles of the Creed. The fact that God has created, redeemed and sanctified human life in body and soul has profound implications for how we treat life.

Q. Why is it important for Lutherans/ Christians to look at life issues through a lens like the Catechism?

A. The Catechism gives a Lutheran theological focus to these issues. It enables us to look at them from the perspective of faith in the Triune God who has claimed us to be His own in our Baptism. We have a new identity in the forgiveness of sins. We live as those who receive the gifts of life without any merit or worthiness in ourselves. All that we are and all that we have comes from God. Ultimately life does not belong to us but to God. Luther’s theology of the cross, as well as his understanding of vocation, are crucial to the Catechism. These treasures guard us from viewing life issues from both a moralistic and secular perspective, and instead help us to see life and our responsibilities from God’s perspective.

Q. What are your plans now that the book is complete?

A. I enjoyed writing the book and I hope that others will find it useful. Within the next couple of months I hope to develop a PowerPoint presentation to help pastors make more effective use of A Small Catechism on Human Life in catechetical classes and other settings of parish ministry. After writing the book, I’m even more thoroughly convinced that the Lutheran Confessions, especially Luther’s Catechisms, are tremendously potent tools for Christian life in the 21st century.

(LCMS World Relief and Human Care Life Ministries, Notes for Life, Volume 3, Issue 1, Winter 2007)