Customer Reviews

The Lord's Prayer: Martin Chemnitz ; Translated by I.E. Edited by Georg Williams

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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In this book, Chemnitz steps through the Lord's Prayer, petition by petition, and does what he does best: provide data(other Bible passages, church father quotes) and thought-provoking examples. And LOTS of them. While this work is very short, it is dense in thought. A book that is not meant to be read, but studied and meditated upon, working through the passages and studying their contexts. At the end of every petition, Chemnitz asks the reader to take what he said, and reflect on the prayer with 4 questions. If you take the time to digest Chemnitz' words with prayer and meditation, you will take away a lot on the Lord's Prayer. Highly recommended!

Neglected Doctrine (Prayer) by Neglected Theologian (Chemnitz). So interesting that this work on prayer was translated so early (circa 1598) into English in Cambridge. Copies of this survived to be updated into 21st century language by seminarian Williams.

Chemnitz prefaces his petition by petition exposition of Jesus' prayer by stating why pray examination. He concludes rightly with 8 benefits/blessings: small number of words; who to pray to; how and what for; what to ask; in what order; by what means; for what end.

This fine insight into original Greek and Hebrew texts is richly seasoned with church fathers and Luther.


Worthy to be a utilized and promoted prayer aid.

Initially it was unknown whence came this work of Chemnitz. Actually it is an exposition of the Lord's Prayer found in his "Harmony of the Gospels" - a massive work that would only later by completed by Polycarp Leyser and Johann Gerhard.

This is a fine exposition of the Lord's Prayer that many will find helpful, but it is not Chemnitz's finest work when compared to the major dogmatic treatises he wrote on the Lord's Supper, Christology, his Examination of the Council of Trent and his role as a one of the chief formulators of the Formula of Concord. Also, please know CPH has placed this small work in the same edition as Chemnitz's "Enchiridion" and his treatise "The Lord's Supper."

Still highly recommended

"As the Creed is the rule of faith", writes Chemnitz in his introduction to this book, "so the Lord's Prayer is the rule of all prayers." (p. 21) Indeed, this prayer is and will always remain endlessly profitable. Augustine, quoted by Chemnitz, writes aptly: "If you shall peruse the words of the prayers of all the saints of God which are extant in the whole Scripture and chiefly in the Psalms, you will find nothing which is not briefly contained and concluded in this Lord's Prayer." (ibid.)

Chemnitz's explanation of the Lord's Prayer, nowadays available in the handsome hardcover including Enchiridion and The Lord's Supper, is not only wonderful theology but great pastoral pedagogy. By the former I mean Chemnitz's profound knowledge of the Christian doctrine, by the latter his warm and friendly style; fatherly yet never patronizing, always approachable, never distant.

The book is short, only about 100 pages. On one hand it's too short and I would've liked it to be longer, yet on the other its brevity is its strength: there's not a single idle word in the expositions, and it's this concision that helps to bring the words from the page into the life of the reader. There's insight here that's out of this world, and his plan for study, summarized in the following four chief topics or questions ([1] what things do we ask, [2] what evils we desire to be stopped or lessened, [3] how we are to be thankful and [4] how we are to confess our unthankfulness and misuse), make this a very useful devotional. Chemnitz's impeccable knowledge of the church fathers again illumines his writing.

What edition to buy, then? This particular edition, published in 1999 by the Concordia Publishing House, is a standalone edition, paperback, thin and portable. It is, however, a very unattractive with its horrible typeface on the yellow cover.

I would definitely buy the new hardcover edition that the publisher have put out as part of their "Chemnitz's Works" series. Not only does it include both "Enchiridion" and "The Lord's Supper", it's very portable as well. For a hefty volume it's beautifully bound and doesn't weight too much at all. I couldn't see myself taking this paperback edition out on the road just to peruse. This is because I want my books to remain in good condition.