Jan Hus, Kinderfragen and Martin Luther’s Enchiridion: the problem of interaction

What contemporary history science considers especially valid includes not only describing certain events or analysing certain views, but also establishing the connection between key events, ages, ideas and models. The question of possible interaction of religious teachings formulated by the Czech professor and preacher Jan Hus and Martin Luther, the founder of the German and European Reformation, belongs to this type of problems. Despite certain representatives of Russian historical school (chiefly Slavophiles) being especially interested in the problem and despite the existence of a range of investigations on the subject, the question of whether the ideas of Hus and the practices of the Unity of the Brethren possibly influenced the ideological positions of the German reformer remains open. This is even more important concerning such a significant point as training children and youth in the foundations of the Christian faith, a point that is known to have been of the utmost importance to both Brethren and Luther. This training was implemented through special educational literature: dedicated teaching aids, or catechisms. The catechism of the Unity of the Brethren is best known under its abbreviated title, Kinderfragen (1523), and is considered to have been the first of its kind in children’s literature. Luther’s catechism (Enchiridion, 1529) became known as the simplest and the easiest to understand textbook on the basics of the Christian faith, and is actively reprinted and used today in the practice of Protestant churches and schools.

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