A list of English texts of Luther’s Small Catechism.
[To suggest an entry for this list, email the editor.]
Triglot 1921 — Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church: German-Latin-English. Published as a memorial of the quadricentenary jubilee of the Reformation anno Domini 1917 by resolution of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921). Small Catechism on BookofConcord.org.
Synodical Conference 1912 – A Short Exposition of Dr. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism [In the translation authorized by the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America], (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1912). PDF | Word | TXT
ELCE 2016 (Reformation Anniversary Edition) — This translation is by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England (2016). Distributed under Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 (Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International). Available online at TheSmallCatechism.org.
Sola/ReClaim 2010 — “The 2010 Sola/ReClaim Edition* is a faithful word-for-word translation from Luther’s German Catechism.” “By the cooperative effort of Sola Publishing and ReClaim Resources this edition of the Small Catechism was produced in 2010 tranlators/authors representing Lutheran Core, WordAlone, LCMC, and NALC. The primary translator of the 2010 edition is Rev. Scott Grorud, with Rev. Thomas Jacobson, Rev. Natalie Gessert, and Dr. Gracia Grindal as translational consultants.” “* What is the difference between the Blue and Red pocket versions? At the specific request of our customers, we have made a Blue Version (8200) with the phrase ‘holy Christian church’ in the Creed. The Red Version (8100 Series) uses the phrase ‘holy catholic church’ in the Creed. Otherwise, the text of the versions are identical.” Biblical text used is ESV. Online text | Online store page for red version | Online store page for blue version
AFLC 2007 — Text in Luther’s Small Catechism and Explanation, Published 2007 by Ambassador Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Book | CD. Intersynodical Translation adopted by the Lutheran Free Church in 1929 and continued by the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, updated edition published in 2007.
“Dr. Martin Luther’s Small catechism, 1529 : intersynodical translation adopted by the Lutheran Free Church, 1929 ; updated by AFLC Board of Publications and Parish Education, 2007” Quoted from Open Library.
“H.U. Sverdrup’s explanation of Luther’s Small catechism / by Harald Ulrich Sverdrup, 1864 ; abridged 1897 ; translated from the Norwegian by Hans A. Urseth, 1900 ; rev. by John A. Houkom, 1929 ; republished by AFLC Board of Publications and Parish Education, 1963 ; rev. and updated by AFLC Board of Publications and Parish Education, 2007” Quoted from Open Library.
ELS 2001 — Evangelical Lutheran Synod current edition. On ELS website | On Bethany Lutheran College website
ELCF 2000 – Catechism: Christian Doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Approved in the General Synod 1999, Helsinki 2000. In English. The ELCF is a bilingual synod.
CLC 1998 – Church of the Lutheran Confession. An update of Luther’s catechism completed by Michael Sydow in 1998, reprinted in 2006. Bookstore page. Online copy.
CPH 1986 — Luther’s Small Catechism © 1986 Concordia Publishing House. At online catechism, note menu icon in upper right corner of screen.
Robert E. Smith — The Small Catechism of Martin Luther, Translation by Robert E. Smith from the German text, printed in Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, pp. 538-559. Free text on Project Gutenberg | Free Kindle edition | Text at Media Resources, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, which is probably the best source.
A Chinese [?] / English Edition – Not sure who produced this or how to cite it, but it is an interesting bilingual edition with an interesting, modern English text.
Joseph Stump — Text in Joseph Stump, An Explanation of Luther’s Small Catechism. Text on Project Gutenberg
Sverdrup-Urseth — Text in H. U. Sverdup, H. A. Urset translator, Luther’s Small Catechism Explained in Questions and Answers, 3rd ed. (Minneapolis: The Free Church Book Concern, 1906). Text on Project Gutenberg.
Lenker — Text in John Nicholas Lenker, Martin Luther’s Catechetical Writings: God’s Call to Repentance, Faith and Prayer, vol. I (Minneapolis: The Luther Press, 1907). On Archive.org
Schaeffer – “The translation of Luther’s Small Catechism, strictly adhered to in this volume, is taken from the edition published by the Synod of Pennsylvannia (by Lindsay & Blakiston, 1855), and is the work of Rev Prof. C. F. Schaeffer, D. D.” G. W. Frederick, Luther’s Small Catechism Explained in Questions and Answers (Philadelphia: Lutheran Bookstore, 1863). On Archive.org
Curlew Rivers — Curlew River’s light modernization of the 1921 Triglot. This modernised version of Luther’s Small Catechism is based on the public domain text here, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.