After Martin Luther's Postils (sermons on the appointed Bible readings of the Church Year), Johann Spangenberg's Questions and Answers was the premier Lutheran devotional book of the Reformation era. His explanations of the chief parts of Scripture, in question-and-answer format, taught and fed countless Evangelical Lutheran people of all ages and vocations for centuries. Now for the first time, this entire work has been translated by Matthew Carver for modern believers to be built up in their knowledge of God, faith in Christ, and love for God and neighbor. From the introduction by Robert Kolb: "Prominent among the early followers of Luther was a pastor from Nordhausen ... not far to the west of Luther's birthplace in Eisleben. ... [He was blorn on March 29, 1484, and thus only a few months younger than Luther.... It was in the service of his catechumens that Spangenberg adapted Luther's postil forrn of publishing sermons. Spangenberg transformed the postil into a tool for cultivating the biblical knowledge of school children, combining his own insights and pedagogical practice with insights from other postils, including those of Luther, Anton Corvinus, and Johannes Brenz. "In this work the pastor of Nordhausen composed questions and answers to help his young pupils review the readings from Scripture which were appointed to be read in Sunday services. His questions guided readers through the content of these Scripture passages with the concepts of the catechism in the background, so that they could learn how to move from the basic instruction of the catechism to the profitable hearing and reading of the Bible. Luther wrote the preface for the work ... [focusing] on the need to study God's Word diligently in order to proclaim the mystery of Christ. The volumes of this work appeared fifty-six times in print in German ... [This] volume of sales suggests that pastors found these questions and answers good guides for their own preaching and that parents found them helpful for devotions with, children and servants." Book jacket.