A Table of Duties for Every Station

In 1529, Luther compiled the Haustafel, the household table of duties, and attached it to his Small Catechism. It is a set of Bible verses for eleven stations in life: preachers and bishops, the authorities, husbands, wives, parents, children, masters of the house, servants, young people, widows, and all Christians together. Each station has its own duties. Luther also used the word Beruf, from rufen, to call, for a person’s station, office and work in the world. In Max Weber’s account, Luther taught that the individual should in principle stay in the calling and station where God had placed him.

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