There he saw the miserable condition faced by many ordinary people, especially those who lived in rural areas, where they had no knowledge of Christianity and many pastors were unable to teach Christian doctrine. In the preface of his Small Catechism, Luther expresses his disappointment at the religious situation he found, and says: «Dear God, what misery I have seen! The common person, especially in the villages, knows absolutely nothing about the Christian faith, and unfortunately many pastors are completely inexperienced and incompetent teachers” (SC, 2; Kolb and Wengert: 347). Luther was quite depressed by the deplorable situation he encountered while visiting the congregations