Oppshom's Blog: Confessional Church

Friday, February 20, 2009

Confessional Church

Confessional Churches are Church bodies that require the confession of certain beliefs or doctrines. For example, the Lutheran Church is a confessional Church so each individual church must adhere to and teach the beliefs of the Lutheran Church as a whole. No matter which church you attend, whether in New York, California, Russia, or South Africa you will hear and learn essentially the same things.

The benefit of this uniformity is to be certain of what is being taught. The pastors or teachers cannot teach anything contrary to the Lutheran belief system. This leaves no room for people to make things up as they go or make erroneous assumptions. The things being taught have been agreed upon by thousands of formally educated Lutherans throughout the world.

In a Confessional Church, you have thousands of pastors making uniform decisions, not just one.

What exactly do Lutherans confess?

First and formost the infallible Word of God as recorded in the Scriptures
The Ecumenical Creeds
The Augsburg Confession
The Defense of the Augsburg Confession
The Small Catechism
The Large Catechism
The Smalcald Articles
The Epitome of the Formula of Concord
The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord
The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope

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Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ,His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heavenand sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earthand of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,very God of very God,
begotten, not made,being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvationcame down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

Athanasian Creed

Whoever will be saved shall, above all else, hold the catholic faith.
Which faith, except everyone keeps whole and undefiled, without doubt he will perish eternally.
And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.
For there is one person of the Father,
another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one:
the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.
The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet there are not three eternals but one eternal.
As there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensibles but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.
And yet they are not three almighties but one almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
And yet there are not three gods; but one God.
So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord.
And yet they are not three lords but one Lord.
For as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge every person by himself to be both God and Lord, So we cannot by the catholic faith say that there are three Gods or three Lords.
The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created; but begotten.
The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
And in this trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another; But the whole three persons are coeternal together and coequal, so that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped.
He, therefore, that will be saved is compelled thus to think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
Equal to the Father as touching his Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching his manhood; Who, although he is God and man, yet he is not two but one Christ.
One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into God.
One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man,so God and man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell; rose again the third day from the dead.
He ascended into heaven; he sits at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies and will give an account of their own works.
And they that have done good will go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.
This is the catholic faith which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

Oppshom's Blog

Friday, February 20, 2009

Confessional Church

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