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Confession of Faith of the E.L.C.A.
Here follows the official text as it appears in the Constitution of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
- This church confesses the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- This church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel
as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.
- Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom
everything was made and through whose life, death, and resurrection
God fashions a new creation.
- The proclamation of God's message to us as both Law and Gospel is
the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy through word and deed,
beginning with the Word in creation, continuing in the history of
Israel, and centering in all its fullness in the person and work of
Jesus Christ.
- The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the
written Word of God. Inspired by God's Spirit speaking through their
authors, they record and announce God's revelation centering in Jesus
Christ. Through them God's Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain
Christian faith and fellowship for service in the world.
- This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source
and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life.
- This church accepts the
Apostles',
Nicene, and
Athanasian Creeds as true declarations of the faith of this church.
- This church accepts the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true
witness to the Gospel, acknowledging as one with it in faith and doctrine
all churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered
Augsburg Confession.
- This church accepts the other confessional writings in the Book
of Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the
Smalcald Articles and the Treatise, the
Small Catechism,
the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as further valid
interpretations of the faith of the Church.
- This church confesses the Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and
confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings,
as the power of God to create and sustain the Church for God's mission
in the world.
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