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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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