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THIS WE BELIEVE
A Statement of Belief
of the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Copyright (c) 1967 Northwestern Publishing House
Used by permission of Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, WI
I. GOD AND HIS REVELATION
1. We believe that there is only one true God (John 17:3). He has
made himself known as the Triune God, one God in three persons.
This is evident from Jesus' command to his disciples to baptize
"in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit" (Matt. 28:19). Whoever does not worship this God
worships a false god, a god who does not exist, for Jesus said,
"He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who
sent him" (John 5:23).
2. We believe that God has revealed himself in nature, for "the
heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work
of his hands" (Ps. 19:1). "For since the creation of the world
God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine
nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made" (Rom. 1:20). So there is no excuse for the atheist.
However, we have in nature only a partial revelation of God and
one that is wholly insufficient for salvation.
3. We believe that God has given us the full revelation of himself
in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. "No one has ever seen God,
but God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, has made him
known" (John 1:18). Particularly has God revealed himself in
Jesus as the Savior God, who "so loved the world that he gave
his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
4. We believe that God has given the Holy Scriptures to proclaim
his grace in Christ to man. In the Old Testament God
repeatedly promised his people a divine Deliverer from sin,
death and hell. The New Testament proclaims that this promised
Deliverer has come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The
Scriptures testify of Christ. Jesus himself says of the
Scriptures that they "testify about me" (John 5:39).
5. We believe that God gave us the Scriptures through men whom he
chose, using the language they knew and the style of writing
they had. He used Moses and the prophets to write the Old
Testament in Hebrew (some portions in Aramaic) and the
evangelists and apostles to write the New Testament in Greek.
6. We believe that in a miraculous way that goes beyond all human
investigation God the Holy Spirit inspired these men to write
his Word. These "men spoke from God as they were carried along
by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:21). What they said, was spoken
"not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by
the Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:13). Every thought they expressed, every
word they used was given them by the Holy Spirit by
inspiration. St. Paul wrote to Timothy: "All Scripture is
God-breathed" (2 Tim. 3:16). We therefore believe in the
verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, that is, a word-for-word
inspiration. This, however, is not to be equated with
mechanical dictation.
7. We believe that Scripture is a unified whole, true and without
error in everything it says, for our Savior said: "The
scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). We believe that it,
therefore, is the infallible authority and guide for everything
we believe and do. We believe that it is fully sufficient,
clearly teaching us all we need to know for salvation, making
us "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim.
3:15), equipping us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:17). No
other revelations are to be expected.
8. We believe and accept Scripture on its own terms, accepting as
factual history what it presents as history, recognizing a
metaphor where Scripture itself indicates one, and reading as
poetry what is evident as such. We believe that Scripture must
interpret Scripture, clear passages throwing light on those
less easily understood. We believe that no authority, be it
man's reason, science or scholarship, may stand in judgment
over Scripture. Sound scholarship will faithfully search out
the true meaning of Scripture without presuming to pass
judgment on it.
9. We believe that the three ecumenical creeds, the Apostles', the
Nicene and the Athanasian, as well as the Lutheran Confessions
as contained in the Book of Concord of 1580 give expression to
the true doctrine of Scripture. Since the doctrines they
confess are drawn from Scripture alone, we feel ourselves bound
to them in our faith and life. Therefore all preaching and
teaching in our churches and schools must be in harmony with
these confessions.
10. We reject any thought that makes only part of Scripture God's
Word, that allows for the possibility of factual error in
Scripture, also in so-called nonreligious matters (for example,
historical, geographical).
11. We reject all views that fail to acknowledge the Holy
Scriptures as God's revelation and Word. We likewise reject
all views that see in them merely a human record of God's
revelation as he encounters man in history apart from the
Scriptures, and so a record subject to human imperfections.
12. We reject the emphasis upon Jesus as the Word of God (John 1:1)
to the exclusion of the Scriptures as God's Word.
13. We reject every effort to reduce the confessions contained in
the Book of concord to historical documents that have only
relative confessional significance for the church today. We
likewise reject any claim that the church is bound only to
those doctrines in Scripture that have found expression in
these confessions.
This is what Scripture teaches about God and his revelation. This we
believe, teach and confess.
II. CREATION, MAN AND SIN
1. We believe that the universe, the world and man came into
existence in the beginning when God created heaven and earth
and all creatures (Gen. 1 and 2). Further testimony of this
event is found in other passages of the Old and New Testaments
(for example, Exod. 20:11; Heb. 11:3). All this happened in
the course of six normal days by the power of God's almighty
word when he said, "Let there be."
2. We believe that the Bible presents a true and historical
account of Creation.
3. We believe that God created man in his own image (Gen. 1:26),
that is, holy and righteous. Man's thoughts, desires and will
were in full harmony with God (Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24), and he
was given the capacity to "subdue" God's Creation (Gen. 1:28).
4. We believe that man lost this divine image when he yielded to
the temptation of Satan and disobeyed God's command. This
brought upon him the judgment of God: "You will surely die"
(Gen. 2:17). Since that time mankind is conceived and born in
sin (Ps. 51:5), is inclined to all evil (Gen. 8:21), and as
"flesh gives birth to flesh" (John 3:6). Being dead in sin
(Eph. 2:1), man is unable to reconcile himself to God by his
own efforts and deeds.
5. We reject the theories of evolution as an explanation of the
origin of the universe and man, and all attempts to interpret
the scriptural account of Creation so as to harmonize it with
such theories.
6. We reject interpretations that reduce the first chapters of
Genesis to a narration of myths or pa