WELS Pastors’ RetreatHeartwood Conference Center & Resort

September 11-13, 2011

Christ-centered

Cross-focused

The Lutheran Confessions:

What are some issues that confront confessional Lutherans today?

PluralismRelativism

Secularism/MaterialismMoralistic, Therapeutic Deism

Neo-paganism

D: 1,2

“We teach all subjects in the light of God’s Word.”

How would you evaluate this often seen phrase?

• We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5).

• My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ (Col. 2:2).

• Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:2).

Confessing Christ

“All of Scripture everywhere deals only with Christ.” Martin Luther (WA 46:414)

Scripture and Confession

• Creed (credo) “I believe”• Confess – come together in agreement• Symbol – mark of identification between the

two partners in a contract

• We are Lutherans because we are Christians.• The Confessions are Christ-centered.

D: 4-6

What is the difference between Scripture and Confession?

• Scripture is the word of God given through holy prophets and apostles as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Through the external word they became vehicles of the Spirit’s revelation .

• Confessions are faithful reflections of Bible teaching. Scripture determines what the Confessions teach, and their teaching is determined by Scripture’s teaching.

Why Confessions in addition to Scripture?

1. They enable the church to give a correct and concise testimony of its teaching.

2. They serve to safeguard the church from erroneous teaching.

3. They furnish the church with a standard or rule by which to weigh truth against error.

4. They stand as the tried and tested symbol or mark of identification for what the church believes, teaches, and confesses.

Why unconditional allegiance to the Confessions

by the church’s ministers?• Because all Christian denominations claim

Scripture as the only source of their teaching.

• Because the church must be sure that its teachers have a sound grasp of Scripture and will carry out their ministry accordingly.

• To avoid being distracted by controversies which have been settled.

Warning

• The church that prides itself in being creedless is highly vulnerable to constantly shifting winds of thought.

• Conditional allegiance to Confessions emerged where faith and Scripture were subverted by reason and emotionalism.

• A conditional allegiance to Confessions is no allegiance at all.– Note: Allegiance pertains to Bible teaching, not to

things of human knowledge or scholarship or history in the Confessions.

Which is proper?

• A quia (because) subscription to the creeds and confessions

• A quatenus (insofar as) subscription to the creeds and confessions

quia ? quatenus ?

APOSTLES’ CREED

Christ-centered, Cross-focused

• The Apostles' Creed is a brief statement of gospel truths taught by the apostles. It was not formulated by theologians, but out of the needs of the Christian church. Christians used it to tell others what they believed and also to confess their faith with one another as they met for worship.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

I believe 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. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will 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.

On the Origin of the Creed• Traditional name: legend of

authorship• Creedal expressions in the New

Testament

1 Corinthians 8:6I believe in God, the Father

almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

1 Timothy 3:16

• who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,

• He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.

Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

• was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day he rose again from the dead.

• Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Philippians 2:5-11• suffered under Pontius

Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.

• and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Carthage

Rome

Lyon

Creedal usages in the early church

• Liturgical• Catechetical• Apologetic• Creed

Tertullian of Carthage (d. 220) “Rule of Faith”

In refutation of Gnosis, to affirm:

1. Divine origin of matter2. Goodness of matter3. Reality of Christ’s birth4. Reality of Christ’s flesh5. Reality of Christ’s death6. Reality of Christ’s resurrection

Transcription of the Creed• Symbolum nemo scribit• Old Roman Symbol

– the first text attesting to it is a letter to Pope Julius I in 340 or 341

• Letter of Abbot Pirminius, c. 750

– The creed as we have it today.

The Old Roman Symbol• I believe in God almighty and in Christ Jesus,

his only son, our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried, and the third day rose from the dead, who ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of the Father, whence he cometh to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost, the holy church, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and life everlasting.

D: 7 & 8

Rules Taught by Men??

• Matthew 15:9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.

• On the basis of this passage, some Evangelicals today condemn Lutherans for subscribing to creeds and confessions.

THE NICENE CREED

Christ-centered, Cross-focused

Logos theology: (Justin Martyr, d. ca. 165)

• “logos” may be translated “word” or “reason” or “wisdom”

• John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the logos was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that was made.

Eternity Creation History

Timelessness

beginning of timelogosGOD

GOD

LOGOS

Adoptionist theology(Paul of Samosata, fl. ca. 275)

Birth: Baptism: “This is my beloved Son”

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus of Nazareth

son of Mary & Joseph adopted Son of God

Modalist theology(Sabellius, fl. ca. 225; Praxeas, a.o.)

• “mode” = “guise” or “mask” or “appearance”

GOD

mask of

Father

mask of Son

mask of Holy Spirit

Truth under fire in the Arian Controversy

• The issue:– Arius: Son’s

begottenness implies non-eternal existence (creature)

– Athanasius: Son must be God to be Savior of all

Arianism

GODFather

created demi-god

SON

HOLY SPIRITImpersonal Energy

Force

Creed of Caesarea• We believe in one God, Father Almighty, the Maker of

all things whatsoever, that are seen and unseen; • And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God of

God, Light of Light, Life of Life, Only-begotten Son, Firstborn of every creature, begotten of the Father before all worlds, by whom all things were made, who for our salvation lived among men. He suffered and rose again the third day, and ascended to the Father, and he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

• We also believe in one Holy Spirit.

Creed of Nicea• We believe in one God, Father Almighty, Maker of all

things visible and invisible.• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of

the Father; only-begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father, 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 both in heaven and on earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was made flesh, and became man. He suffered and rose again the third day, ascended into heaven, and is coming to judge both living and dead.

• And we believe in the Holy Spirit.

Creed of Nicea (continued)

• The holy Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes all who say that there was [a time] when he was not, that before he was begotten he was not, that he came into being from what-is-not, or that he is of a different essence or of a different substance from the Father, or that he is susceptible of variation or change.

D: 9 & 10

Sequel in the Latin West

• Persistent Arianism in Spain– German Visigoths

rule Catholics

• Synod of Toledo, 589– filioque added to

Third Article

Christ-centered, Cross-focused

The Athanasian Creed

“Fully God; Fully Man”

The Athanasian Creed (QUICUNQUE)Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else, hold to the

true Christian faith. Whoever does not keep this faith pure in all points will certainly perish forever.

Now this is the true Christian faith: We worship one God in three persons and three persons in one God, without mixing the persons or dividing the divine being.

For each person -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- is distinct, but the deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory and coeternal in majesty.

What the Father is, so is the Son, and so is the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated; the Father is infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father is eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal; yet they are not three who are eternal, but there is one who is eternal, just as they are not three who are uncreated, nor three who are infinite, but there is one who is uncreated and one who is infinite.

In the same way the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, and the Holy Spirit is almighty; yet they are not three who are almighty, but there is one who is almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord.

For just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually to be God and Lord, so the true Christian faith forbids us to speak of three Gods or three Lords.

The Father is neither made nor created nor begotten of anyone. The Son is neither made nor created, but is begotten of the Father alone.

The Holy Spirit is neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeds from the Father and the Son.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And within this Trinity none comes before or after; none is greater or inferior, but all three persons are coequal and

coeternal, so that in every way, as stated before, all three persons are to be worshiped as one God and one God worshiped as three persons.

Whoever wishes to be saved must have this conviction of the Trinity.

It is furthermore necessary for eternal salvation truly to believe that our Lord Jesus Christ also took on human flesh.

Now this is the true Christian faith: We believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and man. He is God, eternally begotten from the nature of the Father, and he is man, born in time from the nature of his mother, fully God, fully man, with rational soul and human flesh, equal to the Father as to his deity, less than the Father as to his humanity; and though he is both God and Man, Christ is not two persons but one, one, not by changing the deity into flesh, but by taking the humanity into God; one, indeed, not by mixture of the natures, but by unity in one person; for just as the rational soul and flesh are one human being, so God and man are one Christ.

He suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

At his coming all people will rise with their own bodies to answer for their personal deeds. Those who have done good will enter eternal life, but those who have done evil will go into eternal fire.

This is the true Christian faith.Whoever does not faithfully and firmly believe this cannot be saved.

D: 11

The Christology of the Creed• The mystery of Christ

– The Scriptural testimony: fully divine and fully human in a single person

– Calvin’s objection: “The finite is not capable of the infinite.”

Traditional theological approaches to the doctrine of Christ

• The tradition of Alexandria vs the Arian heresy: Christ is God made flesh– Emphasis: In the single person of Christ, the divine

and human properties are shared with each other.– Caveat: In stressing the single personhood, do not

let the human nature be obliterated by the divine.

Traditional theological approaches to the doctrine of Christ

• The tradition at Antioch vs the Docetic heresy: Christ did not have a merely human appearance but is a genuine human being.– Emphasis: He was born in a natural way and

matured in a natural way; he grew, learned, got tired, slept.

– Caveat: In stressing the distinct reality of the divine and human, do not think of Christ as two separate persons functioning in perfect harmony with each other.

The Christology of the Creed• The mystery of Christ

– The Scriptural testimony: fully divine and fully human in a single person

– Calvin’s objection: “The finite is not capable of the infinite.”

The tradition of Alexandria vs the Arian heresy: Christ is God made flesh

–Emphasis: In the single person of Christ, the divine and human properties are shared with each other.

–Caveat: In stressing the single personhood, do not let the human nature be obliterated by the divine.

The tradition at Antioch vs the Docetic heresy: Christ did not have a merely human appearance but is a genuine human being.

–Emphasis: He was born in a natural way and matured in a natural way; he grew, learned, got tired, slept.

–Caveat: In stressing the distinct reality of the divine and human, do not think of Christ as two separate persons functioning in perfect harmony with each other.

Nestorius (d. 451) (Product of Antioch and bishop of Constantinople in

428)• Thesis:

– One cannot apply the properties of a human being to God; God is not born. Hence Mary was not a God-bearer (Theotokos). She bore only a human being to whom the divine was joined after birth.

• Refutation at Council of Ephesus, 431:– Mary is a Theotokos. Christ has two natures in a

single person.

Result

perfect God perfect man

without personal union

God

Man

Godinfinite

impassible

divine Christ joined

Man

is born

has feelings

subject to death

conceived human nature

Mary

gave birth to

human nature

cooperate

CH

RIS

T

Problem: Only a human being experienced the human life.

But: If only a human being was born, lived, suffered, and died, he would be a poor Savior, and, in fact would need a Savior.

Eutyches (d. 454)(product of Alexandria, abbot at Constantinople)

• Thesis:– One cannot apply divine properties to a human

being. When Christ was born, the divine obliterated the human so that Christ is not only one person but also only one nature (Monophysitism).

• Refutation:– By Leo, bishop of Rome 440-461, in his Tome:

“Christ is one person in whom the divine and human are united, though unconfused. The Christ who genuinely wept at Lazarus’ tomb also raised Lazarus from death.”

Result

one divine person and one divine nature

God Infinite omnipotent

Man

CH

RIS

T

Problem: Christ was not a human substitute for humanity.

But: What Christ did not become, he did not redeem.

frail finite

at birth

CH

RIS

T

active divine nature

passive human nature

divine overwhelms

human

D: 12-14

How important is it to confess Christ?

• "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven” (Mt 10:32,33).

• “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

• “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23).

• “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God” (1 John 4:15).

Confessing Christ

What shall we confess about Christ?

• Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).

• “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world” (Jn 11:27). (Martha)

• “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn 20:28).

• "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

• “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). (Zacchaeus)

• “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). (James & John)

• “'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again” (Luke 24:7). (angels)

• “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).