What do ELCA Lutherans believe about the Word of God?

What do ELCA Lutherans believe about the Bible? Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the ELCA provides part of the answer and a starting point for discussion about how we understand the Word of God:

CONFESSION OF FAITH

2.01. This church confesses the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2.02. This church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the Gospel
as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.

a. 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.

b. 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.

c. 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.

2.03. 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.

...

2.07. This church confesses the Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scripture 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.

(Paragraphs 2.04, 2.05, and 2.06 deal with the creeds and confessions, which we will look at later.)

A lot of the above mught seem self-explanatory. Let's summarize:

1. Jesus Christ is the "incarnate Word of God," through whom we find a new creation.

2. The proclamation of the Law and the Gospel is also the Word of God, throguh which we hear of "judgment and mercy."

3. The Old and the New Testaments together are the "inspired Word of God," which is the source for the proclamation, faith, and life of the Christian faith community.

4. The Gospel is the power of God to create and sustain the church for God's mission in the world.

A bunch of questions could come up about this:

What does "inspired" mean?

Do we take this "inspired Word of God" literally?

How do we understand this "Word of God"?

What are the ways we can read this "Word of God"?

What about this proclamation of Law and Gospel?

Isn't this stuff about Jesus being the "incarnate Word of God" a little over the edge?

We'll talk more about these and other questions in future posts.

The Book of Faith initiative of the ELCA talks about the Lutheran way of viewing the Bible in a great deal more detail than one post can cover. This was also a topic at the Southeastern Synod Professional Leadership Conference last fall. I plan to start doing Book of Faith forums later this year in our parish. We will talk about how the Lutheran Church understands the Bible and how Lutheran insights open up the Bible for its readers, and also about things that get in the way of reading the Bible, like human obstacles to the Word of God. Members of the parish and potential new members are invited to come to our Book of Faith forums once they begin.

Peace be with you,

Pr. J

Look, Martha! A new blog!

G'day, eh?

OK. This is going to be a branch off our main church blog which is located here: http://salemlutheranchurch-parrottsville.blogspot.com/.

What I'll do here is post something on what the Lutheran church (ELCA) teaches and will do that about once a week. This will be useful for anyone in Confirmation Class (starting this fall!) or for those who are just interested in what those "Lutherunz" in the hills of upper east Tennessee teach and preach. Speaking as a former Southern Baptist who was thoroughly disgusted with organized religion and went all the way through grad school without learning what the Lutheran Church was, I think our faith tradition is pretty unique, somewhat different from most Protestant traditions, and very worthwhile. As I have said elsewhere, if it weren't for the Lutheran church I would be a Buddhist by now (but that's another story). There will also be a link to this blog at the main site.

peace be with you,

Pr. J