A Church that Believes, Teaches, and Confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God

Abstract

This essay retraces the development of the creeds and confessions to understand their continued need in Lutheran theology. It is argued that confession of faith takes place under the duress caused by receiving God’s self-revelation. Confession is never merely the preservation of a past statement but germinates within the concrete historical circumstances and intellectual horizon of the day. As such, it provides the necessary grammatical framework to speak the Gospel of the Son sent by the Father and glorified in the Spirit.