In evaluating the theology of a church or denomination, who do you trust? It's an important question. Of course, we should be able to trust in our pastor and church leaders. If you have concerns about the beliefs of your church, see Looking for a Church?.
Conservative Lutherans (and other conservative denominations) believe that the Bible is inerrant. What does this mean? According to my husband, a Lutheran pastor, it means that the Bible in all of its teachings is inspired by God and is without error. It is the sole source and norm of what we believe, teach, and confess. So, most of all, we trust in the Bible, the Word of God. We also believe that it is complete. It has been called the Divine Drama, and it tells the story of God and His people from beginning to end. There are no new prophecies or ideas to come.
So, if we have a question, we go first to the Scriptures. That doesn't mean looking up or referring to a single verse. It means study. Lutherans often say that Scripture interprets Scripture. We need to look at the historical and social context and do a search to see everything the Bible teaches about a topic. We need to know what type of literary genre we're reading. Is it history, poetry, apocalyptic literature? All this will help us to understand and interpret a particular passage.
There will always be disagreements this side of heaven, and as my husband says, when we face God, He will no doubt tell us we were all wrong about something. We can disagree about when to baptize or how we view Holy Communion or many other issues without labeling one another as heretics. Here is where the Creeds are helpful. These came about to establish foundational Christian beliefs, and to counteract different heresies. A church or individual who rejects the Apostle's, Nicaean, or Athanasian Creed is in error and out of the bounds of the historical Church.
It's a confusing world we live in. As Sarah said in her posts, we seem far from unity. Many ideas sound good or reasonable. They make sense to us. But are they Biblical? This is how we determine who to trust.
For more posts about the Bible and the Creeds see these posts:
Is the Bible Your Companion?
What are the Creeds?
The Importance of the Creeds
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