Doctrine
The General Conference of Schwenkfelder Churches in America places its faith and trust in the Triune God as witnessed in the Ecumenical Creeds of the Christian Church – the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Chalcedonian Statement.
Like other Protestant denominations, the General Conference of Schwenkfelder Churches in America recognizes that the sixty-six books of the Bible were collected and canonized after lengthy consideration. The thirty-nine books considered to be the Old Testament were collected and considered authoritative by the time of the first century (cf. Luke 24:44). The twenty-seven books of the New Testament were present at the end of the first century. Through the time of the second and third century, they were recognized as being distinct. Many of these books circulated together as part of ancient documents. The canon of Scripture was considered to be closed by A.D. 397 at the Council of Carthage.
Prominent beliefs that formed the early creeds within the Christian faith were also recognized at an early time. These circulated in places in New Testament writings (e.g., Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 15:3-8; Phil 2:5-11). They were then incorporated into the writings of early church fathers. These also became known as the Rule of Faith and were placed into the Roman Creed in the third century. This Creed then became the forerunner of the Apostles’ Creed (late sixth or early seventh century A. D.).
In the fourth century during a time of controversy about the deity of Christ, representatives from the church throughout the Roman Empire gathered at the Council of Nicaea (A. D. 325). They declared that Jesus Christ was of the same nature as God and wrote the Nicene Creed. This was adapted at the First Council of Constantinople (A. D. 381) and affirmed at the Council of Ephesus (A. D. 431). In A. D. 451, representatives of the church affirmed the Chalcedonian Statement which described the hypostatic union within Jesus Christ - one person in two natures, the Divine and the human.
Caspar Schwenckfeld and his followers received these traditions from the early centuries of the Christian church. They did not invent them or promote something substantially new. They commented upon these and interpreted them, believing that the Christian faith always needed further exploration.
I believe in God the Father almighty;
and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord,
Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried,
on the third day rose again from the dead,
ascended to heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father,
whence He will come to judge the living and the dead;
and in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Church,
the remission of sins,
the resurrection of the flesh
(the life everlasting).
Roman Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Traditional version of the Apostles’ Creed
The Nicene Creed
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,
and became truly human.
Chalcedonian Statement
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood;
truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body;
consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood;
in all things like unto us, without sin;
begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood;
one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably;
the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ;
as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
Statement on the Atonement
God seeks in his holy love to save all people from sin. He also judges all people by his righteous will as declared in the Scripture. In Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord, fully God and fully man, he has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to himself. The salvation of lost and sinful human beings takes place through the shed blood of Jesus, by faith alone and regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
Statement on Congregationalism
The Schwenkfelder Church supports the unity of all believers in Christ. In the church, God calls his people to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be his servants in the service of humanity, to read the Scripture, proclaim the gospel to all the world, resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ’s baptism and eat at his table, and to join him in his passion and victory.
As churches in the Schwenkfelder denomination, authority for the church resides in the local congregation as it submits to the person of Jesus Christ. We seek unity among our churches but recognize the different issues that each member church faces. Our fellowship is based on the commandment of Christ to seek unity, respect differences, and to act in love towards each other at all times.