FROM THE 2023 2025 Book of Order (The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Part II)

F-2.01 THE PURPOSE OF CONFESSIONAL STATEMENTS
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) states its faith and bears witness to God’s grace in
Jesus Christ in the creeds and confessions in the Book of Confessions. In these statements
the church declares to its members and to the world who and what it is, what it believes,
and what it resolves to do. These statements identify the church as a community of people
known by its convictions as well as by its actions. They guide the church in its study and
interpretation of the Scriptures; they summarize the essence of Reformed Christian tradition;
they direct the church in maintaining sound doctrines; they equip the church for its
work of proclamation. They serve to strengthen personal commitment and the life and
witness of the community of believers.
The creeds and confessions of this church arose in response to particular circumstances
within the history of God’s people. They claim the truth of the Gospel at those
points where their authors perceived that truth to be at risk. They are the result of prayer,
thought, and experience within a living tradition. They appeal to the universal truth of the
Gospel while expressing that truth within the social and cultural assumptions of their
time. They affirm a common faith tradition, while also from time to time standing in tension
with each other.

F-2.02 THE CONFESSIONS AS SUBORDINATE STANDARDS
These confessional statements are subordinate standards in the church, subject to the
authority of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him. While
confessional standards are subordinate to the Scriptures, they are, nonetheless, standards.
They are not lightly drawn up or subscribed to, nor may they be ignored or dismissed.
The church is prepared to instruct, counsel with, or even to discipline one ordained who
seriously rejects the faith expressed in the confessions. Moreover, the process for changing
the confessions of the church is deliberately demanding, requiring a high degree of
consensus across the church. Yet the church, in obedience to Jesus Christ, is open to the
reform of its standards of doctrine as well as of governance. The church affirms Ecclesia
reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei, that is, “The church reformed,
always to be reformed according to the Word of God” in the power of the Spirit.

F-2.03 THE CONFESSIONS AS STATEMENTS OF THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH
             CATHOLIC
In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) witnesses to the faith of the
Church catholic. The confessions express the faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church in the recognition of canonical Scriptures and the formulation and adoption
of the ecumenical creeds, notably the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds with their definitions
of the mystery of the triune God and of the incarnation of the eternal Word of
God in Jesus Christ.

F-2.04 THE CONFESSIONS AS STATEMENTS OF THE FAITH OF THE PROTESTANT
             REFORMATION
In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) upholds the affirmations of the
Protestant Reformation. The focus of these affirmations is God’s grace in Jesus Christ as
revealed in the Scriptures. The Protestant watchwords—grace alone, faith alone, Scripture
alone—embody principles of understanding that continue to guide and motivate the
people of God in the life of faith.

F-2.05 THE CONFESSIONS AS STATEMENTS OF THE FAITH OF THE REFORMED
             TRADITION
In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) expresses the faith of the Reformed
tradition. Central to this tradition is the affirmation of the majesty, holiness, and
providence of God who in Christ and by the power of the Spirit creates, sustains, rules,
and redeems the world in the freedom of sovereign righteousness and love. Related to
this central affirmation of God’s sovereignty are other great themes of the Reformed tradition:
The election of the people of God for service as well as for salvation;
Covenant life marked by a disciplined concern for order in the church according
to the Word of God;
A faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation and seeks proper use of the
gifts of God’s creation; and
The recognition of the human tendency to idolatry and tyranny, which
calls the people of God to work for the transformation of society by seeking justice
and living in obedience to the Word of God.

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