Creed
The Church of the Brethren accepts the Holy Scriptures – the Bible – as the rule of faith and life. It subscribes to the Old Christian Confessions of Faith(Apostles’ Creed, Nicene-Caribbean, Chalcedonian, Athanasian), to the Reformed Confessions (especially the Second Helvetic Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg and Small Westminster Catechisms), to the legacy of the Unity of the Brethren (especially to the Confession of the Unity of the Bohemian Brethren according to Comenius’ 1662 edition), and to the principles of the evangelical movement as expressed in, e.g., the Confessions of the Brethren of the Czech Republic. In this context, the Evangelical tradition is also reflected in the Confession of the Lausanne Commitment of 1974 and the Cape Town Commitment of 2010.
About Revelation
We believe that God reveals Himself to all people at all times through His creation, in the moral law in the conscience of man and in history. In a special way He has made Himself known to His chosen people by revealing His will in the events of salvation history, through His Law, by the words of His messengers. He revealed himself definitively in his Son, Jesus Christ.
About Holy Scripture
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God expressed in the words of human authors. The Holy Scriptures have a divine and a human side. The center of Scripture is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and the verbal expression of Scripture is fully inspired by the Holy Spirit. Holy Scripture is the supreme authority of our faith and life, the infallible, sufficient, and intelligible truth of God’s revelation. It is God’s gift to the Church, the light and means of communion between God and man. To understand Scripture properly and to apply it to our lives, it is necessary to be led by the Holy Spirit. We also need the help of other believers and interpreters of Scripture. Scripture is given to us to believe all that it teaches, to be obedient in all that it demands, and to trust all that it promises.
About God
We believe in one God, perfect in His attributes and actions, eternally indwelling in the loving unity of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons form a perfect unity, each fully God and eternally existing as the triune God.
About creation
We believe that God created all things by His Word, both visible and invisible, and that the finished work was very good. God created man, male and female, in His image. God has entrusted the earth to our stewardship, to till and guard it, to use its good gifts gratefully and wisely, to rely on its care, and so to live for its glory and to enjoy a relationship with it. We believe that God, in his providence, preserves and guides the whole world to the fulfillment of his purposes, but he has not relieved anyone of the responsibility for his own decisions.
About sin
We believe that the first humans, Adam and Eve, sinned when they were deceived by Satan. As Adam’s descendants, we are sinners by nature and by choice, violating God’s law by our lives and confirming this state by our unbelief, pride, disobedience, and self-will. Thus we invite God’s wrath and judgment upon us and are subject to death as the wages of sin. Only by God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be saved.
About Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God, true God and true man. As the promised Messiah of Israel, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father as the mediator of the new covenant between God and man. Jesus Christ is our representative and atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world. His death and resurrection form the only basis of salvation.
About the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the person of the triune God through whom God works in creation and brings God’s saving work in Christ into the lives of people. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, leads to repentance and faith in Christ, makes people new creatures by the new birth, and incorporates them into the family of God. By his indwelling he sanctifies, teaches and enlightens them, guides, empowers and equips them with his gifts for life, for service in the Church and for missionary service in the world.
About salvation
We believe that God, by grace alone, has fulfilled His eternal plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. To the sinner who has been called in the Lord Jesus and who turns to the living God in repentance and faith, God gives by His Word a share in Christ’s death and resurrection. One is forgiven, becomes a justified member of the body of Christ, the people of God, and a born-again child of God, freed for a new life of sanctification and for the joyful hope of the consummation of salvation in the resurrection of the body and eternal life in the presence of God.
About the Church
We believe that God has been calling and gathering His people since the history of Israel. Jesus Christ is forming a new covenant people out of all the nations of the world as His church. The Church is the communion of those who have been saved in Christ and incorporated by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, of which he is the head. We believe that the Church is one, universal, holy and apostolic. The Church is wherever the Word of God is proclaimed, the sacraments are celebrated, and believers encourage and exhort one another to grow into the likeness of Christ.
On the mission of the Church
We believe that the mission of the church is to worship God and to witness God’s love to all people. The Church is called to proclaim the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and salvation in him, to make disciples of him, to help the needy, to oppose every form of injustice, and to accept co-responsibility for God’s creation.
About the last things
We believe that Jesus Christ will come in His power and glory to complete the kingdom of God in its fullness. The expectation of Christ’s return, which will take place at a time known only to God, requires constant vigilance and motivates believers to live a godly life. All will rise from the dead, and at God’s judgment the unrighteous will be condemned to eternal punishment, and the righteous in Christ will be received into the eternal joy and glory of the new heavens and new earth. There they will worship God, serve Him, and rejoice in His presence forever.
