All members of the Western Seminary community are united in trusting that
God has spoken authoritatively in the inspired words of Holy Scripture. All
confess, “Jesus is Lord,” and live as faithful disciples of
this Gospel. Western Seminary does not impart a particular doctrinal system
or denominational creed to our students. Instead, we train our students to
develop their own statement of faith which is grounded in the Bible. With
this approach, our classes provide a stimulating learning environment in which
students from diverse evangelical traditions wrestle together through theological
issues, some which are essential to our faith and others on which we can agree
to disagree. We want our students to wrestle with Scripture like Jacob wrestled
with the Angel of the Lord, and we hope that the results are similar-- that
our students would come away from the experience having come to a closer knowledge
of God through Christ and His Spirit, and going forward with a changed walk
and a changed identity.
At the same time, we require all students to affirm the Statement
of Faith of the World Evangelical Alliance as an expression of unity
in the Gospel.
Our core faculty are required to affirm a teaching position that is more
extensive than what is required of our students. Although our faculty personally
affirm this lengthier position, our approach to teaching theology allows them
to teach students who are come from over 40 denominations and a greater range
of theological perspectives. Our highest priority is to ensure that our students
can defend their theological perspectives biblically.
If you would like to see our Faculty Teaching Position or statement
of faith in detail, feel free to click on the links below:
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We believe...
...in the Holy Scriptures as originally given
by God, divinely inspired, infallible, entirely trustworthy;
and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and
conduct;
One God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit;
Our Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, His virgin
birth, His sinless human life, His divine miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His
bodilyresurrection, His ascension, His mediatorial work, and His personal return in power
and glory;
The Salvation of lost and sinful man through the shed blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ by faith apart from works, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit;
The Holy Spirit, by Whose indwelling the believer is enabled
to live a holy life, to witness and work for the Lord Jesus Christ;
The Unity of the Spirit of all true believers, the Church, the
Body of Christ;
The Resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are
saved unto the resurrection of life, they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
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We believe that the Bible is the final standard of faith and
practice for the believer in Jesus Christ and for his church. While recognizing the historical,
interpretive and guiding value of creeds and statements of faith made throughout the history
of the Church, we affirm the Bible alone as the infallible and final authority.
With this in mind, we, the faculty and administration
of Western Seminary, recognize a solemn responsibility to give a contemporary
confession of our faith. In so doing we acknowledge the formal statement
of faith made by the founders of the seminary as God's instrument in establishing
his work and providing the scriptural guidelines for that day. We also
acknowledge that with the passing of time there is need to refine and
restate our faith in terms of the critical and more exacting demands made
upon us. Recognizing this two-fold allegiance, first to the Word of God
and secondly to the convictions of our forebears who bequeathed to us
these challenges, we the faculty undersigned reaffirm our teaching position
in the form which follows.
We believe that God has revealed himself and
his truth by both general and special revelation. General
revelation displays his existence, power, providence, moral standard, goodness and glory;
special revelation manifests his triune nature and his program
of redemption through Messiah for humanity. This special revelation has been given in
various ways, preeminently in the incarnate Word of God,
Jesus Christ, and in the inscripturated Word of God, the Bible. We affirm that the sixty-six
books of the Bible are the written Word of God given by the
Holy Spirit and are the complete and final canonical revelation of God for this age.
(Rom. 1:18-32; 2:14-16; Ps. 19; Acts 14:15-17;
17:22-31; John 1:1- 18; 1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 1:1-2; 4:12)
These books were written by a process of dual
authorship in which the Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors
that, through their individual personalities and styles, they composed
and recorded God’s Word without error in the autographs. These books,
constituting the written Word of God, convey objective truth and are the
believer’s only infallible rule of faith and practice. (2
Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:19-20; John 10:35; 17:17; 1 Cor. 2:10-13)
The meaning of Scripture lies in the canonical
text and is that which God intended to convey through the human authors.
An interpreter discovers this meaning through careful application of the
grammatical-historical method of interpretation of a text in its context,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in the community of Christ.
The Holy Spirit illumines the text, enabling the reader to embrace that
which God has communicated and to see the glory of Christ in the Word
of God. (Jn. 7:17; 16:12, 13; 1 Cor. 2:14,
15; 1 Jn. 2:20)
We believe there is only one true God who
describes himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, full of lovingkindness
and faithfulness who forgives sin but does not leave the guilty unpunished.
He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, knowledge, wisdom,
power, holiness, justice, goodness, faithfulness, love and truth. He is
absolutely separate, exalted above the world as its creator, yet everywhere
present and involved in the world as the sustainer of all things. This
God is one in essence and eternally existent in three persons, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, each equal in nature and attributes and equally
worthy of worship, trust, and obedience. (Gen.
1:26; Deut. 6:4; Ps. 100:5; 139:8; Isa. 45:5 7; Matt. 28:19; Mk. 10:18;
Jn. 4:24; Acts 17:24, 29; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:6)
God the Father, the first person of the Trinity,
decrees and works all things according to his own purpose and for his
own glory, being sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption. He
created the universe out of nothing. He continually sustains, directs
and governs all creatures and events, accomplishing this without being
the author or approver of sin nor minimizing human responsibility. He
has graciously chosen the elect from all eternity, he saves from sin all
who come to him through Jesus Christ, and he personally relates to his
children as their Father. (Ps. 145:8,
9; 1 Chr. 29:11; Ps. 103:19; Jn. 1:18; Rom. 11:33; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 1:3
6; Heb. 4:13; 1 Pet. 1:17)
Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the eternal
second person of the Trinity. He is the Son of God and the virgin-born
Son of Man. He came as the God-Man to reveal God, redeem human beings,
and will as Messiah rule over God’s kingdom. (Ps.
2:7 9; Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Jn. 1:1, 3, 18, 29; 10:36; 1 Jn. 1:3)
In the incarnation he is both fully God and
fully human without sin, possessing two natures in one person. By his
obedient life, miraculous ministry, and substitutionary death, he brings
salvation to humanity. He rose bodily from the dead on the third day,
the resurrection confirming the Father’s acceptance of his atoning
work on the cross and bringing resurrection to eternal life to all believers.
He ascended into heaven and sat down at the Father’s right hand,
and he now performs the intercessory aspect of his high priestly work
for believers. (Jn. 1:14, 29; Rom. 3:24
26; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3; 4:15; 7:26; 10:5-10;
1 Pet. 2:21 24; 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10)
Christ is the only mediator between God and
humanity, the head of his Body the Church, the coming Messiah and king,
and the final judge of both believers and unbelievers. (Isa.
53:10; Lk. 1:31 33; Jn. 5:27 29; 2 Cor. 5:10; Eph. 1:22, 23; Col. 1:18;
1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25; Rev. 20:11 15)
The Holy Spirit, the eternal third person
of the Trinity, is active in creation, the incarnation, the writing of
Scripture, and the work of salvation. (Gen.
1:2; Matt. 1:18; Jn. 3:5 7; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21)
Coming from the Father and the Son at Pentecost,
he initiated the Church. He convicts unbelievers of sin. He indwells all
believers, regenerating them, and exercises his ministries of sealing,
sanctification, instructing, transforming into the likeness of Christ,
and empowering for service. He gives spiritual gifts which are to be used
according to biblical guidelines to build up the Church and to glorify
Christ. He is the agent of Spirit baptism which incorporates believers
into the Church at their conversion. (Jn.
14:16, 17; 15:26; 16:7 9; Acts 1:5; 2:4; 1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph.
2:22)
We believe the angels are created as personal
spirits who worship and glorify God, serve him, and minister to human
beings. Although all angels were originally created holy by God, some
followed the prideful lead of Satan and fell from their position. Demons
attempt to subvert the work of God through such stratagems as temptation,
accusation, and deception. (Ps. 148:2;
Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 2:10-11; 4:3-4; Eph. 2:2; 6:12, 16; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:14;
1 Pet. 5:8; 2 Pet. 2:4; Rev. 12:9-10)
We believe God created Adam and Eve and all
humanity in his image with the intention that they should glorify God,
enjoy his fellowship, and fulfill his purpose on the earth. Created with
integrity and without sin, our first parents fell into sin by disobeying
the will of God. As a result of identification in Adamic sin and individual
acts of sinning the human race is dead in sin, separated from God and
subject to his wrath. While all people have dignity as the image of God,
they are inherently sinful and hopelessly lost apart from divine grace
and salvation in Jesus Christ. (Gen. 1:26
28; 2:15 25; 3:1-19; Jn. 3:36; Rom. 3:23; 5:12-19; 6:23; 1 Cor. 2:14;
Eph. 2:1 3; 1 Jn. 1:8)
We believe that the death of Jesus on the
cross is the perfect sacrifice for sin. His substitutionary work satisfied
divine justice and is the propitiation of the wrath of God for the sins
of the whole world. (Isa. 53:1-13; Jn.
10:27-29; Rom. 3:24; 5:8, 9; 8:38, 39; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Gal. 2:16; Eph.
1:7; 2 Pet. 1:3; 1 Jn. 4:10)
Through his death and resurrection, we are
redeemed from sin, reconciled to God, justified by grace alone through
faith alone, adopted into the family of God, and regenerated by the Holy
Spirit. Salvation is appropriated by personal conversion, consisting of
repentance from sin and trust in God’s provision in Christ, resulting
in full forgiveness of sin and new life with Christ. (Jn.
1:12; 3:5, 7, 16; Acts 16:31; Rom. 8:1-4, 29, 30; 10:8-13; Eph. 1:4, 5;
2:8-10; 2 Thess. 2:13, 14; Heb. 11:6)
Salvation results in righteous living. Believers
will grow in Christ-likeness as they keep in step with the Holy Spirit
and live in obedience to the Word of God. They are kept by the power of
God through faith and will persevere to the end, culminating in their
glorification at Christ’s coming. (Jn.
5:24; 10:28; Rom. 8:35-39; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 2:10; 5:17-21;
Phil. 2:12, 13; Col. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:3-10; 1 Jn. 3:2, 3)
The Church is the people of God, initiated
at Pentecost and completed at the return of Christ who is its head. The
mission of the Church is to glorify God by worshiping corporately, building
itself up as a loving, faithful community by instruction of the Word,
observing the biblical sacraments, communicating the Gospel and making
disciples of all peoples. (Matt. 16:18;
Acts 1:4, 5; 11:15; 2:46, 47; 1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 12:4-21; Eph. 1:22, 23;
2:19-22; 3:4-6; 5:25-27; Col. 1:18; Rev. 5:9)
Believers should gather together in local
assemblies. They are priests before God and to one another, responsible
to serve God and minister to each other. The biblically designated officers
serving under Christ and leading the assembly are elders and deacons.
Although church and state are distinct institutions, believers are to
submit to the government within the limits of God’s Word. (Matt.
18:15-18; 22:15-22; 28:19; Acts 2:41, 42; 6:1-6; 1 Cor. 14:40;
Eph. 4:11, 12; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9; Heb. 10:25; 1 Pet. 2:5-10; 13-17;
5:1-5)
Two ordinances have been committed to the
local church and are to be administered to believers. Baptism is the immersion
in water into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a biblically
ordained confession of personal faith, portraying death to sin and resurrection
to new life. The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ in remembrance
of him. This portrays his death, unites believers in fellowship, and anticipates
their participation in the marriage supper of the Lamb. These two ordinances
are to be observed until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matt.
28:16 20; Luke 22:19, 20; Acts 2:41; 10:47, 48; Rom. 6:1-6; 1 Cor. 11:23-29)
We believe that at death, the spirits of
believers pass immediately into the presence of Christ and there remain
in joyful fellowship awaiting their bodily resurrection. The spirits of
unbelievers are in misery and torment as punishment for sin awaiting their
bodily resurrection. (Dan. 12:2; Lk. 16:22,
23; 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:21-26; 3:10, 11, 21; Rev. 20:11-15)
This age will culminate in the rapture of
believers and the tribulation, followed by the return of Christ in glory
with his saints to the earth to destroy his enemies, to initiate the millennium,
and to restore Israel as a nation in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
(Deut. 30:1-10; Isa. 11:1-16; 65:17-25;
Ezek. 36:22-38; 37:21-28; Dan. 9:27; 12:1; Jn. 14:2, 3; Acts 1:4-8; Rom.
14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 15:51-53; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; Tit.
2:11-13; Rev. 3:10; 16:1-21; 19:1-21; 20:1-6)
At the close of Messiah’s millennial
reign the devil, his demons, and the unbelieving dead will
be judged and committed to eternal conscious punishment in
hell. God will create a new heaven and new earth where all his people
will dwell eternally in his presence, giving worship and service to him
to whom belongs all glory. (Mk. 9:43-48;
Matt. 25:31-46; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; 2 Thess. 1:9; 2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 20:11-15;
21:1-4; 22:5, 11)
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