Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland - Teachings

Teachings

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland sees itself as part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. It is Lutheran in doctrine, following the teachings of Martin Luther. The church is a member of the Lutheran World Federation and the Porvoo Communion, but does not sign the Leuenberg Agreement. The faith of the Church is pronounced in the three confessions of the old church (Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed) and the Lutheran confessional documents as defined in Liber concordiae The practical faith is described in the Catechism of the church, which is based on and literally includes the Short Catechism of Martin Luther. The latest version of the Catechism was accepted by the General synod in 1999.

In most contemporarily controversial doctrines, the Church takes a moderate position. The Church does not embrace creationism but states

God is the Creator of all. With his word he created the entire universe. Science studies the mystery of the genesis of the world as well as the evolution of nature and people. Faith trusts that underlying all is God’s creative will and love for the creation.

The Church accepts the doctrines of the virgin birth and bodily resurrection. The Church allows its members to work as military personnel or as judges, considering these duties important to the welfare of the society. The relation of the church to sexuality is somewhat ambiguous. It strictly condemns extramarital sex but in relation to pre-marital sex it states only

Sexuality disconnected from love and from responsibility enslaves people, bringing harm to themselves and others.

Divorce and subsequent remarriage is accepted, with reservations. Abortion is accepted, because the church deems that the woman has the right to decide to terminate the pregnancy. However, the woman must not be alone when she makes the decision. In LBGT issues, the Church has adopted a moderate position. The synod of bishops has stated that the sexual minorities should not be shunned or persecuted, but that they are, as all people, responsible for the applications of their sexuality. Homosexuals should refrain from practising sex, but they should be guided with love to understand their sexuality and the limitations and positive aspects caused by it.

The apostolic succession of the church is considered to have remained intact through the proper ordination of bishop Mikael Agricola, but it was broken in 1884, when all the Finnish Lutheran bishops died within a year. The succession remained valid in the Church of Sweden where it was returned from in the 1930s in the ordination of the bishop of Tampere. However, the concept of apostolic succession is important foremost in ecumenical contexts, particularly in dealings with the Anglican Communion. In the theology of the church herself, the valid signs of the church include only the "pure preaching of the gospel and the performance of the sacraments according to the decree of Christ"

The central point of the Church doctrine, does not, however, lie in the areas of sexuality and creation but in the doctrine of justification. The human being is always a sinner, completely unable to reach God by his own merit. However, Christians are atoned by the grace of God, through the sacrifice of Christ, completely undeservedly. The Christian is simultaneously a sinner and a righteous person. At the end of time, the Christ will return and subject all to his judgment. Then everlasting perdition can only be avoided by Christ's mercy.

The saving grace becomes visible in the two sacraments, the Holy Communion and Baptism. The baptism is administered even to children, as it is effective regardless of personal attitudes, "for Baptism and faith are God’s work in us." Any Christian may perform a valid baptism, but in normal cases, the priest should perform the sacrament. An emergency baptism performed by a member of the church must immediately be reported to the parish where the baptism took place. In the Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Altar, Christ gives his own, real body and blood for people to eat and to drink. The Church practises closed Communion but does not put any limitations on its members for partaking the Holy Communion. The only prerequisite needed is faith, however fragile. Children may take part in Communion after their parents have instructed them to understand the meaning of Communion. If a person is in mortal danger and wishes to receive Holy Communion, any Christian is allowed to administer him a valid sacrament. Normally, nonetheless, the administering the sacrament is reserved to priests.

The position of the Church on society has changed largely during the last century. While the Church was formerly considered to be a socially conservative force, it is now seen as leftist, even radical. The synod of bishops has in several occasions criticized the market economy sharply, and the Catechism calls repeatedly for moderation in private pursuits, e.g. equating profiteering and exploitative practices with theft. Publicly, the Church supports strongly the existing Finnish social welfare model, which it sees threatened especially by neoliberalism and globalization. This has led to the church being criticized from the political right for being the religious arm of social democracy. The church has answered that it takes no political sides but strives to work for the weakest in the society.

The Church does not control its members strictly. Rituals such as weddings and funerals are often considered to be the most important reasons to remain a member.

There were five Revivalist movements in the history of the Church: Beseecherism, Evangelicalism, The Fifth Revivalist Movement, The Laestadian movement and the pietist Awakening Movement.