How Do Lutherans Look upon the Bible?

To borrow a phrase from Luther, the Bible is "the manger in which the Word of God is laid." While Lutherans recognize differences in the way the Bible should be studied and interpreted, it is accepted as the primary and authoritative witness to the church's faith. Written and transcribed by many authors over a period of many centuries, the Bible bears remarkable testimony to the mighty acts of God in the lives of people and nations. In the Old Testament is found the vivid account of God's covenant
relationship to Israel. In the New Testament is found the story of God's new covenant with all of creation in Jesus.

The New Testament is the first-hand proclamation of those who lived through the events of Jesus' life, death, and Resurrection. As such, it is the authority for Christian faith and practice. The Bible is thus not a definitive record of history or science. Rather, it is the record of the drama of God's saving care for creation throughout the course of history.

Of the Holy Scriptures

1. We teach that the Holy Scriptures differ from all other books in the world in that they are the
Word of God. They are the Word of God because the holy men of God who wrote the Scriptures
wrote only that which the Holy Ghost communicated to them by inspiration, 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet.
1:21. We teach also that the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures is not a so-called "theological
deduction," but that it is taught by direct statements of the Scriptures, 2 Tim. 3:16, John 10:35,
Rom. 3:2; 1 Cor. 2:13. Since the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God, it goes without saying that
they contain no errors or contradictions, but that they are in all their parts and words the infallible
truth, also in those parts which treat of historical, geographical, and other secular matters, John
10:35.

2. We furthermore teach regarding the Holy Scriptures that they are given by God to the Christian
Church for the foundation of faith, Eph. 2:20. Hence the Holy Scriptures are the sole source from
which all doctrines proclaimed in the Christian Church must be taken and therefore, too, the sole
rule and norm by which all teachers and doctrines must be examined and judged. -- With the
Confessions of our Church we teach also that the "rule of faith" (analogia fidei) according to which
the Holy Scriptures are to be understood are the clear passages of the Scriptures themselves
which set forth the individual doctrines. (Apology. Triglot, p. 441, Paragraph 60; Mueller, p. 684).
The rule of faith is not the man-made so-called "totality of Scripture" ("Ganzes der Schrift").

3. We reject the doctrine which under the name of science has gained wide popularity in the
Church of our day that Holy Scripture is not in all its parts the Word of God, but in part the Word
of God and in part the word of man and hence does, or at least, might contain error. We reject
this erroneous doctrine as horrible and blasphemous, since it flatly contradicts Christ and His holy
apostles, set up men as judges over the Word of God, and thus overthrows the foundation of the
Christian Church and its faith.

A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod