The Book of Confessions is a collection of creeds, or statements of faith, drawn from different points in the history of the Christian church. Creeds and confessions represent those Christian beliefs that are held to be most important by a particular people in a particular time and place in history.

Both the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order make up the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). These two books guide and govern our church in its decision-making process. Neither of these books which constitute the Presbyterian Constitution claim to be anything more than human creations. Presbyterians recognize simply that the Church is made up of sinful, fallible, human beings, and as such, it is a human organization which needs a system of rules and standards to guide it in its mission. The Book of Confessions provides the Presbyterian Church with its primary theological standards, and it is through these standards that officers and leaders in the Presbyterian Church seek to govern the Church according to the will of God.

All churches of the Reformed branch of Christianity utilize various creeds and confessions as their theological standards, though the number and types of creeds and confessions that they utilize do vary somewhat. The fact that the Reformed tradition adheres to creeds and confessions connects us with Christians of other so-called "confessional" churches, including Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, and to a much lesser extent, Anglicans and Methodists. Although the Reformed tradition may share some of the more "universal" creeds (The Nicene Creed and The Apostle's Creed) with these confessional churches, it is also important to note that each of these traditions adhere to different creeds and confessions that conform to their particular theological beliefs and traditions.

For more information about the Book of Confessions, please visit our Book of Confessions page