A IGREJA E SUA C ONFESSIONALIDADE.

Does the church need a confession of faith? How does the Bible see the concept of confessionality? How to understand the slogan "The reformed church always reforming (or being reformed)" as being compatible with the idea of a stable confessionality? What uses can the church make of its confessionality and what are the limits to which it must be submitted? In this article the author intends to offer an answer to these questions in the light of Scripture and church experience along its history. He aims to demonstrate that confessionality is not only an intrinsic part of faith, but also a natural consequence of it. He argues that the church cannot give up a fixed confessionality without also renouncing its Christian identity and its safeguard to firmness and doctrinal purity, in line with biblical tenets. He argues that the slogan "The reformed church always reforming" should be understood in the light of the writings and practice of the reformers, not as an incentive to change its confessionality, once aligned to the Scriptures, but as a warning to keep this confessionality always consistent with the biblical teaching and to prevent and, if necessary, to remove from it any change that departs from that teaching. The author presents various uses with which confessionality serves the church, as the proclamation of its faith, education and identification of its membership and even its discipline, when necessary. He recognizes, however, that there are limits that must be respected so that confessionality may not become a factor of division or a means of preventing freedom of conscience and belief among those who share the same faith as regards to secondary issues not addressed in Scripture or on which it is not as clear or obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]