Note:  The detailed and documented statement, with scripture citations, is found in the Catalog, entitled, “Statement of Faith.”

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St. Petersburg Seminary and Yeshiva identifies itself as embracing what has been identified as a biblical faith expressed in an historical and cultural context, with a clear evangelical emphasis, rooted in the first century Jewish expression of faith in the One Holy God of Israel.  By this we understand that the Scriptures, which form the basis for faith, are those of the Older and Newer Testament canon affirmed by the historic Rabbinic and Church Councils and reaffirmed in the Protestant Reformation as the sole basis for Theological Authority.  In addition, we affirm that the Holy Spirit functions as a guide in the study and application of these Scriptures to enable the believer to live the life approved by God.  To this end, these Scriptures and the Holy Spirit enable the believer to share effectively the life of the Messiah, the Christ, God’s promised anointed One, with those who have yet to be reconciled to God through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  The following statement of Biblical Foundations, then, provides the outline for understanding the details of this stance.  For a more detailed and biblically documented statement of the faith confessed by the faculty and staff of the Seminary, see the Faculty Handbook, Appendix C, and the Catalog.

 

The Summary Statement of Faith:

1. God sent the Eternal Son into this world, born of Mary and named Yeshua (in the Greek, Jesus), fulfilling a covenant made repeatedly to the Jewish people through its prophets to provide an anointed redeemer, to live the standard of loving commitment to the internalization of God’s law (Torah), and that

2. the confession of Yeshua (Jesus) as one’s Lord, affirming that he was raised from the dead to justify our confidence in his right to be the Lord of all aspects of life, is indispensable for salvation, and that

3. each individual is, by nature, in rebellion against the Creator of the whole universe, resulting in each individual being at odds with, i.e., alienated from, God, others, and one’s self, and that

4. the inerrant Word of God is the source of the information revealing these truths and all those truths that are necessary for living a life in conformity with God’s will, manifested in the canonical scriptures of the Older and Newer Testaments, there being no other written source to provide this information with full authority, and that

5. God has provided the Holy Spirit as the presence to empower both individuals and congregations to manifest in supernatural ways the love that becomes a witness to draw others to reconciliation with God, reconciliation made possible only because of the sacrificial death and justifying resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus), God’s Messiah (Christ).

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