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What is AATA?
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AATA Statement of Faith
As the members of Asia/Africa Theological Association(AATA), we here profess the following articles of faith pertaining to our belief and theological education. We believe in the major creeds of early church, Reformation and evangelical declarations.
- We affirm that the accurate and infallible Word of God as being the sixty-six canonical books of the Old and the New Testaments constitute the ultimate authority and norm for the faith and life of Christians.
- We affirm that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God, who are of one substance and equal in power and glory. The triune God creates, provides and saves according to His gracious and righteous will.
- We affirm that the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only incarnated Son of God, is truly divine and truly human. Being born of the virgin Mary, He died on the cross as the atoning sacrifice and on the third day He rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven. On the last day, He shall come again from being at the right hand of God to judge the living and the dead and to completely consummate the Kingdom of God.
- We affirm that human beings were created in the image of God for divine fellowship and to rule over all creation. However, due to the disobedience of the first man, Adam, and his fall, he was separated from God, and was plunged under the dominion of sin and death. Likewise, in Adam, the entire humanity has become sinners and subject to eternal death, but those who hear the Good News and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior shall have eternal life through His unlimited saving grace.
- We affirm that God, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the truth, who witnesses concerning Jesus Christ and is the Helper to the saints. He is the Spirit of adoption who, by calling sinners to repentance, imparts regeneration, justification and sanctification until the glorious inheritance of the heavenly Kingdom. The Holy Spirit dwells in the saints and enables them to enjoy the enlightenment of the Word. He bestows the full power to serve and nurtures a mature transformation of personal character into the image of Christ for the ministry of God’s kingdom.
- We affirm that the true Church is one holy apostolic universal Church, made of a body formed by the faithful saints united with Jesus Christ, through the Word and the Holy Spirit. Baptism and Eucharist are two sacraments instituted by Christ, the head of Church, and are the visible Word that must be continuously administered for the strengthening of faith and for spiritual maturity.
- We affirm that the primary mandate of Church is to offer a worship in Christ that is acceptable to God. It is also to form Christ witnessing community by making disciples through the proclamation of the Gospel among all nations as Christ has commanded. The church in the world is a spiritual community that expands God’s ruling upon the earth against the authority of the evil spirit that opposes God. As a holy community that loves God and its neighbors, it holds a mandate not only of bearing the responsibility for the edification of a just society, but also to carry out Christian love for the sake of the poor and the oppressed.
- We affirm that at the end of the age, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to the world in His glory. At that time, all the dead shall be raised and stand before God’s judgment. The righteous shall enjoy eternal blessing and the unrighteous shall receive eternal punishment. In the new heaven and new earth, the saints shall praise God forever and rule with the Lord over the renewed creation.