Some time after the start of the Reformation, the necessity arose to provide a record of the reformational doctrine in official creeds. In a positive sense, doctrinal statements and faith statements are based on the Holy Scriptures. In a negative sense, all heresies are rejected. For Lutherans these are the regulatory creeds:

• The unchanged Augsburg Confession and its apology;
• The Schmalkald Articles with a treatise about the power and authority of the pope;
• The Large Catechism;
• The Small Catechism;
• The Formula of Concord.