"What We Believe"
the Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed.
Supporting Scripture
All Christian theology begins with the Scripture, with the belief that "the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments" are "the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, [and] infallible". Note that I have omitted the final phrase, "and God-breathed", not because it is in error--it is most certainly true, but because it is redundant; it simply restates the first phrase, "the verbally inspired word of God".
Some may assert that Christian theology actually begins with Jesus Christ, or go back further to assert that it begins with God. However, we cannot study either God or Jesus Christ directly; we must study the Scripture in order to study God. If we begin our theology apart from the Scripture, with what we think about God or what we think Christianity should be, we are building our theology on a foundation of sand. If we believe that the Scripture is simply a guide, but not the final authority for faith and life, we reduce Christianity from a religion to just another philosophy. If we do not insist on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Scripture, we free ourselves to revise our theology as we please; the result may look more or less like Christianity, but it can only be a mockery of true Christianity.
It is only after we accept the Scripture as "the verbally inspired word of God, ... inerrant in the original writings, [and] infallible" that we can use Scripture to testify for itself. We find that the Scripture is "the verbally inspired word of God" in 2 Peter 1:21, "For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.", taking "prophecy" to be synonymous with "Scripture" in this context. That the Scripture is "the final authority for faith and life" is found in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17, "Every writing inspired by God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." That the Scripture is inerrant and infallible, we must accept on faith.
the Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed.
Supporting Scripture
2 Timothy 3:16 Every writing inspired by God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.Commentary
2 Peter 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. (21) For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 5:18 For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.
John 16:12 "I have yet many things to tell you, but you can't bear them now. (13) However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming."
All Christian theology begins with the Scripture, with the belief that "the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments" are "the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, [and] infallible". Note that I have omitted the final phrase, "and God-breathed", not because it is in error--it is most certainly true, but because it is redundant; it simply restates the first phrase, "the verbally inspired word of God".
Some may assert that Christian theology actually begins with Jesus Christ, or go back further to assert that it begins with God. However, we cannot study either God or Jesus Christ directly; we must study the Scripture in order to study God. If we begin our theology apart from the Scripture, with what we think about God or what we think Christianity should be, we are building our theology on a foundation of sand. If we believe that the Scripture is simply a guide, but not the final authority for faith and life, we reduce Christianity from a religion to just another philosophy. If we do not insist on the inerrancy and infallibility of the Scripture, we free ourselves to revise our theology as we please; the result may look more or less like Christianity, but it can only be a mockery of true Christianity.
It is only after we accept the Scripture as "the verbally inspired word of God, ... inerrant in the original writings, [and] infallible" that we can use Scripture to testify for itself. We find that the Scripture is "the verbally inspired word of God" in 2 Peter 1:21, "For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.", taking "prophecy" to be synonymous with "Scripture" in this context. That the Scripture is "the final authority for faith and life" is found in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17, "Every writing inspired by God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction which is in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." That the Scripture is inerrant and infallible, we must accept on faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment