SUMMARY STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL …



BIBLICAL INERRANCY STATEMENTS

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY:

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God's witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: It is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms; obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, that in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.

-From "The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy," JETS 21/4 (December 1978) 289-296

THE REASONS TO BELIEVE ORGANIZATION STATEMENT[1]

We believe the Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is the Word of God, written. As a "God-breathed" revelation, it is thus verbally inspired and completely without error (historically, scientifically, morally, and spiritually) in its original writings. While God the Holy Spirit supernaturally superintended the writing of the Bible, that writing nevertheless reflects the words and literary styles of its individual human authors. Scripture reveals the being, nature, and character of God, the nature of God's creation, and especially His will for the salvation of human beings through Jesus Christ. The Bible is therefore our supreme and final authority in all matters that it addresses.

INERRANCY STATEMENT OF THE EVANGELICAL PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY:

"The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written, and is therefore inerrant in the originals."

-From membership affirmation form, 3/15/97

TALBOT SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY[2]

"The Bible, consisting of all the books of the Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God, a supernaturally given revelation from God Himself, concerning Himself, His being, nature, character, will and purposes; and concerning man, his nature, need and duty and destiny. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are without error or misstatement in their moral and spiritual teaching and record of historical facts. They are without error or defect of any kind."

CONSERVATIVE BAPTIST ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES[3]

We affirm that the Bible, consisting of 66 canonical books, is the Word of God written without error in the original manuscripts.

We affirm, furthermore, that—

1. Moses wrote the Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy)

2. Adam and Eve are the first man and woman God created

3. The prophet Jonah is an historical person

4. Daniel the Prophet actually lived and wrote his prophecy during the times of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius

5. The Book of Isaiah in its entirety was written by the Prophet Isaiah who lived in the 8th century before Christ

6. The Gospels are authentic and accurate accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Additional clarifications on the position presented to the delegates:

1. Although we affirm the hermeneutical necessity and value of biblical criticism, we find it objectionable that the most common conclusions espoused by some scholars run contrary to these which we list and consider indispensable to our position on biblical inerrancy.

2. This action implies that CBAP is prepared to make its cooperative efforts with individuals and institutions to be contingent upon this stance on the doctrine of the Bible. While we endorse teaching the depth and breadth of biblical criticism as academic freedom, we disapprove conclusions contrary to the particulars cited above as doctrinal infidelity.

GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD[4]

The Inerrancy Of Scripture

We believe the Bible is the Word of God written; it is the revelation of the truths of God conveyed by inspiration through His servants to us. As such, it is infallible and without error.

Implications Of Statement

1. We refer to original autographs. While the science of textual criticism assures us of a trustworthy text, inerrancy can be claimed only for the original writings (Jeremiah 36:2 [KJV/NIV]).

2. We conceive the Bible to be in actuality the very Word of God. The divine Author prompted the original thought in the mind of the writers (Amos 3:8 [KJV/NIV]); He then guided their choice of words to express such thoughts (Exodus 4:12,15 [KJV/NIV]); and, lastly, He illumines the mind of the reader of such words in a way that the reader potentially may comprehend the same truth as was originally in the mind of the writer (1 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 1:17,18 [KJV/NIV]). Thus, both thought and language are revelatory and inspired.

3. We understand inspiration to mean that special act of the Holy Spirit by which He guided the writers of the Scriptures. Such superintendency made full allowance for the divergent backgrounds, abilities, and personalities of the writers, and applies to all they wrote as it is found in the canon of Scripture.

4. We define inerrancy as meaning "exempt from error" and infallibility as a near synonym meaning "incapable of error, certain". If there is any difference in the shade of meaning between the two terms, inerrancy emphasizes the truthfulness of Scripture, while infallibility emphasizes the trustworthiness of Scripture. Such inerrancy and infallibility apply to all of Scripture and include both revelational inerrancy and factual inerrancy. It is truth (2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 119:43,160; John 17:17,19; Colossians 1:5 [KJV/NIV]).

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