The Bible
We believe...
In the sufficiency of the Bible as Holy Scripture, divinely inspired.
Psalm 19:7-11 (ESV)
"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward."
Here we find that God's word is...
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Perfect (Inerrant).
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Sure (Trustworthy).
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Right (Just).
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Pure (Without evil).
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Clean (Wholesome).
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Enduring forever (Spoken with the eternal authority of God Himself).
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True and Righteous (Is truth, not merely containing truth; and righteous, virtuous and directs to a lifestyle of goodness).
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The Bible is:
Inerrant...
Inerrancy is the notion that the Bible does not have any errors of fact or any statements that are contradictory. Inerrancy is more concerned with the details of Scripture regarding its historical accuracy and complete revelation.
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Historically Accurate...
Old Testament writings are validated by archaeological finds:
​ - Kings described in the Bible and validated historically
- Belshazzar (c. 550-539 BCE)
- King Darius (c. 549-486 BCE)
- King Cyrus (c. 600 or 576-530 BC)
- Nebuchadnezzar (c. 605-562 BC)
- Hittite empire was authenticated, although formerly thought to be mythical (c 1600 BC).
- King David's reign was recorded on ancient Egyptian inscriptions.
- Stone tablet bearing Pontius Pilate's name was discovered in an amphitheater.
- Recently unearthed was the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem, Israel.
Joshua 6: The Bible claims the walls of Jericho were very wide, had housing at an upper level, and fell down flat so the army of
Israel was able to walk over them.
- Archaeological evidence indicates the walls of Jericho fell down flat as the Bible claims and actually fell outwardly from the city
not inwardly as would be expected if destroyed by an army.
(Noted by Dr. John Garstang, director of the British School of Archaeology in Jeruselum and of the Department of
Antiquities of the Palestine Government, excavated the ruins of Jericho, 1929-1936; Halley's Bible Handbook, Zondervan
Press; comments on Joshua 6.)
- Remains indicate there were rooms between the walls and located at an upper level and that the placement of the walls was
indeed able to support this.
Jonah: For many decades skeptics doubted the reality of the Assyrian Empire having no evidence of its existence and critics
claimed that the story of Jonah was too fantastic to be true.
- In 1845 British archaeologists definitely identified the site of the city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire and
discovered that the second largest mound in Nineveh was named 'Yunas' the native word for 'Jonah."
- The mound covers 40 acres and is 100 feet high and contains the reputed tomb of Jonah. (Halley's Bible Handbook, Zondervan
Press, comments on Nahum and Jonah.)
Jesus: Another case in point is the historicity of Jesus. Although many skeptics state that Jesus never lived, He is mentioned in non-
Christian historical writings such as the documents of:
1. Flavius Josephus, a first century Jewish historian.
2. Rabbi Eliezer and writers of the Talmud who talked about Jesus and his miracles.
3. Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman historian, who wrote about Jesus and the first century Christians in his historical annals of the
Roman Empire.
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Scientifically Accurate...
Genesis 11:1 (c. 1440 and 1400 B.C.) Language experts have determined that all the earth's peoples must have originally shared
a common language. That is precisely what the Bible declares in this passage.
Judges 5:20 (c. 1045 and 1000 B.C) mentions "the stars in their courses." While it was once believed that the starts were fixed,
today we know that they too move in a predictable way.
Psalm 8:8 (c. 1000 B.C.) discusses the "paths of the seas." Matthew Fontaine Maury, the "Father of Oceanography," is said to have
read Psalm 8 and later sought to confirm the idea of ocean currents. As a result, he wrote the first textbook on modern
oceanography in 1855. The state of Virginia erected a memorial to him that cites this Bible passage.
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Prophetically Accurate and Fulfilled...
One aspect of prophecy is the foretelling of future events. There are well over 600 prophecies in the Bible, more than 365 fulfilled
in Jesus' first coming, the remainder yet to be fulfilled in the events surrounding the second coming in Christ and thereafter. Here is a small sampling regarding Christ's crucifixion found in Psalm 22. Be aware that this Psalm was written about 1000 years
before Christ was born by Kind David. Read the versus for yourself and notice the exact fulfillment in the New Testament.
Prophecy in Psalm 22 and the Fulfillment in the New Testament
Psalm 22:1 - Forsaken because of sins of others - 2 Corinthians 5:21
Psalm 22:1 - Spoken from Calvary, “My God…” - Mark 15:34
Psalm 22:2 - Darkness upon Calvary - Matthew 27:45
Psalm 22: 7 - Shoot out the lip/shake the head - Matthew 27:39
Psalm 22:8 - “He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him” - Matthew 27:43
Psalm 22:9 - Born the Savior - Luke 2:7
Psalm 22:14 - Died of a ruptured heart - John 19:34
Psalm 22: 14-15 - Suffered agony on Calvary - Mark 15:34-37
Psalm 22:15 - He thirsted - John 19:28
Psalm 22:16 - They pierced his hands and feet - John 19:34, 37; 20:27
Psalm 22:17-18 - Stripped Him before the stares of men - Luke 23:34,45
Psalm 22:18 - They parted His garments - John 19:23,24
Psalm 22: 20-21 - He committed Himself to God - Luke 23:46
Psalm 22:22 - His resurrection declared - John 20:17
Psalm 22:31 - “It is finished” - John 19:30
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Infallible...
When referring to Scripture, the term infallible is typically used to mean reliable, wholly true and trustworthy. It refers to
something that is complete and lacking nothing. Those who trust the Bible's infallible teachings will never be lead astray.
Translations may err, but the original manuscripts penned by the prophets and apostles do not. Since God is the source of all
truth and His Word is truth (John 17:17), to say that he gave us a Bible full of errors is to cast doubt on His character, is lacking
logic, and is inconsistent with the thousands of years of personal experiences where the Bible has illuminated people's minds and
hearts to the truth of God's existence and the joy of a personal relationship with Him.
- Psalm 119:160 (ESV): The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
- John 17:17 (ESV): Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
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The supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct...
2 Peter 1:16 (ESV): For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV): All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
- Bible inerrancy and infallibility support the claims that its author is God and that the words contained in it are authored by God
Himself working through human writers as they were "carried along" by the Holy Spirit.
- Being complete and lacking nothing in terms of the revelation of God and spiritual matter, the Bible is unique among all other
writings in that it is the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct and is the only lens through which life can be
truthfully viewed and eternal life can be rightly gained.
- There is no other holy book so claimed by man that covers the breath of history, the depth of knowledge or the broad band of
topics as the Bible does with such incontrovertible wisdom and poignant truth that it would hold even a speck of weight
compared to the mountain of authority the Bible rightfully claims as the divinely inspired writings of God.
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Complete in its revelation (Sufficiency of scripture and the closed canon)...
Scripture is sufficient and we are not to alter it. We are not to add to or take away from God's laws, commands, words or
prophecies.
- Deuteronomy 4:2 (ESV): You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of
the Lord your God that I command you.
Complete canon
- Deuteronomy 29:29 (ESV): The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to
our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
- Jesus taught from the canon of Old Testament scripture.
- Luke 24: 27 (ESV): And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning himself.
- Luke 24: 32 (ESV): They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while
he opened to us the Scriptures?”
- Paul taught the canon of Old Testament scripture.
- Romans 15: 4 (ESV): For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and
through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV): All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and
for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
- Both Jesus and Paul (and other writers of scripture) teach that there are yet mysteries that God has not revealed in his word.
- Three Criteria for Canonization:
- Prophetic authorship
- Witness of the Spirit
- Acceptance by God's people
- Closed Canon:
- Jude 3 (ESV): Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to
write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
- The term canon refers to the authoritative books of Scripture that deliver the "faith that was once for all delivered to
the saints."
- God is the One who decided which books should be placed in the Bible.
- We know the correct books are in the Bible because of the testimony of Jesus (Jn 14:26)
- The Apocrypha, books considered inspired by the Roman Catholic church, do not give evidence of inspiration.
- Recent books that have claimed diving inspiration have proven themselves to be frauds.
- The Scripture is complete. Nothing should be added or taken from it.
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"One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North Africa-at Hippo Regius in 393 and at Carthage in 397- but what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of the communities." (F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are they Reliable?, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1960. p 27)