Statement of Faith

Doctrinal Statements and Positions

 

 

Doctrinal Statements and Positions

The Bible

 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

At Living Faith, we believe the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God. We believe in plenary, verbal inspiration.

Plenary: This means every part of the Bible is inspired by God - both testaments, every book, every chapter, every verse.

Verbal: This means the very words used in the Bible are inspired by God.

Inspiration: A better and more biblically-accurate term would be "God-breathed." A poem might be "inspired," but the Scriptures were "expired" - they are the very words of God.

Consequently, the Bible has absolute authority in our lives and in our church.


Other Useful Resources:

The History of the English Bible. Brief history of the translation and distribution of the English bible.

The Extent and Nature of Inspiration by Dennis McCallum. A response to recent challenges to the doctrine of biblical inspiration.

Christ and Scriptural Inspiration by Christopher Louis Lang. Jesus' teaching on the nature of inspiration ranks as our most important source for understanding this crucial question.

The Christian Canon by Don Closson. A study of historical attitudes towards the inspiration of the Scriptures.

Are the Biblical Documents Reliable? by Jimmy Williams. How do we know that the Bible we have today is even close to the original? Haven't copiers down through the centuries inserted and deleted and embellished the documents so that the original message of the Bible has been obscured? These questions are frequently asked to discredit the sources of information from which the Christian faith has come to us.

Authority of the Bible by Patrick Zukeran. We Christians believe the Bible to be the Word of God and the eternal source of truth we live by. How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? Can we actually prove that the Bible is truly the Word of God? The answer is yes.