The Bible

1. The nature of the Bible and revelation in general

     1.1 The sixty-six historically accepted books of the Bible are the inspired Word of God, written
            by men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit to write exactly what was intended by God,
            while fully preserving each human author’s individual style.
               (1 Corinthians. 14:37; Ephesians 3:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

     1.2 The Scriptures are the very words of God with their perfection, authority, and sufficiency
            extending to the exact vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and literary context.
               (Exodus 24:3, 4, 8; Matthew 5:18; 1 Corinthians 14:37)

     1.3 The Bible is infallible; completely without error in the original manuscripts, and is rightly
           considered the Word of God to the degree that any translation preserves the meaning of
           the original text.
              (Psalms 19:7-9; John 10:35;1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

     1.4 The Bible is the supreme and final authority for faith and practice, fully addressing all
           issues of life either directly or in principle.
              (Matthew 4:4-10; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

     1.5 The apostles and prophets were unique messengers of God’s written revelation, being
           guided by the Holy Spirit through the process of inspiration. After the death of the last
           apostle, all revelation ceased, as its fullness and culmination are found in the person of
           Jesus Christ.
               (Ephesians 2:29-22; 2 Timothy. 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:2-4)

     1.6 Biblical revelation is always objective truth in both source and content.
              (Genesis 6:15-22; Exodus 20:1-17; 2 Samuel 7:5-17; Acts 9:3-6; Revelation 1:10-3:22)

     1.7 In contrast to Biblical revelation, contemplative spirituality and mystical practices are
           inherently and exclusively subjective. They depart from all biblical patterns, lacking
           objective content or an objective source. These approaches wrongly elevate subjective
           personal experiences, emotions, thoughts and perceptions to a level of authority that
           equals or exceeds that of the Bible.

2. The interpretation and use of the Scriptures

    2.1 The Bible is the revelation of the absolute truth necessary for man to understand the will of
          God and to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
             (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

    2.2 Scriptures can only be properly interpreted and understood by consistently applying a
          literal/normal, historical, grammatical hermeneutic which recognizes the author’s original
          intent, including the use of literal language, imagery and figures of speech.
             (Deuteronomy, 4:2, 2 Timothy 2:2, Revelation 22:18-19)

    2.3 The meaning of any given text is only that intended by the human author and conveyed
          exclusively by vocabulary, grammar, syntax and literary context.
             (Matthew19:18-19; Revelation 22:18-19)

    2.4 Spiritual maturity necessarily involves the Holy Spirit enabling the individual to fully
          comprehend and accept the Word of God.
             (1 Corinthians 2:14)