FIVE CORE DOCTRINES
That Shape the Teaching, Fellowship, and Worship of CBC

Concerning the Bible

 
Our Statement of Confidence
We believe that the Bible, consisting of a total of 66 books in the Old and New Testaments, is without error in the original manuscripts.  The Originator of the Bible is God the Holy Spirit who guided each human author without distorting his person or character so that the writings each human author produced were verbally and plenarily inspired.  Since the Bible is from God, and therefore, necessarily true and precise, and accurately unveils His will for all mankind, it is, then, the sole authority for life and service.  Providentially, by God’s singular care through the multiplicity of the many Hebrew and Greek language-copies of Scripture, the Bible has been kept pure through the ages and is the authentic Word of God for us today.  This being true, any translation of the Bible into any human language may be embraced as sound and authoritative when that translation accurately represents the original autographs.  With great respect and reverence for historic English  translations like the King James Version and the 1901 American Standard Version, and while endorsing several outstanding contemporary English translations as fitting the above description (i.e. the 1995 New American Standard Version), we have chosen to use the New King James Version in our congregational worship.

For those who are seeking an immediate and deeper statement on the authority and inerrancy of the Bible, we recommend The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), and we solemnly embrace their 18 articles of affirmation and denial.  We further support their opening statement as accurate and true which reads, in part:  The authority of Scripture is a key issue for the Christian Church in this and every age.  Those who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to show the reality of their discipleship by humbly and faithfully obeying God’s written Word.  To stray from Scripture in faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master. 

The Impact of This Statement on Our Church Experience
Since we understand the Word of God as described above, every aspect of our ministry is shaped by our loyalty, joy, and satisfaction in the truths of Scripture.  Our music energetically reflects the delight and theological content of the Word of God, our Sunday School classes are devoted to the enthusiastic study of Scriptural truths, our pulpit ministry—each Sunday morning and evening—is dedicated to the exegesis of Scripture and its passionate expository expression, our counseling ministry and our selective weekly, small group studies, such as Teens, Singles, Ladies and Men’s groups, are fully committed to the personal relevance and the full sufficiency of the Word of God.  

Inherent within our Text-based ministry is the church-wide commitment to a literal, grammatical, literary, and historical understanding of the Scriptures.  In other words, the Bible cannot be understood unless this grid is properly applied.  Any notion that the Old Testament, for example, can have a valid meaning by using an allegorical or non-literal interpretive scheme is unacceptable.  We are dedicated to the proposition that the Holy Spirit superintended each human author to write a document which is understandable by every reader in a normal, literal fashion and that each written prophecy God expressed will come to pass as the author gave it.  This being the case, we consider the dispensational approach to Bible interpretation as the most satisfying manifestation of Scriptural truth, for it maintains a consistent, literal hermeneutic, insists upon the clear distinction between ethnic Israel and the church, and fully promotes the glory of God as the single foundation for all that is written in the Holy Text.

Texts We Considered in This Declaration
Deuteronomy 17:14-20; I Samuel 3:1, 19-21; Psalm 119; Jeremiah 16:16; 20:9; 31:23-40; Ezekiel 39:21-29; Hosea 8:11- 12; Matthew 28:18-20; John 5:39, 46-47; 14:26; 16:13-15; Acts 3:18-26; Romans 9-11; 16:25-27; II Timothy 2:15-16; 3:1-4:5;
II Peter 1:12-21; 2:1-3; 3:1-2; Revelation 22:18-21