Theology for Everyone

WE AFFIRM the unity and internal consistency of Scripture. WE DENY that alleged errors and discrepancies that have not yet been resolved vitiate the truth claims of the Bible. We’re told in Proverbs that “every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Pr. 30:5). The...

After introducing the theological concept of “inerrancy” in Article XII, the drafters of The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy proceeded to defend the use of this comparatively new term in reference to the veracity of Scripture. Article XIII declares: We affirm the propriety of using...

Having established that Scripture is inspired by God (Articles VI through X) and infallible in nature (Article XI), the Chicago Statement proceeds to defend the Inerrancy of Scripture in all that follows. We have come to the heart of the matter. Article XII begins: We affirm that Scripture in its...

The terms Inspiration , Infallibility , and Inerrancy rise or fall together in our doctrine of Scripture. They are really in it together, we might say. Thus, it is no surprise that Articles VI through X of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy are so focused on explaining the doctrine of...

Has the church has missed God’s plan for spiritual growth? Conventional wisdom promotes pragmatic self-help schemes, elaborate church programs, and charismatic leaders. But what if God actually authorized a simpler way? Early Christians committed to expository preaching, fellowship, and prayers (...

Article X: “WE AFFIRM that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the...

Article IX of the Chicago Statement, with its one affirmation and one denial, reads as follows: “We affirm that inspiration, though not conferring omniscience, guaranteed true and trustworthy utterance on all matters of which the biblical authors were moved to speak and write. We deny that the...

The visible church is an institution. Like any other organization the church has structure. Anyone who takes the Bible seriously realizes that the gathered community of God has leaders, doctrine, and rules for membership. As unpopular as it might be to say, Christianity is a religion and the...

WE AFFIRM that God in His work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers whom He had chosen and prepared. WE DENY that God, in causing these writers to use the very words that He chose, overrode their personalities. That God has inspired men to write...

The Seventh Article of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy reads as follows: We affirm that inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers, gave us His Word. The origin of Scripture is divine. The mode of divine inspiration remains largely a mystery to us. We...