Subject: Properly Interpreting the Bible |
Bible Note: PRESUPPOSITIONAL PREREQUESITES TO BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION 1. The inerrancy of the original autographs of Scripture Please see: http://www.carm.org/creeds/chicago.htm 2. The authority of the Scripture "The supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved. (Matthew 22:29, 31-32; Ephesians 2:20; Acts 28:2)" --LBCF 1689, Chapter 1, paragraph 10 3. The clarity/perspicuity of the Scripture "All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them. (2 Peter 3:16; Psalms 19:7; Psalms 119:130)" --LBCF 1689, Chapter 1, paragraph 7 4. The sufficiency of the Scripture "The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men. (2 Timothy 3:15-17)" --LBCF 1689, Chapter 1, paragraph 6 Additional Note: Doctrine (i.e., what God calls us to believe on any subject) is based on objectivity; it is presuppositional in nature. We are not advocating intellectualism but intelligence. |