My Doctrinal Statement Concerning Scripture

"Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law."
- Ps. 119:18

"And I shall delight in Thy commandments, which I love."
- Ps. 119:47

I believe that all Scripture is God-breathed, and thus inerrant.  The body of Holy Scripture is the accepted canons of the Old and New Testaments as given in the Protestant tradition; 39 books in the Old, 27 books in the New, 66 in total.  The Bible itself is revelation.  All that it affirms and teaches [1] is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man [person] of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16b-17 [New American Standard Version, 1977]).

Inspiration

"All Scripture is inspired" (2 Tim. 3:16a).  The Apostle Paul used the Greek word transliterated "theopneustos" where our modern English translators used "inspired."  Unfortunately, "inspired" carries so much baggage of nuanced meaning that it must be explained.  "Theopneustos" may be accurately translated as "God-breathed."  God did not breathe life into the written words of man.  Rather, God breathed out the words themselves.  The very words in the original manuscripts (autographa) came from the mouth of God.  By "mouth of God," we use an anthropologic metaphor in an attempt to comprehend the mechanism by which the infinite God who is Spirit communicates His words to finite humankind.  This is not to say that God dictated the Scriptures to their human authors.  The Apostle Peter explains, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Pet. 1:20-21).  In His providence, God chose the human authors and superintended them to write His words without error.  The Holy Spirit moved them, using their individual personalities, cultures, life experiences, and writing styles to compose and record precisely the words He wanted to say, just as He wanted to say them [2].

Inerrancy

All Scripture is inerrant.  Inerrancy is a logical corollary of inspiration.  God is truth.  His Word is truth (John 17:17).  With Him, "there is no variation, or shifting shadow" (James 1:17).  When God speaks, His words are without error.  Their form and content are always perfect: precisely what He wanted to say and absolutely true.  God is incapable of error.  He cannot lie (Heb. 6:18).  This is not to say, however, that He guarantees the subsequent transmission of His words to be free from error.  Such errors are relatively easy to find in our copies of His Word today, but the content of the message remains intact.  Transmission errors and apparent discrepancies in the text, even those difficult to explain, do not detract from what the Bible affirms and teaches.  The "sacred writings" are still able to "give [us] the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15).

Authority

Scripture is the Word of God.  Thus, it is invested with all divine authority.  There are no degrees of authority.  All that the Bible affirms and teaches is unqualifiedly authoritative in the life of every believer and nonbeliever alike.  It is the revelation of God whether one reads it or not.  For those that read it, believe its message of salvation in Jesus Christ and trust in His finished work, the result is eternal life that no power in heaven or earth can revoke.  For those that disbelieve its message, whether they have read it or not, a fate worse than death awaits that is equally sure.  The Lord knows all those who are His.  No one shall snatch them out of His hand (John 10:27-29).

Sufficiency

Scripture is enough.  It is wholly sufficient "for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:17).  The "sacred writings" are able to "give [us] the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."  Leading us to salvation in Jesus is its primary good work.  For the believer, its sufficiency continues in its profitability "for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:17) [3].  This not to say that there is no truth or revelation outside the Bible, for the Bible itself declares that there is.  See Psalm 19 and Romans 1:18-22 for example.  God Himself is truth, and He exists apart from His Word.  We come to the written Word of God to meet the Author, and it is perfectly suited to the task.

Canonicity

The canon is a closed question.  We have the Scriptures today precisely as God intended.  The details by which the canon was determined and assembled by the leaders of the early Christian church are outside the scope of this personal doctrinal statement.  I trust the providence of God and the established tradition of the church that delivered to me the Bible that I hold in my hands today.  I have read all its contents and, by God’s grace, have sought to apply everything it affirms and teaches to my life.  It has changed my life the way no other written word has.  My personal experience bears witness with innumerable other Christians today and through the ages.  This is no ordinary book.  It is the Book of God.  To question its canonicity would cast doubt on all of the other doctrines subsequent to inspiration in this statement.

[1] Throughout this doctrinal statement, the phrase "all that the Bible affirms and teaches" assumes that a proper hermeneutic (interpretive technique) is applied.

[2] For the record, I agree categorically with the content of C. Henry’s "The Authority and Inspiration of the Bible" article in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, 1:3-35.

[3] The Bible is not sufficient for every good work we can think of;  e.g., it will not help me mow my lawn or fix my car.  Rather, it is sufficient for every good work it affirms and teaches.  It is sufficient "for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."