WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE RULES OF BASEBALL
We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments,
to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings,
the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men,
and the Divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life.
That’s the first point of our church’s statement of faith.
We start with the Bible.
We don’t start with a particular tradition.
We don’t start with the views of any famous Christian leader.
We don’t start with each person’s particular experience of God.
We start with the Bible.
We believe the Bible is “the complete revelation of [God’s] will for the salvation of men.” When we say “complete revelation” we DON’T mean the Bible tells us everything there is to know about God’s plan of salvation, but rather in it we find everything God wanted us to know about His plan to save us. The Bible isn’t exhaustive, but it is sufficient. The Bible tells us what we need to know about a relationship with God.
Because the Bible reveals these things, it serves as “the Divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life.”
We believe the Bible is the FINAL – not the ONLY – authority for what to believe about God, His plan to save us, and how to live as a Christian. Great leaders and councils of Christian history are authorities on these matters, as are long-standing Christian traditions. So are our own spiritual experiences and our own individual consciences.
But each of these authorities must be weighed against the teachings of our final authority: the Bible. If pastors or traditions or our own experiences contradict biblical teaching, then God’s revelation in the Bible is the final authority that judges the other lesser authorities.
Notice too that we believe the Bible is the final authority “for all Christian faith and life.” The Bible is NOT (and never claims to be) an authority – much less the final authority -- on proper English grammar or algebra or Renaissance art or the construction of houses or the rules of baseball. The Bible is the final authority only on the matters God chose to address in its pages.
The Bible doesn’t say something about everything. There are some things about which the Bible says nothing at all, and we must turn to other authorities to understand matters that the Bible doesn’t directly address.
to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings,
the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men,
and the Divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life.
That’s the first point of our church’s statement of faith.
We start with the Bible.
We don’t start with a particular tradition.
We don’t start with the views of any famous Christian leader.
We don’t start with each person’s particular experience of God.
We start with the Bible.
We believe the Bible is “the complete revelation of [God’s] will for the salvation of men.” When we say “complete revelation” we DON’T mean the Bible tells us everything there is to know about God’s plan of salvation, but rather in it we find everything God wanted us to know about His plan to save us. The Bible isn’t exhaustive, but it is sufficient. The Bible tells us what we need to know about a relationship with God.
Because the Bible reveals these things, it serves as “the Divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life.”
We believe the Bible is the FINAL – not the ONLY – authority for what to believe about God, His plan to save us, and how to live as a Christian. Great leaders and councils of Christian history are authorities on these matters, as are long-standing Christian traditions. So are our own spiritual experiences and our own individual consciences.
But each of these authorities must be weighed against the teachings of our final authority: the Bible. If pastors or traditions or our own experiences contradict biblical teaching, then God’s revelation in the Bible is the final authority that judges the other lesser authorities.
Notice too that we believe the Bible is the final authority “for all Christian faith and life.” The Bible is NOT (and never claims to be) an authority – much less the final authority -- on proper English grammar or algebra or Renaissance art or the construction of houses or the rules of baseball. The Bible is the final authority only on the matters God chose to address in its pages.
The Bible doesn’t say something about everything. There are some things about which the Bible says nothing at all, and we must turn to other authorities to understand matters that the Bible doesn’t directly address.