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Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 13:35:41 -0400
From: Mike Ryder <mike@mryder.com> Add To Address Book
Subject: Statement of Faith
To: [Family member B], [Family member A]
Cc: mike@mryder.com
Hi
I came across the following and wondered to what extent you each would
agree or disagree with it.
Statement of Faith
(A) PRIORITIES
1. The scientific aspects of creation are important, but are
secondary in importance to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ as Sovereign, Creator, Redeemer and Judge.
2. The doctrines of Creator and Creation cannot ultimately be
divorced from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
(B) BASICS
1. The 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The
Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant throughout. Its assertions are
factually true in all the original autographs. It is the supreme
authority, not only in all matters of faith and conduct, but in
everything it teaches. Its authority is not limited to spiritual,
religious or redemptive themes but includes its assertions in such
fields as history and science.
2. The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is
Scripture itself.
3. The account of origins presented in Genesis is a simple but
factual presentation of actual events and therefore provides a reliable
framework for scientific research into the question of the origin and
history of life, mankind, the Earth and the universe.
4. The various original life forms (kinds), including mankind,
were made by direct creative acts of God. The living descendants of any
of the original kinds (apart from man) may represent more than one
species today, reflecting the genetic potential within the original
kind. Only limited biological changes (including mutational
deterioration) have occurred naturally within each kind since Creation.
5. The great Flood of Genesis was an actual historic event,
worldwide (global) in its extent and effect.
6. The special creation of Adam (the first man) and Eve (the
first woman), and their subsequent fall into sin, is the basis for the
necessity of salvation for mankind.
7. Death (both physical and spiritual) and bloodshed entered
into this world subsequent to, and as a direct consequence of,
man’s sin.
(C) THEOLOGY
1. The Godhead is triune: one God, three Persons—God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
2. All mankind are sinners, inherently from Adam and
individually (by choice) and are therefore subject to God’s wrath
and condemnation.
3. Freedom from the penalty and power of sin is available to man
only through the sacrificial death and shed blood of Jesus Christ, and
His complete and bodily Resurrection from the dead.
4. The Holy Spirit enables the sinner to repent and believe in
Jesus Christ.
5. The Holy Spirit lives and works in each believer to produce
the fruits of righteousness.
6. Salvation is a gift received by faith alone in Christ alone
and expressed in the individual’s repentance, recognition of the
death of Christ as full payment for sin, and acceptance of the risen
Christ as Saviour, Lord and God.
7. All things necessary for our salvation are set down in
Scripture.
8. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the
virgin Mary.
9. Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, ascended to Heaven,
is currently seated at the right hand of God the Father, and shall
return in like manner to this Earth as Judge of the living and the dead.
10. Satan is the personal spiritual adversary of both God and man.
11. Those who do not believe in Christ are subject to everlasting
conscious punishment, but believers enjoy eternal life with God.
(D) GENERAL
1. The following are held by members of the Board of Answers in
Genesis to be either consistent with Scripture or implied by Scripture:
Scripture teaches a recent origin for man and the whole creation.
2. The days in Genesis do not correspond to geologic ages, but
are six [6] consecutive twenty-four [24] hour days of Creation.
3. The Noachian Flood was a significant geological event and
much (but not all) fossiliferous sediment originated at that time.
4. The ‘gap’ theory has no basis in Scripture.
5. The view, commonly used to evade the implications or the
authority of Biblical teaching, that knowledge and/or truth may be
divided into ‘secular’ and ‘religious’, is
rejected.
6. By definition, no apparent, perceived or claimed evidence in
any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it
contradicts the Scriptural record. Of primary importance is the fact
that evidence is always subject to interpretation by fallible people
who do not possess all information.
Mike Ryder
bravenet.com