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Theological Presuppositions

We accept as absolute truth the fact that the Bible is the Supernatural Revelation of God’s Thoughts, Plans, and Purposes to man.

We believe that God’s Revelation in the original manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures is complete and that it is meant to be understood by man.

We believe that Scripture Itself was God-breathed and that the human writers were merely conduits whom God the Holy Spirit Supernaturally carried along in recording God's inerrant message to mankind.

We believe that the most-precise interpretation of God’s Revelation can be determined only by thorough study and carefully conducted research performed under the Supernatural lllumination of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that this research must be conducted by men of God who are in joint-participation (fellowship) with the Holy Spirit and who bind themselves by integrity to a Biblically inductive approach of interpretation.

We believe that all human interpretation is subject to human error and, therefore, must be verified exclusively by Scriptural substantiation to minimize this error. We believe that a true interpretation of the Bible should be completely open to scrutiny by like-minded men of God and be without Scriptural conflict.

We believe that to reach an absolute, substantiated interpretation of Scripture, research must begin at the fundamental level using the data existing on that level. Further research can then be built upon this base while continuously rechecking any previous conclusions for error.

We believe the basis for FBR’s methodology is the doctrine of verbal, plenary Inspiration. We accept these statements as true:

Every word in the original manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures is Inspired of God and without error. (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10, 13; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21)
God is the only true Author of all Scripture, which provides a unified, unbroken, and harmonious message throughout all 66 books (Genesis through Revelation). (John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 10:6, 11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:20, 21)
The grammar (morphology, phonology, syntax, and linguistic structure) of each book was superintended by God the Holy Spirit through the human writers so as to produce the most-precise
meaning of every passage according to its context in Scripture. (1 Corinthians 2:13; 14:6-11; 2 Peter 1:20, 21)
Any hypotheses or conclusions in Biblical interpretation that have been reached by human systems of reason or fields of human wisdom (such as philosophy, theology, or linguistics) must be subject to Scriptural verification as the final test for truth. (1 Corinthians 1:19-21; 2:4-16; 3:19; Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:20, 21; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17)

Note: The exegesis and pertinent word studies on each of these verses is available in FBR’s Philosophy and Methodology Bible-Based Hermeneutics text.

FBR stands firmly on the premise that the only Theology that is fitting for man to learn and base his teaching on is one that can be totally substantiated by Scripture. This statement is not to suggest that all existing Theologies are incorrect. It only means that any systematic Theology or fragment thereof a student accepts as truth must be able to stand up to honest evaluation based on a hermeneutically correct Scriptural analysis. Am I insinuating that man does not know anything about God’s Word at this time? Absolutely not! However, every humanly developed Theology has sprung forth, at least partially, from the mind of man and therefore has potentially been tainted by man’s fallen nature. Such Theologies may even have been developed as philosophical responses to challenges from unbelievers or from apostate, heretical, or misguided Christians. The challenges of Gnosticism, Arminianism, and other heresies have been the impetus for much bona fide and accurate Theological research. Sadly, some Theologies are more anti-positions than positions developed by an objective attempt to research and rightly discern “the mind of Christ.”

What I am saying is that NO doctrinal position can be blindly accepted as truth, especially by those who are called to preach to others. God commended the Bereans because, as Acts 17:11 states (based on this
author’s interpretation from the Greek), “they welcomed [Paul’s teaching] with all eagerness, carefully examining the Scriptures daily, [wishing] to find those things [the things that were said] were so [in the degree or manner stated].” These were not those Jews who were negative to Paul’s teaching and challenged what he said; they sought the Truth and readily anticipated its being proven out of Scripture. Every doctrine should be so investigated before it is accepted, and especially before it is taught to others.

FBR’s ultimate objective would be that God might use Spiritually-gifted men, who are committed to the premise stated above, to effect a“Resolution” of the major issues dividing Conservative Evangelical
Theology today. These issues encompass the disagreement between the contradictory positions of T.U.L.I.P. 1 and Free Grace, as well as the controversy between Covenantal and Dispensational Theology. I believe this resolution will be necessary before the Scripture can be fulfilled that

1 T.U.L.I.P. is a mnemonic which stands for the five philosophical positions known as Calvinism.

says,

For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; (Ephesians 4:12-13) NKJV

Future projects of FBR are

Publishing The Standard Writer’s Guide for Greek and Hebrew Exegesis (which has been endorsed by many seminary professors as an extremely competent and thorough guide for
grammatical exegesis) as a free download on our website.

Completing The Exegetical Bible. This project is incomplete at this time, but work is scheduled to resume by 2011. (Several seminary graduates accomplished approximately 800 of the 8,000 hours necessary for this project before FBR was no longer able to fund the project.)

Completing The Dictionary of Bible-Based Word Meanings. (Currently, about 15% of the research required to complete this project is in rough-draft form. Much of that research is included in
Bible-Based Hermeneutics. I intend to dedicate the rest of my life in completing this project, along with the help of others who grasp the vision. Volunteers are encouraged to apply, after they have
studied the Bible-Based Hermeneutics text thoroughly.)

Comment: This author has chosen the literary license to use capitalization for every grammatical reference to the Bible or the Scriptures not ordinarily capitalized in modern literature. Please do not think that the author means to question or judge any other believer’s not using a similar use of capitalization. It is the internal attitude of the believer toward God and His Word that is the measure of his respect and awe of God, not any external observance that counts. For ready identification purposes, and in reverence to our Lord, all pronouns referring to God will be capitalized in this work. Also, specific aspects of God's Character (Love, Omniscience, etc.) and His unique Works (Creation, Revelation, Inspiration, Illumination, etc.) will be capitalized when pertinent to emphasize from Whom they originate. Likewise, the Word, Will, Plan, and Thoughts of God will be capitalized when helpful to emphasize the contrast of those things which also could be common products of humanity. This is done so that the distinction is made clear to the reader (for example, My Thoughts are not your thoughts and My Ways are not your ways). When this book refers to Spiritual maturity as God's Purpose and Goal for every believer, I want the reader to pause for a second to reflect on the fact that ONLY God can enable this type of maturity to occur. This practice may be considered extreme (and not at all compatible with secularly-influenced grammar), but I believe it has a purpose in communication.