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 illumination 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.