The Foundation for Biblical Research

Theological Position

The FOUNDATION for BIBLICAL RESEARCH

THEOLOGICAL POSITION

FBR was organized in 1977 for the purpose of conducting Bible research.  Some of FBR’s purposes are to:

·        Perform technical research in the original languages of Scripture;

·        Develop, publish, and distribute technical tools as a result of this research.  These tools can be utilized by men in the ministry as well as serious students of God’s Word;

·        Produce books on popular subjects based on this biblical research for the benefit of Christians worldwide as described on www.rfugate.org

Philosophy

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 by which God the Holy Spirit supernaturally carried along in recording God's inerrant message to mankind.

We believe that the precise interpretation of God’s revelation can be determined by through study and carefully conducted research performed only under the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirits illumination.

We believe that this research must be conducted by men of God who are in joint-participation 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 can be proved to 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 the following to be 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 providing a unified, unbroken, and consistent 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 one most precise meaning of every word and passage 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) are ultimately 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 will be available in FBR’s Bible-Based Hermeneutics.

Objective

We believe we have been led by God to administer a Bible research effort based on, and consistent with, the philosophy herein described.  FBR intends to co-ordinate the work of a highly qualified team of Greek and Hebrew scholars--men of God who agree completely with the above defined doctrine of verbal, plenary inspiration.  We will evaluate and reference the best biblically-substantiated grammatical and lexical works of the past in our research.

The objective of this research is to determine and thoroughly substantiate exactly what God’s Word says.  All work will be subjected to two independent checking stages to help insure consistency, accuracy, and objectivity.  Every attempt will be taken to eliminate subjective decisions based on theological or pedagogical presuppositions.  Even when conclusions are reached, they will be subject to critique and re-evaluation on a continuous basis until all errors are removed.

This research will produce several practical tools to assist the serious student of God’s Word.  For the seasoned scholar of biblical languages, these tools will provide a trustworthy base on which to build his exegesis.  It is FBR’s desire also to enable the teachers of God’s Word who lack training in the original languages to obtain a better understanding of what the texts actually say.  It is our prayer that this better understanding will then be used by them to teach more accurately what the Bible truly means.  This teaching is expected to result in the edification of the body of Christ by producing a greater quantity on mature believers and creating a Christian dynamic like that of the Reformation.

     These technical tools are under development.

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