Discalced Baptist

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience,... This first line of the confession is so strategic to the rest of the confession.  It places Scripture at at the forefront and excludes all else, giving the firmest expression to those who take up and read that nothing else, including this confession, ought ever take authority in one's life over Scripture.  Perhaps something like the confession can serve as a vice regent, but never as king. What I am uncertain of in this section is related to the grammar. Is "faith and obedience" an elaboration of "all saving knowledge" or are they 3 separate descriptions of the rule? The location of the commas before and after "faith and obedience" in the confession makes me think it is an elaboration of "all saving knowledge," but then again, it is older English grammar which often contained much larger sentences than used in modern ...

How often do we see our pursuit of happiness, something which we have been so graciously endowed in this nation, ought to be in fact a pursuit of holiness?  Maybe that ought to be something we consider as cases of depression continually rise, as well as what would appear to me to be a general state of dissatisfaction in life.  How many make the correlation that the rise of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, listlessness, and apathy in life take place as ungodliness rises and becomes, not merely public norm, but publicly accepted and approved? "Never cease to show your people that to be holy is to be happy.  And that to bring us to perfect holiness and likeness to God was the very end for which Christ died." -Andrew Bonar "Oh that the all world but knew that happiness and holiness are one." -Andrew Bonar "For if sin is misery, sinners can only be made happy indeed by being made holy.  The process of redemption then is one whose design throughout is hol...

This is an ironic title, because if there is one denomination of Christian nowadays that abhors the presence of philosophy, it’s Baptist.  I actually had a pastor warn me before entering college saying “Never take a philosophy class, it will ruin your faith.”  Instead, I got my BA in it. Now, in all truth, Philosophy didn’t actually keep me a Baptist, but it has enabled me to see errors within the Presbyterian scheme.  Philosophy can be used as a wonderful tool serving as the handmaiden of theology.  Specifically, I will be exploring the application of various discussions within philosophy to hermeneutics and the theology derived from it.  Some might criticize my comments below saying that I am using philosophy as a source by which I’m judging Scripture, but I would argue that my use of philosophical tools is no different than learning how to read.  Just like my ability to read does not undermine the authority of Scripture, neither does using tools to ...

The final adjective in this multifaceted gem located at the beginning of the confession is the word "infallible." In all truth, I struggle to see the difference between the terms infallible and inerrant. The scholars say there is a difference, so I will try my best here to grasp it. First, let's begin with a statement that displays a modern view and contains the two terms. "Scripture is not inerrant, but it is infallible in matters of faith and morals." Sounds kind of like the first sentence of our confession, but not quite.  In a statement like that, the terms are clearly distinguishing between moral and religious being, and general, factual knowledge. How someone can conclude that the Bible is perfect in one matter when the believe it is imperfect in every other area is beyond me. But hey, isn't that what Catholics ultimately do in regards to papal infallibility? Why shouldn't mainline Protestants follow along? In any case, the divide here rep...

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. The plight of any philosopher in the realm of epistemology is certainty. I recall listening to the debate between Greg Bahnsen and R. C. Sproul regarding apologetic method and one of the key issues that arises is this idea of philosophical certainty. Sproul denied its possibility, while Bahnsen upheld it. Before we defenestrate Sproul for heresy (I personally lean toward the presuppositionalist position), let's actually consider the discussion of certainty. What is certainty? It is probably the closest term to what we might deem as inerrant in scholarly discussions today. It regards the characteristics of what is written as dependable, accurate, and true. We can be certain of the facts it expresses. Certainty doesn't necessitate exhaustiveness, but we can be sure of the validity of that which it does express. Certainty is something we all desire. If ...

The first question one might ask before entering into a study of a confession is why?  Before answering that question, it would be of benefit to briefly answer a couple other questions: What is a confession and what is the purpose of a confession? What is a confession? The simple definition most would think is a formal admittance to a crime. I think that is a good place to start because that sets our mind in the legal realm. Possibly the other area which comes to mind would be a confessional booth, which again is placing a legal aspect to the understanding, but adds a religious perspective to it. But in both cases, the confession is of someone admitting their guilt before another.  The other religious definition is that it is a statement of one's religious doctrines or principles. Underlying all three definitions is a simple statement: it is a person's admittance to what they know is real and true.  In two instances, it is admitting what they believe is real, ri...

Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation. The second adjective used in the first sentence of the confession regarding the Holy Bible is "sufficient."  For some reason, this word carries negative baggage for me.  Its simple definition is that it means "enough" or "adequate."  I imagine the use of the word though with someone who is lazy at work or home, but they want to do just enough to not get fired and get by.  Perhaps that negative tone could be beneficial to our understanding.  Apart from Scripture, the grand sum of evidences found in "the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence...are not sufficient."  To put it into my imaginary scene, the person would get fired if they didn't have Scripture and its...

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Today our study shall continue in this succinct and remarkable thesis of the first chapter of the confession.  Yesterday, I briefly looked at Scripture being the "rule".  By no means did I exhaust what could be said, and may, as the Lord permits, go back and add to it.  But today I want to move on to the first of the adjectives, "only." If there exists one word that ruffles the feathers of our culture today, it would be the word "only."  By definition, it means single, solitary, and one of a kind.  Another definition could be "alone deserving consideration."  The writers could not possibly mean that the Bible alone deserves our consideration, could they?  YES!  Their use of the word "only" has the specific purpose of ruling out all other means, as the rest of the chapter elaborates.  It should also be noted that by ...

“The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His church; and afterward for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.” (2LBCF 1:1) What a strong statement to begin a confession! Tom Nettles and Russ Bush say of this entire chapter, “This article contains the clearest ...