We Believe in and Affirm the Following Seven Requisites:

1. The Divine inspiration of the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testaments as originally given, and preserved throughout the ages as the only infallible, inerrant and sufficient source of theology, doctrine, and practice including its revelation of all things and persons both physical and spiritual: (Ps. 119:9, 89, 105; Matt. 24:35; 1 Th. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:25; 2 Pet. 1:21);

2. The Triune Godhead existing in One Eternal, Transcendent, Omnipotent, Personal God, manifested in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: (Gen.1:1; Ex. 3:14, 34:6; Deut. 6:4, 32:4; Matt. 28:19; John 4:24, 14:16; Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 8:4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Col. 1:17; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 1:2, 12 and 11:3; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 John 4:10 16);

3. The beginning of the existing space-time universe, including all of its basic systems and organisms as revealed in the six days of the creation week, the fall of man and the Noahic flood as the historically factual account of origins, and the cause of the current condition of the physical earth as well as mankind upon it from creation to the present: (Genesis chapters 1 - 10; John 1:1-4);

4. The perfect, sinless humanity and absolute full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, indissolubly united in one Divine/Human Person since His unique incarnation by miraculous virgin conception and birth: (Isa. 53:6; Matt. 28:18 20; Luke 1:35; John 1:1,14,18; Acts 2:22, 24 32; Rom. 1:3-4, 8:34; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 1:19 22; Col. 3:4; Heb. 1:8, 4:15, 7:25; 1 Pet. 1:18, 3:18; 1 John 2:1-2);

5. The substitutionary and redemptive sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ for the sin of the world, through His literal physical death, burial, and resurrection followed by His ascension into Heaven: (Isa. 53:6; Matt. 28:18 20; Luke 1:35; John 1:1,14,18; Acts 2:22, 24 32; Rom. 1:3-4, 8:34; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 1:19 22; Col. 3:4; Heb. 1:8, 4:15, 7:25; 1 Pet. 1:18, 2:22 and 24, 3:18; 1 John 2:1-2);

6. Personal salvation from the eternal penalty of sin, provided exclusively by the grace of God on the basis of the atoning death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be received only through confession of, and individual faith in, His Person and redemptive work on the cross, to be followed by baptism and conversion from a life of sin to a life characterized by the empowering of the Holy Spirit, giving evidence in loving service and adherence to the moral and physical principles and practices of the Christian Faith as set forth in the Holy Scriptures: (Matt. 1:21; Matt. 19:5; Mark 10:7; John 3:14 17, 6:44; Rom. 3:10 12, 19, 20, 23; Eph. 2:1 3, 8-9; 2 Tim. 2:25; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 John 5:6);

7. The future personal, return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to judge and establish His eternal kingdom and to consummate and fulfill all His purposes, the works of creation, and redemption, with eternal judgment and justice for both the saved and the unsaved: (Matt. 24:14, 36-51, 25:1-13; Mark 13:10, 32 37; Luke 21:27-28; John 14:1 3; Acts 1:11; Rev.14:9-11, 20:10-15, 21:1-22:7).

Our Position on Biblical Inerrancy

Since its founding in March of 1999, Master's has been in full agreement with The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. The genesis organization of The Chicago Statement, the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI) 1977-1987, no longer exists.

However, the work it produced remains a sentinel on the subject of Biblical inerrancy. No student of Biblical literature, preaching, or hermeneutics can claim to be adequately educated without at least a working knowledge of the profitable scholarship of the ICBI*.

It is a great honor to Master's that two of ICBI original signers (both now with the Lord), Dr. Henry M. Morris and Dr. Stephen F. Olford, made important contributions in our early days. In fact, the contribution of Dr. Henry M. Morris lives on in our partnership Master of Arts program with the Institute for Creation Research. It is an equally great honor that one of its younger signers at the time, Dr. Howard A. Eyrich is a member of the adjunct faculty, and serves on our Board of Directors.

While the original Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy is now more than a generation past, we believe that it is time to reexamine the roots and reasons behind the birth of the ICBI. We believe this because no topic so defines or divides Christian scholarship as do the issues of Biblical inspiration, inerrancy, and consequently Biblical authority. 

Whereas until recently, what defined and/or divided Christians came primarily along denominational and sectarian lines; these are no longer the most defining issues. While such issues still matter, what matters more is one's stand on Biblical inerrancy. 

As we continue to teach teachers, preachers, laypersons and leaders across a wide range of theological perspectives, we are finding that what binds or divides has less and less to do with ecclesiastical or polity issues, and much more to do with whether or not one holds to a verbal plenary inspiration view of the Bible. 

To put it less academically, Baptists have much more in common with Pentecostals if they both hold to Biblical inerrancy than they do with their theological sister denominations or groups who either deny full inerrancy or equivocate on politically and socially provocative topics.

So, for those who are not familiar with the ICBI and The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, we offer the following condensed version, and encourage a full and complete study of the history and documents produced through the efforts of the ICBI.

FROM THE CHICAGO STATEMENT ON BIBLICAL INERRANCY

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God's witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms; obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total Divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible's own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.