The Bible is the Word of God in its entirety, written by men through the Divine agency of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme authority that governs all matters of faith and practice.

Revelation

Revelation is the sovereign act of God by which He reveals to man that which would otherwise be unknown. God has revealed Himself through general and special revelation:

General Revelation – God has revealed himself to a certain degree through:

1. Creation– Externally to man, revealing an omnipotent God (Romans 1:19-20)
   
2. Conscience – Internally to man, revealing a moral God
   (Romans 2:14-15)
   
3. Providence– Around man, revealing a benevolent God
   (Acts 14:17)

General revelation is a way of describing God’s unchanging presence, power, glory and orderliness without revealing all of His purposes and plans. It shown in Scriptures as a means of condemning man universally (Romans 1:20; 2:1), however, God’s intention is that it invites man to search for a deeper understanding of Him and His plan for salvation (Acts 14:15-18; 17:26-28; Psalms 8:26).

Special Revelation - God has revealed who He is and all that He has done in terms of salvation through special acts and words (i.e. miracles, prophecies, angels, dreams and vision, etc). The final revelation came through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible is the recorded and final record of this revelation (Acts 14:15-18; 17:26-28; Psalms 8:26)fully.

Inspiration

Inspiration is God’s act of directing men moved by the Holy Spirit to write the Scripture so that they accurately composed and recorded revelation to man. There are three elements in inspiration:

1. From a divine source – God “breathed” scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).
   
2. From a human agent – God worked through human personality, culture and genre style (2 Peter 1:20-21).

Without flaw in their original context – All sixty-six books of the bible are thus fully and equally inspired. Every book, idea, and word is from God our benefit (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The words of the Bible are fully inspired by God. Because of this inspiration the Bible is:

1. Inerrant – In the original autographs it is without error (John17:17).
   
2. Infallible – Incapable of teaching deception (Psalms 119:9).
   
3. Unique – The only revelation from God to man. It is not to be revised or reedited (Revelation 22:1-19).
   
4. Unchanging – It’s truths are relevant for all time (Isaiah 40:8).
   
5. Sufficient – The is sufficient to meet all the needs of the human soul (2 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17).

God verbally and plenarily inspires the Scripture through the assistance of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is in inspired and inerrant for the following reasons:

1. Inerrant – In their original writings they are without error (John 17:17).
   
2. Infallible – They are entirely true in all of it’s content (Psalms 119:9)
   
3. Unique – It is the only revelation from God to man. It is not to be added to, nor taken away from (Revelation 22:1-19)
   
4. Unchanging – It’s relevancy is for all people in every generation (Isaiah 40:8)
   
5. Sufficient – It meets all of human needs.

Canonicity

All 66 books of the Bible are canonical which mean that in there content they measure up to the final and fixed standards that authenticate them as being Scripture. Even though the Scriptures were canonical the moment they were written, we may only trace the history of them and recognize them as canonical. The historical standards of measuring canonicity of Scripture:

1. Qualified Authority – Was by men who spoke for God? (Hebrews 11:1)
   
2. Divine Authority – Does the book speak as the voice of God? (Luke 24:52; Mark 1:22)
   
3. Evident Authority – Is it consistent, factual and aligned with truth? Does it square up with the whole of Scripture? (Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1-6)
   
4. Spiritual Activity – Does it produce spiritual fruit? (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17)
   
5. Accepted by the Universal Church – Was it widely accepted in the first few centuries amongst the mainline orthodox churches?