Bible Doctrine

With the start of school, we’ve begun a new phase of our family Bible study. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are for general reading. Currently we are working our way through the “Law” books of the Old Testament. Thursday we review our current memory passage which is Psalm 1. Tuesday we started a study of Bible Doctrines.

Doctrine means teaching. In this case, teaching about Christianity and the Bible. Perhaps the most important reason to study doctrine is simply to know what you believe and why. It is also important to be able to combat error and falsehood. Even a simple study of core doctrines will provide a foundation of belief and a barrier against fallacy.

One important difference to note, especially in the realm of Bible Doctrines is the difference between doctrine and dogma. Doctrine is founded in truth, the truth of the scriptures. Dogma is founded in personal experience or personal preference. Often dogma is pressed upon others as doctrine, and the lack of a foundation of beliefs shackles these unfortunate people to these personal preferences of others.

Christianity includes seven core doctrines that are central to a foundation of belief. Indeed, whether you are a Christian, Atheist, or Agnostic what you believe about these seven categories will affect how you live you life. Despite the belief of many, your belief about core doctrines will affect how you live your life. The seven core categories are:

• Bible – Any study of what you believe must begin with a study of the foundation of those beliefs. Inspiration, inerrancy, canonicity, and preservation are all issues that must be addressed when discussing the Bible.

• God – God is the source of all truth as revealed through the Bible. The nature and characteristics of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all issues addressed by a doctrine of God.

• Creation – The study of the origins of this world, even this entire universe are in hot debate these days.What you believe about how we got here will affect not only your understanding of why we are here, but also how you live.

• Created Beings – While the majority of this doctrine includes a study of man and his nature and characteristics, it will also include a study of angels.

• Salvation – Perhaps the most important of all beliefs, the doctrine of salvation covers the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Necessarily, this study would include the sinful nature of mankind, as well as the experience of salvation.

• Church – The Bible says that Christ loved the church so much that He sacrificed Himself for it. Anything that is that important to our Saviour should also be important to us. We should study what God intended for the church and what our place in the church should be.

• End Times – The Bible says that Jesus Christ will return one day. After this, mankind will be judged, and the unsaved will enter into eternal punishment while the saved enter into a new kingdom established by God.

CC