VLB Statement of Faith About the Bible

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, authentic, and authoritative Word of God. The Bible is the ultimate and final standard of truth about God and God’s redemptive plan for eternal life; and the ultimate authority by which every arena of human knowledge and every initiative should be appraised.

God superintended the writing of the Scriptures by human authors so that, incorporating their individual personalities, literary styles, and interests, these human authors composed and recorded God's authoritative message truthfully in the words of the original manuscripts. The Bible consists of 66 books (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament), written over a period of approximately 1,500 years, by about 40 human authors, primarily in two languages (Hebrew and Greek), yet it speaks as one unified and complete message, having one ultimate divine Author.

Therefore, all the teachings and promises of the Bible are to be trusted and our lives are to be transformed into conformity with God’s vision for human flourishing in the Bible, exemplified for us in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we love and serve God and love our neighbor as ourselves, sustained and empowered by the Holy Spirit.