I
It will be assumed that the 39
books of the Old Testament, and the 27 Books of the New
Testament are the wholly inspired Word of God. "That
the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto
all good works." 2 Tim 3:17.
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II
The Bible itself will
always be used to define its own terminology, symbols,
etc. No appeal will be made to any man-made dogma,
theory, or writing, such as the apocrypha or psudopygrypha,
to explain Biblical terms which are already clearly
defined within the Bible itself.
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III
The proper
interpretation of any given passage will be determined,
not only by that with which it stands immediately
connected, but by considering all scriptures which have
bearing upon the subject throughout the entire Bible . The
truth of any given subject can only be determined by
bringing together all scripture which sheds light on that
subject.
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IV
Every passage
will be given as literal an interpretation as possible,
unless such a literal interpretation would render the
meaning absurd, or bring it into disagreement with other
passages which speak in positive language.
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V
No interpretation will
be given to any scripture beyond what the fair
meaning of the text itself allows. For Example:
Carcass cannot in any case be interpreted to mean
immortal soul burning in hell.
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VI
All passages
belonging to any particular subject must contain one or
more of the peculiar features of that subject, by which it
may be identified as belonging to that subject.
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VII
The truth of any
doctrine must be determined firstly by those passages
which speak in clear and positive language, and not
those which are symbolic or parabolic in nature. No
inference should be drawn from any symbolic or parabolic
passage which would bring the passage into contradiction
with those which speak unequivocally on the same subject.
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VIII
No doctrine will be
derived based on a single passage of scripture, a mere
inference, or an argument from silence. Any true doctrine
will found throughout the entire Bible.
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