POLICY STATEMENT

INSTITUTIONAL AND FACULTY AFFIRMATIONS OF THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

Revision Date: 10/2024

Oversight: President/CEO, CAO, Academic Leadership Council

 

Agathon UAF and all Faculty (both Owner Operators and Contractors) agree without reservation with the following Articles of Affirmation of the Biblical Worldview as a condition of producing course materials and guiding Learners for Agathon UAF:

 

ARTICLE I – THE EXISTENCE AND IDENTITY OF GOD

 

1.1 We affirm that the God revealed in the Bible exists (Genesis 1:1, Romans 1:18-20).

 

1.2 We affirm that God eternally exists as three individual Persons who are equally and essentially one Holy and Sovereign God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1-2, Isaiah 48:11-16, Matthew 28:19, Galatians 4:6).

 

1.3 We affirm that Jesus has always been fully God and is fully man. He is the Son of God, the Christ (Messiah), born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah, 11:1-10, Matthew 1:18-25, 3:17, 16:16-17, John 1:1-3, 8:56-58, Philippians 2:5-8, Colossians 2:9).

 

ARTICLE II – THE REVELATION AND COMMUNICATION OF GOD

 

2.1 We affirm that God has revealed Himself through what has been made, and is revealed in personal detail in His written word and through Jesus who reveals the Father (Romans 1:18-20, Hebrews 1:2, 2 Timothy 3:16).

 

2.2 We affirm that the written word of God (the 66 books known as the Bible, in the original manuscripts) is God-breathed, inerrant, complete, and authoritative for all things pertaining to life and godliness (Luke 11:49-51, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Revelation 22:18-20).

 

2.3 We affirm that revelatory and sign gifts were given by the Holy Spirit to confirm God’s messengers and their message (Hebrews 2:2-3), and that these giftings were fulfilled and completed in the apostolic era, with the completion of God’s written word (Romans 15:18-19, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 13:9-10, 14:22, 2 Corinthians 12:12, Ephesians 2:19-22, Revelation 22:18-20).

 

2.4 We affirm that God has communicated in His word to be understood, using normative communication in specific languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

 

2.5 We affirm that the literal grammatical historical method is the Biblical hermeneutic consistently modeled and normative for understanding God’s communication (e.g., Genesis, 2 Peter 1:20-21). 

 

ARTICLE III – THE WORKS OF GOD

 

3.1 We affirm that God’s creative works described in Genesis 1-2 were accomplished in six literal, twenty-four-hour days (e.g., Genesis 1:5).

 

3.2 We affirm that all of God’s revealed works are purposed for the demonstration and expression of His own glory (e.g., Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14, Romans 11:33-36).

 

3.3 We affirm that throughout eternity God has worked in and revealed distinct administrations, economies, stewardships, or dispensations [oikonomia], and that Biblical distinctions (such as the distinction between Israel and the church) are evidenced by the clear communication of Scripture (1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 1:10, 3:2,9, Colossians 1:25, 1 Timothy 1:4 [cf., Jeremiah 31:31 and Matthew 16:18).

 

ARTICLE IV – HUMANITY, SIN, AND SALVATION

 

4.1 We affirm that God uniquely created humanity in His own image, and exclusively as man and woman, biologically sex- and gender-assigned at conception, and who are designed to complement each other as essentially equal and as diverse in roles and function – including complementary and diverse roles in marriage, with one man and one woman becoming one flesh (Genesis 1:27, 2:17, 20-24, Matthew 19:5-6, Ephesians 5:21-32).

 

4.2 We affirm that through Adam’s sin, all humanity are condemned to spiritual and physical death, and are in need of the grace of God (Genesis 2:17, 3:19, Romans 5:8-18, Ephesians 2:1-3).

 

4.3 We affirm that Jesus Christ died to pay (the Father) for sins on behalf of all humanity (Matthew 20:28), that He was buried and rose again on the third day and subsequently appeared to many (1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 1 John 2:2).

 

4.4 We affirm that God’s grace for eternal salvation is applied only by faith in Jesus Christ alone, and that any and all who believe in Him have eternal life, being saved from the eternal penalty of sin (John 6:47, Ephesians 2:8-9), and being given God’s righteousness (Genesis 15:6, Romans 3:21-26, 2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

4.5 We affirm that God has given the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance of eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14), to indwell those who have believed in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:9), and He has given to each a manifestation (or expression) of the Holy Spirit for the good of others (1 Corinthians 12:5, 1 Peter 4:10-11).

 

ARTICLE V – THE FUTURE

 

5.1 We affirm that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), thus the covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), David, and the Levites, will be fulfilled literally in national Israel,  as God has committed (e.g., Genesis 12:2-3, 15:13-21, 17:5-8, 19, 21, Deuteronomy 30:1-6, 2 Samuel 7:8-16, Psalm 89:3-4, Jeremiah 31:31-34, 32:36-44, 33:14-22).

 

5.2 We affirm that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), thus God’s gift of justification and His calling of believers to adoption as Sons is irrevocable, consequently by God’s word and through His grace, eternal life cannot be lost (John 10:28-29, Romans 6:23, 8:1, 38-39, Ephesians 1:1-14).

 

5.3 We affirm that Jesus will gather and catch up His church before the Day of the Lord begins, meeting remaining church-age believers in the clouds while at the same time raising the bodies of those who have fallen asleep in Jesus (John 14:2-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5).

 

5.4 We affirm that the kingdom of the heavens will one day come to earth as prophesied, when Jesus returns to the earth to establish that kingdom and to rule from the Davidic throne in Israel (Genesis 49:10, 2 Samuel 7, Matthew 12, 24:30, Revelation 5:10, 19-20).

 

5.5 We affirm that there is a future judgment and all whose names are not in the book of life will spend eternity in hell (i.e., the lake of fire). By contrast, all whose names are written in the book of life (by grace through faith) inherit eternal life (Acts 17:30-31, Revelation 20:11-15).

 

ARTICLE VI – ETHICS AND HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY

 

6.1 We affirm that all humanity is accountable to our Creator, and have been provided evidence of His invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature through what has been created (Romans 1:18-20).

 

6.2 We affirm that all humanity, being descended from Adam, have fallen short of the glory of God, and are in need of God’s grace and righteousness (Genesis 2:17, Romans 3:23, 5:12).

 

6.3 We affirm that because (a) God loved all the world, and (b) sent Jesus (John 3:16) (c) who died to pay for the sins of all humanity (1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 1 John 2:2), and (d) because God has made His grace and righteousness available to all by belief in Jesus (Acts 17:30, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Peter 3:9), (e) all are responsible to believe in Jesus for eternal life (John 6:47, Romans 6:23).

 

6.4 We affirm that all believers are expected to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2), to be filled (or controlled) by the Holy Spirit, through His word (Ephesians 5:17-19), allowing His word to dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16-17), so that we will walk in a manner worthy of being called sons of God (Ephesians 1:3-6,4:1, 1 John 3:1).

 

6.5 We affirm that because all humanity are created by God and in the image of God, and as demonstrated by God’s love in sending His Son to die for all people, all human life is sacred, and all people are to be treated with the love and grace that God demands  (Genesis 9:6, John 3:16, Galatians 6:10, 1 Peter 2:17).

 

6.6 We affirm that because all things that exist are created by God (Colossians 1:16), we should interact with all things – creatures and resources alike – in recognition that all belongs to Him, and we are accountable for how we treat His possessions (Psalm 24:1, [e.g., Matthew 25:14-30]).