[UntoHim]

Trapped, thanks for your thoughtful inquiry.

I think my post speaks for itself, but I guess I'll have to elaborate.

I'll start with quoting what Nell wrote in the "Forum Mission Statement" module: "Our desire is to share with others who were hurt and broken by their experiences, and hopefully help others find their way back to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the true Gospel".

It is my belief (and Nell's belief as well) that the Bible, that is the accepted canon of Scriptures, is the Word of God, and that it is "breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:17). We also believe that the Bible contains all of the essential items of "the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3) . And as such a canon, as such a container, it stands alone as the authoritative, inerrant instrument by which we know the One true God - that is the Trinity - The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These Scriptures also contain the one true Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and accurately and truly present his Person and Work, that is his life, death and resurrection, and that if one "confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, they will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

To be sure, there are some secondary, non-essential descriptive and prescriptive teachings, instructions, recommendations and narratives throughout the Bible, and I suppose that we can debate the necessity of coming to complete agreement on these, but the basic essentials listed above are not up for questioning or debate on this forum. There is a big difference between one who is experiencing a crisis of faith, and is coming to our forum in good faith, looking for answers to good-faith questions and concerns, and someone coming to do nothing but tare down and denigrate. We've seen both on this forum, and I think we can all recognize the difference.
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