1 - The Scriptures

Part 1 of What We Believe: The Basics of Christian Doctrine and the Baptist Faith.
This lesson, a first in the series, establishes the Bible as the foundational, inerrant, and sufficient revelation of God, emphasizing its divine inspiration, historical unity across 1,500 years and 40 authors, and its role as the sole authority for faith and practice. It distinguishes between doctrine—non-negotiable truths rooted in Scripture—and human traditions or preferences, illustrating how the Bible's internal consistency, fulfilled prophecies, and transformative power provide both internal and external validation of its truth. The lesson underscores the Bible's finality, its Christ-centered message of redemption, and the necessity of interpreting Scripture through the lens of sola scriptura, while cautioning against divisive debates over secondary matters and affirming that all doctrine must be grounded in the clear teaching of Scripture alone.