When we say, “Authority of Scripture,” what we mean is that the Bible is the functional authority for everything CIU believes, is, and does. That starts with our doctrinal statement, which lays out what we believe are the core doctrines that every Bible-believing Christian affirms. It moves on then to our core values. The Authority of Scripture is just one of those, but it informs the others. It informs prayer and faith, evangelical unity, victorious Christian living, and world evangelization. The Bible also is the foundation for our community life standards which sets out how we live as a community of believers together on campus. It is the starting point for our mission statement, which says we educate people from a Biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ. 

It also is the core of our educational philosophy where we talk about academic excellence, spiritual maturity, and practical skill development with Bible at the core. We affirm the authority of Scripture because Peter tells us that the Holy Spirit carried the human authors for the objective he had for them. That objective was inspired Scripture. Inspired Scripture, then, is totally inspired in everything: in every part, and in every word. Therefore, it is applicable for teaching, reproof, correction, instruction in godliness. We like to talk about the fact that we want to teach the whole person: their head, their heart and their hands. The Bible is at the core of life, doctrine, godliness and service. We therefore incorporate it into every discipline we offer, and it is the basis, the standard, the yardstick for every professional and practical, personal discipline that we teach. We tell our graduates that as communicators of God’s word, their job is to communicate the message of Scripture as accurately, practically and effectively as possible. The ministry or the context might change, and the method might look different. They may be in a marketplace Bible study, they may be having an evangelistic conversation with someone in another country, they may be teaching Sunday school in a church, or maybe even doing a first-person narrative sermon in a congregation. Regardless, the Bible is the core of what they’re doing. We work hard to help them be ready to communicate effectively, accurately, and practically, whatever the method or context.

CIU has been around for almost 100 years, and we can absolutely expect to continue to hold to this core value of the Authority of Scripture for the next 100 years. It has been the foundation of everything CIU believes, is, and does. We want our graduates to adopt, believe, and affirm the authority of Scripture, and let it affect everything they believe, do and are as they move on. Context might change, culture might change, but the Word of God abides forever.