American Council of Christian Churches
85th Annual Convention, October 20-22, 2026
Bible Presbyterian Church of Collingswood, NJ
Resolution on the Absolute Authority of the Bible
Standing firmly in the heritage of the Protestant Reformation, Bible-believing Christians uphold the vital and indispensable principle of Sola Scriptura. This doctrine rightly declares that the written Word of God alone is the supreme, sufficient, and final authority for the church. The Scriptures alone bind the conscience above all human traditions, creeds, cultural trends, or ecclesiastical pronouncements. Jesus Himself, when tempted of the devil in the wilderness, affirmed that man must live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).
Only the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the very Word of God given by inspiration of God for the purpose of perfecting and thoroughly equipping Christians unto all good works (2 Tim. 3:16,17). Holy men of God penned the Scriptures as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:20,21). The Bible bears witness to its own divine origin, authority, and sufficiency, declaring that “the word of our God shall stand forever” (Isa. 40:8). Jesus, affirming that God’s Word “is truth” (John 17:17), taught that the Scripture cannot be set aside (John 10:35).
The Bible uniquely and faithfully reveals to us the Lord Jesus Christ, testifying of His divine nature, redemptive work, and supreme lordship (John 5:39; Luke 24:27). Believers must search the Scriptures diligently, for in them they find the Lord Jesus Christ, the only giver of eternal life (John 5:39). The Scriptures, in their entirety, bear a unified and authoritative witness to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, revealing Him truly and fully as both God and man, Judge and Savior, and the One who calls sinners to faith in Him.
The doctrines of inerrancy and infallibility are essential to a right understanding of Scripture’s authority. Inerrancy asserts that the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is without error in all that it proclaims, whether theological, historical, moral, or otherwise. Infallibility affirms that it is wholly trustworthy and incapable of misleading, deceiving, or failing to accomplish God’s purposes.
Therefore, the American Council of Christian Churches at its 85th annual convention, October 20-22, 2026, meeting at the Bible Presbyterian Church of Collingswood, NJ, affirms that the Holy Scriptures are the supreme and sole authority for all matters of faith, doctrine, and Christian living. We call upon pastors, teachers, and laymen to diligently study, rightly divide, faithfully proclaim, and obediently apply the Word of God. We resolve, by the grace of God, to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) by bearing faithful witness to the authority of God’s Word. We reject all views that deny, diminish, or compromise the full authority, inerrancy, or infallibility of Scripture, including, but not limited to, theories that subject the Bible to human judgment, cultural reinterpretation, or selective acceptance. In an age marked by theological compromise, relativism, and skepticism toward divine revelation, the church of Jesus Christ must continue to clearly and courageously reaffirm its confidence in the absolute truthfulness and reliability of God’s Word.
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