Every school operates upon a particular philosophy and life view whether they are formally stated or not. That philosophy will have implications for curriculum, methodology, and organization. Inter-City Baptist School operates upon a philosophy rooted in God’s Word and patterned after Christ’s example.

At Inter-City Baptist School, theological belief and philosophy are inter-related. The school espouses a theistic world view based upon the authoritative, self-attesting Word of God. The basis of this view is a specific set of fundamental Bible doctrines. This set of dogma has implications for the entire life view, which defines both the greatest good of man and an epistemological system. It is through the foundation of the following doctrinal statement that Inter-City Baptist School seeks to answer the age-old questions of man, “What is good?” and “What is truth?”

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

  1. We believe that the one true God exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who are equal in essence, yet distinct in personality (Deut 6:4; Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14).
  2. We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word, without error as originally written, and the final authority for our faith and practice (2 Tim 3:16–17; John 17:17).
  3. We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who added a fully human nature to his divine nature thus becoming the God-man, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the substitute for sinners, paying the penalty of God’s wrath against sin, rose from the dead, and will come again to establish his kingdom (John 1:1, 14; Heb 4:15; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; 1 Thess 1:10; Rev 11:15).
  4. We believe that God created man in His own image by a direct act on the sixth day of the creation week (Gen 1:26–31). We believe that man deliberately disobeyed the expressed will of God and therefore fell under God’s condemnation and the power of sin (Rom 5:12; 6:20). We believe that the resulting effect of sin on man touches his entire being, leaving him completely unable to earn God’s favor or contribute to his own salvation (Eph 2:1–10; Titus 3:5).
  5. We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (Eph 2:8–9; Rom 3:21–25; 4:5). We believe that justification is by faith, apart from works, and results in a guilty sinner being declared righteous by God because the righteousness of Jesus Christ is credited to his account (Rom 4:4–5; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 2:16).
  6. We believe in a final resurrection of both the saved and lost, one to life eternal and the other to eternal condemnation (John 5:29; Rev 20:6, 13–15).
  7. We believe that the local church is currently the center of God’s activity in this world, being composed of believers who have been immersed in water as a testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ, and being organized according to the principles of God’s Word in order to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 3:15; Acts 2:41; Matt 28:18–20).
  8. We believe that believers and churches must separate from those who deny essential doctrines of the faith (Jude 3; 2 John 9–11; Rom 16:17); that believers and churches must separate from those who compromise the faith by granting Christian recognition and fellowship to those who have denied essential doctrines of the faith (Rom 16:17; Phil 3:17–19; cf. 2 Thess 3:6–15); and that believers and churches must strive to reflect God’s holiness and to live differently than those who have not experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:15–16; Eph 4:17–19).

Life View

The chief end of man is to bring glory to God. This he does by obedience to the Creator and by a walk in submission to God’s will. Apart from salvation, however, it is impossible for man to please God. The heart of Christianity, then, is said to be the gospel of Christ whereby men might be saved from eternal separation from God and from rebellion against God. A theistic world view, however, does not stop with this truth. The Christian sees his life and being in relation to a whole body of truth that has implications for every area of his life. This body of truth is derived from the revelation of God, especially as it is set forth in the Bible.

The Christian realizes that God is the Author of all truth and that there is no truth apart from His knowledge. God’s knowledge of the spiritual and natural world is comprehensive and qualitatively different from man’s knowledge. Man is finite and a created being. His knowledge, therefore, is derived from God’s knowledge and dependent upon God’s revelation of truth. Man is not capable of discovering or inventing some new truth that is unknown to God. God already knows all. Consequently, God’s written self-revelation is the starting point of all rational inquiry and the guide to all interpretation of reality. This includes inquiry by man into natural revelation. All must be interpreted in light of the Scriptures.

The fact that there exists a comprehensive and ultimate source of truth in God makes an inquiry into truth by man reasonable. Secondly, because this truth emanates from a single source, every single fact is related to every other in a harmonious whole. Thus, true knowledge is not disconnected, nor does it degenerate into meaninglessness.

What has been stated so far refers to man in his original state. Man, in Adam, rebelled against God’s authority, and now, apart from salvation wrought in Christ, is at enmity with God. Unregenerate man thinks he has no need of God’s truth. Furthermore he believes that he can exist independently of God, and that in his autonomy he can arrive at truth through human reason (rationalism) or experience (empiricism) alone. To him the scientific method is adequate to determine truth. However, he fails to realize the depravity of not only his moral nature, but also of his mind. “The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God…” I Corinthians 2:14), for his understanding has been darkened through the fall.

The modern academic disciplines have generally been structured and studied from the viewpoint of the natural man. This has led to the view that there is secular truth and that there is sacred truth; however, there is no dichotomy between the secular and the sacred. There is a unity of truth, and the Christian life view demands that the academic disciplines be studied and interpreted in light of Scripture and not independently on the basis of human reason or scientific inquiry. “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5). Secondly, life and the mode of living must be carried out according to the Creator’s ultimate purposes to accomplish the greatest good for man.

In summary, the Christian’s life view realizes the creaturehood of man. It also realizes man’s dependence upon God for being and for knowledge. It notes that God’s knowledge is exhaustive and qualitatively different from man’s. No truth exists or can be understood apart from God. Therefore, man is totally dependent upon God to know anything about any truth, and any attempt to discover truth otherwise will be inadequate. Thus, in the realm of knowledge, man’s understanding will be valid to the extent that he “thinks God’s thoughts after Him.” This he can do only as he consults the revealed truth of God as he interprets all learning in the same light.