The Principal

George Whitefield was a well-known Eighteenth-century evangelist. One day Whitefield asked a man about what he believed, and the man replied, “I believe what my church believes.” “But what does your church believe?” queried Whitefield. “My church believes what I believe,” he responded. “Well,” the evangelist questioned, “what do you both believe?” The man answered, “We both believe the same thing!” 

Unfortunately, many believers today are in the same boat with that man, not really knowing what they believe. Even if they could identify their beliefs, they are not completely sure why they hold onto them. Naturally there are some things in the Scriptures that are deep and therefore, we may not be able to fully comprehend everything. However, the scriptures reveal many things that are clear and direct. For example, Jesus revealed that He was the only way for man to come to God, and that apart from faith in Him and His atoning sacrifice on Calvary, people would die in their sins (cf. John 14:6; 1 Peter 3:18).  

Ambiguous language might be considered politically correct in some contexts, but we can never afford to embrace it on matters of faith. It is not enough to say that we believe what our assembly believes. We must know what and why we believe. 

The Trust and the Faculty members of the Brethren Bible Institute stand for imparting sound doctrines so that matters of faith may be passed on to the successive generations.  In no way does it replace the need for home instruction on the part of parents and teaching ministry on the part of assemblies. But BBI, through its residential, distance education and online programmes, provides for more concentrated study on sound doctrines, giving students an exposure to more dedicated and structured teaching. 

The only authoritative statement of what Christians should believe is to be found in the Scriptures themselves. Creeds and doctrinal statements can be dangerous when they alone are accepted as standards of belief. The doctrinal and biblical subjects we teach in the BBI are not a complete list of truths taught in the Bible, but it is hoped that these three or six years of study will encourage the students to search the Scriptures more diligently. 

One of the errors of modern education is that the teacher often feels obligated to throw all the possibilities of truth out in the class, and then let the student select what he feels is right. This has resulted in chaos and confusion on the part of many students and some have even lost their faith. However, the BBI faculty members document and prove their position and stand on Scriptural truths with the over-all teaching of Scripture.