Doctrinal Statement
 

Admission to VIU programs requires agreement with the essential doctrines of the Christian faith listed below (1–12). Secondary and tertiary issues (such as the age of the earth, spiritual gifts, and the order and timing of eschatological events, etc) do not affect admission. Subject to administrative approval, exceptions to this doctrinal requirement may be made for archaeology programs, given the universal nature of the scientific methodologies, skills, and techniques employed.

Essential Doctrines

  1. God is a Trinity, existing eternally in three distinct persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—who share one divine nature.
  2. God created both the animate and inanimate universe.
  3. The virgin conception of Christ.
  4. The full deity and full humanity of Christ, two distinct natures united in one person (the Messiah, the Son of God).
  5. The sinlessness of Christ.
  6. The depravity of humanity.
  7. The necessity of God’s grace and personal faith in Christ alone for salvation.
  8. The full inspiration of the Old and New Testaments (the Bible as the Word of God).
  9. Christ’s complete and final atoning death for sin.
  10. Christ’s physical resurrection from the dead.
  11. Christ’s bodily ascension to the presence of God the Father.
  12. Christ’s future physical return to the earth.

The following doctrinal statement provides applicants with a fuller understanding of VIU’s theological framework for its degree programs and course content.

I.  Scripture

We believe that the 66 books of the Bible constitute the Word of God, comprising the entirety of Holy Scripture. They are verbally inspired and inerrant in the original manuscripts. Scripture is true in all that it affirms or implies—including matters of faith, history, and science—and contains everything necessary for understanding God’s redemptive plan, salvation, faith, morality, and practice. Because God cannot err and Scripture is His Word, the Bible is without error. Therefore, it is the supreme, final, and authoritative standard for Christian doctrine, fellowship, and spiritual growth. VIU affirms the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (CSBI).

II.  Historicity

We affirm the full historicity and intelligibility of the biblical record, including the Genesis account of primeval history: the literal existence of Adam and Eve as the first humans, the fall in the Garden of Eden, the resulting curse on creation, the global flood, and the origin of nations and languages at the Tower of Babel.

Christianity is a historical faith grounded in real people, places, and events. Doctrine flows from history; the two are inseparable. For example, without the historical death of Christ, there is no basis for the doctrine of forgiveness of sins, and without His bodily resurrection, there is no justification (Romans 4:25; 10:9–10).

III. God

We believe in one God, eternally existing as a Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, sharing one divine nature. God is personal and essentially spirit. His attributes include, but are not limited to, being transcendent, infinite, unchanging, eternal, without parts, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, perfectly good, loving, wise, just, holy, sovereign, and worthy of all worship. He is the Creator and sustainer of all things.

IV.  Creation

God is the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all forms of life, as recorded in Genesis 1–2. The creation account is factual and historical, not myth or legend, and provides the foundation for understanding the universe and God’s power and glory (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:19–21).

God continues to exercise providential care over His creation (Matthew 6:25–33). Christ is preeminent over creation, the agent of creation, and the sustainer of all things (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17).

We reject macroevolution and theistic evolution as incompatible with Scripture, while allowing for limited variation within created kinds (microevolution). We affirm that the natural world cannot account for its own existence and therefore points to a supernatural cause beyond nature.

V.  Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of God—fully God and fully man—with two distinct, unconfused natures united in one person. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and performed miracles.

Through His substitutionary death on the cross, He provided atonement for sin. He was physically resurrected in the same body that was buried, appeared to many witnesses, and ascended bodily to the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes for believers.

Following His ascension, the Holy Spirit was given to empower believers to proclaim the gospel to all nations—a mission that continues today.

VI. Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, possessing personality, intellect, will, and emotions. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; indwells, sanctifies, teaches, empowers, and guides believers into truth.

Salvation is impossible apart from the Spirit’s work. He distributes spiritual gifts according to His will. Love is the highest virtue, and without it, all spiritual gifts are meaningless.

VII. Mankind

Human beings are created in the image of God, possessing body, soul, and spirit. Through the fall of Adam and Eve, all humanity is born spiritually dead, separated from God, and under condemnation.

Sin affects every aspect of human nature, distorting—but not destroying—the image of God. All people retain the capacity to respond to the gospel. Through Christ’s atonement, salvation is offered to all as a gift of grace received by faith.

VIII. Salvation

Salvation is initiated, attained, and procured by God through the substitutionary atoning death of Christ on the cross for our sins and His physical resurrection from the dead. The salvation Christ offers is available to all and is received freely by grace alone and through faith in Christ alone, apart from good works, thereby justifying and sealing the believer by the Holy Spirit. At salvation, the believer is forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, and adopted into His family. The Holy Spirit indwells and seals the believer, enabling growth in holiness and guaranteeing future glorification.

IX.  The Church

The universal Church consists of all believers, both living and deceased, united in Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

The Church is called to worship God, grow in maturity, and proclaim the gospel—making disciples, baptizing believers, and teaching obedience to Christ.

Two ordinances have been given to the Church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is an outward expression of inward faith and is not required for salvation. Communion serves as a continual remembrance of Christ’s sacrificial death.

X.  Christ’s Return

We believe in the personal, visible, and physical return of Jesus Christ to the earth. He will defeat His enemies and establish His millennial kingdom.

We anticipate the imminent return of Christ, which motivates holy living, faithful service, and gospel proclamation.

XI.  Eternity

Those who are saved by Jesus Christ will spend eternity in conscious fellowship with Him, experiencing joy and reward. Those who reject Christ will spend eternity separated from God in conscious judgment.

XII. Satan

We believe in a real, personal devil who opposes God and seeks to deceive and destroy. His power is limited by God. Though defeated at the cross, he will ultimately be judged and eternally punished along with his followers.

XIII. Marriage and Sexuality

We believe marriage is ordained by God as the union of one biological man and one biological woman. Sexual relations are reserved for heterosexual marriage.

We affirm that one’s biological sex is God-given, and rejecting or redefining it distorts God’s created order.

XIV. We Affirm

The Early Creeds: VIU affirms the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as early historic expressions of orthodox Christian belief. While not binding, they serve as valuable doctrinal guides.

Classical and Evidential Approach: VIU affirms the evangelical-friendly classical approach to apologetics, theology, philosophy, and worldview formation in the tradition of Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas. In the contemporary period, this was exemplified through the teaching and publications of our late VIU co-founder and evangelical Thomist, Norman L. Geisler.

In addition, VIU affirms the use of legal and evidential arguments as a critical component in support of, and in defense of, the Christian worldview. This evidence-based approach was exemplified in the contemporary period through the teaching and publications of the legal and human rights scholar, John Warwick Montgomery.

XV. We Reject

  1. The Emergent Church Movement
  2. Aberrant Spiritual Practices (such as New Age-infused prayer exercises)
  3. Open Theism, Freewill Theism, and Neotheism
  4. Genre criticism that denies biblical historicity or limits inerrancy
  5. Anti-supernatural assumptions in biblical scholarship
  6. The denial of meaningful human free will in spiritual decisions
  7. The Health, Wealth, and Prosperity Gospel