BCA's Doctrinal basis

All of our directors, staff, contributors and contact persons subscribe to the early Christian creeds (the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed) and to the doctrines of the Protestant Reformation found in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 (Philadelphia Confession). We are grounded in the Reformed evangelical tradition but we seek to minister to and with all Christians.

Scripture

We believe the Bible to be the God-breathed Word of God, without error in all that it teaches.

Sufficiency of Scripture & Common Grace

We believe that the divine power of our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ has given us all that we need for a godly life, through the knowledge of God (2 Pet 1:3-4). This knowledge of God, which enables us to overcome sinful desires and to live a life of love that is pleasing to God, is brought to us by the revelation of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God speaks to us in the Scriptures with the help of the Spirit of Christ.

The Scriptures are sufficient for counselling in that, having been reconciled to God through Christ and being indwelled by Holy Spirit, they are able to show every member of the Body of Christ how to love God and neighbour, and to grow in faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and comfort.

The Scriptures are sufficient for counselling in that they are comprehensive in scope, providing: our knowledge of Jesus Christ who is central to godly comfort and change; the true system and principles for soul care; and the true framework and perspective for understanding all the details of life.

While the Scriptures are comprehensive, they are not exhaustive in that, by their own testimony and example, they do not explicitly contain every detail of life that is of relevance to counselling.

God has, in his common grace, enabled all humanity to have some wisdom that is relevant to life (Isa 28:23-29; Acts 17:28). All true knowledge is from God and should be welcomed wherever it is found. However, while ‘all truth is God’s truth’, not all alleged truth is God’s truth. Common grace wisdom is found mixed with omissions and distortions, the more so as it relates to living a godly life, and it must be seen in the context of the special revelation of the Scriptures, which are always true and always have primacy.

Truly Christian counselling must find its presuppositions, principles, goals and guiding methodology in Scripture and allow the depth and breadth of Scripture to interpret every other knowledge claim and every detail of life.