Statement of Purpose
FBR was organized in 1977 to conduct Bible research. Its purposes are to
- Perform technical research in the original languages of Scripture.
- Develop, publish and distribute technical tools that result from this research. These tools are designed for men in the ministry as well as serious students of God’s Word.
- Produce books on popular subjects based on this unique Bible research for the spiritual benefit of Christians worldwide. These books are described here.
Philosophy
We accept as absolute truth the fact that the Bible is the supernatural revelation of God’s thoughts, plans, and purposes.
We believe that God’s revelation in the original manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures is inerrant and complete and that it is intended by God to be understood by man.
We believe Scripture itself was God-breathed and that the human writers were merely spiritually set apart conduits whom God the Holy Spirit supernaturally carried along in recording God’s inspired message to mankind.
We believe that the precise interpretation of God’s revelation can only be determined by thorough study and carefully conducted research performed under the Holy Spirit’s supernatural ministry of illumination.
We believe that this research must be conducted by men of God who are in joint-participation with the Holy Spirit at the time of their study and who bind themselves by integrity to a biblically inductive approach of interpretation.
We believe that all human interpretation is subject to human error and, therefore, must be verified exclusively by scriptural substantiation to minimize this error.
We believe that a true interpretation of the Bible should be completely open to scrutiny by like-minded men of God and can be reasonably proved without scriptural conflict.
We believe that to reach an absolute, substantiated interpretation of Scripture; research must begin at the individual word level using the data existing on that level. Further research can then be built upon this base while continuously rechecking any previous deductions for error.
We believe the basis for FBR’s methodology is the doctrine of verbal, plenary Inspiration. We accept the following to be true:
- God is the only true Author/Originator of all Scripture, providing a unified, unbroken, and consistent message throughout all 66 books (Genesis through Revelation). See John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 10:6, 11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:10–12; 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
- The grammar (morphology, phonology, syntax, and linguistic structure) of each book was Inspired by God the Holy Spirit working supernaturally through the human writers to produce a precise meaning of every word and passage in Scripture. See 1 Corinthians 2:13; 14:6–11; 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
- Any hypotheses or conclusions in biblical interpretation that have been reached by human systems of reason or fields of human wisdom (such as philosophy, theology, or linguistics) must ultimately be subject to scriptural verification as the final test for biblical truth. See 1 Corinthians 1:19–21; 2:4–16; 3:19; Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:20, 21; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
NOTE: The detailed exegesis and pertinent word studies on most of these verses will be supplied throughout FBR’s Bible-Based Hermeneutics text.
FBR’s Major Objective
We believe that FBR has been called by God to administer a Bible research effort based on, and consistent with, the philosophy herein described. FBR intends to co-ordinate the work of a highly-qualified team of Greek and Hebrew scholars—men of God who commit completely to the above-defined doctrine of verbal, plenary Inspiration. We will evaluate and reference the best grammatical and lexical works available in our research. The objective of this research is to determine and thoroughly substantiate exactly what God’s Word says. All work will be subjected to several independent checking stages to help ensure consistency, accuracy, and objectivity. Every attempt will be taken to eliminate subjective decisions based on any theological or pedagogical presuppositions. When conclusions are reached, they will still continue to be subject to further critique and evaluation until any revealed errors are removed.
This research will produce several practical tools to assist the serious student of God’s word. A chart describing the technical tools under development, as well as their progress is provided below. For the seasoned scholar of biblical languages, these tools will provide a trustworthy basis on which to build his exegesis. It is also FBR’s desire to enable existing teachers of God’s Word who lack training in the original languages to obtain a better understanding of what the texts say. It is our prayer that this better understanding will then be used by them to teach more accurately what the Bible means. This teaching is expected to result in the edification of the body of Christ by producing a greater quantity of spiritually mature believers, thus creating a Christian dynamic like that of the Reformation.
We pray this new dynamic might produce the basis of a new “Resolution” of Conservative Evangelical Christianity. When an advanced hermeneutical methodology is combined with the abundant computer power now available to the researcher it is now possible to help resolve the conflicts that have blocked spiritual unity in truth.
Technical Tools to Be Developed and Their Progress to Date
A Bible-based theology (The 1st Edition, Five Facets of the Balanced Christian Life, Vol. I, II, II, was completed sequentially from 2010-2013). This is a systematically developed theology based on exhaustive, inductive research resulting in doctrines that were verified by scriptural substantiation. The New Testament Exegetical Bible, Phase I: Structural/Semantical Analysis (Not begun yet). This is to be an interpretation of the original texts based on The Exegetical Bible Grammatical/Lexical Analysis and The Dictionary of Bible-Based Word Meanings. All texts will be critically and structurally analyzed with continued careful observance of the rules developed in Bible Based Hermeneutics. The Exegetical Bible, Phase I Grammatical/Lexical Analysis (10% Completed). This is a morphological tagging and syntactical analysis of usage classifications. The Dictionary of Bible-Based Word Meanings (20% Completed). This will be a thorough compilation of each Greek word’s both general and most specific word meaning. These meanings will be inductively developed from each word’s use in Scripture and its correlation with all other words within its semantic domain. Bible Based Hermeneutics (The 1st Edition of this was completed 2007). This is a literal-logical-historical-grammatical hermeneutic, which requires and insists on Scriptural verification. The overriding emphasis is on the spiritual nature of God’s Word (revelation, inspiration, and illumination); and the fact that God intended His word to be comprehended by spiritually alive, spiritually energized, and technically competent members of the body of Christ. |
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How to interpret the Bible is an ongoing issue among believers today. Whose interpretation is correct? How do we know? What qualifications are needed to interpret the Bible correctly? What is the difference between revelation, inspiration, and illumination? What steps should be followed in exegeting a Bible passage? These and other questions are discussed discreetly in this work by a long-time student of the Scriptures. This work is a helpful introductory tool to Bible interpretation.
Roy B. Zuck (Deceased 2014), Senior Professor/Emeritus Dallas Theological Seminary, Editor of Bibliotheca Sacra.
How should Christians study the Bible? This question has enormous implications. Rick Fugate has put into our hands a book that challenges our comfort zones, consistently pointing us back to Scripture itself for answers. The author’s commitment to the sufficiency of Scripture, literal interpretation, inerrancy, and the original languages, as well as to a clear distinction between Israel and the Church and “true grace” are laid out as presuppositions that can be biblically validated. May all students profit from this challenge to search the Scriptures.
George Meisinger, President, Chafer Theological Seminary
This well-organized, plain-talking presentation is entirely appropriate for home Bible studies, Sunday school classes, or self-study purposes as well as for those with more academic pedigrees who don’t mind an occasional re-examination of their presuppositions. (Acts 17:11) Far from being dry doctrine, this book addresses a subject too often neglected in our churches.
Professor Paul A. Miller, Founding Director, The GRAMCORD Institute