This academy is primarily the work of David E. Pratte, who is the author of most of our courses. Mr. Pratte has taught Bible classes for nearly 40 years and has worked as an evangelist with local churches of Christ since 1974.
The academy is a private, independent work, not officially connected financially or organizationally with any church group. Academy enrollment fees do not support any church-affiliated organization. However, as stated above, the author is affiliated with independent, non-denominational local churches like those you find in your New Testament. Such congregations are found in thousands of localities. You might find one near you listed in the Yellow Pages under "Churches of Christ."
In order that students may know what to expect, we have listed below some teachings you may find in our course materials. This summary is not intended as a creed or official doctrinal statement for any church. It has no authority whatever, but is recorded simply for your information.
Students do not need to agree with these views in order to take a course. However, if students disagree, we cannot refund course fees, nor can we enter into lengthy discussions of other views. We provide this information before students enroll, so they can know what to expect.
1. God consists of the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit - one God in three persons. There can be no other true god.
2. The Bible is God's verbally inspired, infallible word. There is no other standard of religious authority. All other "sacred" books and all man-made laws, traditions, creedbooks, decrees, organizations, and practices in religion are without Divine authority and therefore unacceptable to God.
3. Jesus was crucified to offer salvation to all men. Salvation can be found only through that sacrifice.
4. Jesus is our High Priest and the only mediator between God and man. Neither Mary nor saints nor any human priests can mediate between God and man, nor should men pray to them.
5. The Scriptures were revealed by the Holy Spirit and confirmed by miracles. The work of revealing the word is now complete, so the spiritual gifts of direct revelation, prophecy, signs, and miracles have ceased and are not practiced by Divine approval today.
6. Bible accounts of miracles are historically accurate. The heavens and the earth were created by God in six literal days (atheistic and theistic evolution contradict both Scripture and science). Likewise, the Bible accounts of the worldwide flood of Noah, the Virgin Birth, Christ's resurrection, and all other miracles recorded in Scripture are literally true.
7. The Old Testament laws, including those given through Moses at Mt. Sinai, were temporary and were removed when Jesus died. None of them are binding as Divine command today, though the Old Testament is still valuable for our learning.
8. Jesus will someday come again and will judge and reward all men for their lives. Men will then enter their eternal rewards, heaven or hell. There will be no intermediate state, no second chance after death, no purgatory, no reincarnation, and no literal 1000-year reign of Christ on earth.
9. Salvation was offered by Jesus to all men, but to receive it an individual must hear the gospel, believe it, repent of sins, confess Christ, and be baptized. Baptism must be an immersion in water of one who understands God's requirements for forgiveness and has made a personal commitment to serve Jesus. It must be done for the purpose of receiving forgiveness by Jesus' blood. Hence, God's word nowhere authorizes infant baptism, sprinkling or pouring for baptism, or salvation by "faith only" apart from obedience.
10. Jesus built one church, which is the body of all saved people. Denominational division is foreign to Scripture and displeasing to God.
11. Jesus is Head of all things to His church, so His church has no earthly headquarters or central governing bodies of any kind. Early congregations functioned independently. They sent contributions to other churches only to care for destitute members in the receiving church. All centralized arrangements for supervising and financing church work are without Divine approval. This includes missionary societies, benevolent societies, centralized sponsoring elderships, etc.
12. Local churches exist primarily to worship God, edify Christians, and spread the gospel to the lost. They also have a limited responsibility to care for their own destitute members. No church has authority to sponsor recreation, entertainment, sports, parties, common meals, general welfare programs for non-members, or other such Social Gospel projects.
13. Scriptural worship in the church consists of Bible teaching, prayer, singing, the Lord's supper, and the collection. The Lord's supper and collection should be practiced on every first day of the week and only then. Instrumental music in worship is without Divine authority, as is the use of other church fund raising methods.
14. Jesus Christ assigned leadership roles in the church to males. This includes the work of apostles, elders, preachers, and all other roles that involve leading men. Women have important roles in the church, including teaching women and children; but their God-given role is that of followers, not leaders, of men.
15. The family is ordained of God and must be ordered according to His will. The husband should be the loving head and provider for the family. The wife should be the homemaker in subjection to her husband. Children should be trained and instructed in God's word by their parents. Marriage is for life, and fornication is the only Scriptural cause for divorce. People who have entered into unscriptual remarriages must repent and forsake those relationships to please God.
This is not intended to be a exhaustive list of what we believe or teach. In particular, we could name many modern practices we oppose as being immoral, such as abortion, homosexuality, gambling, drinking, dancing, immodest apparel, etc. But the above should give students a basic understanding of what to expect.
Again, this is not a creed or authoritative doctrinal statement for any church. We do not publish these views for the purpose of quarreling with anyone who dislikes how we have worded our views. Rather, this is written to inform our students, so they will not be surprised when they find such teachings in our materials. To learn more, you may visit our Gospel Way web site (see link below).
Free
introductory Home Bible Courses
Gospel Way -- a site
with free religious teaching
Light
to My Path Publications -- Order religious tracts and booklets
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to academy home page
Internet Bible Academy
841 Hillandale Drive
Antioch, IL 60002