Welcome back to another episode of five minutes in church history. It was a few episodes

back that we camped out in the year 1559.

You might recall that in that year, a number of confessions were written in a number of

languages across the European lands. It was a great moment, a

succinct moment in the history of the reformation. Well I want to go back to that

year 1559 and want to go back to one of those confessions the French confession of faith.

I was looking at Article 5 again and I saw in there it's one paragraph it's a densely

packed paragraph but I saw in there a wonderful

doctrine of scripture and as I looked at it five points emerged and you know how

at five minutes in church history we love that number five.

Well let's look at it. First the French Confession of Faith Article 5

declares we believe that the word contained in these books that is the 66 canonical books of the Bible has proceeded from God.

Well we start there with our doctrine of scripture.

Scripture is revelation. That means it's not a bottom-up book. It's a top-down book.

It has been revealed to us from God. This leads to the second point, because it is from God,

the confession continues,

scripture receives its authority from him alone

and not for men.

This second point is so crucial,

this doctrine of the authority of scripture. As the reformation develops this

doctrine and even in the post-reformation era, we will see a very simple formula

emerge and that is inspiration leads to inerrancy.

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