Scripture

Revelation itself comes from the word “apocalypsus,” or unveiling.  It is this idea that God in His divine wisdom has chosen to make some things known to humanity.  Revelation is three fold; it is for everyone, its not a small scale epiphany like in your Bible study, and it is not just a prophetic word brought forth in a worship service. Ultimately the entire world benefits from a revelation.  There are two divisions to revelation, and I'm going to deal with them each in turn.
Revelation exists as an indirect and indiscriminate revelation of God, or general revelation.  This most often happens in nature and in the inner searching of the human psyche.  It is placed within the reach of all human beings and is able to be discovered. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings (Proverbs 25:2, NIV)”  One may learn about God by observation, and contemplation.
A more profound way revelation is understood is in the method of special revelation.  Special revelation is both discriminant and direct in nature.  It is pin point focused on events, and direct insertions of God in time.  This form of revelation is seen most often in the context of history, the Bible, and the Christ event.  The church is in turn charged with the propagation of special revelation.  


Scripture
I believe that because God directly appealed to man through the writers of the Scriptures that they are very special in nature.  I believe that Scripture is authoritative.  That it is a piece of literature above all others both in its content and nature.  It has a specific power granted it by the Holy Spirit, and is in fact so full of the anointing of God that it is a means of grace for those that hear it.  Grace is the “unmerited work of God through us, in us, and for us [Bounds]“  Theology is in fact one of the primary means by which God administers grace “it is the balm, the healing salve that works to heal the soul [Bounds].”  We, as Christians, deeply revere the Scriptures because we believe the words to be those of God Himself, dynamically inspiring the writers of the Text.  We know that the authority of Scripture comes from God.  There is little value in trying to prove the validity of Scripture, what we must rely on is the “testimoium internum Spiritus Sancti,” or the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.  I also believe that the Scriptures are plenary in nature, and that every word is equally as inspired as the next.  It has been the practice of the Church to focus on those verses that most resonate with the current world, but we know that regardless of the apparent relevance, or highlighter-worthiness of a passage, God is equally present in every word.
I believe in the Primacy of Scripture.  Scripture is the final source of authority on all matters of faith and practice [Bounds].  We believe Scripture to be unique and unrepeatable, that it is unlike any other source text.  We see in the Canon the purposeful preservation by God of the worldview, and vocabulary of the writers.  For instance in the Pauline Epistles we see a higher form of Greek than in that of Peter's writings.  While maintaining the fact that Scripture is without error, we as readers cannot demand of scripture what it does not offer; we call this Irenic Inerrancy.    One must allow the Scriptures to speak to the discrepancies within itself.  One must not ask of Scripture what it doesn't ask of itself.  I believe that “Scripture itself must determine according to its intent the scope of that inerrancy [Bounds].”