Bible Based
GAFCON is a Bible-based movement which submits to the authority of
the Scripture. The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17
that:
‘All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant
of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’
Paul was
making it clear to his young protégé that although written by men, the
words in Scripture were originally breathed out through God’s lips into
the writers’ hearts and the Bible is therefore God’s written Word. And
because God is sovereign and incapable of error, so is his Word. It
contains the key principles and teaching for mankind to be fully
‘equipped’ to live the way God wants.
As well as the Bible, God has
given humans reason and the historical witness of the church to discern
matters of faith but GAFCON believe that Scripture is the higher
authority. It is the final court of appeal for doctrine because it is
His revealed will. All the foundational documents of Anglicanism, the
Thirty-Nine Articles, The Book of Common Prayer and the Homilies all
insist on this supreme authority.
Sadly, there are those within the
Anglican Communion, including whole Provinces, who have rejected the
authority of God’s written Word and have put their trust in their own
reason. This has been most evident in the area of sexual ethics and
human sexuality. And it is for this reason that GAFCON was formed; to
provide a conservative Anglican body that can stand with GAFCON and the
60 million Anglicans who desire to restore the Bible to heart of the
Communion so that the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ might
not be compromised.