Mission & Beliefs

Mission Statement

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5)

The Aristophrenium is a collaborative blog from Christian writers who desire to glorify God by proclaiming the enduring truth of the gospel and centrality of Christ in all things. They invest their messages with authentic hope for those who are lost, as well as real edification for those who have been found, by demonstrating the unassailable truth of God against the cynical and destructive erosion of human values and intellectual integrity so prevalent in the world today.

Statement of Faith

The staff at the Aristophrenium (hereafter “the Aristostaff”) are all united in their belief and affirmation of faithful and true Christian orthodoxy as evangelicals who humbly but shamelessly confess their love for God in covenant union with Jesus Christ by the requisite power of the Holy Spirit as revealed in the God-breathed and authoritative canon of Scripture.

Although the Aristostaff come from a range of Christian backgrounds, with one voice they do believe and affirm the four historic creeds of orthodox Christian faith:

Moreover, the Aristostaff together believe and affirm the following statements of faith, commonly referred to as the “five solas” which here have been adapted from the Cambridge Declaration prepared by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1996.

Sola Scriptura: The authority of Scripture

We believe and affirm that the inerrant Holy Scripture is the sole and infallible source of written divine revelation which reveals the nature and character of God, the necessity and means of man’s salvation, and which alone can bind man’s conscience, constituting the final teaching authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

We deny and reject that any creed, council, or human individual may bind a Christian’s conscience, or that the Holy Spirit may speak either independently of or contrary to what is set forth in Scripture, or that personal spiritual experience can be a vehicle of divine revelation independent of or contrary to what is set forth in Scripture.

Solus Christus: The centrality of Christ

We believe and affirm that the salvation of sinners is perfectly accomplished by no other means than the mediatorial work of the historical Jesus in his sinless life, substitutionary atonement, and bodily resurrection unto the right hand of God, which is necessary and sufficient for the justification and reconciliation of sinners to God.

We deny and reject that the gospel is preached if Christ’s substitutionary work is not declared or is said to be necessary but not sufficient, nor is the gospel preached if faith in Christ and his work is not proffered.

Sola Gratia: The necessity of grace

We believe and affirm that in salvation we are rescued from the just wrath of God by his grace alone. It is the office and work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life.

We deny and reject that salvation is in any sense a human work, for human methods or strategies in and of themselves can never accomplish this transformation. Faith is not and cannot be produced by the unregenerated human nature.

Sola Fide: The foundation of faith

We believe and affirm that justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. In justification Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us as the only possible satisfaction of God’s perfect justice.

We deny and reject that justification rests on any merit to be found in us, or upon the grounds of an imparting or infusion of Christ’s righteousness in us, or that any institution which either denies or condemns sola fide can be recognized as a legitimate church.

Soli Deo Gloria: To glorify God

We believe and affirm that because salvation is of God, being fully accomplished by him—from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit—God is therefore to be glorified in all things and for always, especially by his covenant people who live their lives consciously under the authority and before sight of God solely for his glory.

We deny and reject that we can properly glorify God if our worship is confused with entertainment, if we neglect either the law or the gospel in our preaching, or if self-improvement, self-esteem or self-fulfillment are allowed to become alternatives to the gospel.