Editing Mainstream Baptists (section)

===Mainstream Baptists and the Bible===
*The Bible from a Mainstream Perspective. No human understanding of the Bible can be so exhaustive and authoritative as to merit use as an “instrument of doctrinal accountability.” Mainstream Baptists think it more prudent to leave every believer free to interpret the Bible according to the dictates of a conscience that is guided by the Holy Spirit.
*Though Mainstream Baptists insist on thinking for themselves, there is a broad consensus among them concerning the scriptures.
*Mainstream Baptists love and respect the Bible. It is a holy book in that it holds a separate and unique place. It is the story of God's love. Each of us is part of that story. By identifying with this story, our lives receive meaning and direction.
*While Baptists love and respect the Bible, they do not worship it. The Bible is the written word of God. In and of itself it is paper and ink, words and sentences, and has no life. The Bible is not the supreme revelation of God—It points to and must be fulfilled and completed by God's Living Word, Jesus Christ. As the only mediator between God and a person, he gives scriptures life by creating from them a spark of understanding in the individual. From that understanding He calls us to a personal relationship with Him. Those who respond in faith to God's call, identify with His story and commit themselves to a life of discipleship. For them, the Bible becomes more than a reliable record of God's revelation in the past. It is the authoritative tradition from which we view the horizons of life in both time and eternity.
*Baptists believe in the divine inspiration and human authorship of the Bible.<ref>Further details are posted at http://www.mainstreambaptists.org/mbn/mainstream_&_bible.htm</ref>