Doctrinal Statement
The Theological Foundations of ATS
At Andersonville Theological Seminary, our foundation is built securely upon the unchanging truth of God's Word. Our doctrinal statements serve to unify our community, inform our curriculum, and guide our mission to equip laborers for the harvest.
Article I — The Scriptures
ATS holds that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3.16).
ATS understands “by inspiration of God” to mean that the whole Bible is inspired in the sense that God's Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to pen the very words of Scripture. The words are fully God's words, though He used human penmen to achieve the writing of the Bible.
ATS further understands that God's inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the Bible—historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical.
ATS further holds that this inspired work has been fully preserved without error or contradiction, and that the Scriptures are centered upon the King, Jesus Christ, and His kingdom. No passage of Scripture is properly understood until it leads to Jesus Christ.
Article II — The Triune God
The Trinity
ATS believes that there is only one true and living God, revealed in both the Old and New Testament of the Holy Bible. He alone is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer God. He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. ATS holds that God eternally exists in three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three persons are one God, having exactly the same nature and essence. Each person is worthy of identical praise and obedience.
God the Father
ATS holds that God as Father personally rules over His universe and all of its inhabitants, and has preordained the outcome of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is Father to all who come to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Redeemer.
God the Son
ATS holds that Christ is the eternal Son of God, uncreated and identical to the Father in essence and nature. He was active in the creation of the universe, and He is the Sustainer of all. ATS holds firmly to the fact that Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, without the sin nature that has tainted mankind since the Fall of Adam. Jesus perfectly revealed and performed the will of the Father. Though fully God, He took upon Himself human nature so that He was fully man, yet remained without sin.
By His substitutionary death on the cross, Jesus Christ made provision for the redemption of all men from sin. After three days and nights, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead with a glorified physical body, ascended into heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, serving as the only Mediator between God and mankind. At His bodily second coming, He will return in power and glory to judge the world and consummate His redemptive mission.
God the Holy Spirit
ATS holds that the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity and is fully God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures and enables men to understand truth. He calls men to the Savior, effects regeneration, and baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. Once He has taken up residence within the believer, He will never abandon that believer. The Spirit seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.
Article IV — Salvation & Mankind
ATS holds that man originally was created in the image and likeness of God, but fell in Adam through sin. As a fallen and sinful creature, man is devoid of spiritual life, needing Divine grace to secure his restoration to fellowship with God.
ATS holds that man is saved by God's grace alone, with man's works and efforts being completely excluded. Neither baptism nor any other ordinance affects salvation to any degree whatsoever. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.
Salvation is available to all, but is effective only for those who by faith accept the completed work of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. Man's redemption is achieved solely by the blood of Jesus Christ, who served as man's Divine Substitute. No person can enter into the Kingdom of God unless he is born again of the Spirit of God.
Article V-VII — Security, Church & Ordinances
Eternal Security: ATS holds that due to the nature of God's saving grace, all believers are kept saved until the day of redemption. God will not overlook sin in the believer but will chasten them with Divine correction in love. Ultimately, Jesus Christ will present the believer faultless before the throne of God.
The Church: ATS holds that all believers from the Day of Pentecost until the Rapture of the Church are members of the Church, the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. Having begun at Pentecost and not before, the Church is wholly separate from and distinct from Israel.
The Ordinances: ATS holds that there are two and only two ordinances for the Church: water baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper. Baptism serves as a sign of identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper is a memorial of the cross and anticipatory of His return.
Article VIII — Last Things
ATS holds that the Rapture of the Church prior to the coming Tribulation is the next great event in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Christ will call out all members of His Church to meet Him in the air and remove these saints to Heaven to be judged at the Bema Judgment for eternal rewards.
Following the Rapture, the world will undergo the Tribulation. This will end with the Second Coming of Christ, who will fight the Battle of Armageddon, defeat the Antichrist, and introduce the Kingdom of God upon earth. This literal one-thousand year reign of Christ (the Millennium) will bring a lifting of the curse on creation.
Following the Great White Throne Judgment, Christ shall yield up the Kingdom to the Father. All believers shall dwell with Christ in glory throughout all eternity, while all unsaved sinners shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.
Article IX & X — The Family & Great Commission
The Family: ATS affirms and values God's gift of marriage between man and woman that God created in His own image. ATS defines marriage as a divinely designed biblical covenant between one man and one woman and God that is intended to represent the relationship of Christ and the Church (Genesis 1.27; Matthew 19.4b-6). ATS expects all board members, faculty, students, and staff to value and abide by this biblical definition of marriage.
The Great Commission: ATS holds that it is the explicit commandment of Jesus Christ to all believers to go forth into the world to spread the Gospel message of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross.