A Systematic Declaration of Faith and Reason: Foundational Axioms and Theorems
Preamble
This framework distinguishes between axioms and theorems.
Axioms are foundational commitments that cannot be derived from something more basic within the system. They are starting points, not conclusions. Every coherent system of thought rests on axioms, whether acknowledged or not. The question is not whether one has axioms, but whether one’s axioms are self-grounding or arbitrary, explanatorily powerful or deficient.
Theorems are propositions derived from the axioms through valid reasoning. In this framework, the theorems are derived from Scripture (Axiom 2) using the faculties of spirit and reason that God has given and invited us to employ. They have the status of binding doctrine because Scripture is the norm, but they have the logical structure of conclusions, not premises.
The framework is thus properly Sola Scriptura: one ontological axiom establishing that God is the ground of all reality, one epistemological axiom establishing Scripture as the norm for knowing what God has revealed, and all doctrinal content derived therefrom.
Modal clarification: In this framework, teleological necessity refers to certainty of fulfillment grounded in God’s decreed end; historical necessity refers to the inevitability of events within that order; moral responsibility refers to culpability arising from voluntary acts of self-rule; and efficient causation refers to direct production of an act by an agent. The framework affirms teleological and historical necessity while denying that God is the efficient cause of sin.
Axioms
Axiom 1
God is real and the necessary uncreated, causeless source of all being (ontology), knowing (epistemology), and purpose (teleology) (Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 40:28; Revelation 1:8; Acts 17:28; Colossians 1:16–17; John 1:3; Proverbs 1:7; Colossians 2:3; Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Romans 11:36).
Axiom 2
The sixty-six books of the Bible are the sole inscripturated revelation given to the church and the final norm for all doctrine and practice. General revelation provides efficient knowledge of God’s existence and moral order (Romans 1:19–20, 2:14–15), but only Scripture provides sufficient knowledge concerning the means of salvation and godly living (2 Timothy 3:15–17, Psalm 19:7–11). The Bible’s authority is intrinsic, grounded in its divine origin, and recognized through the Spirit’s testimony operating in concert with sound reason. The Spirit, who inspired Scripture (2 Peter 1:21), also illumines its meaning and guides believers into truth (John 14:26, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 2:10–14, 1 John 2:27). God invites His creatures to reason with Him (Isaiah 1:18), and believers are commanded to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5, Mark 12:30), the mind being renewed by the Spirit to understand rightly (Romans 12:2). Tradition, experience, and empirical inquiry may inform interpretation but cannot override or supplement Scripture’s teaching.
Theorems
Derived from Scripture via Spirit and reason
Theorem 1
God is maximally good, just, and truthful. God’s moral character is coherent and non-deceptive (Psalm 25:8, Psalm 89:14, Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, James 1:17).
Theorem 2
God is the ultimate ground of moral and metaphysical truth. Moral facts are grounded in God’s nature, not consensus, utility, or biology (Colossians 1:17, John 1:1–3, Leviticus 19:2, Romans 2:14–15).
Theorem 3
God exists eternally as one being in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person fully shares the divine nature, is distinct in relation, and acts in unified purpose. The Father decrees, the Son accomplishes, the Spirit applies (Ephesians 1:3–14, Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, John 1:1–3, John 14:16–17, John 15:26).
Theorem 4
The eternal Son, Jesus Christ, is the Logos through whom and for whom all things were created and in whom all things hold together. All of creation’s history—its existence, order, redemption, and final judgment—finds its telos and coherence in Him as Judge and Redeemer (John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:16–17; Hebrews 1:2–3; Romans 11:36; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
Theorem 5
Humans are created in the Imago Dei as necessarily self-relating moral agents; within God’s eternal decree to glorify the Son as Redeemer and Judge, this self-orientation makes rebellion necessary in the order of history, though never compelled in any particular act.
Humans are created in the image of God and therefore possess a God-given dignity, moral responsibility, and agency that distinguishes them from the rest of creation (Genesis 1:26–27; Genesis 5:1–3; Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). The imago Dei is a creational endowment that persists after the Fall, grounding both human worth and accountability rather than being erased by sin (Genesis 9:6).
Scripture consistently addresses humans as deliberative subjects capable of genuine choice and responsibility. They are called to choose obedience or rebellion (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15) and are treated as inwardly aware moral agents who reflect upon and judge their own actions (Romans 2:14–15; Psalm 4:4; Lamentations 3:40).
Jesus’ moral teaching explicitly presupposes reflexive self-relation. The command to “love your neighbor as yourself” assumes that humans already relate to themselves as subjects of value, concern, and responsibility (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31). This self-orientation is not condemned by Scripture; it is treated as morally intelligible and creationally given.
Scripture locates rebellion not in ignorance, defect, or external coercion, but in the misdirection of this self-relation toward autonomy. The primal temptation appeals directly to self-exaltation (”you will be like God,” Genesis 3:5). Humanity’s fall is described as knowing God yet refusing to honor Him as God (Romans 1:21–23). Sin arises from desire issuing from within the agent (James 1:14–15). Rebellion is therefore culpable self-rule, not a flaw in human nature as created.
Given God’s eternal decree to glorify the Son as Redeemer and Judge (Ephesians 1:9–11; Revelation 13:8; Acts 2:23; Luke 24:26), the creation of finite, self-relating agents entails that rebellion is necessary in the order of history. This necessity is teleological, grounded in God’s decreed end, not efficient, mechanical, or coercive. Accordingly, necessity here denotes certainty of outcome within the decreed order, not compulsion of the will in any particular moral act.
This does not make God the author of sin. Scripture explicitly denies that God tempts or morally causes evil (James 1:13). At the same time, Scripture affirms that sinful acts occur within God’s definite plan without transferring moral culpability to Him (Acts 4:27–28). God decrees the end and the historical order in which it is achieved; the moral quality of rebellion belongs entirely to the creature’s act of self-rule. Divine sovereignty establishes historical certainty; creaturely agency establishes moral responsibility.
Christ uniquely shares the same human nature and structural conditions of agency yet remains without sin (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:45). His sinlessness does not negate the necessity of rebellion within the created order but fulfills the decree by resolving it through perfect filial obedience, thereby accomplishing redemption and judgment.
Accordingly, original and ongoing rebellion arise from the misdirection of a necessary creational self-orientation grounded in the imago Dei, while redemption restores right orientation rather than replacing human nature itself (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:10; Ezekiel 36:26–27).
Theorem 6
Given the structural reality established in Theorem 5, the Fall was the teleologically necessary historical unfolding of the decree that the Son be glorified as Redeemer. It introduced disorder and death as the condition requiring redemption, not inherited guilt. Guilt arises from personal rebellion within that condition (Revelation 13:8, 1 Peter 1:19–20, Genesis 3:17–19, Romans 5:12, Romans 8:20–22, Ezekiel 18:20).
Theorem 7
Sin is fundamentally the preference for autonomy over God’s authority. Sin is culpable self-rule, not mere ignorance (Genesis 3:5, Isaiah 14:13–14, Romans 1:21–23, James 4:17).
Theorem 8
God judges justly according to the light given, knowledge, and capacity. The Spirit distributes gifts and applies redemption according to His will. Accountability is real; the exact thresholds are not exhaustively revealed (Hebrews 2:4, John 3:8, Luke 12:47–48, Romans 2:12–16, Acts 17:30).
Theorem 9
Jesus Christ uniquely shares the divine identity and accomplishes redemption. Christ is fully divine and fully human, the decisive revelation and sole mediator (John 1:1–14, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3, Philippians 2:5–11, 1 Timothy 2:5, Acts 4:12).
Theorem 10
Practice-failure does not revise truth; it triggers repentance. When behavior conflicts with the framework, the framework stays put. The presence of the Spirit’s work is evidenced by His fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (1 John 1:8–10, 2 Timothy 2:13, Romans 3:3–4, Psalm 51:4, Galatians 5:22–23).
This declaration is offered as a coherent framework of faith and reason under Scripture, not as an exhaustive system, and stands open to correction only by the Word of God rightly understood.
The distinction between teleological necessity and efficient causation in Theorem 5 is really sharp. Framing rebellion as structurally inevitable within the decree but not mechanically compelled in individual acts solves alot of tension between sovereinty and agency. I've wresteled with that paradox for years and this axiom-theorem structure makes it way more workable than most systems I've seen.