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Guiding
Principle
It
is our position that any person honestly and sincerely seeking spiritual
truths will value and incorporate new factual information into his or
her existing Belief System in order to make sure that it is as accurate
as possible. The Biblical Heritage Center, Inc. is not a religious
organization and therefore does not have a doctrinal statement or a
statement of faith. BHC is an educational and research
organization and the only guideline that we urge people to accept is:
Our belief systems must be large enough to include all the facts;
they must be open enough to be tested; and,
they must be flexible enough to change.
How could anyone that says
they are "honestly" seeking the truth do otherwise? Could
one honestly be a seeker of truth if he or she rejected factual
information, refused to allow his or her beliefs to be tested, or refused
to change when any belief was found to contain or be based upon
error?
Mission
The
mission of the Biblical Heritage Center is to help people and to engage
the help of people in the quest for and discovery of spiritual truth and
of moral and ethical guidelines for living in a multicultural and
pluralistic world by providing information and activities based on the
Bible and biblical traditions in an environment conducive to open and
honest dialogue. The
activities include discussing factual information about the Bible and
biblical traditions, studying the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible,
reaching conclusions about the meanings of the texts, and considering
the applicability of these conclusions to life.
Purposes
The
purposes of BHC are (1) to raise the public’s awareness about the
origin and development of the Bible and biblical traditions, (2) to
raise their awareness of the influences of the Bible and biblical
traditions on mankind, (3) to increase their understanding of the roles
and relations of these traditions and their influences, (4) to increase
their understanding of the ancient meanings of the words of the Bible by
providing them with the opportunity to participate in and/or to learn
the linguistic method of biblical analysis, (5) to help them understand
their beliefs (what they are, where they came from, who created them,
why they were created, how they came to be theirs, and why they believe
them), (6) to help them accommodate the information within their
existing belief systems by encouraging them to participate in mutually
beneficial interactions with people from different biblical traditions;
and (7) to engage their help in delineating universal moral and ethical
principles for living.
Expected
Results (Goals)
The
results expected are: (1) a clearer perception of the reasons for the
emergence of so many biblical traditions, (2) a better understanding of
the moral and ethical guidelines for living contained in the biblical
texts, (3) a more tolerant attitude toward people with different
traditions, (4) a lessening of tensions between and among people of
different biblical traditions, (5) a reduction of religious
discrimination, (6) the elimination of many long-standing prejudices,
and (7) the creation of a better, happier, and safer world.
Research
and Development
BHC
will engage in significant research.
The focus of this research will be on the history of the Bible,
the role of the Bible in history, the influence of history on the words
of the Bible, and the words of the Bible based on linguistic analyses.
New information resulting from the research will be added to
existing databases and will be developed into articles, reports, studies,
books, courses, etc. These will be published in newsletters, DVDs,
MP3s, audio & video tapes, and websites.
Directors
and Officers
Ike
Tennison, President
Jim Myers, Vice President
Susan Myers,
Secretary/Treasurer
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