Global Baptist Bible College – Written Doctrinal Examination
Congratulations on making it to the final course. You should be very proud of the work and effort you have made to get here. To God be the glory! Amen! The purpose of this examination is to challenge the student’s thinking regarding his doctrinal positions and for the administration of Global Baptist Bible College (GBBC) to assess the student’s doctrinal qualification for the ministry.
This exam is either pass or fail. It is open book meaning you can use your notes and Bible, but your answers MUST be in your own words.
Do NOT think you can just sit down and take the exam in an hour. It will take most students several days or weeks to complete. This is a comprehensive doctrinal exam that will require study time to prepare your answers. We strongly advise that you print these instructions with the exam questions. It can be downloaded below and as well as in the “Materials” tab at the start of this course or view https://gbbc.net/doctrinal-exam. You have two options to submit this exam.
1. If you have access to a word processor on a computer or at an internet café, you can download the exam, and type your answers in a word processor like Microsoft Word. When finished, you can send it to us the file for grading at: [email protected].
2. If you do not have access to a word processor, you will need to submit your exam as you have done with past essays, online through the portal.
We recommend you write or type out your answers in advance. That way, at the time of the exam, you can copy your answers into the online test. The exam has been programmed to save your progress every 10 seconds. That means that you do not have to fill it out in one sitting, but you can answer a few questions, then log out and come back and do more later.
Be sure to answer the questions according to your own doctrinal beliefs, not GBBC’s doctrinal beliefs. Some students may complain about the length of this exam and the time it takes to complete it. However, this exam and the format is the best thing we can do for you. We advise you to keep a copy of this exam and your answers for future reference. If a church ever considers you to be their pastor, you can give them a copy of this doctrinal exam so that they can read it, examine it, and ask you any follow-up questions. That is why this exam MUST be according to your own doctrinal beliefs.
General Instructions:
1. For each question, type out each question number and the corresponding question. Then skip a line and then your answer is to immediately follow on the next line. For example, the third question is ‘Explain the doctrine of inspiration.’, you would type the following:
3. Explain the doctrine of inspiration?
Blank line
Your answer starts on this line.
2. You must provide at least one (or more) Scripture reference for each answer. You are expected to support your answers, not simply provide the “right” answer. Failure to provide at least one scripture reference for each answer will automatically result in your exam being rejected. You will need to edit your exam, and then resubmit it.
3. There is no minimum word count for each answer. However, your answer should be long enough to adequately state your answer in your own words and give sufficient proof from Scripture. Students who do not sufficiently answer all the questions will have their exam rejected and they will have to edit their exam, and then resubmit it.
4. All quotations from sources other than the King James Bible must be properly cited. Bible quotations may be referenced in the text.
The administration of Global Baptist Bible College reserves the right to reject any student’s doctrinal exam which, in their judgment, has deviations from Scriptural positions sufficient enough to make the student unfit for ministry.
If the administration determines a student has insufficient understanding in a particular area of doctrine, the administration reserve the right to assign the student extra study material which is then followed by either a writing assignment or oral examination to determine if the student has sufficiently learned that doctrine.
Copying what someone else wrote either online or in a book is called plagiarism. There is technology that will show whether a student has committed plagiarism. If it has been determined that a student has plagiarized someone else’s writings, that student will be considered unfit for the ministry. As a result, their doctrinal exam will be rejected and expelled from Global Baptist Bible College.
If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]. Thank you.
Global Baptist Bible College Doctrinal Examination
Doctrine of the Bible (Bibliology)
1. What is “General Revelation”, and can a person be saved only through general revelation?
2. What is “Special Revelation”, and is special revelation limited only to the Bible?
3. Explain the doctrine of inspiration.
4. Explain what is meant by….
a. Verbal Inspiration
b. Plenary Inspiration
c. Inerrant Inspiration
d. Infallible Inspiration
5. Explain the doctrine of preservation?
6. What is the goal of Bible translation?
7. Explain which English version of the Bible is God’s Word for the English language.
8. Which method is the Bible to be interpreted: 1) literal-grammatical-historical, 2) allegorically, 3) mystically, 4) morally, 5) rationalistically, or 6) traditionally)? Explain your answer.
9. Are believers and churches today required to keep the OT Law? If not, do they follow some other Law or rule? Explain.
Doctrine of God (Theology Proper)
10. Present a clear argument for the existence of God that you would use with an unbeliever.
11. Is God a male, a female, or neither?
12. Mark each of the following statements regarding the Trinity either “True” or “False”, and explain each answer:
- Jesus is God the Father.
- There is one God in three Persons.
- God the Father has a body.
- The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus.
- God has always existed in three Persons.
- The three parts of God are body, soul, and spirit.
13. Explain one of the three “God is” points regarding the nature of God.
14. Explain 3 of the 8 natural attributes of God.
a. Natural attribute #1.
b. Natural attribute #2.
c. Natural attribute #3.
15. Explain 4 of the 12 moral attributes of God.
a. Moral attribute #1.
b. Moral attribute #2.
c. Moral attribute #3.
d. Moral attribute #4.
16. Explain the Sovereignty of God. Do you agree with the Calvinist definition? Why or why not?
Doctrine of Jesus Christ (Christology)
17. Is Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God, or did He become the Son of God when he was born in Bethlehem? Explain your answer.
18. Explain what a Christophany is and give at least two examples.
a. Example #1.
b. Example #2.
19. Was Jesus Christ supernaturally born of a virgin?
20. Is Jesus God or was He just a man? Explain.
21. Seven times Jesus declared Himself as the “I am”. Explain the significance of that statement.
22. Was Jesus Christ capable of sinning in thought, word or deed while He lived on earth?
23. What was the purpose of Christ dying on the cross?
24. Was it necessary for Jesus to shed His blood on the cross? Explain your answer.
25. What was the purpose of Christ rising from the dead?
Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)
26. Is the Holy Spirit an impersonal force which exists everywhere and in everything?
27. Explain one of the 8 ways the Holy Spirit shows personality through what He does.
28. Explain one of the 3 ways the Holy Spirit shows personality by being affected like a person.
29. Is the Holy Spirit a part of the Godhead (Trinity)?
30. Explain the difference between the Holy Spirit’s work between Old Testament and New Testament believers?
31. How did/does the Holy Spirit work in the …
a. Giving of the Scriptures.
b. Lives of the lost.
c. Lives of believers.
32. Define and differentiate between the following terms:
a. Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
b. Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
c. Filling with the Holy Spirit.
33. Are any of the sign gifts (e.g., speaking with tongues, casting out devils, healing through the laying on of hands) functional today? Why or why not?
Doctrine of Angels (Angelology)
34. Is Satan a real personal being who exists in the world today?
35. Explain how Satan might try to gain an advantage over believers.
36. Can a saved person be demon-possessed?
The Doctrine of Man (Anthropology)
37. Give two reasons for God creating man.
a. Reason #1.
b. Reason #2.
38. Answer the following questions about Creation:
a. Did God create all things ex nihilo (out of nothing)?
b. How long did God take to create the world?
c. How long ago did God create the world?
d. Did man and animals evolve from lower life forms?
39. What is the “Gap Theory” and is it biblical?
40. Explain the three parts to the nature of man…
a. Man has a body.
b. Man has a soul.
c. Man has a spirit.
41. Explain what it means that man was made in “the image of God.”
42. How would you answer someone who says, “God created man with a sin nature?”
43. Explain the results of Adam willfully choosing to disobey God which brought sin into the world.
44. How would you answer someone who says, “Man is basically good?”
The Doctrine of Sin (Hamartiology)
45. What are 3 of the 10 words that refer to sin and what do they mean?
a. Word #1.
b. Word #2.
c. Word #3.
46. What are 2 of the 6 things an unbelieving sinner is at this very moment, according to the Bible?
a. Thing #1.
b. Thing #2.
47. Explain what the penalty, after death, is for the unbelieving sinner.
48. What is the “Age of Accountability,” and how will this doctrine practically affect the children’s ministries in a local church?
Doctrine of the Church (Ecclesiology)
49. Explain the 4 aspects of an assembly.
a.
b.
c.
d.
50. What is the biblical definition of a church?
51. Explain and differentiate between the following:
a. The Family of God.
b. The Kingdom of God.
c. The Church of God.
52. Who started the first church, and did it start during Christ’s ministry or on the Day of Pentecost? Explain your reasoning from Scripture.
53. Is the church local, universal, or both? Explain 1 Corinthians 12:13 in light of your answer.
54. Is the congregational form of church government Biblical? Explain.
55. Is a divorced man qualified to pastor? Explain your answer.
56. What is the process for the selecting of deacons of a local church?
57. Explain the four requirements for scriptural baptism.
a. A proper candidate.
b. A proper mode.
c. A proper reason.
d. The proper authority.
58. Who was the Great Commission given to? Explain your answer.
59. Would you receive someone into church membership who was previously immersed in a non-Baptist church? Explain.
60. Who can participate in the Lord’s Supper in a local church divides Baptists into three groups – Open, Close, and Closed. Which do you believe to be biblically correct and why?
61. Is the “wine” in the Lord’s Supper alcoholic or grape juice? Explain.
62. Was tithing just for the Old Testament believers or is it still valid today? Explain.
63. Explain when church discipline is necessary, what it involves, and why it is to be enacted.
64. Can a woman preach in a church service, serve as a pastor or deacon, lead congregational singing? Why or why not? What can women do in the church?
Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology)
65. What is “the Gospel?”
66. Explain the importance of using God’s Law the 10 Commandments with an unsaved person.
67. Explain the “human side” of salvation – man’s response to God’s Word:
a. Repentance – its definition and importance in the plan of salvation.
b. Faith – its definition and importance in the plan of salvation.
68. Does praying the “Sinner’s Prayer” automatically save anyone who prays it? Explain.
69. Does Calvinism teach the biblical meaning of election and predestination? If yes, please explain it. If not, then please explain the biblical meaning of election and predestination.
70. Is the teaching of “Eternal Security” biblical? Explain.
71. What is the teaching of “Baptismal Regeneration” and is it biblical? Explain.
72. Is speaking in tongues today a “sign” that the speaker is a genuine believer? Explain.
73. Does being a good person, going to church, being baptized, and keeping the 10 Commandments help a person get to Heaven? Explain.
Doctrine of Last Things (Eschatology)
74. Explain three of the seven descriptions of how Jesus Christ will return.
75. Explain the two phases of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
76. Explain the future judgment of God for believers and what will happen to disobedient believers.
77. Explain the 1 of the 5 crowns a believer may receive at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
78. Explain the future judgment of God for unbelievers.
79. What is the difference between Postmillennialism, Amillennialism, and Premillennialism?
80. Defend your position on the timing of the Rapture.
Personal Questions
1. Do you believe God called you to be a pastor?
2. Are you currently a pastor? If so, what is the name of your church and what village, province, and country is it located in?
3. Do you consider yourself to be married? If yes, then…
a. How many wives do you have?
b. Are you legitimately married according to your cultural customs? If not, please explain.
c. Are you legally married according to your government’s requirements for marriage? If not, please explain.
4. Beginning from the day you were married (if you are), have you ever had a sexual encounter with someone who was not your spouse?
5. Have you ever been divorced?
6. Have you answered every question in this doctrinal essay according to your own beliefs?
7. Understanding that God knows the hearts and thoughts of every man, have you answered every question in the doctrinal essay honestly?
