Mission & Purpose of Telos Biblical Institute
Purpose
The objective of Telos Biblical Institute is threefold:
- To restore the locus of theological training back to the local church through online training
- To articulate and defend a God-centered, revelational worldview
- To put this training within financial and logistical reach of everyone
Position on the Theological Spectrum
We contend for the practical outworking of an inerrant and authoritative Word of God. For this reason we are not afraid to stand for certain unpopular positions 
(Young Earth Creationism, propositional revelation, consistent hermeneutics, a biblical ethic of selfless love, etc.), nor are we ashamed of standing against popular trends in the churches (egalitarianism, sign-gifts, progressive creationism, hermeneutical relativism, integrative approaches to counseling, and postmodernism).
This means that orthodoxy and orthopraxy are viewed as two sides of the same truth.
We exist to promote the knowledge of God through the disciplined study of God and man in Holy Scripture, always respecting the biblical Creator/creature distinction. This means that orthodoxy and orthopraxy are viewed as two sides of the same truth.
Hence, we do not lay stress on theology as a subject, but as the divinely appointed Truth, without which we are all without a compass in the world.
Distinctives and Ethos of TBI’s Training
Telos Biblical Institute operates from a position of clearly laid-out commitments. These commitments are not peripheral to the functioning of the school, but form the very foundation upon which it operates, as well as fostering the kind of Christian maturity it seeks to reproduce in its staff as well as its students. These tenets are interlocking and provide a touchstone for our aims and objectives. They are the Ethos and Distinctives that make us who we are.
- We are committed to a God-centered approach to Truth: Truth, by definition, is a constant that is derived from the only immutable constant, which is God Himself. The main problem with mankind is that we are estranged from God, who in Himself is beyond our comprehension. Therefore, if He did not bring Himself near to us through revelation, then we would remain truly helpless. Therefore, we are committed to a concerted effort to know God as He has revealed Himself to us in His acts, His Word, and His Son, Jesus Christ.
We do not lay stress on theology as a subject, but as the divinely appointed Truth
- We are Christocentric: God is always glorified through Jesus Christ. God has set forth Jesus Christ, through whom and for whom all things were made and by whom all things consist, to reveal Himself and to reconcile all things to Himself, especially all those who believe in Him. In so doing He seeks to glorify Himself through us. Therefore, we commit to a theology and practice that is decidedly Christocentric.
- We are doxological: All people are accountable to their Creator. Mankind, being created in the image and likeness of God, is accountable to respond to God’s self-disclosure with both heart and mind. God has given us language in order for us to hear His voice, to verbalize God’s revelation back to Him in praise and worship, and to speak of the wonders of God one to another. All that God does is for the purpose of glorifying Himself, and He calls us to make this same goal the aim of everything we do and say. Therefore, we commit to a theology that is doxological in all its aims and intentions.
- We commit to a revelational perspective: God has spoken. God has delivered to us the Holy Scriptures, which are a clear, unique and adequate revelation of His character and will, so that we, His creatures, can respond to His Word with an obedient faith, to the praise of His glory. This means that Scripture is essential if mankind is to know the world as made, directed and interpreted by its Creator. Therefore, any attempt to define the world without recourse to the Scriptures will leave a person without a place to stand from which to make concrete assertions about the truth and reality. Therefore, we commit to a revelational perspective on all of theology and practice.
- We are ‘Biblical Covenantalists’: Interpretation of the Word should come from what God has told us He has done and will do. This information is given principally to man in outline in the Biblical Covenants, which, if they are to mean anything, must actually mean what they say. This produces a dispensational theology, though, we believe, “Biblical Covenantalist” would be a more accurate description.
- We are Presuppositional: By “presuppositional” we mean the approach associated with Cornelius Van Til which argues from Scripture, never to Scripture. As the revelation of reality, The Bible is to be the bedrock of the Christian’s thinking. Hence we stress the divinity of Scripture over its humanity.
- We teach theology as a Worldview: The exposition of the Word of God is always an exposition of Reality. The Bible should be the source of our thinking as only it can show us how to “think God’s thoughts after Him.” The right view of the world and of the role of humankind in it is to be found only within the pages of Scripture. Even though God reveals Himself in creation and providence, these are inadequate sources of truth without their scriptural elucidation. The Christian view of life is the biblical view of life and not one that is part Scripture, part unaided human reason. Since man’s desire to be independent from God characterizes both the foundation of his sinning and the premise that corrupts his reasoning, it is essential that believers come to the Christian mind is a thoroughly renewed mind. Therefore, we commit to a worldview that reflects the ‘creation-fall-redemption’ motif of Scripture that is centered on the death and resurrection of Christ.
- We are moderately Calvinistic: The Triune God is absolute sovereign of what He has made. Man has freedom of choice within the boundaries of his moral and creaturely natures and circumstances, is the active agent in his choices, and is responsible for his decisions. God's Providence rules all circumstance, and He is able to guide the thoughts and intentions of man, not through force or coercion, and He has included mans choices within His all-encompassing Plan – a Plan which He is working out to its glorious consummation.
- We believe theology must be Textual: Our theology must, in the first place, be derived as much as possible from the plain sense of the text of Scripture and not from our own deductions and inferences. Since all our systems are fallible approximations of God’s system of truth, it is wise not to formulate doctrines directly from other doctrines, but to allow the Bible to say what it has to say and only then bring the various doctrines together into a system or comprehensive world and life view.