GCA believes that all creation is under the lordship of Christ, including education. All subjects will be taught with a thoroughly Christian worldview. We see no sacred/secular dichotomy and recognize that the authority of Christ is evident in all subjects. In this respect, we are Christian.
GCA believes that when doing all things to the glory of God, an individual will give his best. Therefore, we seek to joyfully and creatively challenge academically average and above-average students to perform to their God-given potential. GCA desires to have a student culture where learning is “cool” and “just getting by” is not good enough. Drawing excellence out of all students, GCA intends to prepare its students for admission to colleges of their choice. In this respect we are “rigorous.”
GCA believes in the value of the heritage of Western civilization. We seek to cultivate within each student an understanding and appreciation for the great literature and arts throughout history. The curriculum will be modeled after what historically has been called the liberal arts. The focus will be on what the student has become and not what he or she has learned. Basing our curriculum on the “trivium” (taking advantage of the student’s natural capacity for certain types of learning at various stages), students learn not only the “facts” of particular subjects, but are also taught how to think logically and communicate effectively. In this respect, we are classical.
GCA believes that all learning is for naught, if not captive to the obedience of Christ. We desire to see the thinking and practice of our students conformed to the mind of Christ through the power and grace of the gospel. Although the student’s family and church play primary roles in discipleship, the amount of time spent in school demands that the school share the vision and responsibility of discipleship. GCA seeks to instill a passion for Christ in the student. In this respect, we are transformative.
GCA believes that parents are ultimately responsible to the creator to guide and disciple the children given to their care. We desire to see God use GCA as an instrument to assist parents in carrying out the Biblical mandate to bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Greenville Classical Academy:
was founded on the belief that a Christian education should transform the student into a disciple of Christ.
will seek to apply the gospel in each student’s life, even though evangelizing families is not part of the school’s mission.
has adopted the historic Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed, creeds common to Christians worldwide, as integral parts of its Statement of Faith.
recognizes that these creeds were created to address particular issues facing the early church and do not address certain doctrines held by many Christians, but are cherished by the leadership of Greenville Classical Academy.
in this regard, the following evangelical statement of faith has been adopted and must be affirmed by all directors, faculty, staff, and at least one parent of each student.
Greenville Classical Academy is a Protestant (non-Roman Catholic) school which does not teach a specific denominational set of beliefs. The following is the foundation of beliefs on which Greenville Classical Academy is based. They are also the key elements of Christianity that will be unapologetically taught in various ways through all grade levels. The substance of these statements is that which will be considered primary doctrine at Greenville Classical Academy. Secondary or divisive doctrines and issues will not be presented as primary doctrine. When these types of doctrine or issues arise they will be referred back to the family and local churches for final authority.
We believe that the original manuscripts of the Old and New Testament comprise the full, word-for-word, truthful, inerrant Word of God which is the supreme and final authority in doctrine and practice.
(Isa. 40:8, II Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 4:12; II Pet. 1:20, 21)
The statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. Greenville Classical Academy may rely for interpretation upon past systematic expressions of Biblical truth.
We believe that as Eternal Father, He is the Father of all men in the non-salvation, Creator-creature sense, the Father of the nation Israel, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the spiritual Father of all who believe in Christ. He is the author of salvation, the One who sent the Son, and the disciplinarian of His children.
(Ex. 4:22; Ps. 2:7-9; Jn. 5:37; Acts 17:29; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:3-6; Heb. 12:9; I Pet. 1:3)
We believe Jesus Christ is God incarnate, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, completely God and completely man. We believe in His pre-existence, His sinless life, His substitutionary atonement, His bodily resurrection from the grave, His ascension into Heaven, and His bodily return from Heaven.
(Jn. 1:1,14,18; Lk. 1:35; Rom 3:24-26; 4:25; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Eph. 4:11-16; I Thess. 4:13-18; Heb. 1:3; 7:23-25; 1 Jn. 2:1-2)
At the time of conversion, we believe that the Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, baptizes, seals, and bestows spiritual gifts upon all who know Christ as Lord and Savior. Experientially, He fills, teaches, leads, assures, and prays for believers.
(Jn.14:26; 16:6-15; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 11:1-18; Rom. 8:14-16, 26-27; 1 Cor. 6:19; 12:7-11, 13; Eph. 1:13-14; 5:18; 2 Thess. 2:1-10; Titus 3:5).
In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father is neither begotten, nor proceeding: The Son is eternally begotten of the Father: the Holy Spirit eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.
(1 John 5:7; Mat. 3:16; Mat. 28:19, 2 Cor.13:14; John 1:14; John 15:26; Gal. 4:6)
We believe man was created in the image of God; that Adam in his first sin condemned not only himself but all mankind to an estate of sin. All of mankind in Adam is now separated from God and in need of a redeemer. (Gen. 1:1,27; 2:17; 3:1-19; Isa. 14:12-14; Lk. 20:36; Heb. 1:13-14; 2:5-8; I Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Jn. 12:31; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 20:10; Jn. 1:1-3; 8:44; Col. 1:16-17; Rom. 5:12-21; Eph. 2:1-3).
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen. 1:26-27; Mark 10:6). Rejection of one’s biological sex is rebellion against God’s created order and intentional design of the individual and leads to spiritual confusion and emotional chaos. (Romans 1:26-32; I Corinthians 6:9-11).
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:11-14). We affirm that these believers are eternally secure, have everlasting life, will not come into condemnation, and shall never perish. We believe that assurance comes to the believer from three primary means: trusting the Word of God’s promises, the witness of the Holy Spirit, and a persevering walk with the Lord. (Jn. 1:12; 2:3,16; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7; Dan. 12:1-2; Mt. 25:31-46; Jn. 3:16,36; 5:24; 10:28-29; 11:25-26; Rom. 8:28-39; I Jn. 4:11-13; Jude 1; Rev. 20:12-15).
We believe that marriage is defined by God as the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive, covenant union for a lifetime (Gen. 2:18-25). Furthermore, it is God alone who has ultimate authority to prescribe and describe the marital relationship (Matt. 19:1-9, Mark 10:1-12). Marriage is the foundational unit of a stable society.
The marital union provides a framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual delight according to Biblical standards, the means for procreation, and the foundation for raising godly children. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman in the sacred context of marriage (1 Cor. 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4; Malachi 2:15). Sexual immorality, defined by any sexual activity outside the boundaries of this relationship, is clearly and expressly prohibited by the Lord (Exodus 20:14; Matthew 15:19, 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Hebrews 13:4).
Ultimately, this marital covenant is a representation of Christ’s relationship with His church. As such, the husband and wife, though equal in value and worth before God, have been entrusted with complementary roles within the marital relationship. A husband has been entrusted with the responsibility to lead his wife and to love her sacrificially—giving himself up for her, just as Christ loved and sacrificed Himself for the church. A wife is to respect her husband, to be his helper, and to submit herself graciously to the leadership of her husband, just as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ (Eph. 5:21-33; Col. 3:18-19).
We believe in the Church, both universally and locally, as the spiritual body of which Christ is the Head. The church exercises Christ’s authority until His return. We also believe that the church is entrusted with the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper. (Mt. 16:18; cf. Acts 1:5; 11:15; and 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:11-16; 5:22-23; Col. 1:18).
We believe that those whom God has saved are sent into the world by Christ as He was by the Father. Those so sent are ambassadors, commissioned to go make disciples and make Christ known to the whole world. (Mt. 28:18-20; Jn. 15:8; 17:18; 20:21; Acts 1; Rom. 10:14-15; 2 Cor. 5:18-20; Col. 4:2-6; 2 Tim. 2:14-26).
We believe in the physical resurrection of the human body (at the second coming of Christ); in the eternal conscious existence of all individuals in either Heaven or Hell; and in the rewards of the saved and the punishment of the lost for eternity.
(I Cor. 15; Luke 16:19-31; 2 Cor. 5:8-10; I Cor. 3:11-15).
Essentially, our Statement of Faith is best summarized in the five solas of the Reformation:
Sola Fide – By faith alone
Sola Gratia – By grace alone
Solo Christo – By Christ alone
Sola Scriptura – On the Word of God alone
Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone be the glory
In order to preserve the function, integrity and purpose of Greenville Classical Academy as a para-church organization within the Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to our students and community, it is imperative that all persons employed by GCA in any capacity or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by our Statement of Faith, both in public and in private.
