Led by the Spirit of God, the people of Israel and the early church preserved and handed on the story of what God had done in their midst and how they had responded to God.  Through the inward witness of the same Spirit, we acknowledge the authority of the Bible.  Relying on the Holy Spirit, who opens our eyes and hearts, we affirm our freedom to interpret Scripture responsibly.  When we encounter apparent tensions and conflicts in what Scripture teaches us to believe and do, the final appeal must be the authority of Christ. Acknowledging that authority, comparing Scripture with Scripture, listening with respect to fellow believers present and past, we anticipate that the Holy Spirit will enable us to interpret faithfully God's Word for our time and place.

- From A Declaration of Faith, a creed of the former Presbyterian Church, U.S., adopted in 1977, but no longer included in the reunited Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Book of Confessions