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<blockquote>"An Independent Christian Publication, Standing for the Verbal Inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, His Blood Atonement, Salvation by Faith, New Testament Soul Winning and the Premillennial Return of Christ; Opposing [[Modernism]] ([[Liberalism]]), Worldliness and Formalism."</blockquote>

<blockquote>"An Independent Christian Publication, Standing for the Verbal Inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, His Blood Atonement, Salvation by Faith, New Testament Soul Winning and the Premillennial Return of Christ; Opposing [[Modernism]] ([[Liberalism]]), Worldliness and Formalism."</blockquote>

Because of its Independent Baptist stance, it is highly anti-[[Calvinist]] and will not publish sermons by Calvinist preachers, although an exception has been made for the noted nineteenth-century Calvinist [[Charles Spurgeon]]. Nevertheless, Spurgeon's sermons have been edited to remove Calvinist-leaning passages.<ref>In 1950, John R. Rice wrote of his editing practices, "If there are paragraphs which are not acceptable doctrinally, I indicate that they are to be left out." ''The Sword of the Lord'', (September 22, 1950), p. 1. A scholarly study by Howard Moore discovered that Rice had deleted passages in many sermons, including those of [[Charles Finney]], Talmage, and even [[Jonathan Edwards]]', "[[Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God]]."  But, said Moore, "No other ancient worthy seems to have suffered as much from Rice's editorial license...as Charles H. Spurgeon." Howard Edgar Moore, "The Emergence of Moderate Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and 'The Sword of the Lord,'" Ph.D. dissertation, George Washington University, 1990, 502-10.</ref> It is also a proponent of the [[King James only]] movement, though not to the extreme of some supporters such as the late [[Peter Ruckman]].

Because of its Independent Baptist stance, it is highly anti-[[Calvinist]] and will not publish sermons by Calvinist preachers, although an exception has been made for the noted nineteenth-century Calvinist [[Charles Spurgeon]]. Nevertheless, Spurgeon's sermons have been edited to remove Calvinist-leaning passages.<ref>In 1950, John R. Rice wrote of his editing practices, "If there are paragraphs which are not acceptable doctrinally, I indicate that they are to be left out." ''The Sword of the Lord'', (September 22, 1950), p. 1. A scholarly study by Howard Moore discovered that Rice had deleted passages in many sermons, including those of [[Charles Finney]], Talmage, and even [[Jonathan Edwards]]', "[[Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God]]."  But, said Moore, "No other ancient worthy seems to have suffered as much from Rice's editorial license...as Charles H. Spurgeon." Howard Edgar Moore, "The Emergence of Moderate Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and 'The Sword of the Lord,'" Ph.D. dissertation, George Washington University, 1990, 502-10.</ref>

 

It is also a proponent of the [[King James only]] movement, though not to the extreme of some supporters such as the late [[Peter Ruckman]].<ref>Under Rice, though the ''Sword'' supported the King James Version, it did not hold to the KJV-only viewpoint; Rice believed that to be a distraction when other matters such as theological liberalism were more important.  After his passing, though, it adopted the KJV-only viewpoint it holds.</ref>

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