In the Urbana ‘76 convention’s first major address, John W. Alexander, laid the foundations for the program which followed. He emphasized his belief that the Bible “is the infallible revelation of the infallible God—which means that it is entirely trustworthy and reliable.” He told the students, “Our attitude toward the Scripture is desperately important.” Alexander declared in his address that he believed in biblical inerrancy while admitting its problems, “but I refuse to set myself up as judge of Scripture and commence deciding which problems are biblical error.”

The convention’s most prominent speaker, evangelist Billy Graham, faced the issue of Scripture on the second full day of the week. He made himself available to answer questions for an hour in the 17,000-seat Assembly Hall, and nearly half of the delegates showed up there despite dozens of competing meetings. Graham said he fully backed the Alexander statement. He was applauded when he held a Bible aloft and said, “This is the infallible Word of the Living God.”