Latest Posts

• Biola News

  Professor Receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Tajikistan for English Language Teacher Training

  Kitty Purgason of Cook School of Intercultural Studies awarded grant to train teachers in Tajikistan next year

  Erin Wilson — September 28, 2016

  Biola University professor of applied linguistics Kitty Purgason of the Cook School of Intercultural Studies was awarded the Fulbright U.S....

• Biola News

  Biola Music Students Perform with The Brilliance

  On September 16, 2016, members of the symphony orchestra at Biola University’s Conservatory of Music had the opportunity to perform with The Brilliance, a contemporary Christian band

  Elisa Walker — September 26, 2016

  On September 16, 2016, members of the symphony orchestra at Biola University’s Conservatory of Music had the opportunity to perform with The...

• The Good Book Blog

  Ruth in the Days of the Judges

  Kenneth Way — September 26, 2016

  The book of Ruth presents the inspiring journey of God’s people from tragedy to triumph. The story is a mirror opposite of Israel’s depressing journey from triumph to tragedy that is presented in the book of Judges.

• Biola News

  New Master’s Program in Speech-Language Pathology Launches

  Biola launches new master’s program upon receiving candidacy of accreditation

  Erin Wilson — September 26, 2016

  Biola University launches a new master’s program in speech-language pathology (M.S.) with first cohort of 22 students. The new program launched...

• The Good Book Blog

  Are Souls Dependent on God?

  William Lane Craig — September 23, 2016

  Are Souls/spirits dependent on God for existence or not? I am currently an atheist who is looking for reasons to believe that God exists. I was once a Christian but became an atheist by rationalisation when I realised that I believed simply because I was raised to believe. I have since become horrified by the implications of the atheistic explanation of life's origin (particularly mindless spontaneous generation), not to mention what it says about human destiny. I find the concept of God inspiring and want to believe that God exists but continuously encounter obstacles from numerous sources ranging from atheistic materialism to biblical and doctrinal difficulties. If something is true then it should make sense. Herewith one of those difficulties. My understanding of spiritual death and hell is that it is the natural consequence of choosing separation from God who is the source of spiritual life. I base this on the fact that the bible states that "the wages of sin is death" and other places in the bible where Jesus indicates that he (God) is the source of life. However hell as consequence, which for some reason cannot be changed after death, (rather than punishment) only seems just and makes sense to me if the soul is indestructible and able to exist independently of God. Yet my conceptual understanding of God is that He is the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient being who sustains the existence of everything. If he stopped sustaining it would not exist. If that is true then how can anything continue to exist if it is actually separated from omnipotent God? Where can anything be that an omnipresent God is not? Does this not mean that God is actively sustaining the souls of the damned purely so that they can suffer? For eternity? Or can even omnipotent God not destroy a soul? Neither really make sense to me. This is therefore one of the (unfortunately many)things that makes me doubt that the bible is true as much as I want it to be true ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Desire to Sin Decreases When You Walk in the Spirit

  Kenneth Berding — September 19, 2016

  As you daily walk in the Holy Spirit, God will fill you with his Spirit in such a way that your desires to sin lessen. Galatians 5:16—set in a chapter that parallels Romans 8 in many ways—says it so well: “Walk in the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.” The one who walks in the Spirit will not give in to the desires of the flesh. Walking in the Spirit and carrying out the desires of the flesh are mutually exclusive ideas; you cannot do one at the same time as you engage in the other.

• The Good Book Blog

  Guidance and God’s Plan

  William Lane Craig — September 16, 2016

  Dr. Craig, First and foremost thank you for the work you've done. I'm young and I've barely scratched the surface of Christian apologetics and the enormous body of literature thereof, but your contributions to the field have made a huge difference in my life. I'm thankful God has blessed the Christian community with you and I hope you stay active for many more years to come. My question is this: Does God Have a Plan? ...

• Biola News

  Biola University Launches Second Annual Startup Competition

  Jessica Rey, founder of Rey Swimwear, joins competition advisory board; Vice President of Marketing for 20th Century Fox set to speak at kickoff event

  Jenna Loumagne — September 16, 2016

  The 2nd Annual Biola Startup Competition will kickoff on Monday, Sept. 19 with a presentation by John Schad, vice president of marketing for 20th...

• The Good Book Blog

  How Do I Interpret General Relativity Theory?

  William Lane Craig — September 09, 2016

  Dear Dr. Craig, Thank you for your ministry. The content on your website and mobile app is an incredible resource. I absolutely love it and can't seem to get enough! I have a question, Dr. Craig. An atheist with whom I'm in dialog with claims that you reject General Relativity (GR). I hadn't ever heard this so I asked what caused him to believe this, he says that because you interpret special relativity in neo-Lorentzian fashion that this interpretation does not allow a pathway to GR and thus no theory of gravitation. Additionally, he says that it is impossible to have a derivation of GR without using the principles of Einsteinian SR. From reading some of your work, it is clear that you prefer the Lorentzian approach to SR due to your commitment to the A-Theory of time. What I'm not able to figure out is whether the assertion is true that GR needs to be rejected as a result. Would you mind clarifying this? ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Is the Bible Clear?

  Kenneth Berding — September 08, 2016

  I remember sitting in my office with a student who was thinking about moving out of evangelical Protestantism and into a different church tradition. He began thinking this way after he had started reading widely in the writings of Christian authors from earlier eras. After being exposed to various authors who sometimes expressed divergent viewpoints from his own, he became increasingly unsure about whether the Bible on its own was clear in what it taught. He was considering changing to a church tradition that could interpret the Bible for him. Since, in his thinking, we can’t be certain what the Bible actually means when we read it, we need an authoritative guide. Let me assure you, there are people out there who will gladly tell you what the Bible means if that’s what you want! Another conversation with a different student also comes to mind. She wasn’t sure whether she could really give herself to Christ in faith because she didn’t know if the message of the gospel was actually true. But the more we talked together, the more I realized that she wasn’t struggling with which truth claims were correct and which were false; she was struggling with whether anyone could know something was true at all. So whenever I appealed to the Bible I didn’t get any traction in our discussion because she didn’t think we could actually come to know truth through a written text. Both of these students were struggling with whether the Bible was clear.

• Biola News

  Professors Named as Two of the Most Influential Living Philosophers

  William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland recognized for their contributions to philosophy

  Jenna Loumagne — September 07, 2016

  Biola University professors William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland were named two of the most influential living philosophers this month in the...

• Biola News

  Biola Named NAIA Champions of Character Gold Level Institution

  Eagles earn the highest honor bestowed by the NAIA for character and sportsmanship.

  Neil Morgan — September 07, 2016

  LA MIRADA, Calif.--- Biola is named a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Champions of Character Five-Star Institution for the ninth...

• Business. Ministry. Life.

  Turning your Passion into a Business

  John Schad — September 06, 2016

  Pursuing Your Passions as an Entrepreneur God has given each of us unique talents, passions and spiritual gifts. God has a plan for you and will...

• The Good Book Blog

  Is Mercy an Essential Property of God?

  William Lane Craig — September 02, 2016

  Hello Dr. Craig, I was recently reading your "Love and Justice in The Trinity" question response. Specifically you state: "My argument is that it's not enough to think of love as a mere dispositional property, the disposition to love if some other person were to exist. Being loving is not merely the disposition to give oneself away to another if that other existed. Being loving involves actually giving oneself away to another. So this disposition cannot lie merely latent in God and never be actualized." So thinking about mercy, if being loving requires one to have an object which is being loved, then could it be argued that if God is merciful he would require an object to which such mercy is shown? What would be your response to such an objection Dr. Craig? ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Could God Be Amoral?

  William Lane Craig — August 26, 2016

  Dear Dr. Craig I've recently had my worldview shattered and pretty much torn apart by the natural arguments for the existence of God, the Kalam Cosmological argument, the Teleological argument, the Ontological argument, and a few others which you present in outstanding accuracy and clarity. Being 17 years old, as any other teenager I thought I had everything figured out, I had responses ready for every argument that could've threatened my atheist belief ...

• Biola News

  Biola Welcomes New Faculty for Fall 2016

  From the Pauline concept of faith to biomedically-based exercise physiology, Biola’s new faculty bring a diverse set of experience to the classroom

  Jenna Loumagne — August 26, 2016

  Biola University welcomes 15 new faculty members this fall — each of whom represent the university’s aspiration to attract and retain the finest...

• Biola News

  Tixier, Benbow Selected To Athletics Hall of Fame

  Christine Tixier & Jeff Benbow to be inducted in September.

  Neil Morgan — August 26, 2016

  HALL OF FAME PAGE | REGISTER NOW LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola University Athletics announces its 2016 Hall of Fame Induction Class. This year's...

• The Good Book Blog

  ¡Todos Somos Pobres!

  Octavio Esqueda — August 24, 2016

  “Todos somos Marcos” se convirtió en una popular frase en México y en muchos lugares del mundo. El primero de enero de 1994 el denominado Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional inició una lucha armada en el estado de Chiapas en el sur de México. El subcomandante Marcos era el líder de este movimiento que buscaba justicia, trabajo justo y equitativo entre otras demandas básicas. El subcomandante Marcos se convirtió en un personaje carismático y enigmático porque tenía un pasamontañas que cubría su identidad. Para protegerlo y para identificarse con las demandas de este movimiento muchas personas empezaron a decir “todos somos Marcos” y de esta manera borrar las diferencias entre esta persona y ellos mismos ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Limited Atonement

  William Lane Craig — August 19, 2016

  ... In reading to try and find some answers, it happened that most of the resources on Penal Substitution are written from a reformed perspective, and my question is over your views on the extent of the atonement ...

• The Good Book Blog

  5 Misconceptions about the Bible

  Sean McDowell — August 18, 2016

  The Bible is the most influential book of all time. Given its impact over literature, history, governments, philosophy and more, it should come as no surprise that there are many misconceptions about its nature. Christians need to avoid these misconceptions because Paul said, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) ...

• Biola News

  Biola Appoints New Vice President

  Andre Stephens assumes role of Vice President of Student Development

  Brenda Velasco — August 16, 2016

  Biola University is pleased to announce a new cabinet-level role. Effective August 16, 2016, André Stephens will assume the role of Vice President...

• The Good Book Blog

  Epic Failure: My Biggest Evangelism Mistake

  Sean McDowell — August 10, 2016

  During a trip to Breckenridge, a beautiful ski town in the mountains of Colorado, a friend and I decided to get our hair cut at one of the little shops downtown. As we waited our turn, I read another chapter of the book I had brought along with me, a book whose title clearly indicated my interest in spiritual things ...

• The Good Book Blog

  What are the Best Apologetics Resources for Students?

  Sean McDowell — August 03, 2016

  When I first wrote my book Ethix in 2006, the reviewer for the Christian Research Journal said its one of a few, but growing number of apologetics resources for students. It’s amazing how much has changed in a decade. Now we have tons of good apologetics resources for students, and the challenge is to highlight the best ones. The purpose of this post is simply to highlight some of my personal favorites. Please let me know if there are any good ones I need to add to my list ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Gratuitous Evil and the Burden of Proof

  William Lane Craig — July 29, 2016

  As I am transcribing your latest Defenders lectures on the problem of evil, I was hoping someone would ask the question, but I don't think it has been asked. So, maybe you can attend to it next week? Instead of arguing that "even though some evils look gratuitous, they really aren't" (i.e. we can't discern what greater-good will come out of any evil - this greater-good could occur centuries later in another country), why not come up with an argument that says, yes, gratuitous evil does exist (since it seems more obvious than not that it does exist), but that that somehow doesn't refute God's existence? Specifically, have you read Kirk MacGregor's response to the problem of evil and what are your thoughts? ...

• Biola News

  Faculty Spotlight: Biola’s Gifted Physicist

  Xidong Chen, Professor of Physics

  Jenna Loumagne — July 29, 2016

  Xidong Chen, professor of physics, has pushed student research to the next level in Biola University’s science department in the last five years....