Latest Posts

• The Good Book Blog

  Stewardship: Spiritual Formation Assignment, Part 2

  Charlie Trimm — October 28, 2014

  This series of posts presents several of my active assignments from the required freshman class Biblical Interpretation and Spiritual Formation. This one has the students examine their use of time and money, and usually students are surprised at the results. Here are the instructions ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Does the Holy Spirit Exist?

  William Lane Craig — October 24, 2014

  This is the weekly Q & A blog post by our Research Professor in Philosophy, Dr. William Lane Craig. Q. ... Perhaps I haven't been looking hard enough but I have not been able to find any such support for the existence of or the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit plays such a prominent role in Christian theology and worldview -- but how can someone believe in it other than blind faith? I find this especially troubling when statements like "The early church fathers were guided by the Holy Spirit." It just seems impossible to verify or dispute leading to a grey area where Christians are no longer convinced by the evidence but believing blindly ...

• Biola News

  Biola Responds to California Drought with Conservation Tactics

  University continues water conservation efforts in preparation for possible 35-year ‘megadrought’

  Brieana Jordan — October 24, 2014

  Biola University has conserved 9.6 percent of water across campus in the 2013-14 school year through various measures to help save water during...

• Biola News

  Biola University Launches Center for Marriage and Relationships

  New center to provide practical resources and wisdom to anyone seeking healthier relationships

  Lauren Frey — October 22, 2014

  Biola University launched the Center for Marriage and Relationships this semester to address one of the most pertinent issues in society: the...

• The Good Book Blog

  Sharing the Material Resources of Home to Embody the Gospel

  Aaron Devine — October 21, 2014

  I often think about home in a specific way. For a long time, home has been a safe place to come back to at the end of the day. It has been a place to establish a comfortable niche in the world as a respite, a literal financial investment in emotional well being. Home has been about rest and nurture, as it can be a place of ministry to family and friends. It also has been a place to launch out into kingdom ministry more broadly.

• The Good Book Blog

  God's Timelessness Sans Creation

  William Lane Craig — October 17, 2014

  Dr. Craig, I am a longtime admirer of your work. Although I am no longer a Christian, your work as a philosopher and theologian has played a significant role in the formation of my own views and I am fully persuaded of theism, although I still have lots of questions about it. I think your analysis of God's relationship to time is plausible, but I always get stuck on the idea that God is timeless apart from creation, but temporal since creation ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Snatched Up For a Meeting

  Gary Manning Jr — October 16, 2014

  The release of the movie Left Behind has again drawn attention to the Christian belief in the rapture. The movie tries to portray the chaos in the world as millions of Christians suddenly disappear. This image has interested Christians for quite a while. I recall watching the Thief in the Night series of movies back in the 1970s (the Antichrist had sideburns!). But I am interested in a question that is often overlooked: what is the point of the rapture in the Bible?

• Biola News

  Biola Shakes it Out with Full-Scale Earthquake Drill

  The State Office of Emergency selected Biola as this year's featured Great ShakeOut exercise

  Jenna Bartlo — October 16, 2014

  A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Biola University at 9:40 a.m. this morning — at least hypothetically. Biola hosted a full-scale mass casualty...

• The Good Book Blog

  ¿Cómo Disentir Sin Ofender? / How Can We Kindly Disagree?

  Octavio Esqueda — October 14, 2014

  Recuerdo que mi padre solía decir con frecuencia “cada cabeza es un mundo” cuando se refería a las diferentes maneras de pensar y actuar entre las personas. Por esta razón, la comunicación es parte básica de las relaciones humanas. No se puede establecer ninguna relación importante y duradera sin que exista una comunicación fluida en la que se intercambien ideas y opiniones. La diversidad de percepciones nos abre la puerta a las relaciones saludables a través de la comunicación, pero al mismo tiempo crea la posibilidad de conflicto. Así que, es importante que todos en general, pero esencial para los líderes, que aprendamos a disentir sin ofender.

• The Good Book Blog

  Teaching Bible Fluency: Using Classes and Videos

  Kenneth Berding — October 13, 2014

  Are you as concerned about the growing problem of biblical illiteracy as I am? We Christians have more Bible-focused resources available to us than has any generation of Christians in the history of the world. Despite this we are literally—from a spiritual standpoint—starving ourselves to death. Would you like your church, adult Bible class, youth group, or small group to reach Bible fluency by pursuing an Old Testament Fluency in 12 Weeks class or a New Testament Fluency in 12 Weeks class using the free resources at biblefluency.com? Here’s how.

• The Good Book Blog

  Does the Atonement Imply Universalism?

  William Lane Craig — October 10, 2014

  Dr Craig, I'm growing more skeptical about Christianity and was wondering if you could answer a question about the gospel. When Jesus was on the cross He either paid for all sin or some sin. To pay for some sin would mean limited atonement which is not what scripture teaches. But if Jesus paid for all sin then why are some people who are in Hell paying for their sin? ...

• Biola News

  Senior Becky Hartung’s Debut Novel to Publish this Winter

  Student to speak at the 79th Annual Torrey Conference.

  Stephen Day — October 09, 2014

  Senior communications major and Torrey Conference speaker, Becky Hartung, recently self-published her first novel “Running in the Dark” — an...

• The Good Book Blog

  Efesios 4 y la Descripción Sobre Cómo Debe Funcionar la Iglesia de Dios / Ephesians 4 and How the Church Should Function

  Octavio Esqueda — October 08, 2014

  La carta del apóstol Pablo a los Efesios representa uno de los documentos doctrinales más importantes del cristianismo. En los primeros tres capítulos Pablo explica lo maravilloso del amor y la gracia divina que nos dio vida a través de Jesucristo cuando todos estábamos muertos en nuestros pecados. En Jesús también, el Dios de toda gracia nos ha bendecido con toda bendición espiritual. Los cristianos somos adoptados en la familia de Dios, encontramos aceptación, redención, perdón, sabiduría, una herencia eterna que está garantizada por el Espíritu Santo.

• The Good Book Blog

  Achieving Bible Fluency: Using Music, Visuals, and a Workbook

  Kenneth Berding — October 07, 2014

  What does it take to achieve Bible Fluency? In my next two posts I will guide you through how to use a brand new free resource called Bible Fluency: Sing it, See it, Study it, found at biblefluency.com. This first post seeks to answer the question: How can I use music, visuals, and a workbook to help me learn to think my way through the Bible?

• The Good Book Blog

  A Review on Left Behind

  Alan Hultberg — October 06, 2014

  I recently previewed the upcoming Nicholas Cage film, Left Behind, based on the books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The film centers on the chaos that ensues after the instantaneous disappearance of millions of people worldwide due to the coming of Christ for his church, an event known as “the rapture.”

• Biola News

  Biola University Ranked One of the Nation's Top 5 Safest Schools

  Nationwide Survey Ranks Biola Fourth Safest School in the Nation

  Daniel Batchman — October 06, 2014

  Biola University has been ranked the fourth-safest university in the United States by Niche, an organization that provides rankings and statistics...

• The Good Book Blog

  Does Quantum Mechanics Indicate an Eternal Universe?

  William Lane Craig — October 03, 2014

  Q: I listened to your debate with Sean Carroll, read your post-debate threads, interacted with Aron Wall and Luke Barnes, and have determined that you haven't yet responded to Carroll's Quantum Eternity point against premise 2 of the kalam, "under conventional quantum mechanics, any universe with a non-zero energy and a time-independent Hamiltonian will necessarily last forever toward both the past and the future." Aron Wall confirmed that this point is independent of one's stance towards an A or B theory of time. Wall mentions on his blog that one could try to argue that the total energy of the universe is zero, but Barnes and others don't think this is the case. Do you have any response yet to Carroll on this? Even better would be a response that presupposes that the net energy of the universe is non-zero.

• Biola News

  Random Acts Of Culture Brings Music and Art to the Heart of Biola

  Biola's Conservatory of Music and Center for Christianity, Culture, and the Arts merge to create dynamic acts of culture around campus.

  Grace Hansen — October 01, 2014

  A quiet Friday morning on Biola’s campus in September was interrupted by the tinkling of a toy piano. As the unusual sound drew a crowd, Jonah...

• Biola News

  Biola Feature "Cicada" Wins Grand Jury Prize at Guam International Film Festival

  Cinema & Media Arts Professor Dean Yamada’s "Cicada" continues its film festival tour as he works on his second feature project

  Stephen Day — September 30, 2014

  Biola University's student-produced feature film “Cicada” won the grand jury prize for Best Narrative Feature at the Guam International Film...

• The Good Book Blog

  Is the Theistic Anti-Realist in a Predicament?

  William Lane Craig — September 26, 2014

  "First, even though I am an atheist, I have learned a lot from you by reading your responses in Q&A and watching your debates. Even though you sometimes make my blood boil with your views, there are several areas of agreement. One of these is your nominalist (or anti-realist) position concerning abstract objects, which you recently discussed in your Q & A on God and Infinity. My question, however, concerns the implications of your nominalist view, which I think leaves you in an uncomfortable position regarding your ontology of beauty and possibly your moral ontology ..."

• Biola News

  Professor Monica Cure on Postcards, Fulbright Research and Traveling the Globe

  Jenna Bartlo — September 25, 2014

  Professor Monica Cure may be an aficionado of postcards, but her credentials go past connoisseur or collector. As one that has traveled the globe...

• The Good Book Blog

  If ISIS’s God Were Real, Would I Be Obliged to Follow Him?

  William Lane Craig — September 19, 2014

  Dear Dr Craig, You may be aware that Frank Turek has a question he will sometimes ask atheists, "if Christianity were true, would you become a Christian"? Well, recently, an atheist flipped this question around and asked me "If the Islamic State were true (by which he means, if the specific type of Allah that IS believe in, existed) then likewise, would you become an IS member?" ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Giving Thanks: Spiritual Formation Assignment, Part 1

  Charlie Trimm — September 18, 2014

  Half of my teaching load each semester consists of teaching the required freshman class Biblical Interpretation and Spiritual Formation. Although I thought the combination of these two topics in one class was strange when I first read the job posting, the class has grown on me and I now love teaching it. I see the connection as leading from proper reading of the Bible to spiritual formation: the very structure of the class helps prevent us from merely reading the Bible in an academic fashion. We spend a large part of the semester looking at the different genres of the Bible (law, prophecy, etc.) and then we reflect on spiritual formation topics related to those genres (such as legalism and idolatry).

• Biola News

  New Political Science Department and Faculty Strengthens Major Opportunities for Students

  Political science professor Scott Waller leads new department

  Stephen Day — September 18, 2014

  This fall, Biola University announces an independent Political Science department with an emphasis on providing greater resources and...

• The Good Book Blog

  Why God the Father and God the Son?

  William Lane Craig — September 12, 2014

  Hi Sir, I am very glad to meet you through online... I understood the essentiality of trinity, there is no doubt about why I should believe in triune God. But, I have been thinking what could be the reason for son and father relationship in God’s head ...