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  • Biola News

    Vice Provost named President of Fresno Pacific University

    Pete Menjares selected as school's 11th president

    Brenda Velasco — 

    Pete Menjares was named Fresno Pacific University’s 11th president. Menjares is also making history as the second Hispanic president to serve at a...

  • The Good Book Blog

    The Blessing of Shalom and the Vandalism of Shalom

    Octavio Esqueda — 

    These days have been filled with contrasts for me. In a way, we all face these contrasts, but when they are too close to each other, the tensions they produce literally move us from joy to tears. One the one hand, my baby daughter is now two-months-old. My wife and I celebrate the joy of her life and are thankful for the Lord’s blessing upon us. We are tired and somewhat sleep deprived, but her smile brings joy to our existence and reminds us about the goodness of life. On the other hand, however, it was the second anniversary of my dad’s passing and I find myself missing him more every day. Dead is as real as life and both bring deep emotions that flow from the core of our beings. Why can we be so happy and so sad at the same time?

  • Biola News

    Students Help with Oscar Winning “The Artist”

    Black-and-white film adds color to alumna’s life

    Jenna Bartlo — 

    A few months ago, alumna Laura Aldridge (’09) shopped her resume around, only to have people ask what “The Artist,” her most recent film, was and...

  • Biola News

    Students rally to bring back a favorite web series

    Co-producer of “Dorm Series” returns after a semester off

    Mark Nesbitt — 

    For three students at Biola University, they share their dorm life with more than just their roommates and friends, they share it with thousands...

  • Biola News

    Deeply Rooted: Biola Celebrates 104th Birthday

    Rediscovering Biola's First Dean: William E. Blackstone

    Jenna Bartlo — 

    Biola University’s 104th birthday arrives on Feb. 25 — a day the campus marks each year with events to celebrate the biblical heritage passed down...

  • Biola News

    Exhibit Officially Opens: Twentieth-Century British Art from the Ahmanson Collection

    From the Roberta Ahmanson collection, the exhibit is displayed for the first time in Southern California

    Ashleigh Fox — 

    Biola University experienced an evening full of the arts on Saturday, February 19, beginning with High Tea at Talbot School of Theology and ending...

  • Biola News

    Cinema and Media Arts Students Connect with Filmmakers at Sundance Film Festival

    Students explore spiritual themes of films

    Tenielle Schroeder — 

    Students expanded their learning from the classroom to theaters at this year’s celebrity-studded Sundance Film Festival held in Park City, Utah....

  • The Good Book Blog

    Patristic vs. Modern Trinitarianism

    Uche Anizor — 

    Mark Thompson of Moore College offers some helpful observations regarding the difference between patristic and modern treatments of the Trinity. Here's an excerpt: Patristic trinitarian thinking and writing appears more overtly biblical, and specifically more exegetical, than much modern writing. Sometimes that exegetical work is tortuous and repetitive, as in some of Athanasius' orations against the Arians. Sometimes it is crisp and leaves important questions unanswered. Yet the Bible is in the foreground rather than in the background in many of the patristic treatments of the doctrine. In contrast, much of the modern discussion glances off the Bible and shies away from sustained exegetical comment.

  • The Good Book Blog

    St. Francis Didn't Say It

    Kenneth Berding — 

    “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” How many (hundreds of!) times have you heard that line rolled out? The good part about the alleged saying is that we do need to communicate that we truly believe the gospel through what we do. People need to see the gospel as well as hear it. If you have any doubts about this, please refer to my post from a few days ago on “justice and mercy” ministries. But there are two problems with the way this quote is normally used. First, it is often used by people who are oriented toward social concern but who are less comfortable with verbally proclaiming the good news about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and faith in him alone. Such hesitancy to share the gospel verbally simply will not do if you even remotely consider yourself to be a biblical Christian. Second, Francis of Assisi apparently never said it.

  • The Good Book Blog

    Biblical Mandate for Youth Ministry (Part 2): Youth Ministry in the Old Testament

    Dave Keehn — 

    The model established by God through God’s people to instill God’s Truth within the Next Generation can be describe as such: begin religious instruction in the family home as spiritual practices, add knowledge through the larger community of faith, and provide mentoring from key spiritual leaders for specific practices and duties. This model was utilized throughout the Old Testament era due to some foundational concepts about young people, a developmental stage that was not fully identified at that time outside of Scripture. However, God has specific principles to follow in ministering to this pre-adult age group.

  • Biola News

    Student-Produced Film Premiers with Enthusiasm

    “Kids on the Run” premier attracts more than 400 students

    Alethia Selby — 

    Each semester, a senior from Biola's Cinema and Media Arts department writes and directs a film under the university’s name. The premiere of Nolan...

  • Biola News

    Biola Honors 1981-82 Men’s Basketball Team on 30th Anniversary of Dream Season

    Halftime of men’s basketball game vs. Point Loma Nazarene University reserved to honor Biola’s 1981-82 “Dream Team”

    Jeff Hoffman, Sports Information Director — 

    The Biola University athletic department took time during halftime of Saturday's men's basketball game against Point Loma Nazarene University to...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Union with Christ and Social Justice

    Uche Anizor — 

    Does our union with Christ have anything to say about Christian social justice? Todd Billings in chapter 4 of Union with Christ makes this vital connection

  • The Good Book Blog

    Biblical Justice and Mercy and Gospel Proclamation

    Kenneth Berding — 

    Over the past five months the Overseers (translate: “Elders” or “Pastors”) at Whittier Hills Baptist Church have been thinking and praying about ministries of compassion and justice and the relationship of such activities to gospel proclamation. We have recently completed a position paper in which we collectively lay out what we believe the Bible teaches on this topic. We also address a few practical issues in the paper. We will be using this document in the future to help guide ministry decisions as we interact with those who are poor, oppressed, and marginalized. I’m linking you to our paper with the permission and encouragement of our leadership team. We hope that this paper will be a help to other churches, ministries, and individuals to think carefully and biblically through this important--and sometime controversial--topic. You are free to use this paper (or sections of it) in any way you consider appropriate in your respective areas of ministry.

  • Biola News

    Biola University Bridges Gap Between Church and Academia

    Dedication of Center for Christian Thought Attracts Crowd

    Ashleigh Fox — 

    Biola University’s Center for Christian Thought celebrated its official launch with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, Feb. 6. The well-attended...

  • Biola News

    Alumnus Wins $1 Million in Doritos Super Bowl Contest

    Alumnus' commercial ranks first in USA Today & Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter

    Jenna Bartlo — 

    Alumnus Kevin Willson (’01) headed to the Super Bowl for the third year in a row as a finalist in Doritos’ national commercial contest, “Crash the...

  • Biola News

    Student short film reflects on life and letting go

    “Persimmon” integrates Japanese culture

    Jessica Airey — 

    From Jan. 27- Feb. 4, the student short film “Persimmon” showed at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival — an Academy-accredited top tier...

  • Biola News

    Four teams of students spend Interterm overseas

    Biola’s Student Missionary Union sends students out to spread the gospel

    Abbey Bennett — 

    From Central American beaches to African plains, Biola’s Student Missionary Union (SMU) sent four teams of students overseas during Interterm to...

  • Biola News

    Biola Knocks Off No. 7 Azusa Pacific for Fourth-Straight Win

    Biola Wins Last Game with APU in History

    Jeff Hoffman — 

    In the final GSAC game between the two arch-rivals, Biola and Azusa Pacific, on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium, Biola led through much of the...

  • The Good Book Blog

    The Easiest Way to Memorize the Bible: What I Learned from Dr. John Mitchell

    Kenneth Berding — 

    One of my professors in college was really old. I can hear everyone asking: “How old was he?” (No, his social security number wasn’t 7…). Let’s put it this way: he was the founder of the college at which I was studying (Multnomah in Portland, Oregon), and the school was celebrating the half century mark of its founding while I was there! In fact, Dr. John Mitchell was over the age of 90 when he taught the two classes I took from him. He continued to teach well into his mid-90s. Not surprisingly, he was getting forgetful about some things by the time I had him as a teacher, but what he definitely was not forgetting were the Bible verses he had memorized. His ability to recall Bible verses was astounding. I do not know this for a fact, but I would guess that he had all of the New Testament and large sections of the Old Testament committed to memory. All of his students were profoundly impacted by his immersion in the Scriptures.

  • The Good Book Blog

    Union with Christ and TULIP

    Uche Anizor — 

    In the second chapter of Billings’ Union with Christ, he takes issue with the reduction of Reformed theology to the TULIP acronym. Specifically, regarding “total depravity” he questions the notion that one can properly understand a Reformed (or biblical) doctrine of depravity within the limited scope of the so-called “five points.”

  • The Good Book Blog

    Can You Dig It? (2012 Edition)

    Kenneth Way — 

    Early last year I did a blog post by this same title, and I want to revisit the subject again. Around this time every year the excitement begins to build for archaeologists and for those who are interested in archaeology. The reason for elation is that summer plans for excavation in Israel are announced every January. This summer, there are around twenty excavations in Israel that are open for volunteer participation. Yes, that means YOU can be a part of unearthing the next great discovery in Israel!

  • The Good Book Blog

    Billings on Adoption

    Rob Price — 

    I’m not the only one who’s been reading Billings. Uche Anizor has been at it, too, and he’ll soon be posting comments here on specific chapters of Billings’s book. Meanwhile, I’ll add a few of my own on Billings’s foundational first chapter on union with Christ as the ground of our adoption.

  • Biola Magazine

    In Print: Winter 2012

    Biola Magazine Staff — 

    You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church … And Rethinking Faith , by David Kinnaman (’96), Baker Books, October 2011. More than 60...

  • Biola Magazine

    Biolans Up Close: Winter 2012

    George Bell ('82), the tallest living American-born man

    Amy Seed — 

    George Bell is someone you can’t help looking up to. Standing at his full height of 7 feet 8 inches, Bell (’82) was named the “Tallest Man in the...