Minor in Biblical and Theological Studies

Mission

The mission of Biola's Biblical and Theological Studies Minor is to teach Christian undergraduate students to view all of God's world through the perspective of God's Word, the Bible. This biblical worldview involves understanding and applying the Bible as the foundation of the Christian faith, values, and virtues — both historically and presently. The goal is that students will lead lives of integrity and will engage the world of ideas, their vocations, their local church communities, and their society as responsible citizens, being faithful stewards of God's gifts to them and, empowered by His Spirit, carrying out Christ's commission to make disciples of all nations.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Biblical and Theological Studies Minor, students will be able to:

1. BIBLE: Identify the basic contents of all books of the Old and New Testaments, and apply the biblical teaching for Christian faith and practice through reliable and faithful methods of interpretation (ULO 1).
2. THEOLOGY: Explain the major doctrines of Christianity from an evangelical perspective, including their biblical basis and contemporary relevance (ULO 1).
3. INTEGRATION: Examine their academic disciplines through critical evaluation of the knowledge, skills, and values of the discipline according to Christian faith and practice (i.e., a biblical worldview) (ULO 2 and 3).
4. SPIRITUAL FORMATION: Describe a personal relationship with God in a maturing Christian faith and practice, and demonstrate the ability to serve the church and the world for Jesus Christ's purposes of redemption (ULO 2 and 3).

Each Program Learning Outcome (PLO) listed above references at least one of the University Learning Outcomes (ULO 1, 2, 3), which may be found in the General Information section of this catalog.

Curriculum Requirements

Students who complete the 30-credit Core Curriculum Bible Requirements at Biola University qualify for a minor in Bible. This minor is displayed on the transcript if the student declares the minor on the graduation application. There is a residency requirement and an upper-division requirement for receipt of the Bible minor. Twelve credits must be upper-division and at least 15 credits must be completed in residency (including at least 6 of the required 12 upper-division credits). Transfer credit, credit for prior learning, and credit by examination may not be used to fulfill the minimum residency requirement.

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BBST 465 is a course offered in partnerships with various departments with a variety of different sections. It may be taken with different content as a BBST 300/400 Bible/Theology elective for a maximum of 6 credits counted toward graduation. 

High-Credit Majors & Transfer Students

For select high-credit majors at Biola and for transfer students with 45 or more transferable credits completed after high school graduation at the time of enrollment, the following Bible and theology courses are required.¹ At least 9 credits from the following must be taken at Biola (3 of which must be upper-division).

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While Biola’s 30-credit Minor in Biblical and Theological Studies is not required for students in select high-credit majors and for those with 45 or more transferable credits completed after high school graduation at the time of enrollment, these students are nevertheless encouraged to consider taking the additional 12 credits of advanced and elective Bible and theology courses needed to earn the highly valued minor.  

Online Bachelor's Degree Programs

The Biblical and Theological Studies Minor takes on a particular design for some of Biola’s online bachelor's degree programs. For these programs the first five courses of the Minor provide the foundational approach to, and contents of, Scripture and integrative thinking as Christians.