About
The Office for the Integration of Faith and Learning was established in 2009 in order to assist university-wide efforts in the integration of faith and learning. We aim to do integration that is:
- Authentically biblical — We affirm the uniqueness and authority of Scripture. The Bible is not just one book among many, it is the Word of God.
- Authentically bi-directional — We seek truth wherever it may be found. Sound interpretation of God's Word and careful study of God's world are both essential to a full understanding of the created order.
- Positive, not merely critical — For all of the fallenness of the world, creation is still good, and we need to use it for its God-intended purposes. We seek to redeem dysfunctional aspects of human life and culture, not simply shun them.
- Critical, not merely positive — The reality of the fall, the pervasiveness of sin combine to clothe the goodness of creation in the agony and futility of sin. We must engage culture with a critical eye not a tacit acceptance.
- Synthetic, not merely analytical — Much of modern knowledge has grown by ever finer analysis of the created order. Though this may be the only way for human beings to acquire such knowledge—it comes at the price of reductionism and dis-integrated fields of knowledge. The integration of faith and learning is built on a desire to understand the world as a symphonic whole, allowing the diversity of the created order to be united under the purpose of glorifying God the Creator.
If you have a question about how we might help, please contact us at faithandlearning@biola.edu.
Services for Faculty
Coalition of the Willing is a year-long small group experience designed to deepen faculty members' integrative understanding of the Christian faith as well as develop a common language and set of models for doing integration.
Faculty Integration Seminar (FIS) occurs during the summer break and brings 15 faculty members together with a leading theologian for five days of teaching and discussion. Faculty members are required to write an integration paper at the end of the seminar and are paid for their participation.
Table Talks seek to provide systematic and ongoing theological education, as well as effective models of integration of faith and learning. These monthly luncheons combine the theological expertise of a Talbot faculty member with a faculty member from the university at large who models integration within his or her discipline.
Faculty Reading Groups aim to cultivate the ability to see important theological themes and questions as they come to us embedded in both academic research and literary and visual works. Faculty from a wide range of disciplines meet 4-5 times a term to discuss relevant books, articles, or images.
New Faculty Integration Workshop is for new faculty members who have completed their first year. This 3-day workshop takes place at the beginning of the summer, and participants develop an integrative “module” for a class they are currently teaching. It is hands-on and classroom oriented, and faculty are paid for their participation.
Personalized Coaching is designed to help faculty with ideas on integration in their disciplines, either for use in the classroom or research purposes.
Theology Lived is our website, a growing resource of articles, videos, and podcasts to stoke a theological imagination and help faculty in their integrative thinking and teaching.
Services for Students
It is Biola's intention that students are constantly seeing a distinctively Christian worldview expressing their academic disciplines. Christian teaching is the concern of all faculty members within all classes, and within all co-curricular activities.
In addition, students are also required to take a BBST 465 senior capstone class which focuses on theological integration within the various academic disciplines. A listing of these integration seminars is also available at Theology Lived, where students will also find other resources on topics and contemporary issues relevant to the integration of faith and learning.
Biola LEARN
We are pleased to offer courses on Biola LEARN, the university's online platform of world-class content taught by Biola faculty and available to anyone. View available courses from the Office for the Integration of Faith and Learning on Biola LEARN.