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• The Good Book Blog

  How Did Christianity Prevail in Ancient Rome and What Can We Learn from It?

  Sean McDowell — October 14, 2016

  What was unique about Christian practices and teachings in the first three centuries of the church? And how did such a minority faith — which was considered irrelevant, extreme, and at odd with the role “religion” is supposed to play in a pagan society — ultimately prevail? In his recent book Destroyer of the gods, New Testament scholar Larry Hurtado focuses on the first of these questions. But his book also has powerful implications for the second.

• Biola News

  The Campaign for ������ʷ Reaches $178 Million

  Dallas event starts the final leg of Biola's campaign national tour

  Chris Johnson — October 12, 2016

  On Saturday, Oct. 1, ������ʷ alumni and constituents in Dallas, Texas raised an additional $22,000 toward the total of $178.6 million...

• The Good Book Blog

  Talbot Impacting Slavic Scholarship

  Vladimir Yakim — October 11, 2016

  Saturday, October 1, 2016, marked the publication of a tremendous evangelical resource for Russian-speaking students of the Bible. At the National Pedagogical University of Dragomanova in Kyiv, Ukraine, the Slavic Bible Commentary (hereafter SBC) was officially presented and highly celebrated. This project, five years in the making, incorporates the work of over 90 Slavic evangelical scholars.

• Biola News

  Luis Palau Encourages Attendees at Portland Campaign Event for ������ʷ

  Local members of Biola community in Portland raises campaign total

  Chris Johnson — October 11, 2016

  On Saturday, Oct. 8, ������ʷ alumni and friends of the university gathered in Portland, Ore. for Biola’s 12th Campaign National Tour...

• Biola News

  Biola Professor and Students Launch Free Exercise Program Open to La Mirada Community

  “100 Citizens” program meant to encourage local citizens to meet adult fitness recommendations

  Erin Wilson — October 10, 2016

  Biola faculty and students from the kinesiology department will launch the free exercise program 100 Citizens on Oct. 10 in partnership with the...

• Biola News

  Conservatory of Music Hosts Third Annual High School Composition Competition

  The ������ʷ Conservatory of Music will host its third annual High School Composition Competition, providing aspiring composers an opportunity to win a $5,000 scholarship to attend Biola as a composition major

  Jessica Stein — October 10, 2016

  The ������ʷ Conservatory of Music will host its third annual High School Composition Competition, providing aspiring composers an...

• The Good Book Blog

  Allah or Jesus? Is God One? — An Interview with Nabeel Qureshi

  Sean McDowell — October 07, 2016

  Nabeel Qureshi is one of the leading apologists today on Islam. Raised in a devout Muslim home in the United States, Nabeel became a Christian in college. He records his faith journey in his first book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus (2014). His second book, Answering Jihad, was written as his response to the “why” behind the recent jihadist terrorist attacks. His latest book, No God but One: Allah or Jesus? A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam & Christianity, released in August 2016. It is an excellent book for Christians to better understand Islam and how to answer tough questions Muslims often raise, but also a great book to give to your Muslim friend. Along with his M.D., Nabeel has three master’s degrees, including a master's in Christian apologetics from ������ʷ (where I teach). Coinciding with this latest book release, Nabeel was diagnosed with late stage stomach cancer. Nabeel answers a few questions related to his most recent book in this blog post.

• The Good Book Blog

  A Turkic-world Connection in The Chronicles of Narnia?

  Kenneth Berding — October 04, 2016

  Each time I have read through The Chronicles of Narnia I have been struck by some apparent linguistic and cultural allusions to the Turkic-world in C.S. Lewis’s beloved series for children. Two of these seem beyond any reasonable doubt to be allusions to things Turkic, others seem very likely to connect somehow, and still others feel to the present author like connections, but may not in fact be. As a non-specialist, I list these for the consideration of those who are more familiar with linguistic/cultural influences on Lewis than I. I am a professor of New Testament who happens also to fluently speak and read modern Turkish. Moreover, I genuinely admire Lewis’s writings. These are my only qualifications. Readers who understand Lewis can research my suggestions further.

• Biola News

  Biola Celebrates William E. Blackstone’s 175th Birthday Anniversary

  William E. Blackstone's commemorative ceremony in celebration of his 175th birthday was held on Sept. 28

  Victoria Valdivia  — October 03, 2016

  On Wednesday, Sept. 28, a commemorative ceremony was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif. at the gravesite of Biola’s first...

• The Good Book Blog

  How Do You Develop a Public Speaking Ministry?

  Sean McDowell — September 30, 2016

  For the past fifteen years (or so), I have had the privilege of speaking at camps, conferences, schools, churches, and universities worldwide. People quite frequently ask me what it takes to develop a speaking ministry. While there are certainly people with platforms far beyond mine, here are some personal thoughts that I hope will help those of you desiring to become a public speaker.

• The Good Book Blog

  What are the Toughest Ethical Issue Facing Christians Today? — An Interview with Dr. Scott Rae

  Sean McDowell — September 28, 2016

  Professor Scott Rae is one of the leading Christian ethicists today. As an undergrad, I had the opportunity to take his class on business ethics...and it was one of my favorites. I have used his book Moral Choices for my high school honors Bible class, and I consider it one of the best texts on ethics. Now, he has written a short, concise introduction to ethics called Introducing Christian Ethics: A Short Guide to Making Moral Choices, which officially releases today. If you are looking for a book to use as a text for a class, a small group, or even personal study, this book would be an excellent choice. Dr. Rae briefly answered a few of my questions regarding ethics today.

• 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

  ������ʷ 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 ������ʷ’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 ������ʷ’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

  ������ʷ 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

  ������ʷ 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

  ������ʷ 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? ...