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  • Biola News

    Art Alumni Reunion Will Feature Screening of Alumnus’ Film “I Am Sun Mu”

    Event will showcase student, faculty and alumni work, and provide opportunity to give to Loren Baker Scholarship Fund

    Daryn Daniels — 

    Alumnus Adam Sjöberg (’07) will screen his second feature film, “I Am Sun Mu,” at an art alumni reunion event this Saturday, April 23. The reunion...

  • Biola News

    Gospel Choir Celebrates 30th Anniversary at Biola University

    On Saturday, Biola will host the celebratory event, Gospelfest

    Sarie Koes — 

    The Biola University Gospel Choir will celebrate their 30th anniversary this Saturday, April 23. Formed in 1986, the Gospel Choir has had a long...

  • Biola News

    Awareness Week Aims to Prevent Sexual Assaults, Educate, and Heal

    Biola University strives to recognize and educate during National Sexual Assault Awareness Month

    Sarie Koes  — 

    One in five women and one in 16 men are assaulted during their college years. For Biola University, that would mean 800 current undergraduate and...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Worshiping at Work

    Mark Saucy — 

    What images do the word “work” bring to mind? If students and others I’ve had the chance to ask are any measure, the first thoughts aren’t all that positive. For myself I can recall flip comments I have made (half-) jokingly about hating when my work gets in the way of my hobby (cycling, mountain biking—the sport of kings!). From what I get from others, I’m fairly typical ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Why Were Some Books Left Out of the Bible?

    Clinton E. Arnold — 

    A few years ago, the National Geographic Society announced the discovery of a lost gospel called the Gospel of Judas. Every major news outlet covered this event, with some hailing it as the discovery of the century. The Society then aired a television special on the Friday before Easter telling the story of this great find and discussing its significance. This discovery raised many questions for people, but especially two of a critical nature for the Christian faith: (1) why were some books left out of the Bible (like the Gospel of Judas), and (2) should we consider including other books in the Bible? ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    New Book Provides Short Answers to Big Questions about God

    Sean McDowell — 

    I recently received a copy of an intriguing book in the mail called Short Answers to Big Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity. One of the authors, Dr. Clinton Arnold, is a friend and colleague of mine at Biola University. This father-son pair tackle some of the biggest theological questions raised about Christianity today, such as, “Is Hell a real place?” “Do angels and demons really exist?” and “Does God hate sex?” If you’re looking for an easy-to-read, insightful, and timely book that tackles these types of questions, then I highly recommend this book. To give you a sense of the content and approach of this book, the Arnolds answered a few of my questions ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Properly Understanding Properly Basic Beliefs

    William Lane Craig — 

    "Another example would be the warrant for Christianity's truth that comes from the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. To assume that the experience of the Holy Spirit's witness to the truth of Christianity is mere emotions is question-begging. If God does exist, He is certainly capable of communicating His truth to you in an interior way as well as through external evidences. Again, certain Christian beliefs are, I'm convinced, known to be true in a properly basic way, grounded in the inner witness borne to us by God Himself. Interestingly, beliefs based on testimony--like my belief that your name is Grant--is a properly basic belief which I am rational to hold unless and until a defeater for that belief comes along. Similarly, many Christian beliefs are beliefs warranted to us by testimony--God's own testimony. Don't be too quick to dismiss it, lest you fail to hear the voice of God speaking to you." Okay then. We have two properly basic beliefs: (1) The testimony of others (2) Inner witness ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Does God Want Me to Be Happy?

    Clinton E. Arnold — 

    Without any hesitation we can say that yes, God wants you to be happy. The Bible (as well as experience) tells us that the Christian is given happiness in an incredible number of ways. But Christ has actually sweetened the deal and offered us something even better. While happiness is used to describe a basic feeling of gladness and contentment, what Christ offers is joy, which includes happiness, but runs much deeper, lasts much longer, and is felt much more strongly than happiness. The word joy shows up roughly four hundred times in the Bible, and it is no coincidence. Christ wants you to experience the joy that comes from him ...

  • Biola News

    Students Volunteer at Hospitals as Part of Death and Dying Sociology Course

    Professor Brad Christerson gives insight into the sociology of death and how to grieve in new class

    Shayna Brodsky and Sarie Koes — 

    Junior student Erin Choi was admitted to a hospital and told she had two months to live. According to doctors, she was dying of cancer. As it...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Why Evolution Is Not "Just a Theory"

    Sean McDowell — 

    One of my favorite presentations to do at universities, schools, conferences, and churches is my Atheist Encounter, in which I interact with the audience while role-playing an atheist. After briefly setting up my character (which involves putting on my “atheist glasses”), I then take live questions from the audience and do my best to defend atheism so Christians can see how well—or how poorly—they defend their faith ...

  • Biola News

    The Campaign National Tour Heads East to Washington, D.C. and New York City

    Events draw local alumni and help campaign reach 94 percent of goal

    Cambria Aviles — 

    Biola University’s Campaign National Tour continued with back-to-back events in Washington, D.C. and New York City on April 1 and 2, respectively....

  • Biola News

    Winners of Biola University’s First-ever Startup Competition Announced

    First place wins a $15,000 cash prize and more to fund their dream business

    Daryn Daniels — 

    Biola University Crowell School of Business announced the winners of its first-ever startup competition on April 8. First, second and third place...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Is the Universe a Necessary Being?

    William Lane Craig — 

    Dear Dr. Craig, In the Leibniz' Contingency Argument, the premise 2 states that "If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God". This requires that the universe does not exist by the necessity of its own nature, and that anything that could possibly exist outside the universe, could not be the cause of the universe, except for God. The universe is further defined as all of space-time reality, including all matter and energy. You have previously answered the question "Is Part of the Universe a Necessary Being?" (Question #235), essentially by stating that it would be absurd to suggest that a specific set of elementary particles would exist necessarily in all possible worlds, while being the cause of all the other similar particles ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    How Do We Help Students Resist our Pornified Culture? Part 2

    Sean McDowell — 

    In my first post, I discussed two underlying reasons why pornography has such a stronghold on many youth today. In this post, my goal is to offer six practical insights so we can best help students resist the lure of pornography. These are some of the points I will be sharing at the upcoming Set Free Global Conference on pornography.

  • Biola News

    Biola Launches Office of Employer Relations

    New department is dedicated to connecting students and alumni with top tier internships and jobs

    Drew Mattocks  — 

    The Center for Career Development at Biola University launched the Office of Employer Relations this spring in an effort to provide more...

  • The Good Book Blog

    How Do We Help Students Resist Our Pornified Culture? Part 1

    Sean McDowell — 

    For the past two decades, I have been speaking, teaching, writing, and counseling students on a variety of issues. Yet in the past few years, no issue has become more critical to address with students than pornography. And yet, sadly, many parents, youth workers, teachers, and other adults simply ignore it ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    La Vida es un Regalo Divino / Life is a Divine Gift

    Octavio Esqueda — 

    Todos los viernes en la tarde un grupo de estudiantes y maestros de la universidad cristiana en donde trabajo se reúnen a jugar basquetbol. Hace unas semanas fui a jugar con ellos y lo que parecía un día normal se convirtió en una experiencia que me ha impactado y que también ha tenido el mismo efecto en muchísimas personas. Después de jugar por más de una hora uno de mis alumnos del doctorado se disponía a irse a su casa cuando le pedí que me esperara unos minutos porque necesitaba hablar con él. Primero se sentó y después se recostó en el césped a un lado de la cancha en lo que terminaba de jugar mi partido. En cuanto el juego terminó fui a hablar con él y en ese momento me di cuanta que estaba inmóvil, sin respirar y con una apariencia pálida y descolorida. Inmediatamente pedí ayuda y mientras algunos lo trataban de resucitar yo llamé a los servicios de emergencias. Gracias a Dios lograron que respirara otra vez y se lo llevaron a la sala de emergencias de un hospital cercano ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Presentism and Past Existence

    William Lane Craig — 

    Dear Dr. Craig I was reading the part of your book "Time and Eternity" that talks about perdurantism, and I have a question over your objection to the Perdurantist's view of personal consciousness. You claim that on Perdurantism, personal continuity from moment to moment is an illusion and that they believe that I was a different person one second ago than I am now, which you claim to be absurd. However, it appears to me that by the same token, we can argue against Presentism, because Presentism states that only the present exists ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Why Our Storytelling Nature Provides Evidence for God

    Sean McDowell — 

    I love stories. And I know that you do too. Whether it’s a captivating novel, an enthralling movie, or an anecdote from a friend, human beings love stories. We love to tell them and we love to listen to them. In fact, we can't resist them. In The Storytelling Animal, Jonathan Gottschall says it beautifully: “Human minds yield hopelessly to the suction of story. No matter how hard we concentrate, not matter how deep we dig in our heels, we just can’t resist the gravity of alternate worlds.”[1] Good public speakers know that the best way to engage an audience is through storytelling. Whenever I feel like I’m losing an audience, I quickly tell a story and they’re right back with me! ...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Metaphors Revealing the Holy Spirit, Part 3: Oil as a Metaphor for the Holy Spirit

    John McKinley — 

    In part three of this series, I will present the third biblical metaphor revealing the Holy Spirit: oil. We need to discern what the metaphor is, and what its meanings are within the biblical and ANE framework. I will be drawing some details from the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. My goal is to recognize patterns of meaning that may be intended to expand our understanding of the Holy Spirit’s presence and action in subtle ways hinted at through metaphors.

  • The Good Book Blog

    The Resurrection Answers Three Big Questions

    Sean McDowell — 

    “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted on the minds of human beings—or it is the most remarkable fact of history.” My father has often shared these words to me in person, and he’s written them in his books. The older I get, the more I realize they’re unmistakably true. There’s no middle ground with the resurrection of Jesus. Either it is a colossal fabrication or the most important event in history ...

  • Biola News

    Cook Celebrates Alan McMahan, Recipient of Annual Donald A. McGavran Award

    Biola professor receives award recognizing contribution to church growth

    Kathryn Toombs — 

    Alan McMahan, department chair of the undergraduate intercultural studies program at Cook School of Intercultural Studies (CSICS), received the...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Why Does God Exist?

    William Lane Craig — 

    Dear Dr. Craig, I am currently a high school student extremely interested in both philosophy and theology. My question is one that has puzzled me for a long time, and I believe that if there is anyone who could explain the answer in an understandable way, that person would be you. To be clear, I am a Christian and affirm the existence of God. In a theistic view, why does God exist? Did He choose to exist, and to have the attributes that He does? For example, did He choose to exist in a Trinitarian form? ...

  • Biola News

    Business Alumna Presented with Biola Ruby Award for Teaching and Mentoring

    Chelsea Vukovich honored during women's history month

    James O'Hearn — 

    Alumna Chelsea Vukovich (’15), a business major, was awarded the Biola Ruby Priscilla Award for Teaching and Mentoring at an award ceremony during...

  • The Good Book Blog

    Can I Get A Witness?

    Sean McDowell — 

    ... If the bones of Jesus were found, then Christianity would be false. Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17, NASB). Some religions may make untestable claims about reality, but Christianity makes claims about real events in history that can be tested. Let’s put it to the test ...