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Latest Posts

• The Good Book Blog

  Is Group-First Christianity A Trans-Cultural Value?

  Joe Hellerman — May 04, 2017

  Is the church here to help me to grow in Christ as an individual? Or has God put me here to help the church grow both qualitatively and quantitatively? The easy answer is “Both!” And that’s not completely wrong. But the early Christians clearly prioritized the health and growth of God’s community over the goals and desires of individual believers. This group-first mentality is not only characterized the early church, it characterized family life throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. This is why families arranged marriages. The goal of marriage in the ancient world was the not relational satisfaction of the individuals involved. It was the honor and ongoing viability of the two families who brokered the marriage. The group — in this case the family — came first ...

• The Good Book Blog

  If Christ is not Raised, Your Work is Futile

  Thaddeus Williams — May 03, 2017

  In Paul’s famous words, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile …” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Can we say the same for work that Paul says about faith? Without the resurrection of Jesus do our earthly endeavors amount to nothing in the grand scheme of existence? As Darrell Cosden asks in The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work, “Is there any real lasting or ‘eternal’ value in our work?” Cosden answers, “Our everyday work (whether paid or unpaid) actually matters and makes a difference—not just in the here and now, but also for eternity. Work, and the things that we produce through our work, can be transformed and carried over by God into heaven" ...

• Biola News

  Talbot School of Theology Reduces Credit Requirement Starting Fall 2017

  Credit reduction offers an affordable and quicker seminary education

  Clavel Candelaria  — May 03, 2017

  New students have the opportunity to complete a Talbot School of Theology degree in less time and more affordably due to a change in required...

• The Good Book Blog

  Taking Offense at Jesus: Did Israel Have a Wrong View of the Kingdom? (Part 1)

  Mark Saucy — May 02, 2017

  Reading the other day in Luke’s Gospel I ran across some arresting words aimed indirectly at John the Baptist. In Luke 7:23, right after the account of John sending a delegation of disciples to inquire whether Jesus is the “Expected One,” Jesus cites his deeds and words to say in effect, “yes, indeed I am.” But then Jesus closes the episode with another “beatitude” seemingly made in John’s direction: “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me" ...

• Biola News

  Biola University Hosts Gospel Music Concert for Prospective Students

  The annual Gospel Fest provided current and prospective students a time to worship together

  Lauren Overshoun-Hall — May 02, 2017

  On April 28, 2017, Biola University Student Programming and Activities (SPA) hosted Gospel Fest, an annual worship celebration that highlights the...

• GRIT

  Flourishing in Singleness

  a B-side podcast with Lisa Igram

  Celeste Scott — May 02, 2017

  I think we were all pretty excited when Beyoncé came out with her hit, Single Ladies, in 2008. That song continues to be a hair-flipping,...

• The Good Book Blog

  Five Biblical Principles for Supervising and Supporting Ministry Staff

  Kevin Lawson — May 01, 2017

  My friend and colleague, Mick Boersma, and I have been working together on a book, Supervising and Supporting Ministry Staff: A Guide to Thriving Together (forthcoming, Rowman & Littlefield). The book is based on research with associate staff members, and exemplary ministry supervisors, about what supervisors can do to help their ministry staff thriving in their ministry roles. It employs a “bifocal lens” model, looking simultaneously at issues of supervision (seeing that the ministry is done well) and support (encouraging the wellbeing of those doing the ministry). Along with the research results, which we share throughout the book, we also put together five biblical foundations for ministry together that I want to share in this blog. I encourage you to read these and reflect on the degree to which they guide your ministry with other staff members, and what other biblical foundations are important to you as you approach your ministry on a staff team ...

• The Good Book Blog

  An Often-Missed Example of Media Bias

  Sean McDowell — April 29, 2017

  It’s no secret that the mainstream media consistently skewers left. On social, cultural, and political issues, the mainstream media regularly biases stories against the conservative viewpoint (all while feigning balance). But there is an example of media bias that many people often overlook—the very selection of stories itself is biased. In other words, while the media often spins stories towards the liberal perspective, there is a deeper kind of bias that operates on the level of which stories are even covered in the first place ...

• Student Life Blog

  Note Taking

  Norlan Hernandez — April 28, 2017

  We’ve been thinking a lot about you and your experience in the online environment, specifically about how online students take notes. Needless to say, note-taking plays an imperative part in a student’s academic success.

• The Good Book Blog

  Why Are Hedonists Worthy of Moral Condemnation?

  Weekly Q & A with Dr. William Lane Craig

  William Lane Craig — April 28, 2017

  This is the weekly Q & A blog post by our Research Professor in Philosophy, Dr. William Lane Craig. I am a hedonist who lives to be happy and to enjoy his life. I have no desire whatsoever to live for anyone or to serve anybody. That would include God himself. My own personal moral standard would say that there is nothing wrong about this and there shouldn't be any punishment. Even my own kind family and other kind people in my life agree ...

• Student Life Blog

  Read It. Say It. Say It Again.

  John Tuttle — April 27, 2017

  It's the key to remembering any of that reading you're doing for class: Read, Recite, Review.

• The Good Book Blog

  Why So Many Metaphors for the Holy Spirit?

  Kenneth Berding — April 27, 2017

  Why does the Bible use so many metaphors and analogies to describe the Spirit’s activities and our relationship to those activities? Why not employ concrete language to teach us what we need to know about the Holy Spirit and our relationship to him? ...

• Biola News

  Gala Raises More Than $60,000 Toward Oral Bible Translation

  Biola’s Student Missionary Union hosts a fundraising gala, Seeds for India, for the culmination of the India Project

  Lauren Overshoun-Hall  — April 27, 2017

  Biola University’s Student Missionary Union (SMU) raised $69,710 toward Biola’s The India Project, concluding a 4-year effort to increase oral...

• The Good Book Blog

  Hank Hanegraaff Goes Greek Orthodox

  Mark Saucy — April 26, 2017

  The recent welcome of Evangelical radio apologist, “The Bible Answer Man” —Hank Hanegraaff, into the Greek Orthodox Church has understandably raised more than eyebrows. Questions about the differences between Protestants and Orthodox have been coming my way in the aftermath, so I want to offer to Good Book Blog readers an essay I wrote for Talbot’s Sundoulos magazine back in 2008. In it you’ll find some general characteristics of the Orthodox denomination as well as key points of difference with Protestants—some of which converts such as Hank Hanegraaff would typically need to renounce as they formally enter Orthodoxy ...

• The Good Book Blog

  A Practical Response to Raising Adults In an Infantilizing Culture

  Sean McDowell — April 26, 2017

  It’s no secret that young people in our culture are growing up later than ever. The life transitions into adulthood, such as being financially independent and getting married, now often happen in the early 30s, if at all. In many ways, 30 is the new 20. As a result, childish thinking and behaviors often carry into (what should be) adulthood. There are undoubtedly a number of reasons for the perpetuation of adolescence, and certainly different ways to address it. But there is one that seems to be overlooked: We lack meaningful rituals to mark the transition into adulthood ...

• Student Life Blog

  Rethinking the Metaphors

  Sarah Schwartz — April 26, 2017

  On having better discussions about Christian sexual ethics...

• Student Life Blog

  Learning to Cry

  John Tuttle — April 25, 2017

  "Believe me, every heart has its secret sorrows, which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad.” -Longfellow....

• The Good Book Blog

  Warfare in the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament 1: An Overview

  Charlie Trimm — April 25, 2017

  I have recently finished the manuscript of a book tentatively entitled Fighting for God and King: A Topical Survey of Warfare in the Ancient Near East, which will be published by SBL Press at some point in the future. The book is designed to be a sourcebook on all topics related to warfare in the ancient Near East to enable those studying Scripture to know more of the cultural background of the Old Testament. Over the next few months as the book goes through copy editing and page proofs, I am planning on highlighting a few texts and pictures from the book to illustrate some aspects of Old Testament texts (this post will have one text and one picture along with an overview of the book). I hope you enjoy the journey! ...

• GRIT

  It's On Us

  a campaign to stop sexual assault

  Sarah Schwartz — April 24, 2017

  It's on us help keep women and men safe from sexual assault.

• The Good Book Blog

  Why Crucifixion as a Metaphor of Sanctification?

  John McKinley — April 24, 2017

  Romans 6:5-6 has puzzled me by the statement that the believer has in effect already been crucified with Christ. “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” (nasb) My problem may have been that I viewed the crucifixion of my “old self” as having been accomplished entirely in the past, at my conversion. We are to “consider [ourselves] to be dead to sin” (6:11) so that we respond by denying the impulses and attractions to sin that (unfortunately) continue throughout this life. In practice, I have liked the idea of knowing that I am no longer a slave to sin, that I am not obligated to give in to temptations, and that I have a new capability from the Holy Spirit to live as God calls me to do. Is there importance of crucifixion for understanding my present condition? ...

• The Good Book Blog

  Is Jesus Anti-Science?

  Thaddeus Williams — April 23, 2017

  The Bible insists that everything exists for Jesus. He is the Telos, the Goal, the Final Point where all lines converge. ‘But isn’t that such a strange and invisible conclusion? Doesn’t such a view make Christianity fundamentally anti-science?’

• Student Life Blog

  Are You Ready for Life After Biola?

  Career Resources for Seniors

  Tiffany Lee — April 21, 2017

  The last semester of your senior year can be filled with mixed emotions. Excitement about the upcoming celebration, stress over final assignments,...

• The Good Book Blog

  Could God Have Pardoned Sin without Punishment?

  Weekly Q & A with Dr. William Lane Craig

  William Lane Craig — April 21, 2017

  Dear Dr. Craig, I have asked about the atonement in a previous submission. Please forgive this final, multipart question, which can stand alone. Here is the question. Even if it is legitimate for God to use vicarious liability and punishment in saving us--legitimate because these are established elements of Western law--why would God prefer vicarious liability to pardoning, which is also a recognized part of Western law? What advantage, from a legal philosophical view, does vicarious liability/punishment have over pardoning? Could God have chosen the legal option of pardon if He wished, rather than substitutionary atonement? What purpose is there in Jesus suffering, if absolution can be gained otherwise? Or is there some other moral, aesthetic, personal consideration that makes penal substitution preferable? ...

• The Good Book Blog

  No JABS: A Model for Small-Group Connection, Part 2

  John McKinley — April 20, 2017

  As the second part in this post on four protections to create a safe relational space for small groups, here I focus on the fourth condition. This fourth condition has four pieces to it for limiting communication that tends to shut people down. The goal is to be able to accept others as they are, with their true sharing of their real mess in daily life as a Christian. Often we can get in our own way and so fail to love them in this way because we are so busy with the speck of sawdust in their eye. In a sentence, this four-part fourth condition is the log in our eyes that prevents meeting with others.

• Student Life Blog

  Moses, a Burning Bush, and Our Calling

  Lisa Igram — April 19, 2017

  Don’t be afraid to keep asking God those deep soul-questions.