A growing number of Christians are embracing the ... - Biola University

About five years ago, Biola professor J.P.
Moreland touched down in Tennessee
for a brainstorming session with some of
the nation’s leading Christian thinkers.
Their goal: to put together a list of some of
the toughest and most important questions
facing Christianity and the Bible, and to give
Christians a resource that offered the answers.
The result is The Apologetics Study Bible, a
new tool that features articles, notes and
commentary from dozens of noted Christian
apologists — many of whom teach or studied at
Biola — all aimed at defending the faith.
“It’s not just another study Bible that is commenting
on the biblical text,” said Moreland, distinguished
professor of philosophy at Biola’s
seminary, Talbot School of Theology. “It is a study
Bible whose sole focus is answering questions that
surface from the text. It really does have to do with
answering questions about the reliability of
Scripture, the truth of Christianity and the reality
of God.”
As one of five editors on the project,
Moreland generated article topics, authored
several of them himself and solicited contributions
of articles and biblical commentary from
others. Nearly 20 Biola professors and alumni
— one-fifth of the total number of contributors
— ultimately played a role in the effort.
Together, they wrote brief articles that are
sprinkled throughout the pages of the Bible,
answering such questions as “Aren’t all religions
basically the same?” “Does the existence of the
mind provide evidence for God?” and “How can
the Bible affirm both divine sovereignty and
human freedom?” Several Talbot professors also
wrote introductions to books of the Bible and
notes commenting on individual verses.
Thomas Finley, chair of Talbot’s Old Test -
ament and Semitics department, wrote the
introductions and commentary notes for each of
the minor prophets — 12 books in all.
“They wanted us to deal with specific
questions that somebody might have, especially
of an apologetic nature, but they could be more of
an explanatory nature too,” Finley said. “I had to
think, ‘How would a skeptic think about this?’”
Finley said he researched criticisms of the
Bible, looking for supposed errors or
inconsistencies with the biblical texts that he
could help to refute or explain.
Jonah, for example, is often accused of being
a false prophet because he said Ninevah was going
to be overthrown after 40 days, and it wasn’t,
Finley said. In his commentary, Finley noted that
some argue the Hebrew word for “overthrow” is
ambiguous, and could simply mean “turn around”
or “be changed” — which certainly happened
when the city’s people repented. But a better
explanation, he said, was that God intended for
Jonah’s prophecy to be conditional on the reaction
of the people.
Finley said the Bible project, and Biola’s
strong involvement with it, reinforces the
University’s standing as a leader in biblically
centered education.
“It shows that we have a strong emphasis on
reaching out to the lost, reaching out to the
world,” Finley said. “And also that we have a very
robust faith, and that we’re not just shutting off
our mind. We’re using our minds to delve into
areas that are pretty significant today.”
Moreland, a prolific author who has written
extensively about the development of the
A B O U T T H E B I B L E
Biola Professors Team Up to Defend Scripture
Nearly one-fifth of the contributors to the new Apologetics Study Bible have a connection to Biola.
Christian mind, said he hopes the study Bible
will help Christians answer their own questions
and doubts as well as enable them to present
Christianity more effectively to others —
especially in the face of ever-more-vitriolic
attacks from the so-called “new atheists.”
Understanding what the Bible teaches and
knowing the evidence for its truth is a part of the
biblical command to love God with the mind, he
said. It’s also a way to build courage and effect -
iveness in evangelism, he said.
And while some criticize the field of
apologetics for being too argumentative or
focused on simply winning debates with critics,
Moreland said it’s really all about helping people
to overcome barriers to faith.
“At the end of the day, people can’t believe
things that they think don’t make sense,” he said.
“If a person legitimately has questions, they
deserve answers to those questions, and that’s
really all that apologetics is.” – Jason Newell
F A L L ’ 0 8 3 9
Brian Miller