Book Minute

An early 20th-century literary project in defense of “the inspiration and authority of the Bible and the core doctrines of traditional Christian faith,” it was conceived at a time when evangelical Christians were faced with Darwin’s theory of human origins and other challenges to the Bible’s authority. Lyman Stewart, founder and president of Union Oil Company, spearheaded the effort to bring together a diverse group of 64 theologians and church leaders. They wrote 90 essays on what they believed to be the “fundamental” beliefs of Christianity and to defend the authority of the Bible. Stewart’s efforts not only included the publishing of a 12-volume series of book-length journals, but also the founding of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles to train students in the Bible. Today, Biola University enrolls over 6,000 men and women engaging in a biblically centered education.