HortonвЂ™s charisma, together with the money and zeal of Lyman Stewart, co-founder of Union Oil Co., helped spread fundamentalism around the world. вЂњWe believe in the old Bible and the whole Bible and have no confidence in anyone who seeks to unsettle this belief,вЂќ he said. When Texas preacher Thomas Horton took the stage before 4,200 congregants in downtown Los Angeles on Easter 1915, he made clear that the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, founded seven years earlier, stood for Scripture without error or misstatement. Either creation took six days, God flooded the world, Jesus performed miracles and the prophecies are true, or none of that ever happened - or ever will happen. More than 100 years ago, Charles Darwin forced Christians to an uncomfortable reckoning over the Bible. The tension, said Richard Flory, executive director of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, вЂњhelps us read what the future of evangelicalism in America might look like.вЂќ One of Southern CaliforniaвЂ™s oldest religious colleges, Biola has seen its enrollment drop, has trimmed next yearвЂ™s budget and is trying to stay relevant for students while not alienating faculty and alumni. вЂњEvangelicals are losing their young in epidemic numbers,вЂќ said David Gushee, a nationally known pastor, ethicist and author of вЂњAfter Evangelicalism: A Path to a New Christianity.вЂќ вЂњSmart, young minds rarely color within the lines, and if they canвЂ™t ask questions and get decent answers, they will bail.вЂќ

They resent how politics has shadowed their relationship with God and believe that ChristвЂ™s lessons of humility, tolerance and love have been forgotten amid the Christian communityвЂ™s embrace of the Big Lie, former President Trump and culture-war dog whistles such as LGBTQ restrictions and anti-mask and vaccination declarations. Like evangelical institutions across the country, the university is facing growing disillusionment among young Christians who believe their faith should be more progressive and socially minded. Biola has attempted to shelter its students and itself from the social and civil disturbances of recent years, but its efforts have been marginally successful.

Jesus at the center of it all chords