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CHAPTER I HERITAGE AND BACKGROUND
Historically, in 1908, Biola University was founded as the Bible In- stitute of Los !ffigeles, the name of which was shortened to the acronym Biola; later in the 19SO's, the name was officially changed to Biola Sch- ools and Colleg~s; again, in 1972, to Biola College; finally, in 1980, to Biola University. The progression in name changes suggests that there was a significant development in the historic role of Biola University in church history. Tracing its roots will provide a better understanding of this role. To- gether with its sister schools, various church groups, and missionary agen- cies, it was spawned, historically, by the theological battle waged between liberals and fundamentalists within the Protestant churches in America in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth. A definition of "liberalism" and "fundamentalism" is also neces- sary to understand this role. Webster defines religious liberalism as a "movement in contemporary Protestantism, emphasizing intellectual liberty and the ethical content of Christianity"; and fundamentalism as "a recent movement in American Protest- antism re-emphasizing as fundamental to Christianity belief in the inerrancy of the Scriptures, Biblical miracles, especially the virgin birth and phy- sical resurrection of Christ." In this history the term "fundamentalist" is used to designate those who hold to the historic tenets of Protestantism and who espouse its traditional and historic theological views; and not to identify them with a specific group or church bearing that name. Although historians are not certain of the origin of the word "fund- amentalists," many believe it was coined by the Editor of the Watchman Exam- iner. In his article in the July issue of 1920, he wrote, "Fund.a.mentalists are those men who mean to do battle royal for the fundamentals." Furthermore
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