Torrey Honors Institute - History

History

Biola University was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute Of Los Angeles by Lyman Stewart, president of the Union Oil Company of California (subsequently known as Unocal and later purchased by the Chevron Corporation), Thomas C. Horton, a Presbyterian minister and Christian author, and Augustus B. Prichard, also a Presbyterian minister.

In 1912, the school appointed R. A. Torrey as dean, and in 1913 began construction on a new building at the corner of Sixth and Hope St., in downtown Los Angeles, which included a 3,500-seat auditorium, two large neon signs on top of the building proclaiming "Jesus Saves", and a set of eleven bells on which hymns were played three times each day. These early leaders wanted the school to focus on the training of students in the Bible and missions, rather than a broad approach to Christian education that was typical of most Christian liberal arts colleges. The Institute offered a diploma after completion of a two-year curriculum. This model was based largely on the Moody Bible Institute. Beginning in the 1920s, attempts were made to broaden the curriculum, but it was not until 1949 that the institution took the name "Biola College" and 1981 when it was renamed "Biola University". Biola re-located to La Mirada, California in 1959.

In 1915 Torrey announced plans to organize an independent church that would meet in Biola's auditorium called the Church of the Open Door. This decision proved controversial with local Presbyterian and Baptist clergy.

In 1917, the Institute published a four-volume version of The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth (a series of essays affirming conservative Protestant beliefs), edited by Torrey and others, with funds donated by Lyman Stewart and his brother Milton.

Lyman Stewart died on September 28, 1923, and ten months later, Reuben Torrey resigned as dean. The school appointed Joseph Irvine as President, and on April 3rd, 1925, appointed John Murdoch MacInnis as the school's second dean. MacInnis was a Presbyterian minister who had only been an instructor at the school for about two years. MacInnis served as dean until his forced resignation on December 31, 1928. His administration was turbulent and suffered from leadership conflicts and religious controversy. In 1927, Biola published a book by MacInnis entitled "Peter the Fisherman Philosopher". This book became the focus of an intense national controversy, in which MacInnis was accused by Fundamentalists of advocating liberal theological positions contrary to Biola's standards. Eventually MacInnis was forced to resign effective December 31, 1928, and all the remaining copies of the book along with the printing plates were destroyed.

In 1929 Charles E. Fuller a businessman and evangelist and graduate of Biola, was drafted as vice president to find a new dean and a president. Elbert McCreery and William P. White, both associated with Moody Bible Institute, were chosen to fill these posts.

During the Great Depression, the Institute suffered serious financial difficulties. In 1932, Louis T. Talbot, pastor of the Church of the Open Door, assumed the presidency and helped raise much-needed funds. During the next two decades, Talbot led a shift away from missions, instead concentrating on academic programs. Talbot Theological Seminary became Biola's first graduate school, and in 1977, Biola acquired the graduate programs of Rosemead Graduate School of Professional Psychology and relocated them to the La Mirada campus. Biola added a School of Business in 1993.