Volume 50, #1 - Spring 2013 - Houston Baptist University

of the historicity of the resurrection of Christ, and Dr. Charles Halton,an ancient Near East and Old Testament scholar. In addition, we trainfuture pastors and Bible scholars in our graduate programs in theologyand biblical languages. In honor of one of HBU’s founding facultymembers, the department also serves HBU and the church by sponsoringthe A.O. Collins lectures, which bring to campus internationallyknown scholars such as Dr. Larry Hurtado, who will visit HBU fromthe University of Edinburgh in April.program highlights• Master of Arts in Philosophy• Master of Arts in Apologetics• Ph.D. in Philosophy (coming soon)• Francis Schaeffer Center for Worldview and Culture• Annual philosophy conferenceThe study of theology at HBU is enriched by the growth of thephilosophy program. The renaissance in Christian philosophy hasprovided an opportunity for HBU to hire top-notch philosophers inancient philosophy, intelligent design and the philosophy of religion. Ina few short years, the Department of Philosophy has grown to becomea center of academic work in these fields. The department hosts an annualphilosophy conference that brings in scholars from around Americaand the world. This spring we’ve announced the start of our Masterof Arts in Philosophy program and have begun the process of planningand creating a Ph.D. in philosophy. This is an important developmentfor HBU as it will be our first doctoral program, a key step to reachingthe Ten Pillars goal of moving to the next level as an institution.Christian universities must not leave graduate education and higherlevel scholarship to our secular counterparts. Rather, we must participatein the fullness of scholarly life by training Christian academics togo and minister in the world of ideas. With this in mind, philosophy isnot the only program in the School of Christian Thought adding newdegree programs. This spring also brought our first class of students tothe Master of Arts in Apologetics. HBU is in a unique position with itsprogram in cultural apologetics, which will have an interdisciplinaryfocus, combining the study of literature, art, philosophyand theology into one program.Our departments have been blessed by not only additional programsand faculty, but also by a number of partnerships. HBU trustee JohnGibson and his wife Elizabeth have generously endowed a chair inapologetics. This will enable HBU to not only enhance our apologeticsprogram in Houston, but also to begin setting up an apologetics centerin Oxford, England. As part of our effort to celebrate our Texas Baptistties, we partnered with the Baptist General Convention of Texas thisyear to host the unApologetic conference on HBU’s campus in February.The conference attracted high school and college students from aroundChristian universities must not leavegraduate education and higher levelscholarship to our secular counterparts.Texas to hear Lee Strobel a former atheist who authored The Case forChrist, and several HBU faculty, including Mike Licona and Provost JohnMark Reynolds. Finally, School of Christian Thought faculty memberNancy Pearcey will be teaming up with writer-editor J. Richard Pearceyto create the Francis Schaeffer Center for Worldview and Culture to promotefoundational research and out-of-the-box creative thinking basedon historic Christianity as a total way of life informed by verifiable truthconcerning God, humanity and the cosmos.It is an exciting time to be a part of HBU’s School of Christian Thought. Iinvite you to take classes with us in one of our many outstanding degreeprograms, attend our conferences, and contact our faculty about waysthey can work with you in service to God’s kingdom. To learn moreabout how our students and faculty alike are growing intellectuallyand spiritually while seeking to glorify God in all things, visit our blog:christianthought.hbu.edu.29