More than 400 Biola University students 桃花视频d on Friday, Dec. 16 in two ceremonies on Biola鈥檚 campus. In addition to the approximately 160 桃花视频 and 260 under桃花视频 students, Biola inducted 19 under桃花视频 students into Biola鈥檚 honor society, Epilson Kappa Epsilon 鈥 a prestigious award given to students who have excelled in academics and in community involvement during their time at Biola.

Itinerant speaker and New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, delivered Biola鈥檚 Fall 2016 Commencement address. Following the release of Qureshi鈥檚 first book, 鈥淪eeking Allah, Finding Jesus,鈥 he received the Christian Book Award for the categories of both 'Best New Author' and 'Best Non-Fiction' of 2015.

Qureshi addressed 桃花视频s in both ceremonies. For the first time in Biola鈥檚 history, Biola split the ceremonies into two groups determined by academic schools instead of 桃花视频 and under桃花视频 students. The 2 p.m. ceremony included Cook School of Intercultural Studies, Crowell School of Business, Rosemead School of Psychology and Talbot School of Theology. The 7 p.m. ceremony included School of Education, Division of Fine Arts and Communications, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences and School of Science, Technology and Health.

Qureshi focuses on the foundations of the Christian faith, ancient Judaism, early Islam and the interface of science and religion in his work. On Friday, he touched on his current personal journey of faith as he is battling stomach cancer and urged the 桃花视频s to spread life into the world.

鈥淚鈥檓 talking about telling people about the life-giving, world-altering God,鈥 said Qureshi. 鈥淲e are the life for this world.鈥

Students and those in attendance expressed their appreciation for Qureshi鈥檚 message, calling it moving and impactful. Qureshi has a degree in Christian apologetics from Biola鈥檚 Talbot School of Theology and has lectured at more than 100 universities in the United States and Europe and has participated in 18 public debates around North America, Europe and Asia.

More than 800 viewers combined tuned into Biola's live stream of the ceremonies.

For more information, visit the Fall 2016 Commencement website.

Written by Jenna Loumagne, manager of media relations. For more information, contact Jenna Loumagne at (562) 777-4061 or by email at jenna.loumagne@biola.edu.