The Center for Christian Thought is introducing Biola to a new way of thinking about faith by way of a new conference. The Table Conference, titled “Mind Your Heart”, ran from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 in a nearly packed Calvary Chapel and emphasized the incorporation of science into the everyday aspects of Christian life. Some of the topics covered included self-care, relationships, worship, depression, addiction and forgiveness. 

INTEGRATING SCIENCE WITH CHRISTIANITY

“I wish more students would go to these … this one especially is a topic that I think a lot of people from Biola would enjoy,”said Miranda Paul, sophomore philosophy major.

Throughout the 17 minutes allotted to each presentation, speakers integrated psychological findings with Christian practices in order to help Christians better understand themselves and God.

“What’s unique about this conference is that we have the opportunity to have scholars from all over the country. Even people who are not necessarily in our evangelical tradition have come together because they really have an interest in spirituality and psychology and what spiritual formation and flourishing is all about,” said John Coe, director of spiritual formation and speaker at the conference.

PSYCHOLOGY AND THE CHURCH

Todd Hall, professor of psychology at Rosemead, spoke about the significance of incorporating neuroscience and faith. Hall explained how neuroscience has discovered that people become attached to someone when relying on them for comfort. Thus, such findings can be used as a vehicle to equip Christians on how to rely more on Christ and better understand their relationship with fellow Christians.

“We [CCT] want to make Christian wisdom accessible to the church. There was a time when a thoughtful life, and even a scholarly life, was a big part of the church’s existence,” said Evan Rosa, communications coordinator for the CCT.

CCT’s hope is to encourage the church to think critically about life again, and to give them the tools to do so, Rosa said. CCT’s theme for the 2013-2014 year, “Psychology and Spiritual Formation,” translated heavily into the inspiration and execution of the conference.

“This is important for the church because some branches of psychology help us understand spiritual development and flush out some of the details of what you see in scripture,” Hall said.

Rosa said he recognizes the conference’s dependence on science is different than conferences with heavy emphasis on the Bible, however students reacted positively to the material and the speakers of varying backgrounds, including Roman Catholic.

“I definitely had high expectations for [the conference], and it overshot those expectations … Each talk was unique, but they all really address the issue of trying to examine your heart,” Paul said.

Sophomore psychology major Anna Zarubin enjoyed that the speakers’ talks were able to complement one another while contrasting each other as well.

Alexis Abernethy, a featured speaker and professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, recognized the vigor in attendees of the conference, noting it as her favorite thing about the conference itself.

“This conference is the first of its kind, but judging by how it has gone, there will definitely be one next year,” said Rosa.