Point Loma Nazarene University exists to provide higher education in a vital Christian community where minds are engaged and challenged, character is modeled and formed, and service is an expression of faith.
Unite the pair so long disjoined,
Knowledge and vital piety:
Learning and holiness combined,
And truth and love, let all men see
in those whom up to thee we give,
Thine, wholly thine, to die and live.
Charles Wesley
PLNU is a confessing Christian community of learning in which women and men are shaped in Christ-like character, preparing them personally, relationally and vocationally for lives of service. In keeping with our Wesleyan-Holiness heritage, we believe that the most effective form of Christian education is holistic as we seek to integrate strong academics, thoughtful Christian formation, and Christ-like service in all aspects of life.
We join Christians everywhere in our proclamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ and our commitment to the core tenets of the historic Christian faith, especially as expressed in the early creeds of the Church.1 We embrace the Holy Scriptures as witness to the saving work of God in Jesus Christ and the primary authority for all matters of Christian faith and practice. In keeping with our theological heritage, we emphasize Christian holiness, believing that by the power of the Holy Spirit, God empowers believers to live lives of faithful obedience and loving service to others (2 Cor. 5:17-20).
As a Christian community in education, through the discernment of the Holy Spirit, we embrace the relentless pursuit of truth in our various disciplines as God’s Truth. We explore this truth, acknowledging the primacy of Scripture as it is also embraced by Christian tradition, supported by reason, and confirmed by experience. Because of our trust in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the ultimate truth of the Christian gospel, we readily welcome open and honest intellectual exploration and dialog across the various academic disciplines. We do not engage in such pursuits uncritically; rather, we view the world around us through the “eyes of faith” and trust that the Holy Spirit will “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13).
We seek to cultivate and embody a particular Christian character in the entirety of our communal life and practice. We are intentional about discipling students in the practices and disciplines of the Christian faith in such a way that they, in turn, will disciple others. Being a part of the Body of Christ has important implications for our corporate life. Staff, faculty, and administration are not merely employees but sisters and brothers in Christ and partners in ministry. Students are not clients or customers but persons to whom we are called both to educate and mentor in the faith (2 Cor. 5:16-17).
As our graduates engage their vocations and relationships, we anticipate that they will follow Jesus' example and embody the character of Christian servanthood. Rather than being self-directed and self-consumed, we expect that as they are shaped in Christlikeness, they will respect, love, and care for others as people created in the image of God.
It is our hope, prayer, and expectation that as students are incorporated into the educational, spiritual, and relational practices of our community, they will grow in knowledge and understanding of their fields of study, mature in Christian character, and be prepared to serve in their homes, churches, places of work and communities. In the words of our founder, Dr. Phineas F. Bresee, “That with such environments our young people should be educated, drinking of the waters of divine love…that they may go forth to all the varied positions and labors of life, rooted and grounded in truth, which is made so [experiential] that their lives shall be luminous and blest.”
1 In particular the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Chalcedonian Confession.