Pepperdine University releases faith statement clarifying beliefs that shape its identity

A Christian university in California has adopted an expanded faith statement that clarifies its stance on God, Scripture, grace and other core beliefs it considers central to its mission.

Jim Gash, president of Pepperdine University in Malibu, announced the release of “Pepperdine Believes” in an Oct. 8 email to the campus community.

Pepperdine Graphic Media, a student-run news organization that covers Pepperdine and surrounding communities, shared Gash’s announcement in a Friday Instagram post.

Gash’s email said the faith statement, adopted by the Board of Regents, “expands and clarifies the foundational beliefs shaping the institution’s identity, mission and educational enterprise.”

“The document specifically outlines the University’s theological stance on God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Scripture, Grace and the Church,” the outlet wrote. “The faith statement was unanimously approved by the Board of Regents and the Faith and Heritage Committee and will be published on the University’s website in 30 days.”

Screenshots of “Pepperdine Believes” show that the university affirms “the one God of Scripture — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — the holy and sovereign Creator of all things.”

The statement describes both the Old and New Testaments as “the inspired and authoritative word of God.” On grace, it says all people “have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”

“Yet we have hope, because through Christ’s atoning sacrifice we are reconciled to God and given the gifts of salvation and eternal life,” the faith statement declares. “In response to God’s grace, believers are called to love God fully and to love their neighbors as themselves, living out the values of God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven.”

Pepperdine University, founded by entrepreneur George Pepperdine, opened on Sept. 21, 1937. It opened as George Pepperdine College in the Vermont Knolls area of Los Angeles with 167 students. It became a university in 1970, and the main campus moved to its current Malibu location in 1972.

The university is affiliated with the Churches of Christ, an association of autonomous, non-denominational congregations. 

According to the mission section of its Mission, Vision, and Affirmation Statement, Pepperdine states that it is "committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership.”

The vision section describes the institution as “a preeminent, global, Christian university, known for the integration of faith and learning, whose graduates lead purposeful lives as servant-minded leaders throughout the world.”

“Our vision statement declares what we intend to become. George Pepperdine envisioned an institution that would transform students’ lives so that they would, in turn, impact culture,” the university states.

“[George Pepperdine] imagined a vast body of alumni — men and women conscious of their good fortune, recipients of the generous gift of a Christian education — who would feel the moral imperative to serve others sacrificially. Hence, the school’s motto: ‘Freely ye received, freely give’ (Matthew 10:8),” the statement continues.

In its Affirmation Statement, Pepperdine outlines its core beliefs, including that God “is revealed uniquely in Christ” and that “the educational process may not, with impunity, be divorced from the divine process.”

The Affirmation Statement also identifies “the student” as a person of “infinite dignity” who is “the heart of the educational enterprise,” stressing that “the quality of student life is a valid concern of the University.”