Contact: Anna Marie Martino, Veritas Evangelical Seminary, 951-698-6389

MURRIETA, Calif., April 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- Former Dean and President of Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES), Norman Geisler, has founded Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California, with co-founder and former SES student, Joseph Holden, who now serves as the seminary's first president.

The founding of the institution has added a classically oriented apologetic curriculum with a strong emphasis on biblical inerrancy to the southern California area that hosts other larger universities such as Biola University, Fuller Seminary, and Azusa Pacific University. The Veritas faculty consists of well-known evangelical scholars and authors such as Randall Price, H. Wayne House, Ergun Caner, Gary Habermas, Thomas Ice, Ron Rhodes, Arnold Fruchtenbaum and others.

When asked of the need for such a unique seminary President Holden said, 'I see Veritas Seminary as an answer to the rapid slide away from the classical doctrines of Christianity such as the inerrancy of Scripture, the immutable and timelessly eternal nature of God, and the need to proclaim the gospel to a lost and searching world. In large part this is due to the influence of postmodernism on the thinking on some faculty and students. No longer can we take it for granted that one's church or school will hold fast to these cherished beliefs. Thus, our focus is not on the academic degree or credential one will earn, the stakes are much higher today, it is on the equipping of the Body of Christ and personal transformation by the Holy Spirit. What is needed today is an academic reformation and spiritual revival.'

Since it's founding in March 2009, Veritas Seminary has experienced unprecedented support and enrollment by students and faculty seeking a safe learning environment. Holden said, 'The seminary's first course, Introduction to Apologetics, was taught by Dr. Geisler to a nearly full classroom of students from diverse backgrounds, all seeking a safe haven from the ideologies that are driving the shift away from sound doctrine.'

Veritas Seminary is planning their first annual apologetics conference for November 6-7, featuring lectures by distinguished pastors and apologists including Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, Chuck Smith, Ergun Caner, Lee Strobell, Ron Rhodes, Greg Koukl and others.

For more information concerning Veritas Evangelical Seminary visit www.VeritasSeminary.com or call 951.698.6389.