In 1895, Dr. Phineas F.
Bresee, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and Dr. J.P. Widney, a
Methodist layman and former President of the University of Southern California, founded the Church of the Nazarene in Los Angeles.
Their primary purpose was to bring the good news of the gospel to the poor and
underprivileged.In 1902, Dr. Bresee founded Pacific Bible College in
Los Angeles, California, at the urging of several
laypersons. The institution was to train ministerial and lay leadership for the new denomination. Pacific Bible College is the
predecessor of Point Loma Nazarene University.In 1910, the College purchased the Hugus Ranch property in Pasadena, California, and moved the campus to the Pasadena site.
The scope of the curriculum was enlarged to include a typical program in the liberal arts. The school grew as Pasadena College,
receiving accreditation from Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher
Schools in 1943, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 1949.In 1973, the College was relocated on the historic Point Loma peninsula in San Diego where it thrived for ten years as Point Loma College: An Institution of the
Church of the Nazarene. In 1983, the name was changed to Point Loma Nazarene College and in
1998 it was changed to Point Loma Nazarene University.