New Book Series Launched

Tom de Bruin Leave a comment

The first volume of the new book series published by the Institute of Adventist Studies has appeared in print. Entitled Perceptions of the Protestant Reformation in Seventh-day Adventism (320 pp.), it contains the papers presented at the Second International Symposium of the IAS organized in 2016 in Friedensau. It is also available as E-pub.

To order, write to ias@thh-friedensau.de (27.00 EUR incl. International shipping) or go to Amazon.

ISBN Print: 978-3-935480-51-2        (€19.90)
ISBN E-book: 978-3-935480-52-9   (€11.99)

Spes Christiana

Tom de Bruin Leave a comment

During the ETTC that was held in April at Collonges the members of the EASTRS approved the proposal to transfer the journal Spes Christiana from Friedensau University to our society. Reinder Bruinsma was elected to serve as the general editor for a four-year term and an editorial board was also elected, with appropriate terms of references. One of those who was elected to the editorial board felt unable to accept and the EATRS board approved a new name in his place.  The editorial board thus consists of:

  • Aulikki Nahkola (Newbold)
  • Marko Lukic (Belgrade)
  • Daniel Olariu (Cernica)
  • Nestor H. Petruk (Sagunto)
  • Stefan Höschele (Friedensau)
  • Oldrich Svoboda (Sázava)

On June 17 the board had a short first meeting (via Zoom) to get the ball rolling. They will have a more substantial editorial meeting sometime in September, when normal academic life has resumed.

The 2019 issue of Spes Christiana will still be the responsibility of the current editor, Stefan Höschele, and the new team will care for the issues from 2020 onwards. We have agreed that we will aim for two issues per annum (spring and autumn) of ca. 150 pages each. Occasionally an issue may be dedicated to one specific theme.

Soon there will be a further call for articles through this website, with the guidelines for the authors. The editorial board hopes to see a constant flow of quality articles in various disciplines from the members of our society. We also hope that we can call upon our members to act as peer reviewers when needed.

It is our intention to have a section in our journal in which publications are reviewed that have been written by our members, and academic publications that are deemed of interest to most of our members.  If you have any publications to suggest for review, please send me the details. I will also be on the outlook for selected publications and will approach members with requests to write a review.

Articles and correspondence for Spes Christiana may be sent to Reinder Bruinsma, editor.

Symposium on Trinity at Italian Adventist University

Tom de Bruin Leave a comment

The Adventist Theological Society and Italian Adventist University will host a Symposium on the Trinity to be held at IAU Villa Aurora, Florence, Italy, on June 19-22, 2019.

This Seventh-day Adventist statement of belief in the Trinity is simple, not filled with explanations of how God can be three in one. Yet, it is complex in that it clearly declares both the oneness and the threeness of God. The history of the doctrine is also complex, both in Christianity at large and within Adventism. Currently in Adventism, there are a number of challenges to the idea of conceptualizing God as a Trinity so that continued study is necessary. Some want a biblical prooftext to support a doctrine, and will take a single idea about God from Scripture to represent the whole conception of God. The complexity of all that is revealed by God about God in Scripture does not lend itself to a prooftext approach to understanding God.

This symposium is intended to clarify from Scripture the fulness of the revelation about God, from history the complexity of human attempts to understand God, and from theology the attempts to express the fulness of the revelation. As such, papers will be considered which add to the understanding of the scriptural revelation on the Trinity, the historical attempts to understand the nature of God in both Adventist history and in the history of Christianity in general, and the theological attempts to express the truth about God.

Speakers include Greg Howell, Denis Kaiser, Jiri Moskala, John Peckham, Trevor O’Reggio, John W. Reeve, Teresa Reeve, Matthew Tinkham, Ekkehardt Mueller, Alberto Timm.

The cost to attend the Symposium is 220 € and is all inclusive: full board in a double room at the IAU Campus, from Wednesday June 19 in the afternoon to Sunday June 23 breakfast, and one tour.

For reservation and payment information, contact centro@casaurora.it ; Subject: ATS-IAU Symposium.
Deadline for Reservation: FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019.

See the schedule here.