New Seminary Dean: Jiří Moskala

Spectrum Staff | March 5, 2013

On March 5, Andrews University announced that Jiří Moskala, Ph.D., will be the new dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. This annoucement follows several years of fundamentalist attacks on the seminary for its spiritual formation classes and for a symposium that featured a non-Adventist ecumenical leader.

According to the press release, “Jiri Moskala, who has served at the Seminary since 1996, accepted the position most recently held by Denis Fortin. Moskala’s appointment is effective July 1, 2013. In October of 2012, Fortin announced his desire to step away from administration in order to return to full-time teaching in the Department of Theology & Christian Philosophy at the Seminary beginning fall 2013.

‘We narrowed it down to five candidates. When the final candidate review was done, it felt like the Lord was leading because there was a definite consensus that emerged on one candidate: Jiri Moskala,’ says Ben Schoun, chair of the Andrews University Board of Trustees and a general vice president for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. ‘Dr. Moskala is a fine academic scholar and very loyal to the church. I don’t know anyone who can question his commitment to the mission and values that we stand for.’”

Jiří Moskala is a former president of the Adventist Theological Society, the conservative alternative to the Adventist Society for Religious Studies. ATS requires that members formally pledge belief in the investigative judgment, the day-year prophecy interpretation principle and to use the so-called historical-grammatical hermeneutic while avoiding critical methodologies. In addition to publishing his dissertations in Czech and English, Dr. Moskala’s book publications include, The Cosmic Battle for Planet Earth: Essays in Honor of Norman R. Gulley and Creation, and Life and Hope: Essays in Honor of Jacques B. Doukhan.

Here is a sermon by Jiří Moskala, Ph.D., from 2009.

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