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Theological Consultation Documents

Spectrum magazine, vol. 11, no. 2 (Nov. 1980), pages 79-80.

© 2003 Spectrum/AAF. All rights reserved.

Recommendations of the Theological Consultation

The following recommendations were voted at the Theological Consultation, Glacier View, Colorado, August 15-20. It is recommended:

1) that if the consent of the individual authors is received, the papers and responses presented at this consultation be made available on request by the Biblical Research Institute;

2) that future consultations of this type make use of small group discussions concentrating on lists of study questions and facilitated by short position papers which will not be read at the meetings;

3) that such consultations be held every second year at the division level, and that on the alternate years, union level theological consultations be held with seminary professors and General Conference representatives being invited to these union level meetings when the topics make their expertise desirable;

4) that administrators should be informed of, and invited to, the meetings of the Adventist scholars held in connection with the sessions of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature;

5) that when representatives of local and union conferences visit college campuses, they should seek to spend time with the religion department faculties in their staff meetings or in question-and-answer periods;

6) that seminary and religion department faculties seek to make their teaching more readily available to administrators and to the field through cassette tapes, intensive seminars, and duplicated materials, and that the Biblical Research Institute be requested to serve as a clearing house and supply center for series of lecture tapes;

7) that continued study should be given to the meaning, value, and legitimacy of the historical and theological methods of biblical interpretation used by Seventh-day Adventists;

8) that continued study be given to the relationship of Ellen White's authority to that of the Bible, to the proper hermeneutic of the writings of Ellen White, and to making her writings more readily and fully available so that they may be studied in their full literary, historical, and chronological context;

9) that local and union conference constituencies consider placing Bible teachers on their committees, or that these committees invite these teachers to attend as observers or consultants;

10) that special thanks be extended to Neal C. Wilson and Arnold Wallenkampf, co-chairmen of this consultation, and Larry Geraty and Ron Graybill, co-secretaries, for their roles in the planning of these meetings, and to W. Duncan Eva who perceived the need and made initial arrangements.

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Papers Prepared for Theological Consultation

The following papers were presented at the Theological Consultation that met at Glacier View following the Sanctuary Review Committee (see pp. 26-30).

Andreasen, Niels-Erik. "Royal Authority and Prophetic Ministry in the Old Testament"

Respondent: Jerry A. Gladson

Bradford, Charles E. "A Theology of Church Organization and Administration"

Respondents: Arnold Kurtz and Jack W. Provonsha

Cox, James J. C. "Resolution of Conflicts in the Early Church"

Dederen, Raoul. "Authoritative Teachings Decisions in the Seventh-day Adventist Church"

Respondents: Clifford S. Pitt, Warren C. Trenchard, W. D. Blehm

Douglas, Walter. "The Theologian as Administrator: The Reformation and After"

Respondents: Erwin R. Gane and G. Ralph Tompson

Graybill, Ron. "Ellen White's Role in the Resolution of Conflicts in Adventist History"

Respondent: Donald R. McAdams

Guy, Fritz. "The Theological Task of the Church: Observations on the Role of Theology and Theologians in the Church"

Respondents: Kenneth H. Wood and Lowell Bock

Hackett, Willis J. "The Search for Authority and Doctrinal Unity in the Church"

Respondents: Earl W. Amundson, Robert M. Johnston and W. Larry Richards

Rock, C. B. "Structures for Renewal"

Respondent: James Londis

Teel, Charles, Jr. "Withdrawing Sect, Accommodating Church, Prophesying Remnant: Dilemmas in the Institutionalization of Adventism"

Respondent: H. Ward Hill

Torkelsen, M. C. "The Role of Church Administration"

Veltman, Fred. "The Role of Church Administrators and Theologians"