Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University
The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary is thankful for receiving a grant from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This enables us to improve financial incentives for students and faculty to engage in science related research, publication, and conferences thereby improving the quality and reputation of the theological education we provide. This is important because the Adventist Church sponsors our seminary and we serve international students as well as students from every part of North America. Therefore, our teaching and research has a significant impact in America and all over the world.
The title of our project is, “Facilitating Science-Theology Dialogue.” Its goal is to improve the benefit we gain from being a seminary on the Andrews University campus, which hosts a comprehensive spectrum of accredited science programs. We aim to move beyond theologians and scientists respectively talking to themselves about each other’s work. Now we are transitioning into more formal and more sustained inter-disciplinary science-theology dialogue.
Our campus based team consists of project leaders (Martin Hanna and John Peckham), other seminary faculty (Evelyn Kissinger, Denis Kaiser, Merlin Burt, Randy Younker, Robert Bates, Boubaker Sanou, David Penno), and two Andrews University science advisers (Gary Burdick, physicist, and Tom Goodwin, biologist). We are supported by external content advisers (John Walton of Wheaton College, Paul Keim of Goshen College, and Earl Kumfer of University of Saint Francis), and external science advisers (Carl Helrich, physicist of Goshen College, and Ralph Stearley, geologist of Calvin College).
The project we have begun to implement includes: an Institute for Science-Theology Dialogue; a workshop with science advisers, content advisers, project faculty, and other scientists and theologians; science-theology dialogue in seven classes in Spring and Fall sessions in 2018 and 2019; research surveys on science-theology dialogue; a web page; a blog; a student award program; a 2019 Seminary Scholarship Symposium (February 12, 14-16) on science-theology dialogue about creation; and a science-theology dialogue in November, in preparation for publishing a book on science-theology dialogue. Our public events include lectures and dialogues by and between on-campus and off-campus scientists and theologians as well as research posters by faculty and students.
