More than 200 scholars, pastors, administrators and lay members of the Adventist church gathered at Andrews University from Oct. 24 to 27, 2007, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine, a book released as a response to doctrinal inquiries by conservative Protestants in the mid-1950s. During the past half-century, the book has been the subject of an intense debate among many Adventists—centering on the book's treatment of the human nature of Christ.
Many of the participants at the Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference had been part of that contentious debate. "I think it is safe to say that no prominent players in the controversy ... were left out," said Robert Johnston, professor emeritus of New Testament at Andrews University who chaired a panel discussion. "Every possible view that could be reasonably discovered was credibly represented."
Though there were some concerns that this conference would itself lead to new controversies, the spirit exhibited by the participants of the conference was anything but contentious. Colin Standish, president of Hartland Institute who presented a paper, remarked that this was "one of the most inspiring conferences" he has attended. Roy Adams, associate editor of Adventist Review who also gave a presentation, observed that such an atmosphere was possible because "just about everyone was compelled to adjust their attitude" to be more sensitive toward each other's views, "even if minds may not necessarily have changed."
Not only did cordiality mark each session, but also some healing took place among participants. "This conference ... gave people the long-needed opportunity to share their views, listen to others' positions, and start to heal relationships that have been damaged for so long," said Bronwen Larson, an attendee from Loma Linda, Calif.
Another attendee, Lisa Clark Diller of Collegedale, Tenn., observed that "there was so much tear-shedding and constant reaffirmation of the Christian love that we share that I know the Spirit moved in really powerful ways." She continued, "Hopefully, from now on, people will recognize that it is too easy to caricature people you disagree with and that face-to-face prayer and study are the way to have unity in diversity."
All the papers presented at the conference and the video recordings of all the sessions will be available in January on the conference Web page at http://qod.andrews.edu.
University Relations staff
