Seminary Objectives

Seminary Objectives—No. 2

Heart-to-Heart Talks on Vital Issues

By M. E. KERN, President of the S.D.A. Theological Seminary

Although we have been warned against the subversive influences of the universities, yet we recognize more and more the need for graduate study. This has been a problem of great concern to the leader­ship of the church, including our educational leaders. For more than two decades serious study has been given to denominational pro­vision for advanced study. Eleven years ago the General Conference Educational Council at College View, Nebraska, recognizing the fact "that there is great loss and danger to our teachers in attending worldly graduate schools," recommended "that the General Con­ference be earnestly requested to lay plans for the establishment of a graduate school" "hav­ing no organic connection with any other existing college," but "to be located near an educational center where there would be abun­dant library and laboratory facilities acces­sible."

The problem was studied again and again by the Department of Education and the Gen­eral Conference Committee, by Autumn Coun­cils and by the General Conference in session. The final result of all this consideration was the establishment of the Seventh-day Advent­ist Theological Seminary. While the plans of the school are not as comprehensive as those outlined at College View, we have made pro­vision for graduate study in Bible, religious history, Biblical languages, homiletics, speech, evangelism, and Christian leadership.

Is it not clear to every thoughtful Seventh-day Adventist in this time when old con­troversies are being revived and new issues are springing up, and when every fundamen­tal of the advent message is being challenged, that there is need for the most painstaking research into the great truths of God's revela­tion to man, including the foundation pillars of the advent message? Is it not apparent to everyone that in this time of advancing stand­ards of efficiency in every profession, the teach­ers of God's truth, who have the highest of all professions, should be in the forefront of ad­vance? I believe that the great majority of our workers want to advance. This Seminary already has a large list of workers waiting and hoping for the day when they can attend. There is a divine urge in the hearts of God's messengers to present the truth "in a way that will be as free as possible from defects."—"Fundamentals of Christian Education," p. 257.

We are living in an age when men run to and fro, and knowledge is increased. Scien­tists compass land and sea, explore the ocean depths below and the stratosphere above, in quest of knowledge. They risk their lives in torrid jungles and on polar icecaps to dis­cover the secrets of nature. In laboratories and observatories they keep their vigil, night and day to understand the forces that control the universe. Great sacrifices are made in their research, and lives are sometimes lost. Scientific research has resulted in many mar­velous discoveries, w4ich have exchanged com­fort for drudgery and markedly increased the span of human life. But just as eternal life far transcends mortal life, and as the spiritual life is far more important than the physical, so research in the realm of religion is infinitely more valuable than all this research in other fields.

Since the day that God revealed to Adam and Eve the acorn promise of a Saviour from sin, there has been a progressive revelation of Himself to mankind through patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and through His deal­ings with individuals and nations. And now in these closing hours of probation, when the full light of revelation is to be focused on the final struggle between truth and error, we are told that "truths of divine origin are to be carefully searched out and placed in their proper setting, to shine with heavenly bril­liancy amid the moral darkness of the world." —Ellen G. White, in Review and Herald, Oct. 23, 1894. Concerning the experience of our pioneers, it is said:

"There was diligent study of the Scriptures, point by point. Almost entire nights were devoted to earnest searching of the Word. We searched for the truths as for hidden treasures. The Lord revealed Himself to us. Light was shed on the prophecies, and we knew that we received divine instruction."—Ellen G. White MS. 32, 1896.

The truths which those pioneers dug out by prodigious labor under the guidance of the Spirit have come down to us as a precious heritage, but not as a circumscribed creed in a brittle mold. Truth is fluid. Like a mighty river it is ever flowing and increasing in vol­ume as it approaches the ocean of infinite truth. The voice of the Spirit of prophecy has un­ceasingly urged the leaders and people of this movement to dig deeper and deeper for the discovery of truth. We read:

"Precious light has come, appropriate for this time. It is Bible truth, showing the perils that are right upon us. This light should lead us to a diligent study of the Scriptures, and a most critical examina­tion of the positions which we hold. God would have all the bearings and positions of truth thoroughly and perseveringly searched, with prayer and fasting."—'Testimonies," Vol. v, pp. 707, 708.

It is surely evident to all that the Seminary has a wide field of usefulness before it as a center for research to which many of our fourteen thousand teachers, preachers, Bible workers, editors, and others from our world field can come aside, from time to time, for periods of uninterrupted study in the great truths that constitute the message which we are to give to, the world, and thus equip them­selves for stronger and better service in the movement.

I have spoken especially of Biblical re­search. The study into the deeper meaning of God's word involves, of course, advanced .studies in the languages in which it was writ­ten; Standing more and more alone in de­fense of the Bible in a world that is increasingly hostile toward it, we are in greater need than, ever before of Biblical scholars with, a thoKough understanding of these languages. And SQ the search for hidden treasure in God's word includes a critical study of Greek and Hebrew.

The Seminary also offers graduate work in religious history. Our conception of history and history teaching is just as far removed from the conception that is current in educational circles of the world as .our ,Bible teaching is different from that which is current in the theological seminaries of other churches. The true philosophy of history is the problem of sin and its solution. In its study we trace the fulfillment of divine prediction, and recognize the signs that indicate the nearness of the coming of our Lord. One of our leading his­tory teachers, who was completing university work for the doctor's degree, frankly said that he, would rather his son would study history under a Catholic priest than with the average university professor. He would at least be in the atmosphere of respect for religion.

There is the great field of antiquity await­ing cultivation by the heralds of the advent message. Governments and individual patrons of learning have, spent millions of dollars in opening the mounds of buried cities of the ancient East. The languages, religions, po­litical events, and social customs of the people of Bible times have been brought to light. Truly in this respect Daniel's prediction of the increase of knowledge has been fulfilled. In all this archeological research we see the working out of God's purpose for these last days. "Lux ea Oriente," light out of the Orient, is an inscription on the foundation stone of a certain building that is devoted to Oriental studies. Truly God has caused light to shine forth out of the Orient to give to the remnant church a better understanding of the history, poetry, and prophecy of the Old Testa­ment, and to furnish external evidence of the inspiration of the Bible to a skeptical genera­tion.

There is likewise the field of church history, which has been explored but very little by the scholarship of this movement. In this field, indeed, lie buried "mighty truths," "buried by the sophistry of error," which "will be found by the diligent searcher."—Ellen G. White MS. 88, July 70, 5898. Here we witness the wonderful providences of God in the age-long struggles between truth and error, and under­stand how "the earth helped the woman" in times of tribulation. As participants in the last great religious reformation movement, we shall gain wisdom from a careful study of the reformation movements of the past.

It is just as impossible to find a graduate school in which history is studied from this background, and with these objectives, as it is to find acceptable Bible teaching outside our own schools. In our blueprint, Bible and history are inseparably associated, and for that reason history study is an integral part of the theological training given at the Seminary.

Today we are faced with unprecedented opportunities for the preaching of the advent message. But to be successful, our ministers must be progressive. They must understand the rapidly changing conditions and trends of thinking, and be able to adapt their methods to the new situation. The ministry molds the movement. If our ministers can bring to the church a new freshness and depth of mean­ing in the Bible, the tone of the entire move­ment will be improved. If their technique of evangelism can be improved, and their preach­ing become more powerful, the finishing of the work will be hastened. The results already obtained from the study and mutual discus­sion of preaching and evangelism at the Semi­nary show the possibility of great advance­ment in the preaching of the advent message. And this is our great task.

The time of trouble is upon us. Persecu­tion is rife. The warfare between truth and error is increasingly intense. Attacks against the teachings of the church are severe and often very insidious. Perversions of the truth are common. There is need today, as never before in our history, that men should be equipped to defend the faith against all these attacks and perversions. Our preachers, pos­sibly even more than our teachers, need time and opportunity for advanced study and re­search. One of the saddest notes in all the Testimonies written for the church is this:

"When the time of trial shall come, there are men now preaching to others, who will find, upon ex­amining the positions they hold, that there are many things for which they can give no satisfactory reason."—"Testimonies," Vol. V, p. 707.

If we would avoid such a calamity, we must build our faith on the solid foundation of facts. This Seminary was established to carry for­ward research in the great fundamentals of revealed truth, and by diligent and prayerful study to buttress the faith of those who stand at the forefront as teachers of the message. There may be a difference of opinion as to the safety of university tutelage in the secular sciences, but does anyone think that our men who teach and preach theological truth can get the help they need to buttress their faith and strengthen them for more effective service by sitting at the feet of men who have no comprehension of God's special message at this time? No. What we need to strengthen our teachers of religion is a place and facilities, such as we have here, where they can study together in the atmosphere of devotion to the advent message, under the guidance of tried and true Seventh-day Adventist teachers, who are thoroughly prepared in their fields, and whose deep convictions of the infallibility of Biblical truth will beget deep conviction in the heart of their students.

In our Bibliocentric plan of education every teacher is in reality a Bible teacher. So not only should our preachers, editors, and Bible workers come here from time to time to dig deeper in the mine of truth, but our teachers in other fields who have been buffeted by the worldly philosophy taught in the universities, should find here a wholesome retreat where they can review and verify the great funda­mentals of our message. Here, then, in brief, is the purpose for which this Seminary has been organized:

1. To offer graduate courses in the two important fields of Bible and history for the benefit of our col­lege and academic Bible and history teachers, and other educational workers, and thus strengthen our entire educational system by rendering effective assistance in the maintenance of our Bibliocentric plan of education.

2. By these courses in Bible and history, supple­mented with courses in evangelism and Christian leadership, to bring special help to our ministers, missionaries, Bible workers, editors, and other work­ers, thus greatly strengthening our evangelistic forces in the world field.

3. To stand in these perilous and propitious times as a bulwark of defense for the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

The crisis of the world is here. Likewise we are facing the most critical hour in the history of the church. In such an hour as this, the good hand of God has brought forth this institution, to defend the faith of the advent movement, to bring effective aid to our system of Christian education, and to strengthen our forces of evangelism in all the world.


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By M. E. KERN, President of the S.D.A. Theological Seminary

April 1941

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