The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, now part of Andrews University, has operated for nearly thirty years since its beginning as the Advanced Bible School. During these years much research has been carried out by members of its faculty and by students. Some results of this work have appeared as articles in learned periodicals in America and overseas, while others have been published in the form of books. However, much valuable material has not been published because of a lack of suitable outlet. Into this category fall a number of theses and research papers written by students. In spite of the fact that some contain important material worthy of being brought to the attention of other scholars, no thesis produced in the Seminary has ever been published. The Seminarian, a 4- to 8-page bimonthly, has appeared for many years, affording space only for brief abstracts of Seminary theses but not for articles of even moderate length.
The reader can thus understand why there has been felt a growing sense of need for a suitable journal sponsored by the Seminary. To meet this need a new publication, Andrews University Seminary Studies, is being launched this year. This new venture has been made possible by authorization of the Andrews University Board and through the generous cooperation of the General Conference.
No learned periodical can pay its way, for printing costs for the type of material such a publication contains are high, and the number of subscribers is always small. Therefore all scholarly publications are heavily subsidized, either by learned societies or by institutions of higher learning. Ours is no exception, and only the generous subsidy granted by the University Board makes the appearance of this new periodical possible.The editor (Siegfried H. Horn) and the associate editors (Earle Hilgert and Daniel Walther) are members of the Seminary faculty, but the seven editorial consultants, experts in different fields of scholarship, represent not only the Seminary but also Loma Linda University and four Seventh-day Adventist senior colleges, two of which are overseas.
The new periodical is not designed to compete with any existing Seventh-day Adventist publication. Its editors plan to accept only such contributions as are of a distinctly scholarly nature. Some may be long articles, others only short notes, but all should present the mature results of serious and sound research work in well-documented form, and attain the standards set up in the scholarly world for a publication such as ours is designed to be.
Seminary Studies will not include articles dealing with the mechanics of church life nor contributions that are polemic or apologetic in character. A large variety of subjects will be treated in this new periodical.
To these belong articles in Biblical linguistics and its cognates, textual criticism, exegesis, Biblical archeology and geography, ancient history, church history, theology, philosophy of religion, ethics, and comparative religions.
Just as the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary serves the world field, and is attended by students from many countries, Andrews University Seminary Studies is designed to do the same. It will carry contributions from scholars residing in America and overseas, and while publishing most of its articles in English, the language of the majority of its readers, it will also include articles in French and German.
The purpose of this announcement is not only to acquaint the readers of THE MINISTRY with this new publication and invite subscriptions but also to solicit suitable articles for future issues. The editors are eager to receive contributions that contain the results of serious research. Well-documented articles dealing with subjects mentioned above will always be welcome for possible publication.
It is the hope of the editors that this new, scholarly publication will find its way into the libraries of institutions of higher learning and of many seminaries of other denominations in America and other countries. It is, furthermore, hoped that it will be read by many non-Adventist scholars, and be a medium of acquainting the scholarly world with learned work carried out by Seventh-day Adventists.
For the present, an annual issue to appear in the autumn is planned. It is not envisioned that these annual volumes will exceed 160 pages for several years. However, if the number of suitable contributions increases to such an extent that larger issues will be needed, it is possible that a semiannual publication will be introduced. Before such a plan is carried out, all subscribers will receive ample notice. Subscribers will be billed with each issue according to the size of the volume, which will be priced at the rate of $.25 for each signature of 16 pages. The price of the first volume is $2.50. It will be ready for distribution in September, 1963.
Serious students of the Bible, of church history, and ancillary sciences are cordially invited to send their subscriptions for this periodical to Andrews University Seminary Studies, Berrien Springs, Michigan, U.S.A.