The Daniel and Revelation Committee broke new ground when it met at the Seminar Marienhoehe in Darmstadt, Germany, for its March 1987 session. Previously the committee always has met in North America, with attendance limited to members and invitee presenters so as to keep the group small enough to be efficient. Its meeting outside North America was in recognition of the increasingly international nature of the Adventist movement. Seminar Marienhohe is the advanced ministerial training center for German-speaking Adventists.
Perhaps many in the church are not aware that a committee has been at work giving special attention to the books of Daniel and Revelation. Appointed by the General Conference for continuing study of these two Bible books, the committee is made up largely of scholars with specialties in biblical studies. However, it includes additional persons with academic training in other areas such as church history and practical theology, as well as experienced evangelists and church administrators.
In its regular work the committee commissions studies on specific topics, which the entire group then reviews. Papers presented at Marienhohe focused in particular on interpreting the trumpets and seals in Revelation, the two wit nesses, Armageddon, and similar topics.
The present group, under the chairmanship of Dr. Richard Lesher, president of Andrews University, has functioned for almost a decade, being the successor to an earlier committee that met intermittently in the 1960s and 1970s.
In another departure, the committee invited the theology faculty at the Seminar Marienhohe as guests and agreed to review several papers prepared for the Euro-Africa Division 1988 Bible Conference. These papers were outside of and in addition to the regular work of the committee, although in subject matter many of them dealt with questions centering in prophetic interpretation.
Committee membership illustrates the international nature of Adventism. Members came from South America and Australia, as well as from North America and Europe. Thirty-four persons attended; four were from the theology faculty of Marienhohe. Twenty-three were born and reared outside North America, although several now reside there. Despite its location in Germany and the welter of languages available among the participants, business was conducted in English, one tongue under stood in common.
Although it has a low public profile, the Daniel and Revelation Committee provides significant help in biblical studies for the church. This is especially true of the prophetic component so important to Adventist understanding of God's acts in the final age.
The Biblical Research Institute has recently published three volumes of studies in Daniel and Revelation authored by committee members: Selected Studies on Prophetic Interpretation, Symposium on Daniel, and The 70 Weeks, Leviticus, and the Nature of Prophecy.
An additional volume dealing with the book of Hebrews is being edited for publication. Hebrews' repeated use of the sanctuary theme so prominent also in Daniel and Revelation makes it relevant to the other studies. Two additional volumes dealing with the interpretation of Revelation will be released in the future.
