On July 20-30, 2017, more than 480 delegates from 24 union territories and 43 countries of the Inter-American Division (IAD) studied, queried and fellowshipped together on the campus of Montemorelos University, Nuevo León, Mexico during a conference dedicated to highlighting the powerful synergy possible between faith in the Bibleas God’s unerring Word and in nature, rightly understood, as a consistent witness to the reliability of that Word.
More than 30 academics, specialists in multiple theological and scientific areas from paleontology to Hebrew and Semitic Studies shared theses, raised questions and discussed those raised by an audience consisting mainly of school teachers and university professors from the various levels of Adventist education.
The conference was the second of its kind sponsored by the Faith & Science Council in 2017. Scholarly bodies and sponsors that have worked with the Council on its initiatives this year include three universities—Andrews, Loma Linda and Montemorelos; two General Conference think tanks—the Biblical Research Institute and the Geoscience Research Institute; departments of Education at the General Conference and the North American Division, as well as the General Conference Council on Faith & Science and the Adventist Theological Society.
Gamaliel Florez, IAD education director, explained that competence in handling questions of the relationship between faith and science is highly desirable for Adventist teachers at all levels because they are in the Church’s evangelistic vanguard, confronting false ideas and disseminating the truth about the existence of the world, and the character of the God who made it.
