News Briefs for June 22, 2018
News reports from Parker, Colorado; Loma Linda University, Yemen, Andrews University, La Sierra University and Walla Walla University
According to 9 News.com, a 6-month-old infant was treated at Parker Adventist Hospital in Parker Colorado after being attacked by an aggressive squirrel that jumped into the infant’s stroller. “I’ve never ever seen a squirrel act that aggressive unprovoked…completely unprovoked,” said the baby’s mother, Kari Elwell. “It was like it hunted her down. It was just the weirdest, most bizarre experience I’ve ever had with an animal.” The infant sustained scratches but the mother was able to remove the squirrel quickly, avoiding any bites. It was determined that the infant did not need a rabies shot.
According to a Loma Linda University Health Facebook post, Loma Linda University Medical Center – Murrieta is starting a new three-year family medicine residency program in the community. The first cohort will start June 2019, pending accreditation. There is a physician shortage in Murrieta, especially when it comes to primary care physicians.
The Adventist Development & Relief Agency (ADRA) has joined 18 other international aid agencies in an emergency appeal to the warring parties in Yemen to back off from a battle in the port city of Hodeidah. Some 250,000 innocent civilians could lose their lives in such a battle, and the blockage to food delivery through the port would make worse the famine across the country which is currently starving some 17 million people. A United Nations special envoy is attempting to convene peace talks, but international news media reported in recent days that an attack is imminent.
A full 50 years of Biblical archaeology led by Adventist scholars and universities is being celebrated this year. In 1967, Dr. Siegfried Horn from Andrews University started a dig at Hisban in Jordan (biblical Heshbon) which has continued and since Dr. Larry Geraty from La Sierra University took over in 1993 it has expanded to include two other sites, ‘Umayri and Jalul. Walla Walla University is also a cosponsor and a number of scholars from other faiths have joined in, as well as many student assistants over the years. In July a tour will visit sites in Jordan and Israel. In November there will be an Archaeology Discover Weekend at La Sierra University in Riverside, California.
A review of a book by an Adventist scholar written by another Adventist scholar was featured in the April 11 issue of Christian Century, the leading journal of mainline Protestant churches in the United States. The book Humanism and the Death of God by Dr. Ronald Osborn (Oxford University Press) was reviewed by Dr. Charles Scriven, the retired Adventist pastor and college president who is president of the largest organization of Adventist academics, the Association of Adventist Forums. (Pages 36-37)
The annual conference of the 1888 Message Study Committee is scheduled for July 11-14 on the campus of Andrews University. The theme this year is “Living Faith: A Spectacle to Men and Angels. It’s Time.” The independent group is noted for a particular perspective on the meaning of the debate about righteousness at the 1888 General Conference Session which turned the denomination in a more orthodox Protestant direction.
An in-depth course marking the centennial of the publication of Steps to Christ by Ellen White is available online for independent, self-paced study through the Adventist Learning Community website. The course is taught by Dr. Denis Fortin, professor of theology at the Andrews University Seminary, and it uses the special centennial edition of Steps to Christ published last year by Andrews University Press for which he wrote an historical introduction and extensive notes. The course includes 13 units and there is no enrollment fee. Those who complete the course will earn 1.2 Continuing Education units toward the requirements for teachers, pastors and other denominational employees.