17 Aug 2022 | This Sabbath Dr. Gil Valentine will present on some of the themes of his recent book, Ostriches and Canaries, and we will discuss the problem of coping with change. All during the 1960s unprecedented waves of turbulent social change had washed over North America and rippled around the world. The waves […]
3 Aug 2022 | Dr. Lisa Clark Diller will cover some of the social science research on how disgust impedes our ability to love our neighbors and how the vulnerability of the Incarnation can help us do that better. We use the stories from Jesus’s birth and childhood to show how he valued those whose […]
24 July 2022 | Despite the traditional interpretation of a scattering of “clobber texts” that are assumed to prohibit gender nonconformity and same-sex sexual relationships, the Bible gives little to no direct guidance about how LGBTQ+ individuals should be treated by believers, and certainly does not support condemning such individuals as sinful. From New Testament […]
20 July 2022 | by Bryan Ness Many people assume that human sex and gender is binary, and that the normal outcome of reproduction and development is distinctly male or female. Likewise, it is considered normal for individuals to be sexually attracted to the opposite sex. Adventist believers typically consider this to be the way […]
6 July 2022 | by Jim Walters When I began teaching bioethics to medical students in 1980 I thought the abortion debate would soon end (as Roe was then seven years old), and we’d fully engage new right-to-die issues such as termination of treatment for patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). I was wrong. […]
23 June 2022 | When famous Swedish chef Niklas Peter Ekstedt, whose greatest passions are food and health, visited Loma Linda, he was very impressed by the longevity of Adventist centenarians and even with our vegetarian dishes. However, when leaving the town he said that Loma Linda as a town was “pretty boring.” All he […]
17 June 2022 | Introduction by Mathilde Frey. The story of Cain and Abel has been invoked in the wake of mass shootings numerous times. “Cain killed Abel with a rock, and God did not take away the rock.” Yes, I have seen the billboards and the memes, and I heard this message after every mass […]
15 June 2022 | Why and how do people change their minds? Why do we forget important things and remember trivial ones? Do we remember events as accurately as we think we do? How come two people can be equally confident of different memories of the same event? And regarding prophecy, how do our minds […]
8 June 2022 | Many Adventists who identify themselves as progressive wonder if they are delusional in dreaming of a more thoughtful and open-minded church—perhaps, especially, after a week like this one when we’ve watched the top body of our church trying to chart a way forward. In this class, Dr. Charles Scriven will make […]
25 May 2022 | The Christian church is in trouble, in particular in the Western world. Many denominations see their membership decrease and experience an exodus of the younger generations. Postmoderns may still have an interest in spirituality, but they turn away from institutional Christianity. Current trends also affect the Seventh-day Adventist Church. While the […]
11 May 2022 | Please read these rabbinic parables to prepare for Dr. Johnston’s class. From a literary standpoint the parables of Jesus were like those of his contemporaries, but their purpose and effect were dramatically different. This presentation will examine the importance of the parables, the narrative technique of Jesus, and how they should […]
4 May 2022 | Please read this essay to prepare for the study by Dr. Hemmings. Much of what we say we know about Biblical interpretation is derived from what the Bible says about itself. While the Bible is right to self-identify itself as an inspired book, the problem is that several of the oft-used […]