Preface

Abstract

We are gratified at the overwhelmingly positive response to our first issue. It

encourages us to continue to strive for excellence in each issue so that we will not

disappoint those who have expressed confidence in us by subscribing or agreeing to

exchanging journals with us.

This issue introduces a new feature. We decided to include this year and in

future years a selection of papers read at our annual Theological Forum. This annual

Forum has been so well received that we believe it is in order to share some of the

best of it with our readers. There are two types of articles from the Forum: morning

devotionals and scholarly papers. The style is different, but we believe both will be

enriching to our readers, since our readers include both academics and professionals.

The authors of the Forum papers will not be introduced here, since their

academic or professional titles and employing organizations are given at the

beginning of each paper. A few words are in order, however, regarding the nature

of the Forum and matters of content which may be unfamiliar to our readers.

The 1999 AIIAS Theological Forum, entitled "Millennium and Prophecy,"

focused on biblical, ecclesiological, and practical issues related to eschatology. Thus

several papers dealt with matters of significance for the Seventh-day Adventist

(SDA) Church, which AIIAS serves. These matters could not be fully addressed

without taking into account the writings of Ellen G. White, who was one of the

founders of the SDA Church and is considered to have functioned prophetically in

providing messages of counsel for the Church that still guide it today in areas in

which the Bible is either silent or unclear. It was ever the work of Ellen White to

direct attention to the truths of the Bible and to the eternal gospel of salvation only

in Jesus. She wrote over 100,000 manuscript pages of counsel for the church during

her lifetime, serving as one of the greatest and most prolific writers of all time,

though little recognized for her achievements. Many of her works have become

classics, translated into more than one hundred languages. It would be impossible

to ignore the weight of her spiritual counsel, though the Bible always takes first

place in establishing truth in doctrinal matters. This knowledge will hopefully place

in the right context the many references to Ellen White in some of the papers.

Not all of the Forum papers could be published. For that we apologize to those

whose papers are not included in this issue. The editors had to be selective in trying to represent the cross section of topics covered and share those materials that would

be of the greatest use to the most readers, thinking of both pastors and teachers.

The other articles in this issue include both AIIAS faculty and alumni this time.

We briefly introduce here each of the authors.

Evelyn Almocera is both an alumna and faculty member of AIIAS. She is also a medical doctor who serves as the staff physician of AIIAS. A Filipina, she completed her M.P.H. at AIIAS and serves as an assistant professor in both the Theological Seminary and the School of Graduate Studies, Department of Health Education.

Aecio Cairus hails from Argentina. He came to AIIAS at the beginning of 1999. He holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament. A man of broad ability, he has been serving as a professor in both the Biblical Studies and the Theological/Historical Studies departments.

Francisco Gayoba is a Filipino who completed a D.Theol. in 1997 with the South East Asia Graduate School of Theology (of which AIIAS Theological Seminary is a member). He is an Assistant Professor in the Theological/Historical Studies department.

Carlos Martin, with a Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, is from Uruguay. He is a former assistant dean and Associate Professor of World Mission at AIIAS Theological Seminary. He left in March 1999 to become the Ministerial Director for the Northern Asia-Pacific Division of the General Conference of SDAs, located in Seoul, South Korea. He holds some other portfolios as well. We miss him.

Ferdinand Regalado is a 1996 graduate of our M.A. in Religion program. He is presently teaching religion at the nearby Adventist University of the Philippines. He has just recently been accepted into the Ph.D. in Religion program at AIIAS, majoring in Biblical Studies.

The editorial committee feels we should make a disclaimer regarding the content

of the articles that are published in this journal. Although the editorial committee

tries to exercise some limited discretion regarding the content of what we publish,

we make no claim that the views expressed herein represent either the views of the

AIIAS Theological Seminary or of the SDA Church. Nor do they necessarily

represent the views of the editorial staff. We do welcome your thoughtful response

to any of the content of our publication. We will listen; however, we do not promise

to reply, due to the time involved in taking up correspondence with our readers.

There is an addition to our dissertation abstracts in this issue. The faculty voted

to include thesis abstracts for M.A. in Religion graduates as well. Some go back to

1998, after the last issue was ready to go to press.

The book reviews in this issue are in short supply. We only received two books

for review, and it was difficult to get reviews where no books were offered in

exchange for review. We hope it will be different next year. Beginning in 2000,

AIIAS is offering incentives for those publishing scholarly studies, including a small incentive for critical book reviews that will assist with the cost of purchasing. Plus we hope that we will begin to receive books from publishers for review.

We hope you will enjoy this issue. And keep those letters and subscriptions coming!