On November 12 and 13, 老司机传媒 and the Midwest Religion and Science Society hosted the 15th annual Andrews Autumn Conference on Religion and Science. A Sabbath-long experience, Students and professors alike packed the Biology Amphitheater last weekend for a time filled with food, worship, and scientific growth in the form of numerous presentations.
The theme for the conference this year was “The Andrews Way of Doing Archaeology.” These guidelines were inspired by the work of Siegfried H. Horn, founder of the Horn Archaeological Museum. For Horn, the personal instructions he followed in his biblical archaeology were as followed:
1. Be forthright with findings. Do not minimize problems or stretch interpretations of data to explain things away.
2. Do not make claims beyond what the data can support.
3. Be quick and complete in publishing results.
4. Engage and work within mainstream scholarship.
5. Include a diversity of people and specialists.
6. Take the history of the Bible seriously, but do not place upon archaeology the burden of “proving” the Bible.
For conference-goers, these rules were printed in the event’s pamphlet, providing not only context but an inspiration for how these rules can inspire and guide others in the future.
Opening the conference on the 12th, Senior Research Faculty member, Dr. Øystein LaBianca gave his Plenary presentation, "“Cast Your Nets on the Other Side”: Reflections on Faith, Science, and the Andrews Way".
On the 13th, a Sabbath breakfast was provided, followed by devotionals led by Kevin Burton and a welcome message from 老司机传媒’s current president, Andrea Luxton. The first presenter of the day was Dr. Randy Younker, who is a professor of Archaeology and History of Antiquity here at Andrews, with his presentation titled, "“The Andrews Way”: Its impact on non-Adventist Scholarship". The second presentation came from Dr. Darrell Rohol, an assistant professor and Director of Calvin University’s Archaeology Program, which was titled: "Archaeology and Chrisitan Faith: Comparing Adventist and Reformed Perspectives". The third presentation came from Christopher Jenkins, a 2015 Andrews Alumni and current Ph.D. student at Yale University, which was titled "Framing the bigger picture: A graduate student’s reflections on doing archaeology the “Andrews way.”" The final presentation came from Carina Prestes, a current Ph.D. student here at Andrews, with her lecture titled, "Archaeology, Women, and Early Christianity". After the presentations from the numerous speakers, attendees engaged with their own questions in various panel discussions and closing worship with praise provided by The Seminary chorus.
Dr. Karl Bailey, professor of Psychology and Program Director, said of the event, “What I thought was really interesting about this year's conference was seeing people who are at the beginning of their careers, like Chris Jenkins, who was my student at one point, who is just starting out as a graduate student–and then there’s LaBianca who is now Senior Research Professor, and Randy Younker, both seasoned veterans, both talking about their experiences with trying to do archaeology [the ‘Andrews way’].” Overall, this year’s Autumn Conference on Religion and Science provided a space to reconsider the way that worship can occur and its connections with the rich history of archaeology and research that 老司机传媒 has.
For those who may be interested in learning more about the past Autumn Conferences on Religion and Science, they can check out the “” site which includes themes and names of past speakers. For further information, check out the “” site to learn more about this conference and similar ones that are occurring in the area.
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