Faith and Science Conference Begins with a Focus on the Holy Scriptures

July 21, 2017 | Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico | Libna Stevens/IAD

Dr. Gamaliel Florez, education director of the church in Inter-America. Image by IAD

Hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist school teachers, university professors and ministers from across the Inter-American Division (IAD) gathered at the opening of a Faith and Science Conference in Montemorelos University in Mexico last night. The event is the most extensive of its kind ever organized in the IAD territory.

The international conference brings nearly 400 delegates from Mexico, Central American, the Caribbean and parts of the South American Division for the next 10 days to be reaffirmed on creationism through the study of the Bible and nature.

“We begin an academic journey for the next ten days,” said Gamaliel Florez, education director for the church in Inter-America, one of the organizers of the conference. “A journey that will result in an extraordinary spiritual experience that will confirm what Moses said when he wrote in Genesis 1:1 ‘In the Beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.’”

The creation account is central to the message of salvation found in the Bible and in the fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, organizers said.

“What can we learn about God by looking at the natural world?” asked Edward Zinke, a bible scholar and philanthropist, as he addressed the delegation during the opening ceremony.

Dr. Edward Zinke (left), theologian and philanthropist addresses delegates during the opening of Inter-America’s Faith and Science Conference in Montmorelos University, Mexico, July 20, 2017. Felix Cortez of Andrews University, translates. Image by IAD

“The natural world has its meaning when it rests upon the foundation of the Word of God and when we understand it from the perspective of the Word of God,” said Zinke. “It opens up the marvels of the universe that were created by God.”

The conference is about the clear mission of teaching students and turning to the Holy Scriptures as the foundation, the means by which to learn the truth about God and creation, explained.

“We are going to deal with relations between religion and science from different perspectives, biblical philosophies, educational, biology, paleontology, and more,” said Edward Zinke.

The Faith and Science Conference in Montemorelos University came about from the Faith and Science Council initiative of the General Conference–composed of many individuals from the world church’s Biblical Research Institute, the Geoscience Research Institute, Andrews University, the Education department and many other groups–that work together to preach the gospel through science.

The IAD and its education department together with the Inter-American Adventist Theological Seminary (IATS), and Montemorelos University joined together to organize the conference for its teachers and educators across the IAD’s 24 major church regions.

The conference will feature more than 30 theologians and experts giving presentations and seminars, and holding Q&A sessions and forums.

To view presentations during Sabbaths July 22 and July 29, 2017, visit umtv.mx