Moskala, Jiri

English

Andrews University

Andrews UniversityDigital Commons @ Andrews UniversityFaculty Publications Old TestamentApril 2004The President's Page: The New Constitution andBylaws of the Adventist Theological SocietyJiri MoskalaAndrews University, moskala@andrews.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/old-testament-pubsPart of the Biblical Studies CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Old Testament at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted forinclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contactrepository@andrews.edu.Recommended CitationMoskala, Jiri, "The President's Page: The New Constitution and Bylaws of the Adventist Theological Society" (2004). FacultyPublications. Paper 12.http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/old-testament-pubs/121Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 15/1 (Spring 2004): 1–5.Article copyright © 2004 by Jir·ö Moskala.The President’s Page: The New Constitution andBylaws of the Adventist Theological Society,and Other IssuesJir·ö MoskalaATS PresidentDuring its November 2003 meeting, the ATS Executive Committee votedthat the editor of JATS should be a trained theologian. Unfortunately, findingtrained theologians with the time to devote to JATS is difficult, but Dr. RandallW. Younker, Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology at the SDATheological Seminary at Andrews University, fills this criteria and has kindlyagreed to serve as interim Executive Editor of JATS. Professor Younker hasdone graduate work in theology at Andrews University and in 1997 received hisdoctorate in Near Eastern Studies and Anthropology from the University of Ari-zona. We warmly welcome him to this new responsibility. Yet, this type of workis not new for him, because for many years he has been and still is the ATS VicePresident for Publications.Meanwhile, Ed Christian, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English and Bibli-cal Literature at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, who has served faithfullyfor six years as the editor of the Journal of the Adventist Theological Society,will shift into new areas of responsibility. Dr. Christian has enthusiastically andtirelessly given to JATS his professional skills and has placed the journal backon a timely publication schedule. Ed, we really appreciate your tremendous andexcellent editorial work and a million thanks for what you have accomplished,for your dedication, time, and expertise! We look forward to further cooperationwith you.In this issue of JATS we introduce an updated layout for our journal. Thenew ATS logo visually summarizes our mission. As a society we want to becentered in Jesus Christ, and our theology must always be cross-focused. We arealso a society with an international scope, because the good news of the Gospelneeds to be proclaimed to the whole world. Thus, we include in the logo thesymbol of the world. In that symbol, the biblical texts expressed in Hebrew andJOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY2Greek (Isa 66:2 and 2 Tim 3:16) point to our resolution to engage in a seriousencounter with the Word of God andÑin joyful apprehension of GodÕs revela-tion, with humility and tremblingÑour willingness to learn and be corrected.We need the constant help of the Holy Spirit, because we are totally dependenton GodÕs guidance in interpreting the Scriptures. My special thanks for the workof designing the new ATS logo and JATS layout goes to Larry Lichtenwalter(the prime initiator for this change), Randall Younker, and Brenda Mendez, agraphic designer, who together, with great effort, made sure that this projectsucceeded.It is my privilege and great joy to announce that we, the Adventist Theo-logical Society, have now a new Constitution and Bylaws which was, after alengthy discussion and some editorial changes, accepted by unanimous vote onSaturday evening, November 22, 2003, at the ATS Annual Business Meeting inAtlanta, Georgia. It means that from that date on this new ATS Constitution andBylaws is in effect (published now in this current issue of the Journal of Ad-ventist Theological Society).This is a very important step forward for the Society. The updating has oc-curred after fifteen years of ATS existenceÑan excellent sign of an energeticorganization. Two years ago at the ATS Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado,November 23, 2001, it was voted to reformulate the Constitution and Bylaws,including the Mission Statement, Goals, and Membership Form of the AdventistTheological Society, in order to be sensitive to the current needs and contempo-rary situation. We felt that some changes were necessary because we wanted toexpress the truth better in a rapidly changing world in order to clearly state whatwe stand for. The ATS Executive Committee devoted many days to discussingthe new ATS Constitution and Bylaws and unanimously recommended on April20, 2003, that the new Constitution and Bylaws be accepted.We desire to be an open Society, but still firm on principles; on one sideconfirming faith and on the other enhancing truth by being a positive voice inour Church and beyond. I am convinced that our mission statement, core values,and goals speak for themselves. The beginning of the 21st century is the righttime to rethink, reshape, and reformulate our attitude and position in order tomake our objectives and goals clearer and more transparent to others. We under-stand that to a certain degree, we are responsible for the image others perceiveof us.Our position is crystal clearÑwe stand for the 27 Fundamental Beliefs andthe Rio de Janeiro ÒMethods of the Bible StudyÓ document on hermeneutics (seeSection 1 in Article III: Core Values). Our basic philosophy and approach informulating the new Constitution and Bylaws can be summarized in the follow-ing way:1. To be faithful to the original intent of the ATS Constitution andBylaws;2. To be clear in what we stand for;MOSKALA: THE PRESIDENTÕS PAGE33. To have essential agreement on our core values without trying toexpress all details of what we believe; and4. Not to go beyond the intention of the Ò27 Fundamental BeliefsÓ ofour Church or the ÒMethods of Bible StudyÓ document on bibli-cal hermeneutics.We can now move forward to be a society with better-formulated state-ments in order to serve others more efficiently with well-balanced biblical the-ology. Our deep desire is to live to the glory of God. Our mission is to be Òaresource for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to foster biblical, theological,and historical studies supportive of the ChurchÕs message and missionÓ (see ourMission Statement). Study also for yourself our eight ÒCore ValuesÓ and eightspecific ÒGoalsÓ which speak unambiguously and distinctly to where we putemphasis and for what we really strive.As ATS, in our theological orientation, we deliberately avoid liberal viewson Creation, the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, ethics, diet, etc. At thesame time we stand against the right-wing positions concerning legalism, per-fectionism, or the literalistic interpretation of the Bible. As a society, we denymaking issues such as the human nature of Christ or the ordination of women atest of orthodoxy. We thus refuse all kinds of destructive criticism, extremism,right or left theology, and rather aim for biblically centered, exegetically andtheologically balanced views. We stand for the straightforward, intended mean-ing of Scripture. We as members of that society want to actively promote soundtheology for the benefit of the church in close cooperation with the leadership ofour church. Therefore, all changes are in line with the original spirit and intentof the mission and theological/hermeneutic convictions of the society. They aremade with a great passion for GodÕs truth. Our main task is to present to boththe scholarly world and the general audience the value and beauty of Seventh-day Adventist biblical truth. Our goal is that our members will be active sup-porters and proclaimers of this mission of the ATS.It is my conviction that theology can be done only within the church and forthe churchÑotherwise itÕs only an intellectual enterprise. Christian and particu-larly Adventist theology cannot be done in a vacuum. In that sense theology andtheologians are in the service of the church. At the same time, I want to stressthat theology has to also be a critical voice within the church, because to servewell does not mean to conserve the status quo. Both elements are crucial andimportant. We need to advance in the understanding of GodÕs truth, never tostop. After the Reformation, our forefathers proclaimed with the deep and trueslogan: ÒChurch reformed and always reforming by the Word of God.Ó MayGod help us put into practice this crucial motto.Let me stress also that in my view our Society should not be only a forumor a discussion club, where different views are presented, discussed, and itÕsfinished! For me the ATS is a group of people devoted to a specific mission andJOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY4activities, people who want to be a resource for the church. Deep convictions,concerns, and service draw us together.We are not a ÒmissionaryÓ society in the sense that we need to get as manymembers as possible. We do not need to try to gain all our scholars and theolo-gians, but letÕs do our work thoroughly and in such a way that they can reallysee the value in what we are doing and be attracted to becoming part of the ATS.I am glad that we have many respected scholars as our members, as well as topleadership in our church. Praise the Lord for that!We are open with membership because our members can be any educatedChurch member and not just trained theologians, even though we have now in-troduced two kinds of membershipÑÒprofessionalÓ and Òassociate.Ó This wasdone primarily in regard to those who are not Bible scholars or theologians butare profoundly interested in solid biblical and theological studiesÑthus they canbe members without feeling ill at ease (see Article V, Sections 1 and 2). Thestress is on membership and not on its kind; this is only a technical matter. Fromthe very beginning, one of the characteristic features of our Society was to beopen to all educated Church members, because of our strong conviction thattheology is not owned by a few trained experts, does not belong only to them,and is not a matter which is in the hands of an elite group. We believe in thepriesthood of all believers.We need to embrace all by love! Our love or fellowship circle must bemuch larger than our theological circle (including not only Adventists, but otherChristians and non-Christians). Right doctrine teaches us to love all, even ourenemies. Love is the highest quality of life and extremely important, but lovewithout truth ceases to be love! We need to remind ourselves that it is impossi-ble to please everybody.I pray that this newly formulated ATS Constitution and Bylaws will help usfocus on the most essential: on uplifting Christ, proclaiming the three angelsÕmessages with urgency and deep convictions, living GodÕs truth, and servingothers. May this new Constitution and Bylaws unite us even more and help us toavoid the temptation to give priority to peripheral issues not crucial to the Gos-pel ministry.It is my deep conviction that we as a society can look with full confidenceto the future because our Creator, Redeemer, Lord, and Master encourages uswith following promises: ÒI am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your righthand and says to you: ÔDo not fear, I will help youÕÓ (Isa 41:13)! ÒCall to meand I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do notknowÓ (Jer 33:3). May our gracious, loving, holy, and just God lead us and givefull assurance of His Presence. May we serve Him and His Church faithfullywith passion for His truth and with joy under the leadership of His Word andSpirit. Soli Deo Gloria!Jir·ö Moskala is Associate Professor of Old Testament Exegesis and Theology and Di-rector of the M.Div. program at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on theMOSKALA: THE PRESIDENTÕS PAGE5campus of Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. Moskala received his Th.D.in 1990 from the Comenius Faculty of Protestant Theology, which is now renamed theProtestant Theological Faculty of Charles University, Czech Republic. His dissertationwas entitled: ÒThe Book of Daniel and the Maccabean Thesis: The Problem of Author-ship, Unity, Structure, and Seventy Weeks in the Book of Daniel (A Contribution to theDiscussion on Canonical Apocalyptics)Ó and was published in the Czech language. In1998 he completed his Ph.D. from Andrews University. His dissertation was entitled:ÒThe Laws of Clean and Unclean Animals of Leviticus 11: Their Nature, Theology, andRationale (An Intertextual Study)Ó and has been published under the same title. Moskalahas authored several books and articles in the Czech and English languages. He is mar-ried to Eva, and they have five children: Andrea, Marcela, Petra, Daniel, and David.moskala@andrews.edu

The President\u27s Page: The New Constitution and Bylaws of the Adventist Theological Society

1Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 15/1 (Spring 2004): 1–5.Article copyright © 2004 by Jir·ö Moskala.The President’s Page: The New Constitution andBylaws of the Adventist Theological Society,and Other IssuesJir·ö MoskalaATS PresidentDuring its November 2003 meeting, the ATS Executive Committee votedthat the editor of JATS should be a trained theologian. Unfortunately, findingtrained theologians with the time to devote to JATS is difficult, but Dr. RandallW. Younker, Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology at the SDATheological Seminary at Andrews University, fills this criteria and has kindlyagreed to serve as interim Executive Editor of JATS. Professor Younker hasdone graduate work in theology at Andrews University and in 1997 received hisdoctorate in Near Eastern Studies and Anthropology from the University of Ari-zona. We warmly welcome him to this new responsibility. Yet, this type of workis not new for him, because for many years he has been and still is the ATS VicePresident for Publications.Meanwhile, Ed Christian, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English and Bibli-cal Literature at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, who has served faithfullyfor six years as the editor of the Journal of the Adventist Theological Society,will shift into new areas of responsibility. Dr. Christian has enthusiastically andtirelessly given to JATS his professional skills and has placed the journal backon a timely publication schedule. Ed, we really appreciate your tremendous andexcellent editorial work and a million thanks for what you have accomplished,for your dedication, time, and expertise! We look forward to further cooperationwith you.In this issue of JATS we introduce an updated layout for our journal. Thenew ATS logo visually summarizes our mission. As a society we want to becentered in Jesus Christ, and our theology must always be cross-focused. We arealso a society with an international scope, because the good news of the Gospelneeds to be proclaimed to the whole world. Thus, we include in the logo thesymbol of the world. In that symbol, the biblical texts expressed in Hebrew andJOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY2Greek (Isa 66:2 and 2 Tim 3:16) point to our resolution to engage in a seriousencounter with the Word of God andÑin joyful apprehension of GodÕs revela-tion, with humility and tremblingÑour willingness to learn and be corrected.We need the constant help of the Holy Spirit, because we are totally dependenton GodÕs guidance in interpreting the Scriptures. My special thanks for the workof designing the new ATS logo and JATS layout goes to Larry Lichtenwalter(the prime initiator for this change), Randall Younker, and Brenda Mendez, agraphic designer, who together, with great effort, made sure that this projectsucceeded.It is my privilege and great joy to announce that we, the Adventist Theo-logical Society, have now a new Constitution and Bylaws which was, after alengthy discussion and some editorial changes, accepted by unanimous vote onSaturday evening, November 22, 2003, at the ATS Annual Business Meeting inAtlanta, Georgia. It means that from that date on this new ATS Constitution andBylaws is in effect (published now in this current issue of the Journal of Ad-ventist Theological Society).This is a very important step forward for the Society. The updating has oc-curred after fifteen years of ATS existenceÑan excellent sign of an energeticorganization. Two years ago at the ATS Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado,November 23, 2001, it was voted to reformulate the Constitution and Bylaws,including the Mission Statement, Goals, and Membership Form of the AdventistTheological Society, in order to be sensitive to the current needs and contempo-rary situation. We felt that some changes were necessary because we wanted toexpress the truth better in a rapidly changing world in order to clearly state whatwe stand for. The ATS Executive Committee devoted many days to discussingthe new ATS Constitution and Bylaws and unanimously recommended on April20, 2003, that the new Constitution and Bylaws be accepted.We desire to be an open Society, but still firm on principles; on one sideconfirming faith and on the other enhancing truth by being a positive voice inour Church and beyond. I am convinced that our mission statement, core values,and goals speak for themselves. The beginning of the 21st century is the righttime to rethink, reshape, and reformulate our attitude and position in order tomake our objectives and goals clearer and more transparent to others. We under-stand that to a certain degree, we are responsible for the image others perceiveof us.Our position is crystal clearÑwe stand for the 27 Fundamental Beliefs andthe Rio de Janeiro ÒMethods of the Bible StudyÓ document on hermeneutics (seeSection 1 in Article III: Core Values). Our basic philosophy and approach informulating the new Constitution and Bylaws can be summarized in the follow-ing way:1. To be faithful to the original intent of the ATS Constitution andBylaws;2. To be clear in what we stand for;MOSKALA: THE PRESIDENTÕS PAGE33. To have essential agreement on our core values without trying toexpress all details of what we believe; and4. Not to go beyond the intention of the Ò27 Fundamental BeliefsÓ ofour Church or the ÒMethods of Bible StudyÓ document on bibli-cal hermeneutics.We can now move forward to be a society with better-formulated state-ments in order to serve others more efficiently with well-balanced biblical the-ology. Our deep desire is to live to the glory of God. Our mission is to be Òaresource for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to foster biblical, theological,and historical studies supportive of the ChurchÕs message and missionÓ (see ourMission Statement). Study also for yourself our eight ÒCore ValuesÓ and eightspecific ÒGoalsÓ which speak unambiguously and distinctly to where we putemphasis and for what we really strive.As ATS, in our theological orientation, we deliberately avoid liberal viewson Creation, the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, ethics, diet, etc. At thesame time we stand against the right-wing positions concerning legalism, per-fectionism, or the literalistic interpretation of the Bible. As a society, we denymaking issues such as the human nature of Christ or the ordination of women atest of orthodoxy. We thus refuse all kinds of destructive criticism, extremism,right or left theology, and rather aim for biblically centered, exegetically andtheologically balanced views. We stand for the straightforward, intended mean-ing of Scripture. We as members of that society want to actively promote soundtheology for the benefit of the church in close cooperation with the leadership ofour church. Therefore, all changes are in line with the original spirit and intentof the mission and theological/hermeneutic convictions of the society. They aremade with a great passion for GodÕs truth. Our main task is to present to boththe scholarly world and the general audience the value and beauty of Seventh-day Adventist biblical truth. Our goal is that our members will be active sup-porters and proclaimers of this mission of the ATS.It is my conviction that theology can be done only within the church and forthe churchÑotherwise itÕs only an intellectual enterprise. Christian and particu-larly Adventist theology cannot be done in a vacuum. In that sense theology andtheologians are in the service of the church. At the same time, I want to stressthat theology has to also be a critical voice within the church, because to servewell does not mean to conserve the status quo. Both elements are crucial andimportant. We need to advance in the understanding of GodÕs truth, never tostop. After the Reformation, our forefathers proclaimed with the deep and trueslogan: ÒChurch reformed and always reforming by the Word of God.Ó MayGod help us put into practice this crucial motto.Let me stress also that in my view our Society should not be only a forumor a discussion club, where different views are presented, discussed, and itÕsfinished! For me the ATS is a group of people devoted to a specific mission andJOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY4activities, people who want to be a resource for the church. Deep convictions,concerns, and service draw us together.We are not a ÒmissionaryÓ society in the sense that we need to get as manymembers as possible. We do not need to try to gain all our scholars and theolo-gians, but letÕs do our work thoroughly and in such a way that they can reallysee the value in what we are doing and be attracted to becoming part of the ATS.I am glad that we have many respected scholars as our members, as well as topleadership in our church. Praise the Lord for that!We are open with membership because our members can be any educatedChurch member and not just trained theologians, even though we have now in-troduced two kinds of membershipÑÒprofessionalÓ and Òassociate.Ó This wasdone primarily in regard to those who are not Bible scholars or theologians butare profoundly interested in solid biblical and theological studiesÑthus they canbe members without feeling ill at ease (see Article V, Sections 1 and 2). Thestress is on membership and not on its kind; this is only a technical matter. Fromthe very beginning, one of the characteristic features of our Society was to beopen to all educated Church members, because of our strong conviction thattheology is not owned by a few trained experts, does not belong only to them,and is not a matter which is in the hands of an elite group. We believe in thepriesthood of all believers.We need to embrace all by love! Our love or fellowship circle must bemuch larger than our theological circle (including not only Adventists, but otherChristians and non-Christians). Right doctrine teaches us to love all, even ourenemies. Love is the highest quality of life and extremely important, but lovewithout truth ceases to be love! We need to remind ourselves that it is impossi-ble to please everybody.I pray that this newly formulated ATS Constitution and Bylaws will help usfocus on the most essential: on uplifting Christ, proclaiming the three angelsÕmessages with urgency and deep convictions, living GodÕs truth, and servingothers. May this new Constitution and Bylaws unite us even more and help us toavoid the temptation to give priority to peripheral issues not crucial to the Gos-pel ministry.It is my deep conviction that we as a society can look with full confidenceto the future because our Creator, Redeemer, Lord, and Master encourages uswith following promises: ÒI am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your righthand and says to you: ÔDo not fear, I will help youÕÓ (Isa 41:13)! ÒCall to meand I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do notknowÓ (Jer 33:3). May our gracious, loving, holy, and just God lead us and givefull assurance of His Presence. May we serve Him and His Church faithfullywith passion for His truth and with joy under the leadership of His Word andSpirit. Soli Deo Gloria!Jir·ö Moskala is Associate Professor of Old Testament Exegesis and Theology and Di-rector of the M.Div. program at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on theMOSKALA: THE PRESIDENTÕS PAGE5campus of Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. Moskala received his Th.D.in 1990 from the Comenius Faculty of Protestant Theology, which is now renamed theProtestant Theological Faculty of Charles University, Czech Republic. His dissertationwas entitled: ÒThe Book of Daniel and the Maccabean Thesis: The Problem of Author-ship, Unity, Structure, and Seventy Weeks in the Book of Daniel (A Contribution to theDiscussion on Canonical Apocalyptics)Ó and was published in the Czech language. In1998 he completed his Ph.D. from Andrews University. His dissertation was entitled:ÒThe Laws of Clean and Unclean Animals of Leviticus 11: Their Nature, Theology, andRationale (An Intertextual Study)Ó and has been published under the same title. Moskalahas authored several books and articles in the Czech and English languages. He is mar-ried to Eva, and they have five children: Andrea, Marcela, Petra, Daniel, and David.moskala@andrews.edu

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The President\u27s Page: The New Constitution and Bylaws of the Adventist Theological Society

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