A term Seventh-day Adventists have applied to a series of regular meetings, convened by the General Conference since 1919, for the purpose of in-depth study of biblical and theological issues.
Bible conferences had their beginning in the formative years of the church, when the leaders met to pray and to study the Bible so as to arrive at doctrinal unanimity on the basis of the Bible’s being the only rule of faith and practice ( see Sabbath Conferences ).
A significant Bible conference was held in Washington, D.C., from July 1 to 21, 1919. This was a closed conference and was attended only by denominational editors, Bible and history teachers from Seventh-day Adventist colleges, and members of the General Conference Committee. The objective of the conference was “to unite in a definite, practical, spiritual study of the Word of God” in order “to gain more light and greater unity” ( Review and Herald 96:3, 4, Aug. 21, 1919). The following topics were discussed at this Bible conference: (1) The Person and Mediatorial Work of Christ, (2) The Nature and Work of the Holy Spirit, (3) The Two Covenants, (4) The Principles of Prophetic Interpretation, (5) The Eastern Question (Turkey and Armageddon in Bible Prophecy), (6) The Beast Power in Revelation, (7) The 1260 Days, (8) The United States in Prophecy, (9) The Seven Trumpets, (10) Matthew 24, and (11) The Identification of the 10 Kingdoms. There is a stenographic transcript of this conference in the denominational archives in Washington, D.C.
The announced result of this conference was that “the Bible and history teachers, the editors, and the members of the General Conference Committee, who came together from all parts of North America, rejoiced to find themselves in agreement on all the great fundamental truths of the Bible” ( ibid. , p. 4).
A second SDA Bible conference was held in Washington, D.C., Sept. 1–13, 1952. Much larger than the previous Bible conference, it was attended by members of the General Conference Committee; in North America, two Bible teachers from each senior college, one Bible teacher from each junior college, from one to several evangelists from each union conference, editors of leading periodicals, book editors of leading publishing houses, representatives from the SDA Theological Seminary; and the presidents and a minimum of three others from the overseas divisions.
A transcript of this conference is preserved in the denominational archives in Washington, D.C., and photostatic copies of this transcript are available at the Andrews and Loma Linda universities’ heritage rooms.
The purpose of this conference was threefold: (1) to study together the doctrines that made Seventh-day Adventists a distinct people and that justified their continued existence, (2) to set forth Seventh-day Adventist doctrines in a way that most fully explained the meaning of the times and most effectively challenged the attention and response of the public, and (3) to keep “in step” in areas of prophetic interpretation “heretofore but dimly discerned,” but “now . . . seen more clearly” ( Our Firm Foundation [1953], vol. 1, p. 17). The following topics were presented at the conference: (1) Recent Discoveries Confirm the Bible, (2) Christ the Center of All True Preaching, (3) The Spirit of Prophecy and the Remnant Church, (4) The Gospel in Type and Antitype, (5) The Atonement and the Cross, (6) The Covenants and the Law, (7) Life Only Through Christ, (8) The Increasing Timeliness of the Threefold Message, (9) Antichrist in History and Prophecy, (10) The Mediatorial Ministry of Jesus Christ, (11) The Advent Message Built Upon the Foundation of Many Generations, (12) The Imminence of Christ’s Second Coming, (13) The Great Controversy, (14) Health and the Gospel Message, (15) The Companions of the Lamb, (16) The Gospel Commission and the Remnant Church, (17) World Evangelism Our Basic Task, (18) The Place of Prophecy in Our Preaching, (19) The Lord Our Righteousness, and (20) The Holy Spirit and the Latter Rain.
Reporting on the results of the conference, D. A. Delafield wrote: “The General Conference Committee did not anticipate that the Bible conference should simply reaffirm our faith in the great truths of the third angel’s message. They also encouraged, and looked forward to, a great spiritual revival at the meetings that would reach out through the 450 delegates to our churches in all the world. The greater, more compelling result of sanctification of life through the truth was realized to a highly gratifying extent by the meetings” ( Review and Herald 129:1, Oct. 2, 1952).
In May and June 1974 three identical eight-day Bible conferences drew 2,000 delegates of the North American Division to the campuses of Southern Missionary College, Andrews University, and Pacific Union College. The conference program was built around the work being done by the Biblical Research Committee in the area of biblical hermeneutics (principles of interpretation). Small group discussions of the topics presented, and panel discussions of group questions, attempted maximum interaction.
A Symposium on Biblical Hermeneutics (Gordon M. Hyde, ed. , 1974), written primarily by members of the Biblical Research Committee, was distributed to delegates in advance of the conferences as a means of orientation to the Bible conference papers. The latter covered: (1) Biblical Archaeology as an Aid to Biblical Exegesis, (2) Biblical Authority: A Study of Religious Trends From the Apostolic Church to the Present Time, (3) Toward a Seventh-day Adventist Theology of Revelation-Inspiration, (4) The Relationship Between the Bible and the Writings of Ellen G. White, (5) General Principles of Biblical Interpretation, (6) Principles of Interpretation of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature of the Bible, (7) “The Song of the Vineyard,” a Case Study in Biblical Interpretation, (8) Preaching the Bible, (9) The Use of Tools in the Study of the Bible, (10) The Role of the Holy Spirit in Biblical Interpretation, (11) Issues in Current Theology, (12) The Interrelation of the Bible and Science With Particular Consideration of Issues Related to Creation, (13) The Everlasting Gospel and Righteousness by Faith, (14) The Unique Contribution of Adventist Eschatology, (15) The Role of the SDA Church in the Great Controversy in the End-time.
Morning Bible study series were presented on the Epistles of Ephesians, Galatians, and Colossians, respectively. Reports were presented on a proposed biography of Ellen G. White and on the Andrews University Heshbon dig.
The delegations were primarily drawn from the preaching and Bible teaching ministries of the church, with representation of all departments, institutions, administrative branches, and laypersons. World divisions sent observers to the conferences.
The primary objectives were to review the Seventh-day Adventist concept of the revelation-inspiration basis for the authority of inspired writings; to present a sound SDA system of interpretation principles for the study of inspired messages; and to attempt application of such principles in key eschatological subject areas.
Reporting on the Bible conferences, Kenneth H. Wood wrote, “The . . . editors of the Review . . . consider these conferences one of the most constructive influences within the church during this generation” ( Review and Herald 151:33, Aug. 15, 1974, p. 3).
After 1974 Bible conferences were conducted in Europe (1977), Australia (1978), and South America (1979). The biblical and theological subjects discussed were the same ones presented in North America in 1974. However, allowance was made for the discussion of subjects of particular relevance and interest to each region.
The Euro-Africa Division was the location of another Bible conference in 1982. The main focus of discussion was prophecy and eschatology. The papers presented were published in French ( Prophétie et Eschatologie I-II [France: Seminaire Adventiste du Saleve, 1982]) and German ( Prophetie und Eschatologie I-II [Marienhöhe, 1982]). The same subjects were discussed in two other Bible conferences held in the Southern Asia Division (1983) and in the Far Eastern Division (1984).
It has been the practice of the Euro-Africa Division to organize and direct Bible conferences every five years in its territories. One of those was held in 1988 on the book of Revelation ( Études sur l’Apocalypse [Conférences Bibliques Division Eurafricane, 1988]), and another one in 1993 on ecclesiology.
See also Youth Bible Conference .