Beliefs about the creation of the world among teachers in Adventist schools in Australia and the Solomon Islands

Abstract

This chapter reports on what teachers in Seventh-day Adventist Schools in Australia and the Solomon Islands believe about creation. It begins by considering the information that the teachers will have received from church sources. Creation and creationism have been of keen interest to Seventh-day Adventists. The most prominent exponent of creationism among Seventh-day Adventists, George McCready Price (1870—1963), was influential both within and without the Adventist Church. He attacked the concept of the geological column, and attributed the phenomena found in the various strata to the Flood. In 1958 the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church established the Geoscience Research Institute. The chapter reports on its activities, and notes the dates, academic degree and specialization of the directors of the institute. The chapter goes on to outline the contributions made by Leonard Brand, and then outlines the reasons why the current statement on creation is found in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The last part of the chapter reports on the responses of the teachers to five survey questions relating to the doctrine of creation. It was noted that there was near unanimity from both teachers in the Australian Union Conference (AUC) and the Solomon Islands Mission (SIM) that God created the world. It also noted that there were statistically significant differences between the AUC and SIM teachers in their understanding of the age of the earth. The chapter considers possible reasons for the similarities and differences between the responses of the AUC and SIM teachers.