Research Presentations

What Doest Thou Here Elijah?
The Mental Health Challenges of our Society and how to Transform the Local Church into an Oasis for Mental Health

Presented on 15th September 2018 
David R. Williams
Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health
Professor of African & African American Studies and of Sociology
Harvard University

Recent Research on Restorative Activities: The Bible and Stress

Presented on 14th September 2018 
David R. Williams
Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health
Professor of African & African American Studies and of Sociology
Harvard University

Healthy and Unhealthy Spirituality: What Science is Teaching Us

Presented on 13th September 2018 
David R. Williams
Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health
Professor of African & African American Studies and of Sociology
Harvard University

Keep your Academic Integrity

Anointing with Oil in African Christianity: An Evaluation of Contemporary Practises

Presented on 03rd May 2016
Sampson Nwaomah, PhD
Adventist University of Africa
Dean, Theological Seminary

One New Testament practice that seems to have appealed to many contemporary African Christians in their quest to appropriate the providences of God in their lives, endeavors, and in order to protect their possessions is the practice of anointing with oil. To anoint, as popularly understood,
means “to smear, pour oil or other unctuous substance upon” (Horn 1979:48). Historically, the practice of anointing either with oil or other substances was widespread, and it was used for various purposes—religious or secular (Richards 1985:54). Read More…

Urban Livestock Farming and Potential Public Health Implications in Kenya

Presented on 16th February 2015
Jackim Nyamari, PhD
Adventist University of Africa
Department of Public Health

Growing of plants and raising animals for food and other uses within urban and peri-urban areas has increased in the recent past due to inadequate, unreliable and irregular access to the food supply. Read more...

Spiritualism, the Occult, and the Church

Paper Presented March 30, 2014
Global Mission Issues Committee
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington, DC
Bruce L. Bauer, Professor of World Missions, Andrews University ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )

From the very beginning, Seventh-day Adventists have had a strong emphasis on soul sleep and the Hebrew concept of people in death—no immortal soul. Read more...

The Bible, Ellen G. White and the Shepherd’s Rod Compared

Victor F. Figueroa, PhD
Nairobi, October 2014

The Shepherd’s Rod or Davidians is a movement which emerged in 1929 within the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA Church) under the leadership of Víctor Tasho Houteff (1885-1955). Houteff thought he was the continuation of the gift of prophecy in the SDA Church, which had ceased in 1915 with the death of Ellen G. White. Read more...