Anders Gerdmar

Why is a Creationist Bible Interpretation Important?

That God created the universe belongs to the most basic tenets of Christian faith. Creation faith was self-evident during more than Christianity’s first 1700 years. However, with the development of the hypothesis of evolution and other hypotheses as explanations for the universe and biological life, the evolutionary paradigm has become an alternative to theistic creation. Criticizing the intellectual context of the hypothesis of evolution, the lecture challenges the present paradigm as a viable explanation, and argues that churches that accept other explanations than the universe being the product of God’s instantaneous creation are disinheriting Christianity of faith in the greatest of wonders.

About the speaker

Dr Anders Gerdmar is the founder and president of Scandinavian School of Theology. Born to a minister’s family he was himself ordained in 1980, and describes his calling as Servant of and with God’s Word. Since the beginning of Russia Inland Mission, he has been actively involved in missions in different capacities, e.g., in the training of more than 1700 pastors and leaders internationally, from Norway and Siberia to the Middle East and Singapore. His most widely read book, BibleKeys, is written for new believers and is translated into more than 20 languages.

He is a distinguished scholar and educator, specializing in the Jewish background of Christianity, apostolic Christianity, and theology and anti-Semitism.

Dr Gerdmar teaches New Testament in the Seminary, emphasizing the double focus of academic excellence and spiritual growth with a strong charismatic component. He is also actively involved in research and public debate on issues such as the authority of the Bible and anti-Semitism.

2012–2014 Dr Gerdmar a board member at Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He is member of several scholarly societies, including the New Testament SNTS (Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas) and European Association for Jewish Studies.

Dr. Gerdmar is the author of eight books. Three of them in english.

• Rethinking the Judaism-Hellenism Dichotomy. A Historiographical Case Study of Second Peter and Jude. AWI, 2001.
• BibleKeys: The Gate to Life. Mediaserve, 2000.
• Roots of Theological Antisemitism. German Biblical Interpretation and the Jews, from Herder and Semler to Kittel and Bultmann. Brill, 2009, paperback 2010.