Biography by Silvia Bacchiocchi
Like all things that occur in the course of history, Fernando Luis Canale was born through the providence of God. And, like most births at that time, this would necessitate the bringing together of his two progenitors, Nelly Block and Elio Canale, in wedded union. Their story, which is interwoven with his, begins our account of his life.
Elio Mario Luis Canale came from a Roman Catholic family who, at the turn of the century, immigrated to Argentina from Italy’s Piedmont region. Little Elio was a musically gifted child who, at the tender age of four, was already performing Mozart piano sonatas and popular songs in packed concert halls across the country. Though much of his life was on stage, Elio devoted his adolescent and young adult years to the study of medicine and enjoyed a double career as doctor and concert pianist, establishing both his own piano conservatory and medical clinic.
Like most concert pianists, Elio’s music was his religion, the piano his god. He gave little thought to Catholicism until the momentous day when he observed an attractive midwife walking through his medical clinic. He soon learned her name was Nelly Block and that she belonged to some novel religion, more so, her father was one of its pastors! Nelly’s father, Gottfried Block, was an impassioned and well-respected Seventh-day Adventist pastor, a German who had emigrated from Russia during the First World War. Gottfried insisted that any suitors to his four daughters be instructed in the Adventist faith and, should they desire to marry one of his damsels, must be willing to become baptized members. It seemed a small sacrifice to Elio to switch religions in order to gain the hand of the gracious and beautiful Nelly. And so the two ceremonies, baptism and ensuing wedding, were easily effected.
Which brings us to the warm spring day of September 15, 1945 when, in the city of Cordoba, a baby named Fernando Luis Canale made his grand entrance. It is told among the family that upon his very first birthday little Fernandito walked up to the front of the church and clearly pronounced: God loves a cheerful giver, as he dropped his birthday offering in the plate. As little Fernando grew up, his life revolved around piano classes (which he loathed), public school (which he tolerated), playing with his cousins in his Nonno’s pool (which he absolutely loved), and attending all church activities (which he enjoyed well enough, except for the appalling lack of attractive girls).
Indeed, Nelly took great pains to ensure her two boys, Fernando and Juan Carlos (who was five years his junior), were front and center at all church functions. Yet she was alone in this commitment as it was soon evident that her husband’s conversion had been on paper only, not in mind or heart. So while Elio allowed Nelly to take their boys to church, he himself would have none of it. Instead, while they prepared for church, he would quietly exit the home and head for the store to buy his fresh bread. Though saddened, Nelly was faithful in taking the boys to all church functions and in maintaining the fear of the Lord in the home through family worship. She would also take the boys to visit their grandfather in the province of Entre Rios. Young Fernando always enjoyed his weekend visits to the rural town of Crespo, visiting his affectionate Großpapa, and listening to his moving sermons. And so his days passed, most of them to the soundtrack of Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven filling the house and, during concert seasons, also filling Fernando’s dreams as his father practiced through the night and into the early hours of the morning.
A significant trial came to Fernando’s life at the age of fifteen when he discovered that his father was having an affair with one of his piano students. This carried on for some time until the teenage boy had had enough. He approached his mother and strongly urged that she give her husband an ultimatum: He must choose between the family and his girlfriend. Sadly, Elio chose the latter option and soon moved out of the home. Decades later, near the end of his life, Elio ran into Nelly at a train station and confided: I made the wrong choice, you had what I needed. Whether he was referring to the family or to the God that they served will one day be made clear. Sadly, Fernando and Juan Carlos, who was ten at the time of the separation, would live out their lives in a divided home, soon after with the addition of a half-sister, Lucy Canale. Angry and heartbroken, Fernando vowed that he would never do this to his future family, but promised to always remain faithful to the wife he would one day marry.
Trying to make sense of this tragedy, Fernando held on to the promise that “All things work for the good of those who love God” (Rom 8: 28). But what good could come out of his father’s leaving them? Then a thought struck him. His father had always insisted that both his sons become doctors, like himself. (Apparently Elio realized there was little livelihood, and perhaps less talent, for his boys in the musical arena.) As such, Fernando had always assumed he would take on the family profession, he would study medicine and become a doctor like his father. But now that his father had in large part abandoned his paternal responsibilities and rights, another father figure took prominence, that of Gottfried Block, his affectionate and godly Großpapa. Through Gottfried’s and his mother’s faithful lives and teachings, Fernando was beginning to be drawn to his heavenly Father. And though his natural bent was more earthly than divine, he now began to contemplate the possibility of serving God in a lifelong ministry. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, the door that my earthly father is closing is making room for my heavenly Father to open another one. Maybe God wants to use this opportunity so that I, like Großpapa, can serve Him in ministry – something my father would never have permitted. As Fernando mused, another thought came to mind. Providentially, during a camp meeting the previous summer, his eyes had rested upon the lovely Mirta Collins. Mirta, whose father was a pastor and president of a conference in northwest Argentina, not only encouraged Fernando to study theology, but her mere presence at the college created an added incentive for Fernando to move to Entre Rios.
So in 1963, empowered by the belief that God had a purpose for his life in ministry, Fernando began to study theology at River Plate College, in the rural town of Puigari, Entre Rios. Unfortunately, his father had made it clear that neither of his sons would ever be menial pastors, and although not present to assert his wishes, he was able to withdraw his financial support. Without his father’s financial assistance, Fernando had to pay his own way. So, during the next four years, the popular and wealthy city boy could be seen on campus cleaning bathrooms, pulling weeds, and making the rounds to collect the town’s trash. This alone was a noteworthy education!
Though his mind and soul were stirred by the biblical truths he uncovered during his theological studies, Fernando’s heart was still not fully committed to pastoral work. He never gave this issue much heed believing that, as some pastors had assured him, the call will come. However, by the third year of his seminary studies a professor announced to the class, If you’re not assured of your call to ministry and aren’t completely committed, we don’t need you. If there is anything else you would rather do, go do that instead! Fernando was shaken. Though his heart was not in pastoral work, he knew of nothing else that interested him. In desperation he sought the advice of Werner Vyhmeister, director of theology at the university, who, to his great relief, suggested the much more palatable option of serving God in a teaching ministry.
And so in December of 1966, at the age of 21, Fernando decided not to go into the pastoral ministry but to switch gears and focus on a teaching career instead. Most providentially, that very year the college began a program in philosophy and pedagogy. This was very attractive to Fernando, who threw himself headlong into another four-year degree. When Elio heard his son was moving away from theology into a less offensive career, he offered to pay any remaining debts from his studies—but room and board fees only; he still refused to give a dime towards any debt relating to his son’s theological studies. Another notable event that December—more joyous than his father’s renewed support or even the excitement of his new studies—was Fernando’s marriage to Mirta Collins. His high school sweetheart would now become his strongest supporter and lifelong friend.
Now a newlywed and fledgling professor, Fernando began teaching theology classes in Greek and Intro to the Bible while pursuing his philosophical studies. Shortly into the program it became evident he possessed both skill and passion for philosophy. Noting this, several of his teachers, who much preferred to teach pedagogy and psychology, gladly handed off their philosophy classes to their precocious pupil. When the time came for Fernando to teach metaphysics the teachers cautioned him: you must teach only Seventh-day Adventist metaphysics! What this entailed, they had no idea, but they had faith their talented student would figure it out. Fernando was definitively on unchartered ground!
In 1970, with eight years of study and several years of teaching under his belt, Fernando assumed that upon his graduation he would be offered a full-time teaching position at the college. Instead he was told to pack up his little family (Mirta and one-year-old son, Oscar) and move to Uruguay. There he spent one year as assistant pastor in Montevideo, and two years as district pastor in Colonia Suisa (the first SDA church in Uruguay). It seems God knew that this academic egghead needed a good dose of earthly reality that only the daily contact with a broad and colorful spectrum of God’s creation could offer. Among other things, Fernando saw his knowledge of philosophy being put to good use, particularly when faced with giving Bible studies to Marxists and atheists! But more than this, he confirmed that philosophy was not an ethereal academic idealization, but necessary for and evident in every daily thought and action. Indeed, those years and people left their mark on Fernando, and it was with a deep sense of love and gratitude that he left his congregation, cherishing their gift of a beautifully framed portrait of Jesus which hangs in their home to this day.
After his three years of fieldwork, Fernando was called back to his preferred academic setting, and from January 1974 to December of 1978 he taught philosophy full time at River Plate. Two years into teaching he began to look into nearby postgraduate programs in philosophy and discovered one a few hours away at the Catholic University of Santa Fe. Three times a week, after a busy day’s teaching, Fernando and two friends would hop into his Volkswagen bug and drive the three hours to the neighboring province of Santa Fe. For two years they did this, often meeting with their professors—in typical philosophical fashion—in one of the downtown cafes.
During his studies Fernando discovered that throughout the history of philosophy and theology, ontology had been interpreted through the lens of Greek dualism and timelessness. He was also excited to discover that Martin Heidegger presented a novel way of interpreting ontology free of Greek presuppositions. While he was making these breakthroughs, an opportunity arose for Fernando to move to the United States and study theology at Andrews University. Usually, the University required overseas students to complete an MDiv program before beginning a PhD, but Werner Vyhmeister (who had previously encouraged Fernando towards a teaching career and was now serving as professor at Andrews), was petitioning to have the theology students from Argentina enter directly into the PhD program. Dr. Vyhmeister’s strategy was a clever one. He sent Fernando’s transcripts, with his ten years of study in theology and philosophy, to various universities in Europe and North America, several of which accepted Fernando into their PhD programs. Dr. Vyhmeister then presented these acceptance letters to Gerhard Hasel (Andrew University’s doctoral director) who proceeded to grant the change in protocol. Yet instead of being glad at this opportunity, Fernando was hesitant to go to Andrews, preferring instead to stay and complete his philosophy studies at Santa Fe. Fortunately, Mirta was insistent and convinced her husband that this opportunity might not knock twice. Fernando reluctantly agreed and they began to pack their bags.
And so, on the day after Christmas, 1978, Fernando and his little family (this time including 6 year-old daughter, Silvia) flew to Chicago. Fernando threw himself headlong into his doctoral studies at Andrews University working diligently to learn English (as well as Hebrew) so that he could maximize his class time. During this time he explored the nature of time and timelessness as primordial presuppositions that define all reality, including God's very being. Fernando realized that everything in theology – as well as life - hinges on whether God is viewed as timeless or as analogically temporal (encompassing time and history yet transcending beyond it). Traditional Catholic and Protestant theology supported the timeless version. But what did the Bible teach? This presented an existential crisis in Fernando’s life, one which he struggled with for many months and dared not share even with Mirta: If his studies proved that the Bible supported a timeless view of being (as opposed to a historical view) he must leave the Adventist faith. Those next months were prayer-filled ones as God led Fernando in his search for truth, reminding him, among other things, of Oscar Cullmann’s work which presented a temporal New Testament God. Finally, on a sunny day in April, 1983, Fernando defended his dissertation entitled: “A Criticism of Theological Reason: Time and Timelessness as Primordial Presuppositions.” With relief and gratitude he celebrated with Raoul Dederen, Gerhard Hasel, and Fritz Guy who had helped guide his research. One other notable person at Fernando’s defense was Catholic theologian, priest, and later Cardinal Avery Dulles, who was likewise congratulatory. But the greatest reward for Fernando was not in the completion of his PhD or graduating summa cum laude, it was that he had vindicated the only denomination that teaches the biblical view of ontology. Now he could remain in the beloved church of his dear Großpapa, as he continued to serve God and His church.
A couple of months after his defense, Fernando packed up the family and returned to River Plate in Argentina. From 1983-1985 he taught philosophy while writing the thesis that completed his philosophy degree from the Catholic University in Santa Fe. During this time, Andrews University extended an offer for him to return, this time as a seminary professor. With gratitude to God for His generous providence, Fernando and his family moved back to Berrien Springs, Michigan, in the fall of 1985.
For the next thirty years Fernando engaged in full-time teaching at Andrews University’s seminary, seeking to affirm his students, and the church at large, in the principle of sola Scriptura. He has written many articles and authored several books along the same lines. In 2013 he received the Siegfried Horn Award for Excellence in Research and retired later that same year. Though now retired, Fernando is still at Andrews University and as busy as ever, advising his doctoral students, writing and researching, and working on several committees, including the SDA Bible Commentary committee and his dear Adventist Sola Scriptura Research Group.
The entire aim of Fernando Canale’s life has been to encourage his students and the church to “live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Particularly in these days of easy ecumenical dialogue, he prays the Holy Spirit will awaken the church to the necessity of adhering to and advancing the sola Scriptura principle. In order to be taken seriously by the thinking world at large, Canale believes the Adventist church must construct a biblical system of thought that rivals that built by Roman Catholicism. Dr. Canale sees this as not only doable, but essential to the survival of Adventism and the success of the biblical gospel commission. Just as the Great Controversy began as a logistical combat of truth and error, between the Word of God and its false interpretation by created beings, so must the vindication of God’s character happen on that same scale, but applying a correct interpretation of the basic presuppositions of thought (being, knowledge, God, mankind, the cosmos, and the principle of unity), that upholds and integrates every truth claim in Scripture.
Dr. Canale believes that the Adventist movement initially arose as a vision generating a systematic theology, but this foundational role was soon forgotten and the Adventist identity watered down as the leadership began to seek commonality with other Protestant faiths. As such, the task at hand, according to Dr. Canale, involves the deconstruction (biblical scrutiny) of current religious tradition (including Adventist tradition) and construction of a biblical system that upholds every teaching of Scripture in a coherent and persuasive system of thought. And it is in this spirit that the current work seeks to honor and engage the thought and teachings of Dr. Fernando Canale.
Silvia Canale Bacchiocchi. "Life Sketch of Fernando Canale." In Scripture and Philosophy: Essays Honoring the Work and Vision of Fernando Luis Canale, edited by Tiago Arrais, Kenneth Bergland and Michael F. Younker, 4-9. Berrien Springs, MI: Adventist Theological Society Publications, 2016.
On a more personal note: Fernando recently celebrated 50 years of marriage to his beloved wife, Mirta. They celebrated with their two children, Oscar and Silvia, and families. Oscar is a physician and resides with his family in California. Silvia does freelance translating and is an MA student at AU. She and her husband, Gianluca Bacchiocchi (international corporate lawyer), live in Berrien Springs, MI, with their three children: Isabella (17), Gianna (14), and Enzo (11). Fernando, aka “Nono Freddy,” is a favorite at family gatherings, where his kind and jovial manner make him an endearing and greatly beloved father and grandfather.
Like all things that occur in the course of history, Fernando Luis Canale was born through the providence of God. And, like most births at that time, this would necessitate the bringing together of his two progenitors, Nelly Block and Elio Canale, in wedded union. Their story, which is interwoven with his, begins our account of his life.
Elio Mario Luis Canale came from a Roman Catholic family who, at the turn of the century, immigrated to Argentina from Italy’s Piedmont region. Little Elio was a musically gifted child who, at the tender age of four, was already performing Mozart piano sonatas and popular songs in packed concert halls across the country. Though much of his life was on stage, Elio devoted his adolescent and young adult years to the study of medicine and enjoyed a double career as doctor and concert pianist, establishing both his own piano conservatory and medical clinic.
Like most concert pianists, Elio’s music was his religion, the piano his god. He gave little thought to Catholicism until the momentous day when he observed an attractive midwife walking through his medical clinic. He soon learned her name was Nelly Block and that she belonged to some novel religion, more so, her father was one of its pastors! Nelly’s father, Gottfried Block, was an impassioned and well-respected Seventh-day Adventist pastor, a German who had emigrated from Russia during the First World War. Gottfried insisted that any suitors to his four daughters be instructed in the Adventist faith and, should they desire to marry one of his damsels, must be willing to become baptized members. It seemed a small sacrifice to Elio to switch religions in order to gain the hand of the gracious and beautiful Nelly. And so the two ceremonies, baptism and ensuing wedding, were easily effected.
Which brings us to the warm spring day of September 15, 1945 when, in the city of Cordoba, a baby named Fernando Luis Canale made his grand entrance. It is told among the family that upon his very first birthday little Fernandito walked up to the front of the church and clearly pronounced: God loves a cheerful giver, as he dropped his birthday offering in the plate. As little Fernando grew up, his life revolved around piano classes (which he loathed), public school (which he tolerated), playing with his cousins in his Nonno’s pool (which he absolutely loved), and attending all church activities (which he enjoyed well enough, except for the appalling lack of attractive girls).
Indeed, Nelly took great pains to ensure her two boys, Fernando and Juan Carlos (who was five years his junior), were front and center at all church functions. Yet she was alone in this commitment as it was soon evident that her husband’s conversion had been on paper only, not in mind or heart. So while Elio allowed Nelly to take their boys to church, he himself would have none of it. Instead, while they prepared for church, he would quietly exit the home and head for the store to buy his fresh bread. Though saddened, Nelly was faithful in taking the boys to all church functions and in maintaining the fear of the Lord in the home through family worship. She would also take the boys to visit their grandfather in the province of Entre Rios. Young Fernando always enjoyed his weekend visits to the rural town of Crespo, visiting his affectionate Großpapa, and listening to his moving sermons. And so his days passed, most of them to the soundtrack of Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven filling the house and, during concert seasons, also filling Fernando’s dreams as his father practiced through the night and into the early hours of the morning.
A significant trial came to Fernando’s life at the age of fifteen when he discovered that his father was having an affair with one of his piano students. This carried on for some time until the teenage boy had had enough. He approached his mother and strongly urged that she give her husband an ultimatum: He must choose between the family and his girlfriend. Sadly, Elio chose the latter option and soon moved out of the home. Decades later, near the end of his life, Elio ran into Nelly at a train station and confided: I made the wrong choice, you had what I needed. Whether he was referring to the family or to the God that they served will one day be made clear. Sadly, Fernando and Juan Carlos, who was ten at the time of the separation, would live out their lives in a divided home, soon after with the addition of a half-sister, Lucy Canale. Angry and heartbroken, Fernando vowed that he would never do this to his future family, but promised to always remain faithful to the wife he would one day marry.
Trying to make sense of this tragedy, Fernando held on to the promise that “All things work for the good of those who love God” (Rom 8: 28). But what good could come out of his father’s leaving them? Then a thought struck him. His father had always insisted that both his sons become doctors, like himself. (Apparently Elio realized there was little livelihood, and perhaps less talent, for his boys in the musical arena.) As such, Fernando had always assumed he would take on the family profession, he would study medicine and become a doctor like his father. But now that his father had in large part abandoned his paternal responsibilities and rights, another father figure took prominence, that of Gottfried Block, his affectionate and godly Großpapa. Through Gottfried’s and his mother’s faithful lives and teachings, Fernando was beginning to be drawn to his heavenly Father. And though his natural bent was more earthly than divine, he now began to contemplate the possibility of serving God in a lifelong ministry. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, the door that my earthly father is closing is making room for my heavenly Father to open another one. Maybe God wants to use this opportunity so that I, like Großpapa, can serve Him in ministry – something my father would never have permitted. As Fernando mused, another thought came to mind. Providentially, during a camp meeting the previous summer, his eyes had rested upon the lovely Mirta Collins. Mirta, whose father was a pastor and president of a conference in northwest Argentina, not only encouraged Fernando to study theology, but her mere presence at the college created an added incentive for Fernando to move to Entre Rios.
So in 1963, empowered by the belief that God had a purpose for his life in ministry, Fernando began to study theology at River Plate College, in the rural town of Puigari, Entre Rios. Unfortunately, his father had made it clear that neither of his sons would ever be menial pastors, and although not present to assert his wishes, he was able to withdraw his financial support. Without his father’s financial assistance, Fernando had to pay his own way. So, during the next four years, the popular and wealthy city boy could be seen on campus cleaning bathrooms, pulling weeds, and making the rounds to collect the town’s trash. This alone was a noteworthy education!
Though his mind and soul were stirred by the biblical truths he uncovered during his theological studies, Fernando’s heart was still not fully committed to pastoral work. He never gave this issue much heed believing that, as some pastors had assured him, the call will come. However, by the third year of his seminary studies a professor announced to the class, If you’re not assured of your call to ministry and aren’t completely committed, we don’t need you. If there is anything else you would rather do, go do that instead! Fernando was shaken. Though his heart was not in pastoral work, he knew of nothing else that interested him. In desperation he sought the advice of Werner Vyhmeister, director of theology at the university, who, to his great relief, suggested the much more palatable option of serving God in a teaching ministry.
And so in December of 1966, at the age of 21, Fernando decided not to go into the pastoral ministry but to switch gears and focus on a teaching career instead. Most providentially, that very year the college began a program in philosophy and pedagogy. This was very attractive to Fernando, who threw himself headlong into another four-year degree. When Elio heard his son was moving away from theology into a less offensive career, he offered to pay any remaining debts from his studies—but room and board fees only; he still refused to give a dime towards any debt relating to his son’s theological studies. Another notable event that December—more joyous than his father’s renewed support or even the excitement of his new studies—was Fernando’s marriage to Mirta Collins. His high school sweetheart would now become his strongest supporter and lifelong friend.
Now a newlywed and fledgling professor, Fernando began teaching theology classes in Greek and Intro to the Bible while pursuing his philosophical studies. Shortly into the program it became evident he possessed both skill and passion for philosophy. Noting this, several of his teachers, who much preferred to teach pedagogy and psychology, gladly handed off their philosophy classes to their precocious pupil. When the time came for Fernando to teach metaphysics the teachers cautioned him: you must teach only Seventh-day Adventist metaphysics! What this entailed, they had no idea, but they had faith their talented student would figure it out. Fernando was definitively on unchartered ground!
In 1970, with eight years of study and several years of teaching under his belt, Fernando assumed that upon his graduation he would be offered a full-time teaching position at the college. Instead he was told to pack up his little family (Mirta and one-year-old son, Oscar) and move to Uruguay. There he spent one year as assistant pastor in Montevideo, and two years as district pastor in Colonia Suisa (the first SDA church in Uruguay). It seems God knew that this academic egghead needed a good dose of earthly reality that only the daily contact with a broad and colorful spectrum of God’s creation could offer. Among other things, Fernando saw his knowledge of philosophy being put to good use, particularly when faced with giving Bible studies to Marxists and atheists! But more than this, he confirmed that philosophy was not an ethereal academic idealization, but necessary for and evident in every daily thought and action. Indeed, those years and people left their mark on Fernando, and it was with a deep sense of love and gratitude that he left his congregation, cherishing their gift of a beautifully framed portrait of Jesus which hangs in their home to this day.
After his three years of fieldwork, Fernando was called back to his preferred academic setting, and from January 1974 to December of 1978 he taught philosophy full time at River Plate. Two years into teaching he began to look into nearby postgraduate programs in philosophy and discovered one a few hours away at the Catholic University of Santa Fe. Three times a week, after a busy day’s teaching, Fernando and two friends would hop into his Volkswagen bug and drive the three hours to the neighboring province of Santa Fe. For two years they did this, often meeting with their professors—in typical philosophical fashion—in one of the downtown cafes.
During his studies Fernando discovered that throughout the history of philosophy and theology, ontology had been interpreted through the lens of Greek dualism and timelessness. He was also excited to discover that Martin Heidegger presented a novel way of interpreting ontology free of Greek presuppositions. While he was making these breakthroughs, an opportunity arose for Fernando to move to the United States and study theology at Andrews University. Usually, the University required overseas students to complete an MDiv program before beginning a PhD, but Werner Vyhmeister (who had previously encouraged Fernando towards a teaching career and was now serving as professor at Andrews), was petitioning to have the theology students from Argentina enter directly into the PhD program. Dr. Vyhmeister’s strategy was a clever one. He sent Fernando’s transcripts, with his ten years of study in theology and philosophy, to various universities in Europe and North America, several of which accepted Fernando into their PhD programs. Dr. Vyhmeister then presented these acceptance letters to Gerhard Hasel (Andrew University’s doctoral director) who proceeded to grant the change in protocol. Yet instead of being glad at this opportunity, Fernando was hesitant to go to Andrews, preferring instead to stay and complete his philosophy studies at Santa Fe. Fortunately, Mirta was insistent and convinced her husband that this opportunity might not knock twice. Fernando reluctantly agreed and they began to pack their bags.
And so, on the day after Christmas, 1978, Fernando and his little family (this time including 6 year-old daughter, Silvia) flew to Chicago. Fernando threw himself headlong into his doctoral studies at Andrews University working diligently to learn English (as well as Hebrew) so that he could maximize his class time. During this time he explored the nature of time and timelessness as primordial presuppositions that define all reality, including God's very being. Fernando realized that everything in theology – as well as life - hinges on whether God is viewed as timeless or as analogically temporal (encompassing time and history yet transcending beyond it). Traditional Catholic and Protestant theology supported the timeless version. But what did the Bible teach? This presented an existential crisis in Fernando’s life, one which he struggled with for many months and dared not share even with Mirta: If his studies proved that the Bible supported a timeless view of being (as opposed to a historical view) he must leave the Adventist faith. Those next months were prayer-filled ones as God led Fernando in his search for truth, reminding him, among other things, of Oscar Cullmann’s work which presented a temporal New Testament God. Finally, on a sunny day in April, 1983, Fernando defended his dissertation entitled: “A Criticism of Theological Reason: Time and Timelessness as Primordial Presuppositions.” With relief and gratitude he celebrated with Raoul Dederen, Gerhard Hasel, and Fritz Guy who had helped guide his research. One other notable person at Fernando’s defense was Catholic theologian, priest, and later Cardinal Avery Dulles, who was likewise congratulatory. But the greatest reward for Fernando was not in the completion of his PhD or graduating summa cum laude, it was that he had vindicated the only denomination that teaches the biblical view of ontology. Now he could remain in the beloved church of his dear Großpapa, as he continued to serve God and His church.
A couple of months after his defense, Fernando packed up the family and returned to River Plate in Argentina. From 1983-1985 he taught philosophy while writing the thesis that completed his philosophy degree from the Catholic University in Santa Fe. During this time, Andrews University extended an offer for him to return, this time as a seminary professor. With gratitude to God for His generous providence, Fernando and his family moved back to Berrien Springs, Michigan, in the fall of 1985.
For the next thirty years Fernando engaged in full-time teaching at Andrews University’s seminary, seeking to affirm his students, and the church at large, in the principle of sola Scriptura. He has written many articles and authored several books along the same lines. In 2013 he received the Siegfried Horn Award for Excellence in Research and retired later that same year. Though now retired, Fernando is still at Andrews University and as busy as ever, advising his doctoral students, writing and researching, and working on several committees, including the SDA Bible Commentary committee and his dear Adventist Sola Scriptura Research Group.
The entire aim of Fernando Canale’s life has been to encourage his students and the church to “live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Particularly in these days of easy ecumenical dialogue, he prays the Holy Spirit will awaken the church to the necessity of adhering to and advancing the sola Scriptura principle. In order to be taken seriously by the thinking world at large, Canale believes the Adventist church must construct a biblical system of thought that rivals that built by Roman Catholicism. Dr. Canale sees this as not only doable, but essential to the survival of Adventism and the success of the biblical gospel commission. Just as the Great Controversy began as a logistical combat of truth and error, between the Word of God and its false interpretation by created beings, so must the vindication of God’s character happen on that same scale, but applying a correct interpretation of the basic presuppositions of thought (being, knowledge, God, mankind, the cosmos, and the principle of unity), that upholds and integrates every truth claim in Scripture.
Dr. Canale believes that the Adventist movement initially arose as a vision generating a systematic theology, but this foundational role was soon forgotten and the Adventist identity watered down as the leadership began to seek commonality with other Protestant faiths. As such, the task at hand, according to Dr. Canale, involves the deconstruction (biblical scrutiny) of current religious tradition (including Adventist tradition) and construction of a biblical system that upholds every teaching of Scripture in a coherent and persuasive system of thought. And it is in this spirit that the current work seeks to honor and engage the thought and teachings of Dr. Fernando Canale.
Silvia Canale Bacchiocchi. "Life Sketch of Fernando Canale." In Scripture and Philosophy: Essays Honoring the Work and Vision of Fernando Luis Canale, edited by Tiago Arrais, Kenneth Bergland and Michael F. Younker, 4-9. Berrien Springs, MI: Adventist Theological Society Publications, 2016.
On a more personal note: Fernando recently celebrated 50 years of marriage to his beloved wife, Mirta. They celebrated with their two children, Oscar and Silvia, and families. Oscar is a physician and resides with his family in California. Silvia does freelance translating and is an MA student at AU. She and her husband, Gianluca Bacchiocchi (international corporate lawyer), live in Berrien Springs, MI, with their three children: Isabella (17), Gianna (14), and Enzo (11). Fernando, aka “Nono Freddy,” is a favorite at family gatherings, where his kind and jovial manner make him an endearing and greatly beloved father and grandfather.