There’s an old, old joke—did I mention it was old?—in Christian circles that if the Authorized, or King James, version of the Bible was good enough for Christ and the Apostles, it should be good enough for us today. Knowledgeable folks know it’s a joke, because they know that (a) Jesus spoke Hebrew and Aramaic, not 16th Century English and (
We have almost reached the end of this current Sabbath School quarterly (Q4 2017): we have three more lessons before the end of the quarter. Because, in this commentary series, I have attempted to tie in various issues affecting Adventist theology to each lesson, I am going to use the remaining lessons to address some of the loose ends, in addition
This week, we've arrived at Romans 7, and I’d like to begin this article by briefly addressing a number of points that, in my opinion, tend to receive more attention than necessary. Firstly, this is one of the chapters in Romans where Adventists spend a great deal of time attempting to convince other Christians (and each other) that Paul was
Adventism was not born in a vacuum. In other words, we are not as unique as we'd like to think we are. As I grew up in the Adventist church, many people spoke of our origins as if we somehow dropped out of the sky with all this truth no one had ever heard of before. Nicolas Miller expressed it well when he wrote, "Some Adventists appear to believe
A couple of years ago, I ran into an article that was summarizing a talk given by an official in the church. Although I have since forgotten where the article was located, there is one thing I have not forgotten—the boiling sense of irritation I felt as I read a quote from this official complaining about the rising trend within Adventism to make ou
In The Netherlands the papal tyranny very early called forth resolute protest. Seven hundred years before Luther's time the Roman pontiff was thus fearlessly impeached by two bishops, who, having been sent on an embassy to Rome, had learned the true character of the “holy see“: God “has made His queen and spouse, the church, a noble and everlasting
Faith in Bohemia The gospel had been planted in Bohemia as early as the ninth century. The Bible was translated, and public worship was conducted, in the language of the people. But as the power of the pope increased, so the word of God was obscured. [Pope] Gregory VII, who had taken it upon himself to humble the pride of kings, was no less intent
Today’s society is structured and dependent on technology. Thanks to scientific advances, we are able to send robots to other planets, carry microcomputers in the palm of our hands, and even tweak the genetic code of any species. However, science hasn’t always been like this. When we look at the way scientists used to do their work during the Middl
I am a counselor living in the southern United States, and have been directly involved with my community for over 20 years. In my work, I come across a wide swath of people—many of whom consider themselves “Christian,” but are from other denominations besides Adventism. Several years ago, my wife sent me an e-mail that first made me laugh, then mad
God's People in Every Church The Lord has His representatives in all the churches. These persons have not had the special testing truths for these last days presented to them under circumstances that brought conviction to heart and mind; therefore they have not, by rejecting light, severed their connection with God. Many there are who have faithful
