Authors:Christopher R. Mwashinga Abstract: The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is one of the fastest-growing Christian denominations in the world. Studies show that the SDA Church in Africa in general and East Africa, in particular, has recorded tremendous growth since it was introduced in the region in the early 1900s. This article surveys the first fifty years of the beginning and development of the SDA Church in East African (1903–1953). It focuses on the three initial mission strategies employed by early Adventist missionaries to East Africa, including education, medical care, and publishing work. Early Adventist missionaries to East Africa established educational and medical institutions alongside publishing houses to reach indigenous people in the region. These entities, which were strategically scattered throughout the region, provided education, medical services, and Christian literature to the local populations. By using church membership growth as an evaluative criterion, the article concludes that the three mission strategies were effective in fulfilling the goal of Christian world mission, which is to make disciples of all nations and win converts to Christianity. The article reveals that dedication and hard work on the part of the Adventist missionaries and native Africans, coupled with clear mission strategies, facilitated the rapid growth of Adventism in East Africa in the first fifty years. PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:11:31 PDT
Authors:Eric Louw Abstract: Over the last few years, a debate regarding the inter-structural relationship of each level of the Seventh-day Adventist Church has grown to the point where it can be polarizing, regardless of which side of the debate one is on. This tension has likely come about, at least in part, as a response to the ongoing gender role debate, which has given rise to the emergence of an “us vs. them” mentality between those who agree and disagree with the decisions of the General Conference Sessions and its Executive Committee. This paper looks at some of the historical data related to the 1901 reorganization in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This may help alleviate some of this “us vs. them” tension by familiarizing each side with some of the lesser-known historical details so that continued dialogue includes a more complete, common understanding. It evaluates the historical roots from which the Seventh-day Adventist Church developed union conferences, why union conferences were needed, and how they related to the General Conference shortly after their formation. A few discoveries are made: (1) The Seventh-day Adventist Church was a pioneer in the way that union conferences were organized to address the needs of local fields; (2) the reorganization was necessary in order to reach the world more effectively by minimizing the obstacles caused by the limitations and abuse of the centralized decision-making of a few leaders; (3) there appears to have been the clear intention that union conferences would remain accountable to the General Conference on matters of policy; and (4) union conference autonomy was built on a foundation of bilateral trust, which was necessary to press forward in the mission of the church. How these discoveries specifically apply to more recent debates are left to the discretion of the reader, though pertinent questions for further evaluation and study are suggested. PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:11:23 PDT
Authors:Michael F. Younker Abstract: Reflecting a widespread tension throughout the world of biblical interpretation, Ellen G. White and the Theology of Ordination Study Committee Position 1 (TOSC1) propose contradictory interpretations of Genesis 4:7. Given the content of Genesis 4:7, which addresses issues relating to psychology and authority, which are often connected with Genesis 3:16 and gender, and its use by the TOSC1, the promotion of the TOSC1 interpretation of Genesis 4:7 within Seventh-day Adventist circles as well as broader Christianity will encourage further unpleasant confrontations concerning the issues related to the psychology of gender and authority in Scripture. PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:11:16 PDT
Authors:David J. Hamstra Abstract: For Christians who interpret the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24–27 by correlating the coming of the messiah with the arrival of Jesus Christ, the question of whether Jesus could have been identified as the predicted messiah at the time of fulfillment is theologically significant given biblical claims of prophetic intelligibility. There is a consensus among scholars affirming the view that interpretation of the seventy-weeks prophecy led to a climate of messianic expectation among certain sectors of first-century Jewish society. This position is supported by the explicit connection of the seventy weeks to the anticipated arrival of a messiah in Melchizedek (11Q13). Josephus provides an independent line of circumstantial evidence that dates this expectation to the first century. This warrants the theological conclusion that the prophecy was, in principle, intelligible to those among whom it was fulfilled. PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:11:08 PDT
Authors:David Williams Abstract: The sacrifice of the believer at the Eucharist can nowhere be found in the Adventist understanding of the Lord’s Supper. However, Adventists may find value in reexamining the early church’s teachings on sacrifice. While the early church deviated from Scripture in its primary teachings on the Eucharist, they maintained the scriptural notion of the spiritual sacrifice of the worshiper— something Adventists would do well to practice. This article examines the liturgical orders and teachings of the apostolic fathers, apologists, and early liturgical orders of the first and second centuries. The author considers four major issues relating to the Eucharist as sacrifice: first, martyrdom as sacrifice in the first century; second, the transition from the Old Testament concept of sacrifice to the spiritual sacrifice of the believer; third, the Eucharist as a business transaction; and fourth, the priesthood at the Eucharist. PubDate: Mon, 11 May 2020 12:11:00 PDT
Authors:Thomas Rasmussen Abstract: In contemporary society John H. Kellogg is more known for his medical inventions, than he is for the book The Living Temple, which was published in 1903. However, within Adventism the name Kellogg denotes crisis and controversy. The thesis of this paper is that Ellen White responded to the Kellogg’s publication in three ways: personally—to John Kellogg; prophetically—to the Seventh-day Adventist Church; and publicly—with the book The Ministry of Healing, which was published two years later in 1905. It is the public response that is of primary interest to this paper. Ellen White wrote many personal letters to Kellogg leading up to and following, his publication. She wrote letters of concern and warning to parents, ministers, teachers, and church leaders. In none of her letters did she hold back. It was important that members knew what the theories in Kellogg’s book represented, and why it could be so damaging to the mission of the Church. Kellogg is not mentioned in The Ministry of Healing, although his pantheistic theories are directly addressed. His book is not mentioned, but when you compare her book to his, it is evident that she is responding. For example, he begins with “The Mystery of Life,” she begins with “The True Medical Missionary.” The fact that Kellogg had been the leader in the medical field among Seventh-day Adventists, and the degree of the controversy, gives credibility to the assertion that she would be concerned enough to respond, and that her response would concern medical mission work. By analyzing her responses, what can we learn from how she publicly dealt with Kellogg’s book' PubDate: Tue, 18 Jun 2019 20:29:06 PDT
Authors:Silvia Bacchiocchi Abstract: This study seeks to show how the Lord’s Supper lost its relational and historical (past-present-future) covenant focus and instead became fixed on the Platonic now of mystical contemplation, displacing the eschatological hope of Christ’s physical return with the real presence of Christ in the eucharist. This resulted from the Hellenistic interpretation of reality in general and of Christian rituals in particular. The first section explores the nature of God and the Old Testament covenant, followed by the covenant’s continuity in the New Testament through the Lord’s Supper. The second portion analyzes the Didache’s Jewish-Christian perspective of the Lord’s Supper and contrasts it with the Hellenistic-Christian stance of Justin Martyr and Ignatius of Antioch in order to show that the former held a symbolic (biblical) view of the Lord’s Supper, while the latter began to introduce the Greek philosophical view of Christ’s real presence in the eucharist. PubDate: Tue, 02 Jan 2018 09:00:56 PST
Authors:Esteban J. Hidalgo Abstract: This article traces the history of the interpretation of Deuteronomy 6:4 from its original context, through the dawning of early Christianity in the Second Temple period up to the twilight of the late medieval period. The reader will appreciate the persistent centrality of an unchanging doctrine and simultaneously discern fluidity in its meaning and application in both Jewish and Christian perspectives. Proportionally, the focus is placed on how early Christian writers hermeneutically accommodated the doctrine of the Trinity in the oneness of God as stated in the Shema. PubDate: Tue, 02 Jan 2018 09:00:52 PST
Authors:Bruce Bauer Abstract: This paper suggests that fear, unwillingness to talk about witchcraft issues, ignorance concerning the protecting power of God, embrace of a powerless Christianity, a weak grounding in the Word of God and several other factors and conditions have permitted witchcraft and occult practices to exist among members in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Several practical steps are then listed that can be taken to reduce such practices. PubDate: Tue, 02 Jan 2018 09:00:48 PST
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