Category: Announcements

Authority vs. Experience: What Shapes Christian Identity?

23 June 2022  | When famous Swedish chef Niklas Peter Ekstedt, whose greatest passions are food and health, visited Loma Linda, he was very impressed by the longevity of Adventist centenarians and even with our vegetarian dishes. However, when leaving the town he said that Loma Linda as a town was “pretty boring.” All he […]

ATSS: Charles Scriven – Are Progressive Adventists Deluded?

8 June 2022  | Many Adventists who identify themselves as progressive wonder if they are delusional in dreaming of a more thoughtful and open-minded church—perhaps, especially, after a week like this one when we’ve watched the top body of our church trying to chart a way forward. In this class, Dr. Charles Scriven will make […]

ATSS: Reinder Bruinsma, “The Church Has a Future”

25 May 2022  | The Christian church is in trouble, in particular in the Western world. Many denominations see their membership decrease and experience an exodus of the younger generations. Postmoderns may still have an interest in spirituality, but they turn away from institutional Christianity. Current trends also affect the Seventh-day Adventist Church. While the […]

ATSS: Dr. Robert Johnston on Jesus as Parabler

11 May 2022  | Please read these rabbinic parables to prepare for Dr. Johnston’s class. From a literary standpoint the parables of Jesus were like those of his contemporaries, but their purpose and effect were dramatically different. This presentation will examine the importance of the parables, the narrative technique of Jesus, and how they should […]

ATSS: Misused Texts about Interpreting the Bible

4 May 2022  | Please read this essay to prepare for the study by Dr. Hemmings. Much of what we say we know about Biblical interpretation is derived from what the Bible says about itself. While the Bible is right to self-identify itself as an inspired book, the problem is that several of the oft-used […]

What Does It Mean for the Church to Love LGBTQ+ Adventists?

30 March 2022  | There is a lot of talk about love in the church, and about our relationship to LGBTQ+ Adventists. For their part, people who oppose same-sex marriage and transgender identity are clear that they still love LGBTQ+ people. But some feel that that it’s wrong for them to be pressured to change […]

ATSS: Forgotten Women Who Shaped the Church

9 March 2022  | The history of the Adventist church starts with a woman. That woman still holds the highest place of any of our church pioneers. She is quoted, used as a spiritual authority, exalted as a leader, and by some almost worshipped. But after Ellen White, our church history remembered almost none of […]

ATSS: “A New Reformation”: Adventist Fundamentalism and the Ku Klux Klan

23 February 2022  | by Michael W. Campbell The early twentieth century was a transformative time within American religion and culture. World War I contributed to a heightened sense of militancy; as did the 1918-19 influenza pandemic that only further reminded people of their own mortality. American Christianity experienced a bifurcation between the theological modernist […]