20 November 2024 | It is not easy being the church. I am increasingly reminded of the humanity that accompanies our being a connected community of faith. I observe increasing worries over orthodoxy, anxiety around behaviors, reaction to secular culture, and exercise of power or control. No, it is not easy being church. Certainly an […]
13 November 2024 | Three weeks ago, October 22, 2024, marked 180 years since the Great Disappointment. The pioneers—James White, Joseph Bates, Loughborough, and others—would be aghast that we are still on earth 180 years later. Ellen White died 109 years ago. Over and over, from the American Civil War onward, Adventist writers have interpreted […]
6 November 2024 | Since the 19th century, Adventists have regarded Roman Catholics as enemies. In this, they were not unlike many American Protestants: anti-Catholicism was common in Protestant America—not least because the many poor Catholic immigrants who were flooding into American cities led to a reactionary nativism. In this class, Dr. Bruinsma will recap […]
30 October 2024 | Without the court-protected, faith-based, healthcare corporations of modern America, our healthcare non-system would collapse. So how do faith-based healthcare corporations manage the necessary conflicts between their religion’s doctrinal stance and caring for a diverse public? Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, a new era of approaching women’s reproductive rights and health […]
23 October 2024 | “As the pessimism and despair of Orthodoxy fades away, like the darkness before the rising sun, it leaves us in a world containing a nobler religion, a grander God, a more hopeful man, a more comprehensive Bible, a better Church, and a more inspiring destiny.” So wrote the Rev. Minot Savage, […]
17 October 2024 | At least in the United States, church and state are held separately to prevent the interjection of the government into the free exercise of religion. However, does that mean the church is to remain neutral in all matters of politics? We will explore some of the historical episodes of the Adventist […]
9 October 2024 | When people look at a photograph, they may accept what they see at face value. But if a person is a photographer, many issues come to mind: a particular angle or perspective was chosen; some things in the picture may be in focus, while others are not; the picture may be […]
1 October 2024 | The disciples asked Jesus, “Whose sin caused the man to be born blind – his or his parents?” (John 9.1-12). On another occasion, Jesus asked the disciples whether a tower fell and killed eighteen people because they were more sinful than themselves (Luke 13.1-5). Jesus asked whether one should do good […]
18 September 2024 | Many people do not consider the book of Jonah worthy of serious attention. It might provide wonderful images for use in children’s Bibles—a huge fish swallowing and then regurgitating a prophet fascinates everybody—but this simply underlines that the book cannot be taken seriously. Those who pass that kind of judgment are […]
11 September 2024 | In Romans chapter 9 Paul talks about various Old Testament individuals and how God chose to use them for his purposes. This chapter makes it sound like God has predestined certain individuals to play specific roles in history, with no choice on their part. This led theologians such as John Calvin […]
28 August 2024 | That Adventist doctrines have developed to some degree over time is obvious and widely accepted. Less agreement exists regarding the quality, extent, and timing of these changes. There are several widespread notions and hypotheses—advanced in the past by leading Adventists—in this regard that do not stand up to the historical facts, […]
28 August 2024 | You and I are concerned about our personal reputation. What do people think of us? Are we making a good impression? Are we thought trustworthy, wise, and likable by others? But we should also be be concerned about God’s reputation, as reflected in us and our church. It’s not hard to […]