23 September 2024 | Dear Aunty, I became an Adventist about 20 years ago. Initially I was very legalistic in my faith. My husband remained Roman Catholic. Prior to marrying me he had stressed that the children have to be Roman Catholic, and at the time I agreed. They have been baptized and received holy […]
Comments of the Week September 16-22 Welcome to a new feature, where we select the best comments of the week, and invite you to revisit the essays where they were made. —Editors The Truth About the Bible “If we start out with the Bible was written for us but not to us, and continually make […]
There is a theory I’ve heard about the Bible. It is one I suspect is widely believed. The idea is that the Bible unfolds, easily and accessibly, a simple, pure, and complete truth, untouched by the cultures or experiences of the authors, and the culture and presuppositions of the reader. If one opens it with […]
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 […]
16 September 2024 | For many years I have often been taught by our church pastors that we should not wear any jewelry, as it is sinful. Today Adventists not only wear jewelry, but have tattoos on their hands and bodies. I am totally confused. Confused Adventist Dear Confused: We Adventists base our anti-jewelry stance […]
Comments of the Week September 9-15 Welcome to a new feature, where we select the best comments of the week, and invite you to revisit the essays where they were made. —Editors The Prophecy Cult “Thanks, Loren. As a teenager who read a lot of history, prophecy and beasts fascinated me. As I have traveled […]
A friend of mine, when asked what makes him an Adventist, declares emphatically that the foundation of his belief is the parallel identities of Rome in Daniel 2, 7, and 8, along with the beasts of Revelation 13. He finds in these the confirmation for the existence of our church, and the truth of our […]
by Jack Hoehn | 12 September 2024 | What are the politics of conscience? On the sidewalk outside of your church, have you heard things like this? “Surely every Seventh-day Adventist must vote in favor of life? How can we do anything but hold our noses and vote for politicians we may not like—but who […]
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 […]
9 September 2024 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, An older church worker that I admired once told me that the church promotes people to their level of incompetence. I was new to church work at the time, and thought maybe he was just jaded. But over the last few decades I’ve seen it to be true. […]
Comments of the Week September 1-8 Welcome to a new feature, where we select the best comments of the week, and invite you to revisit the essays where they were made. —Editors How Much Can We Trust Your Conscience? “Adventists generally do not have a true conscientious objection to anything. While some are conscientious objectors […]
I’ve recently begun working in a skilled nursing facility as Director of Social Services and it has introduced me to some really beautiful people in the form of the patients. These lovely people who have lifetimes of experience and wisdom are experiencing a difficult time in their lives. Most of them have some form of […]