30 August 2023 | A community cannot exist without general consensus about its goals and its self-identity, but responsible dissent is healthy for the future of the church. History shows that at times the church has been wrong and dissenters were often pioneers of renewal and reform. Dissent forces the community to re-assess its self-understanding. […]
28 August 2023 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Have you noticed that pulpits—the high-built “sacred desks” that preachers once preached from—have in recent years been replaced by little satanic book stands? There is essential symbolism in the preaching of God’s Word from the grand elevated pulpit. Now many preachers speak from a tiny lectern, so we […]
16 August 2023 | In that phrase—“what language shall I borrow”—the translator of “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” captures the sense of speechlessness we experience when confronted with divine mystery. When we experience life’s greatest joys or sorrows, when we sense the Divine presence in church, in the natural world, or in our relationships, we […]
21 August 2023 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Where I come from, Adventist pastors seem to love preaching about the Sunday Law, in both church services and evangelistic meetings. I always wonder why they preach about this. We have no Sunday laws here. No verse from Genesis to Revelation mentions the phrase “Sunday Law.” Why do […]
16 August 2023 | My title is not a misspelling or manufactured. The Sabbath among Adventists has primarily been seen as a divine commandment. What if this is a sin of omission, or at least a misperception? What will we say if, after putting the seventh day in our denominational name, it should turn out […]
14 August 2023 | Dear Aunt Sevvy. You talk like you know everything, but I’d like to see you come to the defense of the music being used in worship in many churches now. Everything has become the Vineyard or Hillsong kind of music, songs no one knows, repeated phrases over and over. They’re accompanied […]
9 August 2023 | Adventists have used certain key terms and phrases to express their view on doctrinal development. These catch-words reflect both the determination to uphold the doctrines of the church and the readiness to advance in the understanding of truth. Because of this tendency to use these expressions without an accurate understanding of […]
by Rebecca Barceló | 8 August 2023 | On July 28, I checked into my hotel at the Hurst Conference Center in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, grateful for the lobby’s air conditioning amid the oppressive summer heat. “I’m sure not in Denver anymore,” I murmured to myself, heading up to the 4th floor to find […]
4 August 2023 | Ted Wilson has in the past few years issued a strong warning to all Adventists, whether lay or scholars. What is the great threat to Adventist identity? According to him, reading the Apocrypha. With increased interest in the topic, more and more Adventists are investigating what books lay outside their Bible […]
2 August 2023 | For a number of years, an increasing number of voices in Seventh-day Adventism have been interested in the topic of the Apocrypha, lost books of the Bible, and particularly the Book of Enoch. In this Sabbath School, a leading expert on Ellen White’s use of the Apocrypha (with almost ten publications […]
31 July 2023 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Did Ellen White say that black Africans are a result of crossbreeding between animals and humans? Signed, If So, Offended Dear If So: No. Here is what she wrote: Since the flood, there has been amalgamation of man and beast, as may be seen in the almost endless […]
26 July 2023 | Those who accept a literal interpretation of Genesis often feel threatened by the Big Bang, which implies a universe much older than just 6,000 years. In some ways the Big Bang is more supportive of the existence of a God who created the universe! Prior to the Big Bang theory cosmologists […]
