16 June 2025 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Are there other denominations that interpret Daniel and Revelation in similar ways to Adventists? Signed, Curious About Prophecy Dear Curious, Daniel and Revelation, with their numbers and metaphorical beasts, have always been a rich field for speculation about the end times. One of the most famous works exploring […]
Are you attending this summer’s General Conference (GC) Session in St. Louis? If so, we’d love to meet you in person! Join us for a casual, complimentary vegetarian buffet lunch on Friday, July 11, at the Hotel Saint Louis, Autograph Collection (705 Olive St, St. Louis, Missouri)—just two blocks from the America’s Center. Your hosts […]
11 June 2025 | Despite extensive conversations about how to deconstruct one’s faith and how to recognize harm in religious or spiritual contexts, very little has been written about what helps people thrive after distancing from high-control religion. Some people stay in the faith communities in which they were born; others completely disconnect from institutional […]
Comments of the Week June 2–8 “Excellent and very true. Unless changes are made, the General Conference is only a reflection of gray-headed, American thought.” –Steve Tatum on St Louis, We Have a Problem! Comments on They Shall Deceive the Very Elect; Exploring the 2025 General Conference Agenda; St. Louis, We Have a Problem; Social […]
For there shall arise false christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Matthew 24:24 I remember as a child reading about false christs and prophets. That last phrase, “They shall deceive the very elect” stuck in my brain. I […]
4 June 2025 | What makes something wrong? In his favorably reviewed book The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt challenges both the wisdom of the ages and our current ideas. Though a secular evolutionary psychologist, he argues that when we make moral decisions, instincts often triumph over reason. Haidt then presents real consequences for politics: for […]
2 June 2025 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, I’m a baptized Adventist in Africa, and I have been wrestling with Adventist teachings: I think that we are too rule-based and treat Christianity more as a religion, and not a relationship with Jesus. And we are very judgmental of other Christian churches. I don’t want to leave […]
Comments of the Week May 26-June 1 “All our churches use this as the code I’m not even joking.” –Andrew Mod on SATIRE: Security Experts Warn Adventists to Stop Using 1844 as PIN Number Comments on PTSDA, Is This Religious Persecution?; SATIRE: Wilson Confirms Retirement, Promises Not to Manipulate GC Session Nominating Committee; Evangelist Says […]
Not long ago I talked to a woman who had suffered a lot growing up as a Seventh-day Adventist. The abuse wasn’t physical. It was spiritual. She was one of those people (I am another) whose parents and teachers drilled down on all the awful things that were about to happen to Adventists: persecution, our […]
28 May 2025 | Religious change seldom follows a predictable, linear path. Instead, it moves in cycles—shifting between intensity and routine, separation and accommodation, institutional authority and personal authenticity. Institutions oscillate between radical fervor and bureaucratic stability, while individuals navigate periods of deep commitment and disengagement. Generational shifts increasingly reflect a move from institutional belonging […]
26 May 2025 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, I am so discouraged by the backbiting and manipulative behavior of Adventists that I want to just get away from it all. You’ve been a part of this denomination longer than I have, Aunty—how do you survive? I want to be a part of a loving Christian community. […]
Comments of the Week May 19-25 “Whenever I encounter something that makes God look cruel, I refer back to Jesus, who came to show us what God is like.” –Steve Tatum on Editing Out the Bible’s Horror Stories Comments on Why Don’t Liberals Write the Big Checks?, New Rules to Oversee Adventist Governance Meetings: Will […]