8 January 2025 | What is it that happens when we come together for a “church service”? What should happen? Church members are regularly encouraged to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25). But what are we supposed to do when what we experience there seems to be so far removed from our needs? When […]
Comments of the Week January 5-12 “It’s called ‘lay activities’ and is a very effective means of church growth.” —Jeffrey C. Taylor on the satire piece about why parents lock the door to pray each Sabbath afternoon Comments on Badge of an Oppressor, Exorcisms, Satire, Is My Child a Jerk?, and Aunt Sevvy Do I […]
13 January 2025 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Is Michael the Archangel the same as Jesus? I’ve only heard this in the Adventist Church, and I wonder: is it unique to us? Signed, Curiouser and Curiouser Dear Curiouser, The White Estate asserts that “many” non-Adventist Bible scholars equate Michael with Christ—but Aunty has heard it only […]
We’ve heard from so many of our readers who absolutely love our print magazine. Every quarter, under the brilliant curation of our Executive Editor (and my very good friend), Loren Seibold, our magazine comes alive with a selection of thought-provoking and provocative articles, essays, and features. We bring together some of the finest thinkers and […]
8 January 2025 | As Christian nationalism gains momentum, competing groups claim Dietrich Bonhoeffer as their champion. Yet the real Bonhoeffer story offers a striking warning about how faith becomes entangled with nationalism that many seem to miss. I will seek to cut through the mythology—from Hollywood films to politicized biographies—to examine how Bonhoeffer witnessed […]
6 January 2025 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, I just heard someone using the example of Jesus and His long days of ministry to justify my school’s expectation that we work evenings and weekends for free. To me, that’s taking following Jesus’ example wildly out of context to justify a toxic work environment. What do you […]
I remember a particular theology class, with one of the hardest professors on campus during graduate school. After handing out the syllabus he said something that stayed with me for years afterwards. “If you look at the syllabus and decide that you would like to leave the class, please leave now. Otherwise, I ask that […]
1 January 2025 | The doctrine of the investigative judgment (particularly when expressed in metaphors regarding the sanctuary and day of atonement) is regarded by many as one of the three major pillars of Adventist identity. It has shaped the way we Adventists understand ourselves and our special mission. But it has for a long […]
30 December 2024 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Is there a path between regarding Ellen White as being as authoritative as Scripture, and seeing her as a plagiarist and fraud? Signed, Searching for a Middle Way Dear Searching, Yes, of course there is. But it would involve correcting some long-held attitudes that Seventh-day Adventists have about […]
Comments of the Week December 23-29 “Who bows down, or worships their Christmas tree? No more than you bow down or pray to your child’s picture. Common sense needs to be used in ALL things!” –-Barbara Clark Wassom on whether Jeremiah bans Christmas Trees Comments on Grief, Christmas Scolds, Aunt Sevvy, and Missing the Forest […]
I am happy when Adventists are spoken well of in the media, and for reasons that show us at our best. Recently United States senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia introduced legislation to rename the Veterans Affairs clinic in Lynchburg, Virginia, after Private First Class Desmond T. Doss, an Adventist conscientious objector whom […]
26 December 2024 | The New Testament contains only two accounts of the birth of Jesus, both dating to the 80s of the 1st century of the Christian Era. The first is in Matthew (1:18–2:23). the second in Luke (1:45a, 36–38; 2:1–40). Although these accounts are very different, for most of Christian history, including today, they […]