GC President Wilson II Ex Cathedra Pronouncement: “Believe My Theology on Young Earth/Young Life Creationism or Get Out”
by Ervin Taylor, August 18, 2014
On August 17, 2014, the news editor of the Adventist Review (AR) reported the following: “World church President Ted N.C. Wilson forcefully asserted that life has existed on the Earth for only a few thousand years, not millions of years, as he opened an educators conference in Utah on Friday . . . [He] said teachers who believe otherwise should not call themselves Seventh-day Adventists or work in church-operated schools.” He expanded on this his view with the comment that “If one does not accept the recent six-day creation understanding, then that person is actually not a ‘Seventh-day’ Adventist. . . .” His remarks were made at an invitation-only meeting of what were characterized as “mainly teachers.”
He addressed his remarks specifically at those who taught at Adventist “academies, colleges and universities” (as well as “leaders in God’s church”) and continued by telling his listeners that they should “hold firmly to a literal recent creation and absolutely reject theistic and general evolutionary theory.” He was further quoted as having cautioned Adventist educators “against associating with scientists, humanists and ‘some who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists’ who have embraced an evolution-based creation theory.”
He further called on these Adventist educators to be “champions of creation based on the [b]iblical account and reinforced so explicitly by the Spirit of Prophecy,” i.e., the 19th-century views of Ellen White. According to Wilson II, they should reject a “popular teaching” that the “world [is] much older than the 6,000-odd years that Creationists believe have passed since the Earth was formed.”
He noted that that this “popular teaching . . . has crept into some Adventist schools in recent years and prompted, in part, a decision by the Adventist Church to start organizing Bible and science conferences in 2002.”
Commentary: One interpretation of what Wilson II is attempting to accomplish is to force the institutional Adventist Church to embrace overtly the kind of hyper-sectarian, anti-intellectual fundamentalism that characterized it in the early part of the 20th century. He and his supporters in the Adventist Theological Society are carrying out their long-term plan to return Adventism to what it was theologically from about 1920 to 1940. One part of that openly-declared plan is to add explicitly fundamentalist language to SDA Fundamental Belief number 6 to state that the days of creation were six, literal, 24-hour days. That plan now appears also to include a publicly-declared direct frontal assault on Adventist higher education with the intention of dismantling the intellectual and academic freedom that has come to characterize a number of Adventist academic institutions.
It may not be an exaggeration to suggest that what might literally be at stake is the theological and intellectual soul of 21st-century Adventism. To attack openly several fields of theological and scientific study in the manner that Wilson II has done will inevitably foster the kinds of intellectual and political repression that inspired the forces that organized the 16th-century Catholic Counter-Reformation and particularly that institution known as the Inquisition. What Wilson II apparently wishes to do is to be the presiding pontifical cleric of a 21st century who will establish the Adventist version of the Counter Reformation-and Inquisition with the intention of turning back the clock on Adventism and returning it to an intellectual Dark Age.
What will be interesting to watch is the public reaction of moderate and progressive Adventist academics to this public frontal assault on the freedom of open inquiry within Adventist institutions of higher education. Wilson II and his supporters have a perfect right to seek publicly to have their agenda turned into official policy in the Adventist Church. They have the advantage in that they have the control of the major avenues of communication with the average church member and can issue pronouncements in the name of official Adventism. They also have essentially unlimited funds due to their control of the GC share of the tithe.
But this is the 21st Century and there are other channels of communication, and there is now a free press in Adventism in the form of Adventist Today and Spectrum and their web sites. The question will be whether key members of the Adventist academy will publicly confront the propaganda issued by Wilson II and his supporters. The behavior of Adventist academics will be a critical element in determining whether an intellectually viable Adventism will continue to expand and flourish. If those who have led in moving Adventist theology and higher education in a positive direction over the last four decades are now rendered silent by this direct attack and a new type of Dark Age descends on our faith tradition, there may rapidly come a time when there will be little left to recommend the Adventist faith tradition to our children and grandchildren.
As additional information leaks out from this meeting of Adventist educators, it will be reported and commented upon.
27 August 2014 @ 11:59 pm
Having worked for the SDA church more than twenty years now, I have always been happy and proud that there is much discussion going on within our church on various issues. I have never expected or even desired that all of us, millions of Adventist in variety of cultures, would agree on everything. I felt that some of pastor Wilson´s statements concerning the issue of creation were very offensive and arrogant. As a pastor it is difficult for me to understand that a colleague would be so ready to dismiss out of church people who do not see eye to eye in this issue. The church needs to give room for growth and discovery. It is personal discovery that makes faith precious and exciting. Beliefs that are only passed on without this discovery will not hold when tested. Wilson´s statement that what we think on the issue of creation “involves the eternal destiny for each of us” is disturbing. It is our relationship with Jesus Christ and his grace that determines our destiny, not what is our opinion or view on creation. Salvation is not a result of knowing everything or being right about everything. It is a gift that we receive through faith.
Since I am a theologian, not a scientist, I view the six-day creation week as an integral part of Biblical theology. God as a creator who can and who did create the world by the power of his word is a theme found through out the Bible. However, I also appreciate my scientist friends who must stay true to their field and proceed according what they have found to be “most probably true”. I hope they will stay in the church, for I need them. I need them to challenge me and to make my own discoveries. Maybe, just maybe, they also need me to encourage them from time to time to take the leap of faith in their personal lives.
29 August 2014 @ 11:59 pm
If the world wasnt created in seven literal 24 hour days as the first book pf the Bible states then why be a 7th Day Adventist? You can just join the evanglicals who dont believe there will be a time of trouble because ” The Secret Rapture” Will take us out of this world before the end comes. This also takes away the Adventist belief of a Final Judgement. Dont you see how if you start taking out pieces pf the puzzle in time it all falls apart. This is why the Fudemental belief in a literal seven day 6000 year creation is so fundamental to the SDA Church.
30 August 2014 @ 6:33 am
Dear Maria: As a woman I can understand your dilemma. All of us feel “put-up-on” by the “big bad world of Men” that we live in. The problem is that when we demand an “equal share” of the Holy Spirit we should also respect its’ power as well. No where in scripture has God given you the right to be an ordained Pastor. There in lies your problem. Since you have not been ordained by the Spirit you cannot give “Spirit-led” advice. Pastor Wilson is right and you are wrong. Will you be humble enough to accept that you are not and never will be an ordained (through His Spirit) Pastor of God’s last day church? I hope so.
05 September 2014 @ 11:56 am
Dear Nancy. The North American Division, the Pacific Union and the Southeastern California Conference, who recently elected a woman as President of the Conference over the GC’s objections respectfully disagree with you.
It is not clear that their is a biblical proscription on women in ministry. It has been a topic of significant discussion at the highest levels for decades. Here is a sample. http://news.adventist.org/all-news/news/go/2013-07-25/multiple-viewpoints-aired-on-womens-ordination-question/.
My point is, that before you decide that Maria is wrong (even though her comments were on a different subject), you might consider the spirit in which you have made your comments.
01 September 2014 @ 11:19 am
He has no idea how much it cost to win a person. But he is quick to act to erase those who don’t agree with him
28 August 2014 @ 8:00 am
Well this is really agressive; however my brother am sure knows that this evolution study in our schools has not started today,lest these institutions ours are fully spnsored by the GC then can he take a courageous stand. Non theless over fifty percent of Adventist children attend secular school is my bro saying they are going to monitor that too?!
SOLOMON: UGANDA
28 August 2014 @ 8:46 pm
One of the apostasys of the Roman Church was the doctrine that an organization IS the church.
In the sixteenth century, protestants moved back toward the concept of believers constituting the church.
In the nineteenth century, second adventists were afraid that organization would inevitably lead to the same mistake that the Roman Church had made which, in turn, would lead to hierarchy, creedalism and dogmatism.
It wasn’t inevitable. Organization CAN be viewed as a tool of the church rather than being viewed as “the church”. If the name, Seventh-day Adventist” had been used for a publishing association (as was voted in 1860) or/and an evangelistic association and if no Seventh-day Adventist organization had ever been referred to as “the church”, many problems could have been avoided.
Our collegiate dictionary defines seminar as 1. A group of advanced students studying under a professor with each doing original research and all exchanging results through reports and discussions.
The pioneers of the post-dissapointment advent movement weren’t “studying under a professor” but that’s how the movement originated.
If Seventh-day Adventists want to support only schools dedicated to indoctrination, that would be OK with me. But in that case, we should divest ourselves of (or rename) our universities. To refer to an educational institution as a university implies the freedom to think outside the box.
29 August 2014 @ 6:08 pm
The problem the way I see it is that we now have all these special interest Adventist factions who wish to remain involved in their dear old Adventist church while abandoning the very fabric which made the church in the first place. Aside from the evolution / creation / scientist bunch we’ve got the Adventist Kinship movement, the Holy Spirit is not a person sect, and the Non-Trinitarians all wanting to remain members in good standing. Combine them and you’d have a transvestite who didn’t believe in either the Holy Ghost or the Trinity and believed in a combo of creation over millions of years. Did I just describe the 21st century Adventist? The obvious objection to the evolution theory is that it obliterates the Sabbath which God rested upon on the 7th day in Eden.
29 August 2014 @ 11:48 pm
Spot on with this write-up, I truly believe that this web site needs far more attention. I’ll probably
be back again to read through more, thanks for the information!
04 September 2014 @ 9:57 pm
I can’t see what all the fuss is about. To me its simple. If you call yourself a Seventh Day Adventist then the name itself implies you believe the Seventh day is the day God asked to worship Him as a memorial of Creation. If you don’t believe this then don’t call yourself that.
That would be like me saying I am an Airline pilot when in fact I am Sea Captain who is afraid of heights. All the president is asking to be what you say you are, surely that is not too arrogant.
17 September 2014 @ 3:01 pm
I am a Seventh-day Adventist for many reasons; God didn’t name the church,but He has blessed it, and I believe, respectfully, that the attitude you are expressing is faulty. Your analogy is faulty. I am a Seventh-day Adventist, which doesn’t mean that I know everything Biblical, or that I understand completely what God has done in Creation. But I can also simultaneously be an airline pilot, or even a sea captain. I am also a hypocrite and a sinner. One name does not mandate all. I can believe in the Sabbath and worship on that Day because God said to – but that doesn’t mean that I completely understand the ways in which God worked to establish Creation and the Sabbath cycle. God is Sovereign above all else, and I believe it is blasphemous to think we can understand how and why He creates. It is enough that He loves us and will save us – not because we are exclusive in our membership requirements, or because we ideologically believe everything we are told. For those members who can accept that way of thinking – great. But there are untold numbers of us who cannot subscribe to that. God’s Sovereignty is more important to me than anything that man can say – I rest in, and rely on, the belief that there are answers for the scientists, there are answers for the theologians, there are answers for those of us who are simple believers – but those answers will come in God’s timing, not man’s mandating. There are many questions about different ideas in the Bible – they are not faith-diminishing, nor reasons not to believe in something – they are things to study, and there are reasons for faith to accept that in God’s timing, He will satisfy our intellectual cravings, as we spend an eternity learning the vastness of knowledge – a never-ending quest.
05 September 2014 @ 11:13 am
If I would have been the prez of a church I never ever would try to make my members feel unwelcome in their church. His predecessor wrote a very interesting article about tares and weeds in the AR. It was based on Jesus’ parable. Everyone should first read Jesus teachings and then open his or her mouth. The president is not our God and Master. His function is only an administrative one. No one should be intimidated because of his words.
05 September 2014 @ 12:31 pm
Nice to hear a leader who dares to speak up openly and state what the Bible teaches…no matter what oppositions he faces!!
May I remind the readers about what the Bible says:
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
As you can see it VERY CLEAR it can ONLY be 7 literal days God created. Nothng more to discuss about this Issue…the Bible have spoken. So says the Lord!
05 September 2014 @ 1:01 pm
and BTW…it’s not Wilson opinion – where did he get it from I wonder???
oh wow…he accepts the BIBLEs statement – I can see this is also terrible to accept what God speaks to us, right?? (hope you get my irony here 😉
Any leader/teacher/member who does not follow the Biblical teachings we need to remove from their positions…
“to the Scriptures” – if the Bible does not agree – it’s not truth…there is NO light in such people but they are lead by satanic spirits!
05 September 2014 @ 1:03 pm
It is now clear to me, that God has sent us a man in the person of Elder Wilson, just as He did send Moses to the Israelites to lead them out of Egypt. Ofcourse, that was not an easy task for Moses to do. He went trough alot of trials and even his own accepted him not. It is true that Moses was a type of Christ. He, Christ came to His own, but His own accepted Him not. I believe that many o our Theologians, are to educated, by the education of man, that even the Holy Spirit has no grip on them. I have seen the Holy Spirit leaving the Seventh-day Adventist Church an man made religion and Thelogy have become the sources of inspiration. There are men and women, in this church who have been to long doing their own things in the church. These are the men and women, who do no longer yield to the Holy Spirit Call, because they are the so called scolars , according to Pentecostal traditions.
They have brought into the church, the teaching of Bileam. They have hold for to long a position in the church, that they see themselve as the only authorities in the church. Thank God, He found a man, in Elder Wilson, trough whom He wants to say to this church. Remember the height where you have falen from, and repent. Otherwise…
17 September 2014 @ 2:37 pm
It is those of you who think you have the ultimate answer to what a Seventh-day Adventist should believe, who exhibit arrogance. God is Sovereign, and His plans, His actions, His methods are in some cases unknowable – we blaspheme if we think we can understand the nuances of God’s creativity. I’m copying below, a post that expresses what I think about this controversy.
“It is astonishing to me that our leaders can so diminish the Sovereignty of God by attempting to know things that are, in the final analysis, unknowable. I will not be dictated to by any leader about what I should believe, or disbelieve. My final authority is the Holy Spirit leading me as I study. The attempted control by Ted Wilson I believe is divisive and misleading. Surely there are methods and ways that God has which will remain mysterious and awesome until He chooses to enlighten us, most likely in Heaven. I firmly believe in Creation – but how, when – ? Those questions do not disturb me. I trust in the incredible power of God to have done work-arounds which we simply cannot comprehend. The scientific finds, historical and archeological substantial information – all are irrelevant when one considers and submits to the total power of God, not the inconsequential determinings of man. How the Sabbath cycle fits into Creation then – that is/was God’s business – not mine. He said to remember the Sabbath Day, and I do. But that is out of love, not because I believe in a time cycle mandated by our current leadership. I believe we all have an absolute requirement to study for ourselves – of course there are things about which not everyone can agree; but we don’t tell friends and family to “just leave” our family and friend circles if they don’t agree on substantial things. We love them anyway, fellowship with them, and agree that in all the world, all the theologians, ministers, pastors, professors, self-taught Biblical students will never agree on every point of doctrine, every philosophical nuance, or theological viewpoint. I do not intend to be driven out of MY church by misguided, harmful and divisive actions, statements, rules or regulations put forth by our GC president, or those who support those beliefs. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been home to varied thinking for generations, and there is room in the tent for all of us, if the camel of narrow thinking gets his nose out from under the canvas. (And I am not calling Ted Wilson a camel.) The “strange sense of reasoning” that Bill Sorenson talks about is what I consider our leadership to have in this current attempt at control. We do not have to all think alike. We are all on different levels of intellect, of understanding, of belief, of knowledge. Leave us alone in our walk within the church, and on our path with God. We are safe with God. So many have found out they were not safe within the church – and that is shameful. Again, I repeat – we are safe with God. I consider myself a non-conforming Seventh-day Adventist – but even so my church welcomes me with open arms, allows me to help with music, asks me to serve on a committee, and members of my Sabbath School class listen and discuss respectfully the issues about which we don’t agree. I’d like to transport my church to the G.C. and let them understand from laity how the freedom in God works. So I don’t know or automatically believe in the young creation? My question then is, so what? The Sovereign God of everything did it, whenever, and that is good enough for me. Again, we are safe with God.”
27 September 2014 @ 3:16 pm
Revived by His Word starts the book of Micah today. Going from these comments to the Revived By His Word blog was “eye opening.”
The blog states, “…Is there not a time and place to call sin by its right name? “The greatest want of the world is the want of men–men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall. To speak to those who are dishonoring the name of God is the right thing for leaders to do.
Micha’s warning about judgment may not have made him very popular, but end-time judgment is a clear message of the Bible and we need to live our lives with the end in view.”
27 September 2014 @ 3:21 pm
And from today’s reading in Revival and Reformation….
“Be Strong”
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13….
Let all bear in mind that the Christian ministration is not a work for drones. God calls for men who will do and dare danger. Hold no parleying with Satan, but meet him with “It is written.” “Quit you like men, be strong.”
…I warn you, be careful how you settle down in the middle walk between spirituality and worldliness. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). You will be wholly on one side or the other…. Christ draws to His side; Satan hangs out every attraction to draw on his side. Whom will you choose? Under whose banner will you stand?
28 September 2014 @ 8:14 am
Go on Maria..! Keep it up.. You’re thought is wide and clear.
“What Wilson II apparently wishes to do is to be the presiding pontifical cleric of a 21st century who will establish the Adventist version of the Counter Reformation-and Inquisition with the intention of turning back the clock on Adventism and returning it to an intellectual Dark Age.”