6 March 2024 | While George Ide Butler is not a household name among Adventists today, that was not true for those who lived in the second half of the 1800s. Twice president of the General Conference, Butler is probably better known for aggressively resisting A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner at the 1888 […]
28 February 2024 | The socio-political movements of the last years have shifted the spotlight of our private and public discussions to different well-established ‘others’ both inside and outside our faith communities. We have been challenged to poke our thought patterns and test our societal practices; invited to practice greater inclusivity whilst maintaining diversity; pushed to identify […]
21 February 2024 | The imagery of Revelation has fascinated and challenged Christians for centuries. Most—including Adventists—came to see these as predictions of events throughout history and anticipations of present realities or current entities. This is especially true of Seventh-day Adventists’ self-proclaimed status as the Remnant Church. Central to this self-understanding is the historic Adventist […]
14 February 2024 | Few Adventists would doubt the bonafides of the late Richard Hammill (Andrews University president and world-church education leader) or former General Conference (GC) president R.R. Fighur. However, the Adventism of these towering thought-leaders couldn’t be more different in ethos from widely respected GC presidents such as R.H. Pierson and current GC […]
7 February 2024 | For the past 180 years, the Seventh-day Adventist church has published a notably high volume of journals: over 1.3 million pages containing valuable clues about both official and grass-roots theology, culture, and anxieties. Official theology has changed through the years (as should be expected). Indeed, in spite of official doctrinal pronouncements, […]
3 February 2024 | Recently, prompted by a couple of friends, I read a book titled Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul, by John Philip Newel. The book is a survey of a number of theologians in the Celtic tradition. The book offered a vision of being Christian that resonated with my own experience. I am not […]
24 January 2024 | Why have the leaders and theologians of the Seventh-day Adventist Church refused to reckon with the failure of our founding prophecy? No one can argue that two millennia have passed since the apostles said Jesus was about to return, or that it’s been almost two centuries since Adventists renewed the claim. […]
17 January 2024 | Of the many types of literature found in the Bible, narrative or story predominates, making up about forty percent of the entire Bible. The reason for this is that the Bible is the product of the Israelite or Jewish mind. And the primary mode of discourse used in that culture when […]
10 January 2024 | Samson was a good example of how not to be a leader: narcissistic, morally weak, impulsive, sociopathic, and unpredictable. His story in Judges (13-16) is a classic example of biblical tragedy, and shows how human frailty cannot thwart the will of God. This presentation uses Aristotle’s profile of a tragic hero […]
3 January 2024 | We are told that we may address the Creator of the universe as “Our Father. ” At the same time, he is described as “in heaven.” These two descriptions are in contrast. On one hand, we have a God who is supposed to be as intimate as a parent. On the […]
27 December 2023 | Chaplains in hospitals, hospices, the military, and law enforcement all have one goal: to facilitate shalom. Such is God’s purpose for us all. This week for Christmas we celebrated the birth on earth of Jesus, heaven’s “Prince of shalom” (Isaiah 9:6). The true spirit of Christmas goes beyond exchanging gifts with […]
21 December 2023 | What does the incarnation mean? The gospels give us four different answers. Join the conversation about this and the different meaning it has for each of us. Jim Wibberding Department Chair Professor of Applied Theology and Biblical Studies Pacific Union College Theology Department You may have heard about a new term […]