Leaderboard

Are you aware of the relationship that the SDA Church with the United Nations (UN)? Recently some Adventists have called for that relationship to be ended. The following article explores that issue. https://religiouslibertytv.substack.com/p/church-at-the-crossroads-why-adventist NOTE: Depending on how the above loads on your computer, you may be asked to provide your e-mail in an attempt to sign you up for a regular religious liberty e-mail. That is not required, and you can refuse to provide your e-mail and still access the article. I receive the religious liberty e-mail on a regular basis. It is provided by a SDA Attorney who discusses such current cases which are of interest to people of differing backgrounds. That e-mail is provided in both a free and a paid edition.

The following exhaustive article reports on a major developing issue in the heart of Adventism, Berrien Springs, which cannot be ignored. https://spectrummagazine.org/news/ground-zero-ron-kelly-and-conrad-vine-continue-to-break-things-in-berrien-springs/

Those interested in how the SDA Church is organized will find the following article informative. https://spectrummagazine.org/views/union-or-division-how-global-growth-tests-mission-and-management/

In our place we have a new Mission and now a new Union Mission. In the Philippines, there has been a major drive by the Division president to divide this all up. The reason to divide here is because of geography. The Old Union had over 13 major islands. Almost impossible to keep up with. Now ours is 2 conf and 2 missions on 3 island chains. Very easy to manage and visit. This will spur growth because the leaders are more involved with the local pastors and churches. Travel time is minimal now. I expect our Union mission to grow to a Union Conference in 5 years, because there is already a strong financial base. With the local missions, there is no rush to become a conference. The focus is on growth. In the next 5 years, they will probably divide this union into at least one more mission. Again, the goal is growth. The two other unions they divided were also very spread out. So now they will grow well too. In the 2025 Autumn Meetings our division is the fastest growing. With all these changes, I expect it to continue to be the leader. The geography really hampered effective management and growth here. It's a very exciting time here.

The following study of SDA pastors will inform you, and perhap0s, surprise you. https://atoday.org/why-we-must-appreciate-our-pastors/

Sometimes satire has a bit of truth. This may be one such time. https://atoday.org/16-things-adventist-pastors-secretly-hate-about-their-congregations/

The following is an important article. https://atoday.org/you-dont-have-to-believe-ellen-white-is-a-prophet-to-be-an-adventist/ The word "prophet" means different things to different people. Ellen White, herself, preferred to say that she was a messenger and did not want the title "prophet." My understanding of Ellen White is that she did not want her writings to be placed on either the same level as the Bible, or above it. Rather, she taught that her writings were to be subject to the Bible. IOW, the Bible was the ultimate authority overall, to include her writings. The bottom line is: We do not all have to agree as to what Ellen White was in order to be a true SDA member.

I have removed several posts that were missing of content and posted in error.

I agree. Based on history and this book, Women were very limited in what they could do. I think her greatest influence came later in life, after the church was well established.

A major purpose of Club Adventist is to provide a place for people of differing belief to engage in civil discussions.

That's why discussion is so important - if people can openly talk progress can happen. I hope the best for these folks and will continue to follow the developments with interest.

We also need to remember that honest people can differ as to what truth is.

Those three definitely are. I'm sure there are more but I haven't witnessed anything close to what I saw there.

Gustave: Adventism has honest scholars.

The answers to your questions are mixed. Matthew Korpman: His work is not widely known and is just beginning to attract the attention of people. Yes , there has been some minimal knowledge. But he has expanded our knowledge beyond that and it is just beginning to become known beyond scholarly circles. EGWs use of sources: It has been well known for many years that she did make some use of sources. But, little attention was paid to this. Early people, whom I will not mention, were often dismissed. Thinking of one, I accepted his evidence and dismissed some of his conclusions as I did not consider the conclusions to be of scholarly value. Of another person, his work was generally of value, but for other reasons it was dismissed by some. The real turnabout in Adventist thinking came when individual scholars began to be able to publish their work outside of the standard Adventist publishing houses. Oak and Acorn was one such Adventist source of publishing. Avondale Press was another. When the individual authors began to be able to publish by using places like Amazon, a flood of new material became available to the Adventist membership in general. George Knight and Ron Graybill are two authors who have contributed much to making information available to the general Adventist membership. Others have made information available in areas related to EGW and also in other areas of spiritual importance. Adventism is changing as it is being challenged.

Many truly horrible and evil Catholics of all ranks have existed throughout history - chaff exists in every wheat harvest. I was just wondering if the recent video about reclaiming Ellen White came about due to the Scholarship of Deni Fortin and Ron Graybill and most recently Matthew Korpman. What Matthew discovered about Ellen White and her teaching on what Protestants call the Apocrypha was jaw dropping.

An important article: https://atoday.org/you-dont-have-to-believe-ellen-white-is-a-prophet-to-be-an-adventist/ I believe that God used Ellen white. Ellen white preferred to be called a messenger" and not a prophet. I have no problem with those who call her a prophet. I simply expect them to acknowledge her humanness.

There is a reality that all students of the SDA Church must face. Ellen White is an early cofounder of what is now the SDA Church. I do not believe that she has as much influence on the development of SDA doctrine as some would propose that she had. I will be teh first to say that she played a major role in the administrative development of the SDA Church. She had major roles in our entry into missions, education, healthcare, and publishing. We would not be a denomination of 23 million people today if it were not for her role in our development. I believe that God used her. But, God uses imperfect people. She was not divine. She was human. she was not always correct in her theology. No human is. Other denominations acknowledge that their early leaders were imperfect. Gustave would be the first to acknowledge that there have been Popes who were imperfect. Why can we not do the same. Why can we not admit that Ellen White was a human, who was imperfect, but still used by God. God has used me in spite of my being imperfect., as all humans are.

A number of books have been published that examine Ellen White and her writings. The truth is coming out. But, the reality is that we do not always know exactly what the truth is. For example: The demonstration that a passage in her writings came from a historian does not prove that EGW copied it from that historian. Perhaps she got it from another source? That is a position that is taken by some SDA scholars, on some of her citations. IOW, they really do not think she read that much in the other historians. Secondly, there is another issue of debate: Who is responsible for the problems that are attached to EGW and her work? To what extent is she responsible? To what extent is SDA leadership responsible? There is a group within Adventism that places primary responsibility upon SDA leadership in 1919, after the death of EGW in 1915.

I am thoroughly enjoying chapter 1. It answers so many questions I had about her life.