SDAs and the Reformation

[Gregory Matthews]

The following is a review of a recently published book that considers how the SDA Church has often addressed the Protestant Reformation:

https://atoday.org/perceptions-of-the-protestant-reformation-in-seventh-day-adventism/

 

[GHansen]

The Reformation covered a lot of ground. According to McGrath, the German Reformation dealt to a larger degree with personal salvation than did the Swiss or English. The reason being that Luther's own struggle with the righteousness of God shaped his work and emphasis. Justification by faith delivered Luther from his personal struggle. His teachings, exemplified, for example, in Christian Liberty, the Commentary on Galatians [especially chapter 3] and especially  his comments on Genesis 15 make the doctrine of justification preeminent. Interestingly, the comments on Genesis 15 are mainly from Romans 4 i.e., Luther offers Paul's interpretation of Abraham's life as the best explanation of the importance of imputed righteousness.

Luther certainly did write on the Decalogue but salvation wise, he was really an antinomian who believed in a spirit guided life. In a comment on the Psalm which says ~ "Be not as the ass who requires a bit and bridle," he interpreted the bit and bridle as laws. His theology can well be summarized: 

Ga 5:13   "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."

[GHansen]

16 minutes ago, GHansen said:

The Reformation covered a lot of ground. According to McGrath, the German Reformation dealt to a larger degree with personal salvation than did the Swiss or English. The reason being that Luther's own struggle with the righteousness of God shaped his work and emphasis. Justification by faith delivered Luther from his personal struggle. His teachings, exemplified, for example, in Christian Liberty, the Commentary on Galatians [especially chapter 3] and especially  his comments on Genesis 15 make the doctrine of justification preeminent. Interestingly, the comments on Genesis 15 are mainly from Romans 4 i.e., Luther offers Paul's interpretation of Abraham's life as the best explanation of the importance of imputed righteousness.

Luther certainly did write on the Decalogue but salvation wise, he was really an antinomian who believed in a spirit guided life. In a comment on the Psalm which says ~ "Be not as the ass who requires a bit and bridle," he interpreted the bit and bridle as laws. His theology can well be summarized: 

Ga 5:13   "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."

Again, according to McGrath, prior to Luther, justification was universally understood in Europe to mean, "make righteous". Probably Luther's most significant theological contribution was the emphasis on the imputed righteousness of Christ i.e., God counts faith in Christ's work, not obedience to law, as righteousness.

Waggoner understood justification primarily  as "make righteous" which some might think puts the Adventism of 1888 at odds with the German Reformation, although Waggoner also defined justification as the "forgiveness of sins" and "to declare righteous" A collection of Waggoner's defining remarks on justification can be seen here:

https://cleansanctuary.blogspot.com/

See the entry on September 21, 2016