"

,~.

,*" .••,

Boston Conference Octo

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sions, we are obligated to use our influence tobring the church closer to God's ideal.

It is appropriate to counsel Adventist employ-ees to be content with their pay. It is alsoobligatory for the committees which set de-nominational wages to pay close attention tothe needs of the people who are farthest fromthe centers of power within the church.

If you have experienced the peace and quiet-ness of soul expressed in the words of St.Gertrude, then you are better equipped to makedecisions that affect the lives of others. You will

sense God's call to work forpeace in the homes of every em-ployee and member. And if youdo this well, you'll have the sat-isfaction of knowing that throughyour words and votes you werecooperating with God in "order-ing all things sweetly.".

God was taking care of things. He had his jobto do, pastoring a couple of churches. He wasgoing to give himself fully to that job and trustGod to manage the rest of the world, includingthe church.

I was struck with his tranquility, with his un-ruffled confidence that he was doing exactlywhat he was supposed to be doing. And hissturdy confidence that God was alive and ac-tive. I still envy him. And I practice spiritualdisciplines designed to help agitated, angst-rid-den souls like me taste some of the peace ofGod here and now.

But how do we keep quiet confidence inGod from paralyzing us? If everything is al-ready "ordered sweetly," what business do wehave agitating for change? Just this: As partnerswith God, we are called to order our church assweetly as humanly possible. If God hasplaced me (or you) in a position where we canaffect the shape of policies and corporate deci-

I was struck with histranquility, with his

unruffled confidence that he wasdoing exactly what hewas supposed to be doing.

he rain and fog had disappeared as Idrove over Chinook Pass headingfrom western Washington towardWalla Walla. An hour later, the ex-pansive grassland east of Yakimaspread out under an immense blue

sky decorated with cottony puffs of cumulus. Iwas listening to a book on tape, The CloisterWalk by Kathleen Norris.

She described an evening with a group ofBenedictine sisters, a feast in honor of St.Gertrude. There was much laughter and light-ness as they prepared the meal together andate. Then they shared in worship. One of thereadings from St. Gertrude included this affir-mation:

You provide for me in the way that ismost suitable with the one and uncreatedwisdom, my sweetest God, reaching fromend to end mightily and ordering all thingssweetly.

The words arrested me. I kept driving,but I stopped the tape and rehearsed thewords in my mind. "And ordering allthings sweetly." Does he?

My own life recently has often feltanything but sweet. Financial challengesat home, organizational perplexities inmy congregations, unsettling intelleCtualand spiritual questions in my mind. AndI haven't yet mentioned the pain andtrouble I take on as a listening friend and pastor.As I drove, I mulled over those words: "and or-dering all things sweetly." Really?

What of the complication of life that comesfrom my work with Adventist Today. How can Iedit a magazine which advocates change andacts as a watchdog against institutional injusticeand still find the quiet place where I can affirm"He orders all things sweetly?"

I remembered a conversation from twentyyears ago. I was eating supper in the cafeteriaat Camp Berkshire and vehemently pontificat-ing about some terribleinjustice in the church. Theolder minister sitting next tome listened. He refused tojoin my outrage or to denythe existence of the injus-tice. Instead he quietlyaffirmed his confidence that

Ordering All Things SweetlyJOHN MCLARTY

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21 adventist today I volume 10 issue 3

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PAGE 6Raymond Cottrell on the sanctuary question after 150 years

By james H. Stirling

PAGE 7Southeastern California Conference Executive Committee

Votes Statement Regarding Elder Anthony Paschal

PAGESBoston Conference October 2001 Science and the Spiritual Quest

By Richard Rice

PAGE 9British courts award claim against church

Executive Editor I Ervin Taylor

Managing Editor I Diana Fisher

Assistant Editor I James H. Stirling

PAGE 14The Adventist Tithe conundrum

By jack Drumm

PAGE 16What Is PROGRESSIVE Adventism?

By Steve Daily

.PAGE1SShaping the 27 Fundamental Beliefs and Individual Freedom

By P. Richard Choi

PAGE 19Reexamining the Year-Day Principle in Prophetic Interpretation

By Tobe joreteg

adventist todayPublisher I Elwin Dunn

Editor Emeritus I Raymond Cottrell

Editor I John McLarty

PAGE 10Don't Pay me moreBy Gary Walter

PAGE 11Pastoral RemunerationBy John R. Martin

PAGE 12Pastoring Large and Small ChurchesBy Gary Tolbert

PAGE20Land for a Forgotten PeopleBy Sari fordham

PAGE 22Oxford Dons, Dragons, & the BibleBy Glen Greenwalt

Editorial Advisor I Steve Daily

Office Manager I Hanan Sadek

adventist today reports on contemporary issues of importance to Adventist church members. Following basic principles of ethics and canons of journal-ism, this publication strives for fairness, candor and good taste. Unsolicited submissions are encouraged. Payment is competitive. Send a self-addressed, stampedenvelope for writer's guidelines. Annual subscriptions $29.50 ($50/2years) for individuals $18 for students $40 for institutions (Payment by check or credit card. Add$10 for address outside North America.) Voice I (800) 236-3641 or (909) 785-1295 Fax I (909) 785-1595 E-mail I atoday@atoday.com Web site I www.atoday.com

adventist today (ISSN1079-5499) is published bimonthly for $29.50 per year ($18 for students, $40 for institutions) by AdventistToday Foundation, CalkinsHall 225 La Sierra University, Riverside, CA 92515. Periodical postage paid at Riverside, California and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER:Send address changesto Adventist Today, Box 8026 Riverside, CA 92515-8026. Copyright @ 2001 by adventist today Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fosteringopen dialogue in the Adventist community.

volume 10 issue 31 adventist today 13

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point twice personally before he submit-ted his article-once over lunch, once via a solicited e-mail.

Dr. Taylor's criticisms of Adventist cre-ationism are well known, and I for oneam glad to have them. I do hope, how-ever, that in the future he will try harderto lend others the same attentive, re-spectful, sympathetic ear he wishes theywould lend to him. Voicing criticism is avaluable contribution, but critics do wellto apprehend good news when it hap-pens too.Richard Peters I Lorna Linda, ell

Biblical LiteracyIn your Winter 2001 issue Letters col-

umn, the editor's reply to John Hughes'squery as to whether the apostles wrotethe gospels contains some interestingnew information. Many will be surprisedto hear that Mark was an apostle. This

earliest canonical gospel was attributedto Mark by Papias and not even Eusebiusthought him to be correct. No one knowswho Matthew and John are.

Neither gospel reveals authorship.Contemporary scholars doubt that Mat-thew was the Simon of the other gospels.We must quit automatically acceptingpositions just because we have believedthem a long time. The church that doesnot change when new information isavailable is destined to become ananachronism. More biblical literacy,please.Paul Hughes I Redding, ell

Timely or not, you havekept me up to date on

what's really going on in mychurch. I just received yourlatest issue yesterday, andit begs the question.Where is the news?

Tenn. founded in 1867 also has a strongChristian commitment. Both of these col-leges are Iisted as Presbyterian USAschools on its web site. If you compareGrove City and King Colleges web siteswith other Presbyterian colleges you canappreciate the significant difference asthese schools hold to an evangelical faithin the middle of a liberal denomination.How did they maintain their Christianidentity? Maybe we have something tolearn from them.RalphWeitz I Via the Internet

Taylor on BRISCOReportIn the Nov/Dec 2001 issue of AT, Erv

Taylor reported some highlights of themost recent BRISCO meeting. I'm gladhe did, because that meeting truly wasan historic one, marking a paradigm shiftin Adventist creationism away from thetraditional picture of Earth history pro-vided by so-called Flood geology, towardone in which non-Floodgeological processes areconsidered responsible formost or all of the fossilrecord. However, while hereports the broad outl inesof the meeting fairly, Iwonder about the veracityof details I cannot directlyconfirm because of theway in which my owncontribution was treated.

When he writes that Ipresented a paper that"proposes a means of sal-vaging the current Adventist Floodmodel," Taylor grossly misrepresents me.Instead, I am in agreement with the ma-jority of the Earth scientists who spoke atBRISCO in saying that Flood geology hasgot to go. I said so very clearly for twelvepages of the paper and ten minutes of thetalk to which he refers. In fact, in the verysame paragraph of the paper from whichTaylor quotes me complaining about thegrossly apologetic methodology essentialto Flood geology, I state that my intentionis to replace Flood geology with a newframework for creationist research. If thisweren't enough, I corrected him on the

Thompson onPresbyterian Schools

I noticed in your reprint of "Adventistsand Education: Can the Marriage BeSaved?" (AT March-April, 2002) by Dr.Alden Thompson continues the errors ofthe original article. I corresponded withDr. Thompson and pointed out a specificfactual error. The statement by the aca-demic dean from Whitworth College"that of all the Presbyterian collegesfounded in the 19th century in the U. S.only Whitworth has retained an explicitChristian identity. All the others havegone secular." Since my daughter wasconsidering Grove City College in GroveCity, Penn. for her education, I knew thisto be incorrect. Grove City College has astrong Christian identity and wasfounded in 1876. King College in Bristol,

ATSNot"Centrist"James Hilton's letter (AT vol. 10 issue.

2, March/April 2002) characterizing theAdventist Theological Society (ATS) asrepresenting the fundamentalist end ofthe SDA spectrum is right on target. I toowish to say: Shame on Adventist Todayfor publishing the ATS propaganda thatATS is "centrist!"

All one has to do is read the latest is-sue of the ATS Perspective Digest (vol. 7,no. 2, 2002) to see the truth of the mat-ter. C. Mervyn Maxwell has an articleabout the "Genuine Adventist" and JackJ. Blanco (the recently retired holder ofthe Ellen G. White Chair at SouthernAdventist University) has an article on"The Genuine Church." According toMaxwell, "genuine Adventists" have noquestions about what they believe,"love" the writings of E. G. White, andare members of "'the' remnant move-ment (i.e., the SDA Church) not 'a'remnant movement." Blanco quotes thelate Gerhard Hasel, the former theologi-cal dean of sophisticated fundamentalistSDA theology, as supporting the positionof the Bible as the "infallible Holy Scrip-tures." If these quotes are not classic SDAfundamentalism, I don't know what is!Felix Yellen I Lorna Linda, ell

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Appreciate ATWe appreciate Adventist Today, its

goals and content, and wish to contrib-ute.Bonnie Starr I San Diego, Cil

Likes and Dislikes in ATI have been a subscriber to Adventist

. Today since your beginning. I have al-ways looked forward to each issue, andwhen it arrived, sat down, and read itcover to cover. I felt that reading the Re-view, Ministry, Spectrum, and AdventistToday, I was getting a well rounded infor-mation on the happenings in our SDAchurch. Seeing the cover of your last is-sue (AT Jan/Feb 2002) I thought, what ishappening to Adventist Today?

The article by Pastor Gregory Hoenes,on his wife's miscarriage, though sad, didnot belong in AT. . .. Then the article onAbortion, and "Why My Empty Arms?" ...

I liked the article, "Plain and FancyChristians," by John McLarty, but not ..."Listening for a Talking God: BeyondProtestantism." ... He informs us theremust be articles on drug addiction, abor-tion, obesity, income inequity,pornography, environmental degradationimmigration policy and slavery. Are 'these the topics that will be covered ...in the future? If that happens I will cer-tainly drop my subscription.

May I suggest some topics .... TheMuslim people What is happening inthe Holy Land The religion depart-ment at Walla Walla ... Articles by Dr.Cottrell I would like to see an article ofhi.choosing in every issue.Malia Schulte I Patterson, Cil

Where's the News?I subscribe to Adventist Today for one

reason: independent news and analysisof the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Youhave provided excellent coverage of nu-merous events in recent history:controversy at the Walla Walla CollegeSchool of Theology; the shuttering ofGreater Boston Medical Center; and thedeparture of Robert Folkenberg from the

GC presidency are some of the morememorable stories for me. Timely or not,you have kept me up to date on what'sreally going on in my church. I just re-ceived your latest issue yesterday, and itbegs the question. Where is the news? Ijust don't see it anywhere. All I couldfind is an article about Adventist Todayfundraising activities. If that is indicativeof the type of "news" you intend to pub-lish in the future, please cancel mysubscription.Larry WitzellVal'lcouver,WII

Tru.elleartofll.dventismI really appreciated your article (AT

Vol. 9, issue 1, January/February 2001). Ihope that you have some kind of author-ity to represent the beliefs of millions offellow Adventists, and that this article isconsistent with their beliefs.

If so, I am impressed. Overall, I findthat the Adventist "Plan of Salvation", or"God's story" as you may call it, is veryclose to the Bible, and indeed very differ-ent from the apostate "Mystery" of theCatholic Church.

However I would like you to expounda bit, in a reply to me, where you findscriptural authority to support the claimsthat-God created the earth because hewanted friends-The millenium will be a"question-and-answer free-for-all".

These two points made me smile a bitbut I believe they are very relevant, 'especially the first one, and I am not~;vare of any passage of scripture to sup-port them. Further on, the Holy Ghostdoesn't witness to me that they are true.

I would greatly appreciate if you couldanswer my.questions. I am truly inter-ested.NicolasConnault1 Via the Internet

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In what he called "Daniel's perspectiveof salvation history," Cottrell pointed tothe triumphant conclusion of the proph-ecy in Christ's life and death on Calvaryand subsequent ascension to heaven. Thisview stands in contrast to the traditionalAdventist interpretation of Daniel, origi-nally worked out by early pioneers of thefaith. If those who had formulated that in-terpretation had had access to the originalHebrew and Aramaic text of Daniel, or anaccurate English translation, he says, theywould never have developed the outlinethe church now officially promotes.

While Cottrell's views may be accept-

able to many Adventist scholars and unac-ceptable to others, the reasoning behindthem deserves the attention of all whowould like to see Adventist teachings tobe based squarely on the Sola Scripturaprinciple. Some years ago Cottrell can-vassed Adventist college and universitytheologians who were versed in biblicallanguages regarding their views on thesanctuary question. Most of them, hefound, did not hold to the traditionalstance. Church administrators, on theother hand, are reluctant to admit wewere ever wrong. Cottrell says it is timethat we should recognize the traditionalinterpretation as a part of our history butnot our present understanding.

The full text of Raymond Cottrell's pre-sentation can be ordered from the SanDiego chapter of the Association ofAdventist Forums, P.O. Box 3148, LaMesa, CA 91944-3148. Email at ak-jk@cox.net. •

james Stirling is an assistant editor of AT.

While Cottrell's views may beacceptable to many Adventist

scholars and 1Dlacceptable to others,the reasoning behind them deservesthe attention of all who would like tosee Adventist teachings to be basedsquarely on the Sola Scripturaprinciple.

have used this method. The historicistmethod, sometimes called the "historical-grammatical" method, is an attempt toblend the two, a "hybrid," as Cottrell callsit. Readers using this method usually areprompted by proof-text suppositions butseek to find some scholarly support fortraditional conclusions.

Cottrell illustrated the historical methodin dealing with passages in Daniel 8 and 9that have been used tradition-ally by Adventists to describea far-reaching prediction be-ginning in 457 BC with adecree issued by Artaxerxes, aPersian king, and ending2,300 years later, in 1844. Asignificant element in thecomputing of this date is theconcept of a "day for a year."But Cottrell declared that thetraditional method was basedon faulty interpretation of thetexts in Daniel. For the decreein question, he says, "theword went forth" in heaven,from God himself, not from an earthly king(Dan. 9:23, 25), and at the beginning of hisprayer, in the year 537 B.C. The 2,300"evenings and mornings," Cottrell pointsout, should be considered in the light ofthe sanctuary being discussed: sacrificialofferings made twice each day; thereforethe time elapsed should be reckoned athalf the 2,300, or 1,150. When Gabrieltells Daniel, "Consider well the word, un-derstand the vision, seventy weeks aremarked out for your people and your holycity," Cottrell accepts the idea of "weeks ofyears," each a seven-year period.

Gabriel's explanation of that "word" inverses 25-27 very briefly sketched the fu-ture of God's covenant people during theseventy weeks of years, or 490 years, andannounced its climax in the ruthless op-pression by "the prince who is to come"during the seventieth of the seventy"weeks," which he had already foretold inchapter 8:9-13 and explained in verses 19to 25.

Ithough Adventist theologianshave had a century and a half torefine their thinking on thesanctuary and the investigativejudgment, there is still muchdisagreement. How does "the

sanctuary doctrine" really reflect the Sev-enth-day Adventist Church's stance onBible-based faith statements?

The topic was discussed at a meeting ofthe San Diego, California, chapter of theAssociation of Adventist Forums in theTierrasanta Seventh-day Adventist churchon February 6, 2002.

Raymond F. Cottrell, D.Div., retired edi-tor of the Adventist Review andcollaborator of the Seventh-day AdventistBible Commentary series, had written anexhaustive review of the subject for pre-sentation at this meeting. BecauseCottrell was recovering from an illness, hispaper was presented by Larry Christoffel,associate pastor of the Loma Linda Cam-pus Hill Church.

Cottrell titled his paper "The SanctuaryDoctrine-Asset or Liability?" His con-clusion, crafted after long and deep studyof the history and theology of the doctrineas developed in the Adventist church, wasthat it is more of liability to the churchnow than an asset.

Discussion on the topic has centeredmostly on chapters 8 and 9 in the Book ofDaniel.

Cottrell typifies three methods of study-ing and interpreting the Bible: Proof-text,historical, and historicist. The proof-textmethod is the easiest, for the reader looksat verses from a modern, contemporaryperspective and uses the English transla-tion of the Bible, usually,the King JamesVersion, as authoritative. Using the his-torical method, on the other hand, thereader looks at a passage in its originalcontext and tries to discover what theBible writer meant to say to his audience,including the words used in the originallanguage. The reader tries to base his orher conclusions on the weight of evi-dence. Most Adventist scholars since 1940

Raymond Cottrell on the sanctuaryquestion after 150 years JAMESH.STIRLlN6

61adventist today Ivolume 10 issue 3

Southeastern California Conference Executive CommitteeVotes Statement Regarding Elder Anthony Paschal

n January 17, 2002, Elder An-thony Paschal was placed onadministrative leave in connec-tion with his responsibilities asVice-President for African-American Ministries within the

Southeastern California Conference ofSeventh-day Adventists. The decision toplace Elder Paschal on administrativeleave was made by the officers of theSoutheastern California Conference ofSeventh-day Adventists based upon ElderPaschal's involvement in attempting topurchase an expensive parcel of real es-tate in Orange County, California.Subsequently, on January 24, 2002 theSoutheastern California Conference ofSeventh-day Adventists Executive Com-mittee voted to continue theadministrative leave of Elder Paschal inconnection with his responsibilities asVice- President of African American Min-istries until the facts and circumstancessurrounding the attempted property ac-quisition could be fully investigated.

At the Conference Executive Commit-tee Meeting on January 24, 2002, theExecutive Committee appointed a selectSub-Committee to fully investigate the is-sues surrounding the attempted propertyacquisition. The Sub-Committee wasthoughtfully chosen to be representativeof the broad diversity within the South-eastern California Conference ofSeventh-day Adventists.

Following the appointment of the se-lect Sub-Committee, the Sub-Committeecommenced a process to carefully re-view the facts and circumstancessurrounding the transaction and to per-sonally interview Elder Paschal and otherknowledgeable individuals. Based uponthis process, the select Sub-Committeemade a number of findings which can besummarized as follows:

1. Elder Paschal was attempting to lo-cate real estate that would facilitate andfurther the ministry of the African-Ameri-can work of the Southeastern CaliforniaConference of Seventh-day Adventists.

2. Although Elder Paschal had gener-

ally consulted with a number of churchleaders within the African-Americancommunity, at no time prior to signingthe relevant purchase agreement and theopening of escrow for the subject prop-erty did Elder Paschal consult with eitherthe conference officers or the ConferenceExecutive Committee as required by Con-ference policy and procedure.

3. In addition, as part of the escrowtransaction, Elder Paschal obtained per-sonal loans from several individuals.Regrettably, one of those individuals haschosen to file suit against the Southeast-ern California Conference of Seventh-dayAdventists, Elder Paschal and a thirdparty.

4. The Sub-Committee determined thatElder Paschal was not authorized to signpurchase and sale documents or to openan escrow on behalf of the SoutheasternCalifornia Conference of Seventh-dayAdventists.

5. In light of the fact that: a) theConference's name was placed on pur-chase and sale documents and an escrowwas opened without its authorization; b)Elder Paschal knew or should haveknown that he was not an authorized sig-natory on behalf of the SoutheasternCalifornia Conference of Seventh-dayAdventists; c) the process of identifyingand negotiating this purchase occurredover many months and Elder Paschal atno time discussed this transaction withConference officers until called"in bythem; d) the magnitude of this purchase($14,600,000) would make it the singlelargest property purchase in the history ofthe Southeastern California Conference;e) the financial plan for purchasing thisproperty was totally inadequate and ex-posed the Conference, the AfricanAmerican work and Elder Paschal person-ally to significant liability, the selectSub-Committee recommended that ElderPaschal be removed from his responsibili-ties as Vice-President of African AmericanMinistries in the Southeastern CaliforniaConference of Seventh-day Adventists.

6. In recognition, however, of Elder

Paschal's significant contributions to pas-toral ministry within the SoutheasternCalifornia Conference of Seventh-dayAdventists and in further recognition ofhis significant contribution as the Vice-President for African AmericanMinistries, the Sub-Committee recom-mended that Elder Paschal be asked toserve as the Senior Pastor of the 16thStreet Seventh-day Adventist Church inSan Bernardino, California.

On March 19, 2002, the ConferenceExecutive Committee met and receivedthe report and recommendation from theselect Sub-Committee. In addition, theExecutive Committee received input fromthe African American caucus and fromselect membersof.the African AmericanMinisterial Association within the South-eastern California Conference ofSeventh-day Adventists. Based upon thereport and recommendation of the selectSub-Committee, as well as input from theAfrican American caucus and selectmembers of the African American Minis-terial Association, the ConferenceExecutive Committee: "Voted that ElderPaschal be named as the Senior Pastor ofthe 16th Street Seventh-day AdventistChurch in San Bernardino, California andthat he not continue in the position ofVice-President of African American Minis-tries."

The Conference Executive Committeehas thoughtfully and thoroughly reviewedthis matter and believes this decision up-holds the principles of responsibleleadership within the Southeastern Cali-fornia Conference of Seventh-dayAdventists while respecting the viewpointon this issue of members within the Afri-can American community. The decision toname Elder Anthony Paschal as the SeniorPastor of the 16th Street Seventh-dayAdventist Church in San Bernardino, Cali-fornia affirms his ministry within theSoutheastern California Conference .•

Southeastern California Conference,March 20, 2002 Released by thePresident's Office and the CommunicationDepartment.

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Boston Conference October 2001Science and the Spiritual QuestRICHARD RICE

t was a thrill to finally study atHarvard, even though my stintlasted only three days and cameth irty years after my graduateschool experience.

Last October I attended a con-ference that was held in The

Memorial Church, right in the middleof famous Harvard Yard. Entitled "TheQuest for Knowledge, Truth, and Valuesin Science and Religion," it was one ofan extended series of meeti ngs on thetheme of Science and the SpiritualQuest directed by the Center for Theol-ogy and the Natural Sciences (CTNS),sponsored by a number of other organi-zations, and generously supported bythe Templeton Foundation. With 650 inattendance this was the largest publicevent ever planned by CTNS, but it wasnot unique. The Boston Conference waspart of Science and the Spi ritual QuestII, which consists of ten programsscheduled over a four-year period(2000-2003) in various parts of theworld. Future meetings are slated forParis, Israel, japan and India. And be-fore SSQ II there was SSQ I, anotherseries of meeti ngs and conferences thatwere held from 1996 through 1998.

Both "Quests" comprise two types ofprograms: private meetings, whichbring together accomplished scientistswho have a serious interest in spiritual-ity, and public programs like the BostonConference,_ which make the conclu-sions of their discussions available to alarger audience. Together the twophases of SSQ have involved a largenumber of scientists, nearly 130, ac-cording to the program. The roster ofSSQ II participants listed the names of17 individuals in the area of "physicsand cosmology," 18 in the area of "ge-netics and evolutionary biology," 16who are involved in "sciences of thehuman person," and 14 whose area is"computer science and informationtechnology."

The Boston Conference offered a fu II

81 adventist today I volume 10 issue 3

schedule, to say the least. There wereten program sessions, each consistingof two major presentations and a paneldiscussion involving the presenters and/or other respondents. Then followedquestions from other scientists partici-pating in the program, and finallyquestions submitted in writing from thegeneral audience. The programs cov-ered a wide gamut of current issues inthe area of scienceand religion, withtitles ranging from"physics, natural law,and divine action,"through "evolutionarybiology and the ques-tion of purpose,""cosmology, origins,and creation," "whatdoes it mean to behuman?" "reductionand emergence in sci-ence and spi ritual ity,"to "neuroscience,cognition, and con-

sciousness," and"information sciences,intelligence, and cre-ativity." There was alsoa program on "ethics,policy and the practiceof science."

Many of the most prominent figuresin the area of science and religion werepresent, including Ian Barbour and PaulDavies, winners of the Templeton Prizefor Progress in Religion, the largestcash award ever for intellectualachievement. (Arthur Peacocke, whoreceived a Templeton Prize since then,was also present.) Certainly the mostfamous participant was jane Goodall,who entered the discussion via satel-lite.

Arthur Peacocke set an irenic tone forthe meeting by proposing that we canstart with the world described by thesciences and come to see that an Ulti-mate Reality, or God, provides the best

explanation of all that is and all that isbecoming. Peacocke also called for an"open, revisable, exploratory" theologyin all religious traditions. Though thegeneral spirit of Peacocke's presenta-tion pervaded the program, his visionof God as the point where science andreligion converge and where differentreligious traditions find commonground was by no means universallyembraced.

Biologist Ursula Goodenough en-dorses an idea some describe as"horizontal transcendence." She doesnot believe in a supreme personal be-

the

,ing, but finds the universe with its vastcomplex narrative an object of wonderand a source of meaning. And TerrenceDeacon insists that something cancome from nothing, that is, that "com-binatorial creative processes" canadequately account for what we typi-cally call "emergence," obviating theneed for some guiding principle orhigher power.

At the other end of the spectrumthere were Buddhists, Christians, Hin-dus, jews, and Muslims, who seemed toembody conservative versions of thei rtrad itions without sensi ng any confl ictbetween their religious convictions andtheir scientific beliefs. A Buddhist

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scientist observed that there is no per-sonal god, and a Hindu participantargued that science and spiritualityreally belong to separate spheres ofexperience. One of the most outspokenparticipants was Bruno Guiderdoni, ofthe Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris,who is a devout Muslim. An influentialfigure somewhere between these polesis Paul Davies, who finds thebiofriend Iiness of the cosmos remark-able and accepts the anthropicprinciple but does not endorse a con-ventional concept of God.

The most memorable comments inthe meeting from my point of view con-cerned the distinctive nature of thehuman. Jane Goodall noted that thechimps she is famous for studying havenothing that resembles the complexsymbol system of human language. AndWilliam Newsome, Professor of Neuro-biology at Stanford University MedicalSchool, asserted that human freedomreveals a higher level of organizationthan computational models of the mindcan account for.

Overall, the emphasis of science andthe spiritual quest was definitely onscience, and there was little of what Icould consider genuine theologicalwork. Though capably moderated bytwo religion scholars, Philip Claytonand Mark Richardson, identified as"SSQ investigators," the discussion didnot provide serious interaction betweenscientific and theological perspectives.With the exception of Peacocke, a sci-entist who became an Anglican priest,those offering constructive proposalswere scientists with an interest in reli-gion, or quasi~religious themes, ratherthan specialists in a religious tradition.

But even though the discussion wasoften complex and occasionally a bittedious, the varied audience remainedlarge and attentive throughout themeeting. I chatted with a couple fromWisconsin in a Cambridge restaurantwhile their teenage son put away amassive plate of French fries. She was ajunior college science teacher, he wasa Lutheran pastor. All three of themwent to all the sessions and thoroughlyenjoyed themselves.

For someone without a scientificbackground, I found a good deal of thediscussion challenging, but I wasstrongly impressed by a number ofthings about the meeting. One was thegood spirit among the participants,especially among those with widely dif-feri ng views. Of cou rse, I suspect theywere all acquainted with each otherfrom earl ier meeti ngs, but it was a plea-sure to see such amicabledisagreement. I also noted that some ofthe concerns that occupy Seventh-dayAdventists were notably absent fromthe discussion. No one at the confer-ence questioned the conventionalcosmological and biological accountsof the history of the universe and thedevelopment of life on earth. Nor wasany consideration given to the intelli-gent design movement that hasattracted widespread attention else-where. Accordingly, if Adventists wishto participate in the current religionand science discussion in a more ex-pansive way we need to look beyondthe single issue that has preoccupied usfor decades, important as it is, namely,the relation between earth history andbiblical chronology. To mention twopossibilities, we might enter the discus-sion in the areas of metaphysics, whichdeals with questions of u Iti mate real ity,and philosophical anthropology, whereour wholistic view of the human pro-vides a natural basis for importantwork.

Coming when it did, the shadow ofSeptember 11 hung over the meeting,and there were numerous references tothe events of that day. Boston's Loganairport, after all, was the origin of theAmerican Airlines flights that crashedinto the World Trade Center. The tragicmemories imparted an undertone ofurgency to the meetings, a sense thatlife is precious, however we accountfor it, and that people of science andfaith must blend their efforts to stemthe frightening tide of misunderstand-ing and violence .•

Richard Rice is a professor in thefaculty of religion at Loma Linda Univer-sity.

British courts awardclaim against church

ritish newspaper readers weregiven a window into the work-ings of the Seventh-dayAdventist Church last April inBritain through a much-publi-cized case claiming race and

sex discrimination and unfair dismissal.Valerie Eccles, a black female employedas an information technology (IT) techni-cian, was awarded 77,000 pounds (over$100,000 US), called a "record compen-sation" for such a case in Britain. Herattorney, Lawrence Davies, issued a pressreport saying, "The award reflects the ap-palling and despotic treatment Mrs.Eccles was subjected. The church shouldbe ashamed." Her charges ranged fromrude speech and behavior to exclusionfrom trips to Iceland and Greece. Themost devastati ng charge was that she hadbeen summarily dismissed for gross mis-conduct.

People close to the scene have a differ-ent view of the situation, although theTrans-European Division of the churchaccepted the final decision of the courtand paid the award. They point out thatthe principal documents used in the courtwere thousands of pages of a diary keptminutely by Ms. Eccles for the thirteenyears she worked for the church, first as asecretary and then later as an IT staffmember. The "gross misconduct" theycharged her with was her conducting ofan "outside" business using her officequarters in the denomination's building.They say that when Ms. Eccles began tovoice a complaint they offered to settleout of court, but she chose to call an at-torney and take it to trial. The attorney'sinitial demand of 5 million pounds, basedon a percentage of the church's income,was much reduced as many of hercharges were discounted. The presidingjudge in the case had taken particular ex-ception to the church's recommendationthat its members not resort to civil courts,but try to settle grievances in a biblicalfashon. He suggested that the church wasenslaving its members .•

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DON'T PAY

my VISion. I've stopped expectingpeople to get excited about the potentialin southwest Wyoming.

Yesterday I read an interview withAdventist church-growth specialist RonGladden. As I write this morning, I'mreminded of his comments regarding thededication and enthusiasm that are char-acteristic of church plant core teams. Imiss that kind of environment. I hearfrom my friend Dave in Franktown andmy friend Tami in Riverside - I hearabout the enthusiasm of their "estab-lished" churches. My friends Alan,Roger, and Shasta tell me their growing

ORE

allowed me to work with some of thetop surgeons in the country. I lovedworking with these people.

When I first began pastoring, inSouthern California, I worked at themost progressive and successful youngadult ministry in the Adventist Church inthe US and Canada (at that time). I hada leadership team of twelve dedicatedpeople who made ministry their top pri-ority. Another th irty to forty werealways available to serve. These peoplewere the greatest.

Then I went to seminary. It was like alarge church where everyone was com-

ith all the tal k of salaryadjustments for pastors,including a recent letter tothe editor in the AdventistReview pleading for an in-crease in pay, I have been

doing some thinking. When I decidedto enter the full-time ministry, I left a jobthat in 1995 paid me $55,000 per year.My replacement is now making morethan $80,000. If money had been mymotivation, I would have stayed thereand now be making a very comfortableliving (plus, my retirement savingswould be intact). I don't believe it is

openGARY WALTER

money that attracts the best pastoralcandidates. I have no data to supportthis view other than my own experi-ence.

This morning I received the latest JohnMaxwell e-newsletter. The first articlejumped out at me. He talked about themotivational impact of working togetherwith people who share your dreams andpassions, your commitment to excel-lence. Again, it connected with myexperience.

Before entering the pastorate, Iworked at Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.There I worked with some of the topemergency services people in the coun-try. We were movers and shakers. Wewere changing the industry. As a flightparamedic, I worked with the 14 bestparamedics in the Portland Metro area.For four years, I chaired a state commit-tee that included some of the brightestand best known physicians, administra-tors, fire chiefs, paramedics, and nursesin Oregon. We accomplished thingsthat had never been done before. I wasgiven a prestigious award, but in realityit belonged to us all! In addition, serv-ing on the State Trauma Advisory Board

mitted to ministry. Everyday, going toschool was like the fellowship one feelsin the foyer of a large church with greatmorale. Discussing dreams, vision,plans, and ideas - it was a wonderfulexperience. As president of the Semi-nary Student Forum, coordinating there:church conference, working atNADEl (The North American DivisionEvangelism Institute), serving on theDean's Council, I was constantly inter-acting with some of the brightest mindsin Adventism. In addition I worked witha new church plant in South Bendwhere people were excited about doingchurch. My paradigms were constantlystimulated and challenged. Thesepeople motivated me to do my best.

But now, things are different. I have atwo church district, covering almost15,000 square miles. I drive about athousand miles per week. Althoughthere are dedicated people in thesechurches, there isn't the same spirit ofexcellence I'm used to. My membersare content not to evangel ize, not togrow. They are content with the statusquo. So I keep turning down the vol-ume on my dreams. I keep scaling back

churc.h plants.Don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm

not being challenged. I'm learningmuch. I'm learning patience, persever-ance, and tolerance-to name a few.

But my point is: I don't need moremoney. I'm at the bottom of the payscale. My wife, as my partner in minis-try, does not have a separate income.We drive two fairly decent vehicles. Weput away money in savings every month.And, we live a comfortable lifestyle andparticipate in the activities that interestus. More money is not the answer.

The answer is-let me use my gifts, tal-ents, education, and experience to achievethe vision God has put in my heart. Allowme to work with people who are ready topursue the full potential of His Church.Living up to my potential is the greatestmotivator of all.

Don't pay me more, just turn me lose! •

Cary S. Walter is the pastor, RockSprings and Rawlins SOA Churches. Aswe go to press, Cary and his wife havebeen asked to church plant in ColoradoSprings, a challenge that should thor-oughly motivate them!

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PA.STORALRemuneration

Continued on page 13

worth is in the pastorate itself. Up tothis point all pastors have been paidthe same salary regardless of the size ofthe church. The proposed salarychange would take away this last indi-cation of value. The vast majority ofpastors serve districts with more thanone small church. In the Rocky Moun-tain Conference where I serve there are107 churches and companies. Only 17of these are churches large enough foreach to have its own pastor. The pro-posed changes would send the messagethat those 17 pastors are somehowmore valuable than the rest.

adapting tochanging stan-dards of val ue.

This situationhas strippedthe district pas-tor of many of

the affirmations of value he once had.Though the corporate church, throughits publ ications and spokespersons,constantly tells the district pastor he isthe most valuable person in the organi-zation, that message is muted becausethe district pastor is the lowest-paidperson in the clergy organization. Assoon as a minister leaves the districtministry for another position in the hi-erarchy his salary is increased. Theonly area where pastors are of equal

MARTINR •

Though the corporatechurch, through its publi-

cations and spokespersons, con-stantly tells the district pastor heis the most valuable person inthe organization, that message ismuted because the district pastoris the lowest-paid personin the clergy organization.

J 0 H N

be a significant increase in political ac-tivity as pastors attempt to get assignedto positions where the salary is higher.This will lead to further distrust of thechurch and its ministry.

Value reasonsPastoral ministry is increasingly diffi-

cult. Thirty-three years ago I had valuejust because I was the pastor assignedto a congregation. That is no longer thecase. When assigned to a new church Inow have to 'learn" anyrespect, cooperation andvalue I receive from thecongregation. And Ihave to earn that respectin a minefield of conflict-ing values andtheological positions. Iam constantly aware thatif I make a wrong stepthe whole situation canexplode. In those days atthe conference levelthere were clearly under-stood, though unwritten,criteria for the eval uationof pastors. If the churchthe pastor was assignedto had an increase in at-tendancel an increase in tithe and somebaptismsl the pastor was judged suc-cessful. That same well understood,though unwritten policy, mandated thatif a pastor met those three criterialwhen it came time for a move he wouldbe moved to a church of equal or largersize. Today that has changed and thereis no consistent standard that defines agood or a successfu I pastor. Whetheror not a pastor is considered good orsuccessful depends on each new ad-ministration. While some still defineIlsuccessful'l in the old way, others de-fine it in terms of how creative worshipcan be, or how many small groups op-erate, or a hundred other ways. So thedistrict pastor must constantly be

believe there are four reasons whythe proposed plan to change theremuneration scale for pastors inthe North American Division nowunder discussion is not a goodidea.

Political reasonsIn 33 years of pastoral ministry I have

seen very I ittle pol itical activity amongpastors, as far as campaigning for alarger church. Conference administra-tion makes those decisions on the basisof whatever values they currently hold.Pastors do not always like the deci-sions, but since these have little effecton a pastor's income they are mucheasier to swallow. If the proposed planshould be adopted I predict there will

Evangelistic reasonsWe live in a time when organized re-

ligion operates under a cloud. Thescandals of the televangelists a fewyears ago, Oral Roberts' threat that theLord would kill him if people didn'tsend a million dollars, the high profilenews of child molestation by clergy,and the prospect of government givinglarge amounts of tax dollars to faith-based charities have created in theminds of secular people a great suspi-cion of the church's need for money.As a Seventh-day Adventist pastor Imust go into that cloud and convincepeople to return 10 percent of their in-come to the church, plus additionalofferings. People are amazed when Itell them that in this age of opulenceall Seventh-day Adventist pastors, nomatter what the size of their church, re-ceive the same salary. The Holy Spirituses this to appeal to the sense of mis-sion and altruism that is strong amongBaby Boomers and GenX'ers. They canidentify with altruistic pastors, even itthey are anti-institution. If the pro-posed change takes place tithing willbe infinitely harder to sell.

volume 10 issue 3 Iadventist today 111

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"my much needed and influentialtouch" on every activity. Because ofthis I spent very little time with my fam-ily. My children were growing up, and Iwas not involved in their lives as muchas I could have been. I thoroughly en-joyed the ministry, but it was still takingits toll upon my emotional and psycho-logical health.

Pastors who can lead small churcheswithout burning themselves out are theunsung heroes of our denomination.That work can be extremely lonely, andsatisfaction in seeing a difference in thechurch can come very slowly. It waskilling me. I kept dreaming of becom-ing an artist.

A Multi-staff churchYears later I became the senior pastor

of a mu Iti-staff congregation. Th is wasenjoyable and seemed much easier formany reasons. I no longer felt so alonein the ministry. I now had someone toshare the challenges and joys and plan-ning. Not all of the responsibility wason my shoulders. This was a great re-lief. The congregation had someoneelse they could relate to as well and toblame things on. I didn't have to takeall the heat anymore.

The different personalities of severalpastors can more effectively serve acongregation of diverse people.

I really don't ever want to go back to

doing it alone again. The pastoral min-istry can be lonely work. Having otherstaff members with the same dedicationand commitment who are full-time, in-

Continued on page 13

When I started out, young,full of ideas and ambition,

I thought I knew how to do churchand save the world. And themembers of those smallerchurches were happy towatch me do it.

T 0 L B E R T

and I was all too willing to do the min-istry myself. There were alwaysinvolved members who took care of themain activities and structure of thechurch. But the ideas I promoted andthe visions I cast were not picked up soreadily by them. They were content todo the basic ministry of the churchwhile the pastor took care of all theoutreach and progressive activities. Atleast that is how it seemed. Of course,this became very frustrating for me andprobably for my members as well. I

sometimes dreamed of growing my hairlong, putting it in a ponytail and be-coming a starving artist.

GARY

A larger church, more programsThen I was asked to go to a larger

district where one church was the pri-mary congregation andwas much larger than theother. Here there weremore members availablewith talent and interest.The church could carryon a Pathfinder program,a very good churchschool, evangel istic out-reach, and maybe somevery creative ministryideas.

I was not killing myselfby doing it all, though itwas still easy for me to be aworkaholic. I was still a solo pastor.And my churches were relatively small.

The nature of my work changed. I be-came more like a butterfly flippingfrom flower to flower, leaving behind

ike most pastors I began minis-try as the solo pastor of adistrict of small churches.Now, twenty-five years later, Iam the senior pastor of an 850-member church; I have twoassociates.

The size of the congregation defi-nitely makes a difference in thepastoral role. In a small church I was "ahunter of tigers." In a large church, Iam holding a tiger by the tail. Some-times I delude myself into thinking I am

Two small churchesWhen I started out, young, full of

ideas and ambition, I thought I knewhow to do church and save the world.And the members ofthose smallerchurches were happy to watch me doit. Normally small churches don't havean overabundance of talent, so there's alimit to what the church ministries canaccomplish. If the pastor comes in andhas all ki ndsof ideas and perceived tal-ent, if he is self-motivated and excitedabout ministry and the gospel, thechurch is happy to sit back and watch.So I became a workaholic hunter of ti-gers.

Of course, in the seminary we weretaught that the members need to be in-volved in ministry and the pastor isthere to lead them, encourage them,train them, and not do it all himself.But I was never able to convince themembers of my churches of this. Infact, I was not taught how to do that,

in charge of the situation, then the tigergrowls and I am reminded: Just hold on.

PAST

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es

PASTORAL Remuneration

Continued from page 12

creases the level of enjoyment and fun.Sometimes, it's just nice to have otherpastors around. They're not always evenhalf bad. The workload can be shared,divided up according to pastoral talent.The input from other minds adds depthto the planning needed for successfulministry.

In an ideal church, staff relationshipswould always be warm and congenial.Too often, reality is different. Humansare likely to act in very human ways.Sometimes pastors can actually be in-human. Like any other group of peoplewho have to work closely together, apastoral staff can experience personal-ity clashes, differences in expectations,competition for turf, confl icts regard inghours on and off, and issues of author-ity. For the senior pastor, the strain ofmanaging these challenges can bequite acute.

Foroall the advantages of increasedresources and staffing in largerchurches, they require more commit-

Continued from page 11

Reasons of congregationalismOne of the major reasons for the phe-

nomenal worldwide growth of theSeventh-day Adventist Church is its orga-nizational structure. Every church,through its tithe, supports the worldwideoutreach of the denomination. Our sys-tem has proved to be a good one, but it isa "man-made system." All that scripturerequires is that the tithe be brought to the"storehouse." Our various committeeshave designated the local conference asthe storehouse. The GI generation was ageneration of institution builders. Sendingthe tithe to the conference, and buildingan effective institution, fit well with theirphilosophy of life. But the GI generation

tees and meeting times. You find thatyou are less of a shepherd and more ofa manager. At least that is the tempta-tion. It is a challenge to manage yourtime. In larger churches there are moreeducated and talented people, doctors,lawyers, professors, and reti red de-nominational workers, some of whomare very helpful. But others in this cat-egory are difficult personalities whowant to control, who need public rec-ognition and ego-stroking and whowant the pastor's ear in order to ma-nipulate him. These kinds of people canmake life complicated for the pastor.Often these folks are on committees oreven in charge of them, so the pastormust have a working relationship withthem. In a small church you may haveone or two of these people who can tieup the work for years. In a largerchurch everything is multiplied in in-tensity.

There is a degree of "politics" thatthe pastor must be involved in. Theword "politics" often brings to minddishonest politicians, "public servants"

is passing from the scene. The BabyBoomers and GenX'ers are naturally dis-trustful of institutions. More and more wehear church members ask, "If tithe canpay for secretaries and janitors at the con-ference office, why is it not OK to usetithe to pay a secretary and janitor at thelocal level?" The only answer is, "It is ourpolicy." Baby boomers and GenX'ers aredrawn to causes and people. They likeand appreciate their local pastors. The al-truism of the idea that all local pastors areequal and receive the same salary is ap-pealing to them. I believe it is what haskept the boomers and GenX'ers support-ing the system. If the system is changed, Ipredict that a large percentage of what isnow marked as tithe and sent to the con-ference will be redirected to the local

who seem to be interested only inthemselves. And there are clergy whofit that category. But to be effective, apastor has to be aware of and workwith all the various groups, commit-tees, cliques and circles of influence inthe church. In a small church the pastorhas more direct contact with every per-son. In a large church, the senior pastormust work through committees andother structures-which is politics.

In a small church the pastor is, in asense, a member of the family. In alarge church the pastor becomes thehead of the corporation. In theAdventist church, we all get paid thesame-the pastor of a multi-church ru-ral district, an associate pastor or asenior pastor. So why would someonewant to subject himself to all that a se-nior pastor has to deal with, where thebuck stops with him? Why take on theincreased expectations and stress whenthere are no increased monetary re-wards?

It must be an inherent character flaw.Now where is that artist palette? •

level. When the corporate church ad-monishes that this is inappropriate, thelocal member will respond by saying, "Ifyou can change the rules we can changethe rules, too." If this should happen itwould be a major step toward congrega-tionalism.

The system of pastoral remuneration wehave is not perfect. However, it is a pow-erful influence for new members andyoung Adventists to return 10 percent oftheir income to the conference. It is a ma-jor factor in clergy cooperation whenpastoral changes are made. It is the lastaffirmation of value for the great majorityof pastors. And it could be the last thingholding us from going down the road tocongregationalism. I hope that those inadministration and large churches willlook at this issue from the viewpoint of themen and women on whose shoulders thischurch is carried, the district pastors.•

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Ed. Note. I asked a church adminis-trator where he thought the church washeaded in the administration of our tith-ing system. In his response, he quotedAT Executive editor, Erv Taylor: "Every-one has an idea, but almost no one hasdata." He then listed four areas of in-quiry where he felt data would be mosthelpful.

he History of the SDATitheSystem (traditional view)

The pioneers of the SDAchurch decided that all titheshould be collected inthe local churches and

sent to the conference headquartersfor distribution. This decision wasobviously not based on biblicalmandates, since the Bible writersknew nothing of conferences oreven of the Seventh-day Adventist(SDA) Church. This plan simplymade the most sense. It was themost effective way they could thinkof to maximize their meager resources.The plan worked so well they immedi-ately recognized that God had led themto adopt this system. History has dem-onstrated it to be an amazingly effectiveplan, resulting in unprecedented inter-national growth.

Data Needed:Someone needs to do some credible

historical research, if it has not alreadybeen done, to determine if the abovestatement is true or not. Was our tithesystem a crucial factor in our interna-tional growth? Was our foreign missionprogram tithe-driven or Sabbath Schooloffering-driven?

Additional questions that need to beasked: What were the actual alternativesconsidered by the pioneers, the argu-ments advanced for each, and thereasons for deciding on the conference-as-storehouse plan? Was it originallypresented to the members as "Bible doc-trine!! or as an effective plan that Godhad led the church to devise?

The Tithe Envelope as a MoralObligation (traditional view)

Because the plan was so successful

141 adventist today 1 volume 10 issue 3

and the sense of God's leading was sostrong, church leaders and laity alikesoon began to treat the conference-as-storehouse plan as though it was God'scommandment for all time. It was notenough to devote 10 percent of one's in-come to God; 10 percent had to bedevoted to the conference tithe system.Any giving to other persons or ministriesmust be in addition to the 10 percent tothe conference office. In the past, most

people who are Adventists for longcome to feel that giving their tithe any-where but to the conference is a sin, aviolation of God's commandment. But asignificant number are coming to be-lieve that the Adventist tithe plan is onlya church policy, not God's law, and (inthe absence of current arguments sup-porting the policy) are choosing to givetheir tithe to the local church to supportlocal pastoral assistants or church bud-get needs, to Adventist media ministries,and even to non-Adventist ministriesand nonreligious causes.

Data Needed:What percentage of Adventists give 10

percent or more of their income to thechurch? What percentage believe it is aBiblically-commanded duty to handletheir tithe through the regular, officialchurch channels? How has that convic-tion changed over the past twenty years?What other kinds of ministries or causesdo significant numbers of Adventistssupport with tithe dollars?

The Rational Value of the Tithe.System (traditional view)

A strong case can be made that

church members can still best realizetheir giving objectives by sending tithethrough the regular tithe channels. Do-nors should realize that if members inthe North American Division (NAD)abandon the traditional system, theAdventist church as we know it (andperhaps take for granted) wi II cease toexist. Some congregations andparachurch ministries may thrive, butwe will lose most grade schools, acad-

JACK DRUMM

emies, colleges, universities, summercamps, publishing houses, literatureevangelism, ADRA, world missions,trained pastors, the Pathfinder organiza-tion, affiliation with Adventist hospitals,and whatever benefits are currently real-ized from the various levels of churchadministration. I don't believe mostmembers, probably not even most pas-tors, realize how much the life of ourchurch is dependent on the centralizedfinancial system we have, of which titheis the foundation. It is easy to criticizethe system. It is difficult to predict whatkind of church we would have if wechanged it. There is no escaping the lawof unintended consequences.

Data Needed:Presidents and treasurers at all levels

seem to agree read iIy that most of thestructure and programs of the church aswe know it would cease to exist, or beseriously curtailed; but as far as I know,no one has ever done any analysis tosee what the actual impact would be.Maybe the schools would close, andmaybe they wouldn't. How manyschools would be lost? Would the re-sources that currently go into schools

/'

the law of unintended consequences.However, change is inevitable. It is al-ready happening. Our members arechanging in the way they handle tithe.I expect that these changes wi II on Iyaccelerate with time. As a church, wecan either do noth ing and react to thecatastrophic realities imposed by di-minished cash flow, or we can activelyengage the future.

Given the crucial role of tithe in ourchurch system, we must act. Wisely.And soon .•

jack Drumm is a pseudonym.

them choose new channels? Or wouldthe traditional givers actually increasetheir giving through traditional chan-nels? Would the Good Policyarguments "convert" nontraditionaltithe payers to traditional channels?Are there any policy changes thatwould attract increased tithe givingthrough regular channels?

Further testing might determine ifthere are effective ways to target thechurch's messages. Can we continue topresent the traditional arguments to thetraditional tithers, while addressingnontraditional tithers through other av-enues?

As you can probably tell from thesection above on the Rational Value ofTith ing, I am convi nced that a central-ized tithing system is indispensable tomany valuable elements of Adventistculture. We must be very careful aboutmaking changes. We cannot escape

Turning over your tithe tothe SDn church organiza-

tion with no thought about how itis used is an act of faith, a test offaith, that is lost if the individualbeliever makes an individualchoice about its use. This argu-ment appeals to the Christian tobe an obedient and trust-ing child of God.

Data Needed:What would happen if the Good

Policy, Responsible Adult argument wasthoroughly tested-perhaps in a sampleof local churches? Would it lead tradi-tional givers to consider alternativechannels? Would large numbers of

What if church leaders were to publiclysay about our tithing system: "Yes, it isonly a policy, but it is a good policy. Itis the best and most responsible wayinformed and committed AdventistChristians can allocate their tithe dol-lars in today's world. It is the mosteffective way to finish the work of Godon earth and usher in the Second Com-ing." These arguments would appeal tothe Christian to be a responsible adultfollower of God, an adult cooperator inthe mission of the church. But such anargument runs the risk of being seen bythe traditional givers as a weakening ofBible and church authority. For peoplewho give out of a sense of inescapableduty, might they quit giving altogetherif church authorities made a public ad-mission that reasonable, godly peoplecould come to different conclusionsabout how to apply the Biblical teach-ings regarding tithe? Why should theygive, if they don't haveto?

On the other hand, ifwe continue to insistthat the SDA churchpractice is God's Oneand Only Plan we willincreasingly alienatepeople who are edu-cated and aware of thehistorical developmentof ou r pol icies.

To date, as far as I cantell, the church has cho-sen to advance only theGod's Plan, ObedientChild argument. Myguess is that churchleaders will continue to argue this wayuntil they believe they are losing moremoney. because of the people theyal ienate than they wi II lose if theyadopt the Good Policy, ResponsibleAdult argument.

approved way of handling tithe was tosend it through regular church chan-nels. This was God's One and OnlyPlan. Any other use of tithe was rebel-lion against God and the church. Thesubarguments here include:

1) The SDA church is God's highestauthority on earth and the church hasvoted this plan in official session.

2) Ellen White said the conference-as-storehouse is God's plan.

3) Turning over your tithe to the SDAchurch organization with no thoughtabout how it is used is an act of faith, atest of faith, that is lost if the individualbeliever makes an individual choiceabout its use; This argument appeals tothe Christian to be an obedient andtrusting child of God.

These arguments keep the "true be-lievers" in line. The problem is thatcareful study reveals only the mostmeager biblical support for any coher-ent policy regarding exactly how titheis to be managed. Many Adventists ar-gue that while there is no explicitbiblical mandate regarding the detailsof tithing, it is a good policy for thechurch community.

But it is dangerous for church leadersto make the same statement publicly.

I{eeping Fundamentalists andPragmatists in the Same House(traditional view)

For at least a century the church hasofficially argued that the only God-

go into youth ministry based in localcongregations? Would such a redirec-tion of resources increase or decreaseour current retention rate? Presidentsargue that "congregationalism" wouldbe disastrous for the church, but noone has ever done research to deter-mine exactly what the disaster wouldlook like.

volume 10 issue 3 I adventist today 115

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he ancient tale is told of a kingwho was traveling through aforest with an entourage ofknights, when he came upon awide river, 50 yards across,with three large trees growing

on the opposite bank. There was a targeton each of these trees, and an arrowplanted into the center of the bull's eyeon each. The king asked his chief marks-man to try to hit the center of each target.The knight took three arrows and man-aged to hit the target in each case, but

rows into the trees!"For my definition of Progressive Ad-

ventism, there are three main targets.These may not be shared by the majorityof Adventists, but they represent myideal, and I get to "paint the targets"here. The three targets for church mem-bers are: 1) to be Christ-Centered in thelargest sense; 2) to be Spirit-Anointed inthe fullest sense; and 3) to be Service-Oriented in the most relevant sense.

Christ-Centered in the largest sense.I am thrilled that during the last three

On the other hand, Adventist liberalsare equally guilty of undermining a pic-ture of God that is Christ-centered in thelargest sense. Many "intellectuals" in thechurch have attended prestigious univer-sities that promote scientific material ismand postmodern relativism, teaching thatjesus was only a man. Some professors inAdventist higher education have em-braced such thinking and attempt to passit along to their students. I have firsthandknowledge of this and have seen liberaladministrators cover for the teachers who

What Is Adventism?STEVE DAILY

never the bull's eye. The king said, "Wemust find the archer who shot those ar-rows." As the group continued they cameupon a seventeen-year-old youth, and theking asked him if he knew of an archerwho practiced in the area. The youngman responded, "I am such an archer."The king then said, "Was it you who shotthe three arrows into the trees across theriver?" "Yes, it was I," said the young manin a humble voice.

The king marveled at his modesty andsaid, "If you will swear to me that youshot those three arrows across the river Iwill christen you as my knight right hereon this spot." The young man, who hadalways dreamed of being a knight, fell tohis knees and said, "I do so swear." Sothe king ordained him as his chief marks-man and presented him with threegolden arrows, a sword and a whitesteed. As the band returned to the castle,the king ordered his men to stop at thesame spot so their new knight could dis-play his skills. The youth took his threegold arrows and shot each of them di-rectly into the trunk of each tree, but notone of the arrows even hit a target, muchless a bull's eye. The king frowned, know-ing he could not reverse his decisionunless he had cause. "What is the mean-ing of this?" he demanded. "Why did youlie to me?" "Oh, I did not lie," replied thenew knight, "I just failed to mention thatI painted the targets after I shot the ar-

161 adventist today I volume 10 issue 3

decades we have witnessed a concertedeffort by religious leaders to teach churchmembers righteousness by faith and tomove away from the legalistic legacy thathas troubled us in the past. Yet there arestill many Adventists who have not el-evated Christ to his proper place orinternalized the gospel. A high percent-age of our people still cling to anethnocentric Christ who is viewed as thepossession of Adventism, just as manyother Christians delude themselves intobelieving that jesus belongs exclusivelyto Christianity. But the Gospels tell usthat jesus is the Light who Iights up everyhuman being (John 1:9), and that he tran-scends every man-made religion,including Christianity and Adventism.Christ's true followers can be found inevery religion and culture. Every human-made faith, including the denominationsof Christianity, has among its membersmany who have a false or unhealthyspirituality. This is not to imply that Godwasn't active in raising up such move-ments, but the human element in theirleadership ensures that they continuallystruggle between worshipping the god ofself-preservation and the true God ofheaven. My major concern with conser-vatives is that they seem preoccupiedwith externalism and ethnocentricity, twocharacteristics that jesus repeatedlywarned against and condemned in theGospels (see Matthew 23, etc.).

practice it.Liberals in the church can be just as in-

tolerant, unfair, power-hungry anddishonest as the conservatives. Thosewho advocate a theology that does notelevate jesus as Lord and God rob the in-carnation of its power and make thegospel.impotent. I want to see our churchbecome known for its passion for jesusChrist-more than vegetarianism, ourhealth message, the Sabbath or academicexcellence. This cannot happen throughhuman effort or emphasis, but onlythrough the Spirit of God.

Spirit-Anointed in the fullest sense. Aspowerful as the death and resurrection ofjesus are, the focal point of Scripture anduniversal history, jesus said that wasn'tenough. He told his disciples to pray andto wait in the upper room until they hadreceived the baptism of the Holy Spirit.Progressive Adventism acknowledges ourdesperate need for the fullness of theHoly Spirit. Of the three goals discussedin this article, this is the one where weare most off target. I went through under-graduate training in theology at two ofour universities, and through three yearsof seminary training, and never once wasI required to take a class that focused onthe Holy Spirit. In all of my course work Inever heard the baptism of the HolySpirit emphasized or even discussed.How far have we spiritually regressed asa people with regard to our understand-

/'

Holy Spirit, as well as to overemphasizethe "social gospel" with humanism as itsforce. But Jesus models a perfectly bal-anced gospel that avoids all of theseextremes. Christ had a personal devo-tional life that was so intimate and tunedinto his Father's voice that he could say,"I don't do anything unless the Father hasdirected me to do it" (John 8:28, 29). Onthe other hand, the things which he didwere generally based on meeting humanneeds at the most relevant level. He wasthe champion of the hurting and disen-franchised from every walk of life, and hewas constantly being misunderstood byhis own faith community as a result.

Everyone says they are for serving hu-manity, but how many churches andindividual Christians are actively en-gaged in such activity? I have seen a lotof community service projects come andgo for lack of church support.

When Rudy Torres asked me someyears ago to join him at the GardenGrove, California, Seventh-day Adventistchurch, the Holy Spirit convinced methat this man understood the importanceof ministering to one's community. Hisentire career as a pastor had modeledsuch service, in contrast to those whojust talk about it, so I agreed to join him.The Lord gave us a vision together, calledthe KEYS Family Resource Center, whichis focused on meeting the practical needsof our community in ways that Adventistchurches had never done before. It hasbeen exciting to see many communitypeople in our area change their preju-diced views about Adventism through theinteractions that we have had together.

Progressive Adventism, like any otherdefinition of Adventism, is in the eye ofthe beholder. But since I've had the op-portunity to paint the targets in thisparticular article I invite you as thereader to challenge, disagree or dialoguewith what you've read through a letter tothe editor. I'm sure my biases are highlyfallible, but this is progressive Adventismas I define it and attempt to live it, withpassion for Christ and his return .•

(See Steve Daily "Reaching HurtingFamilies Inside and Outside the Church,"Adventist Today (Vol. 8, No.6, Nov./Dec.,2000) pp. 76,77.)

For too long wehave assumed

that people who don'tkeep the Sabbath havelittle to teach us aboutScripture or theology.This certainly is notthe case. There arechurches that are farahead of us when itcomes to the experien-tial understanding andpractice of thebaptism of theHoly Spirit.

into the realm of the Spirit. He is about tomove his people out of the spiritual stoneage, and pour out an anointing that is fargreater than anything his church has seenbefore. This is not the only channel thatGod is going to use to reach new peoplefor his Kingdom, but it is the most power-ful one. Yet, many are not ready toreceive God at this level, so we need tomeet them at the level of their own hu-man need.

Service-Oriented in the most relevantsense. Just as the baptism of the HolySpirit follows embracing Jesus as Lord, soa true life of service to humanity andGod is best experienced in the context ofmeeting the first two goals. ProgressiveAdventists recognize that we must marrythe deepest spirituality with the greatestcommunity service. The error of conser-vative Christians has traditionally beenisolating themselves from their commu-nity through a narrow understanding ofevangelism, escapist theology, and rem-nant eschatology. The error of liberalChristians has been their de-emphasis onevangelism and their inclination to em-brace Universalism and to deny thedivinity of Christ and de-emphasize the

ing and experience with the Holy Spiritsince Ellen White's day? Progressive Ad-ventism is committed to resurrecting theimportance of this doctrine, not in per-fectionism but in the context of Matthew25, where we are told that the differencebetween the wise virgins who are savedand the foolish virgins who are lost is thedegree to which they possess God's HolySpirit.

For too long we have assumed thatpeople who don't keep the Sabbath havelittle to teach us about Scripture or theol-ogy. This certainly is not the case. Thereare churches that are far ahead of uswhen it comes to the experiential under-standing and practice of the baptism ofthe Holy Spirit. We need to learn on ourknees at the feet of Jesus. The powerless-ness today in Adventism comes becausethere is so much prayerlessness. AsLennard Ravenhill once said, "Poverty-stricken as the church is today in somany ways, she is most stricken here-inthe place of prayer." (While Revival Tar-ries, Minneapolis: Bethany Press, 1988,p. 10). If ever there has been a need forpassionate prayer that seeks God's direc-tion and discernment it is in ourconfused and chaotic culture, but only atiny fraction of the church shows up forprayer meetings.

During my years as a university chap-lain we had an open prayer group thatmet in the middle of our campus everymorning at 7:00. We had a few students,maybe one percent of the student body,but those who came never regretted it,for they saw the power of God at work.We will not survive as God's people if wedo not get serious about passionateprayer and the power and baptism ofGod's Holy Spirit.

The recent terrorist attack on Americahas awakened in many people a spirituallonging and openness that provides thoseof us who are believers with an opportu-nity to touch their lives for the kingdomof God. An anointed mentor of mine re-cently shared a prophecy with me, that isrelated to these events. The vision statedthat what God has done in the naturalrealm over the past century he is about todo in the spiritual realm now. God isabout to bring an accelerated progress

volume 10 issue 31 adventist today 117

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One might object, however, that thiskind of pluralism violates the spirit ofthe New Testament, whose undisputedcenter is Christ. It should be remem-bered, however, that within thediscipline of biblical studies, the ques-tion of "center" is an extremelycontroversial one for both Testaments. 16

There is no consensus even in Paulinescholarship regarding Paul's theologicalcenter. J. Paul Sampley speaks for themajority when he states: "But preciselybecause Paul's thought is cast in bal-ances and not in isolated ideas, the

nuclear modelwith its single'center' is notadequate."l7Rather, thefeeling is thatJohn, He-brews, James,Revelation,Romans, and1 and 2

Corinthians are all valid expositions ofthe meaning of the Christ-event inter-secting with life's situations.ls TheScripture simply does not offer a system-atized form of theology. 19

Thus if we want to remain true to the

Spirit of the New Testament, we need tofind ways to explain the meaning of allof our fundamental beliefs from thestandpoint of the Christ-event ratherthan isolate and elevate as central the

Continued on page 21

Although it is mtclearwhether the framers inten-

tionally set up the church's currentbelief system the way it is, there issomething remarkably ingeniousabout it. I believe that, properlymtderstood and applied, thechurch's present belief system canhelp the church become anopen commmtity of faith.

rest. This kind of pluralistic system canfunction, however, only as divergentviews regarding what is the central doc-trine continue to be accepted asgenuinely Adventist.6

Some extremely intelligent and well-meaning people, however, haveproposed to give shape to our beliefsystem, so that one doctrine is subordi-nated to another in some meaningfully

hierarchical order.7

But an attemptto achieve

an official consensus about which of thebel iefs shou Id be relegated to a second-ary position could be costly anddifficult. Some might feel very stronglythat the doctrines on Ellen G. White'sprophetic giftS and the Great Contro-versy9 are the church's centraldoctrines. Evangelically-minded believers mightcounter that the doctrine ofChrist's free grace is still morefundamental.lO Those con-cerned with the question ofidentity might advance power-ful arguments that the SecondComingll and the Sabbathl2

are the central doctrines ofour church. Still others mightargue that the center is Chris-tian Iifestyle or fami ly.13Actually, there are as manypossibi Iities as the fundamen-tal bel iefs themselves.l4 In myopinion, one should be left tochoose anyone of the church's funda-mental bel iefs as the center of h is or herreligious system, provided he or shedoes not use his or her central belief asthe criterion by which the authenticityof others' beliefs are judged.ls

C HOIRICHARDP.

Shaping the FundamentalBeliefs and Indi ldual Freedom

he Twenty-Seven Fundamentalbeliefs of our church are aloosely connected system ofbeliefs. Presently, each ofthem is a potential center forthe church's identity and be-

liefs. George R. Knight says it well: "Toput it bluntly, the 27 fundamentals areset forth as a list, somewhat like a stringof beads with each bead having thesame size, shape, and weight."l Thusthe doctrine of health reform and mod-est dress2 stands shoulder to shoulderwith the doctrine of the Trinity3, and the

doctrine of soul sleep4 is given the sameweight as the doctrine of the atonementof Christ.s This view that the twenty-seven doctrines are all of equal value isdemonstrated in the actual life of thechurch community. For example, anAdventist Bible teacher who eats pork orsmokes will be just as unacceptable tothe community as a teacher who teachesthe immortality of the soul. Both ofthem will be dismissed from their posi-tions and fellowship just as much as aBible teacher who denies the atonementof Christ or the Trinity.

Although it is unclear whether theframers intentionally set up the church'scurrent bel iet' system the way it is, thereis something remarkably ingeniousabout it. I believe that, properly under-stood and applied, the church's presentbelief system can help the church be-come an open community of faith. Oneof us might prefer one doctrine as thecenter of faith, while another personmight prefer a different one. But sincethe church has not designated any of thefundamental beliefs as its central doc-trine, an Adventist is free to choose anyone of them as the foundation on whichto build his or her understanding of the

lsladventisttoday Ivolume 10 issue 3

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these texts. Thepassages fromNumbers andEzekiel deal withsin and sinnersand God's declar-ing a judgment onthe people. In the

Book of Numbers God foretells punish-ment and a very long period ofdisappointment. In Ezekiel every year ofsin is symbolized by a day of punishmentexperienced by the prophet. Both thesetexts show how God is dealing with sinand sinners. This may provide a clue forusing the so-called year-day principle.

If we look at the texts from 2 Peter 3and Psalm 90 we are seeing, not a pictureof judgment, but of wonder at God'sgreatness. He is beyond time and awe-some! These two texts could hardly beused in prophecies about sinful people.Therefore, when the primary focus is on"time" in prophecy, it appears that thecontext of sin, sinners, and judgment hasto be present before the year-day principlecan be used.Implementation

If that is the right understanding aboutwhen we should use the year-day prin-ciple, we have to look at some texts to seeif it can be confirmed.

Daniel 9:24: "Seventy 'sevens' [weeks]are decreed for your holy people to finishtransgression, put an end to sin, to atonefor wickedness, to bring in everlastingrighteousness, to seal up vision andprophecy and to anoint the most holy."

In this verse we have such a situationand we can clearly see that God is deal-ing with sin and sinners. If repentancedoes not take place, a separation fromGod will be the result. It is certainly ajudgment as well. Therefore in Daniel9:24 it seems very appropriate to use theyear-day principle.

Elsewhere in Daniel are other prophe-cies outlining the rise and fall ofkingdoms, with God's kingdom triumph-ing at last, concluding with the life,death, resurrection and ascension ofJesus.•

Toby joreteg, MD, PhD, is an assistantprofessor at the Loma Linda UniversityMedical Center.

is told to "bear the sin" for a correspond-ing number of days.

But if we look at these texts more care-fully we find that in the first example thereis a day-year principle, where 40 daystranslated to 40 years. In the second ex-ample there is a year-day principle, where390 years translated to 390 days. That ac-tually seems to be two principles and notone! When should a day become a yearand when should a year become a day?These two texts do not tell us. Has it any-thing to do with the severity of the sin? IsGod arbitrary in deciding when to use oneprinciple or the other? It would certainlybe comforting to find other texts support-ing this concept before we use it as a toolfor our studies. Sometimes two other textsare used to illustrate this days-for-yearsprinciple.

Psalm 90:4: "For a thousand years inyour sight are like a day that has just goneby, or like a watch in the night."

2 Peter 3:8, 9: "But do not forget thisone thing, dear friends: With the Lord aday is like a thousand years, and a thou-sand years are like a day. The Lord is notslow in keeping his promise, as some un-derstand slowness. He is patient with you,not wanting anyone to perish."

In these texts we are not dealing withone day and one year but one day and1,000 years! This is a thousandfold differ-ence. In the first text a day equals 1,000years; in the second 1,000 years equalone day.

When should the first principle be usedand when the other? With these differentideas of interpretation of prophecy the re-sults will vary depending on whichmethod we use. Up to this point, afterstudying four texts about God's ways ofdealing with time in human affairs, we ac-tually have found four different principles.Deeper Understanding

If we prayerfully investigate the pas-sages there is something we can get out of

volume 10 issue 3 I adventisttodaYl19

he "year-day" principle used incalculating eras in Bible proph-ecy assumes that for certainpassages that describe elapsedtime in "days,." the reader maysubstitute "years." Although

pioneer scholars in the Adventist churchmade use of this idea in interpreting someof Daniel's prophecies, they were not thefirst nor the last to do so. Others in differ-ent churches and at various times inhistory have also used the method.The Bible Texts

Is it possible to find a common denomi-nator for all the texts dealing withprophetic time? There are only two Bibletexts that explicitly state the year-day prin-ciple.

Numbers 14:34 "For forty years-oneyear for each of the forty days you ex-plored the land-you will suffer for yoursins" (NIV).

When the Israelites approached Canaanfor the first time, God promised them hewould guide and protect them when theyencountered resistance from the inhabit-ants. Moses sent men to check out thenew land, and after forty days of search-ing the group brought back such adiscouraging report that the people be-came terrified and rebelled. As a result oftheir unbelief and unreadiness God toldthem they mvst stay in the desert for an-other forty years.

Ezekiel 4:4-6 "Lie on your left side andput the sin of the house of Israel upon your-self. You are to bear their sin for thenumber of days you lie on your side. I haveassigned you the same number of days asthe years of their sin. So for 390 days youwill bear the sin of the house of Israel. Afteryou have finished this, lie down again, thistime on your right side, and bear the sin ofthe house of Judah. I have assigned you 40days, a day for each year."

In this context the Israelites have misbe-haved for 390 years, and now the prophet

Reexamining the Year-Day PrincipleTOBE JORETEG

IN I

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hope for the future. The Batwa pygmieshave survived by living as squatters.They work in other people's fields in re-turn for a place to build a home. Theyare virtually indentured servants.

But they don't have the same security.The matriarch told me that they alwayshave to be ready to move-once thecrop is harvested, once the seeds are

planted, once the landlord changeshis mind. Tomorrow can mean be-ing homeless, starving.

For the Batwa pygmies, sur-vival isn't about getting througha board meeting; it's about

finding food. And

Iforget showers,indoor toiletsor even out-houses, forthat matter.The Batwa

FORDHAMSA R I

The Datwa pygmy childrensurrounded me in a respect-

ful circle. They gazed at my clean

pygmies are un-able to practice good hygiene

because their landlords will not allowthem to build outhouses. And it's hardto bathe or wash your clothes often, ifyou must walk three miles to fetch wa-ter.

My own hands smelled like coconut,courtesy of the scented antibacterial

hand gel I carried so I could"wash" my hands on the road.Now, I tugged at my jacketand felt pampered. What did fdo to deserve being born intoprivilege?

clothes expensive camera white. The Batwa pygmy children• ' •. • ' surrounded me in a respectful

skm. A mOVIestar or prIncess would circle. They gazed at my clean

not have been met with more awe. c1o~hes,~xpensive. camera,white skin. A movie star or

Just when Iwas certain princess would not have beenmet with more awe. Just when

they must hate me, they I was certain they must hate

started singing. me, they started .singing.The song was Joyful, up-

beat. A young girl skillfully playedhomemade drums. The matriarch beganto dance. The words were lilting, effort-less. Yet it was a new song.

The program's officer translated thatthey were singing a song about ADRA.They were thanking us for caring aboutthem. They even sang about me.

even have any walls, it was just a lean-to. The nicest home in the village used apiece of metal for a door. The ownerwas a seventeen-year-old boy who hadjust gotten married. In that one-roomhut, he lived with his bride, threeyounger siblings and his mother.

The matriarch of the community ex-plained why the place looked so barren.

This was not their home. They had onlylived here for a couple of months. Theyonly expected to live here for a couplemore months, weeks, days-no oneknew. And the irony is that the nicerthey fixed things up, the sooner they'd

be asked to leave.Ten years ago, the Batwa pygmies

were evicted from the forest in order tomake a preserve for mountain gorillas.They were not given any land in ex-change. The consequences were tragic.Uganda is an agricultural society. Landmeans money, food, education, a home,

They seem like charactersfrom some ancient fairy tale.Not everyday people, withreal lives. Maybe that's why inUganda, pygmies are called"the forgotten people." But I

cannot forget them. The Batwa pygmiessing in my dreams.

I met a community of Batwa pygmieswhile I worked as an internfor ADRA Uganda. I remem-ber the morning vividly. Notbecause of the brilliant skyor the lush mountains, butbecause I had the flu. Mystomachflinched atevery bumpin the dirtroad. Irested mycheek on thevi nyl seat and felt sorryfor myself. I should be in bed, Ithought. At the village, I stumbledout of the Land Cruiser and pushed hairout of my face. I zipped my jacketagainst the cool mountain air. I hadn'texpected Africa to be so cold. Wewalked single file toward the huts setback from the road. A pygmy lady ledthe way. She was just a bit shorter thanI. Her face was creased with wrinkles.A yellow cloth was wrapped efficientlyaround her body. She walked quickly,balancing a basket on her head.

I had my camera slung around myneck, the stereotype of an ugly Ameri-can. I'm taking pictures for ADRA, notme, I chanted in my head. I still feltawkward taking photos of someone'stragedy. .

By now, I was used to poverty. I knewthe grim statistics. Globally, one in fivepeople lives on less than a dollar a day.My economical trip to Taco Bell, mydollar laid casually on the counter, isall that another girl has to live on forthe whole day.

The poverty of the Batwa pygmiesthough went beyond statistics. The hutslooked like the "after" picture of a natu-ral disaster. The thatched roofs wereslid ing toward the dirt. There were gapsin the mud walls. One of the huts didn't

20 ladventist today Ivolume 10 issue 3

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Land for aContinued from page 20

But the tragedy is that although ADRAis assisting the Batwa pygmies by teach-ing them to read and helping them withinvestment projects, ADRA can't getthem the one thing they need-land.

As we drove back to town the projectmanager, Esther Iran kunda, lamentedthat they can't find anyone who willsupport a land project. "If the pygmiesjust had their own land/' she waves ahand through the air letting the move-ment complete the sentence. "And it's sofrustrating/' she finally continued. "Thiswhole cycle of poverty. It's unneces-sary."

"Then, let's do it/' I said. "We can tellthe donors about the Batwa pygmies.We can raise funds. How much wouldit cost?"

Patiently, Esther explained to me thatADRA Uganda's projects are sponsoredby two European countries. Red tape

oplmakes these donors unable to buy landin another country. The donors will payfor education, but not land. My eyesmust have been burning with ideas, be-cause Esther turned to me and smiled.

"What about churches?" I said. "Whatabout colleges? We could write letters. Ifpeople just saw the pygmies, they'd wantto help. This could work." I remembereda kid I read about in Readers Digest. Hewas in elementary school and raisedenough money to build a well inUganda.

Instead of saying something practical,Esther grinned. "Maybe God sent you tohelp the pygmies."

I thought of the baby I'd seen thatmorning at the village. He was naked,shivering. His eyes were puffy, his mouthformed a miserable O. His legs werewrapped tightly around the teenage girlwho held him. When I had reached outand tentatively touched his arm, it was ascold as marble.

I wanted to help that child. I wantedto help the Batwa pygmies. The solutionseemed so simple. Buying land for thethree hundred Batwa pygmies in thearea would cost only 70,000 US dol-lars. But although I could see thesolution, it became like a hologram dis-appearing every time I tried to make it areality.

That's not the end of the story, though.I don't want it to be a tragedy and thereis plenty of time left for a happy ending.The middle of the story is this-it's beenfour months since I visited the Batwapygmies. The only money I've been ableto raise is my own. But there is now anofficial ADRA project called the Ugan-dan Pygmy Land Fund. I dream ofrecruiting youth groups, churches, ser-vice clubs, schools, to help provide landfor the pygmies. It's not an impossibledream .•

If you would like to help the Batwapygmies, call ADRA toll free at 7-888-237-2367 and give to the UgandanPygmy Land Fund. For more information,e-mail mesarikf@yahoo.com.

Shaping the 27 Fundamental BeliefsContinued from page 18ones that directly mention the themes ofsalvation.20 One might wonder whether Ihave not turned the Christ-event (belief#9) into a hidden center. In some ways, Ihave. If anyone denies the centrality ofthe Christ-event, he or she cannot be aChristian. BLJtupon a careful examina-tion of fundamental belief #9, one findsreferences to atonement, substitution,and expiation.21 These terms are meta-phors of the Christ-event, meaningful tosome and not so meaningful to others. Itshould be borne in mind that not evenPaul mentions or develops terms like ex-piation (=atonement)22 and justificationin 1 Corinthians. Yet no one would denythat right alongside Romans andGalatians, the letter is one of the mostpowerful expositions of the Christ-eventin the New Testament. All of our be-liefs-even the doctrines of the soul's

mortality and health reform as well as theSanctuary-arise from the Bible andshould be articulated to derive theirmeanings from the Christ-event.23 I donot oppose making Christ the center ofour belief system. I question whethermaking one of the twenty-seven funda-mental beliefs like belief #9 and belief#1024 will do the job.25 Christ is behindall of our fundamental bel iefs. If it is de-termined that Christ is not behind anyone of them, we need to seriously ques-tion whether it deserves to be among thefundamental beliefs at all.

In my view, the problem of Adventismdoes not reside in its failure to decidewhich of the fundamental beliefs is thecenter of faith. We as a body have al-ready expended great energy anddestroyed relationships arguing over thecentral ity of someone's favorite doctrine.Such a search for an illusive center can

result in a distorted understanding of themeaning of salvation, often leading to thefalse dilemma of being an Adventist vs.being a Christian. I do not feel we needto make the choice. Adventism is a lensthrough which Christ is seen. William G.Johnsson, the editor of the Adventist Re-view, offers a fitting metaphor in thisregard;

"True doctrine is not a list of teachingsderived from Scripture, with 'Christ' be-ing one among them. Rather, one mightthink of doctrine as the spokes of awheel. The hub of the wheel is Christ,His person and His work. Every teachingoccupies its rightful place as it is joinedto Christ."26•

Ed note: This article was presented atthe 2007 Convention of ASRS (The Ad-ventist Society of Religious Scholars) inDenver. For footnotes visit our Web site atwww.atoday.com.

volume 10 issue 31 adventist today I 21

ardlya person in the world hasnot heard of J. R. R. Tolkien inthe wake of the blockbustermovie, "The Lord of the Rings."Few, perhaps, know of the roleTolkien played in the conversion

of C. S. Lewis, considered by many to bethe foremost apologist for the Christianfaith in the twentieth century.

Tolkien and Lewis were both dons atOxford. The one was tall and thin, withbushy eyebrows. The other wasrounder, but not corpulent, and goingbald. They ate regularly together at apub called The Eagle and theChild, dressed in rumpledtweeds smoking their pipes.The one spoke with a speechimpediment and was appar-ently a rather boorishlecturer. The other was amagnet for students. The first manwas married and liked puttering in hisgarden. The other was a confirmed bach-elor, who married late in life anAmerican woman as a matter of conve-nience so that she could live in England.At first she kept her own house. Later, herhusband, as he cared for her as she suf-fered from cancer, fell deeply in love withher. It was a short marriage, as she diedwithin three years of their living together asman and wife.

To the outside observer, our dons wouldhave seemed a bit odd perhaps, but withinthe world of Oxford, they attracted littlenotice. Both were hard-working, produc-tive scholars, whose reputations werelargely established by and confined to theworld of medieval English scholarship.And so both might have remained, exceptthat in the spaces between giving lecturesand writing scholarly works they wrote fan-tastic stories about amazing places likeMiddle Earth and Narnia.

Tolkien was a devout Roman Catholic,who seldom spoke overtly about his faith.

Lewis, on the other hand, did not comeeasily to the Christian faith. He had longbeen an agnostic, and while he had be-come a theist by the time he met Tolkien,he resisted becoming a Christian becauseof the mythical elements he recognized inthe Bible. As Lewis commented to Tolkien,"Myths are lies even though breathed

221 adventist today I volume 10 issue 3

through with silver."In time, Tolkien would convert Lewis to

the Christian faith.But here is the paradox. Tolkien con-

verted Lewis, not by dissuading him thatthe Bible contains myth, but by doing pre-cisely the opposite. He convinced Lewisof the importance of myth for Christianfaith. Lewis, who could never stomach aflabby faith that read the Bible as great

GREENWALT

,•1

literature but denied its truth, became aChristian because he was finally convincedthat myth provides the most authentic andtruthful bridge to a relationship with God.

Lewis explained his conversion to Chris-tianity in September of 1931 after a longnight walk with Tolkien and another friendthis way:

"Now what [Hugo] Dyson and Tolkienshowed me was this: That the idea of sacri-fice in a Pagan story I didn't mind it at all. ..provided I met it anywhere except in theGospels. The reason was that in the Paganstories I was prepared to feel the myth asprofound and suggestive of meaning be-yond my grasp even tho I could not say incold prose what it meant. Now the story ofChrist is simply a true myth: a myth work-ing on us in the same way as the others,but with this tremendous difference that itreally happened ... The doctrines we get outof the true myth are of course less true;They are translations into our concept andideas of that which God has already ex-pressed in a language more adequate,namely the incarnation, crucifixion, andresurrection."

Lewis's comments are important to

Adventists in two ways. First, Lewis re-minds us that myths are not simply a packof lies, even though breathed with silver.Myths are oral and literary stories that en-act truths that escape our ordinary,everyday prose. When we give ourselvesto a myth, we are drawn into events thatare greater than ourselves, often depictedas the quest of a hero. In this way a mythis more like the real thing than any listingof facts, rational analysis, or theological

development.An example may

help-take falling in

'

love. However rightone gets all the factsabout how two

people met, when they firstnew they were in love, what was

the sign of true love, these facts arenot really love's true story. How-

ver prosaic our love, weinevitably fall back on poetryand fairy tales and metaphors ofhandsome princes, beautifulprincesses, twinkles, goosebumps and the like.

Likewise, the facts of biblical history fallfar short of the reality of God's action in theworld or in our lives today.

The second important point Lewismakes, for Adventists, is that our theology,like everyone else's, is always less than thetruth. This is not to suggest that Adventistsneed to give up their quest for truth. It onlymeans that all theology is constructed byhuman beings out of their own insights andneeds, and is therefore less than the com-plete truth. To petrify one's theology,therefore, is to petrify untruth. Truth by itsvery nature is greater than our attempts tounderstand and interpret it. Oddly, wehave little trouble recognizing this prin-ciple at work in every facet of our livesexcept our theology. Yet, nowhere is itmore important than in our doctrines torecognize our limits. Our ideas and beliefsnever confine God. Nor is God's will in theworld dependent upon our getting all ofour ducks in a row. Faith is a response to aliving, active God who can take care of notonly himself, but everything else as well.Our theology is best, then, when it opensour eyes, ears, hearts and imaginations tothe infinite possibilities of God.

I make this rather extended point aboutmyth, to talk about recent hard times thathave fallen upon the Roman CatholicChurch.

I just happen to be one of those peoplewho is completely captivated by all of thedragons and beasts of Adventist eschatology.Unfortunately, all of the talk about dragonsand beasts has not always contributed posi-tively to my being Christlike. I came to thisshocking realization as I listened to reportsof the growing scandal in the CatholicChurch over its cover-up of the terrible ac-tions of a sad number of pedophile priests. Isuddenly became aware that I was taking acertain perverse pleasure from the CatholicChurch's drumming in the press. The black-lighted warnings of the evangelistic hallwere coming into the light of day.

No sooner had the thought passedthrough my mind, than I felt a terrible pangof guilt. The prejudice I decried in others, Ifound in myself. I was guilty ofscapegoating the faith of millions because ofthe terrible deeds of a few. I was acting, thatis say, downright beastly and not at all likethe Lamb of the Apocalypse.

By petrifying our interpretation of Danieland Revelation by applying the beastly im-ages almost almost completely to theRoman Catholic Church and her subordi-nates, Adventists like myself are in gravedanger of not only calling names out ofturn, but of failing to see how our own ac-tions typify the behavior of that old dragonand beast-Satan himself.

The facts are that our doctrines, just as wehave recognized in Catholic doctrine, areless than the truth; so when we treat them asultimate truth, we turn them into idols-i.e.images of the-beast, especially when weturn them against others.

The greatest safeguard against such be-havior, I believe, is to recognize themythical roots of our teachings about thebeasts of Daniel and Revelation. Like Lewis,we need to recognize that the myth, with itsuniversal encompass, is closer to the truththan are our doctrines which are limited bytime and self-interest.

Let me layout a thumbnail sketch of thedragon/serpent myths of the Ancient NearEast, and then take you to some biblicaltexts that bear echoes of these ancientmyths. Like Tolkien, my object is not to un-

dermine faith, but to provide what I believeis a more persuasive argument for Adventisteschatological concerns. Here is thethumbnail sketch. For a longer study seePython: A Study of Delphic Myth and itsOrigins, by Joseph Fontenrose and God'sConflict with the Dragon and the Sea, byJohn Day:• An Enemy of divine origins threatens theearth and its inhabitants with chaos anddestruction .• The Enemy dwells in a distinctive place-a desert, cave, sea, lake, spring.• The Enemy has a nonhuman form: mosttimes that of a dragon or snake, but also of alizard, crocodile, scorpion, fish, hippopota-mus, boar, lion, wolf, dog, horse, bull,eagle, vulture, or other creature, and some-times a mixed form of these, often withmultiple heads, arms, legs, etc.• The Enemy is vicious and greedy; heplunders, robs, murders, and makes war; heis lecherous and gluttonous.• The Enemy conspires against heaven.• A Divine Champion appears to face him;his first exploits take place when he is amere boy.• The Champion fights the enemy, and al-most loses; he suffers temporary defeat ordeath.• The Enemy is finally destroyed after beingoutwitted.• The Champion disposes of the Enemy andcelebrates victory.

That some such story lies behind a greatdeal of the Bible narratives seems evident.In texts such as Job 38-40; Psalms 74, 89,104; Isaiah 27, 51, Revelation 12, 13 theoutline is transparent. In the book of Job,God's power to care for the likes of Job isvouchsafed by the fact that he created, andtoys with, leviathan like a plaything; there-fore, God can certainly deal with ourpersonal problems when our lives are awashin chaos. Likewise, in Psalms 74:12-13,89:10-14, and 104:26, the eventual rescueof God's people is ensured by the fact thatGod previously made sport of the sea drag-ons and cracked their heads. It is hardlysurprising, therefore, that in Isaiah 27: 1-3,51 :9, and Revelation 12-13, the ancientmyth of the hero's triumph over the chaosmonsters becomes the archetype of God's fi-nal victory over evil.

Given the dangers the sea posed for an-

cients, we might expect that the enemieswho trouble Israel appear as beasts out ofthe sea-Egypt in Isa. 30:7, 51 :10; Ps. 87:4;Ezek. 29:3-5, 32:2-8; Assyria in Isa. 17:1-14;Babylon in Hab. 3:8-10,15; Jer. 51 :34; anuncertain enemy in Isa. 27:1; and nations ingeneral in Ps. 46:3-4.

In this same vein, early Adventists discov-ered in their readings of Daniel 7 andRevelation 12-13 that images of dragons,serpents, beasts fit the history of Rome andApostate Rome.

The truth is, however, that the taxonomi-cal identification of beasts in the Bible is ameaningless enterprise when one is face toface with the chaos-dragons in one's per-sonallife. Exegetical speculation aboutancient texts is the business of those at lei-sure. For those with chaos breathing downtheir necks, the Bible is of interest only if itoffers hope of present rescue from danger.This is the truth of the true myth: That OldDragon and Serpent still haunts our realm,seeking to harm and destroy all he can. Hecomes in many disguises, but his actions arealways the same. He is bent on the destruc-tion of the good by any means athand-=--malice, lies, slander, plunder, vio-lence, greed, gluttony, licentiousness, themaking of war. Wherever we see hurt andsorrow, we can be assured that the chaosmonster is close at hand, inspiring andprompting the worst for all .

Adventist theology is to be commendedfor its lookout for lurking beasts and dragonsin the surrounding glades and woods. Itcould do a great more by sounding warn-ings about the beasts and dragons lurkingwithin our walls.

In the final analysis, however, myths arenot really about beasts and dragons, butabout the Champion who conquers them.What the true myth of the Bible teaches isthat the child Champion has in fact come.At times his victory appears thwarted by theEnemy. But what we know from the ancientstories is that although the Champion is se-verely wounded, and in some stories evendies, he inevitably comes back and tri-umphs over the Enemy. The ancient storiesall testify to this. So when the battle seemslost and the dragons are all about, remem-ber that the champion cracks heads andmakes sport of dragons. Go forth, therefore,boldly on your adventure! •

volume 10 issue 3 I adventist today 123

./

ERLE J. WHITNEY

ictures and reflections while driving from Orange County, California, to the San jacinto Mountains on january7 and during a day of solitude january 28, 2002, as part of liThe journey" at Pine Springs Ranch

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eVerSing the expected pattern.omehow sun floods Garner Valley,n island of bright lightn a sea of ominous gray.

f'\ntsell Rock, its red and ochre tonestapped and highlighted with snow,luts its jagged head into the brilliant blue skyrS a challenge to the clouds crossing

fom valley to desert.he clouds, scintillating in the sun,weep past the peak,

I'0metimes swirling in a circlethrough the forest at its base,bometimes launched and leapingIfor the sky,bometimes playing hide-and-seeklvith the rocks themselves.

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nowflakes fall, bounced here and therey the buffeting breeze,nd change into playful diamonds

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the sun comes beaming throughcrack in the clouds.

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. hat is to be said in reflection on these lightscapes?essons galore, no doubt,ut perhaps more profoundly:

f'\ feast for the eyesand food for the soul.

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Ieasure for the spiritnd promise for the heart.eauty for the brainnd blessing for the body.panorama of rest in which

o ponder the providence of God., cenes of dynamic silence in whicho sit in the presence of the Savior.

place to experiencehe company of the Spirit.

pilogue-The same splendors of sun-and snow and shadow continuedon Tuesday.Wednesday morning was shockingly clear with brilliant bluelikY and blazing sun. The entire landscape was coated with fresh snow

nd dancing with diamonds as the breeze dislodged snowflakes fromheir perches on pine needles. However, the most spectacular sight begant about the 5500-foot level (about 300' above the camp) and rose to the

fips of the tallest peaks. Everything-pines, firs, oaks, chaparral, ground,rocks, cliffs-was covered inside and out, top to bottom, in absolutely

IIlistening white. On Tuesday, from time to time, the clouds settled in be-inning at that 5500-foot level and continuing above, and froze toverything. Of course, each time they settled in, a new coat of rime

would be added. It made for a glorious, silencing sight when the sunbtruck the scene on Wednesday morning .•

I

ark, dangling, lowering skies,suddenly split with a wide rift,reveal the upper reaches of 10,804-footSan Jacinto Peak,covered with snow and glisteningas from somewhere above and beyondthe sun bathes the craggy mountain

n late afternoon shine.ff to the south loom billowing, sullen

ray massesof cumulus threatening stormut touched on their tallest tipsith sunlight that turns the foreboding gray

nto startling white puffs of promise.hadows drift across the valleynd cover the highway as it skirts the Bernasconi Hills,hich in turn block the eastern view.round a bend one anticipatesultiplied shadows and dark drifting clouds,

nly to have light span the eastern horizon,nchored by ascending mountainsnd topped by a gigantic silver moonet in complementary blue.ach curve upon curve up the canyoneveals new vistas to frame the rising fullness of the moon.ow it beams above the mightyranite boulders of Tahquitz.ow it rides across the ridgend dips toward the snowy forest.ow its silver turns to golds it nears the red and ochre reaches of Antsell Rock.louds swarm from nowhere,asking moon and mountain,nly to merge and mass in magnificent configurations.ne smooth yet frothy moundides the massive Spitler Peak,

ransforms from gray to lovely rosen the light from the sinking sunnd leaves space above

or the pale golden moonet in a sapphire sky.t last, its sharpness fuzzedy frosty, foggy wisps,he silver moon swims above the saddleridging Apache'and Spitler Peaks,hile circled with a rainbow halo.awn, with a glow of brilliant mysteryuch too intense for the early hour,

raws a sleepy riser to the window.h, a coat of snow blanketsround and grass,ine and oak,hamise and manzanita.

,igsaw pieces of sunlight play up and downhe mountain slopes, turning themnto ever-changing puzzle picturesf shine and shadow,reen and gray,nowy sentinels and ghostly troops,ilver slides and hidden hollows.eavy clouds hang over Thomas Mountainhile their undersides dangle

treamers into sunlight