Adventist Media Response and Conversation

Friday, March 16, 2007

And Then There Were Two

Faith In Context has the following list posted taken from Sty Tyner:

  1. One group is set free by the everlasting gospel. The other group is enslaved by the Law.
  2. One group is clothed with Christ. The other group thinks they are dressed in glittering luxury and doesn’t realize they really are naked.
  3. One group is marked with God’s commands. The other group has been bewitched by human effort.
  4. One group is ready for the Bridegroom. The other group is merely waiting for the signs of the last days to take place.
  5. One group is troubled by their times. The other group is indifferent to the suffering and injustice around us.
  6. One group has been tested by the Sabbath and has found its highest meaning for their lives. The other group tries to make Sabbath observance another sign of their own righteousness.
  7. One group has been sealed by the Spirit. The other group’s consciences will be seared as with a hot iron.
  8. One group constitutes the authentic End-Time People of God. The other, tragically, cannot see that it constitutes only a cheap substitute for the real thing.

It appears that the list in the main is meant to present the idea of progressive against traditional Adventism. With the exception of number 7 & 8 which would most likely been embraced by the traditional SDA against the progressive SDA. The list over all seems to mainly be a propaganda tool. It presents an us versus them perspective which I find often more harmful then helpful.

Recently on an SDA forum I presented the idea that New Age practitioners were often fooling themselves with imagination and self deceptive emotionalism. As Science has taken on many of these psychics and practitioners I thought I was not stating anything too radical. However it appears among many traditional SDA's the concept is that these people are really dealing with satanic demons. For my contribution I was attacked as being an agent of Satan on the forum. This kind of all or nothing us vs. them thinking tends to drown out real discussion of issues. No arguments are allowed when the generalization of the person takes over. It is not only a logical fallacy but it is pretty mean too. So in regards to the list above; pretty useless.

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