Adventist Media Response and Conversation

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Eruption on Mt. Spectrum Blog

I am no doubt late on this subject as I am persona non grata at Spectrum Blog having been told by Alexander to " stay off mine." But there is a nice recap on For the Gospel
It begins like this:

Over on the Spectrum blog, a fascinating exchange has erupted between an 82 year-old Adventist, Dr. Thomas J. Zwemer, and Clifford Goldstein, editor of the SDA Sabbath School quarterly. Zwemer, who served on the board of trustees of Loma Linda University for nine years, has taken exception to the prominent status given to Mr. Goldstein by the current Adventist administration and laity. In his opening volley, Zwemer says, “I've read your book. You did what every prior SDA writer did to anyone who challenged, even in the most Christian manner, any dogma of the Millerite Movement. And you did it with glee. Then wiped your sword and now strut your stuff like a giant killer. I find that behavior disgusting.” While quite raw in his remarks, the honesty displayed by this elderly Adventist is a breath of fresh air. Read on for more comments from Dr. Zwemer, particularly the last one which is a gospel appeal that seems to have been brushed aside as the irrelevant rantings of an old man.

“Before you throw me out, a little history. I was a member of the Board of Trustees of Loma Linda University for nine years. The Board would meet 3-4 times a year for two or three days. Each morning about an hour before the scheduled opening a small number of retired or ‘cashiered’ workers would gather at the door, seeking audience with the President of the General Conference or one of his top aids...in each and every instance, the supplicant would be brushed aside without a handshake, a reassuring pat on the shoulder—just cold disregard. We would then assemble and have a long worship service in which ‘compassion’ was stressed. I saw that repeated at least 36 times in nine years. I saw how they treated M. L. Andreasen, Walter Rea, Des Ford, Frank Knittel, and a host of others. Now Cliff comes a long as a Johnny come lately and repeats the sorry mess [and] to top it off he infers that ‘He’ is the custoidian of ‘Objective Rational Truth’. That is too much to stomach. signed Tom”

1 comment:

Pedro Torres said...

Dear Ron:
I'm a SDA pastor in Spain, I have added a link to your blog in mine, so yours will push up a few places in the Technorati and Google scores. Could yo do the same for me, please? Mine in spanish (translatable with babelfish service) Here is the address:
http://cuenta-atras.blogspot.com
Let's see if we can spread much better the gospel and the truth.
Yhank you so much.
Pedro Torres