There is a very interesting film that is making it way around the Adventist communities. Today hopefully the conversation can be held throughout the Adventist world. The film has a website which gives a little background, I think there definition of Fundamentalism is a bit shallow. They link to a book on Google books which actually gives a much more thorough definition which they should have used though of course it is not found in a single sentance and it seems they preferred to use a sound bite type of definition.
Anyway I won't say much more on the topic now but here is the link to view the documentary. Take some time to check it out. It would make a very interesting Sabbath School discussion at the least.
Last Generation Film and audio mp3 version
I would advising saving the files (save link as) if you want the video, as streaming seems to be somewhat troublesome for the video part. Oh yes I also recommend the VLC player it will no doubt become your favorite player as well for video.
Showing posts with label generation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label generation. Show all posts
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Settled into the truth; the views
This Saturday Oct. 03, I attended a meeting put on by Jonathan Gallagher here in
As I can’t adequately express the context the phrase was used in the meeting I will give a couple of examples from followers of the Larger View so you can get an idea of the usage as it is not unique and seemed to be readily accepted by the others at the meeting. Something they have heard and agree with before it appeared. I have, when thinking about it been a lot more skeptical about its usage since it seems to describe the same attitude that a fundamentalist would have. The truth being those 5 fundamentals and they won’t be shaken out of those fundamentals and those fundamentals define their Christian religion. As we will see of the two sides I will quote, neither side is using it as some fundamental belief rather it is a perception of what is to happen in the future.
First some examples:
Brad Cole A Phone Call From God :
God wants us to mature, to grow up, and to become settled into the truth predominantly about one thing: what he is like in character. And for this high ideal he sends the Holy Spirit who is with us and within us and with no less intensity that Jesus’ presence with his disciples! (Also found on HeavenlySanctuary.com)
Tim Jenning’s comment on HeavenlySanctuary.com:
The HS brings only what Chirst directs Him to bring according to Christ. Thus Christ's intercessions are in the believer and He stops His intercessions once all are either so settled into the truth they cannot be moved or so settled into the lie they cannot be moved. The reason intercession ceases is because we are fully healed and don't need it any more.
Gene Autonomous People article:
God wants us to be so settled into the truth that we cannot be moved. (Romans 14:5; Eph. 1:13) This means we must be able to think through all situations as if we had the mind of Christ in us. (1 Cor. 2:16)
Facebook discussion of the lesson quarterly:
THE RESULT:
God’s friends settle into the truth that God really is just like Jesus The mind is healed of rebellion and distrust The character is re-shaped in the image of Jesus Union and selfless love among those settled into the truth about God’s character and principles The lies about God’s character are fully and forever exposed and defeated Peace, love, freedom, and an eternity of face-to-face companionship with God
I suppose there is a theme there, but really it does look to me a bit nebulous as people are attempting to interpret Ellen White from the Larger View perspective which is that we will see God as worthy to be trusted and we can’t be moved from trusting God. Why that attitude of trust is expected and not the Christian reality since the time of the New Testament I don’t really know other than to make it fit in with a prediction of a future sealing by God. A sealing act which is the Holy Spirit who has been sealing Christians for generations now.
These quotes (both Larger view and Traditional) are all found from a simple Google search of the term "settled into the truth". They are all related to Adventists it seems this is a somewhat unique Adventist view. I chose that phrase because it is most similar to the actual Ellen White quote. A quote you will not find in any Ellen White book published in her lifetime, we find a section of the quote in the Adventist Bible Commentary vol. 4 but I will give you the most complete quote I can find:
From Manuscript Release No. 56 - Compilation on Objectives of Our Medical Work and the
The leaders in the sanitarium have mingled with unbelievers, admitting them to their councils, more or less; but it is like going to work with their eyes shut. They lack the discernment to see what is going to break upon us at any time. There is a spirit of desperation, of war and bloodshed, and that spirit will increase until the very close of time. Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads,--it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, [250] so they cannot be moved,--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming. Ms 173, 1902, pp. 3-6. ("Medical Missionary Work in
As used in the Bible Commentary:
(Rev. 7:2.) Seal Is a Settling Into Truth.--Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads--it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved--just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is coming (MS 173, 1902). {4BC 1161.6}
The traditional Adventist has a different view of the quote. You can see from some by context where they use the term “settled into the truth” they generally have the view that this is talking about last generation perfection though I can’t show that for all the quotes I am giving. A few quotes:
From Herbert Douglas The Jesus Difference
This is why Jesus remains in the
Russell Williams Enmity part 2 etc
The latter rain seals the grain..intellectually and spiritually settled into the truth so that you cannot be moved...every position of truth that we now hold we will be tested. knowledge = patience...in your patience possess ye your soul (Luke
Cleansing in Heaven Connected to Cleansing on earth Neither Luther nor the Millerite Adventists living in 1844 finished the Reformation or understood the angel messages of Revelation 14 and 18. The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is connected to the cleansing and purifying of lives on earth. The sanctuary is cleansed when God has a people who have become so settled into the truth that they will never again be moved to doubt Him or to disobey known duty. The torrent of sin that has needed forgiveness is dried up. Christ’s presence remains with those who have chosen Him. The Holy Spirit empowers obedience even after the ministry of forgiveness is closed. (also found on GreatControversy.org)
Robert W. Olson and Ellen White, The Crisis ahead:
Before the sealing of God’s people is finished, what glorious event will take place?
“Before the work is closed up and the sealing of God’s people is finished, we shall receive the outpouring of the Spirit of God” (1SM 111)
“Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost.” (5T 214)
[I will note here that the above book actually lists Ellen White first but I suspect she really had no say in where her quotes were placed, thus I give her second billing]
Abreast of Truth Advent Perspective
PRESENT TRUTH TODAY REVEALS for us a new and higher experience than has ever before been comprehended. It has often been called the "sealing truth," because those who enter into the experience of the taking away of sin are "settled into the truth so that they can never be moved." 30 "When Christ comes He takes those who have purified their souls by obeying the truth...." "But before that time shall come, everything that is imperfect in us will have been seen and put away." 31
Moreover, the eternal security of all those who have gone before, the faithful of all ages, is dependent upon the victory of this last generation; for "...these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Hebrews 11:39,40. This is the truth that unites the whole
There are still a few more on the Last generation perfection side but you get the idea and the last one is pretty clear. I have to reject the last generation perfectionists, they teach a doctrine that the Bible no where teaches and I have to reject the Larger View’s idea as well because there is no need for some future settling into the truth when it has been going on for generations. I also have to reject the idea of some future sealing by the Holy Spirit distinct from God’s actions of sealing us from the New Testament times.
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Cor
Am I so settled into the truth that I can’t be moved? No, because I am not certain of the truth, there are very few things I know about any theology that I can verify as “true.” There are things I believe but I expect I am open to believing something else should facts or reason or evidence takes me there. I do believe that God has to be trusted if He is really God, if He is really love; because any other kind of God is too capricious too arbitrary to be worshiped freely. If that is the truth I am settled into then I can accept the idea of being settled into truth. If God is not good than to me He is not God. But I still battle with doubt, with faith, with what I should or should not do and what I do and do not do and behind all of that is the why. What do I believe and why do I believe it, how do I explain the things that make us sometimes declare God a tyrant because of ancient stories told by well meaning God loving people.
Ultimately there are a lot of Christians who feel settled into their particular truth about God which I will never be able to accept. They won’t be moved by reason or facts, I don’t doubt their salvation but I do doubt their commitment to truth and their ability to present a real God of love to the world. It does make an interesting question however, what are you settled into? Maybe my favorite Bible verse will express what I am settled into better than my own words:
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3 NIV)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
History and Last Generation Perfection Theology
Previously the question was asked, why are some Adventists opposed to a Grace oriented Seventh-day Adventist church? The answer to that question is found in the Law oriented Last Generation Perfection theology which is presented by those Adventists. To understand we need a bit of a history lesson.
The Adventist tradition since its inception considered itself the last generation. The Millerites thought that they were the last generation and were preparing to be translated when the Great Disappointment found them still on earth. Some sold their possessions and some let their crops rot in the field because this was the end and they were the last generation. Those who went through this experience and maintained their Adventist expectations still maintained that they were the last generation. So certain of their last generation status they developed the Shut Door doctrine:
5. December, 1844--In Ellen Harmon's First Vision, She Was Shown that the Door of Mercy Was Shut for (a) Those Millerites Who Denied That God Had Led Them in the 1844 "Midnight Cry" Movement, and (b) "All the Wicked World" Which God Had Rejected. She Was Also Shown "The Living Saints, 144,000 in Number," Waiting for Christ's Return.
If you look at the timeline (see the Shut Door article at the EGW Estate) we see that for several years the leaders of the SDA church believed in the shut door. During the years 1848-49 with the idea of publishing to the world, the idea that the door of mercy had in fact, not been shut, began to be expressed. But that did not stop the idea that Adventists were living in the last generation. We can see many examples of this idea that they were living in the last generation in the writings of Ellen White as well as other Adventist pioneers.
Some of us have had time to get the truth and to advance step by step, and every step we have taken has given us strength to take the next. But now time is almost finished, and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months. They will also have much to unlearn and much to learn again. Those who would not receive the mark of the beast and his image when the decree goes forth, must have now to say, Nay, we will not regard the institution of the beast (Early Writings, p.67).
That was written in 1850 but even much later when writing about the signs in the son, moon and stars Ellen White sees her time as the last generation.
Christ has given signs of His coming. He declares that we may know when He is near, even at the doors. He says of those who see these signs, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." These signs have appeared. Now we know of a surety that the Lord's coming is at hand. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," He says, "but My words shall not pass away." (Desire of Ages Page 632 published 1898)
Connected to this last generation presumption certain Adventist added the idea of perfection. The most famous of this last generation perfection comes from the 1890’s Holy flesh movement. Out of the ferment caused by the 1888 Adventist Conference in
A focus upon the actual teachings of R S Donnell, president of the Indiana Conference during the holy flesh period, quickly reveals an emphasis upon a last-generation theology. In articles circulated throughout the Indiana Conference during 1900, Donnell clearly emphasized his central focus: "To those who are preparing for translation the question with which we introduce this article [i.e., 'Did Christ Come to This World in Sinful Flesh"] becomes indeed an important one. In speaking of their condition, and what they are to be when the Lord returns to the earth to gather up His people, 1 John 3:2 says: 'But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.'" Donnell's teaching was based upon his conception of what those awaiting translation had to become. Points central to his theology are taken from his republication of his 1900 articles in his publication "What I Taught in
One of the statements Donnell makes:
pp 24-5: Question: "Do you teach that conversion embraces both the mind and the body, so that the body in this life is fully cleansed and is brought back to the condition of man before the fall, or is this a work that begins now, and is completed at the resurrection of the just? [R S Donnell response]: Yes. The mind surely, and also the body, so far as its life or actions are concerned. . . . With the resurrected every imperfection will be left in the grave. Thus they will be ready for the finishing touch of immortality when Jesus comes. The 144,000 must also be ready for that finishing touch, and the perfection necessary for its reception must be attained in this life." Page 30
On page 33 of Haloviak’s paper we see this from H H Haskell to Ellen White,
[On Sabbath] I took up the history of this work, and related how we had met things of this nature before, and what the outcome of them all had been. One of their great burdens is moral purity (which you know all about), and 'holy flesh,' and 'translating faith,' and all such terms, which carry the idea that THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF 'SONS OF GOD'—THE 'ADOPTED' SONS OF GOD, AND THE 'BORN' SONS OF GOD. THE ADOPTED ARE THOSE WHO DIE, BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT HAVE THE 'TRANSLATING FAITH.' THOSE WHO ARE BORN, GET 'HOLY FLESH,' AND THERE IS NO SIN INSIDE OF THEM, AND THEY ARE THE ONES THAT WILL LIVE AND BE TRANSLATED; AND, AS THEY SAY, THESE WHO ARE 'BORN' SONS OF GOD ARE NOT 'GOING TO HEAVEN ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY,• MEANING THEY ARE NOT GOING TO DIE. . . . [Emphasis supplied. Focus again is not on Christology, but upon presuppositions relating to a last generation awaiting translation.]
The history then is Adventist continual belief in their being the last generation with a new twist in the 1890’s that the last generation will attain to a previously unknown level of perfection, a perfection that is likened to Christ’s earthly perfection. Through much of the early part of the 20th century this last generation perfection theology had been dormant until reinvigorated by M.L. Andreason who it has taken on almost legendary significance due to his attacks upon the publication of the book Questions on Doctrines in the late 1950’s. Earlier he present his last generation perfection theology. Andreason writes in chapter 21 of his 1947 book The Sanctuary Service
May the
All this is closely connected with the work of the Day of Atonement. On that day the people of
We are now living in the great antitypical day of the cleansing of the sanctuary. Every sin must be confessed and by faith be sent beforehand to judgment. As the high priest enters into the most holy, so God's people now are to stand face to face with God. They must know that every sin is confessed, that no stain of evil remains. The cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven is dependent upon the cleansing of God's people on earth. How important, then, that God's people be holy and without blame! In them every sin must
be burned out, so that they will be able to stand in the sight of a holy God and live with the devouring fire. [He then quotes Isaiah 33:13-16.] page 115
As George Knight presented recently (QOD: SYMBOL OF TENSION) Andreason’s objections to Questions on Doctrines were centered on Last Generation Perfection theology:
There was a good reason why Andreasen was especially concerned with the teaching of a
completed atonement on the cross. He had set forth that reason in several of his earlier writings. Central to Andreasen’s theology was a three-phase understanding of the atonement. The first phase related to Christ’s living a perfectly sinless life. The second phase was His death on the cross.
Those two phases in the work of atonement were important, but for Andreasen the third
phase was absolutely central. “In the third phase,” he wrote, “Christ demonstrates that man can do what He did, with the same help He had. This phase includes His session at the right hand of God, His high priestly ministry, and the final exhibition of His saints in their last struggle with
Satan, and their glorious victory. . . .“The third phase is now in progress in the sanctuary above and in the church below. Christ broke the power of sin in His lifework on earth. He destroyed sin and Satan by His death. He is now eliminating and destroying sin in His saints on earth. This is part of the cleansing of the true sanctuary.37
It is what Andreasen calls the third phase of the atonement that became the focal point of
his theology. Utilizing the widely held concept that Christ had sinful human nature just like Adam possessed after the fall (that is, a sinful nature with tendencies to sin), Andreasen formulated his understanding of “last generation” theology with Christ being an example of what could be accomplished in the lives of His followers. That theology is most clearly set forth in the chapter entitled “The Last Generation” in The Sanctuary Service (1937, 1947). That book specifically states that Satan was not defeated at the cross, but would be defeated by the last generation in their demonstration that an entire generation of people could live a sinlessly perfect life. Christ, having taken their human nature with all its problems, had proven that it could be done. They could live the same sinlessly perfect life that He did with the same help as He had had. Through the last generation God “defeats Satan and wins His case,” “in the remnant Satan will meet his defeat,” “through them God will stand vindicated.” At that point Christ can come.38 Pages 14 and 15
Today we find people like Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick continuing Andreason’s teachings with the addition that today the Last Generation Perfection Theology (often abbreviated as LGT or LGP) is a traditional Adventist belief. As is often the case when one says something is traditional it depends upon whose tradition one means. In this case traditional is Andreason’s version of Last Generation Perfection as even among LGT proponents the Holy Flesh movement is held in distain due to it focus on Pentecostal manifestations. A website which is itself entitled LastGenerationTheology contains many of their articles.
ProgressiveAdventism.com presented an interview with Larry Kirkpatrick who is one of the leaders in the LGT. Here is Kirkpatrick’s definition of LGT:
Could you describe LGT in a nutshell? Is this essentially the same concept advanced by M. L. Andreasen in mid-20th century?
Last Generation Theology teaches that Jesus Christ is not only fully our Substitute but fully our Example, affirms that Christ overcame sin in flesh like ours, insists that the gospel plan is for Christians to cease from sin before the Second Coming (indeed, before the Close of Probation), and confesses that the close of the age has been delayed by unconsecration in God’s people but can be accelerated by their living holy lives.
LGT has tremendous pulling power, because many of those who are theologically and historically astute recognize that it represents core Adventism, particularly that which obtained for the generation that coincided with and followed Andreasen. Andreasen did much to develop the implications of Adventism, and LGT was the result.
Interestingly, Herbert E. Douglass developed essentially the very same concepts but independently of Andreasen. Douglass told me that when he was writing his editorials in the Review in favor of the same ideas, people kept suggesting that he was echoing Andreasen, but he had never read Andreasen. Finally, after these repeated questions, he did sit down and read Andreasen. He did find much commonality. But Douglass had developed his concepts–just as Andreasen had—via his careful study of Scripture and reading of the Ellen G. White writings.
Likewise, I developed most of my understanding in the same way. It was mostly by following up key ideas in the Bible that I developed my view. Of course, the Ellen White elements came strongly to the fore. I recall in one of Woodrow Whidden’s books he follows the development of Mrs. White’s theology up to about the turn of the century, and claims that he goes no further because there were no serious points of development after that time. But Christ’s Object Lessons (
So Andreasen, Douglass, myself, and even Ellen White, seeking to draw the strands together into a developed whole, all land at LGT. This is Adventism. We might say much more, but I would only add that we have especially developed the gospel concepts. Look again; its not the grinch under the bridge it has been portrayed as!
So where does this leave Grace? Grace is left in the dust because the goal is for Adventists to become sinless and vindicate God by perfectly keeping the law. Grace oriented religion is termed New Theology (a termed coined by Andreason) by the LGT folks. Not that the LGT people reject Grace, they simply redefine it as something God will do in the future that will give people the ability to keep all of God’s laws perfectly.
There is little doubt in my mind as well as many in the leadership in the Seventh-day Adventist church that LGT is a false gospel. What is probably equally troubling is that it is not a gospel at all, it is not good news because when people look at themselves they see that they are indeed sinners and that they are far from perfect in either their actions or the actions they do not do. But that is not history that is reality and this was just a history lesson to answer a simple question.
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