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• #Life quest anatomical full#

Scripture itself knows nothing of intellectual frozenness, let alone sheer doctrinal uniformity. It is unfaithful and certain to become irrelevant, so how could it be otherwise? A witness of this sort may last for a time, perhaps a long time. The point I now want to insist upon is this: just to the degree that we sanctify the theological status quo, we not only assure spiritual failure, we assure the ultimate demise of the church, at least as a substantive prophetic force.

#Life quest anatomical full#

Influential white leaders-two editors of the Review and Herald, for example-resisted the Civil Rights Movement worldwide, many leaders, no matter their color, still resist full equality for women. The church has been hobbled by that perspective ever since. Michael Campbell has shown that at Adventism’s 1919 Bible Conference, the church’s divided leadership finally settled on a perspective that reflected the fundamentalist turn. So, in the American South, for example, fundamentalist upholders of Scripture long remained fully at home with segregationist Jim Crow laws, just as earlier Christians had long remained fully at home with slavery. In fundamentalist hands, the Bible became, contrary to its own spirit, a weapon against fresh perspective, a sanctifier of the status quo. Instead of welcoming guidance into fresh understanding, such guidance was resisted. Such a preoccupation meant, furthermore, that fundamentalism forgot, or effectively forgot, the teaching function of the Holy Spirit (John 16).

The persistence of a defensive posture meant that the movement was always watching its back, always looking to protect current beliefs. This was fundamentalism, and the whole effort was defensive it was response to an attack on convictions fundamentalists held dear. The metaphor of “inspiration” indicated not just divine influence but such control over the authorial mind as to produce biblical “infallibility.” They argued, too, that the Bible itself supported them its claim to “inspiration” (2 Timothy 3:16) was proof.

It is all God’s truth or none of it is-God helped human authors deliver wholly accurate information. The written Word, they said, must be read just the way it was before science came on the scene-as having, all the way through, a plain meaning that supersedes merely human knowledge. Many, led by conservative Presbyterians, set out to protect their heritage by focusing on interpretation of the Bible. This is the fearful, rigid interpretation of the Christian tradition that boiled up in reaction to cultural upheaval-not least the rise of science and secularism-that came to a crisis with the Great War of 1914-18. The most dangerous, perhaps, is fundamentalism. Self-satisfaction and sheer disdain, like bowing to the way things are, can only destroy. Nevertheless, on a boat at sea, all must be ready to forgive all and move on. But if the ship is distressed, the status quo, uninterrupted, means disaster, and those who consent to it-or worse, insist upon it-are themselves a danger. We know others who are either committed to the status quo or resigned to it. They are hungry for Christian authenticity they believe our community, however imperfect, can be a renewing home and bear a healing witness. We can all think of pastors, teachers, and others who are eager for the repair of church life.

On a sea of graceless, self-indulgent cynicism (whether religious or secular), truth, hope, and Sabbath rest remain, all as crucial as bread, each a gift beyond price.īut if we have the right tools and materials, do we have the will? I have also argued, however, that divine generosity has granted us the tools and materials for needed repair. Over six previous essays during the past year, I have argued that the ship of Adventism is at sea and in theological distress. The Bible knew nothing, of course, of modern theories of knowledge, but when you think of the ark, or of Jesus and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, you realize that boat images, with their suggestion of difficulty and risk as well as protection, have resonated among the people of God. There’s no unbiased objectivity, only making do from a given starting point, only making adjustments toward deeper truth while we are in the midst of the journey. All of us are caught up in already existing ways of life, so when it comes to perspective and know-how we never begin from scratch. This is a famous analogy for how challenging it is to make genuine advances in knowledge and understanding. You have tools and materials for addressing the problems, but the shore is far off: you’ll have to stay afloat in the boat even as you try to re-build it. Imagine you are at sea in a boat with leaks and other structural problems.