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Thursday, January 14, 2010
Reviewing Spectrum
Fall, 2009
Vol. 37, No. 4
REVIEW
Alexander Carpenter provides an excellent overview of each of the editorials and articles in the current Spectrum Magazine in his Spectrum Journal Discussion Club. In addition, he invited critiques from readers. Most are thoughtful and worth reading. If you are not a subscriber, I suggest you check out Carpenter’s post before continuing, as my “review” is really an editorial response to the content of this issue.
EDITORIAL
First off, the editorials by Bonnie Dwyer and Charles Scriven and Dwyer’s interview of La Sierra University President Randal Wisbey are world class. Unfortunately, the rest of the issue doesn’t come close. Articles need to be carefully edited for length, focus, clarity, and punctuation. Relevance is also a problem.
Science writing is almost always second-rate when written by amateurs. Ronald E. Reece’s piece, 21st Century Challenges to God in His created Cosmos is no exception. And when the title of an article poses a question, the reader expects an answer. Jared Wright doesn’t supply one in Does Adventism Still Need the Geoscience Research Institute?
Bryan Ness teaches biology at Pacific Union College and even his defense of teaching “about” evolution may get him into trouble. Never the less, his tentative defense of his turf is a disappointment. On the other hand, Ness’ poetry is more philosophically daring. I particularly liked Design Theory, his poem on the back cover. It’s rhythm, partial rhyme scheme, and ten syllable lines add melody and richness to his message. That rhythm is disconcertingly broken in a last line that contains twelve syllables. (Bryan, please excuse an old English teacher for the following suggestion: substitute the word “creation” for “in execution”.)
While bothersome, these editorial failings are not as disturbing as a continuing attempt to dance around, rather than confront, the screwy fundamentalist theology that threatens to destroy the credibility of the Adventist church and its educational system.
The insistence that the world, not to mention the rest of the universe, was created in seven 24-hour days is as ludicrous as the belief in a universal flood and a “young earth”. (Yes Dorothy, there were dinosaurs and a geologic column exists.)
The belief that an Investigative Judgment began in Heaven in 1844, supported only by a prophecy mentioned in an Old Testament historical novel and a Hiram Edson revelation, is certainly problematic.
The belief that a kind of orthodox sundown-to-sundown seventh-day Sabbath keeping is the final “seal” of God’s remnant people has no biblical support. And it’s illogical because the world is round and the Adventist Church supports the notion of 24-hour days and recognizes man made time zones. And Paul argued that Sabbath observance was a personal issue. See Romans 14.
The Adventist Church’s health message has been elevated to fundamental belief status even though Jesus commented that it isn’t what goes into your body that defiles you, it’s what comes out of your mouth.
It is for these reasons and others that our Fundamental Beliefs need to be downgraded to Traditional Beliefs if the Adventist Church is to survive in a modern world. Our individual salvation and Adventism’s relevancy depends on whether we proclaim and live by the words of Jesus in Mathew 25:31 or squabble over the words of our 28 Fundamental Beliefs.
Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”
The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
REMEMBER HAITI! REMEMBER ADRA!
Vol. 37, No. 4
REVIEW
Alexander Carpenter provides an excellent overview of each of the editorials and articles in the current Spectrum Magazine in his Spectrum Journal Discussion Club. In addition, he invited critiques from readers. Most are thoughtful and worth reading. If you are not a subscriber, I suggest you check out Carpenter’s post before continuing, as my “review” is really an editorial response to the content of this issue.
EDITORIAL
First off, the editorials by Bonnie Dwyer and Charles Scriven and Dwyer’s interview of La Sierra University President Randal Wisbey are world class. Unfortunately, the rest of the issue doesn’t come close. Articles need to be carefully edited for length, focus, clarity, and punctuation. Relevance is also a problem.
Science writing is almost always second-rate when written by amateurs. Ronald E. Reece’s piece, 21st Century Challenges to God in His created Cosmos is no exception. And when the title of an article poses a question, the reader expects an answer. Jared Wright doesn’t supply one in Does Adventism Still Need the Geoscience Research Institute?
Bryan Ness teaches biology at Pacific Union College and even his defense of teaching “about” evolution may get him into trouble. Never the less, his tentative defense of his turf is a disappointment. On the other hand, Ness’ poetry is more philosophically daring. I particularly liked Design Theory, his poem on the back cover. It’s rhythm, partial rhyme scheme, and ten syllable lines add melody and richness to his message. That rhythm is disconcertingly broken in a last line that contains twelve syllables. (Bryan, please excuse an old English teacher for the following suggestion: substitute the word “creation” for “in execution”.)
While bothersome, these editorial failings are not as disturbing as a continuing attempt to dance around, rather than confront, the screwy fundamentalist theology that threatens to destroy the credibility of the Adventist church and its educational system.
The insistence that the world, not to mention the rest of the universe, was created in seven 24-hour days is as ludicrous as the belief in a universal flood and a “young earth”. (Yes Dorothy, there were dinosaurs and a geologic column exists.)
The belief that an Investigative Judgment began in Heaven in 1844, supported only by a prophecy mentioned in an Old Testament historical novel and a Hiram Edson revelation, is certainly problematic.
The belief that a kind of orthodox sundown-to-sundown seventh-day Sabbath keeping is the final “seal” of God’s remnant people has no biblical support. And it’s illogical because the world is round and the Adventist Church supports the notion of 24-hour days and recognizes man made time zones. And Paul argued that Sabbath observance was a personal issue. See Romans 14.
The Adventist Church’s health message has been elevated to fundamental belief status even though Jesus commented that it isn’t what goes into your body that defiles you, it’s what comes out of your mouth.
It is for these reasons and others that our Fundamental Beliefs need to be downgraded to Traditional Beliefs if the Adventist Church is to survive in a modern world. Our individual salvation and Adventism’s relevancy depends on whether we proclaim and live by the words of Jesus in Mathew 25:31 or squabble over the words of our 28 Fundamental Beliefs.
Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”
The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
REMEMBER HAITI! REMEMBER ADRA!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Gray is a Color, Too
Heavenly Father,
On this blustery, rainy, winter morning
Remind us that gray is a color, too
Of Sunrise
Squirrels
Clouds that bring needed rain
The breasts of doves
The fur of kittens
Rail fences along country roads
Smoke from chimneys
A favorite coat
Remind us that gray is the color, too
Of wisdom
Reflection
Life’s mysteries
Difficult choices
Father of us all, help us to remember that gray is a color, too
as we face our individual winters of the soul
Times when the warming sunshine of your love
does not penetrate our clouds.
Amen
ah
1/12/10
On this blustery, rainy, winter morning
Remind us that gray is a color, too
Of Sunrise
Squirrels
Clouds that bring needed rain
The breasts of doves
The fur of kittens
Rail fences along country roads
Smoke from chimneys
A favorite coat
Remind us that gray is the color, too
Of wisdom
Reflection
Life’s mysteries
Difficult choices
Father of us all, help us to remember that gray is a color, too
as we face our individual winters of the soul
Times when the warming sunshine of your love
does not penetrate our clouds.
Amen
ah
1/12/10
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Reviewing the Adventist Review
December 24, 2009
Vol. 186, No. 36
www.adventistreview.org/index.php?issue=2009-1536
COMMENTS
This Christmas issue arrived at my house after New Year’s Day. Am I alone in consistently receiving the Review a week or more after the publication date?
I looked at the Review website when I was out of town and was prepared to comment on a piece by Angel Manuel Rodriguez in which he made the distinction between “heresy” and “apostasy”. When I received my copy of the magazine, I was happy to note that this particular BIBLE QUESTION was not included in the print issue, and I was surprised to discover that it no longer appeared in the online edition either! Way to go, whoever was responsible!
REVIEWS
Check out the inside front cover. Pictures of the Review and Adventist World editors and support staff are pictured in living color.
The reports included in WORLD NEWS IN PERSPECTIVES make me proud to be an SDA. Thousands of Africans die from AIDS every month including 500 to 600 Adventist church members. However, because AIDS International Ministry and ADRA programs teach, prevent, and provide needed medical help, thousands of other lives are saved. Adventist Global Mission programs in Siberia are active in providing shelter, drug and rehabilitation programs for the homeless.
Loma Linda has opened a Geoinformatatics Lab that uses “geospacial thinking and technology to aid in solving health problems, not one person at a time but entire groups of people at a time”. It provides information that enables health workers to better analyze and mitigate the impact of the environment on human health. Very cool!
In his editorial, COUNCIL BLUES, Gerald Klingbeil writes about his reaction to the personal and job related challenges that confronted him during the Adventist Church’s Annual Council. It brought on an attack of the “council blues”. It was then that he discovered that the best antidote for the blues was remembering the excitement of the first Christmas.
Christmas doesn't have to be bad. Sandra Blackmer tells us why in her editorial, BAD OR GOOD? In the cover story, THE STRONG GALILEAN, William G. Johnsson describes Christ’s powerful personality and how it changed the world. Hyveth Williams reminds us that when we are down, there is a strong Savior to pull us up and set our feet ON SOLID GROUND.
In A GREAT AWAKENING, Bill Knott interviews Justin Kim “about a revolutionary movement making huge strides for Christ. Call it a movement. Call it a ‘confederation of possibilities.’ Call it a Spirit-inspired meeting of minds and hearts. Or just call it GYC—Generation of Youth for Christ. The eight-year-old young adult organization has grown from a handful of idealistic college students to a powerful force for Bible study, evangelism, and mission service in the life of North American Adventism—and now around the world”.
Ellen G. White suggests that AS WE GIVE GIFTS at Christmas and “bestow upon one another tokens of love and remembrance, we should not. . .forget God, our best friend”. In his feature article, YES! AND GOOD RIDDANCE! Associate editor Roy Adams takes a sobering look back at 2009, and, while decrying the tragedies of the past year, voices his “concern for the poor and marginalized in society”.
HERE’S TO YOU, PVA, Jimmy Phillips offers the following tribute to his alma mater, Platte Valley Academy, now merged with Enterprise Academy in Central Kansas. “So here’s to you, Platte Valley Academy. It is fitting that where your buildings once stood, crops will forever prosper under the hand of the Master.”
THAT ARMY, RIGHTLY TRAINED by GYC leader, Justin McNeilus offers readers this reminder: “Adventist youth are ready to steer to the church into the future. On every continent of the globe young people are asking, sometimes begging, to be more involved in this movement called Seventh-day Adventism. . .Why is this phenomenon” happening now? Because we are weary of amusement, tired of PowerPoint, annoyed by unfulfilling music, and weighed down by committees.”
This issue of KIDSVIEW is the best ever, even though I continue to question its popularity with students above the third grade.
Vol. 186, No. 36
www.adventistreview.org/index.php?issue=2009-1536
COMMENTS
This Christmas issue arrived at my house after New Year’s Day. Am I alone in consistently receiving the Review a week or more after the publication date?
I looked at the Review website when I was out of town and was prepared to comment on a piece by Angel Manuel Rodriguez in which he made the distinction between “heresy” and “apostasy”. When I received my copy of the magazine, I was happy to note that this particular BIBLE QUESTION was not included in the print issue, and I was surprised to discover that it no longer appeared in the online edition either! Way to go, whoever was responsible!
REVIEWS
Check out the inside front cover. Pictures of the Review and Adventist World editors and support staff are pictured in living color.
The reports included in WORLD NEWS IN PERSPECTIVES make me proud to be an SDA. Thousands of Africans die from AIDS every month including 500 to 600 Adventist church members. However, because AIDS International Ministry and ADRA programs teach, prevent, and provide needed medical help, thousands of other lives are saved. Adventist Global Mission programs in Siberia are active in providing shelter, drug and rehabilitation programs for the homeless.
Loma Linda has opened a Geoinformatatics Lab that uses “geospacial thinking and technology to aid in solving health problems, not one person at a time but entire groups of people at a time”. It provides information that enables health workers to better analyze and mitigate the impact of the environment on human health. Very cool!
In his editorial, COUNCIL BLUES, Gerald Klingbeil writes about his reaction to the personal and job related challenges that confronted him during the Adventist Church’s Annual Council. It brought on an attack of the “council blues”. It was then that he discovered that the best antidote for the blues was remembering the excitement of the first Christmas.
Christmas doesn't have to be bad. Sandra Blackmer tells us why in her editorial, BAD OR GOOD? In the cover story, THE STRONG GALILEAN, William G. Johnsson describes Christ’s powerful personality and how it changed the world. Hyveth Williams reminds us that when we are down, there is a strong Savior to pull us up and set our feet ON SOLID GROUND.
In A GREAT AWAKENING, Bill Knott interviews Justin Kim “about a revolutionary movement making huge strides for Christ. Call it a movement. Call it a ‘confederation of possibilities.’ Call it a Spirit-inspired meeting of minds and hearts. Or just call it GYC—Generation of Youth for Christ. The eight-year-old young adult organization has grown from a handful of idealistic college students to a powerful force for Bible study, evangelism, and mission service in the life of North American Adventism—and now around the world”.
Ellen G. White suggests that AS WE GIVE GIFTS at Christmas and “bestow upon one another tokens of love and remembrance, we should not. . .forget God, our best friend”. In his feature article, YES! AND GOOD RIDDANCE! Associate editor Roy Adams takes a sobering look back at 2009, and, while decrying the tragedies of the past year, voices his “concern for the poor and marginalized in society”.
HERE’S TO YOU, PVA, Jimmy Phillips offers the following tribute to his alma mater, Platte Valley Academy, now merged with Enterprise Academy in Central Kansas. “So here’s to you, Platte Valley Academy. It is fitting that where your buildings once stood, crops will forever prosper under the hand of the Master.”
THAT ARMY, RIGHTLY TRAINED by GYC leader, Justin McNeilus offers readers this reminder: “Adventist youth are ready to steer to the church into the future. On every continent of the globe young people are asking, sometimes begging, to be more involved in this movement called Seventh-day Adventism. . .Why is this phenomenon” happening now? Because we are weary of amusement, tired of PowerPoint, annoyed by unfulfilling music, and weighed down by committees.”
This issue of KIDSVIEW is the best ever, even though I continue to question its popularity with students above the third grade.
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