Reviewing the Review and Adventist World

December 16, 2011
Vol. 188, No. 36
http://www.adventistreview.org/index.php?issue=2011-1536

Reviewing Adventist World, NAD Edition
January, 2012
Vol. 8, No. 1
http://www.adventistworld.org/

GENERAL COMMENTS
This week is a two-for-one post, the December 22 Review and the January issue of Adventist World. I have a comment or two, but the content of both magazines was devotional and, with one exception, theologically generous.

The Adventist Review
The INBOX is trending toward including letters from readers that are not wholly congratulatory. Norman Yergen is of the opinion that Jesus would be with the protestors in Zuccotti Park.

James Gulley, a Senior Investigator and Director of the Center for Cancer research at the National Cancer Institute, was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award.

Rex D. Edwards, author of BECOMING WHAT WE ARE NOT, defined sanctification in the spirit of the New Testament. “Sanctification is not a place in which one arrives, but a way one travels.” In FALSE FLAGS, Gilbert W. Baker defined truth in the spirit of the Old Testament. “Commitment to truth is achieved not by the pursuit of truth, but by a resolve to obey truth.”

If your Christmas spirit is lagging and the new year isn't turning out to be as “new” as you hoped, I suggest reading SUPER-GIFTS AND THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT by Andrew McChesney.

TRANSCENDING TALK WITH TITHE by A. Allan Martin is an open letter to the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in which he describes a practical way for young Adventists to transition into leadership positions in the church. It's than administrative MUST READ.

Adventist World, NAD Edition
Adventist World is free online. For that reason, I only review or comment on articles that I believe to be of special interest. This includes editorials, special supplements, and NAD features not available online.

In his LETTER TO THE EDITORS, Robert Aaron goes on record for collaboration, not confrontation when it comes to interacting with other Christian denominations.

Allan R. Handysides and Peter N. Landless supply invaluable information about URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS.

FAITHFUL UNDER FIRE by Andrew McChesney is the Cover Story and a MUST READ. It is a short biography of Oksana Sergiyenko, “who ascended to the highest government post of any Seventh-day Adventist in Russian history… She fearlessly expressed her love for God while cherishing her country, setting an example for all Adventists that they can faithfully serve God and country at the same time.”

BORN TO CONNECT by Cintia Paseggi is a riff on Fundamental Belief Number 23, Marriage and the Family. Paseggi’s words are loving and generous. There is no mention of the phrase in 23 regarding divorce: “Jesus taught that the person who divorces a spouse, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery.”

I think it's about time that official Adventism gets Jesus off the hook. Perhaps some officially sanctioned authority like Angel Manuel Rodriguez can interpret those words in the context of the time and community in which they were expressed.