WCAS Newsletter

Vol. 3, No. 11, December 12, 2019

We are a world church. We go forward now.

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Systems Of Interpretation (Part 1)

by Randy Bierwagen

  “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after     their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
    And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto     fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3,4)

That time has come. Today, there is a tendency to teach for truth the suppositions of man, taking the plain Word of God and turning it into fables.

Seventh-day Adventists have always taken the Bible alone as our rule in determining doctrine. Other denominations claim the Bible as their guide book as well and yet some of their beliefs differ widely from ours. Why? How can each claim the Bible as their rule book and yet come up with different rules? It’s even happening within our own church.

    “Is it because the Scriptures are inconsistent and contradictory that ministers     differ so widely in their interpretation?--No, the trouble is that men are doing     today as they did in the time of Christ, and are teaching for doctrines the     commandments of men …” (ST, June 4, 1894) (all emphasis supplied)

There are several methods of Bible study that are advocated today, but these methods can be categorized in just two systems.

In the preface of his book ‘Daniel and the Revelation’, Uriah Smith says;

    “There are two general systems of interpretation adopted by different     expositors in their efforts to explain the sacred Scriptures. The first is the     mystical or spiritualizing system invented by Origen… The second is the     system of literal interpretation, used by such men as Tyndale, Luther, and all     the Reformers…
    According to the first system, every declaration is supposed to have a mystical     or hidden sense, which it is the province of the interpreter to bring forth; by     the second, every declaration is to be taken in its most obvious and literal sense,     except where the context and the well-known laws of language show that the     terms are figurative, and not literal; and whatever is figurative must be explained     by other portions of the Bible which are literal.
    By the mystical method of Origen, it is vain to hope for any uniform     understanding of either Daniel or the Revelation, or of any other book of the     Bible; for that system (if it can be called a system) knows no law but the uncurbed     imagination of its adherents; hence there are on its side as many different     interpretations of Scripture as there are different fancies of different writers.
    By the literal method, everything is subject to well-established and clearly-    defined law; and, viewed from this standpoint, the reader will be surprised to see     how simple, easy, and clear many portions of the Scriptures at once become…”     (1897 UrS, DAR pg. 4)

J.N. Andrews one of our early Adventist pioneers says this about Origen and his system of interpretation;

    “Origen was born about A. D. 185, probably at Alexandria in Egypt. He was a     man of immense learning, but unfortunately adopted a spiritualizing system in     the interpretation of the Scriptures that was the means of flooding the church     with many errors. He wrote during the first half of the third century… he says:
    "There are countless multitudes of believers who, although unable to unfold     methodically and clearly the results of their spiritual understanding, are     nevertheless most firmly persuaded that neither ought circumcision to be     understood literally, nor the rest of the Sabbath, not the pouring out of the blood     of an animal, nor that answers were given by God to Moses on these points. And     this method of apprehension is undoubtedly suggested to the minds of all by     the power of the Holy Spirit."
    Origen asserts that the spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures whereby their     literal meaning is set aside is something divinely inspired! But when this is     accepted as the truth who can tell what they mean by what they say?”
    (1873 JNA, TFTC pgs. 83, 84)

A.T. Jones, another early Adventist pioneer writes;

    “Accordingly Origen taught and wrote: "The source of many evils lies in adhering to the carnal, or external, part of Scripture. Those who do so will not attain to the kingdom of God. Let us therefore seek after the substantial fruits of the Word, which are hidden and mysterious. The Scriptures are of little use to those who understand them as they are written."” (April 24, 1900 ATJ, ARSH 265.1)

In the continuation of this article in next month’s newsletter, we will learn that this mystical way of interpreting Scripture that Origen adopted, was not really invented by him, but its roots went even farther back in Christian history.

To be continued…

Mission of the WCAS Newsletter

To strengthen member resolve to do the work of Jesus,
To encourage Adventist laypeople to pray for world church leaders,
To equip them to become actively involved in decision-making in their conference constituency,
To realistically inform them of items of concern, and
To accomplish these in a positive and balanced manner remaining vigilant with regard to the present crisis facing the Church.

Is Health Reform Salvational?--Part 2

by Jerome Niswonger, M.D

What was the original Diet?
The Eden diet consisted of grains, nuts and fruits.

Gen 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (grains, nuts, and fruits)
Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. (vegetables, or green plants, and grass)

However, because of sin this was changed after the flood to the Noahic covenant diet.

Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
Gen 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Please note the statement of my favorite Bible commentator:

God gave our first parents the food He designed that the race should eat. It was contrary to His plan to have the life of any creature taken. There was to be no death in Eden. The fruit of the trees in the garden, was the food man’s wants required. God gave man no permission to eat animal food until after the flood. Everything had been destroyed upon which man could subsist,
and therefore the Lord in their necessity gave Noah permission to eat of the clean animals which he had taken with him into the ark. But animal food was not the most healthful article of food for man. (CD 373.1)

And what were the results of the eating of flesh? Moral pollution and the cleansing by a flood!

The people who lived before the flood ate animal food and gratified their lusts until their cup of iniquity was full, and God cleansed the earth of its moral pollution by a flood. Then the third dreadful curse rested upon the earth. The first curse was pronounced upon the posterity of Adam and upon the earth, because of disobedience. The second curse came upon the ground after Cain slew his brother Abel. The third most dreadful curse from God came upon the earth at the flood. (CD 373.2, emphasis mine)

So, why did God allow meat to be a part of the diet after the flood? To shorten their sinful lives!

After the flood the people ate largely of animal food. God saw that the ways of man were corrupt, and that he was disposed to exalt himself proudly against his Creator and to follow the inclinations of his own heart. And He permitted that long-lived race to eat animal food to shorten their sinful lives. Soon after the flood the race began to rapidly decrease in size, and in
length of years.—Spiritual Gifts 4a:120, 121, 1864 (CD 373.3, emphasis mine)

Does “Modern Science” reveal anything about the relationship between the consumption of flesh foods and longevity?

Red Meat Consumption and Mortality: Results from Two Prospective Cohort Studies. We documented 23926 deaths (including 5910 CVD and 9464 cancer deaths) during 2.96 million person-years of follow-up.

Conclusions

Red meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of total, CVD and cancer mortality. Substitution of other healthy protein sources for red meat is associated with a lower mortality risk.

Arch Intern Med. 2012 Apr 9; 172(7): 555–563.
Published online 2012 Mar 12. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.2287

It becomes obvious that there are at least two components to diet as related to health, what we eat and how much! Notice:

Some do not exercise control over their appetites but indulge taste at the expense of health. As the result the brain is clouded, their thoughts are sluggish, and they fail to accomplish what they might if they were self-denying and abstemious. These rob God of the physical and mental strength which might be devoted to His service if temperance were observed in all things. Paul was a health reformer. Said he: “I keep under my body and
bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” He felt that a responsibility rested upon him to preserve all his powers in their strength, that he might use them to the glory of God. If Paul was in danger from intemperance, we are in greater danger, because we do not feel and realize as he did the necessity of glorifying God in our bodies and spirits, which are His. Overeating is the sin of this age. (4T 454.2 emphasis mine)

If overeating is sin, then our battle determines our spiritual health. Stay tuned for Part 3.

WCAS 10 Principles of Action

Participants support the decisions of the world church expressed through the General Conference.
Participants seek unity on the basis of inspired truth rather than cultural compromise.
Participants uphold God’s purpose for church organization and for pressing together rather than separation.
Participants learn Protestant biblical interpretation – the historical-grammatical method.
Participants are active and responsible members in their local congregation.
Participants learn how to work effectively in board and constituency meetings.
Participants commit themselves to pray for faithful workers, and for Heaven to provide godly, decisive leaders for the harvest.
Participants embrace the conviction that God is in control, and choose not to be intimidated by factions opposing truth in the Church.
Emphasizing connection to Jesus our Lord, participants learn how to resist pluralism, congregationalism, and other present errors.
World Church Affirmation Sabbath emphasizes the Seventh-day Adventist representative form of church governance. We are the Church.

Upcoming Meetings of Importance

== From June 25 – July 4, 2020 the General Conference Session will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. For more information visit https://session.adventist.org/

If you know of upcoming meetings please send the information to affirmationsabbath@gmail.com.

General Conference

Executive Committee Newsletter

Are you reading the General Conference Executive Committee Newsletter? Did you even know it exists? The information is available to all church members. Find out more here:

https://executivecommittee.adventist.org/newsletter/

Featured Videos & Articles

The Crisis Of Authority In the SDA Church: The misuse of the Bible
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GC Executive Committee Newsletter

https://executivecommittee.adventist.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ECN-October-2019

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The WCAS Newsletter is distributed to interested Adventists. It originated in the Pacific Northwest and will on occasion feature some material of special interest to UCC church members. It is prepared by participants from UCC-WCAS and Nameless Network. We invite readers from all NAD Conferences to forward dates for their upcoming conference constituency meetings. We are also interested in brief, factual reports of especially encouraging or troubling conference executive committee and constituency meeting actions from across the NAD. Submit these short items to the editor at ed@AffirmationSabbath.org. Responses will be limited. SUBMISSION TO WCAS NEWSLETTER CONSTITUTES PERMISSION TO PUBLISH.

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