Adventism and Ecumenism: Joinable or Not Joinable?

ECUMENISM

Dr. Nicholas P. Miller

“complacent and

even lazy thinking

about interchurch

fellowship.”

1. “Under-emphasis” on our“giveness” of the church.

2. “Over-emphasis” of our own grasp of truth.

“I like who you are and it’s a joy to be here. My concern, if I can put it that way, is with

your grammar. ‘Adventist’ is a wonderful adjective, but an idolatrous noun. You are not Seventh-day Adventists, but

Seventh-day Adventist Christians.”

Joinable or not joinable? What are ethical issues involved?

DEALING WITH MINISTERS OF OTHER FAITHS

“PRAYING FOR AND WITH

THEM”

“Association but not contamination”

“As Adventists, we all too often show apathy towards other Christians and their churches, and mentally justify it on

vague [unclear] theological grounds, such as ‘standing for the truth’ or avoiding

‘compromise.’”

“unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and

compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of

every country on the globe will be led to follow her example.”

Maranatha, 214.

NON-MEMBERSHIP STATUS

“attendance is not a secret and articles are

published in the Adventist Review which give a report of these meetings.” John Graz,

“The wisest, firmest labor should be given to those ministers who are not of our faith. There are many who know no better than

to be misled by ministers of other churches. Let faithful, God-fearing, earnest workers, their life hid with Christ in God, pray and work for honest ministers who have been educated to misinterpret the

Word of Life.”—EVANGELISM, 562.

ECUMENICAL MODELS

Ecumenism seeks Christian unity,

mutual respects, cooperation, and

relationships within the umbrella of

Christianity.

1. Federation model

2. Catholic model

“Christian could joyfully and sincerely join together as one to partake of the great sacraments of unity, the body

and blood of the Lord in the Eucharist.” Alan Schreck, The Catholic

Challenge: A Fresh Look at the Message of Vatican II, 206.

“the goal of reconciling all

who profess Christian faith

to bring them into a single,

visible organization, i.e.

through union with the

Roman Catholic Church.”

“Togetherness but not

necessarily the same.”

3. Cooperative model

“at least in part, as a loss of

confidence in the World

Council of Churches.”

“the urgent need for churches, mission

and other Christian organizations to

cooperate in evangelism and social

action, repudiating competition and

avoiding duplication.”

“Popery [“a derogatory name for Roman

Catholicism”] is just what prophecy declared that she

would be, the apostasy of the latter times. [2

Thessalonians 2:3, 4.] It is a part of her policy to

assume the character which will best accomplish her

purpose; but beneath the variable appearance of the

chameleon, she conceals the invariable venom of the

serpent.” Ellen G. White, Great Controversy, 571.

4. Adventist model

“true doctrine calls for more than mere

belief—it calls for action.”

Seventh-day Adventists Believe, 2nd ed. (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 2005), ix.

“will proclaim the everlasting gospel of salvation by faith in Christ. They will warn the world that

the hour of God’s judgment has arrived and they will prepare others to meet their soon-coming

Lord. They will be engaged in a worldwide mission to complete the divine witness to

humanity (Rev. 14:6, 7; Matt. 24:14).” Ibid., 191.

The Ecumenical Movement, the union of churches, isthe beginning of the great union of the opposingpowers against God. It has already been developed intothe union of religions. Finally, it will become the unionof the church [religion] and the state. The key elementin each of these unions is Sunday. But we see anothergreat union in the universe; that is, the union ofuniversal God’s family, including those who are onearth. The key element in this universal great union isthe Sabbath.”—Kyung Ho Song, Distinctive Doctrinesof the SDA Church, 83.

Ethical Standard

“Your Word is truth”

(John 17:17)

“All human wisdom must be subject to the authority of the Scripture.

The Bible truths are the norm by which all other ideas must be

tested. Judging the Word of God by finite human standards is like

trying to measure the stars with a yardstick. The Bible must not be

subjected to human norms. It is superior to all human wisdom and

literature. Rather than our judging the Bible, all will be judged by it,

for it is the standard of character and test of all experience and

thought.”Seventh-day Adventists Believe, 20.

V

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H O R I Z O N T A L

practical, prophetic, historic,

and theological

“Adventists believe prophecy indicates that, at some point in the future, certain worship practices of the majority will be enforced through law. We are thus

sensitive, maybe at times overly so, to projects that wish to seek unity by playing the game of doctrinal

or theological minimization. We hold core beliefs, such as the Sabbath, that history shows to be vulnerable to being minimized.” –Nicholas P. Miller, “Adventist and Ecumenism,” Ministry, April 2013, 19.

“In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God’s people, all the corrupt

powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of Jehovah. In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth

commandment will be the great point at issue, for in the Sabbath commandment the great Lawgiver identifies

Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, 3 vols. (Washington,

DC: Review & Herald, 1980), 3:392.

“If it is not Rome that has altered its position in favor of the gospel, then it must be the

other partner that has moved from its earlier

position.”

“there has been a change; but the change is not in the papacy”

Ellen G. White, Great Controversy (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1950), 571.

“Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists, because

Protestantism has so greatly degenerated since the days of the Reformers. As the

Protestant churches have been seeking the favor of the world, false charity has blinded

their eyes. They do not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil, and as the

inevitable result they will finally believe evil of all good. Instead of standing in defense of

the faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her, begging pardon

for their bigotry.”—GC, 571.

Adventism is an “on-the-ground, issue-oriented fellowship, support, and caring

between Christians.” Miller, 17.

Adventists can work with other Christians “together on issues of community concern, such as religious liberty,

creation and evolution, racial harmony, and issues of civil morality, such as

family and marriage.” Ibid., 18.

“were active in making common cause with other Christians on points of shared concern, most notably, antislavery, temperance,

reform, and religious liberty.”

Mrs. White also “spoke to her largest audiences in non-Adventist settings, speaking on behalf of

temperance reform and prohibition laws to groups of Christians from various

churches.”

one-sided ecumenism

According to Davis Duggins, it is about time to come together irrespective of doctrinal differences and “make a common cause to bring Christian values to bear in our society.”

Davis Duggins, “Evangelicals and Catholics: Across the Divide: How Can We Relate to One Another in This Secular Age,” Moody Monthly, November 1993, 12.

“When the barbarians are scaling the walls, there is no time for pretty quarrelling in the camp” because Christians “have much to forgive, much to relearn” and the RCC can “help us to do both so we can band together against the rising tides of secularism which threaten to engulf us.”

David Cloud, “Chuck Colson’s Catholic Connections,” para. 4, http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/chuck_colson.htm (accessed April 28, 2013).

“doctrine, not behavior, is the

real test.”

Bible’s religion is socially-oriented—“not to be brought out occasionally for our own benefit, and then to be

carefully laid aside again. It is to sanctify the daily life, to manifest itself in every business transaction

and in all our social relations.”

Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1940), 306, 307.

“ADRA is one of the first responders to many international

disasters, often arriving in 24 hours of their occurrence.”

Sandra Blackmer, “Faces of ADRA,” Adventist World, January 2013, 17.

It “sees its mission as making known the just, merciful, and loving character of

God through humanitarian service.”

“Muslims see Adventists as good people because of the many ways we

help them.”

SDA Church “must not be perceived as simply opting

out of any Christian

responsibility for the local

community.”

“unwilling to join in the dividing up of the mission field between various denominations. This refusal to cooperate in missions may

seem narrow, sectarian, and even arrogant, but we can hardly argue that the Lord did not bless the results. Without this refusal, it is unlikely that Seventh-day Adventists would become the most

widespread Protestant denomination in the world, with more than 17 million members in than 200 countries, running the most widespread

Protestant educational and medical systems in the world.”

Nicholas P. Miller, “Adventist and Ecumenism,” Ministry, April 2013, 19.

“Adventists see their task as preaching the everlasting gospel to all men, calling for worship of the Creator, obedient adherence to the faith of Jesus, and proclaiming that the hour of God's judgment has

come. Some aspects of this message are not popular. How can Adventists best succeed in fulfilling the prophetic mandate? It is our view that the Seventh-day Adventist Church can best accomplish her divine mandate by keeping her own identity, her own motivation, her

own feeling of urgency, her own working methods.”

Beach, under “The Influence of Prophetic Understanding,” para. 2.

Politicization

“…this warning of the judgment, with its connected messages, is followed by the coming of the Son of

man in the clouds of heaven. The proclamation of the judgment is an announcement of Christ’s second

coming as at hand. And this proclamation is called the everlasting gospel. Thus the preaching of Christ’s

second coming, the announcement of its nearness, is shown to be an essential part of the gospel

message.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons(Washington, DC: Review & Herald, 1941), 227, 228.

“Impossible”

Adventists are not just

“Adventist Christians” but

are “Seventh-day

Adventists.

“come out from them and be separate [from the socio-

politically concerned Christendom].” 2 Cor 6:17.

Thanks for coming…