History of Christianity Commons^™

A Significant Shift In The Use Of Resources Around The Years 1960 And 1980 In The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Australia And The United States, Robert K. Mciver

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Between 1900 and 1960 the number of ordained ministers in Australia and the US followed a natural growth curve. Between 1960-1970 and following 1980 the number of ordained pastors remained relatively constant, despite growth in tithe receipts and membership. This paper explores possible reasons for this pattern.

The Waldenses: Historical Perspectives From The Writings Of Ellen G. White, Kathleen Demsky

All Books

Excerpts from: White, Ellen G. The Great Controversy. Mountain View: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911. Chapter 4. White, Ellen G. Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists. Basle: Imprimerie Polyglotte, 1885. Chapter 57.

The Role Of Chaplains In Leadership Development And Conflict Management: A Reflection On Acts 15:36-41, Boubakar Sanou

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Martin Luther Transformed Marriage, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

Martin Luther’s views on marriage and the family revealed a radical departure from the traditional Catholic views of his times. He elevated marriage and the family to a place of honor and respectability at a time when the single life and celibacy were celebrated as a higher state of spirituality. He denounced celibacy as a cause of lust, rather than an aid to chastity. He advocated a moderate view on divorce at a time when divorce was almost impossible. He provided counsel to couples and those contemplating marriage. He encouraged priests to marry, and followed his own advice by getting …

Justification By Faith According To The Old Testament: In The Footsteps Of The Reformers, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

Martin Luther asserted that “if we lose the doctrine of justification, we lose simply everything.” Luther believed that justification is “the article with and by which the church stands, without which it falls.” In the preface to his Forty-Five Theses drawn up in 1537, Luther makes this impassioned plea: “The article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines; it preserves and governs all Church doctrine and raises up our conscience before God. Without this article the world is utter death and darkness.” John Calvin considered the doctrine of …

Pl-1 The Waldensians: A Story Of Faith And Survival, Kathleen Demsky

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

The history of the Waldenses, an ancient group of Christians who resided in the mountain valleys of Piedmont, Italy, is a complicated story of faith and survival. Piecing this history together is difficult because so many Waldensian records were destroyed by papal powers. This study seeks to present a comprehensive perspective on the origins of the Waldenses and their relationship to Christian Scripture, while viewing the Waldenses as examples for modern Christians. The Waldenses were of apostolic origin, inhabiting the Valleys long before the advent of Peter Waldo, their alleged founder, and did not consider themselves reformers. They were among …

The Ancient Waldenses: Did The Reformation Predate Luther?, P. Gerard Damsteegt

Faculty Publications

While significant attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church had taken place before Martin Luther, Luther with his 1517 work, the Ninety-Five Theses, is widely acknowledged to have started the Reformation. But there were others, before Luther, who preached similar reforms but did not succeed in changing the Roman Church of their time. To the names of Jan Hus, Peter Waldo, and John Wycliffe we may also add a nearly forgotten group of reformers—the ancient Waldenses.

John Huss And The Origins Of The Protestant Reformation, Trevor O'Reggio

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"Was Jan Hus a forerunner of the Protestant reformation, did he anticipate the reformation–absolutely. Through his teachings on the supreme authority of scriptures he challenged and defied the then unchallenged authority of the papacy and the church by providing an alternative authority. This position would become one of the central foundational teachings of the 16th century reformers. Huss also, like the Protestant reformers, recognized the need to release the scriptures from the control of the scholars, the church, and the language of Latin by making the scriptures available to the people in their own language. This was then reinforced by …

Martin Luther And Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus (“Outside Of The Church There Is No Salvation”): Did Luther Really Abandon Cyprian?, Darius Jankiewicz

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"... careful study of the Luther’s writings reveals that, while he repudiated many Catholic ways of understanding and conducting church, and while he attempted to harmonize ecclesiastical structures and sacramental theology with the foundational principles of Protestantism, he was essentially unable to break away from medieval modes of thinking. Notwithstanding his rejection of the Catholic emphasis on the visible church, he struggled to free himself from reliance on institutional structures for salvation. Ultimately, Luther affirmed the necessity of the visible church for salvation. In His wisdom, Luther believed, God had decreed the church to be the means of grace, without …

The Wurker-Gibson Bible Collection And The 500th Anniversary Of The Reformation, Lawrence W. Onsager, Terry Dwain Robertson

Faculty Publications

As part of the celebration of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation, Terry Robertson and I decided to highlight the James White Library’s copy of Luther’s 1534 Bible, the role of Chester Gibson in donating the Bible to Andrews and the story of Paul Wurker, who collected this particular Bible and the other Bibles which we are calling the Wurker-Gibson Bible Collection.

Biblical Foundations Of Christian Leadership, Part 2, Stanley E. Patterson Phd

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

"christian leadership assumes a relational process in pursuit of a common purpose. It is a process which, while expecting obedience to Jesus’ commands (John 15:10), is devoid of coercive structures that require accomplishment. Rather, the community of leader and followers is driven intrinsically by values that support both mission and process. Obedience in the absence of coercion assumes an intrinsic motivation—love. Jesus speaks of love for one another as essential to christian identity within the larger community (John 13:35). he strengthens the argument for love as a foundational value related to mission accomplishment by identifying his love for them as …

La Doctrina De La Justificación Por La Fe—Parte I: ¿En Las Huellas De Los Reformadores, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

"This is the first part of a series of three articles where the author examines the issue of justification by faith with emphasis on the Old Testament perspective. In this first part, the debate on justification in the context of the different Christian theological perspectives from the time of the Reformation to the present is reviewed in a panoramic way. In the second part, in the following article, the study focuses on the Old Testament perspective. Finally, the study concludes establishing a series of implications that the discussion of this topic in the Old Testament has for the understanding of …

The Concept Of Social Justice In The Social Sciences, In The Bible, And In Adventism, Michelet William

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

"Social justice is included in the mission of God to redeem and restore humanity. While in the early years evangelicals viewed social justice with suspicion, considering it subordinate to evangelism, since the second half of the 20th century, social justice has gained momentum among evangelical Christians who have become favorable to a more holistic approach to mission. William Carey had already set the tone in the 19th century as his work in India included missiological responses to social justice concerns. Other more recent and similarly mission-focused social advocacy work followed, such as the Temperance Movement in early Adventism, the ongoing …

The Adventist Pilgrim: A Construct For Theological Reflection, Erik C. Carter

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"Adventist historians and tour guides refer to site visits using words like “living experience,” “spiritual reflection,” and “sacred space,” but these terms are not adequately engaged, thus rendering them abstract and relegating them to the background. Michael Campbell suggests, for example, that those who participate in an Adventist historical site visit are “personally confronted with the reality of God’s continued leading.” But what exactly does this mean, and perhaps more importantly, how does it happen? We need a more systematic way of connecting these places with our own experience, laden with personal meaning. The purpose of this brief study is …

Waldensian Tour Book, Kathleen Demsky

All Books

No abstract provided.

The Wesleyan Connection And Discipleship, Woodrow W. Whidden

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Power Or Person: Nature Of The Holy Spirit, Joann Davidson

Faculty Publications

Scripture is the primary source for any knowledge of the God of heaven—and when dealing with issues of divinity, it must be studied attentively and listened to carefully. Within its sacred pages God reveals Himself with a triune identity. The nature of the biblical God cannot be fully explained without God the Holy Spirit, along with Jesus and the Father. God’s personal plurality, seen throughout Scripture, presents One of the Three of the divine Godhead as the Holy Spirit. Because the Spirit has never been incarnated as Jesus was, He is more inscrutable, making, to a greater extent, potential misunderstandings …

Neo-Subordinationism: The Alien Argumentation In The Gender Debate, Matthew L. Tinkham Jr.

Faculty Publications

Over the last forty years, the debate over gender roles in the home, church, and society has unprecedentedly escalated among Evangelical Christians—including Seventh-day Adventists—due to the introduction of an alien argumentation that grounds the permanent functional subordination of women to men ontologically in the being of God. This argument, which I have termed “neo-subordinationism,” states that women are ontologically equal but functionally subordinate to men because of a prescriptive hierarchical order that exists in the immanent Trinity and is recognizable through the economic Trinity. In this Trinitarian hierarchy the Son and the Holy Spirit are said to be ontologically equal …

A Theological Heritage For New Evangelicalism And Its Social Justice Focus, Kenley Hall

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

Based on a review of relevant literature, this article will look at this emerging submovement within evangelicalism that researchers are referring to as “New Evangelicals” and its expanding social consciousness. Then the article will address an issue I believe is of critical importance: a likely theological and historical heritage for New Evangelicalism that can serve as a theological resource and even connection between them and the larger evangelical narrative.

The Lord’S Supper In The Early Church: Covenant Extension Or Eucharistic Presence?, Silvia Bacchiocchi

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

This study seeks to show how the Lord’s Supper lost its relational and historical (past-present-future) covenant focus and instead became fixed on the Platonic now of mystical contemplation, displacing the eschatological hope of Christ’s physical return with the real presence of Christ in the eucharist. This resulted from the Hellenistic interpretation of reality in general and of Christian rituals in particular. The first section explores the nature of God and the Old Testament covenant, followed by the covenant’s continuity in the New Testament through the Lord’s Supper. The second portion analyzes the Didache’s Jewish-Christian perspective of the Lord’s Supper and …

The Life And Witness Of Peter, Denis Fortin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Gutierrez And Marx: Christian Ethics From The Roots Of Marxism, Omar Montilla

Seminary Scholarship Symposium

The study of theology in the last century faced constant calls for relevance and connection with human struggles. Many responses thought to make theology more significant in relation to politics and ethics. Liberation theology is one of such responses focused on the social struggle of Central and South American countries, influencing also several countries and sectors of society around the world. The writings of Carl Marx became involved in many of the social movements in the twentieth century. It was used by liberation theology in their search for

relevance and understanding of the struggles of society. Marxist ideal is that …

Adventist Theological-Missiology: Contextualization In Mission And Ministry, Wagner Kuhn

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"...the purpose of theology and mission is to demonstrate in word and deed, in theory and in practice, the everlasting gospel (Rev. 14). It is to aim at the cross of Calvary, declaring and presenting with power and effectiveness the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn.1:29). Paul demonstrates this theology and this mission by getting as close as possible to people in order to save them for Christ. He says: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). This is the …

Full Issue

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

No abstract provided.

Global South Christianity And Adventism: Trends And Implications, Christopher R. Mwashinga

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

In recent decades, Christianity has experienced two major phenomena as a religion: its decline in the global North (Europe and North America) and its rise in the global South (Africa, Asia, and South America). The Seventh-day Adventist Church as a denomination has experienced similar trends. The global South has become the home to the majority of Adventists in the world and the global North is now home to only a minority. Studies show that this southward movement in Christian and Adventist demographics may continue for several decades. Studies also indicate a steady growth of other world religions on the continent …

The Afterlife Views And The Use Of The Tanakh In Support Of The Resurrection Concept In The Literature Of Second Temple Period Judaism: The Apocrypha And The Pseudepigrapha, Jan Åge Sigvartsen

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

In Their Own Words: The Waldensian Experience: Students Discover The Meaning Of Faith, Kathleen M. Demsky

All Books

No abstract provided.

Anabaptists And Discipleship, Trevor O'Reggio

Faculty Publications

At the risk of oversimplification, the central concept for Luther was trust, and for Calvin it was obedience, but for the Evangelical Radicals it was discipleship. The Radicals agreed with the magisterial Reformers about justification by faith but they were not willing to stop there. Their concern was about what followed justification - character development, the ethical life, and where love predominates. They criticized bitterly contemporary Catholicism and Protestantism for their lack of emphasis on the regenerate life and love. Karlstadt, one of their leading theologian, while agreeing with Luther about God’s grace, felt Luther had not gone far enough. …

Future Views Of The Past: Models Of The Development Of The Early Church, John Reeve

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

Models of historiography often drive the theological understanding of persons and periods in Christian history. This article evaluates eight different models of the early church period and then suggests a model that is appropriate for use in a Seventh-day Adventist Seminary. The first three models evaluated are general views of the early church by Irenaeus of Lyon, Walter Bauer and Martin Luther. Models four through eight are views found within Seventh-day Adventism, though some of them are not unique to Adventism. The ninth model, proposed by the author, is expressed colloquially for the sake of simplicity and memorability: The good …

Wesley And Charisma: An Analysis Of John Wesley's View Of Spiritual Gifts, Dojcin Zivadinovic

Andrews University Seminary Student Journal

18th century English reformer, John Wesley is one of the most influential figures in the history of Christianity. As a key theological leader behind the first religious awakening (1730-1760) in England and America, Wesley is often credited for setting the stage for the contemporary Charismatic and Pentecostal ideas. This article’s purpose is to clarify John Wesley’s attitude towards the doctrine of Spiritual Gifts and especially towards the more dynamic charismas such as the gifts of healing, the gift of prophecy, exorcism of evil spirits and speaking with tongues. Especially important for understanding Wesley’s thought is his opposition to Calvin’s cessationism, …