Memory, Meaning & Faith

2012 Ellen White Issues Symposium: "Ellen G. White on Leadership and Power"

 

Presentation

Stanley E. Patterson* presented his research on the topic “Ellen G. White on Leadership and Power". The following exposition summarizes his presentation, giving the main points of his findings.

[The presentation was followed by a response. All the presenters of the Ellen White Issues Symposium have the time to revise their papers on the basis of the formal responses to each paper given at the symposium before it will be published in the Ellen White and Current Issues Symposium Journal in March next year, 2013.]

Purpose 

Stan Patterson expressed his intention to offer a sense of structure for several counsels from Ellen White on leadership, authority and power. To create this structure he used the Model of Power and Leadership as presented by Janet Hagberg in Real Power and, analyzing various statements by E. G. White, correlated them with Hagberg's model. 

Stage One: Force as an Expression of Personal Power

According to Hagberg, leaders of stage one use some kind of force and/or dominance to lead people. By using coercive structures available to them, stage one leaders manage and guide with control authority. In certain limits control is healthy and can benefit the leader and the ones being led  (see voluntary contracts with duties, commitments and rights, for example). In Christian contexts and regarding Christian values, however, fear as such should not be part of leading processes, since “perfect love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18). 

2012 Ellen White Issues Symposium: "Threads from an Old Fabric: New Discoveries Regarding the Holy Flesh Movement in Indiana (1899-1901) and Ellen White's Response"

Presentation

Katrina Blue* presented her research on the topic of the Holy Flesh movement in Indiana (1899-1901) and Ellen White’s response. The following text is a summary of the main points of her presentation.

 

Introduction

Around the year 1900 a revival took place in the state of Indiana that many contemporaries considered as a special outpouring of the Pentecostal power of the Holy Spirit. However, quite a number of Adventists, including Ellen White, were disturbed and shocked from what the saw or heard. In emotionally charged, out of control worship services people were yelling prayers and praises accompanied by erratic playing of musical instruments. She viewed it as a counterfeit revival and throughout the years many Adventists were afraid of new worship and music choices since she had predicted a resurgence of these elements in the Seventh-day Adventist Church near the close of probation.

Ellen White nicknamed the movement “Holy Flesh movement” whereas its advocates called it “the cleansing message.” She warned not to pick up any points of that doctrine and call it truth. The presenter, Katrina Blue, pointed out that while White’s response to the movement is well documented, the arguments and views of its proponents, especially of its main leaders (S. S. Davis and R. S. Donnell), have been shrouded due to a lack of primary source material. It was not until 2010, when the estate of the deceased William Grotheer (who had owned such primary sources for many decades but consistently refused to allow anyone access to these documents) forwarded these materials to the Center for Adventist Research at Andrews University, that primiary sources became available. Blue stated that it was the purpose of her presentation to provide an overview and to analyze these newly-found primary sources.

2012 Ellen White Issues Symposium: "Can a Biblical Inspired Writer Use Literary Sources?"

 

Presentation

Jiří Moskala* presented his research on the topic “Can a Biblical Inspired Writer Use Literary Sources?” The main points of his presentation are given below.

 

Introduction

After referring to various biblical passages that affirm the inspiration of the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:15-17; 1 Thess 2:13; 2 Pet 1:21; etc.) the speaker posed the question if an inspired writer may use extra-biblical literary sources, or if he/she receives everything directly from God. Moskala admitted that he grew up with a view that was similar to the dictation theory of inspiration. Yet later he learned that the divine truth is actually expressed in human language under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; hence the Bible is a divine-human combination (incarnational theory of inspiration). The biblical prophets were children of their time, place, and culture, and their written works took the literary forms of their time (narratives, prose, poetry, songs, genealogies, parables, dialogues, etc.). Some of them accepted the thoughts and ideas of previous inspired prophets and the Bible provides quite a number of examples for that. The real question is whether a true prophet may borrow thoughts and material from non-inspired, non-biblical sources. In his presentation Moskala provided categories and examples from the Old Testament and New Testament for such literary borrowing.

 

Old Testament

1. Borrowing Key Vocabulary

The speaker mentioned that Solomon frequently uses the phrase “under the sun” (Eccl 1:3, 9, 14; etc.) which is an idiomatic expression in ancient Egyptian referring to the continuous cycle of the sun. Solomon uses this expression synonymously with the phrase “under heaven” (see Eccl 1:13; 2:3; etc.) in the sense of the “vanity of our present life” since it has its limits and is temporary. Further it is contrasted with the eternal life in relationship with God, namely the life “above the sun.” 

2012 Ellen White Issues Symposium: "D. M. Canright and Inspiration: The Origin of a Crisis"

 

Presentation

Jud Lake* presented his research on the topic “D. M. Canright and Inspiration: The Origin of a Crisis”. The following exposition summarizes his presentation, rendering the main points of his findings.

 

Introduction

Dudley M. Canright (1840–1919), formerly a well-known Seventh-day Adventist minister, became the most significant detractor of Seventh-day Adventism and Ellen White during the late 19th century and early 20th century. One year after Canright left the Church he published the first edition of Seventh-day Adventism Renounced (1888). In this book he laid down six reasons for his rejection of Ellen White’s prophetic gift and divine inspiration: (1) she rewrote statements she had originally written; (2) her husband made suggestions which she incorporated in her writings; (3) she employed editorial help; (4) she used the writings of others in her books; (5) she suppressed some passages from her earlier works; and (6) when the Testimonies were revised in 1885, approximately 24 “changes” of words were made on each page. Lake concluded that these points show that Canright obviously had a mechanical view of inspiration. In the course of his presentation the speaker looked at the pertinent models of inspiration, the broader 19^th-century background, the role of the French theologian Louis Gaussen and his reception in Adventist publications, the Adventist crisis in the mid-1880s, Ellen White’s own views of inspiration in comparison to Gaussen’s view, and the origin of Canright’s conceptions.

 

Models of Inspiration

Lake gave three definitions of divine inspiration that are relevant to his study: (1) the verbal-plenary model of inspiration—while it distances itself from the mechanical view of inspiration, it nevertheless declares that it is the entire biblical text with its verbal relationships that is inspired; (2) the dictation model of inspiration—while there was some overlap with the first view of inspiration, it declares primarily that the Bible was dictated word for word by God, a view that was obviously used by Canright to critique Ellen White; and (3) the whole-person model of inspiration—this view focuses on the inspiration of the whole person rather than only the words or the thoughts of the prophet, a view that was espoused by Ellen White.

 

2012 Ellen White Issues Symposium: "Ellen White and Me"

 

Presentation

Roger L. Dudley* presented the opening reflection on the topic “Ellen White and Me.” The following exposition summarizes his reflection by rendering the main points of his presentation.

 

Ellen White and Me

Dr. Dudley informed the audience that his presentation would primarily not be an informational one, but rather a personal reflection. That includes his way of calling her: he does not call her Spirit of Prophecy since he believes that she was not the Spirit of Prophecy but was rather filled and led by him. Sister White sounds too formal and institutional to him, so he sticks to Ellen or Ellen White.  

Dudley began his presentation with quoting Acts 10:33: "So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God." Dudley took this text as encouraging him (and others) to also listen to what God has communicated through Ellen White. 

Teaching

Dudley, having tought for several years (elementary and academy level), came to appreciate one book by Ellen White in particular: Education. Since he found it very inspiring, he read it several times. One passage became especially important to him and helped him to focus on the most important thing as an educator and teacher:  "To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized—this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life." (Education, p. 15-16) 

2012 Seminary Scholarship Symposium: "The Authoritative Hermeneutics in Irenaeus and Tertullian"

Presentation

Adriani M. Rodrigues, Ph.D. student (Theological Studies) at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, MI presented his research paper with the title: "The Authoritative Hermeneutics in Irenaeus and Tertullian". The following exposition summarizes his paper, rendering the main points of his findings.

Background 

Adriani Rodrigues pointed to the fact that between A.D. 90 and 150 the Scriptures were interpreted with an approach called "functional hermeneutics" (David Dockery), which basically means that the text was applied to the reader's own situation wihtout giving attention to the original situation and context in which and for which it was written. Heretical movements however (many of them labeled today as gnostic movements) led to a closer analysis of Scripture interpretation. Who has the right to interpret Scripture and how should it be done? Gnostics were convinced that salvation can just be achieved when one has access to a certain secret teaching, which was passed down orally from the apostles and found in a hidden form in the Bible. Consequently, "only those who knew how to read the Bible in a certain way could gain access to this knowledge" [1], and thus, to salvation. With that said, the hermeneutical approach used so far was of no help against gnostic movements. Rodrigues argued that during this time the transition from a functional to an authoritative hermeneutics took place, mainly in and by the writings of Irenaeus (c. 115-202) and Tertullian (c. 160-225). To describe their approaches was the subject of his paper.

The Authoritative Hermeneutics in Irenaeus 

Irenaeus was very much concerned with the right interpretation of Scripture and tried to develop an approach that differed from the allegorical approach that was used so far. According to Rodrigues, there have been two main concepts that marked Irenaeus' method: a) the notion of the rule of truth/faith and b) the role of tradition.