Why conspiracy theories are destroying true spirituality

Ubuntu · Feb 5, 2016

Conspiracy theories are becoming more widespread in adventist circles, but I'm convinced that they don't draw us closer to Christ, or that they help us to spread the gospel. Instead, these theories hurt our own spirituality, and give unbelievers a distaste for prophecies and the book of Revelation.

Here follows some timely warnings about conspiracy theories. These are just short quotes, so I recommend everyone to click the links and read the articles in their entirety.

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“Pastor, I have a question for you,” he said.

“OK, ask your question,” I answered.

“Is it true that pastors have another book besides the Bible, a secret one?”

“Well, we have the Adventist hymnal, but you can get one too.”

“No, no. I’m talking about a book that the General Conference gives only to pastors and other church leaders; a book that the rest of us cannot get.”

“The Church Manual?” I suggested.

“No, no. A more secret one,” he insisted.
Conspiracy Theories: Is the church immune?

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“Those who focus on conspiracy theories become so distrustful that nearly everything becomes a conspiracy. The logo for Taco Bell has Free Mason symbols. [..] The General Conference of the church is in league with the anti-Christ. The protestant universities are now under the control of the Jesuits who have introduced heresies to our theology majors. The church has rewritten its history to deceive us. There are secret agents for the papacy in each of our protestant churches. [...] Everyone is out to get you. Don’t trust anyone. And on and on.”
Christians & Conspiracy Theories

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"Walter Veith is the leading conspiratory voice within Adventism, followed by Bill Hughes and others. Veith has produced hundreds of hours of DVDs that keep his listeners sitting on the edge of the couch. Some viewers are anxious to hear his latest speculations; many are filled with anxiety for the future. Like a drug addiction, the more people view the videos, the more money they spend on these theories.”

[…]

“The leader of another independent ministry we know told us that when he first became an Adventist he was brought into the faith by people who were big proponents of various conspiracy theories and he thought that was Adventism. But as time went on, his eyes were opened and he realized true Adventism has nothing to do with conspiracy theories. He said he saw the homes that were divided, the strife caused between husbands and wives; those who once loved each other came to be suspicious and untrusting of each other.”
Seventh-day Adventists and Conspiracy Theories

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"The second thing to consider is the necessity of investigating and brooding over these conspiracy theories. If such an activity were necessary for Christian growth and preparation for final events, then I wonder why God never instructed Ellen White to engage in it or why she never engaged in it herself. For example, the Illuminati was founded in 1776, just fifty-one years before Ellen White was born. If knowledge of the Illuminati and their inner workings were necessary then apparently God didn’t see fit to tell Ellen White about it. In all of her writings there is not one syllable devoted to the Illuminati."
Ellen G. White and Conspiracy Theories

EastCoastRemnant · Feb 6, 2016

While I agree that conspiracy theories can distract, I see a clear distinction between worldly conspiracy and denominational conspiracy...

I believe it is important for those of our faith to understand the issues that are facing our denomination at this time... to think that 'wolves coming in amongst us' is a fantasy or not worthy of noting is allowing those that may not know to be unsuspectingly subject to the teachings of these wolves... surely you can see the prudence in warning the people about spiritual formation/contemplative prayer, the danger of inviting teachers not of our faith to instruct our youth, the emergence of Sunday worship and other such things. Do you think sister White would have sat back and not commented on these things? The problem to me seems to be that people don't want to hear messages of reproof and straight testimony... soothing tales for itching ears seems to be the trend.

How many pulpits are actively teaching the three angels message, especially at this time... how many are still teaching the Papal danger and the coming Sunday law? Showing, in current events, the nearness of the close of probation and Jesus' soon coming? How many are teaching worldly themes and preparing a people for ecumenism? Sister White did foresee these htingsd coming and did warn against them. She said that the last deception of Satan would be to make of none effect the testimonies... do we see a rewriting of Ellen Whites writings today, the Great Controversy into the Great Hope and plans to do the same to her other inspired works?

As watchmen on the wall we are to sound the alarm of all dangers to the Church, both from without and within...

Ubuntu · Feb 6, 2016

Well, what exactly do you mean by “denominational conspiracy”? That the Vatican has secret agents in the General Conference?

You go on to talk about the three angels message and the sunday laws, would these qualify as “denominational conspiracy” in your opinion?

EastCoastRemnant · Feb 6, 2016

Ubuntu said:
Well, what exactly do you mean by “denominational conspiracy”? That the Vatican has secret agents in the General Conference?

You go on to talk about the three angels message and the sunday laws, would these qualify as “denominational conspiracy” in your opinion?

Just what it says... so called conspiracies within our denomination (Jesuits, apostasy) verses the conspiracies of the world... (illuminati, free masons)
I don' think it's a theory that Alberto Riviera claimed the Jesuits were infiltrating our church... the evidence is there to see. The last GC president was theologically educated at a Jesuit university... just coincidence? Neil Wilson, in sworn deposition, stating that the churches stance of the Papacy was to be tossed on the trash heap of history. these are not theories but actual conspiracies that Satan is using to try and destroy the message of the 3 angels from being proclaimed.

The 3 angel and the Sunday law are not conspiracies but truth given through inspiration to God's people... a conspiracy is "an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot. " God's truth does not belong in that category... don't you agree?

Ubuntu · Feb 7, 2016

I understand that given our end time expectations, it's tempting to listen to people who apparently support our world view. Because, yes, we do believe that at one point there will be such a thing as Sunday laws.

However, not everyone out there is worthy of our time and attention. Telling the truth also means that we should take extra care to ensure that the things we tell others are based on facts, not on speculations or rumours from people with mental disorders.

In my experience, the danger of conspiracy theories is that they gradually replace Christ as the centre of our attention. This also includes conspiracy theories with a religious flavour. In the end it becomes more exciting to hear about the Jesuits than to hear about what Christ did for us. This is a real danger.

Another thing to keep in mind is that even when it comes to end time events, conspiracy theories might in fact overshadow present truth. Sure, we might love to talk about to the Pope, but are we able to give people a Bible study based on the book of Revelation? Are we able to demonstrate from the Scripture what the final conflict truly is about?

When the time of controversy comes and we have to give reasons for our faith, can we do so based on a “Thus Saith the Lord”, or have we built our ideas on the opinions of popular preachers? We cannot say, “I believe in this because Walter Veight or pastor Henriquez says so”, we have to know the Bible for ourselves.

EastCoastRemnant · Feb 7, 2016

Ubuntu said:
I understand that given our end time expectations, it's tempting to listen to people who apparently support our world view. Because, yes, we do believe that at one point there will be such a thing as Sunday laws.

However, not everyone out there is worthy of our time and attention. Telling the truth also means that we should take extra care to ensure that the things we tell others are based on facts, not on speculations or rumours from people with mental disorders.

In my experience, the danger of conspiracy theories is that they gradually replace Christ as the centre of our attention. This also includes conspiracy theories with a religious flavour. In the end it becomes more exciting to hear about the Jesuits than to hear about what Christ did for us. This is a real danger.

Another thing to keep in mind is that even when it comes to end time events, conspiracy theories might in fact overshadow present truth. Sure, we might love to talk about to the Pope, but are we able to give people a Bible study based on the book of Revelation? Are we able to demonstrate from the Scripture what the final conflict truly is about?

When the time of controversy comes and we have to give reasons for our faith, can we do so based on a “Thus Saith the Lord”, or have we built our ideas on the opinions of popular preachers? We cannot say, “I believe in this because Walter Veight or pastor Henriquez says so”, we have to know the Bible for ourselves.

Who is it that has mental disorders Dr. Ubuntu?

If you would watch Godly men that are inspired to Biblically give the last day trumpet sound and see that the warning and the remedy can be preached together, you might see things differently... how do you think it was in the Millerite time period? Sister White tells us that the events that took place during the time period of 1840-1844 would be repeated to the very letter. Make no mistake brother, the crisis is closer than you think... probation is about to close on each of us as the beast, the dragon and the false prophet are finalizing their plans. How would you know that unless less you were looking as the watchmen we are called to be...

Ubuntu · Feb 8, 2016

I agree with you that the time of the end is closer than we think. But I'm not so sure that watching preachers on YouTube will prepare us for the time of trouble. We need to build our faith on rock, in other words, we need an experimental knowledge of God and the Bible.

Watching clips on the internet and listening to what other people say isn't the same thing as studying the Bible for ourselves. Hearing the prayers of others cannot replace our own prayers. And watching preachers share their testimony isn't the same thing as actually evangelizing ourselves.

Also, in order to know if something is biblically sound or not, it's not enough to see whether or not they say something exiting about the Pope. We need to know how to interpret the prophecies, only then can we “test the spirits”.

Ubuntu · Feb 8, 2016

About mental disorders, I was specifically thinking of Alberto Riviera which you mentioned in your post. I had never heard about him before, so I looked up the entry about him in Wikipedia. This is what he himself claimed:

“According to Rivera, he was brought into a seminary in 1942 when he was 7. [...] After education at a Catholic seminary, he was sent to destroy various Protestant organizations and discredit Protestant leaders, but became disillusioned upon finding that the Vatican was behind Freemasonry […] In 1965, at an Ecumenical Conference in a Guatemalan stadium, he denounced the Catholic Church to an audience of 50,000 people. The Jesuits then sent him to a top-secret psychiatric hospital in Spain to make him recant his faith. Here he was tortured and given poison until he nearly died, eventually being put into an iron lung because his lungs had broken down from the abuse. Nearly at death, he asked Jesus to forgive him and was miraculously healed. A senior Jesuit attempted to persuade Rivera to return to Catholicism, but instead was himself persuaded to give Rivera the passport and papers he needed to escape Spain. Afterwards he flew to London and saved his sister María, a nun, after she nearly died in a convent.”

In contrast to this, a protestant magazine called “Cornerstone” did an exposé back in 1981:

"According to the Cornerstone exposé, Rivera had a 'history of legal entanglements' including fraud, credit card theft, and writing bad checks. Warrants had been issued for his arrest in New Jersey and Florida, and he was wanted by the Spanish police for 'swindles and cheats'; while in the U.S. in 1967, he claimed to be collecting money for a Spanish college, which never received this money. The details of his claims changed: In 1964 he said he had left the Catholic Church in July 1952, but he later put the date at March 20, 1967; despite this, he was still promoting Catholicism in a newspaper interview of August that same year. Although supposedly placed in the sanatorium in 1965 and held there for three months, he gave the date of his release as September 1967, leaving a period of over a year unaccounted.

The document exhibited by Rivera to prove his status as a Catholic priest was fraudulently obtained and the Catholic Church denies his claims of having been a Jesuit priest or a bishop. He had only one sister in London; she was not called Maria (her name was María Teresa), was not a nun, and did not live in a convent. In an employment form dated 1963 he claimed marriage to Carmen Lydia Torres, and the couple had two children in the U.S. when he was supposedly a celibate priest in Spain."

True, being out of touch with reality might not be the only plausible explanation for the discrepancy here, I'll give you that… Another explanation is that he simply was a fraud, that he deliberately mislead people. But since he himself talks about being taken to a psychiatric hospital, it's seems plausible that he had some mental problems, at least at some point. The megalomania in Riviera's story is conspicuous. For instance, at first he claimed that he was a priest in the Catholic church, but some years later he said that he was a Bishop…

Anyways, all the things he claims about the catholic church is pure fiction... "According to Rivera, Jesuits are responsible for the creation of communism, Islam, and Nazism, and causing the World Wars, recession, the Jonestown Massacre, [etc...]" This is typical conspiracy theory stuff, and it's so over the top that only conspiracy theory buffs would find these things believable. Is this how we make people interested in the 3 angels message, to blame Jesuits for every evil in the world?

EastCoastRemnant · Feb 8, 2016

Ubuntu said:
I agree with you that the time of the end is closer than we think. But I'm not so sure that watching preachers on YouTube will prepare us for the time of trouble. We need to build our faith on rock, in other words, we need an experimental knowledge of God and the Bible.

Watching clips on the internet and listening to what other people say isn't the same thing as studying the Bible for ourselves. Hearing the prayers of others cannot replace our own prayers. And watching preachers share their testimony isn't the same thing as actually evangelizing ourselves.

Also, in order to know if something is biblically sound or not, it's not enough to see whether or not they say something exiting about the Pope. We need to know how to interpret the prophecies, only then can we “test the spirits”.

I agree that we can't neglect these things... I wasn't speaking from an either/or outlook.

Interesting info about Alberto... doesn't prove anything other than an organisation like the Jesuits could do a disinfo piece like this in their sleep, if his claims were true. It isn't really about proof hanging on his story but rather it highlights what the Jesuits would, and probably have, tried and do to God's remnant church.

alexsonofmatthew · Feb 10, 2016

Walter Veith speaks the truth.

God bless

EastCoastRemnant · Feb 10, 2016

There needs to be a balance between searching present truth and sanctification...

JojotheBeloved · Mar 7, 2016

Ubuntu said:
In my experience, the danger of conspiracy theories is that they gradually replace Christ as the center of our attention. This also includes conspiracy theories with a religious flavour. In the end it becomes more exciting to hear about the Jesuits than to hear about what Christ did for us. This is a real danger.

Another thing to keep in mind is that even when it comes to end time events, conspiracy theories might in fact overshadow present truth. Sure, we might love to talk about to the Pope, but are we able to give people a Bible study based on the book of Revelation? Are we able to demonstrate from the Scripture what the final conflict truly is about?

When the time of controversy comes and we have to give reasons for our faith, can we do so based on a “Thus Saith the Lord”, or have we built our ideas on the opinions of popular preachers?...we have to know the Bible for ourselves.

AMEN!!! Anything that overshadows or neglects to mention Jesus is entirely missing the whole point of Scripture! The book of Revelation - where the 3 Angels Messages are found - opens very clearly stating it is "the revelation of JESUS CHRIST..." John "testified to everything that he saw concerning the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 1:1-2. Any interpretation of Revelation that does not center completely on Jesus Christ is in error.

Sunday Laws have already happened. They are not a new thing. They just haven't been enforced in America in a while. But Ellen White's contemporaries were dealing with Sunday Law problems during her lifetime. That's why she talks about them, because the persecution as a result of Sunday Laws were happening to her friends and family. That has already been applied in our modern era. That's not to say that it can't or won't happen again. Just to say that it's not a new threat. It's neither here nor there; I just get tired of people talking about it like it's a new thing when that's not historically accurate. Besides, the point of Sabbath also needs to be about Jesus otherwise it is meaningless and legalistic. But with Jesus at the center it is meaningful and blessed.

Ubuntu · Mar 7, 2016

Exactly, Jojo!

It's unfortunately way too easy to have our attention diverted from what ought to be the centre of our faith. Our greatest challenge as Christians isn't to keep track of what pope says in the media, but to keep our eyes “turned upon Jesus”.

The Jesuits have never done me any harm, but I know as a fact that I often have hurt myself because I have allowed myself to lose sight of Jesus. My greatest spiritual enemy is therefore not the Jesuits, but my “Old Adam”.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be interested in eschatology or current events, quite the opposite. I think the irony of all of this is that religious conspiracy theories actually make us less inclined to explore the prophecies. We fool ourselves and think we have it all sorted out, that we know exactly what is going to happen and how it'll happen.

And yes, you're right... We won't get far in our understanding of Revelation without realizing that the glory of Jesus is what ultimately is revealed in this book. The book of Revelation is a deeper book than the conspiracy crowd imagine. The narrative in the book of Revelation is therefore very different to the story that Veight et al, preach. So I fear that many who are influenced by religious conspiracy theories eventually will shipwreck their faith, simply because reality at one point will catch up with them...

JojotheBeloved · Mar 7, 2016

Ubuntu said:
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be interested in eschatology or current events, quite the opposite. I think the irony of all of this is that religious conspiracy theories actually make us less inclined to explore the prophecies. We fool ourselves and think we have it all sorted out, that we know exactly what is going to happen and how it'll happen.

I agree!

This is what I become nervous about for the spiritual health of our church family, because when we think we know it all we stop searching. And that's a dangerous place to be. It reminds me of Matthew 24:23-24 where Jesus says false messiahs and false prophets will arise and deceive even the elect (or elite). Sometimes when I hear some of my fellow Adventists claim that they have special knowledge or that they know exactly what Revelation says or that there's only one message to be preached regarding end times or that they can see all the signs of the times happening around us... I get so heartbroken for those people and so nervous for our church as a whole, because it seems to me they are claiming to be the elect. But according to Jesus, we may indeed see signs and wonders, but His time has not yet come. We may see signs and wonders, but they could be false and deceptive. It seems to me that when Jesus speaks of the end times the only hope and only security is complete trust in Him. All knowledge seems only to make a person prideful and ignore the heart of God as revealed in Jesus.

That is not to say we can't be interested in what the Bible says about end times. Nor does that mean we shouldn't search the scriptures. But what's important is often missed I think. The truth of Scripture is revealed in Jesus Christ, and when we dismiss Him we miss the point. We miss the truth. We are in error any time we leave Jesus out of Bible messages.

Ubuntu · Mar 8, 2016

Thank you @JojotheBeloved!

You're not the only one who is nervous on behalf of the spiritual health of the adventist church. It seems as if conspiracy theories (and certain destructive theological concepts) slowly are becoming more mainstream these days. If we combine these things an self-complacent attitude regarding eschatology, then we have a recipe for disaster… You mentioned what Jesus said in Matthew, and in a similar vein I believe that Paul's solemn warning also is relevant:

"For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3

But yeah, Jesus is the ultimate solution for our problems. He promised that “every eye will see him” when he returns, but even today it is our privilege to behold him with our eye of faith.

EastCoastRemnant · Mar 8, 2016

Ubuntu said:
Thank you @JojotheBeloved!

You're not the only one who is nervous on behalf of the spiritual health of the adventist church. It seems as if conspiracy theories (and certain destructive theological concepts) slowly are becoming more mainstream these days. If we combine these things an self-complacent attitude regarding eschatology, then we have a recipe for disaster… You mentioned what Jesus said in Matthew, and in a similar vein I believe that Paul's solemn warning also is relevant:

"For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3

But yeah, Jesus is the ultimate solution for our problems. He promised that “every eye will see him” when he returns, but even today it is our privilege to behold him with our eye of faith.

Doesn't the above scripture tell us that we should be sticking with the "sound teaching" of sister White and the pioneers? I 100% agree that the verse encompasses the internets ability to mesmerize, but even within our schools and pulpits, spurious doctrines are being taught and disseminated.

Ubuntu · Mar 11, 2016

@EastCoastRemnant,

I do agree that we sometimes encounter spurious teachings in various Church settings. And yes, I believe that we should pay more attention to the writings of Ellen White more than we do, her writings are a gift sent from heaven to our Church.

When it comes to the pioneers, well, we should heed their examples. For instance, at one point in our history the “pioneers” were a bunch of pork eating, tobacco-chewing, Sunday-keeping Christians. Fortunately the pioneers had a concept they called present truth, they acknowledged that the truth is progressively unfolding and they were brave enough to leave positions that they found were wrong. So the way forward is to imitate their willingness to compare everything to the bible. On the other hand, if we uncritically adopt every position that the pioneers once believed in, we might actually end up retrograding spiritually. Ellen White once refused to believe in the Sabbath, she didn't initially understand why it was our duty to rest on the Sabbath… Of course, her unwillingness to keep the Sabbath changed once she received a greater light over the matter, and obviously we don't honour the memory of Ellen White and the pioneers if we adopt positions that they later abandoned.

We should remember that deception always comes in two flavours, one for liberals and the other for people with a conservative bent. Deceptions that don't appeal to a liberal, might be very appealing to a conservative and vice versa. Now, if you are a conservative it might be easy to identify what we view as liberal, spurious doctrines. (It's always easy to see the speck in our brother's eye.) But are we able to recognize the deceptions aimed at ourvelves?

JojotheBeloved · Mar 13, 2016

Ubuntu said:
@EastCoastRemnant,

...at one point in our history the “pioneers” were a bunch of pork eating, tobacco-chewing, Sunday-keeping Christians. Fortunately the pioneers had a concept they called present truth, they acknowledged that the truth is progressively unfolding and they were brave enough to leave positions that they found were wrong. So the way forward is to imitate their willingness to compare everything to the bible. On the other hand, if we uncritically adopt every position that the pioneers once believed in, we might actually end up retrograding spiritually.

I wish these history facts about our church founding was more widely known and accepted. It would be very helpful in our dialogue with one another if we didn't assume the other person knows what we mean when we refer to the "pioneers'" viewpoints or ideological/theological positions.

EastCoastRemnant · Mar 19, 2016

Thank you brother Ubuntu... you are correct that deceptions can fall on both sides.

As a point of clarification though, some of those spurious practices held by sister White as well as others were fully reconciled by the time the church was denominated and didn't change much til her death. The message and understanding of Righteousness by Faith being one that was not proclaimed as it should have been... I believe the Whites and others agreed with this doctrine long before Jones and Waggoner preached it in 88 however.

CaptainToad · May 11, 2016

Why should a theory destroy any of our spirituality?

Isnt our faith in Jesus grounded in Jesus?

To me Jesus has never been a set of rules or something, Jesus it the Living God.

So how can any theory destroy my faith in the Almighty?

Why conspiracy theories are destroying true spirituality

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