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Progressive Adventism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Progressive Adventists are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who consider themselves to be theologically progressive relative to the denomination's mainstream. They are often described as liberal by other Adventists, however this is generally not the preferred self-designation. They typically question one or more of the church's more peculiar, or "distinctive" beliefs such as the investigative judgment, the remnant, a future global Sunday-law or an overuse of Ellen G. White's writings.A significant number of scholars would be considered "progressive".[1] Despite some diversity of theological opinion, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists considers itself to be remarkably unified given its worldwide geographical extent.
Contents
[edit] Terminology and comparisons
Madelynn Jones-Haldeman wrote in 2001,
"It is only within the last few decades that the Adventist Review has recognized editorially that there exists within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, at least in North America, 'liberals,' 'liberal churches,' 'liberal colleges/universities' and 'liberal conferences.' Depending on the author and his/her agenda, Adventist liberals are compared and/or contrasted with 'conservative Adventists,' 'historic Adventists,' 'Bible-believing (or EGW-believing) Adventists,' 'traditional Adventists,' 'evangelical Adventists,' 'cultural Adventists,' and/or 'ecumenical Adventists.'"[2] Although the terms liberal Adventist or left-wing Adventist are also used, these may be considered derogatory, and "progressive" is the preferred self-designation.[3][2] This is appropriate because most progressive Adventists still identify more with "conservative" Christianity than with "liberal" Christianity. Also compare to the "Evangelical left" and "Progressive Christianity". Also compare to the "Christian/religious left" (although this term is associated with left-wing politics).
Progressive Adventists may be contrasted with "historic Adventists", who lie at the other end of the Adventist theological spectrum, and more mainstream Adventists who lie somewhere in between. While progressive Adventists may not be mainstream in the context of the theology of the world church, they are mainstream in the sense that many are employed as university lecturers in church operated institutions. By contrast, historic Adventists generally operate outside of the official church structure.
A similar, possibly equivalent group have been referred to as "cultural Adventists".[4] These individuals feel an attachment towards the Adventist church for cultural reasons rather than strict theological conformity. (Compare "Cultural Christian", which may or may not have a similar meaning). Clifford Goldstein has declared,
"A cultural Adventist? The concept's incomprehensible to me... I'm an Adventist for one reason: the beliefs, the teachings, the doctrines that this church — and this church alone — espouses. If it were not for them, I'd be gone faster than the junk food at church potlucks. The Seventh-day Adventist culture had nothing to do with bringing me here. On the contrary, coming as I did from a secular Jewish background, the culture was the biggest obstacle."[5] Other terms such as ecumenical Adventist and evangelical Adventist have been used, with presumably related meaning.[3] (Compare the much broader movements "Ecumenism" and "Evangelicalism" in Christianity).
[edit] Beliefs
There is no formal organization or specified set of beliefs held by progressive Adventists. (Perhaps, in this sense, they could be compared to the Emerging Church.) Ervin Taylor wrote:
"It would be regrettable if any would propose that progressive Adventism should be associated with some specific set of propositional statements that purport to redefine, using contemporary vocabulary, some specific tradition of Christian or Adventist religiosity. Rather, I hope that progressive Adventism will be primarily associated with vision of a free and open servant church and the 'priesthood of all believers.'"[3] That being said, the common factor shared by all progressive Adventists is some degree of discomfort with certain of the church's official or traditional doctrinal positions. An article called Progressive and Traditional Adventists Examined[6] identifies four typical areas of progressive belief:
Bible. The same survey showed close agreement on the nature of the Bible, with 92.6% affirming the moderate statement "Bible is God's word with human thought forms and perspectives." Only a minority affirmed the competing statements, "Bible is the actual word of God, to be taken literally word for word" or "Bible is ancient book of myths, history, and moral precepts." Progressive Adventists may be open to a small use of the historical-critical method of Bible scholarship, as well as the historical-grammatical method employed by many Adventists.[7]
Speaking in tongues. Adventists might typically believe that speaking in tongues refers to speaking in earthly languages not known to the user, not to a personal prayer language or similar as practiced by many charismatic and Pentecostal Christians.[8] Hence an Adventist with an appreciation for charismatic experiences could be considered progressive in one sense, particularly because traditional Adventist views are suspicious of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Progressive Adventists are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who consider themselves to be theologically progressive relative to the denomination's mainstream. They are often described as liberal by other Adventists, however this is generally not the preferred self-designation. They typically question one or more of the church's more peculiar, or "distinctive" beliefs such as the investigative judgment, the remnant, a future global Sunday-law or an overuse of Ellen G. White's writings.A significant number of scholars would be considered "progressive".[1] Despite some diversity of theological opinion, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists considers itself to be remarkably unified given its worldwide geographical extent.
Contents
[edit] Terminology and comparisons
Madelynn Jones-Haldeman wrote in 2001,
"It is only within the last few decades that the Adventist Review has recognized editorially that there exists within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, at least in North America, 'liberals,' 'liberal churches,' 'liberal colleges/universities' and 'liberal conferences.' Depending on the author and his/her agenda, Adventist liberals are compared and/or contrasted with 'conservative Adventists,' 'historic Adventists,' 'Bible-believing (or EGW-believing) Adventists,' 'traditional Adventists,' 'evangelical Adventists,' 'cultural Adventists,' and/or 'ecumenical Adventists.'"[2] Although the terms liberal Adventist or left-wing Adventist are also used, these may be considered derogatory, and "progressive" is the preferred self-designation.[3][2] This is appropriate because most progressive Adventists still identify more with "conservative" Christianity than with "liberal" Christianity. Also compare to the "Evangelical left" and "Progressive Christianity". Also compare to the "Christian/religious left" (although this term is associated with left-wing politics).
Progressive Adventists may be contrasted with "historic Adventists", who lie at the other end of the Adventist theological spectrum, and more mainstream Adventists who lie somewhere in between. While progressive Adventists may not be mainstream in the context of the theology of the world church, they are mainstream in the sense that many are employed as university lecturers in church operated institutions. By contrast, historic Adventists generally operate outside of the official church structure.
A similar, possibly equivalent group have been referred to as "cultural Adventists".[4] These individuals feel an attachment towards the Adventist church for cultural reasons rather than strict theological conformity. (Compare "Cultural Christian", which may or may not have a similar meaning). Clifford Goldstein has declared,
"A cultural Adventist? The concept's incomprehensible to me... I'm an Adventist for one reason: the beliefs, the teachings, the doctrines that this church — and this church alone — espouses. If it were not for them, I'd be gone faster than the junk food at church potlucks. The Seventh-day Adventist culture had nothing to do with bringing me here. On the contrary, coming as I did from a secular Jewish background, the culture was the biggest obstacle."[5] Other terms such as ecumenical Adventist and evangelical Adventist have been used, with presumably related meaning.[3] (Compare the much broader movements "Ecumenism" and "Evangelicalism" in Christianity).
[edit] Beliefs
There is no formal organization or specified set of beliefs held by progressive Adventists. (Perhaps, in this sense, they could be compared to the Emerging Church.) Ervin Taylor wrote:
"It would be regrettable if any would propose that progressive Adventism should be associated with some specific set of propositional statements that purport to redefine, using contemporary vocabulary, some specific tradition of Christian or Adventist religiosity. Rather, I hope that progressive Adventism will be primarily associated with vision of a free and open servant church and the 'priesthood of all believers.'"[3] That being said, the common factor shared by all progressive Adventists is some degree of discomfort with certain of the church's official or traditional doctrinal positions. An article called Progressive and Traditional Adventists Examined[6] identifies four typical areas of progressive belief:
- Investigative judgment. A different view of the investigative judgment, or a denial of its biblical basis.
- Remnant. An inclusion of other Christians in the term remnant.
- Ellen White. A less rigid view of the prophetic ministry of Ellen White, or perhaps even denying the validity of her prophetic gift. (Many more mainstream scholars share a progressive view of Ellen White's inspiration, but would not be classified as progressive Adventists overall.)
- Sabbath. An emphasis on the benefits of the Sabbath, but a denial that it is the "seal of God" or that Sunday keeping will ever become the mark of the beast.
Bible. The same survey showed close agreement on the nature of the Bible, with 92.6% affirming the moderate statement "Bible is God's word with human thought forms and perspectives." Only a minority affirmed the competing statements, "Bible is the actual word of God, to be taken literally word for word" or "Bible is ancient book of myths, history, and moral precepts." Progressive Adventists may be open to a small use of the historical-critical method of Bible scholarship, as well as the historical-grammatical method employed by many Adventists.[7]
Speaking in tongues. Adventists might typically believe that speaking in tongues refers to speaking in earthly languages not known to the user, not to a personal prayer language or similar as practiced by many charismatic and Pentecostal Christians.[8] Hence an Adventist with an appreciation for charismatic experiences could be considered progressive in one sense, particularly because traditional Adventist views are suspicious of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements.