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Spiritual Disciplines of Early Adventists Heather Ripley Crews George Fox University, [email protected]

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Doctor of Ministry

2-1-2016

eses and Dissertations

Spiritual Disciplines of Early Adventists

Heather Ripley Crews

George Fox University, [email protected]

is research is a product of the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at George Fox University. Find out more about the program.

Recommended Citation

Crews, Heather Ripley, "Spiritual Disciplines of Early Adventists" (2016). Doctor of Ministry. Paper 139. htp://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin/139

is Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the eses and Dissertations at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information,

please contact [email protected].

GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES OF EARLY ADVENTISTS

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF GEORGE FOX EVANGELICAL SEMINARY
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY

LEADERSHIP AND SPIRITUAL FORMATION

BY
HEATHER RIPLEY CREWS

PORTLAND, OREGON
FEBRUARY 2016

Copyright © 2016 by Heather Ripley Crews All rights reserved.

ii
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the Biblical spirituality of the early
Adventist Church in order to apply the spiritual principles learned to the contemporary church. Though it is God who changes people, the early Adventists employed specific spiritual practices to place themselves in His presence. Research revealed five main spiritual disciplines that shaped the Advent leaders and by extension the church. The first is Bible study: placing the Holy Scriptures as the foundation for all beliefs. The second is prayer: communication and communion with God. The third is healthful living: treating

the body well so God’s work can be accomplished. The fourth is stewardship:

recognizing God as the source of wealth and using it to further His kingdom. And the fifth is worship: dedicating the Sabbath to God from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. These practices are best viewed through the lives of the church leaders. The church leaders presented are William Miller and his method of Bible study; Ellen White and her methods and prescriptions for prayer; Joseph Bates and his quiet example of healthful living; James White and his financial choices to grow a worldwide movement; and John Nevin Andrews and his passionate belief in a need for worship of the holy.
The book included at the end of the dissertation is provided as a tool for the study and employment of spiritual disciplines in the Adventist church. The goal in creating this

artifact is to make Biblical spirituality accessible to today’s Adventist. This book

provides a platform for discussion and study on Biblical spirituality by combining the Biblical basis for five spiritual disciplines along with an example of an Adventist pioneer

iii who exhibited that discipline in their life. The book also presents practical examples of how to get to know God better through the practice of each discipline and a form to record and evaluate the experiment.

iv
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS...............................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. xi SECTION 1 PRESENTATION OF THE PROBLEM.......................................................1
The Problem in Real Life ............................................................................................1 Evaluation....................................................................................................................5
SECTION 2 OTHER PROPOSED SOLUTIONS..............................................................8 SECTION 3 HISTORY OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES IN ADVENTISM..................20
Adventist Beginnings and Beyond ............................................................................27 Methods of Teaching Spiritual Disciplines ...............................................................46
Family Worship.................................................................................................46 Sabbath School..................................................................................................49 Social Meetings.................................................................................................51 Publications.......................................................................................................53 Camp Meetings .................................................................................................56 Preaching...........................................................................................................59 Conclusions.......................................................................................................61
Specific Disciplines...................................................................................................63
Bible Study........................................................................................................63 Prayer ................................................................................................................69 Healthful Living................................................................................................71

v
Stewardship.......................................................................................................77 Worship.............................................................................................................79 Historical Disciplines Not Currently Practiced.................................................81 Conclusions.......................................................................................................85
SECTION 4 BIBLICAL BASIS FOR SPIRITUAL FORMATION................................87
Biblical Basis of Spiritual Formation........................................................................88 Biblical Basis of Spiritual Disciplines.......................................................................91
Bible Study........................................................................................................93 Prayer.................................................................................................................96 Healthful Living ................................................................................................98 Stewardship .....................................................................................................100 Worship ...........................................................................................................103
SECTION 5 EARLY ADVENTIST LEADERS............................................................107
An Historical Snapshot............................................................................................107 Selected Leaders......................................................................................................112
SECTION 6 CURRENT ADVENTIST SPIRITUAL PRACTICES..............................117
Current Instructions in Spiritual Disciplines ...........................................................118
Sabbath School................................................................................................120 Family and Personal Worship.........................................................................123 Small Group Meetings ....................................................................................125 Publications.....................................................................................................127 Television and Radio Broadcasts....................................................................128 Internet Sources...............................................................................................130
Currently Practiced Spiritual Disciplines ................................................................131
Bible Study......................................................................................................132

vi
Prayer ..............................................................................................................134 Service.............................................................................................................137 Healthful Living..............................................................................................139 Stewardship.....................................................................................................142 Worship...........................................................................................................143
Conclusions .............................................................................................................144
SECTION 7 THE RESOURCE BOOK..........................................................................145
My Experience in Biblical Spirituality....................................................................145 William Miller and Bible Study ..............................................................................149 Experiments in Bible Study.....................................................................................155
Key Word Study..............................................................................................157 Verse Comparison...........................................................................................162 Topical Study ..................................................................................................165 Memorize a Bible Text....................................................................................168 Clarification of Beliefs....................................................................................171
Report on Experiments with Bible Study................................................................172
Experiment Evaluation Tool ...........................................................................174
Ellen White and Prayer............................................................................................175
A Formal Introduction to Ellen White ............................................................175 Her Impact.......................................................................................................177 Her Prescriptions.............................................................................................178
Experiments in Prayer .............................................................................................182
Pray the Scriptures ..........................................................................................184 Focus on God’s Presence ................................................................................187 Pray on Another’s Behalf................................................................................188

vii
Picture Christ on the Cross..............................................................................190 Pray Your Heart ..............................................................................................191
Report on Experiments with Prayer ........................................................................193
Experiment Evaluation Tool ...........................................................................195
Joseph Bates and Healthful Living..........................................................................196 Experiments in Healthful Living.............................................................................201
Fasting.............................................................................................................202 Give Up Refined Sugar...................................................................................204 Rest..................................................................................................................206 Take a Walk ....................................................................................................208 Get Enough Water...........................................................................................209
Report on Experiments with Healthful Living ........................................................210
Experiment Evaluation Tool ...........................................................................212
James White on Stewardship...................................................................................212 Experiments in Stewardship....................................................................................217
Donate Five Items ...........................................................................................219 Return to God First .........................................................................................220 Volunteer at a Homeless Shelter.....................................................................221 Host a Birthday Party......................................................................................223 Use Your Talent..............................................................................................224 Report on Experiments with Stewardship.......................................................225 Experiment Evaluation Tool ...........................................................................226
John N. Andrews on Worship .................................................................................227
An Introduction to John Nevin Andrews ........................................................227
Experiments in Worship..........................................................................................230

viii
Prepare for Worship........................................................................................232 Welcome the Sabbath......................................................................................234 Take a Hike .....................................................................................................236 Research the Sabbath ......................................................................................237 Worship Through Service ...............................................................................238
Report on Experiments with Worship.....................................................................240
Experiment Evaluation Tool ...........................................................................241 Invitation to a Continued Journey...................................................................242
SECTION 8 THE RESOURCE BOOK AT WORK......................................................245 SECTION 9 REFLECTIONS.........................................................................................247 WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................250

ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1 William Miller (1782- 1849)................................................................................ 149 Fig. 2 Ellen G. White (1827-1915)................................................................................. 175 Fig. 3 Joseph Bates (1792-1872) .................................................................................... 196 Fig. 4 James White (1821-1881)..................................................................................... 212 Fig. 5 John Nevin Andrews (1829-1883) ....................................................................... 227

x
LIST OF TABLES
HISTORY OF THE SDA CHURCH.................................................................................27 IMPORTANT DATES ....................................................................................................108 SDA CHURCH STATISTICS.........................................................................................117

xi
SECTION 1
PRESENTATION OF THE PROBLEM

The problem addressed by this dissertation is the lack of a resource that focuses on spiritual disciplines from the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Specifically, no resource is available from the Adventist tradition that connects spiritual disciplines to the early church leaders that founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Because of this lack of Adventist resource materials, Seventh-day Adventists are unaware that these practices are present in the tradition from its earliest roots. In order to make it easier for Seventh-day Adventists to explore this topic, a resource is needed that shows where these practices originate as an important part of Adventist history.

The Problem in Real Life

Jim and Maggie are talking together about an upcoming class. They are members of a local Seventh-day Adventist Church where a challenge exists: The members of their

church have spent so much time being “doers” that they haven’t focused on learning the

skill of just “being” in God’s presence. Their church has Life Improvement classes. Each class is an opportunity to study a spiritual topic to enrich their lives. Jim and Maggie agreed to teach a class on spiritual disciplines so their fellow members can learn more

1
2about these tools to get to know God. They are on a trip to their local Adventist Book Center,1 looking for a textbook to use.
Jim: Alright, Maggie, where should we start? Maggie: Let’s try the Christian Living section. Jim: Hmm, it’s over, over, hmm—there it is!
They walk together toward the shelf prominently marked “Christian Living” and begin reading book titles to each other.

Jim: The ABCs of Bible Prayer.2 That would be a good place to begin. After all, prayer and the Bible are the foundation of spiritual formation.

Maggie: Yeah, and here is one on Christ’s Way of Reaching People .3 That ought to have something in it about social justice.

They pile books until their stack begins to rival the tower of Babel.

Jim: Isn’t there a book that summarizes all of these?

Maggie: What do you mean? Like Renovare’s Spiritual Formation Handbook4 that we used in our class?

Jim: Exactly like that.

Maggie: Why didn’t you mention that sooner?! I bet if we go up to Mardel’s5 we

can get a copy of it.
They abandon their tower of books for the talented clerks to re-shelve. The two hop into their vehicle and head out. After dodging between cars and around potholes they arrive at

1 The Adventist Book Center will in the future be referred to in the colloquial designator the ABC. 2 Glenn and Ethel Coon, The Abc's of Bible Prayer (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1972). 3 Philip G. Samaan, Christ's Way of Reaching People (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald,
1990).

4 James Bryan Smith and Lynda Graybeal, A Spiritual Formation Workbook (San Francisco, CA:
Harper San Francisco, 1999).

5 Mardel’s is a local Christian book and education tools center. Their mission, according to their

website, www.mardel.com, accessed on February 12, 2005, is to be a resource center that provides spiritual and intellectual needs.

3
Mardel’s Christian book center. Inside they quickly locate a wall of books dedicated to Spiritual Formation.

Jim: Here it is!

He holds up a copy of Renovare’s Spiritual Formation Handbook.

Maggie: Look! Here’s Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy6

Maggie squeals with childish delight.
Maggie: Can we use this one too?
Jim flips through the pages of his selected book.
Jim: Maggs, we’ve got a problem. I think the people in our class will be shocked when we get to the Charismatic Tradition.

Maggie: You’re right. They won’t get past the word “Charismatic” before they put

up the mental filters.
Maggie does an Oscar-worthy impression of a deflated balloon.
Jim: Well, what do we do? Here they have what we need in one simple book, but if we use those from the Adventist tradition it will cost oodles to get all the disciplines in. What do we do?

Maggie: We’re in trouble. Even if we used this one, it doesn’t include Adventist church history as a context for the use of the spiritual disciplines.

Jim: Let’s take our questions to the pastor. After all, she got us into this mess in the first place.

Maggie nods in agreement. Jim and Maggie make an appointment with Pastor Ripley. They are so passionate about Spiritual Formation and its importance to their church family that they show up at the appointment half an hour early to find an answer to their problem.

Pastor Ripley shows Jim and Maggie into her office and then slides into her own chair.
Pastor Ripley: So, what seems to be the problem?

6 Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (New York:

HarperOne, March 24, 1998).

4
Maggie and Jim in unison: We need help! Jim (looking at Maggie): You go ahead and explain it.

Maggie: We’ve been visiting bookstores.

Jim: Well, two actually.

Maggie: And we can’t find a textbook to use for our spiritual formation class on

Wednesday nights. Pastor Ripley: Challenging, uh?
Pastor Ripley smiles.

Jim: Yes! What are we supposed to do? We don’t want to turn people off before

they even give the idea a chance. Neither do we want them to take out a second mortgage to buy all the books they would need from the ABC.

Maggie: What is a leader to do? Pastor Ripley: What topics do you want to cover in your class? Maggie: The set that Foster has in his workbook—those are good—but then I liked

Gary Thomas’s7 ideas too. Jim: But those aren’t from the Adventist tradition, and I don’t like the glazed and

guarded look people get when I start speaking from other traditions. Maggie: We found a book on Bible study, and we found a book on friendship evangelism, but not one on both.

Jim: And I can’t quite make photocopies of those pages for people. They need their

own books!

Pastor Ripley: You’ve got a problem… Any ideas on a solution? Jim: No! Why do you think we’re here?

Maggie nodes in emphatic agreement.
Pastor Ripley: Have you thought about writing your own curriculum?

7 Gary Thomas, Seeking the Face of God (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1999).

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    JUNE/JULY 2020 THE GOD WHO HEARS PRAYER ILLINOIS MEMBERS ILLINOIS FOCUS INSIDE NEWS ON THE WEB IN THIS ISSUE / TELLING THE STORIES OF WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THE LIVES OF HIS PEOPLE FEATURES Visit lakeunionherald.org for 14 Illinois — Camp Akita more on these and other stories By Mary Claire Smith Wisconsin’s Adventist Community Service volunteers made much needed 16 tie- and elastic-strapped masks for facilities and individuals. They were Download the Herald to your Indiana — Timber Ridge Camp asked to make masks for a 300-bed facility By Charlie Thompson in Pennsylvania which had experienced 38 mobile device! Just launch your PERSPECTIVES deaths due to the virus. camera and point it at the QR code. President's Perspective 4 18 (Older model devices may require Lest We Forget 8 downloading a third party app.) Conversations with God 9 Michigan — Camp Au Sable On Tuesday, May 5, the Michigan So, how’s your world? I remember Conference Executive Committee voted Conexiones 11 By Bailey Gallant my grandparents telling me about the to close the Adventist Book Centers One Voice 42 in Lansing, Berrien Springs and Cicero old days in North Dakota. One day I 20 (Indiana). They are exploring options to was walking through the Watford city EVANGELISM continue supplying printed material in cemetery where my great-grandfather Wisconsin — Camp Wakonda more efficient ways. Sharing Our Hope 10 Melchior was buried. I noticed that By Kristin Zeismer Telling God’s Stories 12 Follow us at lakeunionherald so many of the tombstones were Partnership With God 41 As part of its Everyone Counts, dated 1918, the year of the Spanish flu 22 Everyone Matters theme for the year, pandemic.
  • PUC's AAA Reaccreditation Proposal

    PUC's AAA Reaccreditation Proposal

    PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE SELF-STUDY Prepared for: The Accrediting Association of Seventh-day Adventist Schools, Colleges, and Universities January 2012 An Introductory Message from the President elcome to Pacific Union College, the oldest Adventist institution of higher learning on the West Coast. W Founded in Healdsburg in 1882, PUC moved to Howell Mountain in 1909, in part on the advice of Ellen White, whose final home, Elmshaven, is nearby. We are happy to host the members of the Adventist Accrediting Asso- ciation to our campus early in 2012, as we move into our 130th year as a college. PUC is still committed to its original mission—residential, undergraduate, Seventh-day Adventist Christian education. As in the early years, our graduates are still learning to serve as health care workers, pastors, and educators, as well as business managers, graphic designers, social workers, journalists, computer scientists, aviators, and many professions the founders had never heard of. We are also teaching in ways those early professors could not have imagined, with digital projectors, electronic portfolios, and “turnitin.com.” Indeed, many things have changed in the past 130 years, but the important things remain: a commitment to educating the whole person, to integrity and service, and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are still “educating for eternity.” We want to thank you, our peers, for taking time to read our self-study and visit our campus, to meet us, and to encourage us as we strive to go “from good to great” in the service of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and our Creator God.
  • Loughborough, John Norton (1832–1924)

    Loughborough, John Norton (1832–1924)

    Loughborough, John Norton (1832–1924) BRIAN E. STRAYER Brian E. Strayer, Ph.D. (University of Iowa). Strayer taught history at Jackson (MI) Junior Academy, the University of Iowa, Southern Adventist University, and Andrews University for 41 years. He has written 10 books, 120 scholarly and professional articles, 40 reviews and critiques in French and Adventist history and directed three Adventist heritage tours of New England. He writes a weekly column (“The Past Is Always Present”) in the Journal Era and shares Adventist history at camp meetings, schools, and churches. John Norton Loughborough’s seventy-two years of ministry as a pioneering evangelist, missionary, author, organizer, and administrator had a major impact on the shaping Seventh-day Adventism.1 Early Life and Education Loughborough’s ancestors, John and Hannah Loofbourrow, emigrated from England to America in 1684 and settled in New Jersey. By the early nineteenth century, their descendants, the Loofboroughs, moved to Victor Township in upstate J. N. Loughborough 2 Photo courtesy of the General Conference of Seventh-day New York. Adventists Archives. John Norton Loofborough was born on Main Street in Victor on January 26, 1832, the second son of Nathan Benson Loofborough (1802-1839), a skilled carpenter, cabinet-maker, and Methodist exhorter, and Minerva Norton (1801-1894), daughter of a wealthy local family. Together they had five children: William Kerr (b. 1827), Minerva Jane (b. 1829), John Norton (b. 1832), Eber C. (b. 1837), and Sarah Diantha (b. 1840). Since John’s grandfather and father were lay preachers in the local Methodist Episcopal Church (which they had erected in 1820), John received a thorough indoctrination in Methodist beliefs at home and in Sunday school, church services, prayer meetings, and singing classes.