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HOLISTIC SPIRITUALITY in the Thinking of Ellen White

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HOLISTIC SPIRITUALITY in the Thinking of Ellen White CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto HOLISTIC SPIRITUALITY In the Thinking of Ellen White Harri Kuhalampi ACADEMIC DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DOCTOR’S DEGREE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI 2010 Copyright: Harri Kuhalampi Painopaikka: Yliopistopaino 2010 ISBN 978-952-92-7891-6 (nid.) ISBN 978-952-10-6440-1 (PDF) E-thesis: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi 2 Contents Acknowledgements 5 Tiivistelmä 6 Abstract 7 1. Introduction 9 1.1. The Historical and Doctrinal Development of Seventh-day Adventism 10 1.2. Defining Christian Spirituality 18 1.3. The Life and Ministry of Ellen White 26 2. The Purpose of the Study, Methodology, Sources and Previous Studies 33 2.1. The Purpose of the Study 33 2.2. Methodology 35 2.3. Sources 36 2.4. Previous Studies 39 3. Encountering God’s Saving Grace 44 3.1. The Love of God 47 3.1.1. The Matchless Love of our Saviour 51 3.1.2. The Love of God and Human Worth and Dignity 55 3.1.3. The Love of God as Saving Grace 57 3.2. Confronting One’s Helplessness and Sinfulness 63 3.2.1. Sorrow for Sin and Repentance 69 3.2.2. Confession of Sin 73 3.2.3. Conversion 76 3.3. Sinners and Their Sins 80 3.3.1. The Problem of Sin 82 3.3.2. The Sin-problem Subdivided 84 3.3.3. Forgiveness 85 3.3.4. Justification 89 3.3.5. Sanctification and Holiness 98 3.3.6. Transformation and Spiritual Growth 103 3.4. Faith 107 4. Yielding to the Persuasion and Coaxing of God’s Love 113 4.1. The Will, the Power of Choice and Faith 113 4.1.1. The Role of Human Will 115 4.1.2. Freedom of Choice or Power of Choice 123 4.1.3. Belonging to God through Consecration 126 4.1.4. The Relationship between Faith and Yieldedness 134 4.2. Dealing with Self–Egocentricity 138 4.3. Dependence and Obedience 142 4.3.1. Yieldedness through Dependence on God 142 4.3.2. Yieldedness as Obedience to God 145 5. The Connection between the Human Spirit and Christ 148 5.1. The Role of the Holy Spirit in Christian Spirituality 152 5.2. Union with Christ 156 3 5.3. The Human Spirit in Interactive Union with Christ 163 5.3.1. Knowledge of God as a Precondition for Interaction 165 5.3.2. The Consequences of the Interactive Communion with Christ 171 5.3.3. The Fellowship with Christ through Prayer 173 5.3.4. Doubt as a Threat to Personal Fellowship with God 178 5.3.5. The Spiritual Struggle at the Interface of the Dialogical Communion with God 180 5.4. Fellowship with God through Devotionals Praxis 185 5.5. The Sabbath 195 5.6. Functional Connectedness to God 199 6. Living out and Reflecting God’s Love 202 6.1. Love as the Basis for Christian Action 202 6.2. Christian Spirituality as a Cooperative Union with Christ 205 6.3. Christian Spirituality and Human Usefulness 211 6.3.1. The Use of Talents and the Motivation behind Usefulness 213 6.3.2. Being a Representative of Christ 215 6.4. Ministry 217 6.4.1. Co-workers with Christ in Ministry and Mission 217 6.4.2. Human Relations and Social Interaction 221 6.5. Church Fellowship and Communal Spirituality 224 6.5.1. Worship, Rejoicing and Thanksgiving 225 6.5.2. Sacramental Spirituality 227 6.5.3. Ministry of Reconciliation 233 6.6. Formation for Well-being 234 6.6.1. Education 235 6.6.2. Total Health and Healing 239 7. Character 245 7.1. Defining the Human Character 245 7.2. Character Development 249 7.3. Everyday Spirituality and Christian Character 253 8. Conclusion 259 9. Abbreviations 267 10. Bibliography 269 10.1. Ellen White Materials 269 10.2. www-pages 272 10.3. Literature 273 4 Acknowledgements When I was still a child my Lutheran grandmother spoke with appreciation about Ellen White’s book Steps to Christ and recommended it to me. For decades White’s teachings guided me in my personal spiritual quest. But I never imagined that this acquaintance would develop into an academic interest in her spiritual perceptions and teachings and in spirituality on the whole. It was as a result of a coincidence of a number of factors that I started this study in 2003. I want to thank God for all the help I have received throughout this project. In the case of Christian spirituality, acknowledging the role of divine guidance and assistance in certainly necessary. But special thanks belong to a number of people without whom I could not have succeeded in my study. To Professor Heikki Kotila I am greatly indebted for his wise guidance, his useful observations and suggestions, and his words of encouragement, which were a constant source of inspiration and motivation. I regret his untimely death, and at the same time I owe him my heartfelt appreciation for his excellent work. The interaction in our seminar group proved to be beneficial in all our individual projects. MTh Maria Buchert, MTh Risto Leppänen and MTh Ben Malinen, who have already defended their theses, shared many helpful and constructive comments and ideas, and I wish to my thanks to them for their support. I extend a special thank you to Dr Aulikki Nahkola who initially encouraged me to proceed to further studies, and who has in several ways guided me in my study. She has read the manuscript and commented both on linguistic details and on major theological and methodological issues. During my study I made four visits to Newbold College, England where I was able to research materials which were not available to me elsewhere. I am especially indebted to MSc Per Lisle and his staff at the Roy Graham Library for making special arrangements in order to accommodate me and my needs. I also thank the pre-examiners, DPhil Michael Pearson and Docent Jaakko Rusama, for their careful reading of the manuscript and for sharing some excellent remarks and suggestions, which were useful in the finalisation of my dissertation. My dear wife, Erja, has been there any time I needed someone to discuss emerging ideas and views. Her support and enthusiasm kept me going. Her support and enthusiasm have kept me going, even in the struggle with the finer points of English grammar. Thank you very much for all your help! I am also grateful to several friends with whom I have had stimulating spiritual as well as academic discussions. I thoroughly enjoyed those moments of deep reflection and fruitful interaction with you, Seppo Romana, Kari Lähdesmäki and Satu Mäkelä, and others. I also heartily thank Jonquil Hole for reading the final draft and for making linguistic corrections and other suggestions to add clarity to the text. There is yet another person whose role has been very important, my computer advisor. Thank you, Samuel Kallio, for helping me out so many times when I was running out of resources and as the system was failing. I look back to the past years of study with joy and gratitude. The journey has made my life so much richer. 5 Tiivistelmä Spiritualiteetti viittaa syvälliseen, inhimilliseen ulottuvuuteen ja ominaisuuteen, jonka tarkka määritteleminen on haasteellista, ellei mahdotonta. Sitä vastaa yhtäältä uskonnollisuuden kautta toteutuva, elämän tarkoitukseen ja syvemmän olemuksen etsintään liittyvä hengellisyys, mutta toisaalta myös kaikkea muuta hengen viljelyä ja mielekkään olemisen tavoittelua tarkoittava henkisyys. John Swintonin mukaan hengen ulottuvuus on se inhimilliseen olemukseen kuuluva, dynaaminen elinvoima, joka virkistää ja elävöittää ihmistä ja motivoi häntä etsimään Jumalaa, arvoja, merkitystä, tarkoitusta ja toivoa. Tämä tutkimus nostaa tarkastelun kohteeksi kokonaisvaltaisen hengellisyyden, jolloin huomio kiinnitetään niihin sidoksiin, joiden kautta hengen ulottuvuus liittyy muihin inhimillisen elämän olennaisiin toimintoihin ja näkökulmiin. Tällaisia ovat 1) ajattelu 2) teot ja käytännön toiminta 3) suhteet ja vuorovaikutusverkostot 4) tunteet ja kanssakäymistä ohjaavat asenteet 5) olemassaolon ja olemisen ulottuvuudet. Kokemusten merkitys, arvo ja mielekkyys hahmottuvat juuri hengen alueella, toisin sanoen sisäisesti, hengellisenä ja henkisenä asiana. Tutkimusmateriaalina tässä tutkimuksessa on amerikkalaisen vuosina 1827 – 1915 eläneen Ellen Whiten kuusi myöhäiskauden teosta vuosilta 1892 – 1905 ja tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty systemaattista analyysiä. Olennaista Whiten tavassa käsitellä uskonnon harjoitukseen liittyviä aiheita on hänen käytännöllinen ja elämän arkeen kiinteästi niveltyvä otteensa. Tutkimus paljastaa, että Martti Lutherin käsitykset ovat merkittävästi vaikuttaneet Whiten ajatteluun. Lähteistä paljastuu samankaltaisuutta hänen näkemystensä ja uusimman suomalaisen Luther-tutkimuksen Martti Lutherin tuotannosta esiin nostaman ajattelutavan välillä. Vaikka teologisen oppineisuuden kannalta White ja Luther ovat eri tasoilla, kummankin käsitys ihmisen ja Jumalan välisen suhteen perusolemuksesta on samankaltainen: Lähtökohtana sille on Jumalan rakkaus ja hänen armostaan lähtenyt toiminta. Toiseksi, ihmisen ja Kristuksen välinen, olemuksellinen yhteys, ”unio”, on perustana sille, että Jumala hyväksyy ihmisen ja huolehtii hänestä nyt ja ikuisesti. Kolmanneksi, tämä ihmisen ja Kristuksen liittoutuminen ja yhdistyminen ilmenee yhteistoimintana ja kumppanuutena yhteisten tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi maailmassa. White korostaa ihmisen ja Kristuksen välisen hengellisen suhteen vuorovaikutteista ja toiminnallista luonnetta, joka tulee ilmi epäitsekkyytenä, toisten ihmisten ja heidän tarpeittensa huomioimisena sekä myötätuntona ja kykynä asettua toisen asemaan. Terveellistä elämäntapaa ja kasvatusta koskevat ajatuksensa White liittää siihen laaja-alaiseen näkemykseen hengellisyydestä, jonka tavoitteena on ihmisen kokonaisvaltainen hyvinvointi. Hän ei näe spiritualiteettia elämän arjesta irrallisena tai erillisenä saarekkeena, vaan ihmistä kaikessa ohjaavana, voimaannuttavana ja mielekkyyttä tuottavana, ensisijaisena ulottuvuutena. Tutkimuksen kuluessa myös Whiten usein käyttämät ”Jumalalle antautumisen” ja ”luonteen” käsitteet nousevat tarkastelun kohteiksi. Hänen mukaansa ihminen ei tahdonponnistuksillaan yksin pysty tavoittamaan Jumalaa vaan hänen on lakattava Jumalan rakastavan kutsun edessä itse tahtomasta ja suostuttava 6 liittymään Jumalan tahtoon ja tarkoitukseen. Tämä liittyy siihen sisäiseen muutokseen, jota White kuvaa luonteen käsitteen avulla.
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