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Adventist Ordination Crisis.Indd 1 5/7/15 11:48 AM the Adventist Ordination Crisis Biblical Authority Or Cultural Conformity Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 1 5/7/15 11:48 AM The Adventist Ordination Crisis Biblical Authority or Cultural Conformity Council of Adventist Pastors P.O. Box 19424 Spokane, WA 99219 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the New King James Version © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked “ESV” are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked “NASB” are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scriptures marked “NIV” are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Boldface print in Ellen White statements and other quotations has been added for emphasis. Cover design by Haley Trimmer Layout by Greg Solie • Altamont Graphics Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 2 5/7/15 11:48 AM Contents A Note from the Publishers . 5 Foreword. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7 Introduction Hermeneutics: How Adventists Study the Bible .. .. .. .. .. 9 The Ordination Study Section 1: Ordination Basics . 11 Section 2: Spiritual Gifts vs. Church Offices with Qualifications ....................................17 Section 3: Biblical Qualifications for Elder and Bishop/Overseer..................................23 Section 4: Ellen White’s Example..........................37 Section 5: Divine Gender Role Differences . 47 Section 6: The Headship Principle . 53 Section 7: What Ellen White Taught About Gender Roles . 73 Section 8: The Ordination Question in Today’s Adventist Church . 91 Section 9: Female Ordination — Culture and Consequences. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..111 Section 10: The Way Forward .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..121 3 Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 3 5/7/15 11:48 AM Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 4 5/7/15 11:48 AM A Note from the Publishers his book is the result of a careful two-year collabora- tive study of numerous Seventh-day Adventist leaders, Tincluding concerned pastors, university professors, conference administrators, physicians, teachers, and lay lead- ers—men and women alike—from around the world. Each felt the message was so important that each was willing to waive royalties in the interest of seeing this work distributed as far and wide as possible. The “featured contributors” listed below constitute only a portion of those who contributed to this book. Some re- quested to not be named for various personal reasons. God bless each writer, editor, and consultant for the thou- sands of combined hours they invested in the cause of dis- seminating these truths. Featured contributors, listed alphabetically: Doug Batchelor, Stephen Bohr, Allen Davis, Laurel Damsteegt, Jay Gallimore, Michael Hasel, C. Raymond Holmes, Jim Howard, Wayne Kablanow, Larry Kirkpatrick, Daniel Knapp Sr., Kent Knight, Mike Lambert, Junie Lawson, Don Mackintosh, Carissa McSherry, Phil Mills, Kevin Paulson, John Peters, Eugene Prewitt, David Read, Edwin Reynolds, Alvaro Sauza, Ingo Sorke, Mario Veloso 5 Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 5 5/7/15 11:48 AM Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 6 5/7/15 11:48 AM Foreword “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” —Psalm 11:3 he Seventh-day Adventist Church is now facing what could be the greatest crisis of its 150-year history. Al- Tthough this particular dispute happens to center on the role of women in the church, a much larger issue is at stake: how we read and interpret the Bible. The New Testament plainly teaches that church lead- ership offices are to be held by men. Like our doctrines of the Sabbath (Gen. 2:2, 3; Exod. 20:11), Creation (Gen. 1–2), and marriage (Gen. 2:20–24), the teaching on male leader- ship in the church is rooted in the Genesis narrative (1 Tim. 2:12–14). Our church’s decision on women’s ordination will either reinforce or undermine every other foundational Ad- ventist doctrine; it will either confirm or alter how we read the Scriptures; and it will either affirm or undermine our high view of the Genesis narrative. In other words, the larger issues in the women’s ordination debate are our faithfulness to the Scriptures and our humble submission to what they plainly teach. “Male and female He created them,” Genesis tells us (1:27; 5:2), and Jesus confirmed this created order (Matt. 19:4). But the Bible’s clear teaching is increasingly under attack. Every institution of our society seems determined to blur traditional gender roles and even to efface all distinctions between the sexes. Jesus warned that, as we near the end of time, conditions in the world would resemble the days of Noah and Sodom (Luke 17:26–32). With same-sex “mar- riage,” transgender bathrooms, and television programs 7 Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 7 5/7/15 11:48 AM The Adventist Ordination Crisis that celebrate homosexuality, polygamy, and transgender- ism, our culture is awash in warped messages about gender, sex, and marriage. It is naive to believe that Christians could live in a culture so thoroughly saturated with false and con- fusing gender propaganda without some in the church be- ing influenced by those messages. Against the backdrop of this virtual tsunami of cultur- al gender confusion, the Adventist church is scheduled to once again address the issues of biblical gender role distinc- tions at the 2015 General Conference in San Antonio. This is a time to earnestly study and pray that our delegates will make a firm and final decision choosing Christ over culture and compromise. Jesus said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Any search for truth must be focused on Christ and His Word. In any discussion of contested points, we must look to Him and He will give us our pri- orities and our emphasis. Though He made His instruc- tion deep enough to challenge the scholar, He made it plain enough to engage the understanding of the simple. And He has provided His remnant with His testimony in the writ- ings of the Spirit of Prophecy. It is our prayer that He will speak to every reader of these pages. And He has promised that His sheep will hear His voice (John 10:27). —The Publishers 8 Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 8 5/7/15 11:48 AM Introduction Hermeneutics: How Adventists Study the Bible efore examining the relevant passages of Scripture, we must agree on how we should study the Bible to learn Band understand its teachings. Historically, Adventists have followed William Miller’s principles of Bible study, which were endorsed by Ellen White. These principles are: 1. All Scripture is necessary and may be understood by diligent application and study. 2. Nothing revealed in Scripture can or will be hidden from those who ask in faith. 3. To understand doctrine, bring all the Scriptures to- gether on the subject you wish to know, then let every word have its proper influence, and if you can form your theory without a contradiction, you cannot be in error. 4. Scripture must be its own expositor, since it is a rule of itself. Please give special attention to number three. We must not interpret Scripture so as to set one text in opposition to another and then explain why we prefer to heed the one and not the other. We must form our interpretive theory “with- out a contradiction,” meaning without reading one text as contradicting another. As you will see, this principle is cru- cial in resolving the confusion surrounding this issue. In their efforts to support the ordination of women to the gospel ministry, some in the church have adopted a new Bible study method. The North American Division Theology of Ordination Study Committee calls its new approach the “principle-based, historical-cultural” meth- od. Unfortunately, this new method clashes with the long- standing Seventh-day Adventist method described in such 9 Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 9 5/7/15 11:48 AM The Adventist Ordination Crisis places as the book The Great Controversy, p. 598, and reaf- firmed by the 1986 General Conference “Methods of Bible Study” document. Adventists have always held that “the Bible transcends its cultural backgrounds to serve as God’s Word for all cultural, racial, and situational contexts in all ages.” In contrast, the North American Division (NAD) approach asserts that the text of Scripture has only a limited reliability because it is “culturally conditioned.” In contrast to Paul’s statement that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profit- able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17, emphasis added), the NAD’s approach affirms the Bible’s re- liability only in “salvational” issues. The NAD report speculates about an alleged “trajectory” in the Bible, but this “principle-based method” is the same method non-Adventists employ to set aside the seventh-day Sabbath! This new approach is only one notch above the historical-critical method, and it is not compatible with the “historical-grammatical” method in longstanding use in the Adventist Church. 10 Adventist Ordination Crisis.indd 10 5/7/15 11:48 AM Section 1: Ordination Basics rdination is a grant of ecclesiastical authority, “an acknowledged form of designation to an appoint- Oed office and a recognition of one’s authority in that office” (AA 161). After their ordination, Paul and Barnabas were “authorized by the church, not only to teach the truth, but to perform the rite of baptism and to organize churches, being invested with full ecclesiastical authority” (AA 160).
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