Master Guide Class Adventist History Class 3

The 1960s: Denominational leaders realized that they needed to have a graduate theological institution where an ongoing systematic study of the could take place, and where pastors could obtain post-graduate training. Therefore, the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary was established in Washington, DC, but was then moved to Emanuel Missionary College – now – in Berrien Springs, Michigan. The College of Medical Evangelists had been established in 1909, not long after Dr. removed the existing medical institutions from the denomination. In 1961, CME became , an institution which consists of not only a medical and a dental school, but several other medically-related training schools, as well. During the 1960s, the Federal Government became involved in education for the first time. Students were able to obtain federal scholarships, grants, and loans. Colleges and Universities were able to obtain grants for research projects and equipment. As with other denominations, there was a controversy among Seventh-day Adventist administrators and educators over whether or not to accept these funds. The church – at first reluctantly – decided to accept government assistance for higher education.

World Representation: The 1970s was a time of agitation and controversy for the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. By the early part of the decade, 80% of the members were outside the , and most administrative positions outside the United States had been filled by indigenous people. The “missionary” mindset was disappearing. However, since most of the operating funds came from North America, the NAD still had a controlling voice in the leadership and decision-making of the church. There was agitation from the other divisions for equal representation, and Adventist academics were beginning to accuse the church of racial discrimination. The church – within the decade – changed its policy. By 1980, there was equal representation at all General Conference councils and sessions. This meant that the North American Adventists were just one voice among many.

The Status of Women: This new arrangement would also influence the role of women in the church. By the late 1960s, women were beginning to demand a larger role in both the local churches and within the denomination. Traditionally, the denomination had had a policy of “Sustenance.” The idea was that the family of an employee would be provided with enough money to take care of his family. The male worker was considered to be the head of his family. If his wife worked for the church, she was not given as much, since she was not considered to be the primary support of the family. In 1973, an Adventist author and editor – Merikay McCloud Silver – who worked at the Pacific Press, came to realize that she was not being paid as much as her male counterparts. She was not considered to be the head of her household. When the church refused to change its policy of sustenance, Mrs. Silver sued the denomination – something that had never before been considered acceptable. She won the lawsuit, and the denomination was forced to provide equal pay for equal work. It was also required to make a settlement with all living female employees. By the early 1980s, women were being ordained as local church elders. They were also beginning to hold leadership positions at all levels of church administration. There was agitation among academics once again, as well as female administrators to ordain women to the ministry. At the General Conference session of 1990 in Indianapolis, the NAD proposed the worldwide ordination of women. The proposal was favored by most delegates from the developed nations. However, the representatives from the developing – or Third World – nations generally opposed the idea. Since GC representation was based upon membership, the vote was overwhelming against women’s ordination. At the next General Conference session in Utrecht, Netherlands, in 1995, the NAD proposed that each division be allowed to ordain women within the division, if they chose to do so. Such ordinations would not need to be accepted by other divisions. Once again, the world membership overwhelmingly voted against the proposal. The issue has not been brought before the world church since 1995. The Sligo Church on the campus of Columbia is the home church for many of the denomination’s leaders. Therefore, it came as a surprise when the senior pastor, Elder Rudy Torres, took it upon himself in 1996 to ordain several female pastors and Bible workers to the ministry. Complaints immediately came to the General Conference from many parts of the world. Was the denomination’s leadership ignoring the decision just made by the world church? Both the GC and NAD denounced the action of Elder Torres and refused to recognize these ordinations (and those conducted soon afterwards at the church). Torres was soon removed as senior pastor of Sligo and was given the pastorate of a small church in Arizona.

Theological Issues: In the early 1970s, a book titled The Harvest Principle by Pastor Herbert Douglass was published. The thesis of the book was that Christ would return when the “harvest was ready.” In other words, the would take place only when God’s

7 followers come to the point of spiritual maturity. The Review and Herald generally supported Douglass’ position. However, too many pastors and theologians, this idea once again smacked of perfectionism, and many of them denounced the book. Dr. and his new disciple Robert Brinsmead not only denounced the book, but went on to teach that Sanctification is not at all important to salvation. There was so much controversy that the General Conference sponsored a special conference in Palmdale, in 1976. Out of this conference came the “Palmdale Statement,” which said that we are saved only through the righteousness of Christ. However, when we accept Christ’s gift of salvation and accept the Holy Spirit into our lives, a change will take place in our lives and actions. The statement was a basic summation of the terms “” and “Sanctification.” Both Dr. Ford and his followers and Elder Douglass and his followers came away from the conference believing that the “Palmdale Statement” supported their viewpoints.

The Three-Fold Crisis: This brings us to the end of the 1970s, when another major crisis hit the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was a crisis at least as devastating as the 1888 General Conference and the Kellogg controversy. This Three-fold Crisis consisted of an attack on Adventist doctrine, an attack on Ellen White and her writings, and an attack on Church administration. We will look at each attack in the above order. By 1979, Dr. Desmond Ford of was a visiting professor of theology at Pacific Union College in California. In October, during a commemoration of the , Dr. Ford gave a lecture at a student assembly in which he claimed that nothing had happened in heaven on October 22, 1844. In his talk, he also questioned the inspiration of Ellen White on the matter. This talk sent a shock-wave throughout Adventist theology. The General Conference executive committee, under the leadership of President Neal Wilson – a longtime friend of Dr. Ford – decided to give the professor a six-month paid leave-of-absence to research and prepare a presentation on his views. In August, 1980, the “Sanctuary Review Committee,” consisting of 115 theologians and administrators from around the world, met at – the summer camp for the Colorado Conference. Dr. Ford presented his paper, in which he argued that Christ entered the Most Holy Place of the immediately upon His ascension. After many days of presentations, debates, and general discussion, the delegates voted by a large majority to reject Ford’s belief. Ford, in turn, rejected the Committee report, and within a few weeks, his ministerial credentials were revoked, and he was fired. Desmond Ford had been an influential professor in both Australia and the United States. Many younger ministers and theology professors looked-up to him as a mentor. There was therefore a “shaking-out” of “Fordites,” as many pastors and theology professors in both nations gave-up their positions and left the denomination. Many others remained as employees of the church, but either kept their thoughts to themselves, or worked to influence Adventists covertly. In 1976, an Adventist history professor, Ronald L. Numbers, published a book outside the denomination about Ellen White, titled Prophetess of Health. The book claimed that Mrs. White had borrowed all her ideas from other reformers, such as Sylvester Graham. Time included a favorable review of the book. The White Estate published a 23-page refutation of Dr. Numbers’ book, claiming that he had misread sources and left-out evidence. It was true that Ellen White promoted health reforms, such as abstinence from alcohol, which were also being advocated by many other health reformers. However, she also rejected other ideas then being advocated, such as abstinence from salt, and the medicinal use of tobacco. Beginning in 1977, Walter Rea, the pastor of the Long Beach, California Church, began to give public speeches denouncing Ellen White as a fraud and a plagiarist. He claimed that she had made extensive use of the writings of others in the “” books. Arthur L. White, the grandson of Ellen White and the head of the White Estate, wrote a series of articles in the Review and Herald refuting Elder Rea’s claims in 1978. In 1980, a committee of scholars and administrators met with Rea to assess his claims and review his evidence. They concluded that, while Mrs. White borrowed passages from various historians, such passages dealt with historical narrative. Spiritual insights and lessons were unique to Mrs. White. Furthermore, although Ellen White acknowledged in her books that she used the writings of others, she did not identify quotations. However, such borrowing of sources without citation was not only legal, but was a common practice in her time. Finally, the committee – for the first time – made a definitive statement that God inspires thoughts, not words. Walter Rea did not accept the conclusions of the committee, and brought his material to the Los Angeles Times, which was more than happy to publish an expose on it. At this point, the denomination revoked Elder Rea’s ministerial credentials. In 1982, Rea’s book The White Lie was published. While most Adventists rejected Rea’s claims, some “baby-boomers,” who had experienced the legalism of the 1950s, when Ellen White’s counsels were used to enforce certain behaviors, used Rea’s attacks to justify their getting rid of “the little red books.” During the 1970s a Southern California physician, named Donald Davenport, began to invest money in speculative construction projects and soon made a fortune. He began to contact officials at local and union Adventist conferences, and encourage them to invest in his company. Some of these entities soon invested in Dr. Davenport’s ventures. It is important to note that no world division or the General Conference ever bought into Davenport’s company. At first, the investments rapidly increased in value. Assuming that this was a great investment opportunity, many conference officials invested their own personal money in Davenport. In 1982, Dr. Donald Davenport’s financial empire began to collapse. Realizing that their investments were in trouble, some conference officials immediately withdrew their own personal money from the fund. However, the fund collapsed before the denominations funds could be saved. Several million dollars were lost. All such officials were removed from office. However, a few were able to obtain positions in Church-related organizations, such as . As a result of the Davenport Scandal, the General Conference approved a policy that no church entity may invest in speculative 8 ventures, and no conference official may invest in the same funds as the entity for which he/she works. However, many Adventists lost confidence in the denomination’s ability to properly handle money, and – in violation of the teachings of the Bible – they used this as an excuse to no longer pay tithe to the church. Many Seventh-day Adventists have come to believe that this Three-fold attack on the beliefs, the prophecies, and the administration of the church was a satanic effort to destroy the church. But as with other times of crisis, the church moved forward. In fact the 1980s and 1990s became a time when the church often found itself in the public eye. For instance in 1984, a team of surgeons, led by Dr. Leonard Bailey, transplanted the heart of a baboon into a human baby. “Baby Fay” became an international headline. She did not live, and the surgery was quite controversial, but it put Loma Linda on the map as a major medical center. Today, Loma Linda has a highly respected neo-natal care center.

The 1980s and 1990s: In 1980, an Adventist pastor and his wife, Lindy Chamberlain’s baby disappeared in the “Outback” of Australia. During the years that followed, she was accused, tried, and convicted of murdering the baby. Later evidence absolved her of the baby’s death. Her story became a best-selling book and an award-wining movie, starring Meryl Streep. The Chamberains were also interviewed on television shows, such as 60Minutes. Two Adventists pastors became celebrities in the 1980s. Clifton Davis stared in the television sit- come, Amen. became an internationally-recognized singer and would perform at presidential inaugurations. Adventist musician Herbert Bloomstadt became the lead conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Several Adventists held positions of leadership in other nations. In fact, at one time in the 1990s, the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, and the leader of the opposition in the Parliament of Papua New Guinea were all Seventh-day Adventists. However, the publicity was not always favorable. By 1993, Victor Houteff’s Adventist offshoot, known as the Davidians had morphed into the Branch Davidians. They were now led by a cult-like leader, who called himself David Koresh. In February, Federal agents attempted to arrest Koresh and remove the children. The Davidians resisted, and a siege developed. On April 19, agents attacked the compound. A fire began, and by the time the day ended, 76 people, including 17 children were dead. Some in the media erroneously connected the Branch Davidians with the SDA Church, and the denomination had to make it plain that there was no connection. The 1990s saw new efforts in global communication. Radio was established in 1971, and today it covers at least portions of every nation in the world. Satellite evangelism became popular in the 1990s, with NETs ’95, ’96, and ’98. The first two series featured Pastor of , while the last series featured Pastor Dwight K. Nelson of the Pioneer Memorial Church at Andrews University. Satellite evangelism would continue into the next decade with ACTS 2000 and Discovery 2008, both with Elder Finley.

The 21st Century: The new century has seen the SDA Church reach a membership approaching 16 million, with one million in North America. The General Conference President, , is a European, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church is now the seventh-largest denomination in the world, operating the second-largest Christian educational system. The Chaplin of the U.S. Senate, , is an Adventist pastor. There are divisive issues in the church over worship styles and congregational independence. The history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church demonstrates both success and failure. There are high points and low points. The church – after all – led by, and made up of sinful human beings. However, the important thing to remember is that it is under God’s watchful eye. Revelation 1 reveals Jesus walking among seven lamp stands, which represent the seven periods of Christian Church history. That means that Jesus has been walking among us throughout our history, taking care of us.

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