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Seventh-Day Adventist Approaches to Contextualization of Theology*

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Seventh-Day Adventist Approaches to Contextualization of Theology* Seventh-Day Adventist Approaches 125 Owen McJntyre SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST APPROACHES TO CONTEXTUALIZATION OF THEOLOGY* Introduction The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, throughout most of its history, has been characterized by a strong sense of destiny and a strong urge to proclaim its message all around the world. The worldwide total of approximately ten million baptized members maintains a worldwide administrative structure which regulates Adventist policy and direction. Adventists have strongly emphasized self-identity and cohesiveness. Uniformity has often been the result of these emphases. Accusations of attempts at "creation of homogenized mankind" are not altogether unfair. 1 However, as the center of gravity of Adventism has significantly shifted away from North America, Adventists have begun to come to a greater realization of what it means to be a "world church." Today there is a far greater recognition of the diversity of cultures represented within Adventism, and perhaps an increasing recognition of the need for at least some degree of contextualization within each culture. As the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination moves into what appears to be an unprecedented growth phase, questions about approach to different cultures are being asked. 2 In this short report I shall detail some of the features of Adventism which have shaped its past and present approaches to contextualization of theology. Following this we can consider some specific examples of contextual approach and also consider what success Adventism may have in the future in terms of engendering appropriate contextualization of theology. * Owen Mclntyre was born in Canada but has lived in New Zealand for sixteen years. He currently teaches high school chemistry at St. Peter's College in Auckland, and introduction to Hebrew at the Bible College ofNew Zealand. He and his wife currently worship at a multicultural Seventh-Day Adventist church in Auckland. Address: 102 Tiroroa Avenue, Te Atatu South, Auckland 1008, New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected]. Mission Studies, Vol. XVI-2, 32, 1999 126 Owen McIntyre Defining Moments in Adventism The Great Disappointment of 1844 In the early 1840s there were at least 50,000 Millerites expecting the return of Jesus in 1844. The non-return of Jesus on the appointed day is typically called the "Great Disappointment" by Seventh-Day Adventists. The "Great Embarrassment" is probably an equally apt name. At any rate, the movement's leader, William Miller, and virtually all its adherents gave up on the "adventist" quest, either out of disappointment, embarrassment or disillusionment. By 1849 there were only about one hundred Sabbatarian Adventists (Paxton 1977: 54). It was out of this group that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church was formed. The elaborate Millerite prophetic framework was retained and modified, and beliefs about the heavenly sanctuary, non-immortality of the soul and Sabbatarianism became central to the faith of the group. The perseverance of this small group in the face of disillusionment, embarrassment and ridicule, and the refusal to admit that they were perhaps wrong, must not be underestimated in understanding the psychology of SDAs today. Adventism has grown out of a ridiculed minority and this fact has helped shape its self-perception. The resultant isolation from the wider church meant that Adventists had to battle their way through heresies in many important areas: the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the sinless human nature of Christ, Christ's finished atonement on the cross, as well as pantheism and Pelagianism (Ibid.: 68). The General Conference of 1888 The 1888 General Conference Session in Minneapolis saw the church strongly challenged over its understanding of justification. Reports as to how this was received are ambiguous. To this day it is difficult to discern what actually happened at those meetings. It appears that the meetings paved the way for Adventism to fully accept the doctrines of the Trinity and full deity of Christ, but the position regarding justification is less clear (Ibid.: 69). The understanding of justification within Adventism has remained unclear even to this day. Some Adventist statements of justification follow the reformers' definitions while other statements are more Tridentine in character. Justification is commonly subordinated to sanctification. The Adventist expression of this is essentially the same as that of the evangelical .
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