Comment on An appeal to our leadership by Shane Hilde.
I’ve reached the conclusion that the Adventist faith has lost its mission of preaching the gospel and loving people into the church. it has become tragically focused on theology, doctrine, rules, and self-governance.. Argue all you want people. I no longer see a place for me in the Adventist church. I used to find love and acceptance but now things have really change. I need a new home.
It is finished.
Geanna,
In some respects I can relate to how you feel. I comment often on AToday and Spectrum and disagree with 90% of the junk they publish. There is a temptation to become disillusioned, but a all I need do is remind myself that these sites do not represent the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Many of the commenters aren’t even Adventist or even Christian.
As far as beliefs go, Educate Truth endorses Belief #6. Granted there have been those who disagree who have commented on this site, but that’s to be expected.
I would caution you against your statement about finding a new home. The Adventist church has about 15 million members of whom a fraction of 1% comment on this site. Do not let a few people who disagree with you discourage you from being a part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Making a judgment like this based on so few people is unfair to yourself and the body of believers that make up the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
If this is the kind of affect that this site is having on you, perhaps it would be better just to refrain from commenting etc. on Educate Truth. It would be better to abandon Educate Truth than the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
With that said I want to reiterate that the Seventh-day Adventist Church believes:
1. God created the heaven and earth in 6 consecutive days, quite similar to our days, in the recent past (roughly 6,000 years ago).
2. God sent a universal flood, and only eight people survived with those animals saved on the ark.
This is not unique to our church, there are many other denominations that believe this.
If a Christian cannot accept the historicity of Genesis 1-11, then on what basis can she accept the gospel as truth? I submit that there is NO rationale for believing the gospel is true if its foundation is false. Ultimately, all those who do not have a firm foundation will be shaken and their faith lost. I don’t want this to happen to anyone, especially you.
This is why I am so against what LSU is doing in their biology department. They are destroying the foundation of our faith.
Table of Contents
Recent Comments by Shane Hilde
La Sierra University Hires Another Darwinist
ADvindicate has also published an article about LSU and Raul Diaz that expands on a few details.
http://advindicate.com/?p=2625
A little-known history about Belief 6
@Eddie: The Bible does not specify an age of accountability (to my knowledge), but the Israelites considered the age of 12 to be the turning point. I wouldn’t base a theology off of tradition though. Also, it’s not our place to judge what happens to those who have not been able to make a decision.
Perspectives from alleged LSU students
@Blodgett: Was there a comment you’d like to add?
At La Sierra, Biology Faculty Affirms Importance of Teaching About Creation in Curriculum
@David Read: And perhaps not something Christ would do. I can understand your frustration though. I’ve been on the verge of quitting this whole thing many times. I’ve been guilty of letting that frustration control and influence things I shouldn’t have said.
I have to remind myself to look at the big picture. In the end all those who are not supposed to be in the church will be sifted out. I pray I am not one of them.
Board of Trustees Addresses Curriculum Proposal
I know from talking to a couple of reporters from Press Enterprise and Inside Higher Ed that Randal Wisbey was effective in shutting down communication between any outsiders and the biology faculty. It appears he made himself the only channel of communication between the board and biology faculty.
I emailed Larry Becker about what bylaw the board members broke that was worthy of dismissal, and I have yet to hear a response from him.
I would also note that board members at other universities appear to be free to talk to the faculty.
Another interesting point. He removes three board members for trying to work on the problem and come up with a solution, and then turns around sort of embraces what they’re doing. He can’t publicly condemn it because everyone can see, whether you agree with what they wrote or not, that it’s a significant step for the faculty to be speaking to the church.
Did he forbid the document from being published? No. If you’re really excited about seeing the biology department making advancements in solving the issue, why are you removing the people who are making that happen. He never did anything like that.
What has Wisbey done to address and fix this issue? Nothing. He’s dragged it out, lied about what’s been happening, and told everyone involved to shut up or get in trouble. What on earth is he trying to do?
Who knows, he might even be a part of the underground movement to sever LSU from the church by using WASC as the big hammer. It’s obvious from one former board member, there was interest in using WASC to manipulate the situation.
