“It seems that some faculty have been in denial about …

Comment on Creation/evolution clash at LSU by David Read.

“It seems that some faculty have been in denial about the contradiction between their evolutionary beliefs and the Church’s position. Some are not church members, while others are, and apparently have an agenda to redefine the faith.”

It doesn’t seem plausible that the faculty is actually in “denial” about the contradiction between Darwinism and Adventism, but the second sentence is unquestionably correct: There is an astonishingly large contingent of cultural, non-believing Adventists who are pushing an agenda to redefine the Adventist faith. Unfortunately, they are often more motivated and tenacious, and almost always more politically skillful, than conservative elements who would like to maintain the doctrines of Adventism.

By the way, this isn’t a uniquely Adventist problem by any stretch of the imagination. It is a law of human action that any organization that is not explicitly and militantly conservative will eventually be liberalized. When it comes to higher education, this law is on steroids; there are only about a dozen conservative colleges in the U.S.

Recent Comments by David Read

The Reptile King
Poor Larry Geraty! He can’t understand why anyone would think him sympathetic to theistic evolution. Well, for starters, he wrote this for Spectrum last year:

“Christ tells us they will know us by our love, not by our commitment to a seven literal historical, consecutive, contiguous 24-hour day week of creation 6,000 years ago which is NOT in Genesis no matter how much the fundamentalist wing of the church would like to see it there.”

“Fundamental Belief No. 6 uses Biblical language to which we can all agree; once you start interpreting it according to anyone’s preference you begin to cut out members who have a different interpretation. I wholeheartedly affirm Scripture, but NOT the extra-Biblical interpretation of the Michigan Conference.”

So the traditional Adventist interpretation of Genesis is an “extra-Biblical interpretation” put forward by “the fundamentalist wing” of the SDA Church? What are people supposed to think about Larry Geraty’s views?

It is no mystery how LaSierra got in the condition it is in.


The Reptile King
Professor Kent says:

“I don’t do ‘orgins science.’ Not a single publication on the topic. I study contemporary biology. Plenty of publications.”

So, if you did science that related to origins, you would do it pursuant to the biblical paradigm, that is pursuant to the assumption that Genesis 1-11 is true history, correct?


The Reptile King
Well, Jeff, would it work better for you if we just closed the biology and religion departments? I’m open to that as a possible solution.


The Reptile King
Larry Geraty really did a job on LaSierra. Personally I think it is way gone, compromised beyond hope. The SDA Church should just cut its ties to LaSierra, and cut its losses.

As to the discussion on this thread, round up the usual suspects and their usual arguments.


La Sierra University Resignation Saga: Stranger-than-Fiction
It is a remarkably fair and unbiased article, and a pretty fair summary of what was said in the recorded conversation.