If lots of people and pastors make enough (sanctified) noise about this, something may actually happen. And even if something doesn’t change, since we are not the actual leaders/ policy-makers, our moral responsibility is not in changing things, but in speaking up. And the more voices the better. I don’t know how any committed SDA member, who has heard of these things, can sit idly by. Our name, our doctrines, our reason for existence, our eschatology, and even our soteriology are in being undermined. And we are paying people to do it! The irony is outweighed only by the tragedy. (New England Pastor Blog)

David Asscherick
ARISE, Director

Five years ago, David Asscherick preached a sermon titled “Creation: Father God or Mother Nature?” in which he emphasized the importance of the biblical doctrine of creation and its relation to everything else we believe to be true. The audio clip below is from that sermon.

If what David Asscherick says is true, then there is potentially much more at stake here in this great controversy at La Sierra University than just professors misrepresenting the Seventh-day Adventist Church. What is happening to the hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist youth passing through these classes?

This is the whole program.

The following are quotations taken from “Creating Controversy” by Jack Stripling. Emphsis added.

“Bradley says he’s felt no pressure to change anything about his course, and says bluntly that he doesn’t plan to turn his class into a theological seminar, or to present evolutionary theory only to then dismantle it for students. While he’s fine with helping students work through struggles of faith, Bradley says he won’t undercut decades of peer reviewed scientific research in the interest of religious consistency.”

“‘I am not OK with getting up in a science course and saying most science is bullshit,’ he said.”

“‘It’s very, very clear that what I’m skeptical of is the absolute necessity of believing that the only way a creator God could do things is by speaking them into existence a few thousand years ago,’ Bradley added. ‘That’s where my skepticism lies. That’s the religious philosophical basis for what I call the lunatic fringe. They do not represent the majority position in the Church, and yes I’m skeptical of that. But I want to say to kids it’s OK for you to believe that, but it’s not OK for you to be ignorant of the scientific data that’s out there.’”

Source: Inside Higher Ed
By Jack Stripling

Ever a thorny issue, the teaching of evolutionary biology at a small Christian university in California has sparked debate on the campus and within the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Now-public e-mails between a recent La Sierra University graduate and his biology professors provide a firsthand glimpse of a debate no doubt playing out at many colleges, where students of faith struggle to reconcile their beliefs with scientific theories on the origins of humanity. Unlike so many such academic discussions, however, the private interchange between Carlos Cerna and his professors has moved beyond the campus walls — thanks to the Internet — and generated a review within the church about the appropriateness of evolutionary studies for Seventh-day Adventists, a Christian denomination that embraces the six-day creation story outlined in the Book of Genesis. (Full Article)

There is strong evidence four biology professors at La Sierra promote evolution in their classes. Professor at La Sierra University Lee Greer believes and teaches the human species evolved from primates. On June 6, 2009, Greer gave a presentation at a Loma Linda Sabbath School on genetic evidence which, according to him, supports the theory of common descent.

In the April-May 2009 edition of “Riverside Magazine,” Greer calls himself an “evolutionary biologist” in an article called “Heroes of the environment” by Jerry Rice.

In Greer’s UNST/UHNR 404B class at La Sierra, he gives a 57-slide presentation, showing the four million years of human evolution. Slide 55 has the caption “Homo neaderthalensis our nearest sister human species.” Also, during LSU chapels, he has actively promoted the idea the accounts of creation in Genesis are contradictory and allegorical. Is there any question what Greer believes or promotes?

Gary Bradley, in the Biology Capstone class, gives a 69-slide presentation titled, “Hominin Evolution.” In the fourth slide it says: “Recent years have shown a dramatic increase in the discovery of hominid species that are intermediate between the great apes and modern humans.” He also has another presentation on the fossil evidence of hominin evolution. Is there any question what Bradley believes or promotes?

Larry McCloskey, former chair of the biology department, states in a Biology 112 presentation that there is “nothing ‘theoretical’ about the evidence supporting evolution.” He goes on to say the research about evolution “continues to support and refine Darwin’s original ideas.” If that wasn’t enough, his next point states, “No data have been found to refute the idea.” Is there any question what McCloskey believes or promotes?

L. Lee Grismer, in his book and published essays, tells what he is teaching his LSU students. Grismer is an expert on the vertebrate life of Baja California, which he argues in his papers has been affected by the “dynamic environmental history . . . over the last 4-5 million years” and that this history “has had a profound effect on the evolution, distribution, and genetic structuring of Baja California’s terrestrial vertebrates.” Check out his book “Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés.” Grismer has allegedly ridiculed creationists during lectures. A former student also said he saw this posted on Grismer’s door: “Two questions to ask a creation scientist: What have you published? Why not?” Is there any question what Grismer believes or promotes?

These teachers do not present creation in a favorable light, if at all. This is part of the “Christian” education La Sierra offers. Students can’t opt out of these classes for ones in favor of creation, because there are no such science classes.

What You’re Paying For!

To those parents and students who have saved and borrowed funds for an Adventist education, is this where you want your $23,637 annual tuition to go? That’s right, it costs $23,637 just in tuition to attend La Sierra.

Any professor employed by the Seventh-day Adventist church who promotes evolution is robbing you, as well as an administration that would allow this to continue. For some the theft means a mere loss of $23,637 a year and the lost chance to learn about Biblical creation. For others the theft means something far greater — a loss of faith. A recent LSU graduate said many of her classmates in the science department started school as Christians, but graduated from LSU as atheists or not sure God existed.

Who is Getting Fooled?

While it’s clear what these teachers are promoting in their classrooms, what’s not so clear is why La Sierra has not been as forthright about its professors. Parents and potential students have a right to know what they are paying for and La Sierra is covering up the unethical practices of its professors.

John R. Jones, Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at LSU, said in a Facebook comment: “I spent an hour and a half in a meeting with President Wisbey and the biology department and a number of the other faculty discussing these allegations…. I think I can honestly and sincerely say that the answer is Yes — in the sense that they teach ABOUT evolutionary theory, as I’m sure you would want any responsible Christian biologist to do. But that of course is a very different matter from advocacy.”

Has Dr. Wisbey publicly denied these teachers are promoting evolution? No. His open letter merely said this: “We reject this implied atheistic charge.” David Asscherick did not charge La Sierra professors with atheism.

It has been suggested that legal responsibilities may outweigh Dr. Wisbey’s ability to be forthright about what his professors are teaching. If Dr. Wisbey were to publicly admit an Adventist university is promoting evolution, the legal repercussions could be devastating for La Sierra. La Sierra would become responsible, so in a sense it is his job to either deny or ignore the charges.

The Real Issue

These four LSU professors are misrepresenting the Seventh-day Adventist church by promoting evolution in their classrooms. There might be more. This isn’t about their sincerity, church attendance, belief in God, or Christian devotedness. This is about employees promoting ideas that are explicitly contrary to that of their employer. It’s not personal. They’re not evil people, but what they are doing is wrong.

What Can You Do?

1. Sign the petition, and then tell every concerned Adventist about it and encourage them to sign.
2. Talk to your pastor, and encourage him to take a public stand. Write your conference president, and encourage him to take a stand as Jay Gallimore has.
3. Email Dr. Wisbey and express your concern.
4. Send your kids to Adventist schools that promote creation.
5. Financially support Adventist schools that promote creation.
6. And most of all, PRAY.

By Shane Hilde

April 30, 2009

Pastors Jan Paulsen, Don C. Schneider, Ricardo Graham
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904

Dear Pastors Paulsen, Schneider, and Graham,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. Like each of you, I am an ordained pastor of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. I write these words with my heart on full display–from pastor to pastor. This letter concerns the teaching of evolution at La Sierra University. While I am not a formally trained scientist, I am, however, familiar with many of the apologetic, philosophical, and theological issues surrounding the theories of naturalistic evolution. I have made this an area of special study in my life and ministry. So, I feel both comfortable and qualified to speak to the issue, especially in its ecclesiastical ramifications.

It is a matter of incontestable fact that naturalistic evolution is being taught at La Sierra University. This is not in and of itself a bad thing. Evolution should be taught at our denominational universities. But it should be taught as a competing and inimical worldview to the biblical worldview. We need our young people to know what it is they are up against, yes, but when naturalistic evolution is taught as fact or as the preferred and normative worldview, then we can be sure that the enemy has breached our lines.

There is no point in equivocating. I have seen the class materials with my own eyes. Frankly, I think every Seventh-day Adventist deserves to see them. Our people need to know what is happening. Many of them have heard various rumblings, but being the conscientious, confiding, and hopeful people they are, they have generally assumed the very best. We are making capital of their trust.

In 2003 I preached a two-week evangelistic meeting on the Loma Linda University campus. The event was student-led and university-sponsored. Many students from La Sierra University attended those meetings, and I personally visited with many of them. They told me what was being taught in some of their science classes. I shall never forget the looks and questions of unadorned incredulity that I witnessed among those students. I have talked to many more since. “What should I do?” “Should I say something?” “Should I just attend a non-SDA school?” “Do our leaders know about this?” “How come these people are allowed to teach at a Seventh-day Adventist University?” These young people, and many others like them, are justifiably nonplussed. Frankly, I share their confusion!

What deeply concerns me is that the faith of many students, who look up to their Adventist professors as more than just academic instructors, but also as spiritual leaders, is being undermined. Jesus’ words in Luke 17:1, 2 about causing “one of these little ones to stumble” carry inestimable weight, and they should be reason enough to propel us to responsible action. Brethren, what are we doing and allowing? Will not God hold us accountable in our respective spheres for what happens on our watch?

I am aware, of course, that the church’s governmental structure gives institutions like La Sierra University a necessary degree of administrative freedom. This is a good and wise arrangement. But this freedom, surely, is not synonymous with virtually unaccountable autonomy. La Sierra University is, after all, a denominational university. If the board has not yet adequately addressed this matter, then doesn’t that evince a kind of complicity, if not outright mismanagement and denominational disloyalty? I genuinely ask, at what point is La Sierra University’s board accountable and answerable to you men and the levels of church government that you represent? When, if ever, can someone step in and save our children and the institutions they attend?

Governing and administrative structures are not the church. The people are the church. The governing and administrative structures are the scaffolding of the church. Scaffolds are for building and strengthening a thing; they are not the thing itself. But what if some are using the scaffolding to tear down the very church they were commissioned and created to build up? What then? I genuinely want to know. Where does the buck stop?

Perhaps you feel that your hands are tied by policy and protocol. But surely they cannot be tied completely. What should I, as a church pastor, do if someone is teaching doctrine that undermines the church’s biblical positions in one of my Sabbath School classes? Wouldn’t it be expected of me, the pastor–shepherd–of the flock, to address it? To ask this question is to answer it. Of course, I would work though the Sabbath School council and the church board, but you can be sure that I would deal with the problem. My conference president, to say nothing of my Lord, would surely hold me in contempt if I told him lamely that my hands were tied, no?

Furthermore, the greater the errancy, the greater the urgency. As even a cursory analysis plainly reveals, few doctrines are at greater philosophical odds with Seventh-day Adventism than naturalistic evolution, the arguments of well-meaning theistic evolutionists notwithstanding. Our Magna Carta is Revelation 14:6-12. If naturalistic evolution is true, Creation is cremated, the Sabbath is sabotaged, and our very name is neutered. What becomes of Scripture? And of our unique eschatology? We are not talking about bongo drums, wedding bands, and Christmas trees here.

If our hands are tied, then surely we must let an unfaltering love for God, for His Word, and for His young people dash these fetters into so many deserved pieces! We must do something. You must do something.

Who knows but that you have come to your positions for such a time as this. My ministry places me in somewhat of a unique situation in the world church. In partnership with the Central California Conference, I run ARISE, a mission training school that has seen hundreds of young people over the last seven years. I also have the privilege of preaching regularly on 3ABN and the Hope Channel. Too, I travel all over the world holding evangelistic meetings and preaching at camp meetings, youth conferences, weeks of prayer, etc. I genuinely feel that I have my finger on the pulse of the “average lay person” in the Seventh-day Adventist church the world over. Especially the young people ages 15 to 30. I can say with unblinking confidence that God is working in His church! Praise Him!

I just arrived home from the Youth Mission Congress in Frankfurt, Germany. Over 1600 young people attended the meetings. Night after night I preached the Adventist message–I preached Christ! The theme chosen for the congress was Follow the Bible, and what an indescribable joy it was to see, at the end of my last sermon, hundreds and hundreds of young people streaming forward. All of them had personal decision cards in their hands. A beautiful, five-foot-tall wooden Bible had been constructed for just this moment. On the side of the Bible was a slot designed to receive the decision cards the young people clutched in their surrendered hands. One by one, each placed his or her card in the Bible. The symbolism was rich and thrillingly profound. It was impossible to not be moved at a fundamental level as each eager young person placed their decision, and thus their life in that wooden Bible. My translator openly wept at the sight. “We will follow the Bible,” they were each saying. All over the world, God’s people–and in particular, it seems, His young people–are saying We will follow the Word–the Living Word, Jesus, and the Written Word, the Bible.

God has entrusted us with these young people. They are His. He has given us His wise counsel to raise up institutions of learning to educate, equip, and empower them. To build them up.

But what do we do when one of our institutions turns from this inestimably important responsibility, a responsibility that is fraught with eternal significance and involves the souls of those Jesus died to save? This is what I want to know.

And so do many, many others.

I thank each of you for your time, and, in advance, for your thoughtful responses.

Sincerely,

David Asscherick
Director, ARISE