@George: “But I don’t want to divorce her. I want …

Comment on Gary Gilbert, Spectrum, and Pseudogenes by Nic Samojluk.

@George: “But I don’t want to divorce her. I want to cure her.”

You can’t legally impose a medical procedure on an unwilling patient. You must seek the patient’s consent. This has been tried and failed.

The church must learn from the father of the Prodigal Son. He granted his wayward son his independence and gave him his inheritance in spite of the risk that was involved in doing so.

Nic Samojluk Also Commented

Gary Gilbert, Spectrum, and Pseudogenes
Yes, but if they reveal their intent to discredit the theory of evolution, then the door is closed to the publication of the material.


Gary Gilbert, Spectrum, and Pseudogenes
@David Read:”What Jesus do you think you have a relationship with? The Jesus of the Bible is the Creator God. (Jn. 1:3; Heb. 1:2) Do you think He created by predation and death and disease over the course of 600 million years? The Jesus of the Bible is the second Adam who succeeded where the First Adam failed. (1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:12-21) If there was no actual Adam and Eve, and in the mainstream origins narrative there certainly is not, how can Christ have been the second Adam? The Jesus of the Bible spoke of the creation and the Flood as literal events. (Mat. 19:4; 24:38-39) Was Jesus wrong about this, or did He simply lie to his listeners to make a point?

And of course, Jesus came to die for and redeem fallen humanity, but in the mainstream view of origins there absolutely has been no fall whatsoever. To the contrary, there has been an astonishing rise from amoeba to Mozart, from slime to Einstein. There certainly is no need whatsoever of a redeemer. Darwinism makes absolute nonsense out of Christ’s identity and mission on earth, and out of Christianity. You can’t be an evolutionist and be a Christian. They do not go together. So again, what Jesus do you think you have a relationship with? …”

David, You said it so well, I could not resist the temptation of quoting you on this.

My hope is that Professor Kent will read it several times until he realizes the truth contained therein!


Gary Gilbert, Spectrum, and Pseudogenes
@Phill: “I think we can trust Ted Wilson to help reformation in the schools.”

I do trust his intentions; what I am not so sure is about his ability to effect such a major transformation. The doctrine of long ages bug has infiltrated so deep into the biology and the religion departments that only a miracle would be able to bring said school back to the Adventist fold.

We do need Adventist schools, but when an institution persistently departs from a doctrine so foundational to Adventism like Creation, the educational entity has crossed the line and must be given its freedom to go its own way.

It is hard for a parent to let a son or daughter assert its independence, but in every case the time comes when this must be done. The same is true about fiercely independent shools that value their freedom more than their loyalty to the parent entity that has given them their life.

La Sierra University can function on its own without its dependence on the GC. It is high time to cut the umbilical chord. If the school is so enamored with Darwinian evolution, let them experiment on their own dime.

This never ending controversy between LSU and the church is not healthy to the parties. Let them function independently like 3ABN, The Quiet Hour, Adventist Today, Advindicate, and many other similar organizations.


Recent Comments by Nic Samojluk

The Adventist Accrediting Association is Still Reviewing LSU
Sean,

I am following Ellen White example on this. My reason is double: The teaching of evolution as fact at LSU, and the violation of the Sixth Commandment in our Adventist hospitals. Read the following:

“And where I see workers in this cause that have been true and loyal to the work, who are left to suffer, it is my duty to speak in their behalf. If this does not move the brethren to help them, then I must help them, even if I am obliged to use a portion of my tithe in doing so.’ …

“In many instances her requests have been responded to, and the needed help given. But in some cases the lack of funds and the absence of appreciation of the worthiness and the necessities have left the needy workers without help, and have left her to face the burden. Then she has said to me or to the bookkeeper, ‘Send help as soon as you can, and if necessary take it from my tithe.’ In many cases we found it possible to respond to her requests by gifts from her personal funds, and in some cases a portion of her tithe has been used. …

“Some cases have been kept before me for years, and I have supplied their needs from the tithe, as God has instructed me to do. And if any person shall say to me, Sister White, will you appropriate my tithe where you know it is most needed, I shall say Yes, I will; and I have done so.

“But for years there have now and then been persons who have lost confidence in the appropriation of the tithe, who have placed their tithe in my hands and said that if I did not take it they would themselves appropriate it to the families of the most needy ministers they could find. I have taken the money, given a receipt for it, and told them how it was appropriated.

http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/Tithe-H&U.html#Ellen G. White and the Tithe


The Adventist Accrediting Association is Still Reviewing LSU
Sean, I have a double reason for diverting my financial contributions to independent ministries: The General Conference is contributing millions of dollars to Adventist education. This includes LSU, which teaches evolution as the best explanation for origins. I cannot in good conscience support this! My other reason is our SDA participation in the killing of innocent unborn babies. The day the GC stops these two evil practices, I will channel again my funds through the regular channels of the church.


The Adventist Accrediting Association is Still Reviewing LSU
@Kenneth: “Why would Jesus die on the cross to save a bunch of creatures that simply “evolved”?”

—Excellent question. Why die for creatures which are evolving and getting better every millions years or so? If our common ancestor was an amoeba, then look at the progress we have made without any help from above.


The Adventist Accrediting Association is Still Reviewing LSU
@Shane: “What do the majority of SDAs in S CA believe regarding the topic of origins?”

—If we look at the last constituency voting, then the situation might appear to be rather grim! Didn’t they vote to diminish the influence of the GC over LSU?

@Shane: “Yes, she said that our church would appear as “about to fall”….”

—Yes, but she also warned that we were in danger of becoming “a sister to Babylon.”

[edit – off topic]


The Adventist Accrediting Association is Still Reviewing LSU
@David: “The majority of Adventists seems to conceive of us as being a community of shared subculture, to which belief and most kinds of behavior are all but totally irrelevant.”

—That is a sad commentary about our church. If behavior is irrelevant, then out goes God’s Rule for human behavior enshrined in the Ten Commandments.

When I was young, the Ten Commandments were displayed in my local church where I grew up.

Every Sabbath I would see and read them, and the pastor would remind us that those rules were meant to protect us from doing bad things which hurt both us and God.

Now that I am old, I have to remind myself of those rules, because I no longer hear anything said about them from the pulpit anymore. What happened? Are we still the Remnant of God who keep God’s Commandments?