"Separated
unto the Gospel of God."
These are
the words with which Paul described himself in the Epistle to the Romans:
"Called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God." Rom.1:1.
So here he says that God "separated me from my mother's womb, and called
me by His grace." Gal.1:15. That God chose Saul to be an apostle, before
Saul himself had any thought that he should ever be even a Christian, is
evident from the sacred narrative. On his way to Damascus, whither,
"breathing out threatenings and slaughter," he was proceeding with
full authority to seize, bind, and drag to prison all Christians, both men and
women, Saul was suddenly arrested, not by human hands, but by the overpowering
glory of the Lord. Three days afterward the Lord said to Ananias, when sending
him to give Saul his sight, "He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My
name before the Gentiles." Acts 9:15. God arrested Saul in his mad career
of persecution, 42 because He had chosen him to be an apostle. So we see that
the pricks against which Saul had been kicking were the strivings of the Spirit
to turn him to the work to which he had been called. But how long before this had Saul been chosen
to be the messenger of the Lord?--He himself tells us that he was
"separated,"--"set apart,"--from his birth. He is not the
first one of whom we read that from birth he was chosen to his life-work. Recall
the case of Samson. Judg.13:2-14.
Jdg
13:2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites,
whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
Jdg
13:3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto
her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and
bear a son.
Jdg
13:4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong
drink, and eat not any unclean thing:
Jdg
13:5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall
come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and
he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
Jdg
13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came
unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very
terrible: but I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name:
Jdg
13:7 But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son;
and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the
child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
Jdg
13:8 Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of
God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us what we shall do
unto the child that shall be born.
Jdg
13:9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came
again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not
with her.
Jdg
13:10 And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said
unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other
day.
Jdg
13:11 And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and
said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I
am.
Jdg
13:12 And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order
the child, and how shall we do unto him?
Jdg
13:13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto
the woman let her beware.
Jdg
13:14 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let
her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded
her let her observe.
John the Baptist was named, and his character
and life-work were described, months before he was born. The Lord said to
Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou
camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations." Jer.1:5. The heathen king Cyrus was named more than a
hundred years before he was born, and his part in the work of God was laid out
for him. Is.44:28; 45:1-4
Isa
44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my
pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy
foundation shall be laid.
Isa
45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I
have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings,
to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Isa
45:2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will
break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
Isa
45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy
name, am the God of Israel.
Isa
45:4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even
called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known
me.
These are not isolated cases, but are
recorded for the purpose of showing us that God rules in the world. It is as
true of all men as it was of the Thessalonians, that "God hath from the
beginning chosen" them "to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth." 2Thess.2:13. It rests with every one to
make that calling and election sure. And he who "willeth that all men
should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1Tim. 2:3,4,
R.V.), has also appointed "to every man his work" (Mark 13:34). He
who leaves not Himself without witness even in the inanimate creation (Acts
14:17; Rom.1:20),
Act
14:17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did
good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts
with food and gladness.
Rom
1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse
would fain have man, His highest 43 earthly
creation, willingly give such witness to Him as can be given only by human
intelligence. All men are chosen to be witnesses for God, and to each is his
labor appointed. All through life the Spirit is striving with every man, to
induce him to allow himself to be used for the work to which God has called
him. Only the Judgment Day will reveal what wonderful opportunities men have
recklessly flung away. Saul, the violent persecutor, became the mighty apostle.
Who can imagine how much good might have been done by the men whose great power
over their fellows has been exerted only for evil, if they had yielded to the
influence of the Spirit? Not every one can be a Paul; but the thought that each
one, according to the ability that God has given him, is chosen and called of
God to witness for Him, will, when once grasped, give to life a new
meaning. The knowledge of this truth
will not only make life more real for us, leading us to seek to know the will
of God for us individually, and to submit wholly to Him, that He may use us to
do the work for which He has designed us, but it will tend to make us more
considerate of others, and not to despise the least. What a wonderful, a
joyous, and yet a solemn thought, as we see men moving about, that to each one
of them God has given a work of his own to do. They are all servants of the
Most High God, each one assigned to special service. It is a wondrous
privilege, and a wondrous responsibility. How few are doing the work God would
have them do! We should be extremely careful not to hinder any person in the
slightest degree from doing his heaven-appointed task. 44 Another thing that we should remember is
that it is God who gives to every man his work. Each one is to receive his
orders from God, and not from men. Therefore, we should beware of dictating to
men concerning their duty. God can make it plain to them, as well as to us; and
if they will not hear Him, they will not be likely to hear us, even if we could
direct them in the right way. "It is not in man that walketh to direct his
steps" (Jer.10:23), much less to direct the steps of some other man.
Jer
10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.
*******
The Glad
Tidings
By E. J.
WAGGONER
(Excerpt- To be continued)
*******
(WWN)
"ROOTS"
OF THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT -- For source material,
otherwise than as documented, I am indebted to an article by Dr. Earle Hilgert
in the Review, October 12, 1967, pp. 4-5. Dr. Hilgert, then Vice-president for
Academic Administration at Andrews University, was the first Seventh-day
Adventist to serve on the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of
Churches.
In 1870,
William Reed Huntington, an American Episcopalian, published a book entitled -The
Church Idea. In this book, the author set forth
four points as a basis for Christian unity. These points were:
1) The Scriptures as the Word of God.
2) The creeds of the early church as the
rule of faith.
3) The sacraments of baptism and the
Lord's Supper.
4) The historic episcopate as the basis of
organizational unity. (1)
In
1888, these four points, substantially as Huntington had proposed them, were
adopted by the bishops of the Anglican Church at the Lambeth Conference of that
year, and thereafter were known as the Lambeth Quadrilateral. (2) One must keep in mind
that the Anglican Church is considered the "bridge" church between
Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. In 1910 at the Edinburgh Missionary
Conference, an Episcopal (Anglican) missionary to the Philippines, Bishop
Charles H. Brent, called for an international, interdenominational conference
on questions of doctrine and organization. Herein is the idea of the Faith and
Order Movement.
In
1920, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops based on the Quadrilateral
issued "An Appeal to All Christian People" urging the Christian world
to strive for an united church. The same year representatives from 70
denominations, and 40 countries convened in Geneva, Switzerland. Bishop Charles
H. Brent presided at this meeting which marked the "official"
beginning of the Faith and Order Movement. The call was based on only one
doctrinal confession - that "our Lord Jesus Christ [is] God and
Saviour." This is also the same doctrinal criterion for fellowship in the
World Council of Churches.
This
meeting in 1920 prepared the way for the First World Conference on Faith and
Order, which was held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1927. The Lausanne Conference
adopted a methodology for the purpose of studying the differences between the
various communions in the hope that such a study would lead to a better
understanding of one another's position with the ultimate objective of bridging
the separating gulfs. Herein is the concept of "dialogue." However in
the years following,
p 2 -- an "irreconcilable" impasse developed between those who
considered the church as "catholic" and those who considered the
church as "protestant." This was faced up to in the Third World
Conference on Faith and Order in 1952 held in Lund, Sweden. Here a new
methodology was adopted which sought to bridge the divisions between the
"catholic" and "Protestant" concepts of the church. Joint
studies on theological and organizational problems common to all were arranged
with the conviction that in seeking cooperatively a truly Christ-centered
answer to the problems previously faced, they might draw closer to one another.
In
the meantime, in 1948, (3)
the World Council of Churches was organized by a merger of the Faith and Order
Movement, and a parallel ecumenical group, the Christian Life and Work
Movement. Following the merger, the Faith and Order Movement became a
Commission of the World Council of Churches, and under the World Council became
a well organized structure holding working sessions every three years in
preparation for further World Conferences on Faith and Order.
Near
the close of the first decade of the last half of the 20th Century, events
within the Catholic Church were to play a part in the ecumenical movement. On
October 9, 1958, Pius XII died and was succeeded by Angelo Roncalli as Pope
John XXIII. One of the announced objectives of John's Papal reign was "to
bring the Church up to date." With this in mind he called for a council of
bishops. The idea was his own, "a heavenly inspiration, he said when he
made the announcement soon after his coronation in 1959." ( Britannica, Book of the Year 1964, p.
717) Prior to the convening of Vatican Council II, October 11, 1962, Pope John
"established the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, headed, by the
ecumenical minded Augustin Cardinal Bea, which in a very short time has proved
to be an effective instrument of Christian renewal and interfaith amity."(Ibid., p. 718) In preparation for this
Council, the Vatican asked several branches of what they called "separated
brethren" to appoint official observers. "The World Council of
Churches, several Protestant communions, the Anglicans and at least one of the
Eastern Churches responded favorably."(Ibid
1963, p. 690)
In
1963, several events occurred in the ecumenical movement. Pope John died to be
followed by Paul VI who announced his intention to pursue the policies of his
predecessor. He convened the second session of Vatican II with overtures toward
more friendly relations with other Christian bodies. By invitation an increased
number of Protestant and Orthodox observers were present at the Council. Also
during this year, the Faith and Order Commission called a consultation in
Montreal, Quebec, with Roman Catholic observers present.
The
Third Session of Vatican II was convened in September, 1964. Prior to this
session in his Good Friday message, Pope Paul VI referred to the Anglican and
Eastern bodies as "churches" and the Protestant bodies as
"communities" instead of "separated brethren," thus
according to them a status not previously recognized. The Seventh-day Adventist
Church had "observers" at this Third Session. It was through contact
between "observers" from the Church, and the World Council of
Churches at the Third Session of Vatican II, that the events began which led
eventually to B. B. Beach's audience with Pope Paul on May 18, 1977, as an
official representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He documents this
beginning contact in these words:
p 3 -- Strange as it may seem, these
yearly Consultations [between the World Council of Churches and Seventh-day
Adventists] are an indirect byproduct of Vatican II. In fact, while in Rome in
connection with the Vatican Council a WCC staff member and an Adventist
representative came to the conclusion that an informal meeting of a small group
of Seventh-day Adventists with an equal number of representatives from the
World Council of Churches would fulfil a useful purpose - Adventists being
insufficiently informed regarding the World Council of Churches, and the WCC
staff and church leaders being equally in need of additional and more
comprehensive knowledge regarding the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The
first meeting was held in 1965, the participants being selected by the two
organizers.(So Much in Common, p. 98)
Out
of these Consultations came a series of rapid-fire events which led to a
representative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Dr. Earle Hilgert, sitting
at the Bristol, England, triennial meeting of the Faith and Order Commission of
the World Council of Churches from July 30 to August 8, 1967. (4) First in the January,
1967, issue of the Ecumenical
Review (Journal of the World Council of Churches) a paper prepared
by the Faith and Order Commission on the Seventh-day Adventist Church was
published. An editor of the Review responded, expressing regret that the SDA
Church could not "as an organization, be more closely associated with
others who profess the name of Christ." (Review, April 6, 1967, p. 13) But he suggested that "if
the Secretariat on Faith and Order, for instance, were to~ invite SDA's to
appoint someone competent in that area to meet with their group from time to
time and represent the SDA point of view, we could accept such an invitation
with a clear conscious." (Ibid.)
The action moved so rapidly that the Central Committee of the World Council of
Churches appointed Dr. Hilgert, and the General Conference approved the
selection, so that Dr. Hilgert could be in Bristol, England representing our
"point of view" by the end of July of the same year. When Dr. Hilgert
left the Seventh-day Adventist Church, becoming a professor at McCormick
Theological Seminary in Chicago, his place on the Faith and Order Commission
was filled by Dr. R. Dederen, also of Andrews University.
Thus
from 1888 to 1967 two Movements were in parallel - the Faith and Order Movement
for Christian unity, and the Advent Movement for a completed work on the earth.
In 1967, the Seventh-day Adventist Church - a trustee under God of the Three
Angel's Messages - broke the parallel and became identified with the Faith and
Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.
|
(1)
|
Parallel
events during the history of the ecumenical movement are most interesting and
should be considered carefully. In 1870, Vatican Council I, promulgated the
doctrine of Papal infallibility so that when the Pope speaks "ex
cathedra" (from the Chair) his utterances are as the utterances of God.
It should be observed that point #4 of Huntington's suggestion is that the
"historic episcopate" be the basis for organizational unity. The
historic episcopate placed the Bishop of Rome as the first among equals. The
final outcome of the Papal doctrine formulated at Vatican I on the ecumenical
process has yet to be written. ---PAGE 4
---
|
|
(2)
|
In 1888,
"the Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people
through Elders Waggoner and Jones." (Testimonies
to Ministers, p. 91). This message was to produce unity in truth under
the Holy Spirit, and to prepare a people to reveal to the world the matchless
love of God in a revelation of the image of Jesus perfectly reproduced in
them. The people of God were to experience the results of the "final
atonement" when in the mighty outpouring of the latter rain, "the
moral image of God is to be perfected in the character. [They] are to be
wholly transformed into the likeness of Christ." (Ibid, p. 506) Through understanding
the justification of God in behalf of sinners, they are to develop the trust
"that divine grace alone can
complete the work." (Ibid.,
p. 508)
|
|
(3)
|
1n 1948,
Israel once again became a recognized nation. Coming events were casting
their shadows before. In the Church, the year following, the book - Bible Readings for the Home Circle -
a standard doctrinal presentation of the truths held by the Church - was
revised and the historic teaching of Seventh-day Adventists in regard to the
Incarnation was altered. (See our manuscript - An Interpretive History
of the Doctrine of the Incarnation as Taught by the Seventh-day Adventist
Church, pp. 64-66.) Events were moving swiftly. In 1950, Elders Wieland and
Short wrote 1888 Re-Examined which
warned the leadership of the course they were pursuing and where continued
apostasy would lead. The warning was unheeded, and the conferences with the
Evangelicals culminated in the publication of the heretical book - Questions
on Doctrine. (See April, 1978, Watchman,
What of the Night?, article -"Now It Is Being Told in Part")
|
|
(4)
|
1n 1967,
the nation of Israel in the Seven Day War recaptured the Old City of
Jerusalem bringing it once more under the Jewish flag after 1900 years of
foreign rule. This event fulfilled Jesus' own prophecy as recorded in Luke
21:24. See the monograph - The Times of the Gentiles Fulfilled.
|
WHAT IS YOUR I. D.? -- The evening following the resurrection, two disciples were
walking toward home. Jesus drew near and joined company with them. "But
their eyes were holden that they should not know Him." He had listened to
their conversation as He approached, and asked them about the things they were
talking about. They replied that they had been conversing about "Jesus of
Nazareth" and "how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to
be condemned to death, and have crucified Him." (Luke 24:13-20) In the
minds of these disciples, there was no question - their rulers and chief
priests had done the deed!
On
the day of Pentecost, there were gathered at Jerusalem for the celebration of
the feast, Jews from all parts of the diaspora, besides God-fearers, and
proselytes. Few, if any of these, had been present at "the Hall of
Judgment" and cried out to Pilate along with the chief priests and
officers - "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" (John 18:28; 19:6; Mark
15:11-13) Yet, Peter filled with the Holy Spirit
p 5 -- stated to these assembled Jews,
proselytes, and God-fearers in direct accusation - "ye have taken [Jesus],
and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." He then concluded -
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts
2:23, 26) These assembled people, because of their identification with the
"house of Israel" were guilty equally with the leadership in their
acts which they committed as representatives of the people. We cannot escape
personal responsibility when we are identified with a corporate entity. The
actions of the officers of any such entity act in behalf of the whole, and thus
we become guilty before God with them in their actions. This was the judgment
of the Holy Spirit in the crucifixion of Christ. This Spirit of truth does not
vary with the times and seasons, but speaks in truth through all ages and
times.
In
the consultation of the Sanhedrin which plotted the death of Jesus, Caiaphas
reasoned with his peers - "It is expedient for us, that one man should die
for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." (John 11:50) These
chief men of the nation were acting in behalf of the "house of
Israel." The entity must be preserved at all costs. Jesus had to be
eliminated. But in this decision of the Jewish hierarchy, the whole of the
nation was held accountable before God. Every one who's I. D. was with the
earthly house of Israel stood judged as guilty of the blood of the Son of God.
This
principle clearly outlined in Scripture is well known and understood by the
Papacy. They base their catholicity on the assumption that they can be
historically identified with the apostolic church; that their church - the
Roman Catholic - is the continuing corporate identity of the early church. Pope
Paul VI in speaking to the Secretaries of the World Confessional Families in
private audience stated - "In you we greet representatives of a
considerable portion of Christian people and through you we send our greetings
of grace and peace in the Lord to your confessional families." (Religious News Service, May 19, 1977,
p. 9) Thus through our representative, Dr. B. B. Beach, the Pope conferred
greetings and blessings upon each member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
family! Further, when Dr. Beach gave to the Pope the gold medallion as a
"symbol of the Seventh-day Adventist Church" (Review, Aug. 11, 1977, P. 23), every member of the corporate
body participated in that gift through their "chief priests and
rulers." I am well aware that such truth is not palatable to those who
wish to continue to sit comfortably in the pew, but it is truth that needs to
be spoken so that the modern "house of Israel" might know that they
have made obeisance to the antichrist of Scripture, and in so doing have denied
Him, whom the Father raised up to be both Lord and Christ. I simply ask -
Where is your I. D.?
"Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the
mother of us all." - Gal. 4:26
"But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are
written in heaven, ..." Heb. 12:22-23
"I
saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly united bound together by the
truth, in bundles, or companies." Early Writings, p. 88, 89
p 6 --
DEPARTMENT
OF COMMUNICATION -- GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS (Letterhead)
Letter to
WWN:
January
11, 1978
I'm afraid
I can't answer the questions which you propound in your brief letter of January
4. 1 believe that at the time we purchased the gold-finished medallions the
price was around $45, although of course now this has doubtless increased
considerably.
I'm
passing your letter along to Elder Eva. No doubt he would have information you
asked for that I don't.
I hope,
... that you do not feel that because the Pope was contacted this way it is any
indication that the Adventist church is reaching out its hand to papal
authority as prophecy has indicated apostate Protestantism will do. This can
never be. Both you and I know that, as does also the administration of this
church.
Thank you
for your interest and concern and your prayers.
Sincerely
yours,
M. Carol
Hetzell, Director
Department
of Communication
MCH: kt
cc: W. D.
Eva
OUR REPLY
TO THIS LETTER IS TO BE FOUND ON THE NEXT TWO PAGES. WE RECEIVED NO REPLY TO
OUR LETTER TO DATE. HOW DO WE HARMONIZE THE PROPHECIES OF THE WORD OF GOD WITH
OUR PRACTICE?
January
17, 1978
M. Carol
Hetzell, Director
Department
of Communication
Gen.
Conf., S D A
Washington,
D. C. 20012
Dear
Sister Hetzell;
In your
letter of the 11th, you indicated that the price of the medallion overlaid with
pure gold was only $45.00. Perhaps you got your figures mixed as the price of
the pure silver medallion more closely approximated the $45.00 quotes.
You stated
that you hoped that I would not feel that because Pope Paul VI was given this
"symbol" of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in an audience by an
official representative of the hierarchy that this was an "indication that
the Adventist Church is reaching out its hand to papal authority." What
other conclusion can one draw from the evidence now available for all to see
and read.
We state in a legal brief:
Although
it is true that there was a period in the life of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church when the denomination took a distinctly anti-Roman Catholic viewpoint,
and the term "hierarchy" was used in a pejorative sense to refer to
the papal form of church governance, that attitude on the Church's part was
nothing more than a manifestation of widespread anti-popery among conservative
protestant denominations in the early part of this century and the latter part
of the last, and which has now been consigned to the historical trash heap so
far as the Seventh-day Adventist Church is concerned. (p. 4, footnote #2, Docket Entry
#84 EEOC vs PPPA C-74-2025 CBR)
Further in the same legal brief:
While,
however, Adventist doctrine continues to teach that church government by one
man is contrary to the Word of God, it is not good Seventh-day Adventism to
express ... an aversion to Roman Catholicism as
such. (Ibid., p. 30, emphasis mine.)
In the
light of this, what other interpretation can be given to an audience by an
official representative of the Church who in that audience gives the Pope a
medallion overlaid with pure gold; and this act is noted by a vice-president of
the General Conference as giving in "symbol" the Church? It is my
understanding that Dr. B. B. Beach in an interview over Vatican radio used the
term "Holy Father" in referring to the Pope.
p 8 -- Hetzell - 2
Our
spiritual fathers in harmony with prophecy considered the Pope, the "man
of sin." See Signs of the
Times, June 4, 1874, article, "Fundamental Principles," by
James White, Principle #13. How do you relate - "man of sin" with
"holy father" and the giving of a medallion overlaid with pure gold?
Our
teaching has indicated that the mystery of iniquity as described by Paul in II
Thess. 2:7-10 was and is fulfilled in the Papacy headed by the Pope. Paul uses
the expression - (Greek word for "that wicked") - in referring to
"that Wicked" one whose coming is "after the working
Satan." Thayer tells us that this expression means - "he in whom all
iniquity has as it were fixed its abode." (p. 48, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament) Yet we have
an official representative of the Church present a medallion overlaid
with pure gold to this one in whom as it were all iniquity has fixed its
abode, and then you write that you hope we will not conclude that this is
reaching across the gulf to clasp hands with this Roman power.
The
prophetess to the Church questioned - "Shall this power, whose record for
a thousand years is written in the blood of saints, be now acknowledged as a
part of the church of Christ?" (Great
Controversy, p. 571) Yet, through an official representative of the
Church, the Church has been placed in "symbol" in the hands of this
man whose coming is after the working of Satan with all signs and lying
wonders. How self-deceived has the hierarchy become?
Let us
hear how you harmonize the prophecies of the Word of God, and the actions of
the leadership of the Church in permitting this medallion overlaid with pure
gold to be given as a "symbol" of the Church to the Pope?
Sincerely
yours for truth,
(Signed,
WWN)
RE: Cost of medallion. -- If the medallion presented to the Pope was from the group of
medallions purchased from the Presidential Art Medals, Inc. in 1973, then the
price was approximately $45.00; but if it were purchased near the time that the
Northern Europe-West Africa Division Committee authorized B. B. Beach's trip to
Rome, then the price would be approximately $95.00, and the silver issue at
that time carried an approximate $35.00 tag. When all the facts were in, and
could be brought together in our "Special Report" issue of Watchman, What
of the Night? - we
stated: "Thus the price was nominal, and the issue is simply that this
gold medallion was presented by Beach to the Pope as a 'symbol of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.'" (p. 14)
p 9 -- WHY HAVE WE PUBLISHED THE LETTERS ON THE
PRECEDING PAGES? -- When
the RNS report
came to my desk late in 1977 - a number of months after its release - and I
found the news item in the Review, also a considerable time after its publication, I believed it
was necessary to correspond with the leadership in Washington to obtain, if
possible, all the facts involved regarding the private audience B. B. Beach had
with the Pope along with other Secretaries of the World Confessional Families.
My first letter was to Elder Duncan Eva, whose name was attached to the news
item in the Review. He
turned my letter over to Miss M. Carol Hetzell, and an exchange of letters
followed, as to the medallion itself, its nature and price. But when Miss
Hetzell suggested that we could not conclude this act was reaching across the
gulf to clasp the hand of Rome, I wondered how the hierarchy could harmonize
our historic concepts on prophecy with some of their written statements and
acts. Hence the letter which we wrote to Miss Hetzell. Further, we want our
readers to know that what we write in the Thought Paper, we write and say
direct to the leadership of the Church prior to our saying it in the paper.
This is the rule we have sought to follow from the inception of the Thought
Paper, and will continue to do so. Sometimes, they choose to communicate, and
sometimes they choose not to do so. This we cannot control.
p 10 -- SIGNS OF THE TRENDS -- Anita Bryant
-- Whatever may be one's
personal opinion of this singer, certain things happening to her should be
carefully noted. Due to her stand on homosexuality, RNS (Feb. 21, 1978) reported that where
she used to sing "at secular concerts for $8,500 or more a night, [she]
now appears as the featured attraction at patriotic-religious revivals and
shares the donations given at the rallies." According to the same report a
recent article in the Gay Community News published in Boston advised - "We should not
rest until Anita Bryant is utterly destroyed." The Evangelical
Newsletter (Jan. 27,
1978) stated that Miss Bryant "is increasingly becoming the butt of many
jokes as television shows mock her, talk shows depict her as a fanatical
Bible-thumper. Her life has been threatened by more extreme homosexuals to the
point where she needs police protection at public appearances." Jesus
said, "As it was in the days of Lot; ... even thus shall it be in the day
when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke 17:28, 30) Reread the thinking and
objectives of the Sodomites. Gen. 19:4-10.
Then
there is another aspect to this trend - In the not too distant future, when no
police protection will be afforded to those who stand stiffly for the truth,
what will you do? When counted as "dross", and when "those who
are supposed to be genuine will give heed to seducing spirits, and will turn
traitors and betray sacred trusts" thus proving to be your "very
worst" enemies, what will you do? (See Review & Herald, June 8, 1897, p. 354)
New Look at Mary -- "Interest in the Blessed Virgin
Mary is undergoing a resurgence by Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox
scholars," so reports RNS (Jan. 26, 1978) For two years, a group called the Ecumenical
Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary have gathered occasionally in Washington,
sharing papers, and discussing Mary. Recently this group held its first
interreligious Marian prayer service in the First Baptist Church, the church of
President Jimmy Carter. Among the members of this society is Dr. Arthur
Crabtree, a Baptist theologian, who teaches at the Catholic-operated Villanova
(PA) University, and who has studied under the controversial Swiss Catholic
theologian, Hans Kueng. Another member, Dr. Donald Dawe, a United Presbyterian
minister who teaches at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, VA., said that in
an age when the ecumenical movement has "slowed considerably" perhaps
the best way to approach ecumenical understanding is through "an
understanding of the hard issues, like Marian theology." One of the
obstacles in the Marian dialogue has been the Catholic cults to Mary. However,
"since Vatican II, cults to Mary have been downplayed and in some extreme
cases condemned, leaving Catholics and Protestants open to a new view of Mary
as first among all the saints." ---(1978 May)
"Watchman,
What of the Night? " Thought Paper.
Adventist Laymen's Foundation.
(Excerpt) May 1978
