#Adventism

[inhissteps777]

Every step of the way, when you fall, and you have your shortcomings, He’s right there. When you have your victories, He’s right there. Give yourself grace, give yourself time to grow and appreciate it, because He’s growing with you. Every individual out here is experiencing a human life, a human experience and God is experiencing it with you. So when you go through things, He’s going with it. He’s right there with you. He’s talking to you. All you gotta do is talk back. I’ve walked on the beach every day, and I’m talking to God, I’m just talking. Like He the homie, I swear to God, I put that on my grandmama grave, I talk to Him. Next to me, like the homie, just like the people that you grow with. I don’t care if you gotta curse, you gotta cuss, you talk to Him as if you known Him since you was born, the way He knows you. It’s the truth. It’s the truth. - Kendrick Lamar

[adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me]

Why do people leave the Adventist Church?

Exit Interviews.

I thought I would do a self assessment, I wondered if it would be interesting to assess what my triggers were. So, going down the list…

Being “defined out” – people who feel that Adventism has been defined (including in changes to the Fundamental Beliefs) in ways that define them as being “outside,” and choose to accept that. Absolutely. But, related to Number 2.

Studying their way out – people who have been convinced by very extensive and careful study of scripture and theology that various claims of Seventh-day Adventism are not supported by the best available evidence. As noted, Absolutely. Related to 1.

Recent creationism – people who find the very strong insistence on a literal 6-day creation week less than 10,000 years ago impossible to reconcile with their understanding of science. Consciously not much of a factor - Creationism and Evolution both require confidence in the ability to interpret evidence from extremely esoteric sources. We have layers of soil, we have bones, pollen, plankton, lots of different stuff. We also have floods, cataclysmic events such as magnetic pole shifts, meteors, etc. Read Immanuel Velikovsky, or Chan Thomas if you really want to go down the rabbit hole into conspiracy theories. I don't have a lot of confidence in anybody's interpretation of anything, to be honest. We have models. The evolutionary model works to a certain degree within biology. In certain forms of Christianity, the creationist model also serves a purpose. Separate disciplines with different objectives. "The map is not the terrain". I can cope.

Hierarchy – people who believe the denomination should be more congregational and local rather than global, so that local cultural differences can be accepted, rather than requiring uniformity. Not much of a factor. Actually, a bit of a distraction. My interest in Orthodox Christianity didn't change my opinion much. My understanding is that the early Church had different liturgies from city to city - now it's uniform. I'm only now beginning to see the advantages of a local congregational model, but only within a highly specific liturgical context.

Institutional protection of sexual predators – people who have been horrified by the treatment of survivors of sexual abuse (including themselves or people close to them) and their abusers, including cover-ups and “moving along” Literally didn't affect me in any way. Not a factor.

Women’s ordination – people who believe that some women are called to pastoral ministry and should be in all ways equal with men in that calling Not a factor. Though, having studied Orthodox Christianity, I do think that while a woman can preach and give instruction, I have deeper reservations about the role of a Woman in officiating over a communion or other formal eucharistic service.

Morality of God – people who find the God who killed almost everyone on Earth in a Flood and commanded genocide of women and children after the Exodus morally unacceptable. PENAL SUBSTITUTION. I hated it, I saw no reason for it in a universe created by an omniscient and perfect God. The Old Testament stuff I could deal with. Anyone who's held a job with responsibilities knows that the best solution to a problem isn't always the most comfortable. Plus, the Old Testament is a collection of stories, not the inerrant word of God. Interpretation is required.

Sexuality – people who are gay, bi or trans and were told their very existence was wrong and excluded by both doctrine and practice. Problematic to be sure. While I knew that sexual immorality was wrong, I thought the way most "religious" people interacted with the marginalized was unhelpful and wrong. Not a proponent of "Tough Love", I felt that there should be better ways for supporting people going through what I consider to be challenges.

Fluidity of belief – people who are not rigid in their belief structures, and who “flowed in” and later “flowed out” of belief A big deal actually, but not in the way intended. I have certain beliefs that I hold to be bedrock. When it became clear that The God I grew up with was subject to his law but not his mercy, his justice but not his love. I realized that I couldn't be Protestant. I frequently reference coherence as a personal need - so, I needed a coherent metaphysic that I could live with. Adventism didn't provide it in particular, and neither did Protestantism in general.

Never believed – people who never really believed in supernatural things, in many cases despite being brought up in the church, and left once they were socially free to do so. Odd, I believe in all sorts of supernatural weird things. Yet my disbelief had more to do with the parody of God I was being offered by my faith, over how I felt a God should truly act.

Claimed inerrancy of Scripture and Ellen G White – people who have identified errors in the Bible or the writings of Ellen White, when both are (sometimes) claimed to be inerrant (noting that inerrancy is not mainstream Adventist doctrine in either case). Note that inerrancy is not a mainstream Adventist doctrine, as such, this was not a factor.

Inconsistencies within Scripture or between doctrine and Scripture – people who have identified inconsistencies within the Bible, within the writings of Ellen White, between EGW and the Bible or between the Bible and Adventist doctrinal positions. Writings are just that… Writings. They are written by humans and not handed down from on-high. One needs to extend grace in such things. Consequently, this was not a factor.

Desmond Ford, his treatment at Glacier View and the Investigative Judgement – people (usually old enough to have been around at the time) who accept Dr Ford’s critique of the Investigative Judgement doctrine, and/or who believe that his treatment by the denomination at the time and later was unfair. First, Desmond Ford's treatment was unfair. Second, it was inconsequential. The whole concept of Penal Substitution is flawed. So, a definite factor.

Exclusive truth claims – people who find it impossible, in a very large and very diverse world of almost 7.9 billion people that a small group of 22 million Adventists (about 0.3% of the global population) has the One True Way and the other 99.7% of all human beings are just wrong. Definitely a factor.

Seven to nine factors, though I haven't bothered with a weighted scale. Being defined out via study (#1, and #2) is pretty big, as is the rejection of what many Christians consider to be a CORE tenant of Christianity, Penal Substitution (#7 and #13). Most of the "Not a factor" assessments don't argue for staying within Adventism, rather, they just exist as inconsequentials - they weren't compelling for staying within the fold.

As I have said before, I have not been removed from the rolls at my Adventist Church. The people who keep me in their records are both extending a mercy, and somewhat padding their numbers. Many of them know of this blog, and feel that "there's hope for the lost lamb". Some were actively praying that I wouldn't become an Orthodox Christian. I was bitter about that in a way I wasn't when they were praying for me to remain Christian.

Well, their prayers have been answered for the time being, as I'm not nominally going anywhere.

Even as I remain heretical.

However, the current pastor and sermons not withstanding, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church needs to really self-evaluate their theology before I will ever feel comfortable in calling myself an unequivocable Adventist.

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High God, Have Mercy upon me, A sinner.

[artalfons]

i imagine this is how remake part 3 is going to start.

[camilleflyingrotten]

[owlyjules]

Wintertale Advent Calendar Day 8: A soft-hearted donkey.

Just a nice friend that will let you ride on her back for a little bit on our journey.:)

(And now we have another tile done.:D)

[kaatokunart]

designed an outfit for tifa based on her advent children look!!

[jojo-the-dogg0]

[thirstywaffles]

Cloud projecting his period cramps to beat sephiroth in a fight

[inhissteps777]

Palestinian Lives Matter

We are all God's children, deserving of basic human dignity. (Malachi 2:10, Acts 17:26)

[ermwhatsup]

the ides of march starting to trend on march 1st is like the tumblr equivalent of those people who start listening to christmas music on november 1st

[mmariesr]

This one i made on his birthday

[nanariemi]

miss tifa!

[sibmakesart]

day 7 of the ✨op advent calendar✨

boys being boys (trying to kill each other)

[camilleflyingrotten]

Wings - Part 1/3

[owlyjules]

Wintertale Advent Calendar Day 9: A winter flower! "I am on my way to spend the cold months with my dear sisters you see..." she tells you after you ask her for directions.