8. second advent herald [why does god allow suffering]

The Vo ice of Truth in Per i lous Times Issue No. 8

Second Advent Herald

Immutable Law of God R ighteousness by Fa ith Seventh-day Sabbath V ic tor y over SinSanc tuar y Types and Ant it ypes Three Angels ’ Messages Non-Immor t a l i t y of t he Sou l

Hea lth Reform Chr is t ’s Fa l len Human Nature E l len White - Gi f t of Prophecy

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Table of Contents

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SAH Issue No. 8 — In this issue:

EditorialRon Spear

Spiritual Formation in the Church

Why Does God Allow Suffering?Corla Rankin

The story of Job is at once an extremely interesting picture of God’s allowing Satan almost free rein in a man’s physical life, and a profound lesson ...

Hope for the HopelessEllen G. White

Help with our growth in grace.

The Foundation of All GracesEllen G. White

“…Temperance alone is the foundation of all the graces that come from God, the foundation of all victories to be gained.”—Temperance 201

Bible and Spirit of Prophecy QuizCompiled by the Editor

The Cook’s CornerSubscriber SubmissionPreserving & Canning Berries

Words From Our PioneersJohn N. Loughborough

Do our actions show we believe Christ is “even at the door?” Are we venturing all?

Why We Cannot JoinF. D. Nichol

What position should Adventists take in relation to the ecumenical movement?

The ApocryphaJean Handwerk

These semi-historical Jewish moral stories contain historical and doctrinal errors.

Jesus Exempted from Human Passions?M. L. Andreasen

If God should exempt Christ from the passions that corrupt the natural descendants of Adam, Satan could claim that God played favorites, and the test was invalid.

The Augsburg Confession - Re: SabbathCondensed from Vance Ferrell’s upcoming publication on the Book

of Revelation. What did Martin Luther, Melancthon, andthe German princes believe about the Sabbath?

Keeping the Sabbath Holy: Potluck PerilsEllen G. White

Divine counsel regarding fellowship meals.

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Magazine Staff

Executive Editor: Ron SpearManaging Editor: Jean HandwerkLayout/Design: Paul Williams

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From the Editor’s Desk

I n 2001 the General Conference leadership voted to bring spiritual formation, contemplative prayer and the emerging church into all of our educational sys-

tems in the thirteen divisions. Spiritual formation was in-vented by Ignatius Loyola in the 15th century. He started the Jesuit Society of Jesus, responsible for killing millions of Christians during the Dark and Middle Ages. At the Vatican Council in 1960-62, the papacy decided that Ignatius Loyola had developed a plan where they could bring the whole Protestant world under their control. Today the majority of Protestants have yielded to this diabolical system, includ-ing the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Andrews University now offers a PhD degree in Spiritual Formation. During the past eleven years, all our colleges and universities around the world have been graduating students who do not un-derstand the great pillars of the faith of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Where were the watchmen on the walls of Zion who allowed this satanic system of spiritualism to enter our educational system? Spiritualism in all its forms is the most dangerous weapon that Satan has ever invented.The tragedy that has come upon the Seventh-day Ad-

ventist Church is that of leaning on the guidance of lead-ers—pastors that have not been grounded in the pillars of our faith and that have no close connection with Jesus. Many of our pastors today “cannot successfully resist spiritualism. They have nothing wherewith to shield their flocks from its baleful influence. Much of the sad result of spiritualism will rest upon ministers of this age; for they have trampled the truth under their feet, and in its stead have preferred fables.” 1T 344.“The leaders of this people cause them to err; and they

that are led of them are destroyed.” Isa 9:16“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in

man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD…. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” Jer 17:5-7.“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,

and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isa 58:1.

The danger of those involved in spiritual formation equals that of King Saul, who sought counsel from the witch of Endor. Of this act, Ellen White wrote, “In his (King Saul’s) peril he dares to approach God, to inquire whether he shall make war with the Philistines. But as God has left him, he seeks a woman with a familiar spirit, who is in communion with Satan. Saul knew that in this last act, of consulting the witch of Endor, he cut the last shred which held him to God. He knew that if he had not before willfully separated him-self from God, this act sealed that separation, and made it fi-nal. He had made an agreement with death, and a covenant with hell. The cup of his iniquity was full.” 1SP 375-7

For the last decade, the young people graduating from our educational systems around the world have been de-prived of the great messages that God gave to our Seventh-day Adventist Church. How can they share them? How many

can be retrieved from this satanic system which destroys all the pillars of our faith, the soon coming of Jesus, the three angels’ messages, and the sanctuary message? Once captivated by this devilish system, very few will be inter-ested in escaping their danger.

God warned our Seventh-day Adventist church that the omega of apostasy would be of a startling nature: “Be not deceived; many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now be-fore us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature.” 1SM 197. The leadership was divided over Harvey Kellogg’s book,

The Living Temple. Ellen White’s vision of the iceberg was presented to that committee and it solved the problem. The church leadership took a strong stand against Kellogg’s pantheistic ideas and the church was saved. Will the leader-ship handle this current problem? The church will go through, but not until it is shaken and

purified. “The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteous-ness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.” 2SM 380.

Ellen White wrote, “To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test” (5T 136). This test is now before the leaders, pas-tors and laity of our remnant church. “All who occupy positions in our institutions will be test-

ed. If they will make Christ their pattern, He will give them wisdom and knowledge and understanding; they will grow in grace and aptitude in Christ’s way; their characters will be molded after His similitude. If they fail of keeping the way of the Lord, another spirit will control the mind and judgment, and they will plan without the Lord and will take their own course and leave the positions they have occu-pied. The light has been given them; if they depart from it, let no man present a bribe to induce them to remain. They will be a hindrance and a snare. The time has come when everything is to be shaken that can be shaken, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” 7T 219.

May God help us during this crisis hour not to lean on men, but to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Ω

Ron Spear continues to add to his 55 years of active service in the Lord’s cause as preacher, editor and author. He and his wife Carmen reside in Washington state and travel wherever he has speaking engagements.

Dear R e a d er s o f S e c on d Adv en t H er a l d ,∏


and Satan, being the usurper and presumptuous person that he is, took over the claim of the whole world!

In verse 7 of Job 1, when God asked Satan where he came from, he answered that he had been going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it. Does this not demonstrate that Satan was claiming that it was his territory, and that he was exercising his “right” to travel all over it, and exercising his “right” to run things according to his will—as far as he was allowed to? “Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1Peter 5:8.This story also clearly demonstrates the necessity on

the part of God to watch over and protect us from Satan.The Lord next asked Satan if he had seen His servant

Job, who was, in fact, a servant of the Lord who maintained a righteous character in spite of being in Satan’s world. (verse 8). Then Satan, true to his typical excuse-making and seeking to evade the truth, told God at this “committee meeting:” “Sure, he serves you! You reward him well for it; why wouldn’t he serve you? You protect him and bless all that he has! Why, he’d be a fool not to serve you, and lose everything!” In other words, Satan acknowledged that God’s hand was over Job, protecting him from Satan’s ravages. He also was saying that if God took away all of Job’s motivation (according to Satan’s selfish mind, Job’s motivation was all of his possessions), Job would be angry with God and would choose to curse God. In reality, Satan was challenging God in that committee meeting, in front of all the representatives of the other worlds. He claimed that the only reason Job was serving God was because God was protecting and enriching him. Basically, Satan was saying that all men are selfish, as he (Satan) is, and no better, really, than Satan is, so why was God treating Job so well when he was no better than Satan? He also was saying that Job can be made to disobey God’s law found in Exodus 20:1 and to

Corla Rankin

T he story of Job is at once an extremely interesting picture of God’s allowing Satan almost free rein in a man’s physical life, and a profound lesson of God’s

ability to keep His own, who trust Him, in spite of Satan’s worst behavior. Observed closely, one can see the play and counterplay in the great controversy between Christ and Satan. Let’s look at the first chapter of Job to see what we can learn.According to chapter 1, verse 1, Job lived in Uz, and was

“perfect and upright; one that feared God and eschewed evil. A concordance defines “eschewed” primarily as “turned off,” “decline,” “leave undone,” etc. Verses 2 and 3 describe his wealth and end by saying that “this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.” Verses 4 and 5 describe his assuming the role of priest of the family, offering sacrifices and burnt offerings in behalf of his children. This tells us that this story unfolded before the Jews were chosen as God’s people, and thus before the system of priests, tabernacle and so forth was initiated, which happened during the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. After that time, specified persons were priests, and no other people were to officiate in the role of priest except from the tribe of Levi, and under appointment only. So we can deduce that the story of Job is very old; in fact, we believe that it was written probably by Moses, who also authored the first five books of the Bible.

Let’s now look at verse 6: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” What’s this all about? Is this possibly a “committee meeting” of the representatives of all the worlds? Who would be the representative of this world?

We know Adam was given dominion in this world (Genesis 1:28), under Christ’s rulership, and then, whom did Adam and Eve choose? They, by choosing to disobey and go against what God had told them not to do, chose Satan,


choose Satan as his god. (Remember, Satan is “the accuser of the brethren.” See Revelation 12:9 & 10.)

Job in the Hand of Satan

Let’s look very closely at the next verses, verses 11 and 12 of Job 1: Satan is speaking and he challenges God to “put forth his hand and touch [strike, smite] all that Job has, and Job would curse God to His face.”

Now, observe how God replies: “And the Lord said unto Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in thy (Satan’s) power, only upon him (himself) do not put your hand.” So, who is “touching” Job? It’s not God; it’s Satan! Satan knows that he himself will be afflicting Job, yet he has so long accused God of being the arbitrary, harsh one, that he will continue his course even in the face of God! And, of course, in the face of all the representatives of the other worlds!

It would be fair to draw back the curtain between this world and the eternal one, and to tell you that Satan had so masked his own character that until he put Christ to death, the true nature of sin and of his (Satan’s) form of government and of Satan himself was not clearly seen. The character of God was, as we discussed before, on trial before the entire universe. Remember also that God allowed his character to be on trial so that all would clearly see who was right in this great controversy between Christ and Satan.A principle to realize is this: “God is said to do that which

He allows.” The realization of this principle will help you to understand many, many situations in relation to Satan’s accusations versus God’s true character.

If God didn’t take Satan’s blows first, and allow only that which we can stand, and which will help us, if we let it, we would be destroyed, as Satan desires.

That said, let’s go on. Job 1, verses 13 through 18, describe the disasters Satan brought upon Job: First the oxen and asses were stolen by the Sabeans under Satan’s temptations, then “fire of God”—really fire of Satan—fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants watching them, then the Satan-inspired Chaldeans stole the camels and killed the servants guarding them, and lastly, a great wind (created by Satan) blew down the house that Job’s children were in and killed them all.

What did Job do? Did he succumb to the temptation to blame God, as most others would have done? NO! He said “I was born without anything, and I will not have anything to keep when I die. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21. Verse 22 records the wonderful words, “In all this, Job sinned not, nor “attributed folly to God.”

Now, we go the chapter 2, and here is a replay of the sons of God—the committee members, or representatives of

the various worlds—meeting with God. Satan again comes to present himself to God, and the Lord again asks Satan where he came from. Satan again responds that he has been going to and fro in the earth and has been walking up and down in it. God then asks him if he has noticed that Job is still perfect and upright, and is hanging onto his integrity, though Satan has succeeded in getting God to allow Satan to afflict him for no reason.

Greater Suffering for Job

Now Satan wants to go still further in his smiting Job, and he says: “Skin for skin; all that a man has will he give for his life, but...’put forth thine hand and touch his bone and flesh and he will curse you to your face.’”

God answers Satan’s challenge by saying, “Behold, he is in thine hand [Satan’s], but save his life.” Job 2: 1-6. Now, note that the Bible clearly puts the blame on the cause of Job’s suffering in verse 7: “So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown [head].”At this point even Job’s wife, inspired by Satan, enters

into tempting Job. She says in verse 9: “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!” But Job still refuses, saying to her that she is speaking as one of the foolish women would speak, and asking her if people receive only good from God, and not also evil. (Verse 10) It was not natural human strength, nor had it been, that was holding Job up and helping him not to sin. God was holding Job up, sustaining him and keeping him from yielding to evil. “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only-wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24 and 25. Job’s will was surrendered to God, and God’s keeping power was on display to the whole universe!

Not All Suffering Is Because of Sin

Earth’s earliest people, and even the Jews throughout their history, have all believed that if you were afflicted, it was because of some great sin or sins in your life. They thought you were being punished by God. This story is recorded for several reasons, and one of the reasons is that it shows us that it is Satan that delights in afflicting people, not God. Truth and the error lie very close to one another in this matter, and I am so thankful that if we study carefully, we can spot the counterfeit.

It is true that there are consequences to wrong-doing that one suffers as a natural result of wrong-doing. The Lord allows us to suffer those consequences because He loves us and wants us and/or others to learn that “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. But this Jewish belief of affliction being caused because of sin on the person’s part is evidence of one of the lies that Satan has told and promulgated about God, as evidenced by the Jews’ mindset. When God punishes


men, as at the flood, and other times when He has directly intervened by serious and deadly punishment, as at Sodom and Gomorrah, and as He will do at the end of the world, it is called His “strange work.” See Isaiah 28:21: “For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act.”

God does deal with sin and punishes, but most of the time, it is Satan causing the misery. Because we have chosen to do wrong, God must allow Satan to have his way, to a greater or lesser extent—depending on, I suppose, whether or not the person really had an understanding of whom he was choosing to listen to. In other words, we tie God’s hands when we deliberately choose wrong. The extent to which His hands are tied depends on our heart, which God knows. He knows whether mercy will melt our hearts, or whether we have to have some hard times to teach us. If we have to have the hard times, then Satan is allowed more access to us. Rest assured, however, that God does not forsake us. If we cry out to Him, He will help us.

We have sinful, carnal hearts that choose sin over good unless we allow God to help and change us. Unfortunately, many times, the only way we can be changed and made pure is by the afflictions foisted upon us by Satan, but buffered and filtered by God first in order to make us pure. If God didn’t take Satan’s blows first, and allow only that which we can stand, and which will help us, if we let it, we would be destroyed, as Satan desires. Gold or other precious metals must be heated in the furnace in order to be purified. So with us. We choose whether we will allow God to make us pure and holy and safe to save, or whether we refuse this process, choose our own way, which is Satan’s way, and lose eternal life.“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious

than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ... receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:7, 9.

God our FATHER

To understand God, we need to understand that there is a perfect balance between His justice and His mercy. The Bible says, “He [God] does not afflict willingly [from His heart] nor grieve the children of men.” Lamentations 3:33. “In all afflictions, He was afflicted....” Isaiah 63:9. There is a story of a boy that had done something quite naughty, and for a punishment had to spend the night in the barn. The dad felt so bad that he spent the night in the barn with his son. That is a perfect portrayal of God’s character. If we will allow Him, He will be by our side throughout anything we have to pass through, and Satan does not want you to know that, I can assure you. He was the one afflicting Job, and enjoying every minute of it, because his character is just

what he demonstrates in this story.Next, you will see by reading Job 2:11 and onward that

since Satan isn’t allowed to go any further in afflicting Job’s body, and he hasn’t succeeded in getting Job to curse God, he next sends Job some “sympathizers.” Do we ever get sympathizers? Yes! And they can do more harm than anyone else, if their sympathies are misdirected.

Sympathizers Can Do Much Harm

First, they sought to win Job’s confidence and trust in them by displaying kindly sympathy. Then Job voiced his misery and wished that he had never been born, or had died at birth so he could escape all this affliction that has been brought upon him. In short, he wished he was asleep in the grave in peace. See Job 3:1-26. Next, there followed sentiments from his “comforters” to the effect that there must be some great sins in Job’s life. Job tried to defend himself, stating he had not sinned and brought this upon himself. One of the most powerful scriptures in this book which evinces Job’s trust in God is found in Job 13:15: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain my own ways [of obedience to God] before Him.” This was the keynote of Job’s life, and his challenge comes down through the centuries and ages to us: Will we put our trust in God, regardless of what circumstances occur? Job had gotten to know God on such an intimate level that he realized that no matter what happened to his outward existence, he would obey God (in God’s strength, of course) and trust God to make it come out all right.

Full Surrender is Freeing

God invites us to begin to know Him. He doesn’t ask us to blindly trust Him without evidences in our lives that He has been working. If we look back, we can see His hand, leading, guiding and protecting us and seeking to lead us to a closer walk with Him. We have nothing worthwhile to lose by choosing God. Yes, we may be called upon to give up things that we think we value very much, but down the road, we will be able to look back and see that anything that we are asked to surrender would only have hurt us, anyway. Having given it to Jesus, we have been only winners! The surrender of whatever it is has only freed us from bondage of the will, as well as of the mind and body. We cannot surrender self of ourselves, but Christ will effect the surrender in us if we will ask Him to help us. “Lord, make me willing to be made willing!” is the keynote of my life, and I do not regret anything I have had to give up to Christ. “Take my heart, Lord, for I cannot give it; it is your own. You created me, and you paid an infinite price to rescue me…. Keep my heart pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee…. Save me in spite of myself; my weak, unChristlike self…. Mold me; fashion me, lift me up where the rich currents of Thy love can flow through my soul.”

“Though He slay me, yet

will I trust in Him....”

Will we put our trust in

God, regardless of what

circumstances occur?


Job Rewarded on Earth

Now, let’s look at the ending of the story of Job. After enduring all of the mistaken ideas and accusations of his “friends,” the Lord intervened in Chapters 38 thru 41, which make for VERY interesting reading if you would know the greatness, wisdom and power of God and the puny-ness of man and his wisdom. The Lord actually talked out loud with Job. He rebuked the friends of Job—Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar—and told them that they didn’t speak correctly about God’s servant Job, and that He was upset with them. They were told to go to Job and offer up a sacrifice for their behavior, and to have Job pray for them. The Bible in Job 42: 10 says that “...the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends.” Next, God gave Job TWICE as much

as he had had before, along with 7 sons and 3 daughters. After that, Job lived another 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons for four generations. Job 42:16.This incredible story is worthy of even deeper study and

reflection. I encourage each one to search for wisdom and comfort and truth in those verses of Job. Ω

Corla Rankin is the secretary for SECOND ADVENT Herald. She lives in Montana with her husband.


Hope for the Hopeless

E. G. Whit e

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will

have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Isaiah 55:7, 8. It is your thought that your mistakes and transgressions have been so grievous that the Lord will not have respect unto your prayers, and will bless and save you …. The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. But do not be discouraged. This is evidence that Satan’s delusions have lost their power; that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you, and your indifference and unconcern are passing away. No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not see and realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by grace will admire His divine character; but if we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ. The less we see to esteem in ourselves, the more we shall see to esteem in the infinite purity and loveliness of our Saviour. A view of our own sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon.... God does not deal with us as finite men deal with one another. His thoughts are thoughts of mercy, love, and tenderest compassion. “He will abundantly pardon.” He says, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions.” “… Look up, you who are tried, tempted, and discouraged, look up. ... It is ever safe to look up; it is fatal to look down. If you look down, the earth reels and sways beneath you; nothing is sure. But heaven above you is calm and steady, and there is divine aid for every climber. The hand of the Infinite is reaching over the battlements of heaven to grasp yours in its strong embrace. The mighty Helper is nigh to bless, lift up, and encourage the most erring, the most sinful, if they will look to Him by faith. But the sinner must look up. Ω

THE POWER OF ONEOne song can spark a moment; One flower can wake the dream; One tree can start a forest; One bird can herald spring.

One smile begins a friendship;One handclasp lifts a soul.One star can guide a ship at sea;One word can frame the goal.

One vote can change a nation;One sunbeam lights a room.One candle wipes out darkness;One laugh will conquer gloom.

One step must start each journey;One word must start each prayer.One hope will raise our spirits;One touch can show you care.

One voice can speak with wisdom;One heart can know what’s true.One life can make a difference.You see, it’s up to you.

Author Unknow n


eyes, and the pride of life.” 1 John 2:16. It has to do with, and, in the writings of Ellen White, is often paired with, such traits as self-denial, self-control, self-discipline. Self has to do with the lower nature; the higher nature recognizes the righteousness of God’s principles and sets itself to follow them. God’s people will therefore differ noticeably from the world in their diet, dress, work, rest, recreation, purchases, wills, child-rearing—in their homes, conduct and worship—in what they look at, listen to, think about, talk about, and hope for. “Will not the inducements presented before those who are running in the Christian race, lead them to practice self-denial and temperance in all things, that they may keep their animal propensities in subjection, keep under the body, and control the appetite and lustful passions? Then can they be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” CD 84.

“Temperance in all things of this life is to be taught and practiced. Temperance in eating, drinking, sleeping, and dressing is one of the grand principles of the religious life…. Nothing that concerns the health of the human agent is to be regarded with indifference. Our eternal welfare depends upon the use we make during this life of our time, strength, and influence.” CG 394.

“Christ prayed for his disciples, not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from evil,—that they might be kept from yielding to the temptations they would meet on every hand….” “… We want temperance at our tables. We want houses where the God-given sunlight and the pure air of heaven are welcomed. We want a cheerful, happy influence in our homes. We must cultivate useful habits in our children, and must instruct them in the things of God….” CE 166, 174.

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,

The Founda t i on o f All Gra c e s

T he family was eager to begin their European vacation. One special point of preparation was their practicing useful phrases in the native languages.

Tourist guidebook in hand, they’d ask in the foreign tongue, “Where is the bakery/restroom/bus stop?” “How much does this cost?” Other than to build anticipation, though, their efforts accomplished nothing. What was not considered is that knowing how to ask the question is useless unless one also knows how to understand the answer! So, too, will be our requests for the Holy Spirit, if we cannot discern His voice because our minds and hearts are dull because of intemperance.

What Exactly Is Temperance?Since temperance is “the foundation of all the graces

that come from God, … of all victories to be gained,” we must understand what temperance is. It is denial of the demands of the carnal nature, the “animal propensities,” and obedience to the higher nature, which is amenable to God. “…It is the result of self-discipline, of subjection of the lower to the higher nature, of the surrender of self to the service of God and man….” CC 249. Those who are temperate “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11.

“All who would perfect holiness in the fear of God must learn the lessons of temperance and self-control. The appetites and passions must be held in subjection to the higher powers of the mind. This self-discipline is essential to that mental strength and spiritual insight which will enable us to understand and to practice the sacred truths of God’s word. For this reason temperance finds its place in the work of preparation for Christ’s second coming.” CC 271. Temperance resists the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the

“…Temperance alone is the foundation of all the graces that come from God, the foundation of all victories to be gained.” —Temperance p. 201

E. G. Whit e


do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor 10:31.

“Out of the Heart”“The body is a most important medium through which

the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers…. “The body is to be brought into subjection to the higher

powers of the being. The passions are to be controlled by the will, which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified, by divine grace, is to bear sway in the life. Intellectual power, physical stamina, and the length of life depend upon immutable laws. Through obedience to these laws, man may stand conqueror of himself, conqueror of his own inclinations, conqueror of … ‘the rulers of the darkness of this world,’ and of ‘spiritual wickedness in high places.’” CC 249.

“Those who would work in God’s service must not be seeking worldly gratification and selfish indulgence…. Men will never be truly temperate until the grace of Christ is an abiding principle in the heart…. No mere restriction of your diet will cure your diseased appetite…. Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within, will be worked out under the dictation of a converted intellect…. God’s plan with you is to begin at the very seat of all difficulties, the heart, and then from out of the heart will issue the principles of righteousness; the reformation will be outward as well as inward.” CD 35.

Temperance Exalted by God“Temperance is exalted to a high level in the Word of God.

Obeying His Word, we can rise higher and still higher. The danger of intemperance is specified. The advantage to be gained by temperance is laid open before us all through the Scriptures. The voice of God is addressing us, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (Matthew 5:48)….” RC 154.

“Many make the subject of temperance a matter of jest. They claim that the Lord does not concern Himself with such minor matters as our eating and drinking. But if the Lord had no care for these things, He would not have revealed Himself to the wife of Manoah, giving her definite instructions and twice enjoining upon her to beware lest she disregard them. Is not this sufficient evidence that He does care for these things?” CG 407.

Jesus’ Self-Control Our Example“The highest evidence of nobility in a Christian is self-

control. We should copy the example of Jesus, for when He

was reviled, He reviled not again, but “committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.” Our Redeemer met insult and mockery with uncomplaining silence. All the cruel taunts of the murderous throng who exulted in His humiliation and trial in the judgment hall could not bring from Him one look or word of resentment or impatience. He was the Majesty of heaven, and in His pure breast there dwelt no room for the spirit of retaliation, but only for pity and love.

“There seems to be a mist before the eyes of many, for they fail to discern spiritual things, and do not recognize the workings of Satan to entrap their souls. Christians are not to be the slaves of passion; they are to be controlled by the Spirit of God. But many become the sport of the enemy, because when temptation comes, they do not rest in Jesus, but worry themselves out of His arms…. We make failures in our little, daily difficulties, and allow them to irritate and vex us; we fall under them, and so make stumbling blocks for ourselves and others. But blessings of the greatest importance are to result from the patient endurance of these daily vexations, for we are to gain strength to bear greater difficulties….

O that we might control our words and actions!... What harm is wrought in the family circle by the utterance of impatient words, for the impatient utterance of one leads another to retort in the same spirit and manner. Then come words of retaliation, words of self-justification, and it is by such words that a heavy, galling yoke is manufactured for your neck, for all these bitter words will come back in a baleful harvest to your soul…. How much better to have the oil of grace in the heart, to be able to pass by all provocation, and bear all things with Christlike meekness and forbearance…. “We should preserve the strictest chastity in thought,

and word, and deportment. Let us remember that God sets our secret sins in the light of His countenance. There are thoughts and feelings suggested and aroused by Satan that annoy even the best of men, but if they are not cherished, if


they are repulsed as hateful, the soul is not contaminated with guilt, and no other is defiled by their influence. O that we each might become a savor of life unto life to those around us!

“… If all had a realization of the solemnity and weight of the message, many sins that are now carelessly committed would cease from among us.” TMK 139-40.

John’s Temperance to Be OursJohn “was a representative of those living in the last days, to whom God has intrusted

sacred truths to present before the people, to prepare the way for the second appearing of Christ. And the same principles of temperance which John practiced should be observed by those who in our day are to warn the world of the coming of the Son of man.” CTBH 39.

“The great end for which Christ endured that long fast in the wilderness was to teach us the necessity of self-denial and temperance. This work should commence at our tables and should be strictly carried out in

all the concerns of life. The Redeemer of the world came

from heaven to help man in his weakness, that, in the power which

Jesus came to bring him, he might become strong to overcome appetite and

passion and might be victor on every point.” CH 125.

Ministers, Doctors to Instruct on Temperance“In our sanitariums our ministers, who labor in word

and doctrine, should give short talks upon the principles of temperance, showing that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and bringing to the minds of the people the responsibility resting upon them as God’s purchased possession to make the body a holy temple, fit for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As this instruction is given, the people will become interested in Bible doctrine…. Those ministers or doctors who do not make personal appeals to

the people are remiss in their duty. They fail of doing the work which God has appointed them.” Te 245-6.

It is impossible to work for the salvation of men and women without presenting to them the need of breaking away

from sinful gratifications, which destroy the health, debase the soul, and prevent divine truth from impressing the mind.

Step by Step Heavenward“‘Beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;

and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance.’ Here the importance of temperance is brought to our notice….” RH, January 14, 1909.

“A man who is intemperate … cannot be a patient man. So temperance is a round of the ladder upon which we must plant our feet before we can add the grace of patience. In food, in raiment, in work, in regular hours, in healthful exercise, we must be regulated by the knowledge which it is our duty to obtain that we may, through earnest endeavor, place ourselves in right relation to life and health.” OHC 69.

For many, “church work” dominates the life, yet “when you take time to cultivate your garden, thus gaining the exercise needed to keep the system in good working order, you are just as much doing the work of God as in holding meetings.” GW 240.

Intemperance Blocks Entrance of Truth “Reform, continual reform, must be kept before the

people, and by our example we must enforce our teaching. True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand. It is impossible to work for the salvation of men and women without presenting to them the need of breaking away from sinful gratifications, which destroy the health, debase the soul, and prevent divine truth from impressing the mind. Men and women must be taught to take a careful view of every habit and every practice, and at once put away those things that cause an unhealthy condition of the body and thus cast a dark shadow over the mind. God desires His light bearers ever to keep a high standard before them. By precept and example they must hold their perfect standard high above Satan’s false standard, which, if followed, will lead to misery, degradation, disease, and death for both body and soul. Let those who have obtained a knowledge of how to eat and drink and dress so as to preserve health impart this knowledge to others. Let the poor have the gospel of health preached unto them from a practical point


of view, that they may know how to care properly for the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” 7T 137.

“Do Less Cooking”“It would be well for

us to do less cooking and eat more fruit in its natural state. Let us eat freely of fresh grapes, apples, peaches, oranges, blackberries, and all other kinds of fruit which can be obtained. Let these be prepared for winter use by canning, always using glass instead of tin.” 21MR 286. “… God will give His people ability and tact to prepare wholesome food without these things [flesh meat, eggs, butter, milk, cream]. Let our people … discard all unwholesome recipes and learn how to live healthfully, in accordance with the directions God has given. Let them impart this knowledge as they would Bible instruction. Let them preserve the health and increase the strength by avoiding the large amount of cooking which has filled the world with chronic invalids. We are coming to the time when recipes for cooking will not be needed, for God’s people will learn that the food God gave Adam in his sinless state is the best for keeping the body in a sinless state.” 21MR 286. A similar passage ends slightly differently: “By precept and example make it plain that the food which God gave Adam in his sinless state is the best for man’s use as he seeks to regain that sinless state.” 7T 135.

Unimpaired Intellect, Clear Perception vs. “The Ruin of Thousands”

“Those who overcome as Christ overcame will need to constantly guard themselves against the temptations of Satan. The appetite and passions should be restricted and under the control of enlightened conscience, that the intellect may be unimpaired, the perceptive powers clear, so that the workings of Satan and his snares may not be interpreted to be the providence of God. Many desire the final reward and victory which are to be given to overcomers, but are not willing to endure toil, privation, and denial of self, as did their Redeemer. It is only through obedience and continual effort that we shall overcome as Christ overcame.

“The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The

continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan’s temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome. 3T 491.

The appetite and passions should be

restricted and under the control of enlightened

conscience, that the intellect may be unimpaired, the perceptive

powers clear, so that the workings of Satan and his snares may not be interpreted to be the providence of God.

Paul’s ExperiencePaul, in Romans 7:18-19, wrote, “For I know that in me

(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”

His solution: “In the hope of impressing vividly upon the minds of the Corinthian believers the importance of firm self-control, strict temperance, and unflagging zeal in the service of Christ, Paul in his letter to them made a striking comparison between the Christian warfare and the celebrated foot races held at stated intervals near Corinth….” AA 309. “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Cor 9:25-27.

“Enemies of the Cross” Reject Health ReformPaul also wrote of those who refused to be temperate:

“(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell


you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” Phil 3:18-19. Tragically, those who reject the divine principles of health reform place themselves in this group.

“Providence has been leading the people of God out from the extravagant habits of the world, away from the indulgence of appetite and passion, to take their stand upon the platform of self-denial and temperance in all things. The people whom God is leading will be peculiar. They will not be like the world. But if they follow the leadings of God they will accomplish His purposes, and will yield their will to His will. Christ will dwell in the heart…. Your body, says the apostle, is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” Mar 118.

Practical Work Effective“The Lord has a message for our cities, and this message

we are to proclaim in our camp-meetings and by other public efforts, and also through our publications. In addition to this, hygienic restaurants are to be established in the cities, and by them the message of temperance is to be proclaimed. Arrangements should be made to hold meetings in connection with our restaurants. Whenever possible, let a room be provided where the patrons can be invited to lectures on the science of health and Christian temperance, where they can receive instruction on the preparation of wholesome food and on other important subjects. In these meetings there should be prayer and singing and talks, not only on health and temperance topics, but also on other appropriate Bible subjects. As the people are taught how to preserve physical health, many opportunities will be found to sow the seeds of the gospel of the kingdom.” 7T 115; Te 248.

“Medical missionary work … is to be done everywhere. At our camp-meetings there should be men who devote themselves to the work of rescuing those held by Satan in the slavery of appetite. God says, ‘Bring in hither the lame, the halt, and the blind.’ As in our meetings the subject of temperance is presented, angels of God pass through the congregation, convicting and converting souls.” PUR, November 6, 1902.

“To make plain natural law, and urge the obedience of it, is the work that accompanies the third angel’s message, to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.” CDF 69.

Teaching Reinforced by Example“Precept and practice make impressions because

precept and practice are a power when not divorced but combined. It is truth exemplified that becomes a power. But it does not stop here. We have found that where strict temperance is not only held forth in discourses before the

public but exemplified at our tables, a decided impression is made upon the community, and they are desirous to cooperate.” 20MR 353.

Preserving Health of Primary Importance “Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths.

On the subject of temperance they should be in advance of all other people. The question of how to preserve the health is one of primary importance. When we study this question in the fear of God, we shall learn that it is best, both for our physical health and for our spiritual advancement, to observe simplicity in diet. Let us patiently study this question. We need knowledge and judgment, in order to move wisely in this matter. Nature’s laws are not to be resisted, but obeyed.” MM 273.

“Let Him Deny Himself…”“Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come

after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profiteth, if he shall gain the whole world, and lost his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mat 16:24-6.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service….” Romans 12:1. Ω

This study was compiled from the Word of God and the writ-ings of Ellen G. White.


Bible& Spirit of Prophecy

Quiz


Q U E S T I O N S1 What does “psalm” mean, and what is another name for the Book of Psalms?

2 Who wrote the psalms?

3 What are the individual names usually given to the three woven curtains at the entrance to the courtyard, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place?

4 Who writes the names in the Book of Life?

5 Does the heavenly sanctuary have a courtyard?

6 Did the sanctuary priesthood end at the cross?

7 Who supplied and who wrote upon the first two tablets of stone, and the second two?

8 What does the word “Ecclesiastes” mean in the Hebrew?

9 Which two authors wrote the most in the New Testament?

10 Which Bible book and chapter enumerates the qualifications for ministers and deacons?

11 What group of the dead will not rise in any resurrection?

12 How did Solomon know the divine pattern for building the Temple?

13 If “man did eat angels’ food” (Ps 78:25), does that mean angels eat manna?

14 When Satan and his angels were expelled from heaven, where were they sent?

15 What claim of divinity did Satan make to Jesus during the temptation in the wilderness?

16 In Solomon’s Temple, how many cherubim guarded the ark in the Most Holy Place?

17 Revelation 13:13 tells us that in the very last days, Satan will be permitted to “make fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” On what occasion does Scripture record his already having doing that?

18 On what occasion did Satan want to rain down fire (“lightning” RH 9.30.73) but was not permitted to?

19 Who knocked down the walls of temple in Jerusalem, so that not one massive stone was left atop another?

20 Eve is the “mother of all living” (Gen 3:20), but who is the “mother of us all,” meaning the spiritual “mother” of all Christians?

21 What book mentioned in the Bible contains “the history of all ruling powers in the nations … from the beginning of earth’s history to its close”?

22 In the “final coronation of the Son of God” as He sits on His throne “far above the city” of New Jerusalem after it has descended from heaven onto the earth, who is it that places a crown upon the head of Christ?

23 Of what person does Inspiration record this unfortunate character assessment: “With no fixed purpose to do evil, he was also without resolution to stand boldly for the right. Convicted though he was of the value of the counsel given by [the prophet], he had not the moral stamina to obey; and as a consequence he advanced steadily in the wrong direction”?

24 Where now is the ark of the covenant that used to be in Solomon’s temple?

25 What was in the Most Holy Place of the temple built after the captives’ return from Babylon?

26 Does anything of the second temple remain?

27 What occupies the site where the temple once stood?28 Why is the second temple, built after the return from Babylon, called “Herod’s temple”?

29 If Jesus “took not on him the nature of angels” (Hebrews 2:16), then how could He be the “Angel of the Lord” (Ex 3:2; Gen 22:11-18); the “Michael the archangel;” the “highest of all the angels” (Ms 111, 1897); and part of the “angelic host” (Ms 101, 1897; 12MR 395)?

30 Acts 18:21 speaks of Paul. He “bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.” The upcoming feast was Pentecost. Why would Paul want to keep a feast, since feast days had met their antitype in Christ?


1 Sacred song, and the Psalter.2 David, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Heman the Ezrahite, Ethan the Ezrahite, Solomon, Jeduthun, and Moses. They were the authors or contributors, compilers, musicians, or otherwise involved with the psalms.

3 Respectively, the gate, the door, and the veil.4 God does. Exodus 32:32-33: “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.”

5 Yes. It’s the earth.6 No. It was transferred to the heavenly sanctuary at the ascension of Christ.

7 God supplied the first set; Moses, the second. God Himself wrote on both sets, on both sides. Ex 32:15-16; 34:1.

8 Preacher (Solomon, as well as divine Wisdom speaking through him).

9 Paul and Luke.10 1st Timothy 3.11 Those whom God mercifully permits to be as if they never were. See EW 276.2.

12 The Lord revealed the pattern to King David, who wrote it out for Solomon. 1 Chron 28:10-12, 19. David was also permitted to gather the materials for the temple’s construction, but not to build it.

13 Not necessarily. “‘Man did eat angels’ food;’ that is, food provided for them by the angels.” ST 4.15.80; PP 297.

14 2 Peter 2:4: “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment….” In the Greek, hell in this usage (Strong’s 5020) means “a subterranean abyss of Greek mythology…. consigned or cast into Tartarus. It is part of the realm of death designated in Scripture as Sheol … and Hades…. Peter has adapted a word and not adopted a [pagan] theology.” S. Zodhiates, Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. “God cast the apostate angels out of his presence into that … blackness of darkness… where they will be forever banished from the light of his countenance…. By chains of darkness we are to understand a place of darkness and wretchedness, from which it is impossible for them to escape.” A. Clarke, Commentary. Creation week had not yet occurred. It was “after the expulsion of Satan and his angels [that] ‘the Father consulted Jesus in regard to at once carrying out their purpose to make man inhabit the earth.” ST 1.9.79, emphasis supplied. Hence Creation week may have begun very soon after Christ’s

interview with Satan; for by the time ‘creation’ week had begun, Gabriel is called ‘the brightest and most exalted of the sons of the morning [who] heralded… [Christ’s] glory at creation.’” ST 1.4.83. “When God the Father set forth the true position of His Son” in heaven before the angels who were becoming confused or disaffected by Satan’s lies, “Christ was still to exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants.” PP 36.

15 Satan told Jesus that he (Satan) “was the angel that stayed the hand of Abraham as the knife was raised to slay Isaac….” RH 8.4.74 “…Satan was, in effect, claiming to be the preincarnate Christ.” Ibid.

16 Four. Two on the ark, and two larger ones on the floor, made of olive wood overlaid with gold. I Kings 6:23-38. Four angels also accompanied the ark of God in all its travels on earth, too. See 1 SP 399.

17 Job 1:16, when fire assumed to be from God consumed Job’s sheep and shepherds.

18 During the challenge of Elijah to the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. PK 150.

19 Angels of God. 21 MR 66.20 “Jerusalem which is above.” Gal 4:26. That Jerusalem is free, being of faith, as are her “offspring.” The earthly Jerusalem of the Jews was “in bondage with her children” because it and they came to trust in works of the law for salvation.

21 The book with seven seals. Revelation 5:1-5.22 Gabriel, “an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence.” Satan “knows that the exalted position of this angel might have been his.” GC 669.

23 Zedekiah, king of Judah. Because of his fear of public opinion, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Babylonians. PK 457-460.

24 The only possibly historical reference to the present location of the ark is found in the 2 Maccabees 2:4-5, which states that Jeremiah, “following a divine revelation, ordered that the tabernacle and the ark should accompany him, and ... he went off to the mountain which Moses climbed to see God’s inheritance [i.e., Mt. Nebo]. When Jeremiah arrived there, he found a room in a cave in which he put the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense; then he blocked up the entrance.” Ellen White wrote, “Among the righteous still in Jerusalem … were some who determined to place beyond the reach of ruthless hands the sacred ark containing the tables of stone…. With mourning and sadness they secreted the ark in a cave, where it was to be hidden from the people of Israel and Judah because of their sins, and was to be no more restored to them. That sacred ark is yet hidden. It has never been disturbed since it was secreted.” PK453.

2 5 In the first Temple the visible presence of Jehovah showed itself in the cloud of the Shekinah above the mercy seat covering the Ark of the Testimony. On either side

A N S W E R S


A N S W E R Sof the Shekinah were the outspread wings of the cherubim. On the Day of Atonement the high priest placed the censer between the staves of the ark. But in the Temple of Herod there was neither Shekinah nor ark, so the high priest rested his censer on a large stone called the “foundation-stone.” The Mishnah states: “After the Ark was taken away, a stone lay there from the time of the early Prophets and it was called Foundation. It was three fingerbreadths high” (Yoma 5:2). Also, “the second temple … [was not] hallowed by those visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained to the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedication. No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected sanctuary. No fire from heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no longer abode between the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the mercy seat, and the tables of testimony were not found there.” PK 596. Nevertheless, “in being honored with the personal presence of Christ during His earthly ministry, and in this alone, did the second temple exceed the first in glory. The ‘Desire of all nations’ had indeed come to His temple, when the Man of Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts.” Ibid., 597.

26 The only substantial structure remaining from this time period is known as the Wailing Wall, and is considered the holiest place in the Judean world.

27 The Islamic Dome of the Rock mosque.28 Herod lavishly renovated and expanded the second temple and the surrounding temple mount. Religious worship and temple rituals continued during the reconstruction. (He built a different temple to the goddess Roma about the same time in Caesarea.)

29 It is a mistranslation of Hebrews 2:16. The NKJV reads, “For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.” The NIV reads, “For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham’s descendants.” The NASB reads, “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.” See Vol. 7 of the SDABC, p. 407.

3 0 The commentary for Acts 18:21 says that “textual evidence favors the omission of the words ‘I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but.’” Although those words are also retained in the NKJV, they are in fact properly omitted in the NIV, the RSV, the New English Bible, the NASB, and perhaps others. The commentary explains that they perhaps were inserted because of the information in chapter 20, verse 16. SOP does affirm, though, that Paul was on his way to Jerusalem to “attend an approaching festival.” AA 269. Acts 20:16 tells us Paul “hasted …to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.” The Bible does not record just why Paul wanted to be in Jerusalem for the feast. Possible reasons are given on p. 389 (verse 16) in the commentary (large gathering of

Jewish Christians from all over Palestine, making a more efficient distribution of the relief offering he was taking there; possible positive association with outpouring of Spirit on previous Pentecost). In any event, “keeping the feast” was not necessarily his reason. Despite warnings not to go there because of danger (Acts 21:4, 10-14; these were not divine commands not to go, which Paul would not have disobeyed.), Paul must have felt compelled to go, because he went anyway. We note, however, that in chapter 21, when Paul arrived in Jerusalem (v. 17), no mention is made of his keeping the feast day there. He promptly met with the elders in Jerusalem, who had heard of the spread of the gospel in Asia. They (perhaps unwisely) advised Paul to perform a purification ritual in the temple, in order to quell divisive rumors about him. This he did. Again, no mention of keeping any feast day. He was taken from the temple by an angry mob of Jews and saved by Roman soldiers, who put him into chains until they could determine what the cause of the tumult. Not once did Paul express his disappointment over not keeping the feast. The addition of words in Acts 18:21 and elsewhere, which “textual evidence may be cited” for its omission, do not diminish the integrity of God’s Word. Only those who “search” the Scriptures, and “study to show themselves approved,” will gain the solid understandings necessary to preserve them when the evil one attempts to weaken their faith and their confidence in God’s Word. All that we need for our salvation has been provided. When a verse seems to contradict another or others, one can learn the truth of the matter by deeper study.

Questions and Answers for numbers 13-26, excepting 23 and 25, were derived from Angels and the Unseen Conflict by Donald and Vesta Mansell (Pacific Press, 2000). Ω


PRESERVING BLUEBERRIESWant a way to preserve blueberries without freezing (fast, but unreliable electricity), canning (hot work, and nutrients lost) or dehydrating (time-consuming,

with uneven success)? Here’s a tried-and-true method dating back well over 100 years: salting! Yes, salt not only preserves meat and vegetables, but also fruit. Here’s how:

Check over the berries, putting side any broken, bruised or over-ripe juicy ones for immediate use. Put the firm ones DRY into quart bottles, lightly shaking to settle down and leaving about one inch of headroom. Colored glass should be used unless they can be stored in a completely dark area. Add one teaspoon of salt to the berries and agitate gently, just enough to work the salt down through. (If using pint jars, use ½ teaspoon.) Seal it; a screw-top lid, hand-tightened, is adequate. Without further shaking, put into storage in any available, preferably dark, spot. The berries will create a small amount of juice but remain firm. They neither ferment nor spoil, and will keep indefinitely. Use them just as you would fresh ones. The salt won’t flavor them, and extra sweetening won’t be needed.

Salting 1 teaspoon per quart is excellent for storing berries anywhere remote, since they can be left with no worry about weather changes. However, if stored where the temperature changes from hot to very cold, pressure in the jar will build up, and when the jar is opened, the contents will “explode.” The solution: If it is warm inside but has been previously freezing, to relieve the pressure, let the bottles cool outside a few minutes before opening, or else carefully and slowly unscrew the lid, which you’ve covered with a hand-held cloth, till you hear a hiss of released air.

June berries, currants, wild cherries (perhaps even gooseberries and very small varieties of grapes—ed.)—any berry that is fairly small with firm skin—are prime salting subjects. Unfortunately, it is not recommended for soft-skinned or large berries such as raspberries, strawberries, or regular-size grapes.

From Backwoods Home Magazine, Nov/Dec 1991

CANNING RASPBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, BOYSENBERRIES, MULBERRIES, ETC.Raspberries and similar soft berries can be canned conventionally without any sweetener. Just fill the jars with berries and smash them down tightly to

remove any air space. When ready to be used, sweeten 1 pint berries with 2 ripe bananas and blend until smooth (bananas keep them from being too runny), or blend with ½ can of apple juice concentrate mixed with 6 oz. water and 2T of Clear Jel or similar product.

According to the same source, Dole sells a variety of fruit concentrates to enhance the flavor of canned fruits without adding further sweetener: Mountain Cherry, Orchard Peach, and Country Raspberry. One can also use unsweetened pineapple juice or grape or apple juice concentrates as sweeteners. All but the pineapple juice should be diluted with water and/or apple juice. To sweeten canned peaches, one can puree some peaches and use the puree instead of another sweetener.

Source: Country Cabin Cooking by Allison and Emily Waters.

TIP FOR QUICK CANNING OF FRUITIf the canning jar you use is hot, and if the fruit you put in the jar has been brought to the boiling point and then is immediately put into the hot jar, then all you

need to do is immediately put the hot jar lid on, screw on the outer ring, and turn it upside down to cool. The heat will seal the jar, and the upside-down position will prevent any air from getting in or out. You will not need to put the jar into the canner at all. This system works with fruit only. It does NOT work when canning vegetables; they need some time in the canner.

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AS A LEAVENING AGENTThis may take a bit of experimentation, but over-the-counter, 3% commercial grade hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (NOT 35%) can be used to raise a batter instead

of baking soda or powder, which “causes inflammation of the stomach and often poisons the entire system.” MH 300-302. Always stir it in gently and allow it to act (raise the batter) before baking.

An article about how to use hydrogen peroxide in baking appeared in the Berkeley Daily Gazette, dated October 28, 1937: “… Mixing the dough with a little bit of hydrogen peroxide will make it rise just like yeast or baking powder. The peroxide is the sole leavening agent…. It leaves no residues. In decomposing it gives off oxygen, which causes the bread to rise, and plain water.

“The amount of hydrogen peroxide necessary is small. In making a loaf of bread, the hydrogen peroxide is added to the water or milk with which the dough is prepared. After the dough is formed, it is put in pans and the loaves are allowed to stand until the dough rises. Then they are baked in the usual way. It is in cakes and biscuit-making that hydrogen peroxide as a substitute for other leaveners appears to be at its best.

“… Comparative tests on breads made with yeast in the usual way and with hydrogen peroxide … found that the peroxide bread has as good a grain and fully as good a volume as the yeast bread, and a better texture. In taste, however, the bread was inferior to the yeast bread. In cake and biscuits the difference in taste is not so noticeable….”

This process was patented in 1939 (#2,178,959). If problems in baking with hydrogen peroxide are experienced, one can find trouble-shooting advice in the patent’s text, which can be found at www.google.com/patents/US2178959.pdf

YET ANOTHER USE FOR LEMONSA testimony: “My son went to Guyana as a missionary bush pilot. While there, he got bitten by mosquitos. The mission failed due to misinformation he had

received before going, so within 3 weeks he was home again. He had been back only about a week before he became deathly ill. My husband and I did all we could for him with herbs, but the third night, my husband knew our son was dying, so he took him into our local little hospital. While they were getting ready to leave, I went to the computer and searched online for some answers. I found that all his symptoms matched ‘jungle fever’ exactly.

“I called my husband’s cell phone while he was driving to the hospital and told him my findings, so when they got to the hospital at midnight, my husband told the attending physician that the boy had jungle fever. Well, not having had much to do with doctors for a long time, we learned the hard way that you don’t TELL a doctor what is wrong with you. The man became enraged; he would do nothing for our boy. He simply put him in a room on a table and left him there for a while.

“My husband, after hearing some talk in the hall between the doctor and a nurse, picked up our son, carried him out to the van, and headed back home. He called to tell me what was going on, so I was ready for them by the time they arrived. I had remembered that in the book ‘Back to Eden,’ Jethro Kloss says to use lemons for malaria, so I used our last 5 lemons, blending them in a quart of hot water. I gave it to my son to drink. In a few minutes he was sleeping.

“We all went to bed, and in the morning I left for town to buy lemons. I came home with 20 pounds of lemons and 18 pounds of limes. I began making him a gallon of lemon/lime water at a time. In two days he was on his feet helping his father with construction, but he kept drinking a gallon of lemon/lime water a day for three weeks. He never has had a relapse of jungle fever as most people do, and that was well over a year and a half ago.”

God’s simple methods of healing really work. I am thankful for the power of the lemon, for we are told by the servant of the Lord that quinine should NEVER be used, as it is very detrimental to the liver.

FREEZE SOME LEMONSLemon peels contain far more vitamins than lemon juice itself—and most of us have been discarding the peels! From now on, freeze some washed, whole,

ORGANIC (unsprayed) lemons and simply grate them on top of every dish you wish. A nurse who cared for Ellen White in her declining years stated that Mrs. White said that although God has blocked mankind’s access to the tree of life, He has given us the lemon tree to prolong life and health. Most readers are aware of the many benefits of lemons to human health. Ω

THE COOK’S CORNER


“Go Ye Out to Meet Him”

I n the periodical [Midnight] Cry of October 3, 1844, was an article written by George Storrs, under the heading “Go Ye Out to Meet Him,” in which he said,

“…The present strong cry of time commenced about the middle of July, and has spread with great rapidity and pow-er, and is attended with a demonstration of the Spirit, such as I never witnessed when the cry was ‘1843.’ It is now lit-erally, ‘Go ye out to meet him.’ There is a leaving all that I never dreamed could be seen. When this cry gets hold of the heart, farmers leave their farms, with their crops. There is a strong crying with tears, and a consecration of all to God, such as I never witnessed. There is a confidence in this truth such as was never felt in the previous cry, in the same degree, and a weeping or melting glory in it that passes all understanding except to those who have felt it. “On this present truth, I, through grace, dare venture all,

and feel that to indulge in doubt about it would be to offend God and bring upon myself ‘swift destruction.’ I am satisfied that now ‘whosoever shall seek to save his life,’ where this cry has been fairly made, by indulging in an ‘if it don’t come,’ or by a fear to venture out on this truth, ‘shall lose his life.’ It requires the same faith that led Abraham to offer up Isaac, or Noah to build the ark, or Lot to leave Sodom, or the chil-dren of Israel to stand all night waiting for their departure out of Egypt, or for Daniel to go into the lions’ den, or the three Hebrews into the fiery furnace. We have fancied that we were going into the kingdom without such a test of faith, but I am satisfied we are not. This last truth brings such a test, and none will venture upon it but such as dare to be ac-counted fools, madmen, or anything else that antediluvian Sodomites, a lukewarm church, or sleeping virgins are dis-posed to heap upon them. Once more would I cry, ‘Escape for thy life;’ ‘Look not behind you;’ ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’ “

Storrs’ Flat RockIn the Midnight Cry of Oct. 10, 1844, there appeared,

from the pen of George Storrs, the following,… called by the Adventists, “Storrs’ Flat Rock:” “How shall we be ready for that day?--Believe God’s truth,

and venture out upon it, by strong faith that gives glory to God. We must have the same state of mind that we would have if we knew we were to die upon that day, the same en-tire consecration to God and deadness to the world. “I cannot better illustrate what I mean than to suppose a

large flat rock in the midst of the ocean. A promise is made by a glorious and mighty prince that at a given time he will send a splendid steamer to carry all persons whom he shall find there with the evidence that they fully credited his word, to a glorious country. Many venture out to the rock. Some, when they are safe on the rock, cut the rope, and their craft with which they came there drifts away from them, and they look after it no more, but are watching for the ar-rival of the steamship. They have no doubt of the truth of the promise, and risk all upon it. Others who come there think it is enough that they are on the rock. But they would be ‘wise’ and not run too great a risk. “‘According to thy faith be it unto thee’ had been sounded

before the time the steamer was expected. The day arrives. The prudent ones, it may be, intend to cut their boats loose, and let them float off, if they see the steamer coming. It appears in sight; but now it is too late to let go their boats without being discovered; and besides, the same prudence would dictate now that they do not let their boats float away till they are certain that they are not mistaken in the ap-proaching vessel. Now it comes so near that they cannot possibly cut loose without being discovered. “The steamer arrives at the rock. ‘What is the evidence

that you had implicit confidence in the promise of the arrival

Venture Now& Venture All

Excerpted fromThe Great Second Advent Movement:

Its Rise and Progress,by John N. Loughborough

Words from Our Pioneers


of the steamer?’-’Our boats are cut loose, and have floated away from us, so that we could not possibly get to land, and must have perished if the steamer had not arrived, for it is a rock where no other vessel ever passes.’ ‘That is enough,’ cries the commander of the steam vessel; ‘come on board; such confidence shall not be disappointed.’ “Those who had kept their

boats made fast to the rock now crowd around and strive to get on board the steamer. The commander asks, ‘What mean those boats I see made fast to the rocks yonder, or whose ropes have only been cut since I arrived in sight?’ They answer, ‘We thought we would be prudent, so that if the steam-er did not arrive, we might have something with which to get back to land.’ ‘You made provision for the flesh, then,’ cries the commander, ‘did you, and so doubted my words? According to thy faith be it unto thee. The evidence is against you. You made provision to return, and now you must reap the fruit of your unbe-lief.’ ‘So they could not enter in because of unbelief.’ O, awful state of despair! “Cut your ropes now, brethren; let your boats float out

of sight; yea, make haste before the ‘sign of the Son of man appear.’ Then it will be too late. Venture now, and venture all. O, my heart is pained for you; don’t dally; push off that boat, or you are lost; for ‘whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it,’ so saith Jesus Christ, our Lord and Judge. Make haste, then, once more I entreat you, O make haste! Let go every boat by which you are now calculating to es-cape to land; ‘if it don’t come.’ That ‘if’ will ruin you. It is now the last trial and temptation. Do as our Lord did with the last temptation of the devil- ‘Get thee hence, Satan,’ said he. Then the devil leaveth him, and ‘behold, angels came and ministered unto him.’ So will it be with you when you have gained this triumph.”

Rapid Work of the Midnight CryAs to the rapidity, power, and effect of the message of

the “midnight cry,” we gain a correct idea from the words of N. Southard, editor of the paper from which we have previously quoted-the Midnight Cry. In the copy dated Oct. 31, 1844, he says:“At first the definite time was generally opposed; but

there seemed to be an irresistible power attending its proc-lamation, which prostrated all before it. It swept over the land with the velocity of a tornado, and it reached hearts

in different and distant places almost simultaneously, and in a manner which can be accounted for only on the

supposition that God was in it. It produced everywhere the most deep searching of

heart and humiliation of soul before High Heaven. It caused a weaning of affections from the things of this world, a healing of contro-versies and animosities, a con-fession of wrongs, a break-ing down before God, and penitent, broken-hearted supplications to him for pardon and acceptance. It caused self-abasement and prostration of soul, such as we never before witnessed. As God, by Joel, commanded, when the great day of God should be at hand, it produced a rending of hearts and not of

garments, and a turning unto the Lord with fasting and weeping and

mourning. As God said by Zechariah, a spirit of grace and supplication was poured

out upon his children; they looked to him whom they had pierced, and there was a great mourning in the land, every family apart, and their wives apart; and those who were looking for the Lord afflicted their souls before him.”

…Worldly Possessions Disposed ofUnder the stirring proclamation of the advent doctrine,

many disposed of their worldly possessions, using their substance in sustaining the public speakers in their labor, or scattering the printed papers and tracts, or supplying the wants of the needy, thus giving to the world the best evidence of their sincerity and earnestness; while those who clung to their earthly possessions, and made no special sacrifice for the work, were marked by the worldling as not really believing what they professed. By way of illustration I will give two instances, one on each side of the question.

A Potato Field The first is that of a believer who lived in New Ipswich,

N.H., by the name of Hastings, who had a large field of splen-did potatoes which he left undug. His neighbors were anx-ious about them and came to him offering to dig them and put them in the cellar for him free, if he would let them, “for,” said they, “you may want them.” “No!” said Mr. Hastings, “I am going to let that field of potatoes preach my faith in the Lord’s soon appearing.”

That fall, as may be learned from the Claremont (N.H.) Eagle, the New York True Sun, and various other public journals, the potato crop was almost a total loss from the


“potato rot.” As expressed in the Sun, “How painful it is to learn that whole crops of this valuable esculent have been destroyed by the rot. A correspondent of a Philadelphia pa-per says the potato crop in that State is ruined. The only section from which little complaint is heard, is Maine, but even there the crop has not escaped the disease.”

As the fall was mild, and Mr. Hastings’s potatoes were left in the ground until November, none of them rotted. Con-sequently he had an abundant supply for himself and his unfortunate neighbors who had been so solicitous for his welfare the previous October, and who, in the spring, were obliged to buy seed potatoes of him, and were glad to pay a good price for them. What they supposed was going to be such a calamity to Mr. Hastings, God turned to a temporal blessing, and not only to him, but to his neighbors also.

Denied His FaithThe second instance occurred in my own place of res-

idence. It was that of a church-member who had much to say in meeting about the Lord’s coming in the fall of 1844. He was a man of considerable property, and among other things, had a lot of hogs at just the right age for keeping over for the spring market. An uncle of mine, who made no reli-gious pretensions, and whose business was the buying and selling of stock, went to this professed Adventist to buy his hogs, but learned from him that he did not wish to sell them, as he was going to keep them over till next spring for “store hogs.” Uncle came to my grandfather, who was an Adventist believer, and said, “That man doesn’t believe what he pro-fesses.” “Why?” asked grandfather. “Because,” said uncle, “he says the Lord is coming, and the world is coming to an end this fall, but he wants to keep his hogs till next spring. He need not talk to me; he doesn’t believe a word of it.”

Means Offered Too LateThere were men who held on to their means, struggling

all the while under the conviction that they should use it to advance the work, until it was too late to invest it. Such came to those engaged in printing the message, urging them with tears to accept their money, but the reply was, “You are too late! We have paid for all the printing matter we can possibly circulate before the end. We have hired sev-eral power presses to run night and day; we do not want any more money.” An eyewitness testified to me that he saw men lay thousands of dollars on the desk before the pub-lisher of the Voice of Truth, and in anguish of spirit beg of him to take it and use it. The reply was, “You are too late! We don’t want your money now! We can’t use it!” Then they asked, “Cannot it be given to the poor?” The answer was the same, “We have made provision for the immediate wants of all such that we can reach.” In distress of mind the men took away their money, declaring that the frown of God was upon them for their lack of faith, and for the covetousness which had led them to withhold means from the cause of

God when it was needed and would have been gladly used. Ω

This article was excerpted from chapter 10 of The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, by J. N. Loughbor-ough, pages 161- 168, written in 1905 and republished by Adventist Pioneer Library in 1992 (www.aplib.org).


W hat position should Adventists take in relation to the ecumenical movement? First, we should not set out on a program of denouncing all who are

leaders in the movement. God judges men by their motives, the state of their heart.

But though we should not judge them, we cannot join them. That should be transparently clear to every Ad-ventist who knows anything of the real spirit and nature of the Advent Movement. The essence of the ecumenical movement is “Come in.” But at the very heart of the Advent Movement is the command, “Come out.” Indeed, only as we preach this command and call on men to be obedient can there be any Advent Movement. Let us never forget that most primary fact.

Otherwise our evangelistic preaching would produce only Sabbathkeeping Methodists, sanctuary-believing Presbyterians, and state-of-the-dead-believing Baptists; and so we might go on. But the Advent people are one peo-ple—because we have come out. Pray tell, what else could we do but come out? Political ideas may set men apart in the world of political parties, but it is doctrinal ideas that set men apart in the world of religion.At the heart of the ecumenical movement is the policy

to softpedal what its communicants cannot agree on. How else could such a movement gain cohesion or make progress at all? At the very heart of the Advent Movement is the con-viction that we should emphasize our distinctive doctrines. Is not this in large part the explanation for our growth? True, we hold certain prime Christian doctrines in common with all other Christian people, but let us never forget that it is not our theological points of agreement but our points of difference that justify our existence as a separate people. And it is only as we keep these points of difference clear that we protect against blurring out the edges of Adventism in a disordered world. It is to us an idea abhorrent and impos-sible that one should be able gradually to move from the Ad-

ventist faith into some other faith.To anyone among us who would say, Let’s join the ecu-

menical movement, we would ask: How do you understand the second angel’s message, a message that is in the center of the threefold message, which is the prime justification for our existence? If ever there was a people who must stand alone, it is the people who believe in the second angel’s mes-sage, a message that must be understood in the larger con-text of Revelation 18:4.

For anyone to say, Let’s join the ecumenical movement and go along with it until we are forced to leave is really to say, Let us operate within the fold of ecumenism, as long as we can, a program that is the very antithesis of what that movement stands for. We all know that the day is coming when Adventists will be denounced for their beliefs, but let not that denunciation include the charge that we are deceit-ful. God forbid!

Someone in the ecumenical movement may say to us, Come, join; you can still keep your Sabbath. They have said precisely that to us when we have sat as a reporter at their major meetings. Undoubtedly, we still could keep the Sab-bath, and for some indefinite time into the future. But we should remember that we are not only to keep the Sabbath but to proclaim it, to seek to persuade others to keep it also.

But why labor the point? Seventh-day Adventists simply cannot be a part of the ecumenical movement. The Adven-tist who does not realize that we must stand alone has not really grasped what the genius of the Advent Movement is. Really, the ecumenical movement is a challenge to us to sharpen and strengthen our reasons for the existence of Adventism as a distinct and separate religious force in the world. It is true today in a way that it never was before, that we must be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within us. If we are not prepared to give good reasons why we should stand alone, then what reason can we give for not yoking up with the ecumenical movement? That is the

Why We Cannot JoinF. D. N ichol


S atan’s first attempt to cause doubt or confusion re-garding God’s word came in Eden. “Yea, hath God said…?” Since then, he has been unrelenting in his di-

verse efforts to either keep the Scriptures from humanity, or to change their wording by addition or subtraction, so that the truth cannot be learned in those pages. One strong effort he made later in history concerned the apocrypha. The Greek work apocrypha, meaning “hidden,” is the name Jerome coined for allegedly inspired writings penned in the period between the Old and New Testaments. They existed in the Greek Septuagint OT but not in the Hebrew. They were semi-historical Jewish moral stories, in which one can read inaccurate history and such concepts as salvation by works, prayers for the dead, purgatory, and other pagan teachings.

NO CONSENSUSIn AD 1546, the Vatican at the Council of Trent declared

the Apocrypha to be “Holy Writ” and officially part of the Catholic Old Testament, Orthodox Christians and most Catholics may disagree on the legitimacy of a few of them but, generally speaking, consider them to be legitimate parts of the Old Testament, though they often regard them as having “lesser status.” However, how could they be re-garded as a legitimate part of the sacred, inerrant Word

and yet be “lesser”? Are there degrees of sacred truth? Are some verses somehow less inspired or less true than oth-ers? Or, more honestly, are some of these books simply not inerrant? And if that’s the case, why are they included in any church’s Holy Writ?

Jews and Protestants claim the apocryphal books are not part of the Old Testament. They point out that neither Jesus nor His disciples ever quoted or acknowledged in any way any of the books of the Apocrypha. They also point out the historical and doctrinal errors in those books.Our inspired counsel is, “To the law and to the testimo-

ny: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa 8:20. If these apocryphal writ-ings contain error, then they have no light, and there is no reason for us to read them. If God’s Word is true, and error exists in the Apocrypha, then the latter are not God’s Word.

DOCTRINAL ERRORSAnd, in fact, the apocryphal writings have numerous

doctrinal errors. For example, Tobit 12:9 and 14:10-11 teach that works merit salvation --specifically, that giving alms is sufficient for forgiveness of sin: “For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life.” “…Manasses

question that churchmen would finally ask us.Either God has called out a special people with a special

message in the last days, or He has not. The answer to that question decides our whole religious program for the fu-ture; indeed, decides the fate of the Advent Movement. If we do not believe that God has called out a people, a remnant people (Rev. 12:17), who are uniquely His own as an orga-nized movement, then why should we stand out against the appeal of ecumenicity, an appeal to join one great church?

Finally, the ecumenical movement should make us more conscious than ever before of the times in which we live. The end is near. Read the closing chapters of

The Great Controversy and let that conviction roll upon you again. It is the uniting of the great religious bodies that makes possible the final conflict. And in that conflict we cannot be ecumenical. Ω

Review and Herald, March 18, 1965

Elder F. D. Nichol (1897-1966) was a minister and author of over 20 books and innumerable articles. He also served as edi-tor of the Review and Herald for 21 years and editor of the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary.

THE APOCRYPHA

Jean Handwerk


gave alms, and escaped the snares of death which they had set for him: but Aman fell into the snare, and perished. Wherefore now, my son, consider what alms doeth, and how righteousness doth deliver….”

Sirach 3:3 also claims that one can be saved by one’s works, without the accompaniment of faith. It states that obedience to one’s father atones for sins, without mention of repentance and confession: “Who-so honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins.” Verse 8 in the prayer of Manas-

sas states that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were sinless: “There-fore thou, O Lord, God of the righteous, hast not appointed repentance for the righteous, for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against thee, but thou hast appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner.” Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

In II Maccabees, verses 39-45, one reads the doctrine that one can pray on behalf of the dead, and make sin offerings to atone for their sins: “And upon the day following, as the use had been, Judas and his company came to take up the bodies of them that were slain, and to bury them with their kinsmen in their fathers’ graves. Now under the coats of every one that was slain they found things consecrated to the idols of the Jam-nites, which is forbidden the Jews by the law. Then every man saw that this was the cause wherefore they were slain. All men therefore praising the Lord, the righteous Judge, who had opened the things that were hid, Betook them-selves unto prayer, and besought him that the sin commit-ted might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, that noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forsomuch as they saw before their eyes the things that came to pass for the sins of those that were slain. And when he had made a gathering throughout the company to the sum of two thousand drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusa-lem to offer a sin offering, doing therein very well and hon-estly, in that he was mindful of the resurrection: For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.”

Yet Romans 2:12 teaches, “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as

have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.” How people have lived their lives

relative to the law of God is what determines whether they have indeed “chosen life” or death. Everyone determines his/her own eternal destiny.

Sirach 42:13 teaches that women are evil: “For from garments cometh a moth, and from women wicked-ness.” Sirach 25:24-26 states that one can divorce a wife for dis-obedience to her hus-band: “Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we

all die. Give the water no passage; neither a wicked

woman liberty to gad abroad. If she go not as thou wouldest have

her, cut her off from thy flesh, and give her a bill of divorce, and let her go.” Sirach’s

hatred of women extends even to 42:14: “Better is the wick-edness of a man than a woman who does good; and it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace.”

Sirach doesn’t seem to have been fond of children, either. 30:9-13 gives this severe counsel: “Cocker [pamper] thy child, and he shall make thee afraid: play with him, and he will bring thee to heaviness. Laugh not with him, lest thou have sorrow with him, and lest thou gnash thy teeth in the end. Give him no liberty in his youth, and wink not at his follies. Bow down his neck while he is young, and beat him on the sides while he is a child, lest he wax stubborn, and be disobedient unto thee, and so bring sorrow to thine heart. Chastise thy son, and hold him to labour, lest his lewd be-haviour be an offence unto thee.”

Sirach 30:28-9 contradicts Christ’s call for compassion on the needy, the destitute, the widows and orphans: “My son, lead not a beggar’s life; for better it is to die than to beg. The life of him that dependeth on another man’s ta-ble is not to be counted for a life; for he polluteth himself with other men’s meat: but a wise man well nurtured will beware thereof.”

Sirach 31:27 teaches that drinking wine is good for a person: “Wine is as good as life to a man, if it be drunk mod-

THE APOCRYPHA


erately: what life is then to a man that is without wine? For it was made to make men glad.”

In Wisdom 8:19-20, the writer claims he was born with-out taint of the fallen nature: “For I was a witty child, and had a good spirit. Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.”

In Tobit 6:1-8, the writer speaks of an angel of God who lies to Tobit. The writings identify the angel as Raphael, but the angel tells Tobit he is “Azarias, son of the great Ananias….” Scripture says Azarias was son of the high priest Zadok.This lying angel teaches Tobit’s son Tobias how to use

magic associated with fish organs to ward off evil spirits and heal diseases: “And as they went on their journey, they came in the evening to the river Tigris, and they lodged there. And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have devoured him. Then the angel said unto him, ‘Take the fish.’ And the young man laid hold of the fish, and drew it to land. To whom the angel said, ‘Open the fish, and take the heart and the liv-er and the gall, and put them up safely.’ So the young man did as the angel said; and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it; then they both went on their way, till they drew near to Ecbatane. Then the young man said to the an-gel, ‘Brother Azarias, to what use is the heart and the liver and the gall of the fish?’ And he said unto him, ‘Touching the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed. As for the gall, it is good to anoint a man that has whiteness in his eyes (cata-racts), and he shall be healed.’”

In chapter 8, the young man does what he is told. He burns the fish parts, and “the which smell when the evil spirit had smelled, he fled into the utmost parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him.” The fish gall is said to have healed father Tobit’s blind eyes, which blindness had been caused by a sparrow’s excrement falling into his eyes as he lay on the ground in the evening.

HISTORICAL ERRORS:Researchers cite up to fourteen historical errors or un-

supported facts in the chapters of Judith as related to peo-ple in and the geography of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Israel. Even the Catholic Jerusalem Bible (p. 602, 1966 ed.) says in its introductory comments that “these stories [Tobit, Judith, and the deuterocanonical portions of Esther] treat history and geography with a good deal of freedom. … The Book of Judith in particular shows a bland indifference to history and geography.”

But then the excuse is made that Judith wasn’t writ-ten for historical purposes, anyway, but for its story. The

Jerusalem Bible says, “The author seems deliberately to have defied history to distract the reader’s attention from the historical context and focus it exclusively on the reli-gious conflict and outcome.” (p. 603) However, that care-lessness in detail certainly would confound the counsel to search the Scriptures “precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” In fact, any inaccuracy in any of the apocryphal books would tend to do the same, had they been included in the Hebrew sacred canon. How curi-ous is the reasoning that error in one aspect would make truth in another aspect more compelling. And would it not be sacrilege to deliberately put misleading material within the sacred canon?(The same charge cannot be applied to Jesus’ parables,

for they were identified as parables and, by the very nature of parables, understood to be intended to make a single, direct point without correcting any other doctrinal misun-derstandings among the listeners. Furthermore, archeolo-gists are continually discovering that once-doubted histori-cal references in the Bible are indeed true.)

Such disregard of historical accuracy can be found in the very first verse of Judith, where the author identifies King Ne-buchadnezzar as king of the Assyrians in the city of Nineveh. The website http://www.biblequery.org/apoc.htm, whose listing of errors this article greatly utilized, details a few more questionable or erroneous historical statements in Judith:

THE APOCRYPHA

THE APOCRYPHA


“1. Nebuchadnezzar never sacked the cities of Ecbatana or Ragae. 2. Assyrians and Babylonians did not rely pre-dominately on their cavalry. 3. The Babylonian and Assyr-ian rulers wanted people to worship their gods, but not themselves (unlike later Romans and Persians). 4. The Jews had not returned from exile in the time of the Assyrians or Babylonians. 5. The Moabites and Ammonites were de-scendents of Lot; they were not Canaanites. 6. Babylonian General Holofernes and his massive campaign in Palestine are unknown to history and archaeology. 7. Nobody has ever found a city with towers called Bethulia on the plain of Esdraelon near Dothan, able to resist 132,000 soldiers. 8. Neither Balbaim nor Cyamon have ever been found. 9. Mordecai taken by Nebuchadnezzar (617 B.C.) 2nd year of Artaxerxes court (~130 years later). This contradicts the regular part of Esther (additions to Esther). 10. Haman was an Agagite, not a Macedonian (additions to Esther).”That same website reveals several historical or geo-

graphic errors in Tobit: “1. Tobit 1:4-5; 1:11-13; and 14:1-3 say Tobit saw the revolt of the northern tribes (997 B.C.); he was deported to Nineveh with Naphtali (740 B.C.) yet he only lived 102 years. 2. In Tobit 1:14, the city of Rages was a part of Media, and never a part of the Assyrian Empire. 3. In Tobit 6:1, they went from Nineveh to the Tigris River, and then east to Rage. Nineveh is on the Tigris River, so they did not need to go to the river to go east. 4. Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus did not destroy Nineveh, but Nabopolassar the Babylonian and Cyaxares the Mede destroyed it centu-ries before (Tobit 14:5). 5. Sennacherib was not the son of Shalmaneser, but Sargon II (Tobit 1:15).”These errors in II Maccabees were also revealed by the

same website: In verse “8:10, Nicanor wanted to pay 2,000 talents to the Romans [but] the Seleucids were not under the Romans. In 2 Maccabees 8:20, 8K [thousand] Seleucids plus 4K [thousand] Macedonians did not destroy 120,000 Galatians in Babylonia.”Additionally, the Book of Baruch begins as Judith does,

with a blatant error: “These are the words of the book writ-ten in Babylon by Baruch….” But there is no scriptural evi-dence that either Baruch or Jeremiah were ever in Babylon, although they were taken forcibly to Egypt from Jerusalem. Baruch 6:2 says the Jews would have to remain in Babylon seven generations, which contradicts Jeremiah’s prophecy of seventy years of captivity.Apocryphal words within the two extra chapters added

to Daniel (Daniel 14:23-30) include a fanciful story about a living serpent/dragon god named Bel whom the Babylo-nians worshipped, which Daniel killed by feeding it balls of pitch and hair and fat, and for which his life was de-manded by the Babylonians and forfeited by the king. Dan-iel was then thrown into a lion’s pit, where he was fed by Habbukuk and ultimately delivered seven days later. How-ever, Habbukuk predated Daniel and was never in Babylon.

In fact, it is likely Babylon had not risen to power during Habbukuk’s prophetic ministry.

REASON TO GIVE THANKSJerome came to accept only the Hebrew originals as di-

vinely inspired. The term apocrypha then served to make a needed distinction between those questionable writings and true, inspired scripture. However, in more recent times, a new term that is more ecumenically acceptable has been coined: deuterocanonical. Deutero means “two” or “second,” as in Deuteronomy being the “second book of the law;” canon,

as defined by an online dictionary, means “an ecclesiastical rule or law enacted by a council or other competent author-ity and, in the Roman Catholic Church, approved by the pope.” By referring to the Apocrypha as deuterocanonical, they are thus presented as officially approved and trust-worthy—a “second Bible,” in other words, or an additional one. In modern Bible translations, sometimes these decep-tive books are included.We have reason to give thanks to God for preserving

His Word through translations that are free from these ef-forts to confuse its sacred teachings or diminish its majesty. The canonical books of the Bible are consistent and can be trusted; they contain all that is needed to understand God’s plan of redemption for this lost race, and to choose to live thereby. The inerrant Bible has no “fellowship … with unrighteousness.” Light has no “communion … with dark-ness.” Christ has no “concord … with Belial.” 2 Cor 6:14. The Bible has no fellowship with the non-canonical books. Rather, His Word is a safe, sure lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path. Ω

Jean Handwerk writes from Washington on health and biblical topics.


WE READ with astonishment and perplexity, min-gled with sorrow, the false statement in Questions on Doctrine, p. 383, that Christ was “exempt from

the inherited passions and pollutions that corrupt the natu-ral descendants of Adam.” To appreciate the import of this assertion, we need to define “exempt” and “passions.”

The College Standard Dictionary defines “exempt:” “To free or excuse from some burdensome obligation; free, clear or excuse from some restriction or burden.” Webster’s New World Dictionary, College Edition defines exempt: “to take out, deliver, set free as from a rule which others must observe; excuse, release … freed from a rule, obligation, etc., which binds others; excused, released.… Exemption implies a release from some obligation or legal requirement, espe-cially when others are not so released.”

“Passion” is defined: “originally suffering or agony … any of the emotions as hate, grief, love, fear, joy; the agony and sufferings of Jesus during the crucifixion or during the period following the Last Supper. Passion usually implies a strong emotion that has an overpowering or compelling effect.” Passion is an inclusive word. While originally it has reference to sorrow, suffering, agony, it is not confined to these meanings nor to passions of the flesh only, but in-cludes all man’s emotions as mentioned above, as well as anger, sorrow, hunger, pity; it includes, in fact, all tempta-tions that incite men to action. To take these emotions away from a man, to exempt him from all temptation, results in a creature less than a man, a kind of no-man, a shadow man, a non-entity, which Markham calls a “brother to the ox.” Temptations are the character building ingredients of life for good or ill, as man reacts to them.

If Christ was exempt from the passions of mankind, He was different from other men, none of whom is so exempt. Such teaching is tragic, and completely contrary to what

Seventh-day Adventists have always taught and believed. Christ came as a man among men, asking no favors and receiving no special consideration. According to the terms of the covenant He was not to receive any help from God not available to any other man. This was a necessary con-dition if His demonstration was to be of any value and His work acceptable. The least deviation from this rule would invalidate the experiment, nullify the agreement, void the covenant, and effectively destroy all hope for man.

Satan’s contention has always been that God is unjust in requiring men to keep the law, and doubly unjust in punish-ing them for not doing what cannot be done, and what no one has ever done. His claim is that God ought at least to make a demonstration to show that it can be done, and done under the same conditions to which men are subject. Noah, Job, Abraham, David— all were good men, but all failed to come up to God’s high standard. “All men have sinned,” says Paul. Romans 3:23.

God was not moved by Satan’s challenge; for long be-fore, even from eternity, God had decided upon His course of action. Accordingly, when the time came, God sent “His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, and con-demned sin in the flesh.” Romans 8:3. Christ did not con-done sin in the flesh; He condemned it, and in so doing up-held the power and authority of the law. By dying on the cross He further enforced the law by paying the penalty required for its transgression, and upheld the infliction of its penalty. By paying its demand He was now in posi-tion to forgive without being accused of ignoring the law or setting it aside.

When it became evident that God intended to send His Son and in Him demonstrate that man can keep the law, Satan knew that this would constitute the crisis, and that he must overcome Christ or perish. One thing greatly

Jesus Exempted from Human Passions?

M . L . Andreasen

If God should exempt Christ from the passions

that corrupt the natural descendants of Adam,

Satan could claim that God played favorites, and

the test was invalid.


concerned him; would Christ come to this earth as a man with the limitations, weaknesses and infirmities which men had brought upon themselves because of excesses? If so, Satan believed he might overcome Him. If God should exempt Him from the passions that corrupt the natural descendants of Adam, he could claim that God played fa-vorites, and the test was invalid. In the following quota-tions we have God’s answer:

“God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life’s perils in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.” The Desire of Ages, 49.

“Many claim that it was impossible for Christ to be over-come by temptation. Then He could not have been placed in Adam’s position…. Our Saviour took humanity with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man with the possibility of yielding to temptation.” Ibid., 117.

“The temptations to which Christ was subject were a terrible reality. As a free agent He was placed on proba-tion with liberty to yield to Satan’s temptations and work at cross purposes with God. If this were not so, if it had not been possible for Him to fall, He could not have been tempted in all points as the human family is tempted.” The Youth’s Instructor, Oct. 28, 1899.

“When Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the ef-fects of sin were upon him. He stood in the strength of per-fect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body…. It was not thus with Jesus when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depth of his degradation.” The Desire of Ages, 117.

Christ “vanquished Satan in the same nature over which Satan obtained the victory. The enemy was overcome by Christ in His human nature. The power of the Saviour’s Godhead was hidden. He overcame in human nature, re-lying upon God for power. This is the privilege of all.” The Youth’s Instructor, April 25, 1901.

“Letters have been coming in to me, affirming that Christ could not have had the same nature as man, for if He had, He would have fallen under similar temptations. If He did not have man’s nature, He could not be our example. If He was not a partaker of our nature, He could not have been tempted as man has been. If it were not possible for Him to yield to temptations, He could not be our helper. It was a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battle as man, in man’s behalf. His temptation and victory tell us that humanity must copy the Pattern; men must become a partaker of

the divine nature.” The Review and Herald, Feb. 18, 1890.

“Christ bore the sins and infirmities of the race as they existed when He came to the earth to help man…. He took human nature, and bore the infirmities of the degenerate race.” The Temptations of Christ, 30, 31.

If Christ had been exempt from passions, He would have been unable to understand or help mankind. It, therefore, behoved Him “in all things to be made like unto His breth-ren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest … for in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:17, 18.

A Savior who has never been tempted, never has had to battle with passions, who has never “offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from death,” who “though He were a son” never learned obedience by the things He suffered, but was “exempt” from the very things that a true Savior must experience: such a savior is what this new theology offers us. It is not the kind of Savior I need, nor the world. One who has never struggled with passions can have no understanding of their power, nor has he ever had the joy of overcoming them. If God extended special favors and exemptions to Christ, in that very act He disqualified Him for His work. There can be no heresy more harmful than that here discussed.

It has taken away the Savior I have known and substi-tutes for Him a weak personality, not considered by God capable of resisting and conquering the passions which He asks men to overcome. It is, of course, patent [obvious] to all, that no one can claim to believe the Testimonies and also believe in the new theology that Christ was exempt from human passions. It is one thing or the other. The denomina-tion is now called upon to decide. To accept the teaching of Questions on Doctrine necessitates giving up faith in the Gift God has given this people. (Emphasis supplied.) Ω

Milian Lauritz Andreasen (1876-1962) was an administra-tor, educator, and author. He held administrative positions successively as president of the Greater New York Conference, Hutchinson Theological Seminary, Minnesota Conference, and Union College. He then taught at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. His special area of interest was the doctrine of the sanctuary. Elder Andreasen was considered one of the foremost authority in that field. From 1956 until the time of his death in 1962, he was at odds with the church leadership over the contents of the book, Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine. This strained relationship led to the revocation of his minis-terial credentials. He was reconciled with the church leaders only on his deathbed.


T he following condensation comes from Vance Ferrell’s (Harvestime Books) research on the Book of Revelation, regarding Revelation 3:1-2. It will be included in his upcoming book on the

Book of Revelation.Martin Luther was trying to dig his way out of a great

pile of papal error; and in the process, he did not grasp all the truths of the Bible. Luther rejected Karlstadt’s discov-ery of the Bible Sabbath and remained with Sunday sacred-ness. His influence in this matter affected millions of Chris-tians throughout later centuries. In one somewhat sarcastic comment, Luther wrote these significant words:

“… Indeed, if Karlstadt were to write further about the Sabbath, Sunday would have to give way ,and the Sabbath, i.e., Saturday, must be kept holy.” ---- Martin Luther, “Wider die himmlischen Prophet-en,” in his Sammtliche Schriften, Vol. 20, col. 148.

Johann Eck, the leading Catholic orator and debater against Luther, wrote a book of objections to Protestant teachings and practice which others could use in debates.

“The Scripture teaches ‘Remember that you sanctify the day of the Sabbath; six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God,’ etc. But the Church [of Rome] has changed the Sabbath into the Lord’s day by its own authority, concerning which you [Protestants] have no scripture [in support of your Sundaykeeping]….“The Sabbath is commanded many times by God;

neither in the Gospels nor in Paul is it declared that the Sabbath has ceased; nevertheless the Church has instituted the Lord’s day through the tradition.” ----Johann Eck, Handbook of Common Places against the Lutherans, 1533.

The Augsburg Confession is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most impor-tant documents of the Lutheran reformation. It was written both in German and Latin, and was presented by a number of German rulers and free-cities at the Diet of Augsburg on June 25, 1530. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500-

1558, ruled 1519-1556) had called on the princes and free territories in Germany to explain their religious convictions, in an attempt to restore religious and political unity in the Holy Roman Empire and rally support against the Turkish invasion. The Augsburg Confession is the fourth document contained in the Lutheran Book of Concord.

On April 3 the elector of Saxony and the reformers start-ed from Torgau and reached Coburg on April 23. There Lu-ther was left behind because he was an outlaw, according to the Diet of Worms. The rest reached Augsburg on May 2. On the journey, Melanchthon worked on an “apology”* (af-terward called the Augsburg Confession) and sent his draft to Luther at Coburg on May 11; and Luther approved it. The Augsburg Confession became the primary confessional doc-ument for the Lutheran movement.

In the following remarkable statement, the German princes acknowledged that the seventh-day Sabbath was the correct worship day. Unfortunately, not long after this gathering, sporadic and eventually almost unending war by Catholics against Protestant began and continued until the Peace of Augsburg in 1648. Thus, the doctrinal change from Sunday back to the Bible Sabbath never occurred.

“Besides these things, there is a controversy whether Bishops or Pastors have power to institute ceremonies in the Church and to make laws…. They allege the change of the Sabbath into the Lord’s day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouths than the change of the Sabbath. They will needs have the Church’s power to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue.“But of this question ours [our side, the Prot-

estants] do thus teach: that the Bishops have no power to ordain anything contrary to the Gospel, as was showed before.”

------Augsburg Confession (1530), Part 2, art. 7, “Of Ecclesiastical Power,” Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 3, pp 63-64.

*Definition in this context: something said or written in de-fense of a cause; justification, vindication. An apologist is one who writes or speaks thus. Ω

The Augsburg Confession Regarding the Sabbath


T he following counsel from the Spirit of Prophecy can guide us in keeping the Sabbath holy during Sabbath afternoon fellowship meals. We are to guard those sacred hours as a “delight, holy unto the Lord.”

1 Eat less food on the Sabbath, and of fewer varieties. During warm weather, it is unnecessary labor to heat food, unless it is needful to do so for the sick and suffering.

“The Sabbath of the Lord is a day of rest from labor; and the diet upon that day should be more simple, and partaken of in less quantities, than upon the six laboring days, because we do not have that exercise upon the Sabbath that we have upon the other days of the week. Many have erred in not practicing self-denial upon the Sabbath. By partaking of full meals, as on the six laboring days, their minds are beclouded; they are stupid, and often drowsy; some suffer with headache. Such have no truly devotional feelings upon the Sabbath, and the blessing resting upon the Sabbath does not prove a blessing to them. The sick and suffering require care and attention upon the Sabbath, as well as upon the other six days of the week; and it may be necessary for their comfort to prepare warm food and drinks upon the Sabbath. In such instances, it is no violation of the fourth commandment to make them as comfortable as possible. The great Lawgiver is a God of compassion, as well as of justice.” 1SP 226.

2 Our Sabbath conversation must be holy.Isaiah 58:13-14 says, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the

LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

“The fourth commandment is virtually transgressed by conversing upon worldly things or by engaging in light and trifling conversation. Talking upon anything or everything which may come into the mind is speaking our own words. Every deviation from right brings us into bondage and condemnation.” CCh 263.

3 Obey divine health reform counsel. Do not tempt others by serving drinks with the meals, but rather, let those of understanding and compassion lead in upholding the beneficial counsel. Those who choose

not to follow divine health reform may supply their own liquids.

“Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals. Taken with meals, water [or any other liquid] diminishes the flow of the salivary glands;

KEEPING THE SABBATH HOLY:

POTLUCK PERILS


and the colder the water, the greater the injury to the stomach. Ice water or ice lemonade, drunk with meals, will arrest digestion until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the stomach to enable it to take up its work again. Hot drinks are debilitating; and besides, those who indulge in their use become slaves to the habit. Food should not be washed down; no drink is needed with meals. Eat slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food. The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the liquid must first be absorbed….” RH., July 29, 1884.

4 Animal flesh is not to be served, lest there be a lessening of spirituality.

“I have been instructed that the students in our schools are not to be served with flesh foods

or with food preparations that are known to be unhealthful [such as TVP and meat analogs, which contain excitotoxins which kill brain cells]…. I appeal to old and young and to middle-aged. Deny your appetite of those things that are doing you injury. Serve the Lord by sacrifice.” CCh 234.

“Eating the flesh of dead animals has an injurious effect upon spirituality. When meat is made the staple article of food, the higher faculties are overborne by the lower passions. These things are an offense to God, and are the cause of a decline in spiritual life…. Whatever we do in the line of eating and drinking should be done with the special purpose of nourishing the body, that we may serve God to His name’s glory. The whole body is the property of God, and we must give strict attention to our physical well-being, for the religious life is closely related to physical habits and practices.” Letter 69, 1896; 3SM 290.

“The Lord has been teaching His people that it is for their spiritual and physical good to abstain from flesh eating. There is no need to eat the flesh of dead animals.” Letter 83, 1901; 3SM 291.

5 Nor should cheese be served. “It was decided that at a certain camp meeting, cheese should not be sold to those on the ground; but on coming to the ground, Doctor Kellogg found

to his surprise that a large quantity of cheese had been purchased for sale at the grocery. He and some others objected to this, but those in charge of the grocery said that the cheese had been bought with the consent of Brother -----, and that they could not afford to lose the money invested in it. Upon this, Doctor Kellogg asked the price of the cheese, and bought the whole of it from them. He had traced the matter from cause to effect,

and knew that some foods generally thought to be wholesome, were very injurious.” CD 369.

“Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach.” CD 368. [The only exception was “cottage cheese,” a soft cheese, but Ellen White also warned that increasing disease in animals would make (ed.: has made) eating dairy products unadvisable.]

6 Families should stay together, parents paying special attention to children on this day.

“On the Sabbath, parents should give all the time they can to their children, that they may make

it a delight. I have seen many families where father, mother, and the older members of the household take themselves away from the younger children, and leave them to amuse themselves the best they can. After a while the children become weary and go out of doors, and engage in play or some kind of mischief. Thus the Sabbath has no sacred significance to them.” BEcho, February 13, 1899. Ω

Ell en G . W hit e(1827-1915): The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes that when the tests of a true prophet are applied to Ellen White, they confirm beyond doubt that God bestowed upon her the promised gift of prophecy. That gift is one of two prominent characteristics of His church in the last days (Rev. 12:17;

Rev. 19:10), and indeed, her prophetic gift was instrumental in the establishment of Seventh-day Adventism. Her inspired writings continue to clarify and uplift the Word of God, as well as provide invaluable health counsel.

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”

A braham Lincoln

“As a house implies a builder, and a garment a weaver, and a door a carpenter, so does the existence of the universe imply a Creator.”

Marquis de Vauvenargues

8. second advent herald [why does god allow suffering]

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