HIS Story-In Our Tirn~ Grades 9 and 10

[J [J [J I

Produced under the auspi ces of the

North Ame ri can Division of Seventh-day Adve ntists
Office of Education

Published by
Pacific Press® Publishin g Association
Nampa, Idaho

Copyri ght © 1997 by North Ameri ca n Divisio n Offi ce of Education

Ge ne ral Confere nce of Seve nth-day Adve ntists
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Re printed 2006
 TABL[ Of (ONT[NTS
Page
W[lCOM[ TO YOUR R[LIGION CLASS, ' , , . ' ... , .. ' , , , , , , , , ' , , , ' , . , , , .. , 4

UNIT ON[ Christianity as aWorld Religion:

The Gospel in Prosperity and Adversity ....................... 8
Lesson I Growing Up in a Hostile Wo rld , , , , , , , , ' , , , , , , . , , .
Lesson 2 Hopes. Heresies. and H eroes, , , , , ' , ' , , , . , . , , .. , , ,
Lesson 3 Enticed by Powe r and Popul arity , . , . . , .... , , , ... , ,
Lesson 4 Carin g Eno ugh to Confront , ' , , , , , ........ , .... , ,
Lesson 5 Winne rs and Losers , .. , , , , , , , ........... .. ... ' ,
Lesson 6 Ruined by Rivalry ", .. . ..... . " ...... " .. . . ' . "
Lesson 7 Divide and Conquer. , ... .... .. . . .. . . , , , , , .. , , , , ,
Lesson 8 Religion at Its Worst. , , , , . .... .. . ' , , , , .. , , , , , , , . ,
Lesson 9 A New World Is Born, , , , ... .. .. . ... , , . . , . , ' , , , , ,
Lesson 10 The Church in Crisis , , , , . ' , .. ... ... . ..... . . . . ' , ,
Lesson 11 It On ly Takes a Spark , " ',.,", .... . ...... . .. . ,"
Lesson 12 Voices of Protest Break Through, , , ... . ..... ... , , ,
Lesson 13 Response of Rivals and Rad icals , , . , ............ ' , '
Lesson 14 The Saga of Separatio n, , , , , . , , , , .. ....... . .. . ' , ,
Lesson 15 Christianity at the Crossroads "", ..... ... . ... ,,'
Lesson 16 Re ligio n Provokes Revolution, , , ' , , , .. .. ... .... , , ,
Lesson 17 A World of Unrest and Unbelief. , , , . .. ...... .... , ,
Lesson 18 Whil e the Wo rld Waits, ' , ' , ' , , . , , , .. .......... ' , ,
 UNIT TWO Adventism and the SecondComing:
The Gospel in Final and full Proclamation ......... ....... . 196
Lesson 1 Disappoin ted .............. .. . . ............... .
Lesson 2 From Scoffer to Evange list .. ... . ... . . .. . ...... .. .
Lesson 3 Mill er's Message Becom es a Movement . . .. ...... . , .
Lesson 4 Explaining the Disappointme nt . .. ..... ...... ... . .
Lesson 5 Th e Gift of Proph ecy .... .... .. .. . . . . . . ....... .. .
Lesson 6 God Chooses a Tee nager. , . . . .. . .. . .. . , . ... . .... .
Lesson 7 A Re markable Wo man ... . .. . .. ... .. . . . . .. .. . . .. .
Lesson 8 Th e Seven th Day ... . ...... .. . . ... .... ... . . . . .. .
Lesson 9 Continui ng the Reformatio n . . .. . . .. . . . . . .. . . .. . . .
Lesson 10 Organized to Witn ess .. .. ..... . , . . . . .... .. ... . .. .
Lesson II Into All the vVori d ... . .. . ........ ............ .. .
Lesson 12 A Heali ng Ministry ..... ........ . . . ............. .
Lesson 13 Educatin g fo r Ete rni ty ..... . . .. .. . .. ... . . . .. . .. . .
Lesson 14 Confl ict and Revival . ... .... ... ... ... • ...........
Lesson 15 Threate ned by New Age Ideas . ... .. . .... . ....... .
Lesson 16 Fire! . .... .. ..... ... .. . .. .... . ... . ... ....... .. .

Lesson 17 H o locaust and Tyranny . ... .... . ...... . . . . .... . . .

Lesson 18 New Fron tie rs in Witnessing .. ...... . . .. . .... .... .
Lesson 19 J esus Christ Wa nts You! . . .. . .... . . . . .. .. .. ... . .. .

ACKNOWUDG[M[NTS ... ... ....... ... ... . .......... ... ....... ... 364
W[LCOM[ TO YOUR R[L1GION CLASS
T his sectio n is inte n d e d to provide you with so m e ge n e ra l
in fo r mati o n a bo u t th is textboo k a nd yo u r re li g io n cl ass .

• THE CROSSROADS SERIES OF RELIGION TEXTBOOKS •

Th e CROSSROADS SERIES is th e title of th e se r ies of re ligio n

tex tbo oks fo r Seve nth-day Adve nti st seconda ry sch oo ls, grades 9
thro ugh 12. Th is textbook is a pa rt o f th e se ries.

Th e logo fo r th e CROSSROADS SERIES symbo li zes th e th e me

o f th e se r ies-th a t th e cross of J esus Ch r ist is at th e very ce n te r o f
th e Ch risti a n fa ith . God 's reve la ti o n of Hi mse lf in th e c ross reveals
the only sac r ifi ce fo r sin and th e u ltim a te sig n ifi ca nce of li fe to
eac h pe rso n a nd to eve ry na tio n. Thus th e cross sta nds as th e d eci-
sive mo me n t of truth fo r a ll hum a nki n d thro ugh a ll ages. T h e
logo , in symbo lic form , p o rtrays th e ce ntra lity o f the cross with a ll
pa ths (roads) o f huma n ex pe r ie n ce a nd pe rso na l decisio ns lead in g
to a n d fro m it.

May yo u meet J esus a t th e c rossroads of yo u r li fe a nd in eac h

d ecisio n yo u ma ke . T h is is th e p raye r of th ose wh o h ave pre pared
th ese textboo ks, a n d we j o in o u r praye r with th ose o f yo ur teach e r.
• GOAL OF THE CROSSROADS SERIES.

Th e goal o f the CROSSROADS SERIES is that through your

study of Scripture in this class you will come to know the loving a nd
redeem ing God of Scripture. His se lf-reve la ti o n h as its focus and
fu lfillm e nt in the life , death , resurrection, and intercession of Jesus
Christ. His su bstitution ary death on the cross is th e sole basis of
Christian assurance. With Christ as Savior and Lord , each believe r is
e nabled , thro ugh th e Holy Spirit, to expe rie nce a life o f worsh ip,
growth , and se rvice. Each person is then eager to proclaim a nd be
read y for H is re turn .

• VERSIONS OF THE HOLY BIBLE.

The NEW INTERNATIO NAL VERSION, referred to as NIV, is

use d as th e prima ry vers ion of Scripture for the Anchor Text,
sc r iptural reFerences quote d in the narrative section of the lesso n ,
and a nswers to Into the Bible activities and Projects. Other ve r-
sions o f Scriptu re have a lso been use d when the particu lar vers ion
e nri ch es th e meaning of a g ive n refe ren ce. Your teacher wi ll assist
yo u in understa ndin g the diffe ren ce between a ve rsion of the
Ho ly Bible and a translation or a paraphrase.

• REFERENCE BOOKS FOR THE RELIGION CLASS.

Refe rence books a re essential to th e rel igio n class. T h e fo ll owin g

ge nera l reference books and books by Ell en G. White shou ld be avail-
a ble in yo ur classroom.

I. Ge ne ra l refe re nce books

a. 71,e Seventh-day Adventist Bible C011Z11lentmy, vols. 1-8
b. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictiona-ry
c. The Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia
d. A Bible concordance
e. A Bible d ictionary
f. A Bible atlas
g. The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal
h . A current set of encycloped ias
i. A hig h school or coll egiate dictionary
j. A thesaurus

5
 2. Books by Ellen C. White
a. Ch"ist's Object Lessons
b. Co nflict of the Ages series
Pat"iaTChs and Prophets
Prophets and Kings
The Desi"e oj Ages
The Acts oj the Aflostles
The Great Contrave1'SY
c. Counsels on Health
d. Counsels on StlJwanlshifl
e. Mind, Character, and Pe1'Sonality, vol. 2
f. The Minist,) of Healing
g. Selected Messages
h . Steps to C/uist
i . Testimonies jar the Church

• MEMORIZATION OF SCRIPTURE •

Eac h lesso n contains a verse labe led Anchor Text. Your teacher
will assign ce rtai n of these verses to be memorized . The references
sho uld first be understood, both as to th e ir mean ing a nd th e ir appli-
cation to your life. The memorized texts sho uld be reviewed at the
e nd of th e lesson and throughout the school year.

• GRADES FOR THE RELIGION CLASS·

Whatever the schoo l p oli cy is regardin g grades for the religion

class, it is important for you to understand that your grade is n ot an
evaluation of your spiri tual growth or expe rience. Rath er, the grade is
a n eva luation o f th e work you do in your re ligio n class and how well
you h ave done in mastery of the content.

Your grades can be based o n th e fo ll owing:

1. Class discussion and pa rti cipatio n .
2. Your answers to th e Into th e Bible activities.
3. Co mpletion of and/or answers to Projects.
4. The results o n quizzes a nd tests.
5 . Maste ry of th e assigned Anchor Texts.
6. Other criteri a identified by your teach e r.
 God's Call to Abram 1 1 8 5 0 B"C

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= ferusalem-OestrOyed-+ 7""
"'" The Exodus I 1445 B"C
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Council of Nicaea
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325
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. r;l Canon Completed
Vulgate Published
397
400 Septuagint Translated 150 B"C"
1 (Jq Jesus' Birth 3B"C
~nll> Papacy Established 440
00::- Jerusalem Destroyed A"D" 70

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Western Rome Falls 476 Christianity Made Legal AD" 313
(Middle Ages Begin) Canon Completed AD " 397
Arian Tribes Slain 538
(Dark Ages Begin)

M ..... _-t·" Crusades Begin

Luther Posts 95 Theses

AD" 1095

AD " 1517
Puritans Go to America AD" 1620
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~ The Great Disappointment AD" 1844
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General Conference Organized AD" 1863
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~::-e Crusades Begin 1095
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 lesson.

Growing Up in dHostil~ World

Lesson Setting
The prosperily and pe rsecutio n of the infa nt Christian Church from
AD . 70 to A.D . 32l.

istory isn 't a topi c I h ope th e Medes

we usually get too Were kicked by their steeds
excited a bout.
They started th e fuss
Most of us see it as
And left it to us.*
simply "anything
th at hap pe ned
Tho ugh it's easy to ma ke fun of
before we were
the long-ago, we are what the past
born. " Faced with a de ma ndin g
has mad e us. In order for us to
present and an un ce rtain future,
unde rsta nd others-whether they
who cares about th e past? All that
are pare nts, friends, or n e igh-
stuff about a ncient peop le, kings,
bors- we've got to know some-
a nd kin gdo ms just d oesn 't seem to
thing abo ut their past. Others
have any meaning in tod ay's world.
won 't be a bl e to fi g ure yo u out
Perha ps we would agree with
eithe r unlil th ey h ave some idea
Arthur Guiterman in his poem
about what has shaped your life.
"Anci e nt History."
One of the first thin gs we usually
I ho pe the old Ro ma ns share with peop le o r want to know
Had pa inful abdom e ns from them is where they have lived
a nd whal they have don e. So unds
I ho pe that th e Greeks
just like history, doesn 't it?
Had toothaches fo r wee ks
Knowin g the past h e lps us to
I ho pe the Egyptia ns unde rstand the present an d a lso
H ad chro ni c conniptions prepares us for th e future. Fo r this
to ha ppe n , we cann o t be
I h ope that the Arabs
bystande rs to history. We have to
We re bitten by Sca rabs
be active pa rticipan ts. G ra nted, we
I h ope thal th e Persians ha d nothin g to do wilh the past,
H ad gout in a ll versio ns but it's o ur choice how we relate to

II
what the past brings to us.
It h as been said that th e re are
three kinds of people: those wh o
make things h appe n , th ose who
watch it happen, a nd those who
have no idea what's h appening.
To see what h as h appe ne d , but
not know why leaves u s with a
d il e mm a. You can 't reso lve a
proble m without knowing wh at
went wrong. Th at's where
Scripture plays an imp ortant role.
It puts u s in touch with the God
of history. See in g history from
God's viewpo int h e lps us to see
The Church
The Infant Church
T he Ch angin g Church
The Roman Catholic Church
The Reform atio n C hurch
The Denom ina tional Church
The G lobal C h urch
In a previous unit it was estab-
lished that the birth of th e
Christian Church took place at
Pentecost in A.D. 31, when 120 fo l-
lowers of J esus were in th e upper
room in jerusalem. At that time it
was the only m ajor city in th e
world with any believers in C hrist.
By A.D. 300, howevel; as many as
100,000 Christians lived in the city
of Rome. In so me regions of the
Roman Empire, as many as 25 per-
cent of the populatio n were
C hristia ns. By the second century,
the C hristia n Church was already
be ing d esc ribed as "catho lic,"
which mean s "worldwi de," or "uni-
versal." Such growth was amazing
wh e n you con sider that the infant
12
wh at is not a ppare nt to hum a n
insigh t. We will d iscover th e
impact of God's love and H is
involve ment in the lives of ordi-
n a ry p eople . We will recogni ze
Go d at wo rk in th e rise a nd fa ll of
the wo rld 's mig h ty kin gdoms. But
most of a ll , we will see J esu s
C h rist lifted up as this world 's
on ly Savio r, the u ltimate so lu tion
to all its pain s a nd problems.
For th e purpose of our study of
churc h history, this unit will be
d ivided in to th e fo llowin g six tim e
periods.
The Era The Date
Th e Gos pe l Proclaim ed 70-321
Grasping for Greatness 321-538
Man Playing God 538-1300
Reaching Up Aga in 1300-1550
Divided We Sta nd 1550-1798
Revolu tion a nd Ex pa nsion 1798-1870
church d id not d e pe nd on profes-
sionalleaders or paid cle rgy.
REASONS FOR RAPID GROWTH
Wha t brou ght about such phe-
nomenal success? T hese a re so me
ge ne ra l reaso ns for the rapid
growth of Christian ity:
1. The language. G reek was the
common language spoke n
throughout mu ch of the
Roman Empire. Generally
refe rre d to as "oine (the Gree k
word for common) , it simplifie d
communication betwee n ethnic
groups and geographical d ivi-
sions. Such a unifying lan guage
made Christ's co mmission to
preach th e gospe l "to a ll
 nations" (Matth ew 24:14)
much easie r to accomplish.
2. The Diaspora. T his refers to
th e J ewish peo ple wh o were
scatte red thro ugh ou t the
e mpire and beyo nd . In fact,
mo re J ews lived o utside than
inside th e bo rde rs ofJudea.
Every year th ey wou ld gath e r at
J e rusalem to celebrate the ir
sacred festivals. It was here th a t
they lea rn ed of Christ's life a nd
teachin gs. Natural ly, they took
this message back to th e ir
ho me lands. For several decad es
J ews ope ned th e ir synagogu es
to Christia ns fo r wors hip, dia-
logue, an d missionary work.
3. T he Pax Romana. Th is is a Latin
term referring to three ce nturies
o f peace a nd un equa led oppor-
tunities for trade and safe travel.
During th e time of J esus, Rome
ma intai n ed 51,000 mi les of
paved roads. (In co mpariso n ,
Colosseum ruins in Rome (exterior view) .
• ~
the Un ited States h as 42,500
mil es of inte rstate hig hway.)
Missiona ry trips yo u studi ed
about in Acts fl o urished unde r
these cond itio ns.
4. The Roman religion. Myths of
Ro man gods and goddesses had
lost their relevan ce a nd appeal.
Pagan re ligio n was seen as con-
tributing to widespread moral
and civil corruption. Bored and
d issatisfied with life, people
sought escape, no t o nly in the
excessive use of a lco hol but in
the exciteme n t of brutal public
games and spectator sports.
5. The destruction of J erusalem.
For several d ecad es disgruntled
J ews became more openly h os-
tile against excessive Roman
taxation a nd d o mination. In
A.D. 66 th e J ews revolted
against Ro me's in creasin g
demands to pay h o mage to th e
e mpe ror. In the bloody wa r
 that fo llowed, the J ews valiantly
struggled fo r complete liber-
ation . But it was not to be. In
A.D. 70 the Roman army
sacked J erusalem, burning the
entire city and its beautiful
temple to the ground. T h e
people were either slaugh tered
or taken into captivity.
Christians livin g in
J erusalem refused to support
th e revolt. HeedingJesus'
warnings (Luke 21:20, 21),
they fl ed the city before the
siege occurred. The Jews
viewed this action as treason
and banished Ch ristians from
a ll Jewish syn agogues. T h e
destruction of J erusalem
marked the end of the
Apostolic Age (the time of th e
a postles) and permanently
splitJews and Christians. After
these events in A.D. 70, the
focus of the church shifted
from converti n g Jews to a
Colosseum ruins in Rome (in terior view) .
••
worldwide mission work of
evangelizing the Gentil es. By
A.D. 100 the city of Rome had
become a new center of
Christianity.
6. The believers' enthusiasm.
Above all, the early Christians
we re deeply moved by Christ's
love for them and His offer of
salvation free ly extended to a ll.
How could they keep such
exciting news to themselves? It
had to be proclaimed to every-
one, everywhere!
WITNESSING THAT WORKS
For witnessing to be effective,
proclamation must be accompa-
nied by demonstration. Salvation
has to be packaged with a personal
touc h. Better yet, with a lovin g
touch. T h e practical exp ression of
Chri stia n love was a key e lement in
the success of the infant chu rch.
Believers revealed Christ's love by
caring for the poor and the slaves,
providing fo r widows a nd orpha ns,
a nd h e lpin g th ose who we re
affli cte d by d evastating plagu es,
fa min es, wa rs, a nd ea rthqua kes.
In ma ny of the maj o r cities
th e re was a n ove rwh elming need
fo r Christia n se rvice. In Ro me, fo r
example, o ne-ha lf of its nearly o ne
millio n inhab itants were slaves.
Th e people of this city we re e ith e r
ve ry wealthy o r extreme ly poor.
Ho mes might be o rna te, compl e te
with h eated pools and lavish gar-
d e ns, o r o ne-roo m shacks alo ng
streets that we re narrow, noisy, and
fi lthy with sewage. Most o f the
Christia ns in Rome were from th e
poore r classes. We know this
because th e first be lievers in Rome
spo ke Gree k, the lang uage of slaves
a nd th e common peo ple.
ROMAN PERSECUTION
IGNITED
Ro me's basic po li cy was o n e of
tole ra n ce towa rd th e re li gio ns in
th e lands th ey had co nque re d .
Because Christians we re ne ithe r
pagans no r J ews, th ey we re
refe rred to as "the third race ."
Today we use the te rm second-class
citizens. Fo r th e Roma ns, Christia ns
we re "third-class citize ns."
Ro me had at first imposed fewer
require me n ts on the J ews tha n upo n
most othe r nations. For some time
the Roman authori ties co nside red
Christia ns as a J ewish sect (an off-
shoot) a nd thus exte nded the same
privileges to the m as to the J ews. But
when the re lationship be tween
Christians and J ews changed from
one of tolerance to hostili ty, the atti-
tude of Ro me toward Ch ristia ns
shifted radically.
IS
Th e J ews usua lly ke pt to the m-
selves a nd didn 't e ngage in proselyt-
izing (making conve rts). T h e
Christia ns, o n th e o th e r ha nd ,
we re a lways ta lking about J esus.
Th ey we re d etermin e d to sha re
the ir fa ith with eve ryon e a nd to
invite the m to accep t Christ as
the ir Savio r a nd Lord . Like th e
J ews, they rejected all pagan gods
and refused to wo rship the empe ror.
But unlike the J ews, th ey were do ing
th eir utm ost to co nvince everyone
in the e mpire to wo rship the o ne
true God . Thus Christians were
viewed as traitors a nd quickly fe lt
the wrath of th e Roma n authorities.
THE ROMANS
AND THEIR GODS
Eve ry as pect of Ro ma n life was
desig ne d to gain th e favo r of th e
gods thro ugh acts of ido l wo rsh ip
a nd elabo ra te ritua ls. Eve ry m eal
was d edi cated to a h eath e n god .
Feasts a nd social pa rti es we re held
in te mples, with each ta ble be in g
d esign ated in ho no r o f some god
o r goddess. Ma kin g a livin g
became ve ry difficul t for Christia ns
because so ma ny o ccupa tions we re
closely ti e d to th ese ido la trous
p ractices. T he re were d e iti es fo r
sowin g a nd reaping, ra in a nd
wind, peace and war, love and
beauty, b irth a nd d eath. But th e
Christians recognized only one
God, ser ved only one Lord, and
believed in only one way of salva-
tion. This rej ectio n o f pagan
d e iti es le d th e Rom a ns to view
Christi ans as socia l misfi ts a nd to
label th e m as "en e mi es o f th e peo-
ple." T he genera l po pul a tio n was
supe rstiti o us a nd be lieved that if
the Christians were not punished
for the ir rejection of the Roma n
deities, the wrath of the gods
would threaten the peace a nd pros-
p e rity the e mpire now enjoyed,
The primary reason for Roman
pe rsecution , however, was the prac-
tice of e mperor worship, a custom
that developed over a lengthy pe-
riod, Once a year every Roman citi-
ze n was required to come to the
temple of Caesar, burn incense,
and publicly declare, "Caesar is
Lord. " Short, sim ple, b ut deadly!
Caesar worship was primarily a test
of political loyalty. Christians were
wi lling to pray for the emperor in
the ir worship services but refused
to pray to Caesar in any public cer-
e mony.
ROMAN PERSECUTION
INTENSIFIED
Widespread fear a nd hatre d of
C hristia ns led to the first wave of
Roman persecutio n. In A.D. 64, a
fire raged in Rome fo r six d ays.
W ith mu ch of th e c ity in ash es,
rumo rs began to circula te that
Empe ro r Nero had se t the fire. To
cl ear himself, Ne ro accused the
C hristia ns of h aving started th e
raging infe rno. T h o u g h the
charges were false , large numbers
of Christians were arrested, and
persecution broke out. Many
Christians were crucified. Some
were sewn up in th e skins of wild
beasts, th e n thrown to wild dogs,
who tore them into pieces a nd
d evoured the m. Wome n were ti e d
to raging bulls and dragged to
their death. Mter nig htfall,
C hristians were burned at th e
stake in Nero's gard e ns. Romans
10
\vere invited to o bserve the sp ecta-
cle, while Ne ro himself drove
aro und in a chariot, revelin g in
the sigh t. It was probably during
this madness th at the apostles
Peter and Paul were m a rtyred-
Pe te r by crucifixion , Paul by
beheading .
During the closing d ays of the
infa nt ch urch e ra, Rome Vlas dete r-
mined to e radicate all C hristians in
th e e mpire . Scriptures were pub-
licly burn ed , chu rch buildings were
d estroyed , Christia n wo rship was
prohibited, a nd ma rtyrdo m was
commonplace . However, persecu-
tion did much to publicize th e
Christia n faith. The d ea ths of
Christia ns were often witnessed by
thousands in the amphitheater, the
one in Rome h olding 45,000 spec-
tators. T he galla nt brave ry of the
m artyrs a mazed observers and
often res ulted in large numbers of
conve rsions to C hristianity.
THE WORLD
VERSUS THE CHURCH
The relatio nship of C hristia ns
with the Ro man wo rld was not o nly
affected by contrasting beli efs but
by conflicting lifestyles. They disap-
proved of alm ost all aspects of
Roman life becau se of pagan cus-
toms and rituals, and their holy
living was offensive to th e pagans.
Christians shun ned social functions
because of their ties with h eath e n
gods. Gladiator com bat was re-
j ected fo r being contrary to the
spirit of love and compassion. A
saving relationship with Christ-
whether then o r now-always
causes believers to be out of ste p
with a pagan cultu re .
 "Blessed be the na me of God foreve r a nd ever, for he alone h as a ll wis-
dom a nd all powe r. Wo rld even ts a re unde r his co ntrol. He re moves kings
and sets olhe rs o n their thrones. He g ives wise men the ir wisdo m, and
sch o lars their inte lligence. H e reveals profound mysteries beyond man's
unde rstandin g. H e knows all hidde n thin gs, for he is lig ht, and da rkn ess is
no o bstacle to him " (Da ni e l 2:20-22, The Living Bible).

1. J esus made seve ral statemen ts to His fo llowe rs and to the J ews regard ing
the future d estruction of J e rusalem. Read th e fo llowing texts a nd write
five summary state me nts regardin g the warnings and admonition of
J esus.
A. Matthew 24: 1, 2, 20, 21
B. Luke 21:20-24
2. T h e lesso n states thatJesus is "th e on ly way to Cod " an d "th e o nly way
o f salvatio n." Write a brief summ ary statem ent for each of the following
texts rega rdin g this cla im about Jesus.
A. Isa ia h 43:11-13
B.John 14:6
C. 1 Timothy 2:5
3. Since persecutio n, in o ne form o r another, is such a comIn on experi-
e nce of a ll Christia ns, the Bible has much to say abou t it. Read the fo l-
lowing texts and write a bri ef summ ary of eac h.
A. Why does persecution occur? What a re th e comm o n sources of per-
secutio n?
(l)]o hn 15: 18-20
(2) J o hn 16:1 ,2
(3) 2 Timothy 3: 12
B. Wha t should be th e Christia n 's attitude toward persecution?
(1) Matthew 5:11 , 12
(2) Matthew 5:44, 45
(3) Roma ns 12:17-21

17
 Projects
l. T he re a re ma ny oppo rtunities in eve ryday life to sha re your faith with
o th e rs. Bu t sh a ring your faith sho uld mean mo re th a n just ta lking
a bou t wha t you be lieve (a lthough that's also impo rta nt). As th e lesso n
states, a ny kin d of sh aring has to be d o n e in the con text of genuine
fri e ndship a nd caring. Th e Bible says, "Sha re with God's people who
a re in need. Practice hospitali ty" (Ro ma ns 12:1 3) . Devise two diffe re n t
ways of pe rso nal se rvice o r ou treach.
Give yo urself one week to carry o ut o ne of these projects. Wh e n the
proj ect is comple ted , pre pare a writte n or oral re po rt.
2. T he lesson po in ts o ut tha t two commo n ways Ro man citize ns escaped
fro m a bo ring, d issatisfying li fe was thro ugh drinking a nd brutal specta-
tor spo rts. Ma ke a list of what you believe a re fi ve of the most commo n
ways tha t teen age rs find escape tod ay. Choose o n e o r two of the ite ms
a n d wri te a o n e-page reac tio n pape r a nswering th ese questions: What
makes this ite m so a lluring or e nticin g to teenagers? What is the effect
o f this esca pe? What can be do n e to overcome o r ge t away from this
kind of escape?

la
 focus Qu~stions
1. Do you find history in teresting? Why o r why not?
2. What was wrong with the Roman idea of sports?
3. Do you think the Christians should h ave he lped th e J ews in their strug-
g le again st the Romans?
4. Is there anything in today's world that compares to empe ror worship?
5. How does idolatry exist in America today?
6. Would you witn ess for your faith if it were against the law to do so?
7. Is it ever right for a Christian to fi ght back when pe rsecu ted ?

* Step hen Dunnin g. Edward Lueders, Hu gh Smi th, "An cie nt Hi slory," ReJlections on a Gift
of Watel'l1leion Pic/de . .. (New York, N.Y.: Loth rop, Lee & Shepard Co., 1966), 6.
Reprinted by permission of Louise H . Sclove .

I.

"op~s, "~r~si~s, and "~ro~s
Lesson Setting
The challe nges and changes that took place within the Christian
Church from A.D. 70 to A.D. 321.
h ere is an a ncie nt story
about a prince who
dreamed of creating
t..., r the per fect place , a
place where people
~ trust o ne a noth e r. H e
cou ld truly love and
exte nde d an invi tation to all who
were willing to commit th emselves
to such an ideal. As a sign of th e ir
pled ge, each person was to b ring a
bottle of his or h e r fin est wine.
They were told th at th e wine wou ld
be poured into a huge bowl to sym-
bo li ze the unity o f the group.
O n e person fe lt, however, that
po uring vintage win e into a com-
mon bowl would be a waste. So he
em ptie d his bottle at h o me and
fill ed it with water, co nf:ide nt that
no o ne would know th e diffe rence.
On the big d ay, each person
came forward and e mptied the
conte n ts of his or h er bottle into
a n e normous vat. Then the prin ce
invited everyone to take a cup and
drink from th e bowl. To eve ryon e's
surprise, it was a ll water. Every pe r-
son had done exactly th e same
Chrislians meeting
in the calacombs. 21
lesson '2
thing* T he prin ce discovered that
no one was willing to pay the pri ce
so that an ideal community could
wo rk.
THE CHURCH IS NEEDED
Likewise, the church is a com-
muni ty of peopl e united by a com-
mo n commitme nt a nd purpose.
But the church did not come
abo ut as a result o f huma n inter-
ests and desi res. It was God 's idea.
"1 will build my church, and not
even d eath will be able to over-
come it," is th e way J esus expressed
it to His disciples (Matth ew 16:18,
TEV). He pa id the price, and that's
why it works! The word church, as it
is used in the New Testam e nt,
mea ns to be "call ed o ut." God h as
calle d men and women from every
nation , who, in turn, are to be a
blessing to all people.
One of th e primary reasons
that the Christian Church was
established was to demonstrate the
benefits of unity a nd fellowship of
the be lievers. In salvation, God
re lates to each o f us in a very pe r-

The destruction of J e rusalem.
so na l way. Bu t though o ur relation-
ship with Him is personal, it is
never private. God saves us tha t we
might serve others. As we grow and
mature in Christ, all believers are
brought togethe r as a spiritual fam-
ily, a n organized bo dy of be lievers.
This is why the New Testam e nt
compares the church to a physical
body, with Christ as the Head . It is
through the church that God seeks
to reac h a dying world with the
good n ews of His love a nd grace.
T h e re a re those , however, who
d o not realize the importan ce of
eve ry me mbe r participating in this
body of be li evers. T h e followin g
pa ragra ph writte n on a n old type-
writer illustra tes the po in t:
My typxwritxr works qui tx
wxll xxcxpt for o nx of thx
kxys. I wishxd at timxs that it
wou ld work pxrfxctly. It is
trux that th xrx arx forty-onx
kxys that function wxll xn ough,
but just onx ca n makx a big
d iffxrxncx. Somxtim xs it sxxms
to mx th at th x church is
somxwhat likx my typxwritxr
whxn thx pxo plx a rx not
working togx thxr. So thx nxxt
timx you think you don't makx
a di£fxrxncx, rXIl1Xlnbxr you arx
a KXY pxrson in your ch urch.
THE CHURCH:
ITS WORK AND ITS WORSHIP
A sig nificant change that
occurred within the Church shortly
after the destruction ofJ e rusale m
was a cha nge in lead e rship . From
the start, th e twelve apostles h ad
been the accepte d leaders of the
Churc h, but the ir d ays were num-
be red. J a mes was the first to die,
put to death by Herod Agrippa I
a ro und A.D. 43. After th e apostles,
lead e rship passed o n to local
church leade rs calle d "elders" o r
pasto rs. They were assisted in their
ministry by those co mmonly kn own
as "d eaco ns." Those who presided
over the e lders a nd deacons and
supervised a large group of churches
were the "bishops"-the eventual
heirs of the apostles.
This a rra ngeme nt beca me th e
establishe d pattern for m ost local
church es. It also marked th e begin-
ning of a divisio n in the church
be tween th e cle rgy ("called" ones)
and th e la ity ("co mmon" ones) .
Church leade rs were appointed or
e lec ted by local co ng regations and
usua lly worked with the la ity in
teaching new converts; evangeli z-
ing no n-Christians; providing for
the physical n eeds of the homeless,
orph a ns, and widows; a nd safe-
guard ing the c hurch from h ostile
governme nt officials. It was the
responsibility of the clergy to settle
disputes betwee n members, con-
duct worship services, a nd lead out
in the Communi on service.
Because th e earl y Ch ristians
expected Jesus to re turn in their
d ay, they were not con ce rn ed
a bout building church es. Congre-
gations were small a nd usually met
in the homes of the be lievers.
During times of fierce persecution,
th ey wou ld live in unde rg round
tombs called catacombs. Some of
these were actually many miles in
le ngth . Whil e in hidin g, people
wou ld often sketch o n the walls
drawings of the cross, a la mb , or a
fish .
I esous Jesus
C ristos Christ
H Ch rist. At first o nly adu lts were
T eos God
H in fant baptism had become a popu-
U ios Son
S otos Savior
The fish was pe rhaps the earli-
est Christian symbo l. T he Greek
word {chthus (fish ) formed a five-
letter acrostic in which eac h le tter
stood for the phrase J es us Christ,
So n of God, Savio r. T his symbol
was ofte n used to test o r identifY
stra ngers. A Christia n would draw
a n arc (the top ha lf of a fish ) o n
the ground. If the oth e r pe rson was
also a Christia n, he wou ld complete
the drawing with th e botto m arc.
Worship servi ces were simple,
info rmal, and d es ign ed to praise
God. Those held durin g th e day
were usually o pe n to nonbelievers.
Evening meetings co nclude d with
an "agape feast" (a common meal)
and "the breakin g of bread "
(Communion) . Because the first
be li eve rs were primarily J ews, wor-
ship was ge nerally patte rne d afte r
the synagogue service. Much of the
time was spent reviewin g O ld
Testament pro mises of sa lvation
a nd pra ising God fo r h ow glori-
o usly th ese we re fulfill e d by J esus.
Bes ides the stud y of the Scriptures,
th e re was a presenta tio n of spiritual
in struc tion and prayer-generally
in Gree k.
Other ch urch ceremo nies
included th e "layin g on of ha nds"
(the ordin ation of church lead e rs)
a nd baptism . As a ge n e ra l rule,
individuals we re not bapti zed until
th ey had received at least three
years of instructio n a nd had clearl y
demonstrated th e ir commitment to
baptized, but by th e third century,
lar practice.
THE SABBATH
AND SUNDAY SCENARIO
At the outset, worship services
were he ld on th e seve nth-day
Sabbath, ma ny of them taking
place in synagogues. Wh e n the
relationship betwee n Christians
a ndJ ews broke down afte r the
 Constantine I defeats Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge, near Rome, in 312.
destruction ofJ e rusalem, there was
a g rowin g desire to break away
from J ewish festivals and holy days.
Many believers tried zealously to
emphasize the Christian features of
their faith by uplifting the death
and resurrection of Jesus. Since the
J ews had been condem ned by J esus
for their legalistic Sabbath observ-
ance , it seemed fitting for some to
begin observing Sunday as a
Christian celebration of Christ's
resu rrection . Unfortunately, in its
attempt to move away from
Judaism, the Christian Church
shifted toward pagan customs a nd
practices.
At first, Sunday observance , as
a comme mo ration of Christ's res-
urrection, was merely a supple-
ment to Sabbath worship.
However, as people from various
backgrounds became Christians,
many brought with them their for-
mer beliefs a nd practices. With an
in crease of Gentil e conve rts who
were accustomed to honoring
"th e venerab le day of the sun ,"
Sunday observance slowly became
a substitute for Sabbath wo rsh ip.
As this pagan h o liday was g iven
Christian signifi cance, it was
thought that the gospel would
now be more readily accepted by
pagans. Th is shift, however, was
not based on God's Word but o n
human reasoning. Nowhere in
Scrip ture is there instruction to
a lter the day of worship. It did
not originate with J esus or the
apostles atJerusalem. Rather, it
was fi rst impl emented in Rome
a nd Alexandria, cities where the
majority of Christians were pagan
converts who were determined to
set themselves apart from
Sabbath-keeping J ews.
THE CHURCH GETS STATUS
When Constantin e became
emperor in 312, he was convinced
th at his military victo ries were an
answer to the prayers of Christians.
In g ra titude Co nstantine began to
ope nly promote Christia nity. As a
sh rewd politician, he knew he
cou ld strengthe n the e mpire by
promoting peace and unity among
all its citizens. He therefore issued
a d ecree (the Ed ict of Milan) in
313 that ended persecution and
brought legal recognition to the
Christian Church. H e a lso lavished
it with gifts, abolished practices
that were offe nsive to Christians,
and promoted the idea of freedom
for a ll Christian slaves.
But Constantine wasn't fin-
ish ed . In 321 h e decreed that all
citi ze ns were to observe Sunday as
a public holiday in honor of the
sun-god. Since the Christian
Church had a lready allowed vari-
ous pagan customs to ble nd in with
their beliefs, it is not surprisi ng
that Constantin e identified a paga n
god as the God of Christian ity.
(The mistaken be lief th at all re li-
gion s worship the same God is sti ll
a commonly he ld view.) After
Constantin e's d ecree, Christianity
rapidly moved from be ing a legal
re ligion to becoming the state reli-
gion, from be ing a persecu ted
minority to having political clout
and po pular acceptance.
DISCERNING TRUTH
FROM ERROR
Wh e n th e era of the infant
church began , the common bond
2S
of believers was their acceptance
of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
and their obedience to Scripture.
Th eir religion was not simply th e
acceptance of a creed (a formal
statement of be li ef) or conformity
to a moral code. It was a commit-
me nt to a Pe rso n, J esus Christ. H e
was the Cornerstone of a ll beliefs
and practices . He was the reason
for a ll their adoration, worship,
and praise. But the foundation of
the ir faith was soon cha lle nged in a
variety of ways. Converts began to
question who J esus really was and
the meaning of what H e taught.
Th e more the life of J esus faded
into the past, th e more questions
were raised a nd diffe re nt views set
forth. How were Christians to know
wh ich interpretation was correct?
How were th ey to discern between
truth and error?
The only J esus the believers
knew was the Christ the apostles had
known. Their pe rsonal experience
with Him was shared with other
be lievers, e ith er in the form of
oral traditions or as written materi-
a ls that were circulated a mong the
churches. Despite these eyewitness
accounts of the apostles, Christia n
be li efs were sti ll being undermin e d
by fa lse teach ings.
Already in Paul's d ay, beli eve rs
were re buke d for so quickly rej ect-
ing "the grace of Christ" and "turn-
ing to a diffe re nt gospel-which is
really no gospel at all" (Galatians
1:6, 7). In his le tter to the
Christians at Rome, Paul defined
the gospel as "th e powe r of God
for the salvation of everyone who
beli eves" (Romans 1:16). The very
hea rt of Christianity is thatJesus
LOo k our sin s upo n Himself. a nd
through His life. death . a nd resur-
recti on, restored our relationship
with God . Salvati o n is a n accom-
plish ed fac t. Our fa ith simply
acknowled ges its reality and appli es
its ben efi ts.
Ofte n be lieve rs wo uld con-
su'uct simple summa ries o f the
apostles' teachin gs. One of these
is recorded in Eph esia ns 4:4-6:
"Th e re is o n e body and o ne
Spiri t. just as th e re is one ho pe to
which God has call ed you. The re is
o ne Lord . o ne fa ith . on e ba ptism;
th e re is on e God an d Fa the r o f all
ma nkind. wh o is Lo rd of all . wo rks
through all . an d is in all" (T EV).
These summa ry sta te me n ts
were often used to counte rac t new
beliefs tha t we re creating divisio ns
within th e church. What compli-
Constantin e instructs his soldi ers bdore the the battle o f the Milvian Bridge.
cated matte rs was that the writings
we call the New Testame n t were
not yet compiled o r reco gnized as
divine Scripture during th e first
ce n tu ry. By the e nd of th e second
century. however. th e Christia n
Church had accepted th e idea of
Christia n Scrip ture (th e New
Testame nt) alo ngside the J ewish
Scripture (th e O ld Testam e nt).
Eventually a list was compil ed of
Christia n writings tha t we re recog-
ni zed as havin g spiritual a u thority
for the be li evers.
Be li eve rs wh o ques tion e d a nd
c ha lle n ged wh a t was be in g ta ug ht
or prac ti ced by th e church we re
o fte n la be le d as heretics. Th o u g h
usu ally viewed as troubl e ma kers.
their chall e n ges a nd p roposals
co mpe ll e d th e church to restud y.
d efe nd . a nd cl ea rl y state its p osi-
tions. God hon o rs o ur ability to
think, to reaso n , and to exe rcise
th e power of choice. But in delib-
e rating th e issu es, God's wri tten
Wo rd was to be uph e ld as the ulti-
mate stan da rd of truth. There was
still room in th e infa nt c hurch
for questions and dialogue , for
ex planations and clarifi cation , for
refu tation and change-but
Scripture was to h ave the final
word. This was th e appropriate
way for the chu rc h to expe ri e n ce
sp ir itua l growth , ach ieve unity of
thought, a nd gain a mo re matu re
und e rsta ndin g of God 's will.
HERESIES AND HEROES
During this tim e h eresies
sp ra ng up that attracted nume ro us
fo llowers a nd became influ e nti a l
moveme nts within th e Churc h . To
the believe rs , reli g ious disputes
were just as impo rtant as th e dif-
feren ces that exist between today's
c hurch es or be tween Christian ity
a n d o the r re lig ions . Whether
ch a lle nges were from wi thout or
heresies from within , there we re
Christian lead ers ready to do battle.
T h ey fo u gh t with th e ir pens, n ot
with swo rds. Those wh o defended
Christia nity from pagan c riticism
we re call ed apologists ("th ose
wh o d efe nd ") . Those wh o wrote
against c hurc h h eres ies were
known as polemicists ("th ose
27
wh o refute"). One of th e g reat
apo logists o f the in fa nt c hurc h
was Pol ycarp. His death as a
Ch ristia n martyr in A.D. 156 is
the earliest on record o u tsid e the
Bible.
Unfortunate ly, so me e rrors
crept into the church thro ugh the
ve ry writings of those who were
defending it. Bu t this did not
negate th e efforts of courageous
church leaders who were used by
the Ho ly Spirit to effectively
defend a nd proclai m biblical
truths. There were also th o usan ds
of ordin ary men, women, and chil-
dre n who, a mid persecution and
sco rn , participated in this difficult
tas k. Obviously, Christia nity was not
a religion for the fa inth earted .
As it is with infants, this youn g
church was just lea rning to walk,
lea rning how to get alon g witho ut
th e apostles (parents), a nd learn-
in g h ow to deal with its surround-
ings. Even tl10lIgh o nly an in fant
church , the members took their
religion seriously. They had to, for
in many cases it was a ma tte r of life
an d d eath . While defending their
faith and the ir lives from the forces
without, they also struggled with
th e ch all e nges from within .
T hrough it all, God was there to
strengme n and uphold this you ng
church , preparing it for new and
greater ch alle nges just ah ead.
 Anchor T~xt
"Have reveren ce for Christ in your hearts, a nd ho nor him as Lord. Be
ready at all times to answer a nyon e who asks you to exp lain the hope yo u
have in you, but do it with gentleness a nd respect" (1 Peter 3:1 5,16, TEV).

Q!J Into th~ 8ibl~

There are many significant purposes or functions that are carried o ut
by the church. Fo ur of these are listed on the worksheet that will be pro-
vided by your teac her. Read the texts that describe these fun ctions and
write a brief summa ry of each.

Proj~cts
1. Divide into groups of three o r four a nd d esign a worship se rvice that is
appropriate a nd spiritually meaningful for your church . It can be a
worship service that's just for teenagers or for a co ngregation of both
young people and adults. The pro posed outline sho uld include a ll
phases of a wo rship service, such as the call to worship, con gregational
singing, special music, prayers, offe rin g, sermon , be ne d iction , and spe-
cia l features. Be creative .
2. Imagin e yourself in an isola ted situatio n, like the Christia ns in th e cata-
combs. Sketch some contemporary symbols for the Christia n faith.
Share them with the class a nd discuss the meaning of the imagery.

28
 roms Questions
1. If you mention the word church, what response do you get from people?
2. How would the Seve nth-day Adventist Church be helped or hindered if
there were no organized churches?
3. What would you say are the greatest changes needed in our worship
services?
4. Is there anything wro ng in atte nding church o n Sunday?
5. Wh at could you do to make perso nal Bible study a definite part of your
daily life?
6. Do all religions worship the same God but just use differen t names fo r
Him ?
7. What do you think is the best summary statement (text) in the Bible
for the Christian faith?
8. Do Seve nth-day Adventists spend e no ugh tim e and effort defending
their faith before the world?

*Adap tcd [rom The Semd~ Jor Meaning by Th omas Naylor. William Willim on, Magdale na
Naylo r. Copy right © 1994 by Abingdo n Press. Adapted by permision.

[nti(~d by Pow~r and Popularity
Lesson Setting
The response of the Christian Church to newly acquired power and
popularity from A.D. 321 to A.D. 538.
man once referred
to a time in his life
that started with a
pimple and end ed
with a beard! What
was he talking
..._ _ _ _ _ _... about? You guessed
rig ht if you said "adolesce nce"-
that slice of time in a person's life
that comes on ly once a nd is marked
by all kinds of radical cha nges.
Social pressures, self-dou bt, and lots
of uncertainties all seem to happe n
at once. After a ll, you don't come
in to this world prepackaged with
ready-made a nswers about li fe.
Establish ing your identity, striving
for acceptance, and seeking inde-
pendence and control over your life
are all a part of growing up.
CONSTANTINE
BRINGS CHANGES
The Christian Ch urch had its
time of ado lesce nce from 321 to
538. Many of the stormy but deci-
sive experi e nces just mentioned
also d escribe the church's growing
up. And like most of us, the ch urch
~.
lesson ~
was unpre pared for what was to
take place.
Constantine was the key player
at the beginning of this time pe-
riod. Though his conversion to
Ch ristia nity may have been gen-
uine, his understanding of it was
lim ited. After all, h e had become a
Christian because of his victories
on the battlefield, not because of
his study of the Bib le. In his decla-
ration of tole ration in 313,
Constantin e stated: "We grant to
the Christians a nd to all others full
liberty of fo ll owing that religion
which each may choose.'" How
wonderful t11is new freedom must
have felt to the persecuted believ-
ers! Then in 321 Constantine granted
Chlistian ity even greate r recognitio n
by declaring, "Let all judges, and all
c ity peop le , and tradesmen rest
upon the ve n e rabl e da y of th e
sun .'" This, too, sounded like good
news, but when religion is regulated
or enforced by law, it usually creates
more problems than it solves.
Neither the Church nor the Roman
governme nt fu lly realized the lo ng-
ra nge conseque n ces of the fi rst
Sun day law.
Du ring th e latter pa rt of his
re ign, Co nstan ti n e mad e a deci-
sio n th at h ad a profound effect
o n th e co urse of histo ry. In 330
h e d ecided to move th e h ead-
qua rte rs of th e governme nt from
th e city of Ro me (in th e West) to
Byzan tiu m (in th e Eas t) a nd
re n a me d th e city Co nstan tin ople,
after hi mself. Altho ugh his pla n
was to make Co nstantin o pl e th e
new ce nte r of Ch r istia n ity, this
move r esulte d in a divide d e mpire
as well as a divid ed church . In
tim e, Co nsta ntin op le did become
a n ew power base for th e churc h ,
wi th th e e mpe ror as its h ead .
PAGANISM INVADES
THE CHURCH
Ve ry qui ckly, prospe rity and
worldl y h on o r re placed persecu-
tio n as the ma in stum b ling block
Square of St. Peter's Basil ica in Rome.
of th e church . Bu t why did success
and recogni tion becom e a hi n-
dra nce to be lieve rs? Whe n
Christia ni ty became a n approved
re ligion, laws were passed p ro hi bit-
ing pagan sacrifi ces a nd worsh ip.
Th o ugh Roman paganism lost its
on ce migh ty ro le in th e e m p ire, it
regained its power by in vad in g th e
church as paganized Christiani ty.
What it could no t d o by attacking
the church fro m withou t, it accom-
plish e d by co rrup ting it fro m with-
in. Evil is always most dece p tive
whe n it hides its true colors, d is-
guising its real inte n t a nd ide n tity.
Before the tim e of Constantine,
the prima ry focus o f th e Church
was the simplicity of Christian life
and th e teachings of J esus. Afte r
Constantin e, th e atte ntion shifted
to po litical ambitio n a n d th e exal-
tatio n of huma n ideas and cus-
toms. Being a Christian had
become a pass po rt to po li tical,
 military, a nd social pro mo tio n.
Ma ny o f the pagans wh o e nte red
the church we re o nly half-converted
to Christiani ty. T his bro ught a bo u t
a tragic ch ange in public wo rship
and introdu ced a spirit of worldli-
ness a mo ng th e be lieve rs. Supe r-
stitio us rites a nd idolatrous p ractices
we re min gled with Chri stia n
be li efs a nd churc h fes ti va ls. Eve n
th e procla ma ti o n in 336 to ce le-
brate C hrist's b irthday o n
Dece m ber 25 was moti vated by
th e des i re to fu se paga n a nd
Christia n be li efs .
T h e pagan custo m of he ro wo r-
sh ip soo n beca me a commo n prac-
tice within the church, whe n special
h o n ors we re b es towed upo n
Christia n ma r tyrs. The church
quic kl y deve loped a n e la bo rate sys-
te m o f discove ring a nd h o no ring
d eceased sain ts. Every town a nd Constantine I.
provin ce h ad its own special saint.
Tombs of th e ma rtyrs we re d eco- instrum e n ts with which th ey had
rated , a nd even tu ally shrin es and been tortured. O n e pri est d ecla red
church es we re b uil t ove r the ir that "eve rywhe re peo ple kiss and
graves. T he practice of praying for ad o re so me bi t o f dust in a little
livin g saints was re placed with po t, wra pped u p in precio us fab-
p rayers to dead o n es. It was ri c.":' These re lics were seen as hav-
be lieved tha t because of the ir h o ly ing miraculous power. I t was COITI-
lives, th e saints had been awarded mon ly tll 0ught th at they could h eal
specia l positi o ns in heave n, all ow- the sick, expose th e g uil ty whe n
ing th e m to take the pe ti tio ns of crim es were committed, preve nt
the peopl e directly to God . plagues, and even raise the d ead .
Ma rtyred saints a nd Ch r istia n Nea rl y every church p ossessed its
shrin es had ta ke n th e p lace of own supply of prized relics. The
pagan gods a n d heathe n tem p les. most ch e rished relic was the cross
As ma rtyrs became ca nonized of J esus, which was su pposedly d is-
(officia lly recogni zed as sain ts), cove red by Constantine's moth e r.
th ere was inte nse compe ti tio n in Althoug h e no ug h "ho ly" splinte rs
the search fo r deceased bodies a nd h ad been gath e red up to construct
ho ly re li cs. Re lics included such a la rge numbe r of crosses, the peo-
thi ngs as the bo nes, garments, o r ple continued to be lieve that the
utensils of ma rtyrs, as well as the cross had been fo und .
 Through it a ll some thing
importa nt was lost. Fo r many, th e
cross had d egraded into a me re
re li c tha t was revered and h o n-
o red. No lo nger was it recogni zed
as a scorned sym bo l of self-de ni al
a nd death. Th e o riginal inte nt o f
th e cross was to se rve as a visua l
re minde r o f Christ's d eath fo r th e
sins of the wo rld , as well as the will-
ingness of the be li evers to die for
th eir Savior a nd Lo rd. Th e fo ll ow-
in g poe m illustra tes a commo n
mista ken attitude.
AN EASY YOKE
God, give me a b rea k
but no bo nes, pl ease.
Casual fractures of in signifi cant
extremiti es, a fi nger or toe ,
would be just fin e-
no extraneo us pain.
Some good sma ll hurt
to feste r o pe nly fo r all to see.
Pe rha ps a gentle fl ogging like Pa ul,
a bo il or two like J ob,
a d esert j aunt like Moses,
but n o ex travagant affIicti o n-
just enough to hint of martyrdom,
to simulate a type of cross,
a kind of crown,
a sort o f yo ke,
perhaps made o ut of balsa wood !
And never mind the na ils.'
- Leslie Leyla nd Fie ld
CHANGES IN WORSHIP
Wi th Christia ni ty gainin g pub-
lic res pectabili ty a nd a pp roval, the
numbe r o f worshipe rs drama tically
increased. Th e h o mes of be lieve rs,
which h ad se rved quite well as
places of wo rship, were no longer
ad equate . La rger meeting places
we re need ed. Wh e n the Rom a n
E mpe ro r Th eod osius prohibi ted
pagan wo rship a nd sacrifices in
391, pe ti tio ns we re circu la te d to
destroy pagan te m ples or convert
th e m into Ch risti a n church es. Bu t
pagan te mples we re not bui lt to
accommodate a la rge assembly of
worshipers. Wh at did become ava il-
a ble, howeve r, were basilicas, build-
ings used by Ro ma ns for places o f
public assembly. Th ey quic kly
re placed ho use wo rship sin ce they
provided ample space for large
congregatio ns. A basilica was a
long rec tan gula r building, e ndin g
\.\lith a se mi circular area kn own as
the apse. Th e main a rea was di-
vided by rows o f pilla rs th a t we re
parall e l to th e side walls. Th e cen-
te r space was call ed the n ave, a nd
th e oute r sides we re referred to as
a isles.
Christia n wo rship a t this tim e
was still be in g conducte d in Gree k,
a lth o ugh in some regions oth e r
la nguages were a lread y be ing used.
Eve ntually La tin re p laced Gree k as
th e language o f th e pe opl e
througho ut the e mpire . Altho ugh
there was a gradua l move towa rd
a n establishe d pa tte rn of wo rship ,
regional diffe re n ces e nsured con-
siderabl e varia tio n fro m one
church to a no th e r. Churches were
provided wi th a sta nda rd patte rn
fo r a worship se rvice, instru ctio ns
for the ord ina tio n of the clergy,
a nd guide li nes fo r ba ptism.
Because infa n t d eaths were so co m-
mo n, adul t ba p tism was be in g
re placed by infa nt baptism to (sup-
posedly) e nsure the salvati on of
th e child .
During the early years of
Christia nity, wo rship services in
"house" churches were very infor-
mal , everyone having an active part.
By Lhe fourth century, an unwar-
ranted distincti on had d eveloped
between clergy a nd la ity. The wor-
ship service had changed from a
united effort by the whole church
in to a divided service-in which
o nly the clergy could teach and
preach, a nd the laity could o nly sit
and listen .
Having a worship service in a
basi lica made it easy to emphasize
this distinction. The apse was
reserved for th e clergy, easi ly recog-
nized by thei r expensive and very
colorful vestm e nts (outer gar-
ments). A thronelike cha ir was set
up in the center for the bishop. An
altar fo r the Com munion service
a nd a pulpit were at the front of the
apse. T he centra l area (the nave)
was occupied by the choir and Lhe
clergy of lower ra nk. T he o rdina ry
worsh ipers sat in the side aisles-
men on one side and women on
Aisle
•••••• Nave
•••••• Aisle
Th e basic nOOl'plan of a basilica.
the o the r. Those receiving instruc-
tio n or be ing disciplined were
restricted to the narthex (the room
at the very rear of th e basilica).
As wealth a nd pro perty were
obtained, many magnifice nt
church es were erected , patterned
after the style of the basilica. They
were often buil t on significant
graves or constructed o n sites as-
sociated with even ts in Christ's life.
Church es were designed so th a t
attention would focus on the sacred
spo t for which the church was built.
In time, pilgrim ages by be lievers to
these church es o r shrines became a
common practice . Such ventures
were seen as a way of gaining merit
in the eyes of God .
A DIVIDED CHURCH
Perhaps th e most sig nifican t
change that took place durin g this
tim e invo lved th e position and
privil eges of the cl ergy. They h ad
become a distin ct group, e levated
Apse
a bove the co mmo n people by th e ir
profession a nd the ir ordinati o n. As
a resul t, th e Christia n belief of "the
priesthood of a ll be lievers" (1 Pe te r
2:5, 9 ) virtually disappeared. This
was the biblical teaching tha t every
believer has access to God's pres-
e nce through Jesus and equally
shares in proclaiming this good
news to others. H oweve r, this kind
of ministry was soon reserved fo r a
privileged few, while the vast maj or-
ity simply becam e spectators.
THE CLERGY EXALTED
Durin g the first five ce nturies,
Christian church es were gen e rally
establishe d in th e cities. Th e peo-
ple in the country continued as
heathen long afte r many city fo lk
had become Christians. The La tin
word for country peop le was
pagani, a te rm tha t became th e
labe l for n on-Christia ns. With
church me mbe rship o n the rise in
the cities, the re was a lso a n
in crease in th e work of th e cl e rgy.
The basic pa tte rn for a ll c ity
c hurches was to be under th e
ge neral supe rvisio n o f on e bi sh o p,
be in g ass isted by lowe r-ranke d
cl e rgy. As a fo rm al hie ra rchy (an
established o rde r) developed , dis-
tinc tions be tween cle rgy a nd la ity,
a nd eve n be tween the clergy th e m-
se lves, were inc reasingly empha-
sized.
Since the bish o ps controlled
the finan ces of all churches, they
received an in come much larger
than the rest of th e cle rgy. The
wealth of th e Ro ma n bishop
be came so we ll known that o n e
pagan officia l d e cla red , "Ma ke me
a bishop of Ro me a nd I will
become a Christian tomorrow."'"
They surro unded th e mselves with
bodyguards a nd a h ost of se rva n ts.
Described as "ridin g in carri ages,
dressin g spl e ndid ly, and feastin g
luxuriously, so tha t th e ir ente rta in-
ment surpasses even royal ba n-
quets," the bish o p h e ld an offi ce
tha t beca me "worth fi ghting for."
T his was not true o f all bishops, fo r
some lived very simpl e and
unselfish lives.
In th eo ry, a ll bishops we re to
be equal , but eve ntually som e
became mo re pro min e nt than
oth e rs, d e pe ndin g o n th e impor-
ta n ce o f th e c ity ove r whic h th ey
rul ed. T h e bisho ps in th e la rge r
towns we re kn own as archbishot)s.
Th e bishops wh o reside d in th e
pre mi e r cities o f th e e mpire-
Rome , Con sta ntinople, Al ex-
a ndria , Anti och, a nd J e rusale m-
were co nside red th e high est o f a ll
and we re call ed jJal,iarchs. During
the fourth a nd fifth centuries, these
powerful lead e rs became inte nse
ri vals, each one de te nnined to
expand his circle of authority. In
time th e bish o p o f Rome claimed
to be th e supre me leade r, d ecla rin g
tha t all maj o r d ecisio ns invo lving
the church we re to receive his
a pproval. In line with this claim , he
took the title o f pope, derived fro m
the Latin wo rd patHl, meaning
"fathe r." Th e church over which
the pope ruled as the suprem e
head became kn own as th e Rom an
Catholic Chu rc h.
A PROTEST MOVEMENT
The re we re those who pro-
teste d the worldliness of th e
church a nd th e shameful conduct
of th e cl e rgy. Some of th e m
expressed the ir disdain by becom-
ing asce tics-people who practiced
stric t self-de nia l. This involved
e ith e r abstaining fron1 certain
thin gs o r adding some thin gs, prac-
ti ces not expected of ordinary
be lievers. With pe rsecutio n having
ceased , ascetics re placed martyrs as
examples of supreme d evotion.
They were not so much fl ee ing the
wo rld itse lf as they we re th e world
within the church. They be lieved
it was the un godly church that kept
th e m from achi eving true godli-
ness.
Ascetics were a lso known as
hermits (a G reek word mea ning
"d esert"). If th ey li ved togeth e r in
a mo n aste ry as me mbe rs of a reli-
g ious order, they we re ca ll ed
mo nks. Th e spiri tua l lead e r of a
mo naste ry was an abbot. Ascetics
prac ticed ce libacy (staying unmar-
rie d ), and their daily ro utin e co n-
siste d mostly of readi ng the Bible,
medita ti o n , praye r, a nd fasting.
One of the most unusual ascetics
was Sim o n the Stylite (390-460),
wh o gain e d his fam e by spe ndin g
th e last thirty years of his life
perch ed o n top of a sixty-foot-
hig h pillar. H e c hose this bi za rre
place afte r being disturbed by the
huge crowds wh o gath e re d at th e
openi ng of the cave whe re he
stayed.
T he first ascetic community
was es tabli shed duri ng th e fourth
ce ntury. It was se H~s upp ort in g,
and those who ca me for adm is-
sion had to prove their d ed ication
by standing outside th e monastery
d oor fo r seve ra l days . As asceti-
cism expanded into a movem e nt,
it was ca ll ed monasticism.
Eventua lly most monaste ri es were
brought und e r the supervision of
th e church in order to p revent
ex treme p ractices from taking
pl ace. For examp le, some ate
n othin g but grass; others lived in
trees or refused to wash . Although
th e re were a bu ses and so me
unbibli cal practices, d own
thro ug h th e ce nturies, monaste r-
ies were ge nera lly regarded as th e
ma in centers of spiritu ali ty.
Th e sto ry is told of a country
church th at had a la rge sign by its
fro nt e ntra n ce wh ich read JESUS
ONLY. One night durin g a storm,
a gust of wind b lew away part of
th e sign , leaving o nly th e words US
ONLY. T h is illustrates what hap-
pe ned to the church durin g this
time of radical d ecline. It e ntered
th is tim e pe riod po intin g
upward- proclaiming J esus as th e
o nly way of salvatio n. As it left this
sto rmy era, its focus twisted
inward-prom oting its own inte r-
ests and d esires. Rathe r than lifting
up J esus and the redemption that
is fo und o nly in H im , the church
e levate d pagan ideas, worshiped
created things, and magnified its
own powe r. But a re mnant
remain ed fa ithful to the Word of
God. The record o f this fa ithful
"s ile nt min o rity" is h ard to discern
on the pages of history, but it is
cl earl y written in th e boo ks of
heaven.
S An(hor Tt>xt
''Yo u a re a chosen peopl e, a royal priesthood, a ho ly nati o n , a peo ple
belo ngin g to God , that you may declare th e praises of him who called you
out of darkn ess in to his wonderfi.i1 ligh t" (1 Pete r 2:9).

(1J Into tht> Biblt>

1. Wh at adm o ni tio n does the Bibl e give regard ing th e dange rs of pros pe r-
ity? Read th e fo ll owin g texts and wri te a bri ef summary of each.
A. Psalm 73:1 -3
B. Mark 4: 18, 19
C. Mark 10:25
2. What does the Bible say abo ut th e spiritual value of man-made rituals
and ceremo nies? Give a bri ef sum mary of each text.
A. Mark 7:6-8
B. Mark 7:9
C. Coloss ians 2:8
3. Wha t does the Bible teach regard ing the human desire fo r power,
hon or, and praise?
A. Matthew 20:25-28
B. Matthew 23:5-12
C. Mark 9:33-35
1. Several importa nt questions e me rge as one examin es this time period
of th e church. Divide into two equal sides or into groups of three or
four. Discuss the fo llowing issues and then ope n it up to debate.
A. Should Seventh-day Adventists be spendin g more time building
"wall s" to keep wo rldliness out of the church or buildin g "bridges"
in ord e r to develop a bette r relatio nship with th e world around it?
Explain wha t walls o r bridges you believe need to be built.
B. Wha t are some acceptable a nd unaccep tabl e reaso ns for a person
separating from the church ?
2. Ske tch the inside of a church building or com pose a pattern fo r a wor-
ship se rvice tha t wou ld e nha nce our wo rship of God a nd pro mote the
biblical spiri t o f a sha red ministry.

focus Qu~stions
1. Do you think that the re will be an o th e r nationa l (or inte rnatio nal )
Sunday law in th e future? If so, what facto rs do you see leading to such
a law?
2. Sin ce Christmas has pagan origins, is it wrong for Christians to cel-
ebrate it?
3. What would you do so that church me mbers would no t see th e mse lves
as me re spectato rs?
4. What sho uld be the basis or process that determ ines the salary of a
Seventh-day Adventist minister?
5. What's the diffe re nce between a 'J esus o nly" c hurch a nd a n "us on ly"
church ?

J. La rs P. Qualben, A HistOl)' of lhe Christian Chun;/t (New York, N.¥.: Thomas Nelson and
So n5, 1933), 116.
2. Ellen C. White , The Greal Controversy (Boise, Id aho: Pacific Press, J954), 682.
3. Tim Dowie),. ed., EerdlluUls' /-Iandboo/{ to Ihe /-lisIOI)' of Chrislianit)' (Gra nd Rapids, Mich.:
Wm. B. Eerdma ns Publishing Co., 1977), J33.
4. Source unkown.
5. T im Dowley, ed. , l:.crdmans' J-Iandbooll to lhe l-li5101)1 ofCh1'istianil)'. 190.

Caring [nough to (onfront
Lesson Setting
T h e response of the Christia n Ch u rch to the r ise of conu'oversy
betwee n A. D. 321 to A.D. 538.
s wha t you believe really all
that important? Would you
be willing to con fro nt a
fri e nd whose be liefs were
different from yours? Do
you have any beliefs that you
a re willing to d ie fo r? Some
might respond by saying that one's
spiritual be liefs aren 't all tha t impo r-
tant; what really counts is the kind
of person you are. Th ere is a real
flaw, howeve r, in this kind of reason-
ing. It's like saying, "It doesn 't mat-
ter what a fa rme r pla n ts; it is what
he harvests that counts." But beliefs
do matte r. T hough ts are the
re hearsal time fo r actio ns! T he Bible
puts it this way, "Be carefu l how you
think; your li fe is sha ped by your
thoughts" (Prove rbs 4:23, TEY).
O ur beliefs abo ut God, ourselves,
and the world around us are life's
basic building blocks on which
eve rything else d epe nds.
During th e time pe riod of 321
to 538, false teachings sta rted to
spring up, and num e ro us contro-
ve rsies e rup ted th ro ugh o ut the
church. By the fourth ce ntu ry,
••
lesson.
Christia ni ty had ex panded to
include people of three conti-
ne n ts- Euro pe, Asia, a nd Africa.
There we re ma ny races a nd ages,
men and women, ri ch and poor,
powerful a nd weak, free a nd slave,
soldi e rs a nd c ivi lia ns, J ews a nd
Gen ti les. Ma ny of these people
ke pt some of the ir form e r be liefs
a nd prac ti ces wh e n th ey became
Christia ns. T his led to a n assort-
ment of customs, worship styles,
a nd d iffe re n ces of be lief within th e
church .
THE NEED FOR ClARITY
T he story is told of a ce rta in
factory worke r wh o refused to sign
up fo r a group insuran ce pla n.
Since th e insura nce po licy could
o nly be obtaine d if a ll e mployees
would agree to it, his supe rvisor
and his co-worke rs trie d to pe r-
suade him of the advan tages, but
with o ut success . Al l kinds of tactics
a nd p ress ure we re used , bu t noth-
ing c ha nged his mind . Fin ally th e
boss, seeing that eve ryon e was
go ing to su ffe r because o f one
 View of Amalfi ti-om the terrace of the Capuchin Mo nastery in Italy.
man's lack of cooperation, call ed
him in . "Listen ," he said as he
pounded the desk with his fist,
"Sign up- or you ' re fi red."
Without hesitation the worker
grabbed the sign-up sheet and pen-
ci led in his name . Stun ned by such
a q ui ck change of attitude, the boss
asked him why h e hadn ' t signe d
earl ier. "Because," the wo rke r
replied , "no one expla in e d it as
clearly as you did! "
With controve rsies ta king place
all through th e church , what was
needed was som eone who could
"clearly" explain Ch ristianity's fun-
damental beliefs. Today you a nd I
probably have a fa irly good id ea of
what our church believes. But we
usually don 't give much thoug ht to
how the ch urch got those be li efs.
Of one thing we can be sure: the
main te ach ings (doctrin es) of th e
Christian faith did no t com e to the
church in some pre packaged form .
Rather than hand do wn a nice ly
organ ized set of beliefs, God gave
His ch u rch the insp ired truths of
Scri pture. Believers were then
given the freedom to take th ese
truths and draw up basic principles
a nd gu idelines to live by.
Conseque n tly, over th e next several
centu ries, there ""las vigorous
debate as to what constituted the
pillars of the Christian faith.
From th e outset, a key perso n
in resolving church d isputes was
Consta ntin e. H e had turned the
Roman world upside down by
e stablishing Christianity as the offi-
c ial religion of the empire.
Christians were promoted wh il e
pagans were demoted. Those who
obj ected to this dramatic turn-
around were declared to be insane
and sm itten by "divine" vengeance.
How quickly the tables were
turned! A sh ift in power- and the
persecuted became the persecutors.
Constantine had alm ost single-
handedly brought persecution to
a n e nd a nd gra nted th e church a
supe rior status. Th e adva ntages it
bro ught to the church , howeve r,
came at a very high cost.
Co nstantin e gradually took more
a nd more control of th e church .
He bega n to rule Christia n bishops
as h e govern ed Roman citize ns.
Spiritual leaders and civil servants
were equally expected to take th e ir
o rde rs from him.
REASONS FOR CONTROVERSY
As emperor, Cons tantine con-
sidered Christia nity as th e main
unifyin g factor in the e mpire. H e
co unted o n the chu rch to bring
stability and new life to a rapidl y
weake nin g Ro man wo rld. For that
reason he lVas greatly troubled by
re ports of Ch ristians be ing dee ply
divided over matters of be lief and
doctrine . Be lieve rs who had at one
time bee n victims of pe rsecution
were now demand in g th at fe llow
chu rch me mbe rs who he ld d issimi-
lar views be banished from their
churches. Not o nly did
Constan tine d esire to be involved
in such matte rs, but th e c hurch
as ked for a nd readi ly accepted hi s
he lp. On e of the hardest lessons
for the church to learn is the da m-
agi ng effects o f usin g political
po"ver to so lve spiritual issues.
Persecutio n a lmost always fo llows.
During th is period , th e re were
very few copies of th e New
Testament. A lack of sc riptural
understanding led to a d iversity of
beliefs and gave rise to fa lse teach-
ings. Th e cl ose con n ectio n that
ex ists betwee n cu lture an d rel igion
means that peop le of the same re li-
gion can communica te a nd express
their spiri tua l convic tio ns in very
different ways. For exam p le,
Christians in the United States wo r-
ship and practice th e ir religion dif-
ferently from those living in China,
Ke nya, or Peru.
Alth o ugh the word catholic was
used to d esc ribe th e entire body of
Christia n be lievers, diffe re nt cul-
tures and la nguages c reated
num e rous misunde rsta ndings.
Conflicts were also fu e led by
Constantin e's d ivision of th e
e mpire, whic h likewise spli t th e
church. The two maj o r divisions o f
the ch urc h (Rome in th e West and
Co nstantin ople in the East) began
to openly disagree about many
things, such as th e use of images,
the cel ebration of Easter, the pat-
te rn for ch urch wo rshi p, and
wheth er ministers cou ld ma rry.
There was a lso conte n tio n over
wh ich writings should be included
in the New Testament. The most
ser ious controversi es, however,
were over th e nature of Christ a nd
th e H o ly Spirit in the East a nd over
the questio n of our salvation a nd
church autho ri ty in the West.
T he way the Church responde d
to religio us con trovers ies at this
time was through church councils.
A co un cil involved the gathe ring of
church lead e rs to discuss and
resolve the issues at hand. The
d ecisio n of a cou ncillVas put in the
form of a summary statement
called a creed. This word comes
from th e Latin word credo, meaning
"J believe. " A creed was bind ing o n
a ll church mem bers andlVas usu-
a lly memori zed by the be lieve rs.
So me cree d s were simple a nd
inform al , while others were lengthy
and complex. Creeds we re impo r-
tan t because they establish ed basic
teachings (orthodoxy) an d brought
about unity of beli ef within the
church. Unfortun a te ly, some
creeds reflected human reason ing
more than th e teac hin gs of
Scripture.
A DISPUTE ABOUT JESUS
The first controversy to captu re
Consta ntine 's attention was the
heated dispute regarding the
nature of Jesus. The primary com-
batants were Alexander, th e bi sho p
of Alexandria, and Arius, a popular
church e lder a nd e loquent teache r.
Arius knew that the heathen
(pagans ) believed in many gods.
H e felt that if Christians taught
that J esus was God , equal to th e
Father, it would mea n that there
are two Gods, thus upholding a
heathen notion. Arius believed that
converts from paganism h ad diffi-
culty accepting the idea of a divine
Trinity, with all me mbe rs being
equal. He attempted to make
Christianity easier to unde rstand by
teaching that there was only one
supre me God, surrounde d by
divine beings of a lower rank.
According to Arius, Christ was the
first a nd highest of all created
be ings-god but not God. Christ
did not exist from a ll eternity a nd
was not of th e same essen ce as the
Father. On the other ha nd, Bishop
Alexande r believed tha tJesus was
fully God, equal to the Father. H e
judged the teachings of Arius as
heresy and had him excommuni-
cated (banned from the church).
But Arius had a popular following,
and attempts to halt his teachings
44
led to rio tin g in the streets of
Alexandria.
Desiring a unified church,
Constantine recognized th at h e
had to deal with this bitter and
long-standing controversy. H e
e ndeavored to se ttle it by sendin g a
letter to the opposing pa rti es, urg-
ing them to resolve their differ-
ences. When it became apparent
that this problem would not be se t-
tled that easily, h e called a gen eral
coun cil of the e ntire church in 325
to meet at N icaea, a small town
so me forty-five miles from
Constantinopl e.
THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA
This was truly a historic meeting.
For the first time, church leaders
came together from all over the
empire to deal with an urgent prob-
lem. It was also the first meeting of
the Ch ristia n Church that was called
by an emperor rather than by a
church leader.
Over 300 bishops came, many
of them bearing th e ugly scars of
torture they had received during
the tim e o f Ro man persecution.
The right eye of many had been
gou ged out, while o th e rs were
missi n g an arm, a hand , or a leg.
What a sight! They came, no
longer walkin g long miles in fear
of their lives, but rid in g in comfort
as guests of the e mperor. In a lav-
ishly decorated hall , the bishops
gazed with grateful awe upon the
man who had brought peace a nd
unity to th e e mpire a nd had pe r-
sonally take n care of all expenses
for this important meeting.
But center stage was not to be
occupied by Constantine, dressed
in royal garments a nd adorned
with precious j ewels a nd gold
e mbroidery. Th e focus of this
council was to be o n J esus. Was He
fully God-uncreated , infini te, and
e te rn al- or was H e the highest of
all created be ings? The council
quickly condem n ed th e views of
Arius a nd formulated a creed, clari-
Council of Nicaea.
4S
fyin g the official position of the
church. It became o ne o f the g reat
creeds of Christia ni ty a nd is known
today as the Nicene Creed . In part,
this creed declares: "We be lieve in
o ne God ... and in o n e LordJesus
Christ, ... bego tte n , no t made,
be ing of one substance with the
Fath e r."* From this time o n, the
authorized view of th e church was
th at J esus was truly Cod , full y equal
to th e Father,

GOD ALONE CAN SAVE

But does it really make that
much diffe re nce wha t we be lieve
about J esus? Was th e church gu ilty
of making a big deal over a minor
issu e? Not at a ll! Recogni zin g the
de ity of J esus sets Him above
earthly me n and ho no rs Him as
God, deserving o ur worship, Eve n
more important, the work of sav-
ing the hum a n race from sin is
dependent upo n a divine Savior,
Sin is not simply a minor fl aw, It is
more than evil thoughts and
wron g acti o ns, Sin means re be lli o n
against Cod ; it means that our re la-
tionship with God is broke n, Sin is
so extensive a nd d ee ply rooted in
us that there is nothing we ca n do
to save ourselves , Once we begin
to unde rstand th e mea nin g of sin ,
we can see why o n ly Cod can
resolve this moral dilemma,
According to th e Scripture,
God did not ass ig n the tas k of
saving sinn ers to any created
be in gs-ne ith e r hum a ns n or
a n gels, Ange ls are as incapable as
we are to pay th e pena lty of
rebellion aga inst God, Both are
powerless to resto re the broke n
relationship between God and
th e fa ll en hum a n race , On ly H e
wh o can c reate life ca n re d ee m
it. Only through Christ can the
penalty a f sin b e remedied and
fellowship with God be restored.
Through Chri st 's sac r ifice ou r
sa lvation has been sec ured a nd a
life of g ra teful obed ie n ce made
avai lab le to us,
A canal in Venice, Italy.
IMPORTANT
TRUTHS CLARIFIED
After the Coun cil of Nicaea,
more church co un cils were call ed,
In 381 a seco nd council was h e ld
in Co nsta n tinople, It reaffirm ed
the beliefs exp ressed by the N icene
Creed (th at Christ was fu lly Cod)
and now also d eclared its be li ef in
the fu ll d e ity o f the Holy Spirit.
The orthodox (official ) view of th e
church regard ing the Fathel~ Son,
a nd H o ly Spiri t as a Triune Cod
(three Pe rso ns as o ne Cod) was
now fu lly es tablished,
The third church council, he ld
in Ephesus in 43 1, dealt with sev-
e ral issues, th e most signifi ca n t
be ing th e teac hin gs of Pe lagius
(360-420), He was a British mo n k
who declared that Christia ns cou ld
fully obey the comma nds of God
a nd live a li fe free from sin if th ey
so chose , H e ta ugh t that th ere was
no in herited incl ination to evil in

4.
 hum an nature. Like Adam at hi s
creation, human bei ngs were free
to ch oose ei ther good o r evil.
Sin ce an e lllire ly sin less life was
poss ible, according to Pe lagius, it
meant that humankind could save
itself by its own good works. The
teachings o f Pe lagius were judged
co ntrary to Sc ripture a nd were
co ndemned by the council.
The fin al church council during
this time period was held in
Chalcedon in 451. The mai n agenda
VlaS the question concerning the
human na ture ofJ esus. The creed
fo rmulated by this coun cil not only
reaffi rm ed its bel ief in th e full a nd
comple te de ity of J esus bu t con-
fessed its acceptance of His equally
full a nd co mpl e te hum a nity. In th e
pe rson of J es us resided two distinct
natu res. As ou r Savio r, Christ's
huma n (not sinful ) nature was just
as im porta nt a nd necessary as His
divine nature. As God, H e is the
Fath er's re p rese ntative to us. As
Man, He is o ur represe ntative
before th e Father. As the God-Man ,
j esus is the co nnecting link
be tween heave n a nd earth. Paul
descri bes it this way: "Th e re is one
God and one mediator be tween
God and me n, the man Christ
j esus" ( I Timothy 2:5).
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
So what does it a ll mean?
Controve rsy . .. Counci ls . . . Creeds!
What can we learn from this slice
of church history? Does it mean
that a ll th e important be li e fs have
a lready bee n fi gured out for us?
And what about creeds? Are they a
good thing? To what ex te nt should
47
everyo ne in the chu rch agree?
As we have discovered in this
lesson, th e basi c beliefs o f
Christianity were not handed to
the Church on a si lve r p latter.
They were crafted through co ntro-
versy. Th ey dealt with real, practi-
cal issues of that day. They focu sed
o n subjects tha t really matte red .
And th ose who d id th e most in
helpi ng th e c hurch be what it is
today were th ose who were the
most loyal to God's Wo rd.
T h ere is a real danger in
assu ming that th e struggle is all
over and the work is a ll done. We
must avoid the attitude that all
truth has been discovered a nd a ll
doctrines have been determined ;
all we have to do is be lieve it a nd
pass it on. Doctrin es th a t a re not
indi vidu a ll y struggle d with , pe rson-
a lly thought through a nd made
o ur own , are dull a nd meaningless.
Creeds may have bee n h e lpful to
those who put th e m togethe r, but
th ey will o n ly come a live for us by
be in g pe rsona lized. They must be
taken a part, reassembled , and
made relevant by eac h passing gen-
eration.
But most impo rta nt, truth is
not simply a list of be liefs. Truth is
a Pe rson. We a re not saved by what
we bel ieve, but rather, in whom we
believe. The real purpose for beliefs ,
doctrin es, or creed s is to po in t th e
sinn er to the Savior. Nea r the close
of his Gospel, j ohn makes it known
that th e ultim ate purpose of
Scripture is "th a t yo u may believe
th at j esus is th e Christ, the Son of
God , a nd th a t by beli evin g yo u may
have life in his name" Uohn 20:31).
 ~ Anchor T~xt
"Do your best to present yourse lf to God as one a pproved , a wo rk-
man who has no need to be asha med, rightly handlin g the word of
truth " (2 Timothy 2:15 , RSV) .
.............................................................................................. .

L!J Into th~ 8ibl~

1. The church councils dealt with Christ's deity and His humanity. Write out
what th e fo ll owing texts have to say regarding the dual nature of J esus.
HIS FULL DEITY:
A. Isaiah 9:6 C. John 10:30
B.John 1:1-3 D.John 14:9
HIS FULL H UMANITY:
A.John 1:14 C. H ebrews 2: 14-17
B. Philippi ans 2:5-7
2. What are th e common reasons for division and strife within the
church?
A. Rom ans 16:17-19 C. James 4:1-6
B. 2 Timothy 4:2-4
...............................................................................................
Proj~cts
1. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has never formul ated a creed for
itself. From the very beginning, th ere was stro ng o ppositio n to a formal
creed. (See the state ment ofJ ames Whi te in the Review and H erald,
October 8, 1861. Your teacher wi ll provide a copy.) From time to time,
attempts have been made to write out in clear and conte mporary lan-
guage th e basic doctrines of the church. In 1980 th e Ge neral
Conference produced a compre he nsive summary of Seventh-day
Adven tist beli efs. These "27 Fundamental Beli efs," as they have come to
be known , are ge nerally accepted by church me mbers. The re are
others who are still opposed to the idea of written sta tements of belief,
whe the r th ey are called a creed or no t.
Read the introduction to Sroenth-day Adventists Beliroe . .. that will be
given to yo u by your teacher. Summarize the primary purposes for an
expositi on of the 27 Fundam e ntal Doctrines.

4.
2. Interview two or three people- teache rs, pasto rs, your pare nts, or any
other church me mbe rs. Ask th em what their views are regarding the
positive and negative aspects of a church creed. Summarize your inter-
views a nd state you r co nclusion.

roms Qu~stions
1. How sho uld major doctrinal differe nces among believers be d ealt with
by the church ?
2. Are there any truths you be lieve fo r which you would rather die tha n
give the m up?
3. How would yo ur re lationship with God be affected if the H o ly Spirit
were seen as simply God's powe r rath e r tha n th e third Pe rso n of the
Trini ty?
4. Why can o nly God save the huma n race from sin ?
5. Wou ld you say th e church cou ncils were a good or bad way to deal with
church co ntroversy?
6. Do yo u think Pe lagius was right when h e said that people can fu lly
obey whatever God has commanded?

* Tim D owley, cd., Eenitll(l'IU'> I-Iandbook to lite History oJCltrislianily (Grand R.:'lpids, Mich.:
Wm . B. Ee rdm ans Publishing Co., 1977), 168.

••

Winn~rs dnd Los~rs
Lesson Setting
The Christian Church at th e time of th e formation of the canon and
the downfall of th e Ro ma n Empire during the fourth a nd fifth centuries
(300s an d 400s) .
e had always wanted
a barometer and
had finally saved
up e no ugh mon ey
to buy the ve ry
best. Several days
.._ _ _ _ _ _.. l ate l~ o n Septe m-
be r 21 , 1938, this Lo ng Isla nde r
exc itedly drove to a New York post
office to pick up th e bea u tiful
instrument he h ad o rd e red. At
h o me, as he re moved the packing
ma teria l a nd g la n ced at the dial ,
he quickly reali zed that he ha d
gotte n a "le mo n ." The n eed le
pointed below twenty-nine, where
it was marked hurricane. But that
co uldn 't be right! Ne ithe r the
radio nor the mornin g pa pe r h ad
sa id a nything about a hurri ca ne
comin g their way. T h e man sh ook
th e barome te r a nd ba n ged it
aga inst th e table, but th e need le
wouldn't budge . In disgust h e
repac ked the barom e ter a nd
drove back to th e post office to
re turn it. On th e way ho me h e ran
in to hig h winds a nd h eavy rains.
51
lesson 5
By the time he got to his n eigh-
borhood , th e ocean waves ha d
a lready washed his h o use away.
T his particula r hurri cane is not
remembered fo r its forty-foot tidal
waves devastating destru ctio n o f
J
property, or th e loss o f many lives .
It sta nds out in history because no
o ne believed it was coming.
Wri ting about this disaster, William
Ma nch ester says in his book The
Clory and the Dream th at even the
meteorologists, who should have
known be tter, did not take th e ir
instruments se ri o usly. No efforts
we re mad e to warn the people that
a deadly storm was o n its way.
Wh e n the forecaste rs fin a lly came
to te rms with reality-th e ra in ,
wind, and waves- it was too late to
h e lp a nyon e.
During th e early period of the
Christian era, th e Roman Empire
a lso ig no re d th e warn ing signs that
pointed to impe nding doom and
d estru ction. In this lesson we will
loo k at the d eclin e a nd d ownfall of
o ne of the world 's mightiest
 A view across the Tiber Rive r reveals Hadrian's Tomb in Rom e .
empi res. We will examine its
impact upon the churc h in Ro me
a nd how God pre pa red the church
fo r this historical calami ty.
THE NEED FOR
THE NEW TESTAMENT
T h e previo us lesson stated th at
our Christia n bel iefs were n ot
ha nde d to th e church o n a silver
platte r. This also h olds true fo r th e
Scriptures. At fi rs t, the o nly sacred
wri tings used by the Ch ristian
Chu rc h were th e O ld Testament.
Sin ce th e fi rst Christians were pri-
mari ly J ews, th ey continued to
accept the O ld Testam e n t as God 's
Word a nd believed tha t it was suffi-
cie n t fo r salvatio n. For the m , no th-
ing more was need ed . T h e re was
n o tho ugh t given to a "New"
Testam e nt th at would be placed
beside th e "Old" Testame nt a nd
viewed as an equal.
It took severa l cen tu r ies for the
thirty-nine books of tbe O ld
52
Testa me n t to be writte n , coll ecte d ,
a nd fully recognized by th e J ews as
God 's inspi red Wo rd . T h e same
process h e ld true fo r th e New
Testame n t. All th e wri tings tha t
eve ntually became the New
Testame n t were in existe nce by th e
e nd of the fi rst century. A h alf cen-
tury of writin g (50-97) was fo llowed
by a much lon ger time pe riod
whe n tb ese "n ew" writings were
read a nd circulated a mo ng th e
church es throug hout th e Ro man
Empire. It was no t until 397 that all
Ch ristian believe rs accep ted the
divin e au th o ri ty of these add itio nal
wri tings .
T he sixty-six books of th e Bible
a re gen e rally refe rred to by the
Christi an Church as the canon,
meaning a "standard " o r a
"mod e l. " In oth e r word s, th e
can on is th e divin e measurin g stick
by which the rigbtn ess and wro n g-
ness of all teachings a nd custo ms
are to be j udged.
 THE FORMATION
OF THE CANON
T h e formatio n of a canon was
sp urred on by num ero us c hurc h
controve rsies a nd th e in creasin g
use of tra diti o ns (non-apostoli c
writin gs) in dealing with h eresy.
To compli cate ma tte rs, spurio us
(phony) writin gs were being c ir-
culate d th at were supposedly writ-
te n by th e apos tles. Th e church
n eed e d to ma ke cl ear whi ch writ-
in gs would serve as a n authe nti c
standard for a ll be liefs a nd prac-
tices. Fo r a ny sac re d writing to be
used in this way, it h a d to meet
the foll owin g crite ri a: ( 1) be writ-
ten by a n a postl e, (2) be in har-
mo ny with the O ld Testa me nt, (3)
be recogni zed as authoritative by
a ll Christi a n church es.
By the beginning of the second
ce ntury, tl, e fo ur Gospels a nd most
of Paul's writings we re ge nerally
accepted by a ll Christia n be lievers.
With other writte n ma te ri a ls clam-
o ring for acce ptance, quali fied
J erome.
leaders were appointed to investi-
gate th e claims of each . T hose h av-
ing satisfac tory evidence o f being
a utlle ntic were placed on tl,e
"acceptable" list and publish e d for
the e ntire Church. Toward m e
close of the second cen tury, the
term New Testament began lO be a
common labe l for the books o n
m e approved list.
It lOok n earl y two mo re cen-
turies of d ebate befo re the ques-
tio n as lO which books consti tuted
the canon for the Christia n
Church was finally a nswered. In
397, the Council of Carthage offi-
cia lly affi rmed twenty-seven books,
tl, e same twenty-seven books we
find in o ur Bibles today. The sixty-
six books o f the Bibl e were n ow a
historical fact.
SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
In m e development of the
canon, we need to focus on two
key issues. First, th e formation o f
the cano n was not primarily
d epe nde n t upon the decisions of
church o ffi cials. Nor were the
"New" Testament writings simply
the result of church coun cils.
Rath er, as church members studied,
accepte d , a nd applied the teach-
ings of the apostles, the Ho ly Spirit
convicte d them of the ir God-
give n a uth o rity. Thus the role of
the church was to formally
acknowledge what the Ho ly Spirit
had a lready made evide nt to the
believers.
Second, we should no te the
close parallel betwee n God's Son,
who came to earth in huma n fl esh ,
a nd God's Word, which comes to
us in human form. As J es us was
 bo th huma n and divin e, so is
Scrip ture. The chu rch 's acknowl-
e dgme nt o f th e dual na tu re of
J esus pre pared it to recogni ze th e
sam e in Sc ripture (divinity cl o th ed
by huma ni ty). The bel ievers h ad
already co nclud ed that Christ's
hum ani ty did not d e tract from His
be ing God 's Son. For the m, it
mad e J esus mo re real a nd believ-
abl e. Likewise, the hum a n side of
Scri pture did no t diminish it as
God 's Word but actu ally mad e it
more meaningful. As we canno t
separate Christ's divinil)' fro m H is
human ity, so th e divine a nd th e
huma n as pects o f Scripture a re
bl e nded toge ther in an insepa ra ble
wh ole. This mea ns tha t we ca nno t
p oin t to some Bible texts as be ing
divinely inspired whil e o the rs a re
me re ly huma n though ts .
As it has done since the fo urth
centu ry, th e Christia n Church
accepts both th e Old and New
Testame nt as the ul timate sta ndard
of u·uth. T h ey are seen as the
inspired record o f God 's revela tio n
of Himse lf-His love, His laws, His
savi ng grace. In Scripture we see
God in tima te ly involved with eve ry
aspect o f o ur lives. Nothing about
us is unimpo rtant to Him . In sacti-
ticing His Son, God d emonstrated
that our salvation is of the utmost
importance to Him. T h e Holy Spi rit
inspired th e apostles to record
these wonderful truths in Scripture
a nd guided th e church in affirming
th e ir divine o rigin a nd a uth o ri ty.
T he Spirit is likewise with us, h elp-
ing us understand, apply, a nd effec-
tively share the m with o thers.
You may no t have give n much
th o ught as to how th e Old o r New
54
Testam ent became pa rt of th e
Bible. They we re th e re wh e n you
fi rs t ope n ed the Bible, a nd you
simply accepte d it. But soo ne r or
la ter your faith in the Bible will be
ch all e nged , a nd you may begin to
se ri ously questi o n some of th e
views you hold. T h e re's nothin g
wrong with th a t. Continually
e nha nce your understanding as to
the fo rm ation o f the Bible and the
eviden ces of its divine origin. Th e
bette r you unde rsta nd h ow God
led in th e d evelo pm ent of the
Bible, the greate r will b e your con-
fide nce in His Wo rd.
JEROME AND
THE VULGATE BIBLE
Establishing th e e ntire canon
was o ne of the greatest accomplish-
me n ts of the Church during this
e ra. And now there was an urge nt
need fo r God 's Word to be studied
and un derstood by be li evers wh o
were surrounded by worldliness and
he resies of all kinds. Th e few Bibles
tha t existed were primarily in the
G reek la nguage, but by the close of
the fo urth ce ntury, La tin h ad
re placed Greek as the commo nly
spoke n language (at least in the
Western Church ). T hus the re was
a n ever-in creasing call by Christians
fo r Scripture to be in Latin .
Onto th e sce ne ste pped J e ro me
(331-420) , wh o had spent twen ty-
fi ve years wo rking o n a Latin trans-
latio n of the Bible, calle d the
Vulgate. The te rm came from vulgu;;
m eaning "common people." This
Bible se rved as the a u th o rized ver-
sion fo r the Ro ma n Catholic
Church for over a tho usand years.
J e ro me tra nsla ted the O ld
 T he Forum and Colosseum in Rome.
Testa me n t fro m th e o rigin a l
H e brew a nd the New Testam e nt
fro m the Gree k. J e ro me's fa ithful-
ness to th e o riginal languages
meant th at the Vulgate was more
accurate tha n the La tin tra nsla-
tions th a t preced ed it. J e ro me 's
sc hola rl y a pproach esta blished a
sta ndard fo r future tra nslatio ns of
the Bible. T h e Vulgate is ge nerally
viewed as th e greatest lite rary mas-
te rpiece o f its time.
RIVALRY BETWEEN
CHURCH LEADERS
Wi th th e g rowth of the
Christia n Ch urch came inte nse
riva lries between lead e rs. Th e re
was a n in creasin g clamo r for
wo rldl y g reatn ess, fo r positi ons of
power a nd prestige. T h e craving
fo r pra ise an d pro mo ti o n can be
eas ily d e mo nstra ted by some thing
as simple as the cale nda r.
During th e d ays of th e Caesa rs,
th e Ro ma ns exalted a nd worsh iped
ss
the ir lead e rs. Wh e n j u lius Caesar
becam e e mpe ror, h e had the cale n-
d a r revised . H e added two new
mo nths, making th e yea r twelve
mo nths instead of te n. H e d ecided
to na me the seve nth mo nth afte r
himself,ju li us or july. Wh e n
O ctavius, the ne p h ew o f julius,
came to power, he ch ose the na me
Augustus (mea ning "supre me dig-
ni ty") to p lace himself a bove his
uncle . Afte r n a ming th e e igh th
month afte r himse lf, he took a day
away fro m Februa ry a nd add ed it
to August so tha t it would n ot be
sho rte r th a n july! Unfo rtuna te ly
th is kind o f posturing by ha ugh ty
kings was soon to become a com-
mon occurre nce a mo ng the lead e rs
ofth e Church .
Duri ng the third and fo urth
centuries, a co mplex church struc-
ture a nd bureau cracy (a syste m o f
autho rity or administratio n ) d e-
ve lo ped . T his trend incl uded th e
ex pa n d ing powe r of church co un-
cils a nd th e increasing rivalry
be tween bisho ps, especia lly th e
patria rchs of th e maj o r cities. But
th e most in tense riva lry for church
supremacy develope d between
Ro me a nd Consta ntinople. It was
obvio us to a ll that Christianity was
be ing pulled in opposite direc-
tio ns, by th e Ro ma n (Catholic)
Church in th e West a nd the G reek
(Orthod ox) Church of th e East.
Eventually Ro me e me rged as the
vi cto r in this struggle for world
leade rship . Le t's examin e some of
the reaso ns for such a n outcome.
THE EMERGING POWER
OF THE POPE
First, of th e five pa tria rch al
citi es, o nly Ro me was in the West.
Since the pa tria rch of Rome was
th e sole rule r of Ul e entire western
regio n, th e fo ur patria rchs in the
East had to divide ule ir region in to
much sma ller a reas. Ro me was also
viewed as th e geographical a nd
poli tical ce nte r of th e world , giving
its spiritua l lead e r additiona l pres-
tige.
Second, fro m the very begin-
ning, th e church a t Ro me was
pro ba bly th e la rgest in all of
Christia ni ty. Afte r th e reign of
Constantine, it a lso became the
wealthi est. And with a growing
e mphasis o n the ve n e ration (wo r-
ship) o f ma rtyred saints, Rome
gain ed a no the r distin ct adva ntage
by be ing th e site wh ere two of the
g reatest a postles-Pe te r and
Paul- died .
T hird, the pa tria rch of Ro me
who he ld that offi ce fro m 440 to
461 was accord ed the tiue of Po pe
Leo th e Great. He bolste red his
56
cl aim of su premacy by proclaiming
the n otio n of apostolic succession.
T h e idea , although untrue, we n t
some thing like this. It was claim ed
tha t Pe ter, as fo unde r a nd first
bisho p of th e church at Rom e, had
earlie r bee n d ecl a red by Christ as
th e "ro ck" (found a tion ) o f the
Ch ristia n Ch u rch . It was also
assume d ula t h e was given
supre me positi o n a mo ng th e disci-
ples a nd d esig na ted as Vicar, th at
is, the a ppo in ted re presen tative of
Ch rist o n earth. Po pe Leo insisted
th at sin ce ule bish ops o f Rome
we re th e direct successors of Peter,
th ey sho uld have the same ho nor
a nd p rivil eges that we re bestowed
upo n the great a postle . This le d to
th e e rro neous co nclusion that if
Pe te r was th e supre me leade r
a mo ng th e Twe lve, so th e pope of
Ro me was e ntitl ed to exercise th e
same autho rity ove r the enti re
c hurch.
THE BARBARIANS
OVERTHROW ROME
T h e fin a l reason for the e me rg-
ing power of the po pe was th e
d eclin e a nd d ownfa ll of ule Ro ma n
Empi re. T ho ugh it came crashing
d own in the fifth centu ry, th e
breakdown of this great e mpire
stre tch ed o ut over a lo ng period o f
tim e. Durin g the first three ce n-
turies o f th e Christi an Church ,
Ro me pro tec te d its sixty million
pe o ple a nd its n earl y te n thousand
miles o f bord e r wi th a well-trained
a rm y of 450,000 soldi e rs. At its bo r-
d e rs it tu rned back every hostile
a ttack by the Germanic tribes, com-
monly referred to as "ba rba rians"
because th ey spoke ne ith e r Gree k
nor Latin . During pe riods o f peace,
howevel; Romans and some of these
nomadic, un civilized people would
inte rmingle. Those who ente red the
e m pi re would settle on vacan t lands,
wh ile othe rs served as soldiers in the
Ro man a rm y, pe rformed as gladi-
ators, or became slaves.
As sto ri es of Ro man wealth and
its hig h-class lifestyle bega n to
ma ke their way back across th e
bo rde r, barbarian migration
turn ed into wave after wave of d ev-
astating invasions. Anyone wh o
came across the ir path-m e n,
wo me n, childre n, bishops, pri ests,
and farmers-was hacke d to d eath.
H o mes were looted, church es and
mo nasteries d estroyed , a nd the
re lics of the martyrs smashed.
Large numbe rs of people we re
dragged into captivity. Frighten ed
a nd dazed citizens could no t
be li eve that the Ro man world was
being dem olish ed right before
the ir eyes.
T he Romans suffered a series of
humiliating defeats at t11e hands of
various barbaria n tribes during the
fourth and fifth centuries. In 455
rumors had it tha t o ne of th ese
tribes, the Vandals (from whom we
get th e word vandalism), inte nded to
Anchor T~xt
"All Scri pture is give n by ins pi ratio n of God , a nd is pro fi table fo r d oc-
tri ne, fo r re proof, fo r correctio n, for in struction in righ teo usn ess, that th e
man of God may be com ple te, m oroughly eq u ipped for every good wor k"
(2 Ti mo th y 3: 16, 17, NKJV) .
S7
burn down th e city of Rome. Panic-
stricken, the people fled for m e ir
lives. Whe n the Va ndals arrived, a
delegation of citizens, led by Pope
Leo, came to the rescue. Meeting
the Van dal general at m e city gate,
the pope pleaded for me rcy and
asked that the city not be burned.
Fo r fourteen days the Vandals ter-
rorized a nd looted the city. Whe n
mey left wim me ir captured cargo,
the ci ty was sti ll sta nding.
Heroic effo rts such as this
g reatly e xpanded the pope 's power
a nd presti ge. With the e nsuing
overthrow of the Roman gove rn-
me nt and the d ethron ing of m e
last emperor in 476, th e e mpire
was left in total disarray. U nder
th ese co nditions th e peop le bega n
to look mo re to ch urch officials
for directi o n and lead e rship. In
some cases th e bishops even took
command of local armed forces .
With no emperor in Rom e , th e
papacy h ad an o pportunity to ta ke
upo n itse lf the p owers of the state.
The Rom a n Empire and the
church at Ro me h ad virtua lly
grown up toge the r. Now th ey h ad
arrived a t a histo ri cal c rossroads-
one destine d for ruin, the otl1er
d e te rmin e d to rul e.
flJ Into the Bible
In this lesso n we h ave studi ed the affirming of Scripture as the ulti-
mate authority, as we ll as the e me rging of the pope as the supreme lead e r
within the church. This conflict became more inte nse with the passing of
time . Take note of d, e papal claims listed on the worksheet your teache r
will provide. Summarize the Bibl e texts that relate to each issue.

Projects
1. Divide into gro ups of duee or four. Each group is to do the foll owin g
two exercises:
A. Discuss what the word greatness means and write o ut a consensus
d efini tio n .
B. Work up a sk it that illustrates yo ur definiti o n a nd present it to the
class. Yo u may wish to ask the class to guess what your definition o f
greatness is.
2. Lessons 3, 4, and 5 have po in ted o ut d,at during its adolesce nce (321-
538), the church had many striking similarities to th e experi e nces and
choices of a n adolesce nt teenager. Review these three lesso ns a nd ma ke
a list o f ten simila rities or pa ra lle ls. Then write your pe rsonal reactio n,
describin g yo ur conclusio ns a nd the important lessons you h ave
learn ed fro m these simil a rities.

sa
 focus QU(?stions
l. Why can't we decide for ourselves what is right or wrong rath er than
re lying upo n an ancient document we ca ll the Bible?
2. Why do you th in k God allowed the formation of th e canon to stretch
out over centuries of time?
3. What wou ld you say to someon e who be li eved that so me pa r ts of the
Bible were more inspired than others?
4. How would you respo nd to this statement: The c hurch is a higher
authority tha n the Bible because it existed first, a nd it put the Bible
toge ther?
5. Everyone has a n ultimate authority for tru th. Agree or disagree?
6. Is rivalry and compe titio n for a position or office always wrong? Is it
o nly o ut of place within the church ?

59

Ruin~d by Rivalry
Lesson Setting
Th e ascent of th e Ro man Catholic Church fo llowing the fall of
Western Rome in the fifth ce ntury (400s) and its response to the rise of
the Muslim Empire in the seventh century (600s).
n eyewitness
desc ribed it as
"o ne of the worst
sce nes of carnage
that o ne could
eve r imagin e." On
April 19, 1995, at
9:04 a.m. , an explosio n turned th e
nin e-story Alfred P. Murrah build-
ing in Oklahoma City into a pile of
rubble and twisted stee l. Americans
watched in horror as terrifyi ng
sce nes of damage and death
fl ashed across their television
scree ns. Nearly 500 people were
iJ'!jured, and eve n after weeks of
slow and agonizing searching,
some of the 168 peop le who were
ki ll ed by the hom emade explosives
were never found.
Whenever such tragedy occurs,
it always raises a lot of hard ques-
tions. Why would anyone do such a
thing? Why did so ma ny innocent
adults and childre n have to suffer
an d die? Would the ki ll ers be
caught and get what they deserved?
When th e Roman Empire was
He brew roll of
sixty sheep skins.
lesson 6
sacked , there was no question
about the identity of the guilty cul-
prits. For more th an a ce ntury, sav-
age barbarians had been attacking
Ro me. Since most of the people in
the empire were Christians, how
did they react to this overwhelmin g
disaster? What role did the church
play during th e time of reconstruc-
tion and transition? What kind of
civilization emerged from the rub-
ble that was once the Roman
Empire?
THE BEGINNING
OF THE MIDDLE AGES
As the empire attempted to
start over again, a new pattern
emerged that endeavored to pre-
se rve both the Christian religion
and Roman culture. It was
Christianity th at brought new life
and order out of the chaos that
once was the world's greatest-
empire. Once again we see God at
work-bringing hope, re newal,
and growth out of a bleak and
painful situati o n.
 The fall of Western Rome ush-
e red in the medi eval pe riod , also
known as the Middle Ages,
because it is located betwee n
ancient and modern times. This
time period began with massive
repairs and reorganization a t
every level of society. With c us-
toms se t aside and old landm a rks
destroyed, confusion and un cer-
tainty we re everywhere. For seve ral
ce n turies ,videspread igno rance ,
appalling lawlessn ess, a n d violence
were commonplace. In many
cases, th e clergy we re the only
influenrial officia ls aro und to
whom the people could turn for
protection, he lp, an,d lead e rship.
THE NEED TO
EDUCATE AND EVANGELIZE
T h e Germanic tribes were gen-
e ra lly uneducated , crude, and
notoriously fierce. As invad e rs of
the e mpire, they had no interest in
T he comple te Isaiah scroll opened to Isaiah , ch apter 40.
Rom an culture, so museums and
libra ries were destroyed, along with
everythin g e lse . They had e nough
respect for reli gio n, however, to
ge nerally allow church buildings to
re main standing. Though savage
and uncultured, there were many
things they kn ew and did ve ry well.
They had laws a nd devised their
own form of government. They
knew how to survive and make a
living. They knew how to fi gh t well
enough to defeat the Ro ma ns.
They knew how to compose songs,
a nd o ne of the ir favorite pastimes
was listening to tribal bards recite
a ncie nt tales of h eroes and god s.
T h ey cou ld sing and dance, drink
a nd gam ble, wo rk and fight- but
they could ne ith e r read nor write .
This is where the monks played
an important role. Many of them
were educated and were skilled in
reading a nd writing. With no printed
books, everything was handwritte n.
 Many of these hand-copied manu-
scri pts were destroyed ; othe rs wore
o ut and had to be re placed , so the
monks painstakingly created new
copies. For several centuries, through
their patient and pe rsiste nt efforts ,
the monks preserved ancie nt history
and literature, as well as practical
skills and knowledge. T he ir dedica-
tio n was un believable. It was com-
mo n fo r a monk to spend an entire
lifetime making just o ne copy of a
book.
Bu t th e task of th e c hurch was
no t simply to educate bu t a lso to
evangeli ze-to convert oth ers to
Ch rist. Mi ssio na ry work has always
bee n im portant to Christians.
Indeed Christ's last co mma nd, "Go
ye," sho uld be the be liever's first
conce rn . As the good news of salva-
tion was presented to th e Ro man
co nquerors, it was no t th e ir swords
and spears they had to surre nde r
bu t th e ir gods. It was unheard of
for the winne rs of a war to accep t
the gods of th e losers. But th ey d id .
To ch ange life's foc us fro m self to
J esus is wh at th e Bible calls conver-
sion, o r the new bi rth. T he
invad e rs of Ro me need ed to make
this cha nge, a nd we do too.
THE ARJAN TRIBES
ARE ELIMINATED
Before the fall of Ro me som e
of th e Germanic tribes had a lready
been in troduced to Ch ristia ni ty. As
a gen eral rule, th ey were bro ught
to Christia ni ty in two ways: d irectly
from paganism thro ugh missio naries
o r indirectly thro ugh Arianism.
Th e teachings of Arius (that J esus
was a create d be ing) had spread
thro ughou t th e Germani c tri bes as
ea rl y as the fo urth cen tu ry. T h e
Aria n view was much simple r th a n
be lief in the Trinity, thus mo re
readily accepted by th e uneducated
tribes. Arian Christia ns had no ce n-
tra l o rganization a nd we re reluc-
ta n t to accept th e hie ra rc hy and
e labo rate ritua ls of th e Ro ma n
CatilOlic Church .
U nde r the lead e rship of Clovis
(481-511 ), the Fra nks we re the fi rs t
e n tire tribe to ado pt Christiani ty
after the fall of Ro me. The story of
the conversion of Clovis is very simi-
la r to th at of Constantin e. In the
h eat of ba ttle, Clovis vowed tha t he
woul d become a Christia n if God
would give hi m victo ry. After
defeatin g th e e ne my, h e was ba p-
ti zed o n Christmas Day in 496,
a lo ng with 3,000 of his warrio rs.
T his starte d a m edieval tre nd
where e n tire tribes became
Ch ristians by simply fo llowing the
lead of th e ir rule r. Such mass co n-
vers io ns resul ted in co nve rts bring-
in g with the m th e ir heath e n c us-
toms a nd supe rstitio ns.
T h e Roma n Catho lic Church
e ndeavore d to educate a nd evange-
lize th e German ic tri bes thro ugh
th e work o f th e ir missio na ries. Bu t
in its attempt to in crease its power
an d co n trol, the churc h a lso ch ose
to eliminate th ose tribes tha t
o pen ly opposed its teac hin gs .
Amo ng the prin cipa l foes o f th e
pa pacy were three Ari a n tribes-
th e He ruli , th e Vandals, a nd th e
Ostr ogoths. After th ese e n emies
were u tterly d estroyed by pa pa l
forces, th e city of Ro me (and the
Ro man Catholi c Church ) was re la-
tively free from any furth e r threats
by Aria n peopl e. T he im portance
of this is indicated by the fact that
th e overthrow of these Aria n king-
doms was proph esied in Daniel 7:8.
In this verse, th e rise of the "little
horn " (a symbol for the papacy)
results in "three of the first horns
[being] plucked up by the roots"
(Igv). Th e slaughter of these
three tribes, culminating in 538,
signals the begin ning of the 1260
years of papal supremacy a nd spir-
itual darkness, h e nce the term "th e
Dark Ages."
RIVALRY OF POPES AND KINGS
As the n ew European e mpire
began to take sh ape, th e people
recognized that both the state a nd
the church were essential if a stabl e
society were to exist. Lt would a lso
be crucial that these two powers
work together in ha rmon y if peace
and prospe rity were to be estab-
lish ed once aga in. U n fortunately,
such lofty expectations never cam
to pass. As state a nd church vied
fo r the upper ha nd , it was only a
matte r of time until the rivalry of
these two powers becam e th e most
divisive issue within th e empire.
The controve rsy over supre macy
that was so hotly contested by popes
and kings continued in ti,e West for
centuries. At times when ti,e papacy
needed protection from unruly
mobs or ba rbari c attacks, the church
sought shelter from kings and
rule rs. This kind of assistance often
led to state interference in church
matte rs. Eventually ti,e church
became strong enough so that it no
longer had to rely upon the state.
But the papacy was not satisfied. It
wanted the church to be placed
above the state and have supreme
64
authOlity. This epic str u ggle
between popes and kings was ti,e
great drama of the Middle Ages.
During the e ighth century the
pope was given a small area of land
to rule called "Th e Papal States."
Becoming a secular ruler broug ht
the papacy a step closer to the
supre macy it sought.
Unfortunate ly, this quest for
greater power and control involved
the use of fraud a nd d eceit.
An example of such deceptio n
was a collection of docLime n ts,
publish ed in the middle of ti,e
nintll century, known as th e (pseu-
do ) l sidorian Deeretals. It claimed
that neither th e bish ops nor the
pope had ever been subj ect to the
control of secula r gove rnments . It
stated that all the righ ts claim ed by
the popes in the nin th ce n tury h ad
been their rights sin ce the first
century. For hundreds of years
these documents were accepted as
genuin e, but by th e fifteenth cen-
tury th ey were conclusively prove n
to be forgeries . T h ey have been
described as "th e boldest and most
signifi cant fo rgeries of history."*
For six centuries (throughou t the
Middle Ages), th ese forged docu-
ments gave th e popes the authority
they needed to establish and pro-
mote papal supre macy.
PRIDE: A HUMAN CURSE
The self-seeking ambition of
papal Ro me is not me rely a religious
system gone wrong. It is a mistake
to assume that this cravi ng for su-
premacy is prima ril y a papal prob-
le m. Instead , it is a personal prob-
le m, a self-servin g spiri t that flows
from eve ry human h eart. Several
years ago when pe rsonali zed
license p lates were first in trod uced
in TIlinois, the Departme nt of Motor
Vehicles received over 1,000 requests
fo r the number "1." The state official
whose job it was to approve requests
commented, ''I'm not about to
assign it to someone and disappoin t
a thousand people." His solution?
He assigned the number to himself.
Th e impulse to be "number 1"
was first introduced to this planet
whe n the devil convinced Adam
and Eve in th e garden to reject
God a nd take control of Eden,
the ir lives, the wo rld . And the beat
goes on ... as we kee p doin g the
very same thin g. We look for ways
to be first in lin e ... any li ne! We
look for ways to be first in the eyes
of o th ers ... a nyone wi ll d o!
Let's face it. As sinners it's on ly
natura l for us to promote o ur-
selves, usua lly at the expe nse of
oth e rs. T his ca n be traced back to
the ve ry begin ning of the great
controversy in heaven, when
Lucife r challe nged God's position
as the ultimate Ru le r. H e wanted it
for himself. De fi a ntly he declared,
"I wi ll ascend into heave n. 1 will
exalt my thron e .... I will be li ke
the most High" (Isaiah 14:13, 14,
KJV). This aggressive a mbition to
exalt self and to rule one's own life
still remains th e tradem ark of our
fallen world. Those governed by a
self-serving spirit co n tinue to set
the ir eyes on the loftiest praise,
strive for the high est place, a nd
covet th e g reatest powe r. And just
as Satan 's rebell io n led to "war in
heave n" (Revelatio n 12:7), self-
seeking still leads to rivalry, wars,
persecutio n. As surely as h eaven
65
was cleansed of Lucifer's spirit of
rivalry, so Christ desires to remove
from our hearts that same spirit.
THE RISE OF
THE MUSLIM EMPIRE
For nearly two centuries the
easte rn side of the empire (also
known as th e Byzantin e Empire)
enjoyed re lative peace as it eluded
the barbarian attacks that broug h t
d own th e western side. But the
tim e would come wh e n th e
Eastern Empire wo uld likewise
fight for its life. Eventually it, too,
had to beat back numerous
Ge rm an ic attacks o n its north e rn
bord e rs. But mu ch more serious
were the invas io ns from the south
by hordes of Ara b Muslims.
Isla m-a re lig io us / politi cal move-
ment-rapidly becam e Ro man
Cath o licism's g reatest ri va l.
Founded by Mohamme d (570-
632) in Mecca, a small village in
Arabia, his fo ll owers and teachings
spread with dra matic speed within
a nd without th e Arabi a n borde rs.
In 610 Mohammed first began
to proclaim th e message o f Islam
(Arabic for "submission to the wi ll
of God"). H e was convinced th at h e
was the appointed prophe t of the
one true God (Allah, in the Arabic
language). The teachi ngs a nd say-
ings of Mohamme d were recorded
in the Koran , the Muslim Scrip-
tures. Muslims (Arabic for "those
who submit") be lieved tha t tlle
Koran was inspired by Alla h and
that it should re main sole ly in the
Arabic language. T hey viewe d
church and state as o ne inseparable
uni t, and so the sword was free ly
used in their missionary co nquests.
 Amo ng o the r things, th e Ko ran
included laws co ncerning pe rsona l
conduct, some times known as "Th e
Five Pillars of Islam ," Th ese we re
making a public confession of
faith-"Th e re is no God but Al lah ,
and Moh a mmed is his proph et,"
prayin g five tim es a day facing
Mecca, givin g gifts o f ch ari ty to th e
poo r, fasting during the daylight
ho urs in the holy month of
Ram ad an, a nd making a pilgrim-
age to Mecca. Isla m taught that a n
individual could communicate
directly with God; thus there was
n o need fo r a ny kind of media tor
o r pri est be tween God and the
beli eve r. Th ere was no n eed of a
Savio r, no r was ato ne ment for sin
n ecessary. People could ga in salva-
ti o n by th e ir own good works.
Th ese good works focused on th e
"five pi lla rs o f Islam " already men- Charles Martel at Tours.
tio n ed . But th e most important
"good work" for a MuslilTI was to give n this specia l treatm e n t
pa rti cipate in a "h oly" war against because Muslims be lieved th at all
unbe lievers. A drop of blood sh ed three re ligio ns worshipe d th e same
in such a war avail ed more than God , just in diffe re nt ways.
a ny o th e r good deed. Islam Th e e mble m of Islam was the
pro mised tha t a nyone who died crescent, th e sha pe of the moon as
while fi ghting for his faith would it a ppears a t th e first quarte r. It
receive special privileges and pleas- seemed during th e seventh century
ures in pa radise . Thus Muslim war- that a ll of Euro pe might fall to the
ri o rs fou ght with reckless courage Muslim surge and th at the cresce n t
a nd witho ut fear of d eath. wo uld re place the cross as Europe's
Within a hundred years after spiritual symbo l. Whe n the
Mo hamm ed 's death in 632 , his fol- Muslims atte mpted to overpowe r
lowe rs conque red vast territori es th e Fra nks o n th e plain of Tours in
beyo nd Arabia a nd converted mul- 732, the Muslim onslaught was
titudes to Isla m. Pagans who came fin ally ha lted a t the hands of
unde r Muslim rul e could eithe r Ch a rles Marte l. But the damage
accept Islam o r die by the sword. had been d o ne . Christianity was in
J ews a nd Christians were tole ra ted , sha mbles in th e provinces and
p rovidin g th ey pa id a head tax cities wh e re the Muslims had ta ke n
levied o n each pe rson . They we re contro l. Ma ny of these a reas have

66
re mained unde r Muslim control to
th e prese nt time .
But the re was ano the r side to
th e Muslim e mpire. Many of th e
la nds conquered by the fo llowers
o f Islam, such as Arabia a nd Spain ,
d eve lope d into highly civili zed and
thri vin g cultures. Schools, libraries,
a nd hospitals nourish ed . Teemin g
prospe rity was evide nt in com-
m erce, agri culture, art, architec-
ture , mathe matics, and medicine .
From a spiritua l pe rspec ti ve, Isla m
d ealt C hristiani ty a seve re blow, bu t
in term s of culture , it shone like a
bright li ght in contrast to the d a rk-
n ess that pe rm eated much of
C hristia n Euro pe.

"The greatest a mong you will be yo ur se rvant. Fo r whoeve r exa lts him-
se lf will be humbl ed, a nd whoever humbles himse lf will be exalte d "
(Matth ew 23:11 , 12).

tlJ Into thQ BiblQ

1. Your lesson sta tes tha t Christianity b rough t "new life a nd o rder" out o f
the chaos that on ce was th e world's g rea tes t e mpire. In lig ht of this
state me nt, write your respon se to th e followin g:
A. Give a pe rson al exa mple of God's brin gin g "new life a nd o rd e r" in
yo ur life.
B. Explain why n ew life from God m ay be m ore readil y b ro ught ou t o f
chaos (weakness o r pa in ) th a n o ut of greatn ess (stre ngth o r pl eas-
ure) . See 1 Corinthi a ns 1:26-31 a nd 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10 .
2. Exalting se lf characte ri zes the wo rld. What does th e Bible sa)' abo ut
pride, boasting, and selfish ambitio n in the fo llowe rs of Christ?
Summa rize each of th e fo llowing texts.
A. P rove rbs 16:1 8
B.J ere mia h 9:2 3, 24
C. 2 Corinthians 10:12, 18
D. Gala tia ns 5:19, 20
E.J am es 3: 14-16

67
 Proj~(ts
J. Accord ing to th e lesson n arrative, Muslims beli eved th at they, alo ng
with J ews and Christians, a ll worshiped th e same God- just in diffe re nt
ways. Read again th e narrative sectio n e ntitled "Th e Rise of the Muslim
Emp ire" and the n d o the fo ll owin g exercises:
A. List six ways Islam diffe rs fro m Christia ni ty in its be lief a nd p ractice.
B. I n lig h t of these diffe re n ces, wri te your respo nse to th e idea th at
Ch ristians, Muslims, a nd J ews worship th e same God.
2. Yo u r teac he r will p rovide you with an a rticle regarding compe ti tion,
rivalry, a nd stri ving for greatness. Write your respo nse to th e article .

68
 foms Questions
1. A Christian in name o nly will find it more difficult to experie nce a true
conversio n than a pe rson who h as never been introduced to
Christianity. Agree or disagree?
2. Is it wrong to promise God th at you will follow Him if H e will provide
an a nswe r to your prayers?
3. In what ways were the barbarian invasions a "b lessing in disguise" for
th e Christian Church ?
4. Is it ever righ t to use fraud o r d eceit for a worthy purpose?
5. "\Th at would you say is th e most crucial diffe re nce between Islam and
Christiani ty?
6. In what way is pride a good thing in a person 's life?
7. How is compe titio n in th e classroom or the church differe nt or the
same from that on th e athletic fi e ld ?

* Lars P. Qualbe n, A History o/the Christian C/mn;/t (New York, N.Y.: Th o mas Ne lso n and
Sons, 1933), 155.

69

Divid~ and (onqu~r
Lesson Se tting
From the ninth (800s) to the twelfth century (lIDOs), the Ro ma n
Catho lic Church experie nced dra matic cha nges in gove rnment,
e ndured the separatio n of the Eastern a nd Western church es, a nd orga-
ni zed th e Crusades against the Turks.
hen Mumtaz
Mahal, the
favorite wife of
Empe ror Shah
J aha n died , the
seventeenth
century Mogul
ruler was devastated. Resolving to
honor his wife a nd keep her mem-
ory alive, h e built a magnificent
tomb. Her coffi n was placed in the
center of a large piece of land, with
constructio n taking place all around
it. No expense would be spared to
make her fi nal resting place truly a
"wonder of the world. " It took more
than twenty years, the labor of twen ty
thousand workers, and mill ions of
dollars to complete the Taj Mahal.
One of the most fascinating
legends regarding th e constructio n
of the Taj Mahal says that as
months turned into yea rs, the
e mperor's grief over his wife's
death was overshadowed by his pas-
sion for the project. H e n o lo nger
mourned he r passing. T h e con-
T'ti Mahal in In dia.
71
lesson .,
struction of this exu'avagant monu-
men t now co nsum ed his thoughts
and efforts.
One day whil e walking from
o ne side of the construction to the
oth e r, Sh a h J a han stum bled over a
wood en box. The e mpe ro r
ordered a worker to h au l away this
a ppare ntly useless crate. But wh e n
it was o pe ned, Sh a hJa ha n dis-
covered that it was his wife's coffin,
now forgotten, hidden beneath lay-
e rs of dust a nd time. H ow cou ld it
happe n that the pe rson to be so
specially ho n ored was n o lo nger
remembered?
In much the same way, Roma n
Cathol icism o f the Midd le Ages lost
sight of its real purpose and mis-
sio n. God 's Wo rd d eclares tha t the
church is to make known to the
world what God has done and con-
tinues to do for us through Jesus
Christ. As we look beneath th e "lay-
e rs of dust and time," we want to
discover what sidetracked the
church fro m accomplishing this
goal. What was th e church doin g
or building or ma king that beca me
more important th an believing in
Jesus and followin g His example?
A NEW FORM OF GOVERNMENT
In addition to the attacks on
Western Europe by Arab Muslims
from th e south, th e Norsemen
(Vikings) invaded from the north .
These Scandinavian warriors sailed
a long the rive rs and set towns on
fire, taking special delight in plun-
dering and tearing down church es
and monaste ries .
Due to th e Viking invasion,
people in creasingly left the la rge
cities and surre nde red themselves
to large landowners in exchange
for protection. As a result of this
exodus, there we re very few large
cities during the early Middle Ages,
a nd land ownersh ip quickly
became the c hief fonn of wealth.
Disem barkation of th e Crusaders at Damie tta.
72
Kings discovered that they, too,
were unable to protect themselves
a nd their kingdoms against attack-
ing invaders. As a security measure,
a king wo uld divide his kingdom
among his leading warriors, who
would agree to give him military a id
when called upon. Th is quickly
became a common practice.
Landowners, commonly referred to
as lords, divided the ir estates among
lesser nobles. These, in turn, granted
pieces of land to still lower tenants,
and so on. Those who received land
upon the condition of military aid
and service we re called vassals. Any
land that was he ld on these condi-
tions was call ed a fief or feud, thus
the term feudalism. T his new form
of government was primarily a syste m
of mutual aid.
A vassal of th e lowest rank was
called a serf- on e who serves.
Comprising the majority of people,
 serfs were destin ed by law to work
the la nd on which th ey were born .
Stories a bound of the ir g ross igno-
rance and filthin ess. H aving no
education, th ey were extremely
superstitious, believing in ,,,,itches,
magic, and ogres. Th e on ly bright
spot in their otherwise dull lives
were occasional church festivals ,
fo lk da ncing, and bru tal a thletic
co n tests.
Religious people freq uently
gave some of their land to the
church or a monaste ry. Thus the
clergy themselves beca me land
owners a nd part of the feuda l sys-
tem. A:; educated la ndowners, they
were generally treated as lords, but
o n the oth er ha nd, they a lso se rved
as vassals. Such an a rra ngement
created trouble for th e church, as
church leaders e nte re d into con-
tracts with those who offered tI,em
pro tection. No one was exempt. At
times, even the popes fo und the m-
se lves serving as vassa ls for tile
same reason. As a result, any kin g,
or a group of nobles, could
become powerful e noug h to con-
trol church affairs or e lec tions.
T hus church positions were often
fill ed by me n who were e ith er unfit
or unqualifi ed.
This was especially true durin g
th e tenth century, when th e Church
was in the grip of secu lar rul ers.
Popes were elected a nd de posed as
often as nobles exchanged positions
of power. Between the d eath of
Steph en VI in 891 a nd ti,e election
ofJ o hn XII in 955, there we re no
less than twenty popes. It is obvious
that the feudal system brought a
g rea t deal of spiritual confusion and
un ce rtainty to th e Church.
THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCHISDMDED
Fe udalism and the proble ms it
c reated were interrupted by a very
significant event-the final break
be tween the Weste rn and Eastern
churches. Whe n Constantine di-
vided the empire in 330 by moving
his headquarters to Consta ntinople,
the split of tile e mpire had a telling
effect o n the Christian Church.
Growing differences in language,
culture, and doctrinal be liefs and
practices caused these two divisions
of the Church to slowly but surely
drift apart.
In time tilere arose from tile
smolde ring ruins of the old Roman
Empire a new c ivili zation with its
own culture a nd lifestyle, its own
unique kind of gove rnment, and its
own papal re ligion. On the other
hand, the Eastern Church was much
mo re oriental in character, with
Greek remaining its primary lan-
guage. And since tile eastern side of
tile empire was not overthrown, its
culture, government, and religion
did not experien ce the upheaval
and changes that had taken place in
the West.
[n lO54, Pope Leo IX was
involved in a bitte r leade rship dis-
pute with Pau'iarch Cerularius of
Constantinople. On July 16, the
pope sent a letter excommun icat-
ing Cerularius, the reby officially
cutting him off fro m the church.
T he patriarc h, in turn, eXCOmlTIU-
ni cated tile pope. This a ngry
exchange brought about "the grea t
sc hism," a separation of the
Easte rn Greek Orthodox Church
a nd the Western Roman Catilolic
Church, which continues today.
 Cathedral of Notre Dame.
RIVALRIES INCITE
NEED OF REFORM
The feudal system created rival-
ries between kings and vassals, as
well as between kings and church
leaders. A king's power was gener-
ally d etermined by his abi lity to
appoint his friends and supporte rs
to high chu rch positions, where
they served as his vassals. Such an
appoin tment was called a lay
investiture because it was an
appointment made by someone
other than the clergy. Obviously,
investiture was a privilege that the
church wanted exclusively for
itself, but the kings were not about
to give it up. Both religious leaders
and secular rulers knew that their
security and power were depend-
ent upon the alliances established
through investiture . Thus both
popes and kings saw the right of
investiture as a matter of life and
death.
7.
About the middle of the
e leventh century there arose in
France a movement for church
reform. As a result, in 1059 a
Ch urch Synod (counci l) instituted
a new method of electing the pope,
designed to free the papacy from
a ll political control. In the new
method of election, when a pope
died, a select group of bishops (the
College of Cardinals) nominated a
new candidate. With only a few
changes, it is still the way popes are
elected.
THE REFORMS
ARE CHALLENGED
When Pope Gregory VII again
forbade lay investiture by decree
in 1075, Henry IV defied him by
conferring investiture upon three
bishops. The pope responded by
writin g a letter of excommunica-
tion to the king. This not only
meant being cut off from the
church but also th at th e king's
subj ec ts were no lo nge r o bliged to
o bey him. H enry IV retaliated by
decl aring that Gregory sho uld no
lo nge r be recogni zed as th e pope .
Gregory reacted by de posing
Henry as king. The German nobles
met and declared that if Henry did
not free himself from this papal ban
within o ne year, he wo uld have to
forfeit his throne. Havi ng such a ban
lifted by the church could be done
o nly on the conditio n that penance
(re pe ntance accompanied by good
works) was carried o ut by the guilty
party. On J anuary 25, 1077, Henry
set off across the Alps in the dead of
winter to seek the pope's fo rgiveness.
Arriving at Canossa, where the po pe
was staying, Henry stood barefooted
and bareheaded in the bitter cold
for three days, waiting for the castle
doors to be ope ned . Fin ally Hen ry
was permitted to enter the pope 's
presence. In tears, he prostrated
himself, kissed the pope's feet, and
begged for forgiveness. The ban was
lifted , but the bitter struggle over
investiture continued to flare up
between the church and state fo r
hund reds of years.
T he treme ndo us power surge
of the papacy durin g the eleve n th
and twelfth centuries stemmed
fro m th e refo rm moveme nts that
swe pt the monasteri es in the tenth
ce ntury. Th ese refo rm moveme nts
created new mo nastic o rders
(groups) that fully suppo rted pa pal
supremacy and placed themselves
directly under its a utho ri ty. Th e
mo re notabl e o rde rs we re the
Franciscans, organi zed by Francis
of Ass isi, and th e Do mini cans.
T hese o rders rej ected th e enor-
7S
mo us wealth of th e church and
devo ted th e mse lves to a humble
li fe of se rvice to th e poo r a nd
needy. Both g ro u ps we re of the
Mendi cant (begga r) o rd e r a nd
we re ex tremely asce ti c but well
respected by society. Unlike monks,
these friars (bro th ers) went forth
to live among the people. As active
members of society, they preached
in the churches and town squares
and also taught in sc hools. The
Do mini cans specialized in oppos-
ing and suppress in g heresy and
quickly became kn own as the
"watchdogs of th e Lo rd."
THE APPEARANCE
OF CATHEDRALS
During th e Middl e Ages, art
was ge nerally used to se rve reli-
gio us purposes . T he ca thedrals,
with th eir sculpture and artwork,
were th e most signifi can t artistic
achievement during this tim e.
Paintings, statues, o rname nts, and
stain ed-glass windows served as a
visual Bible for the common peo-
pl e, who generally could neither
read nor write.
T he cathedrals buil t during the
Middle Ages were highly symbolic
of Roman Catho li c th o ug ht and
worship. Their tremendous heigh t
and physical g randeur refl ected
pa pal ambition for powe r, as well
as its passion for po mp and display.
Rivalries sprang up to see which
city could build the highest ca-
thed ral. No tre Dame in Paris
soared to a height ofl1 4 feet. The
ca th edral in Chartres reached 123
fee t tall. The largest cathedral was
in Cologne , Germany. It covered
90,000 square feet, had an interior
height of 150 feet, a nd h ad spires
that were 512 feet high .
Since the cathe dral was usually
the largest building in town , it also
served as a mee ting place for social
activities and even commercial
trade. It was not unusual for the
sounds of religious meetings to
mingle with the no ise of secular
gatherings.
THE CRUSADES
OF THE MIDDLE AGES
During the Middle Ages, most
church membe rs h ad a very e l-
e mentary unde rstanding of th e
Christian faith. They tended to
be lieve in the magical powers of
church ritua ls, in the ve neration of
saints and relics, and in attaining
merit for pilgrim ages to sacred
shrines. It was thought th at visiting
holy sites would bring physical a nd
spiritual healing. For centuri es
traveling to the Holy Land
(Palestin e) a nd its sacred places
was especia lly po pular. Even the
capture of Pa lestin e by the Arab
Muslims did no t interrupt mass pil-
grimages tha t were organized by
bishops. Most pilgrimage routes
were carefully arra nged , with inns
spaced a long the way. To illustrate
how popular th ey had become, in
the e ighth ce ntury there were six
European pilgrim ages, and the
number steadily in creased until the
eleventh ce ntury, when there were
117, including one with over
11 ,000 pilgrims.
As a gen e ra l rule, Arab
Muslims did n ot inte rfere with
Christian pilgrimages to the Holy
Land. Over the ce nturies, the
Arabs began to lose their stren g th
76
a nd were ove rthrown in the East by
the Muslim Turks. T h e Turks did
not have a tole ra nt attitude toward
the Christians a nd made it
extremely diffi cult [or them to visit
th e holy places. Whe n returnin g
pilgrims bi tte rl y complain ed abo ut
the way th ey h ad been mistrea ted,
hostili ty toward the Turks became
very intense .
Realizing his d espe rate plight,
the eastern emperor, Alexius I,
sent an urge nt message to the
pope in Rome, pleading for he lp
in his struggle with the Turks. The
e mperor promised that if th e pope
would he lp him , he wou ld bring to
an e nd the great schism that had
occurred so me forty years earlier.
The pope reacted favorably to the
a ppeal. H e kn ew that by hel pin g
out in this crisis, h e would not on ly
safeguard the pilg rimages to the
Holy La nd but pe rha ps reunite the
Eastern a nd Western churches and
reestablish pa pa l supremacy ove r
th e entire Christian Church. On
November 26, 1095, Pope Urban II
denounced th e occupation of the
Holy Land by th e Turks, and h e
called upon the people to go to
the Holy La nd a nd liberate
J erusalem a nd a ll the o ther sacred
places from the accursed e n emy.
T he response was overwhe lm-
ingly positive . At a time whe n the
average life spa n was only thirty
years and most o[ th e people were
poor, overworked , a nd unde rfed,
the thought o f traveling to dista nt
la nds; seeing cities of wealth and
fame; and expe rie ncing the sigh ts,
sounds, and sme lls o f fore ign
places excite d the imagination.
The thought of capturing th e H o ly

In terior of a cathedral.
City fo r the Church was a ch ance
of a lifetim e to rally aroun d some-
thing grand and glorious.
T h o usands of me n , wome n, and
childre n, j o ined la ter by no bles
an d lords, began to ma ke immedi-
ate pl ans to j o urney east.
From the very beginning, the
papacy was the p ri mary force
behind the Crusades. All people,
from kings to nobles to peasan ts,
were e nticed with all kinds of incen-
tives. Crusad ers were p romised a
reduced tim e in purgatory-suppos-
edly a place wh ere th e soul is pu-
rified after d eath-or immediate
entrance into h eaven sh ould o ne
die while fi ghting. T h ese ben efi ts
were soon expanded to include
those wh o were unable to go but
wh o contributed to the cause or
sent a substitu te in h is or h er be half.
T h e re were abou t seven
Crusades over a pe ri od of approxi-
77
mately 200 years, but n one of th em
fully acco mp lish ed wh a t th ey h ad
set o ut to do. In the ir travels to the
East, the crusad e rs p illaged a nd
ravish ed th e people whose la n ds
they passed through. Tens of thou-
sands of crusad ers die d in carrying
o ut savage a ttacks o n Muslims, a nd
eve n J ews and Easte rn Christians
were not exempt fro m slaugh ter,
plunder, a nd rape. As it became
increasingly mo re d iffi cult fo r the
po pes to whip up e n thusiasm fo r
these milita ry campa ig ns, th e
Crusades fin ally e nded at the close
of the 1200s.
The Crusad es b ro u ght a b o u t
re newed communicatio n between
th e East a nd th e West, as well as a
revival of trade, cultu re, a nd
expl o ra ti o n. All th ese contr ibu ted
in breakin g d own th e fe uda l sys-
tem. H oweve r, th e spiritu al sh a m e
a n d th e massive sacrifice of th e
Crusad es comple te ly outweigh e d
an y positive co ntribu tions th at
may h ave occu r re d . T h e d ee p c ul-
tura l wo unds that we re create d
be twee n Christia ns a nd Muslims
re ma in to this d ay. Bu t m ost of
a ll , th e Crusad es reveale d a ver y
fun dame n tal e r ror of th e Ro ma n
Cath o lic Churc h- th e use of th e
sword in d efe nding a nd extend-
in g th e Christian fa ith . T h ese m il-
itan t cam paigns p ro moted a spirit
of r e lig io us in tolera n ce a n d
paved th e way fo r m a ny o th er
kin ds of crusades. Organi zing
Crusad es to c rush n o n-Ch r istia ns
was on ly a ste p away fro m pu ttin g
to d eath fe llow be li evers wh om
th e chu rc h would co me to view as
its enemies.
 An(horT~xt
"Do no t be overcome by evil , bu t ove rcome evil with good"
(Ro mans 12:21) .
..................................................................................... ..........
tlJ Into th~ Bihl~
In this lesson we see th e Ch ristian Church involved in deadly combat
with a rival religio n. Islam was not o nly viewed as an enemy whose aggres-
sio n had to be halted bu t as a foe whose conquests had to be gotte n back.
Were th e Crusades th e res ult of m isgu ided zeal and fear, or were th ey bib-
lically justified because of their purpose and in tent?
A. Read th e fo llowing texts regarding the Christian 's relatio nship to war
and write a sum mary stateme nt for each passage .
(1 ) Romans 12:19-21
(2) Ro mans 13:1-10
(3 ) I Peter 2:21-23
B. From your study of the texts listed above, and after read ing the lesson
narrative and articles th at will be given to you by yo ur teacher, wri te a
two-paragraph res po nse to o ne of the following stateme nts. In your
response, defe nd your posi tio n .
(1) Christians should never be active participants in a war.
(2) Christians can sometimes be active partici pants in a war.

78
1. Your lesson narrative bri efly d eals with th e dr ifting ap art a nd th e fi na l
split be twee n th e Eastern a nd Weste rn church es . Divide in to grou ps of
four or five and discuss th e fo llowin g issue. Re port your conclusio ns to
th e class .
Issu e : Con sidering social, cul tura l, a nd e thni c di ffe re nces th at exist
in th e world tod ay, wh at is th e best way fo r th e Seventh-day Adve n tist
C hurch to resp o nd to this issu e? Sh ould we wo rk togeth e r as a unite d
church , o r sho uld th ere be division s working inde p endently?
2. Wri te your p e rsona l resp onse to th e b itte r co nfro nta tio n between Pope
Gregory VII and H enry IV. Describe wh a t actio ns yo u believe wer e j usti-
fied o r unjustified. What impo rtan t lesso ns does this e pisod e teach us?

Focus Qut>stions
1. Wh at do you see as the ma in advan tages o r disadvan tages of the fe u dal
syste m ?
2. What sh ould be th e m ain o bj ective of church a rchi tecture-practical
needs or aesth e tic value?
3. Should a church buildi ng ever be u sed for gathe rin gs other th an a wor-
sh ip service?
4. H ow much sh ould the Seven th-d ay Adven tist Church become involved
in supporting or cond emning a war in whi ch ou r n atio n is involved ?
5. Is it always wro ng to have self-se rvin g m otives fo r d oing chu rch work o r
witn essing activities?
6. In wha t ways does feu dalism illustrate our relatio nship with J esu s Ch rist?
7. What lessons can be learne d fro m the confron tation be tween Pope
Gregory and King Hen ry?

79

R~liqion at Its Worst
Lesson Setting
The Roman Cath olic Church cl imbs to the pinnacle of wo rldwide
supremacy but descends to the depths of sp iri tual darkness and corrup-
tion during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (llOOs a nd 1200s).
o wh at did you learn
in Sabbath Sch ool
today?" Mother asked
e igh t-yeal~old Josh as
the family drove hom e
from church.
L.:==::.::'.J "Well , o ur teach e r
talked about how God sent Moses
be hind the e nemy lines to rescue
the Israelites from the Egyptians.
When th ey got to the Re d Sea,
Moses' army built a bridge so that
the people could cross over. After
th ey all got on the other side," Josh
continued, "th e Israelites looked
back a nd saw the Egyptians coming
with their tanks. But Moses told his
people not to wo rry. He had th e
airplanes fly in and blow up the
bridge and save his people."
'josh," exclaimed his startled
moth er, "is that really th e way your
teacher told the story?"
"Well, n o t exactly. Bu t if I told
it the way she did, you wouldn 't
have believed it!"
When one tells the sto ry o f the
Roman Catholi c Church during
.1
lesson B
the Middle Ages, th ere's always a
temptation to think th at if it's told
the way it really h a ppe ned, n o one
wo uld be lieve it. Who could imag-
ine a church so powerful that it
could shape, control, and totally
dom in ate believe rs and unbeliev-
e rs, peasants and kings, even entire
natio ns for ove r 800 years! It was
during this time that the Roman
Cath olic Church reached the pin-
nacle of wo rldly power, while at th e
same time plunging to the very
d epths of spiritua l darkness.
These evil trends began as early
as the second century and g radu-
ally developed in the cen turies that
followed. Roman Catholicism
em e rged as the foc us shifted from
a Christ-ce ntered gospel to a sys-
tem of man-made religion. The
unde rlying premise of the Roman
Cath olic Church was its depend-
e nce upon human teachings and
its use of human au thori ty to pro-
mote and enforce the m . Roman
Cath o licism has been described as
"th e masterpiece of the world 's wis-
d o m. '" T h e proph et Da niel agrees
by portraying it as a religious
powe r having "eyes like the eyes o f
a ma n" (Dan iel 7:8) . In oth e r
words, it thought, acted , and wor-
shipe d sol e ly from a hum an view-
po int. T h e exaltation of hum an
teachin gs a nd practi ces reached its
climax during th e twelfth a nd thir-
teen th centuries .
DARKNESS EXISTS
WHERE THERE'S NO LIGHT
The Middle Ages are ofte n
re fe rred to as th e Da rk Ages .
Du ring this time God's word was
ke pt from shining into peo ple's
h earts, a light tha t wo uld h ave
e nabled th e m to disce rn tru th
fro m e rro r. For ce nturies th e Bible
was avail able o nly in La tin , a la n-
guage th a t very few people could
read o r unde rsta nd. To make mat-
Cathedral of Cologne.
82
ters \vorse, the co mmon people
were fo rbidde n to read the Bi bl e
or h ave it in the ir hom es. T h e
me di eval churc hm e n reaso ne d that
since th e true mean ing o f
Scriptu re could be un derstood
o nly by th e cle rgy, it was unwise to
allow it in the hands o f the
unl earn ed.
Ro man Catholicism also ta ugh t
th at the Bib le was no t God 's com-
ple te revela tion but that Scripture
a nd traditio n toge the r make up
th e Wo rd of God. Conseque ntly,
be liefs and practi ces that were
h ande d down outside of Scripture
were see n as be in g equa l to those
taught in Scripture . Examples of
such un biblical practices were pray-
ing for th e dead , the ven e ratio n of
d ead saints, images a nd reli cs, wo r-
ship of th e Virgin Ma ry, infa nt bap-
tism, purgatory, e te rn al torm e nt in
h ell, a nd heave nly rewa rds for
those who participated in pilgrim-
ages a nd holy wars.
Biblical Christianity affirmed
that Scripture alone, as illuminated
by the Holy Spirit, contained all
the truths essential for salvation
and Christian living. Fo r Roman
Catholicism , both Scripture a nd
tradition , as inte rpreted by the
church, served as a basis of salva-
ti on a nd holy livi ng.
Ai; the powe r of the papacy
in creased , th e darkn ess deepened.
Th e free gift of salvation through
fa ith in Christ faded in to the dark
shadows as the emphasis shifted to
a churc h-centered religion. T he
co re of this system was the belief
th at on ly through the church
co uld h eaven's grace be obtained.
Supe rsti tious believe rs viewed th e
ceremonies conducted by the
c hurch as having magical powe rs
for th e living as well as for the
d ead. Babi es were baptized a t birth
because it was beli eved that the
newly born soul was thus miracu-
lo usly cl eansed from all original sin
(th e guilt of Adam 's sin ). Adults
were ta ught to pray to th e Virgin
Ma ry a nd to the saints in heaven ,
a nd to plead with them to use the ir
inOue nce with Christ in their
be half. The Bible la be ls this kind
o f worship as idolatry.
THE CONTROVERSY
OVER IMAGES AND ICONS
Throughout ul e Middle Ages
the Roman Catholic religion tended
to be sensory (appeal to the senses)
and supe rstitio us. Church worship
e mphasized ceremonial fanfare,
co lorfu l pageantry and display,
and rituals shrouded in mys tery.
Even before th e Middl e Ages,
ico ns (flat images), sc ulptured
im ages, re lics, a nd shrin es a lread y
pl ayed a key rol e within th e
c hurch. Their purpose was to
h e lp in stru ct th e unl ea rne d and
to e nhan ce th e worship service.
T h e increase in images a nd
icons was accompanied by an
upturn in the vene ratio n of re lics
a nd dead sain ts. T he desire to own
a holy memento was widespread.
Every new church buildin g was
require d to h ave a re li c for its altar,
a nd the church made sure a vast
supply was on ha nd . Me rchan ts
ca rried splinte rs of the c ross to
pro tect them from ulieves. Knig h ts
concealed sain ts' teeth, bones, or
ha ir in their sword hi lts. Peasants
were persuaded to buy drops of
Ch rist's blood or th e Virgin 's milk
at local church fa irs. Citi es stole
fro m o ne a nothe r body pa rts of
famous saints because of the be lief
that these ite ms possessed the
powe r to heal, to protect, to save.
T his led to viole nt disputes in the
seve nth and e igh th centuries
regarding the prope r ro le of relics
a nd ico ns.
CHANGING THE
COMMUNION SERVICE
Ai; early as th e seco nd century,
th e "breaking of bread ," o r the
Co mmunion service, began to be
call ed the Euch a rist (thanksgiv-
ing). T he emblems of bread and
wine were considered sac red sym-
bo ls, desig ned to express gra titude
to J esus for dying o n the cross.
During the third ce ntury, only bap-
ti zed members were a ll owed to par-
 ticipate in the Eucharist. When th e
ge nera l worship se rvice was ove r,
th e congregation was dismissed ,
and o nly the fa ithful remained for
th e special service that fo llowed.
The Eucha rist was thus associa te d
with dismissal, which eventua lly was
shorten ed to "missa," a nd fina lly to
"the Mass." Gradua lly the Mass
re placed th e sermon as the ma in
part of the worship service.
In their ignora nce a nd supe rsti-
tio n , the be lievers looke d upon the
Mass as a miraculous o r magical
eve nt. By the nin th century the
bread and win e we re no lon ger
seen as me re ly symbols. T he
church tau ght th at wh e n the bread
a nd wine were consecra te d by the
priest, these e mble ms we re
cha nged into the actual body and
blood of J esus. This doctrin e of
transubstantiatio n (to cha nge into
a nothe r substa nce) h e ld tha t
tho ugh the inner essen ce (sub-
stan ce) was cha nged , the o ute r
appearan ce re mained that of ordi-
na ry bread a nd wine. Bu t even
more, whe n th e priest lifte d up th e
bread a n d wine as an offe ring to
God , th e church d ecla red th at
J esus was actually being resacrificed
by the pri est fo r the sins o f th e liv-
ing and the dead. T h o ugh th e
Bible says that "Christ was sacri-
fi ced once" (H ebrews 9:28) for th e
sins of the world , the Roman
Catholic Chu rch insisted th at H e is
crucifi ed each a nd eve ry time a
priest con d ucte d a Mass.
By th e twelfth century, th e la ity
were not allowed to eat the bread
or drink the wine, lest sinful people
defil e the bread with their touch o r
carelessly spill th e blood of Ch rist.
8 4
O nly priests we re holy e n o ugh to
touch and taste the e mble ms.
Church me mbe rs wh o came to
Mass were only allowed to watoh th e
service. And since the Mass was sp o-
ken in a la nguage th ey n o lo nger
could understand, the worshipe rs
were entirely shut ou t from any
kind of meaningful participa tion.
The very service tha t J esus created
to bring fe llowship and one ness
with Him a nd with each oth e r was
twisted into a stra nge ritual that
emphasized the exact o pposite.
SIN AND ITS PUNISHMENT
T h e church in medieval times
put great e mphasis on sin and its
punishm e nt. The key factor in d eal-
ing with sin was pen an ce. Pe nan ce
refe rred to the act of expressing
sorrow for sin and carrying out a
prescribed activity that would pay
fo r its punishment. T he priest
would gene rally assign a n act of
penan ce that would be in line with
the offe nse committed. The mo re
fa ithfully th e be lieve r pe rformed
these rituals, the shorte r the ir stay
in purgatory. Purgatory was a place
where believers who h ad not fully
purged the mselves from sin or
borne its punishment went at death.
Eve \ltually th e church pe rmit-
te d re pe n tant sinne rs to make a
payme nt o f money instead of doing
a n act of pe n an ce. T his was called
a n indulgen ce . O n ce an indul-
gen ce h ad been acquire d , th e pe r-
son was free to d ecide h ow it would
be used . It could be a ppli ed pe r-
so nally, o r it could be p laced o n
th e accounts of loved o nes wh o
h ad d ie d , ha d presumably gone to
purgato ry, and were anxiously wait-

Cathedral of Cologne, interior.
ing for someone to help them out.
The practice of granting indul-
gences was based on the Catholic
idea of a "treasury of merit" in
h eave n. This storeho use of merit
was the result of Christ and the
sain ts having done more good
works than was needed for them-
selves. Priests could draw from this
great spiritua l reservoir to aid
those believers wh o had insuffi-
cient me ri ts of their own.
The sale of indulgences was a
great source of income. It kept
money flowing in to the papal treas-
ury th at sustained the work of the
church and the regal lifestyle of
th e popes. What a tragedy that so
much of the enormous wealth of
the Roman Catholic Church was
gained by supposedly "selling" sal-
vation . Despite widespread poverty
and h ardsh ip, millions were spent
by multitudes who thought they
were purchasing heaven on an
as
installment plan for themselves
and their loved ones.
BEING GOOD
ENOUGH TO BE SAVED
There is a striking simil arity
between the Jewish na tion at
Christ's time and the Roman
Catholic Church in the Middle
Ages. In condemni ng the J ewish
leaders for "makin g the word of
God of no effect through your tra-
dition" (Mark 7:13, NIgY),Jesus
said that their worship was "in
vain ," or worthl ess, because they
taught "as doctrines the command-
ments of men" (Matthew 15:9,
NKJV). O nly Jesus saves; thus it is
imperative that the ch urch point
sinners to Him, not to anything
else. Like th e J ewish nation, the
Roman Catholic Church focused
on outward display, good works,
and an inner holiness as the way to
salvation and acceptance with God.
Rather than lift up the Person of
Jesus Christ and His finished work
of salvation freely offered to all,
the church e levated a program of
doing, workin g, and striving that
was never finished during one's
lifetime.
Roman Catholicism acknowl-
edged sin as humanity'S basic prob-
)em but refused to proclaim the
biblical solu tion. The Bible teaches
that salvation and divine accept-
ance are based solely on Christ's
work already done in our behalf.
When we accept Christ as our
Savior, we are declared righteous
and arejustified by God on the
basis of Christ's righteousness-our
Substitute. In response to the sin-
ner's faith in Jesus, God imputes
 (credi ts) th e pe rfect righteousness
of J esus to the believer's account. It
is re ceived by us as a gift. For this
reason the believer trusts in the
me rits of J esus, no t in his own. Th e
result is a life of o bedie n ce through
the ren ewing power of the Spirit, a
li fe that is a n expressio n of gra ti-
tude for salvation so freely received.
The Bible poin ts the sinn er
upward to Christ's righteousness.
Roman Catholicism focuses inward
to one's own spiri tu al goodn ess. The
Roman Catholic Church teaches
tha t in justification , God infuses
(pours in ) into the believer sanctify-
ing grace (supernatural powe r).
Infused grace enables the believer
to become righteous e nough to
me rit God 's forgiveness and accept-
a nce. In this syste m, the righteous-
ness tha t saves is achieved by th e
Holy Spiri t developing an inne r
goodn ess. It was generally be lieved ,
however, tha t a pe rson could not
a tta in e nough goodness during
one's life time to qualifY for heaven.
O nly after d eath , in purgatory,
could ultimate purity be attained ,
thus qualifyi ng o ne to e n ter in to
God 's prese nce. Because the process
of salvation was not completed until
o ne had expe rie nced purgatory,
Cath olic beli evers lived in fear and
uncertain ty. They did not have th e
j oy o ne receives from knowing that
salvation is ass ured in Christ.
THE CHURCH AND
THE SACRAMENTS
During th e Middle Ages a d ev-
asta tin g chan ge took place . Be in g
saved by grace through fa ith was
re pla ced by th e idea th at salvatio n
came through church ri tuals.
SCi
Those rituals tha t were recognized
as holy channels fo r dispe nsing sal-
va tion to th e be lieve rs we re called
sacraments. By the year 1150, seven
sacrame n ts we re o ffi cia lly a pproved
by the church, with the unde r-
standing th a t they could be admin-
iste red only by a p riest. The sacr a-
me n ts included su ch rituals as
infant ba ptism , pe nance, th e Mass,
and last rites fo r the dying. From
th e cradle to beyond th e grave, the
church dictate d how people lived
in this life a nd determined wh e re
they would spend e te rnity.
Fo r the Cat.holi c believers, sal-
vation was achieved as fo llows:
The Believer
T
The Church (the sacraments)
T
Jesus
T
The Fathe r
Fo r Bible be li evers, the gift o f
salvation \-vas received as follows :
The Believer
T
J esus (His grace)
T
The Father
T h e Bible d eclares tha t. th e re is
"on e Media tor between God and
me n, the Ma n Christ J esus" (1 T im-
othy 2:5, NKJV) . The striking d if-
fe re nce in these two mo de ls is th a t
in Catholic thought, the be lieve r
can ge t to J esus o nly through th e
church (th e sacram ents). Th e Bible
teaches, h owever, that every believer
can come pe rson ally and directly to
th e Fathe r through J esus.
 MOVEMENTS OF PROTEST
During the latter years of the
Middle Ages, there were numerous
moveme nts of re ligious disse nt,
suc h as the Wald e nses, who chal-
le n ged the boasted power of th e
church , its imm e nse wealth, and its
unbibli cal teac hings. As they
protested the luxury a nd riches of
the pa pacy by e ndo rsing radi cal
poverty, they were viewed by the
churc h as d isruptive a nd danger-
o us. In those d ays o ne's spiritua l
co nvictions were not co nsidered a
private m atter, nor was one free to
o ppose establish ed religious cus-
toms a nd authori ty.
T h e Walde nses were the fo llow-
e rs of Pete r Wald o, a o nce-rich
merchant of Lyons. Around the
yea r 1176 he sold all h is goods and
gave his mon ey to th e poor. H is fo l-
lowers called the mse lves "The
Poor," but th ey qu ickl y became
kn own as the Wa ldenses. Their
vVald enses sharing Lhe Scripture.
87
basic objective was to live th e
Christian faith according to the
gospe l a nd to foll ow J esus as the
apostles had. There is some evi-
d e nce that some Wa ld e nses
o bse rved the seven th-day Sabbath .
Dressed in simple woo le n gar-
men ts, barefooted , a nd trave lin g
together two by two, they went
abo ut preaching in public. What
a nge red the Roma n Catholic
Church the most was that ordinary
me n and wome n were preach ing
in public, as well as private ly shar-
ing the Scripture with othe rs.
PAPAL PERSECUTION
AT ITS WORST
Some years ago a strange dis-
cove ry was mad e in a little town of
Lo mbardy, Italy. In a n o ld antiqu e
sho p, they found a sma ll wooden
crucifix that conta ined a concealed
dagger. Wh a t a parad ox that a
cross-an emblem of salvation-
should have within it a sword-a
symbol of death and destruction.
What a fitting illustration of th e
Roman Ca tholic Church 's dealings
with its o pponents. During the lat-
te r part of th e Middle Ages,
Roman Cath olicism increasingly
faced d issente rs who were not on ly
armed with biblical truths but were
prepared to take the necessary
risks to proclaim their be liefs.
Rather than acknowledge any error
or e ngage in dialogue, the church
simply set into motion an aggres-
sive campaign to put down all
oppositio n.
Pope Innocent III (1198-
1216), consid ered the most pow-
e rfu l pope to eve r ru le the
churc h, lost no time announcing
to the world that the ch urch
would to lerate no opposition. All
those who accused the church of
being in e rror were re minde d by
the pope "that the Roman Ch urch
has never erred a nd will never err
to a ll etern ity.'"
The pope's ch ief weapons in
bringing peasants, nobles, or kings
to their knees was the use of spi r-
itual penalties. There was excom-
munication, which cut people off
from the church a nd deprived
them of the sacrame n ts essential
for salvatio n . In addition, they
could not e nte r into any kind of
legal contract or hold public office.
All of this was a terrifYing ordeal
for be lievers. The second weapon
in the papal a rse nal was the inter-
dict-the excommun ication of a n
e ntire natio n. Pope Innocent suc-
cessfully threatened or pro-
no un ced an interdict eighty-five
times against uncooperative
ss
princes and their peop le.
In 1215 the pope held a ge n-
era l c hurc h co unci l in th e
Lateran Church in ROlne , consid-
e red to be the g reates t churc h
co nve ntion in the Midd le Ages.
One of its ma n y decrees was th e
uni versa l co nde mnation of the
Wald e nses a nd punishment for
those who refused to repent. The
churc h looked to the work of the
Dom inica ns a nd the Franciscans
to counteract all h eretica l g roups,
but th e ir effo r ts h ad on ly limite d
success . Determined not to be
thwarted in its drive to crush all
opposition , the Inquisition was
created in 1229, with the
Dom ini cans in c harge .
The Inquisition was a Roman
Catholi c court whose prima ry work
was to purge the church of all
he resy. Anyone suspected of su ch a
crime was brought before this tri-
bunal co nducted by the Dominican
friars . A person 's trial might con-
tinue for years, during which time
the suspect wo uld languish in
prison. T he friars would question
the suspect, a nd if they discove red
that h e he ld heretical views, they
wou ld ask him or h e r to recant, to
open ly confess to e rror.
If the suspect wou ld n o t
recant, torture was the mos t effec-
tive way to secure a confession.
O n ly pregnant women were
exe mpt-until after delivery. The
one on trial was not pe rmitte d to
co mmuni cate with fri e nds or fam -
ily o r was not a llowed to h ave a
defense lawye r. If a co nfession was
n ot o bta in ed through the use of
torture over a le ngthy pe riod of
time, the suspect was turne d over
to the government to be executed,
generally by burning at the stake.
Hundreds of thousands of victims
were tortured and burned to
death simply because they refused
to consent to the beliefs and prac-
tices of the Roman Cathol ic
Church.
AFAITHFVL
REMNANT REMAINS
Ellen White states, "In every
age there were witnesses for God,
men [and women] who cherished
fa ith in Christ as the on ly media-
tor between God and man, who
held the Bible as the only rule of
li fe, and who hallowed the
Sabbath."" Thank God for a rem-
nant of scattered groups of brave,
faithfu l Christians who, though
persecuted and often put to
death, kept the light of God's love
and grace a live through the dark-
ness of the Middle Ages.

S Anchor Tt>xt
"There is one God and one mediator between God and men , the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all " (1 Timothy 2:5, 6).

tIJ Into tht> Biblt>

l. Why does a sinner need a mediator in his relationship with God? Why
can 't humankind have a direct confrontation with the Creator in deal-
ing with the problem of sin? Summarize the following texts:
A. Exodus 33:20
B. Isaiah 59:2
2. What do the following texts say regarding Christ's work as our mediator?
A.John 14:6
B.John 10:9
C. Hebrews 9:12,24
3. In the Christian life, we must distinguish but not separate the gift of
salvation and growth in salvation. Read the fo ll owing texts and summa-
rize what they say regarding these two important aspects of salvation.
THE GIFT:
A. Romans 3:27, 28
B. Ephesians 2:8, 9
THE GROWTH:
A. Philippians 2:12,13
B. 1 John 5:3-5

ao
 Projects
1. If possible , atten d a Catholi c Mass. Write a summ a ry of th e differences
between a Communio n service in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
a nd a Catholic Mass.
2. No doubt you know of someone who seems to h ave very little assurance
of salvation. This pe rson always seems to feel tha t h e or she just isn 't
good enough to go to h eave n. Write a paper (as though you were writ-
ing this person a lette r) that would h e lp e rase those doubts a nd fe el-
ings of uncertainty. Before you write your letter, read the followin g
texts: Ro ma ns 5:8; Romans 8:38, 39; Romans 10:9; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John
5:11, 12. (Feel free to use a ny other texts you believe would be of h e lp
a nd encouragement.)
3. It is importan t to remember major events of the past th at a re especially
significant. Events such as the Holocaust, slavery, the rule of
Communism, or the world wars are usually kept alive for late r gen era-
tions through special services or acts of commemoration. But wha t
about the Dark Ages? Is it too far back to se rve any useful purpose or
too re moved from our day to teach us anything worthwhile? Write a
paper d escribing what you be lieve are the most important lessons to be
learn ed from the Dark Ages a nd why they should not be forgotten.

00
 focus Qut)stions
1. Is the observance of Sabbath as important an issue today as it was dur-
ing the Dark Ages?
2. Do you think Seve nth-day Adventists depend too much on their church
or their ministers to interpret the Bible for them?
3. Is it wrong to wear a cross or a crucifix as an ornament?
4. The medieval church was guilty of venerating the dead. How are we
gu ilty of idolizing the living?
5. Should adu lts or children who are not baptized be allowed to partici-
pate in the Communion service?
6. Since salvation and acceptance by God is a gift, why is obedience and
striving against sin even necessary?
7. Is there ever an appropriate use for fear in our relationship with God?

1. Ellen C. While, Christs Object Lessons (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1941), 78.
Emphasis supplied.
2. Lars P. Qualben, A Hist01Y of the Christian Church (New York, N.Y.: T homas Ne lson and
Sons, 1933), 169.
3. Ellen C. White, 7/ICS/Ory of&demplion (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1947), 335 .

••

AN~w World Is Born
Lesson Setting
The po litical , econ o mic, social, a nd re ligio us cha nges that we re
bro ught abo u t by the Re na issa nce a nd the resulting impact upo n th e
Ro ma n Ca th olic Church a nd society be twee n 1300 a nd 1500.
ich ael Ha rt wrote
a fascina ting book
titl ed THE 100: A
R anking of the Most
i nfluential Persons
in H istory.I Wha t
a mind-bogglin g
task! If you h ad writte n this book,
who would yo u have put o n your
a ll-world "ha ll o f fam e" list?
Of the to p 100 ch osen by
H a rt, th e country with the largest
numbe r was England with e ighteen,
fo llowed by Ge rman y a nd Fran ce .
The Unite d States was in a three-
way ti e fo r fifth place with seve n.
Hart ch ose thirty-two scie ntists
a nd inve n to rs, thirty milita ry a nd
po litica l fi gures, a nd e leve n re li-
g io us lea d e rs. Eightee n live d
before th e tim e of Christ, a nd
e ighty-two afte r His tim e. Of those
e ight-two , e leven lived between
1300 and 1500, th e tim e pe riod of
this lesso n. Th ese 200 years-
beginnin g with th e Re n a issa n ce
a nd leadin g into th e P ro tes tant
Re fo rm a ti o n-we re so me of th e
lesson 9
most sig nifi ca nt yea rs in all
hum a n hi sto ry.
A great deal of controve rsy and
bitte r disputes sprang up during
this time pe riod , leadin g to the
Protesta nt Reformati o n . In o rde r
for us to unde rstand the reason fo r
these confli cts, we need to look at
the signifi ca nt shift in th e way peo-
ple saw th e mselves a nd the world
a round th e m. It's impo rta n t to see
how the radical cha nges that
occurred across Europe during this
time affected culture, gove rnment,
and religio n. These we re th e birth
pa ngs of a new world be ing born.
THE RENAISSANCE
BRINGS CHANGE
It was th e Re na issa nce (Fren ch
expressio n fo r ·, ~bi1·th) tha t broug ht
a historic transfo rm atio n be tween
1300 a nd 1500. In discarding the
fe udal syste m, it ma rke d the first
definite break with th e Middle
Ages, o pe ning up aspects of life
tha t were previously unthinkable
or unheard o f. Adve nturo us me n
proposed new lines of thought,
revived the wisdom of the ancient
past, and fearlessly rejected
medieval customs and culture.
They demanded new rights,
greater freedoms, and more privi-
leges. Self-renunciation was
replaced with the no tion of self-
expression. A spirit of explo ration
and inve ntion became a fascinating
ingredien t in this new way of life.
THE NEW WORLD
OF THE HUMANISTS
The intellectuals within the
Renaissance movement were
known as humanists. Humanism
was a philosophy that promoted
human thought and reason, rather
than God, as the source of all truth
and goodness. Influenced by pagan
thought, humanists focused o n
human ideals and accomplish-
men ts. Viewing people as essen tially
good, they placed their faith in
human resources and maintained
"Adam" and "The Creator," details from the Sistine Chapel ceiling, by Michelangelo.
04
that humankind could save itse lf.
The goal of humanists was to
experience a self-fulfilling life in
this world rathe r than to merely
live for the world to corne. This
was directly opposed to th e
medieval vi ew that the o nly sign ifi-
cance in life was the salvatio n o ne
hoped to receive at death . Though
the earthly life was the primary
fo cus of the hum anists, they ge ner-
ally maintained their ties with the
church . The spiritually bankrupt
condition of the Roman Catholic
Church gave them a legitimate
reason for being dissatisfied with
the religion of their day.
Unfortunately, their solution was
to replace false religious views with
equally faulty secula r beliefs. When
relying upon human wisdom,
one's best proposals generally turn
out to be the biggest problems.
Not until the Protestant
Reformation were people made
clearly aware that the answer to
life's problems was in J esus, not in
th emselves.
THE IMPACT OF
THE RENAISSANCE
The Re na issance spirit of chal-
lenge a nd in qu iry was th e spring-
board for a g reat deal of critical
scrutiny of the Roman Cathol ic
Church. For examp le, in 1440
Laurentius Valla concl usively
proved that the documents known
as the (pseudo) Isid01'ian DecTelais
were actually forge ri es. These ficti-
tio us d ocum e n ts had been used by
the papacy since the n in th century
to validate its claim to world
supremacy. Erasmus, a Dutch
scholar an d priest who is often rec-
ognized as the g reatest humanist of
th e fiftee nth a nd sixteenth cen-
turi es, wrote ma ny books attacking
the evils o f his day. He lash ed out
against rampant ig no rance, super-
stition , hypocrisy, a nd vice wi thin
the church.
T his new e nthusiasm for learn-
ing a nd discovery e ncouraged peo-
p le to th in k for themselves a nd
posed a se rious threat to the
Roma n Catholi c Church. Such
freedom had not been granted to
believers for centuri es. During that
time, people had been manipu-
lated , often coerced , to le t the
church do their thinking for them.
Th e Rena issance 's effectiveness in
exposing the evils a nd corru p tion
with in th e church paved the way
for more se ri ous assaul ts by the
Protestant Reformers.
EXPLORATION, DISCOVERY,
AND INVENTION
The fervor of th e Re naissan ce
95
provided both the incentive and
the opportunity for all kinds of dis-
tinguished and re nowned accom-
p lishme n ts . Leonardo d a Vinci
(1452-1519) , Mich e langelo (1475-
1564), and Raph ae l (1483-1520)
a re sti ll thought of as some of the
greatest artists wh o eve r lived.
Nicolaus Cope rnicus (1473-1543)
advocated the revo lutiona ry idea
that the su n, not th e earth , is th e
ce nte r of the universe. He feared
to openly proclaim his be liefs , how-
ever, sin ce such ideas were con-
sidered heresy by the church and
punish able by death .
Close ly associated with the
Re na issance were great feats of sea
exploratio n, suc h as th e historic
voyages by Marco Polo, Vasco da
Gama, Piza rro, Co rtez, Balboa,
Mage lla n, a nd , of co urse,
Chri stoph e r Co lu mbus. Columbus
was not o nly a courageous naviga-
tor but a lso a great stude nt of Bible
prophecies. From his study h e con-
cl uded that the world was near its
e nd a nd that his discovery of new
la nds was a fulfillm e nt of prophecy,
in that it o pe n ed the way fo r the
gospel to be preach ed into all the
world ,
Th e re were many notable
inventions d uring the Re naissance,
but non e were as sign ificant as that
of th e printing press a nd th e art of
ma king pa per. Wh e n th e Muslims
co nque red Egypt in th e seve nth
century, Europe's papyrus supply
was cut off. Sc ro lls were no lo nger
used , and books were made of
costly pa rc hm e nt or vellum.
Pa rchment was made from sheep-
or goatski n. One book might take
the skins of twenty-five sh eep.
Vellum was made from calfskin and
was even more costly. Being copied
by hand was another reason books
were so expe nsive . Conseq uently,
many people never owned a single
book or even saw o ne in their
entire lifetime.
The few Bibles that did exist
were almost exclusively owned by
tl, e clergy. Only tIley could read
Latin; thus the ordinary church
members had to rely entirely o n
the clergy for their understanding
of the Bible 's teachin gs. But all of
this dramatically changed with the
availability of paper and th e inven-
tion of movable type (printing
press) in 1450 by J o hann
Gutenberg. It was now possible for
the Bible to be on every family 's
kitche n table in tile language they
could understand . Although trans-
latio n of the Bible into co mmon
languages was still in the future,
tile o pportunity to study God 's
Word for themselves liberated the
people from the deceptive prac-
tices and erroneous teachings of
the church.
THE PLIGHT OF THE PEOPLE
It is generally true of every
natio n throughout history that
whoever owned the land held the
power. Before the Re naissance,
land was almost e ntirely owned by
the church and the nobility. The
tillers of the soil , the serfs and
peasants, were literally in bo ndage
to th e landowners. Their annual
income was hardly enough to kee p
th em alive, and they were placed
under severe restri ctions. A person
cutting down a tree without per-
missio n could face capital punish-
ment. Hunting o n th e land or fish-
ing fro m a brook that ran through
th e property was strictly forbidd en .
Th e priests exacted tith es of all
income and demanded money for
all their services such as baptism,
marriage , confession, indulge nces,
last rites for the dying, and burial.
Taxes were extre mely high, and
much of the money paid to the
local governm ent was funneled
in to the papal treasury at Rom e.
O ne can understand why th ere was
such a strong undercurrent of rest-
lessness and discontent amo ng the
lower classes.
THE MOVEMENT
TOWARD INDEPENDENCE
Although the fourteenth cen-
tury is too early to speak of
"nations" as we kn ow th em today,
more and mo re people were get-
ting used to tile idea tIlat they were
"English " or "French " or "Spanish."
The spirit of natio nalism , the idea
of freedom and independence, was
on the rise, being encouraged by
tll e Renaissance. People we re
begin nin g to think of their "state"
as getting along without "church"
co ntrol. There was increasin g
resentment of the rul es and regula-
tions of "fo reig n" churchm en and
of money being sent to faraway
Rome. Thus there was a strong
desire among th e people for any
kind of move men t that could help
the m get ahead and obtain the
kind of power and wealtll tl,at the
church already had .
THE STRUGGLE FOR
WEALTH AND POWER
T he spirit of the Renaissance
 Pages from the Gutenberg Bible.
ig nited nume rous conflicts
between the e merging states and
the church for Europe's wealth.
Durin g the fourteenth and fif-
teenth centuries, both popes and
kings began to devise all kinds of
sche mes as to how they could get
their ha nds on more money.
To increase their financial
intake, the kings of England and
France began to tax the cl e rgy. The
policy of th e papacy, however, was
that the church was exempt from
all secular taxation. In 1296 Pope
Boniface VIII issued a decree
threatening excomm unication of
any king wh o taxed the cle rgy with-
out papal consent. T h e king of
England retaliated by stating that if
the clergy did not pay the tax, he
would strip them of all legal pro-
97
tection and seize all th ei r proper-
ties and land holdings . Th e king of
France, Philip the Fail~ imposed a
ban on the export of a ll gold, sil-
ver, and precious stones from his
domain , thus depriving the papal
treasury of a major source of
Income.
In response, Boniface issue d a
papal bull against the French king.
(A bull is an official pronounce-
ment, so call ed because su ch a doc-
ument contain ed a round seal
called, in Latin , bulla). In this
papal bull, the pope excommuni-
cated the king and imposed an
inte rdict upon France. The inte r-
di ct d emanded that all churches in
France be locke d . No bells could
be rung, no marriages celebrated ,
no burials performed , and no
sacraments given. Pope Boniface
concluded his bull with this boast-
fu l threat: "We declare, define, and
affirm that every man must obey
the pope or forfeit his salvation.'"
In other words, if the king, or any-
one else for that matter, disobeyed
the pope, it was like disobeying
God Himself.
When King Philip received the
bull, his reaction was swift and dra-
matic. The Renaissance had cre-
ated in the hearts of the people a
strong resentment against papal
domination and control.
Consequently the king, as well as
the French people, ignored the
papal bull. King Philip even
declared that he would have
Boniface deposed as pope on the
grounds that his election had been
ill egal. So overwhelming was the
support for the king that shortly
thereafter, Boniface, fearing for his
life, fled his residential palace in
Rome. No pope had ever made
such an arrogant claim; no pope
had ever suffered a more humiliat-
ing defeat. It was obvious-a new
era h ad begun!
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
In lesson 6 it was pointed out
that Danie l 7:8 speaks of a "little"
horn (a biblical symbol of the pa-
pacy) , which "uprooted" three other
horns by the roots. This reveals the
cruel a nd d estructive nature of the
papacy. In lesso n 8 the next phrase
in Daniel 7:8 was discussed; the lit-
tle horn is depicted as having "eyes
like the eyes of a man," a belief sys-
tem established on human author-
ity. The third and fin a l phrase in
Daniel 7:8 describes the little horn
St. Peter's Basilica, interior.
as having "a mouth that spoke
boastfully." This exposes the
haughty and self-exalting spirit of
the Catholic hierarchy.
But it is not only the papacy
that demonstrates an egotistical,
self-serving nature. We all have self-
seeking ambitions, a desire to run
things our own way, to trample
down others on our way to the top .
Apart from Jesus, every life is out
of control. We can e ithe r allow self
to rule or let J esus re ign on the
thron e of our h earts. The choice is
very simple: e ithe r self reigns or it
dies.
In the Christian life, dying to
self is my response to Jesus for
having died for me. His death on
the cross has already saved me and
assured me of eternal life. Dying to
self reveals that I have accepted His
sacrifice and have allowed Him to
be the Lord of my life . I do not
carry my cross to Calvary, hoping
to impress God or earn my salva-

o.
tion. (That was the mista ke made
by the Roman Catho lic Church .)
As a believer, I carry my cross from
Calvary, thus ac kn owledgin g my
acceptance by God and expressing
my willingness to be full y obedient
to H is will.
Ca rrying o ur cross means that
in our walk with the Lord, there is
rea l work to be accomplished ,
painful experiences to be endured,
agonizing decisio ns to be made,
and great victo ri es to be gained.
For this reason the Christian li fe
has been likened to a lifelon g jour-
ney of struggle and con flict. But
don 't let that frighten o r discour-
age you. j esus allows us to experi-
e nce only that which we can h an-
dl e and what is for our best. And
j esus has prom ised us that in all of
life's experi ences, "Never will T
leave yo u; never wi ll I forsake you"
(H e brews 13:5) .

Anchor Tt>xt
"Each o ne sho uld be careful how he builds. f or no o ne can lay any
found ati o n o th er than the one already laid , wh ich is j esus Christ"
(1 Co rinthians 3:10, 11 ).

(fJ Into tht> Biblt>

1. Read your Anchor Text. To get a better understanding of what Paul was
sayin g to the Corinthian believers, read 1 Co rinthians 3: 10-23. As you
study this passage, write a brief summa ry of the fo llowing texts:
A. Ve rses 10-15
B. Verses 16, 17
C. Verses 18-23
2. Write a devotional talk, about five minutes in length, titled "The two
crosses in the Christian li fe." Explain the meanin g and purpose of
each cross and its role in salvation. Use stories o r perso nal experiences
to illustrate the points you make. Listed below are some Bible texts you
may wish to use: Matthew 16:24, 26; 1 Co rinthi ans 1:18, 23; Romans
5: 1,8; Ro mans 6:4; 2 Co rin th ians 5:14,15; Ephes ians 2:8, 10;
Coloss ians 3:2, 3; 1 j o hn 4:10-12.

99
 Projects
1. Divide in to gro ups of three or fo ur and discuss th e fo llowin g issu e .
Write your gro up 's conclusio ns a nd present the m to th e class . T HE
ISSUE: Accordin g to th e lesso n na rrative, on e of th e goals of th e
huma n ists was "to expe rie n ce a self-fulfi lling life in this world ra th er
tha n to me re ly live for th e worl d to come." T H E QUESTION: Do you
agree o r disagree with this goal? We re the huma n ists right, pa rtia lly
right, o r totally wro ng? Be pre pa red to provide so me bibli cal suppo rt
for your conclusio ns.
2. In th e lesso n na rra tive the p o int was made that peop le a re continua lly
search ing fo r a nswe rs to li fe's pro ble ms. Wh e n soluti o ns are create d
apart fro m God , our best pro posals ge ne rally turn o u t to be our biggest
proble ms. Too ofte n our solutio ns are mere ly te mpo rary escapes th at
o nly bring a bo ut greater pro ble ms down th e road . As a response to
these sta te me n ts, ch oose o ne of th e followin g:
A. Compose a collage, using visua l mate rials, such as pictures, n ews-
pa pe r, o r magazin e h eadlines, th a t illustrates th e truthfuln ess of th e
above state me nts.
B. Write a 250-wo rd pape r d iscussing th ese issues in ligh t of your own
observa tio ns o r pe rsona l expe rie nce.
3. Fro m your study of the lesson na rrative, list wh at you believe to be the
six most-positive quali ties a nd the fo ur most-negative qualities of the
Re n a issance a nd humanism .

I ••
 focus Qu~stions
1. What is it that makes a person influential? What is the difference
between being well-known and greatness?
2. Can a person have too much freedom? What determines an appropri-
ate amount of freedom ?
3. Often medieval churches turned people away from God. Are churches
guilty of doing the same today?
4. Do you think that Christians are too prone to criticize the church?
5. Does God require Christians to pay tithe even if they are as poor as the
peasants were?
6. What are some legitimate ways for the church to raise money other
than tithes and freewill offerings?
7. How does one take up the Cross and follow Jesus in everyday life?
8. Some say that humanism is the religion of America today. Do you
agree?

1. Michael H. Hart, THE JOO; A Ranhing oj the Most Influential Persons in History (New York,
NY: A & W Publishers, Inc., 1978).
2. Lars P. Qualben, A Histor), o/the Clnistian Church (New York, N.Y.: Thomas Nelson and
Sons, ]933), 189.

1.1

Th~ Church in Crisis
Lesson Setting
Voices of protest calling for reform a nd spiritual renewal are
sile nced by the Roma n Cath o li c Church as it refuses to acknowl ed ge its
wickedness during the fourtee nth a nd fifteenth centuries (1300-1500).
r-----'""II harles K. J o hnson is
president of the
International Flat
Earth Research
Society of America,
which h e founded in
1971. His wife
Marjory is also a me mbe r, a long
with over 1600 other persons scat-
tered throughout th e U nited
States and seve ral othe r coun tries.
Mr. Johnso n d esc ribes himself as a
self-educated man. He claim s that
by the time he had finished grade
school, because of his extensive
reading, h e already h ad an educa-
tion that surpassed a college
d egree. H e d e clares that by b e ing
self-taught h e wasn't misle d by all
th e scie ntific garbage that is bein g
presented in the public schools.
He maintain s that th e space pro-
g ram and all the moon landings
are nothing but a nation al hoax
foisted on a gullible public.
So what is the unive rse rea lly
like, according to this organiza-
tion? It's their contention that
.o~
St. Peter's Basilica.
lesson I .
the earth is flat and that th e sun
is thirty-two miles in diam e ter
a nd only 3000 miles away from
the earth. Excluding the sun ,
they be lieve that the earth is th e
only thing th e re is. Our planet is
th e ce nter of th e unive rse and is
surrounde d by a c ircl e of ice -
th e dome of heaven , which is
4000 miles away and extends
indefin itely into outer sp ace . For
th em there is absolute, conclusive
proof that the world is flat and
that m o d ern scien ce "is n o thin g
but a big joke."
A story like this is really h ard to
believe, isn 't it? How could anyone
in our e nlighte ned society be so
out of to uch with reali ty? Perhaps
yo ur first reaction was one of disbe-
lief, maybe laughte r, or just pity. As
yo u know, th ese views of the uni-
ve rse were commonly held by most
people during the Middle Ages.
Unfortunate ly, the ir ignorance
regarding the scie nces was equally
ma tc h ed by the ir lack of knowl-
edge of th e Bible.
 THE CHURCH
REMAINS IN DARKNESS
From 1300 to 1500, society was
rapidly moving forward, discover-
ing new worlds of thought and per-
spec tive, reaching o ut to new vistas
through inventions a nd explo-
rations, while discarding medieval
beliefs an d customs. However, this
was not the case with th e Roman
Catholic Church. Rather than
examine its teachings in light of
the Bible and confess its errors, the
church chose to dig in its h eels,
defy all attempts of reform , and
destroy a nyo ne who d a red to su g-
gest that it was wrong.
Voices of protest, within a n d
without the church , were raised
against the e no rm ous wea lth of
the church , th e immora lity of the
clergy, the arrogan ce of th e popes,
and the un bibli cal be liefs and
practices within the system. Those
voices were not only ig nored, they
were quickly silenced by papal
J o hn Wycliffe in his study.
I ••
threats, persecution , or the
devouring flames of th e stake .
Literally million s of God-fearin g
people became victims of ve ngeful
retaliation during th e centuries
that preced ed and followed the
Pro testant Reformation of the six-
teenth century. One historian
writes, "The Church of Rome has
sh e d more innoce nt blood than
a ny other in stitution that h as ever
existed a mon g mankind ."* What a
sad commentary concerning the
professed followers of J esus! With
this in mind, let's take a look a t
Roman Cath o licism as it steadily
entre nc h ed itself in a n ever-
d eepening darkness .
DEVISING WAYS
TO RAISE MONEY
As the thirteenth century came
to a close, the Crusades, whi ch had
continued on and off for nearly two
hundred years, came to an e nd.
Remember, indulge nces could be
received fo r voluntee ring your se rv-
ices as a crusade r, contributing
mo ney to th e cause, or paying to
have someone go in your place.
Co nseque n tly, indulgences became
an impor u'1l1 t source of in co me.
Wh e n the Crusad es e nded , it
became necessa ry to invent new
ways o f ra ising mo ney thro ug h th e
sale of in d ulgen ces .
Po pe Bo n ifa ce VIII imm e di-
a te ly got in to th e ac t. H e was th e
po pe wh o, n ea r th e e nd of his
re ig n , got into a serio us dispute
wi th Kin g Philip IV of Fra n ce.
From th e ve ry beginnin g of his
re ig n , Bo ni face had a re putatio n
fo r e nj oying spl en d o r an d fl aunt-
in g hi s wea lth . At hi s coro n ation
as p o pe, h e d o nn ed a crown co n-
ta in in g fo rty-fi ve e me ra ld s, fo rty-
e igh t ru b ies, seven ty-two sap-
p hires, a nd sixty-six pea rls. Wh en
he mo un ted hi s h o rse d u r in g th e
in a ug ura l cere mon y, h e ha d a
kin g on eac h side of th e h o rse
h o ld th e stirr ups!
In 1300, Po pe Bo ni face p ro-
cl a im ed a Jubil ee, a h o ly year des-
ig n ated to ce le brate th e birth of
J esus eve ryo n e hundred years. In
hi s offi cia l a n no un ceme n t, th e
po pe d ecla red th at an indu lgence
p rovidi ng th e "fu ll pardon of a ll
sins" would be so ld to th ose wh o
would visit th e churc hes of St.
Pe te r a n d St. Pa ul in Ro me.
Multi tudes resp o n ded to th e
pope's gracious offe r, as mo re
th a n 200,000 pil g rim s visi te d
th ese two c hurch es within th e
first yea r. Because of its fin a n cia l
su ccess, th e papacy eventu a lly
decid ed to celeb ra te th e Ju b ilee
eve ry twe nty-fi ve yea rs.
lOS
THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
Shortly after his explosive con-
fro ntatio n with King Phili p an d the
failure of his bull of exco mmuni ca-
tio n, Pope Bo niface fl ed Rom e a nd
di ed in ex ile in 1303. Wa ntin g to
avoid a similar conflict in th e
fu tu re, Ki ng Philip persuaded th e
coll ege of cardin als to e lect a
Fre n ch po pe, Cle me n t V. Feari ng
the wrath of the disa ppo inte d
Italians, Clement ch ose n ot to
re ign in Ro me, but instead moved
th e papa l headqua rte rs to th e
small town of Avig no n, France.
Protests ran g out across Europe,
but th e papacy re mai n e d in Fra nce
for abo ut seven ty-two yea rs (1305-
1377) . Du ring that time period , as
a resul t of the imme nse cle rical
staff and th e sumptuo us pa pa l
palace, this small village g rew in to
a large city of 80,000 people.
This time pe riod is kn own as
the "Ba bylo nia n Cap tivity." It was a
"captivity" because th e seven suc-
cessive p opes who resided in
Avign o n were complete ly under
the d o m inatio n of the Fre nc h
kings. I t was "Babylo n ian" because
it laste d a bo ut seventy years, just as
the captivity of a ncie n t Israel h ad
in O ld Testa me n t times.
THE GREAT PAPAL SCHISM
T he Italia ns became increas-
ingly agitated ove r th e fact th at th e
popes were living in Avigno n. T h ey
desperately wanted th e papacy to
re turn to th e city of Ro me, which
th ey be lieved was its rig h tfu l h o me.
Wh e n th e pa pacy fin ally moved
back to Rome in 1377, lingering ill-
fee lings b ro ug h t about a serio us
rift between Italian and French
 Catholics. As th e resu lt of several
m oves and counte rmoves, two
popes we re e lected , U rban VI
residing in Rom e a nd Cle m e nt VII
living in Avignon . T his bizarre turn
o f even ts is known as th e "Great
Pap al Sc hism ," which lasted from
1378 to 1417. The two po pes pro-
ceed ed to d e nounce, excommuni-
cate, and anathe ma tize (pro-
no unce curses upon) each other.
T h e "infallible" claims of each
po pe that h e was the vi car (re pre-
senta ti ve) of C hrist m ade a sh am
and mocke ry of th e p apal o ffi ce.
Va rious countries too k sides, some
favoring o n e pope , th e rest sup-
porting th e oth er. Tumul ts a nd
rio ts bro ke o ut, and much blo od
was sh ed be tween a ng ry church
m embers. Even major crusad es
were o rganized in suppo rt of each
pope.
In 1409 a church council in
Pisa atte mpte d to resolve this ugly
situa tio n . It dismissed bo th po pes
a nd e lecte d Alexande r V as the
n ew pope . However, neither of the
d e posed po pes gave u p his office,
so for seve n years the Ro ma n
Catholi c Church ha d three re ig n-
in g popes. In 1417 the Council of
Constan ce d e posed all three po pes
a nd e lecte d a n Itali an , Ma rtin V,
who officially re tu rned th e pap acy
to Ro me.
It was o bvio us th at the church
n eeded cha nge a nd reformatio n .
But m eani ngful reforms were not
taking place because suggeste d
changes involved o nly ge ne ral po li-
cies rath er th an unde rlying beliefs.
T h ere was a willing n ess to deal
o nly with o utward form s rath e r
than inward renewal. The greatest
106
need of the church wasn 't Ba nd-Aids
to soo the me re cu ts and bruises. It
n eed ed a h eart tra nsp la nt from
God th at would cleanse a nd purifY
the entire system. Wh a tJesus said
to th e self-rig h teous Pharisees
applie d equally to th e church : "You
cl ean th e o u tside of the cup a nd
dish , but inside they a re full of
g reed and self-indulge n ce . ... First
clean the inside .. . , and the n th e
ou tside a lso will b e cl ean "
(Matthew 23 :25, 26) .
Since "the h eart is d eceitful
above all things, a nd d espe ra te ly
wicke d " (Jere miah 17:9, NI<JV),
God's basic r emedy for our sinful
condition has always b een to
cle anse and purify the heart. Th e
pa pacy was th e h eart of Roma n
Catholicism. O ut of it flowed the
evil th at imm e rsed the e ntire
church in darkn ess . But the proud
a nd self-exalting popes r efu sed to
accep t God's re m ed y. T h ey were
d e te rmined to seek less-drastic,
less-painful solutions.
BUILDING ORNATE CHURCHES
Much of the spiritu ality of this
age focused on o utward disp lay,
which the church e n couraged for
its own fin a n cial ad van tage. In
1506 Pope Julius II d em o lish ed
the C hu rc h of St. Pe te r in Rom e
a nd began building the prese nt St.
Peter 's, fund e d by th e sale of
indulgen ces . Th e n ew St. P e te r 's,
with its d o m e and semicircu la r
colo nnad es, was aweso m e and
spectacul a r. It's h e ig h t was fo rty
floors, and it h eld 50 ,000 pe ople,
as many as a mode rn spo rts stadium.
T his cath e dral, th e larges t in th e
wo rld , also showcased som e of the
 Vatican Gardens at St. Pe ter's Basilica.
world's greatest art treasures.
Comp leted in 1626, it cost the
church members of Europe forty-
six million dollars. St. Pe ter's
Cath e dral sta nds today as an e lo-
quent reminde r of a ll of the pro-
ceed s from indulge n ces rather
th a n th e provisi o ns o f salvation
free ly give n to all.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RELICS
Pe rhaps nothing illustrates the
spiritual darkn ess of the Middle
Ages more vividly than the impor-
tance of relics within th e church.
Be lief in their miraculous power
had been generally accepted for
ce nturies. Since the year 787, bish-
ops were forbidd e n to co nsecrate
any new churches th a t did not pos-
sess any relics . In time, the buying
a nd selling of these objects becam e
an obsession. For exa mple,
Frederick the Wise d evo ted his life
in making Wittenberg, in Germany,
the center of sacred relics, with a
107
coll ec tion of 5,005 of these items.
The indulgences attac hed to these
re li cs were calc ulated to reduce
purgatory by 1,443 years. The reli cs
he co nsidered the most sacred
included Aaron 's rod , two jugs of
wine from the wedd ing of Can a,
one strand of j esus' beard, one
pi ece of bread from the Last
Supper, and some fragments from
th e burning bush. Fred e rick also
had a collection of 19,01 3 holy
bones, which gen erally received
more attention from me dieval
be li evers than the holy love of
j esus.
GLIMMERING
LIGHTS OF REFORM
In the midst of such devastat-
ing darkness, g limm e ring ligh ts of
pro test a nd reform began to
a ppear on th e horizon. john
Wycliffe , known as the "Morning
Star of the Reform ation ," was born
in England in 1320. H e studied at
 the University of O xford , and la te r
as its leadi ng professor, Wycliffe
became th e most recognized theo-
logia n in all Europe. In 1376, just
as the "Babylo nia n Cap tivity" of the
po pes in Fran ce was a bout to e nd,
Wycliffe began to ope nly criticize
the church a nd advocate rad ical
refo rm. He p ointed out how fa r
the papacy had de parted from the
simple faith and practice of Christ
and His ap ostles. While "Christ
lived in poverty," he d ecla red, "th e
popes labor for worldly magnifi-
cence. Christ refused tem poral
dominion , the popes seek it."
Wycliffe d e n oun ced the trap-
pings of power, the worldliness and
luxury of th e papacy, a nd con-
cluded th a t th e pope was th e
antichrist. H e ma in tain ed th at th e
po pes were n o t infallible (inca-
pable of erro r ) an d that th eir bulls
and d ecrees h ad n o a u th ority
unless they were in h armony with
Sc ripture. H e challe nged a wh ole
range of m edieval practices, such
as th e begging fria rs, in d ulgences,
belief in transubstantiation ,
pe na n ce, pilg rimages, worshi p of
images, ad oration of sain ts, the use
of relics, and teaching that salva-
tion came th ro ugh th e sacramen ts.
His prima ry con cern was tha t
th e Bible, rath e r th an the church ,
was to be the basis fo r the believ-
e rs' faith and p ractice. But th e
commo n people could n ot read or
understand the Bible because th e
Bible in general use was the
Vulgate, J erome's tra nslation in to
Latin n early 1000 years earlier.
T h o ugh vigorously opposed by tl1e
church, Wycliffe and his fo llowers
translated the Bib le into th e
J ohn Wycliffe .
En glish language during the later
years of his life. T his im po rta n t
p roj ect was compl eted in 1382. An
imp roved versio n was completed by
Wycl iffe's fo llowers in 1388.
T he Bible in th e la nguage o f
the comm on people was th e most
importan t tool in bringing about
true and lasting refo rm . Without
th e Bib le in everyday lan guage,
th e re would have bee n n o
Reform a tio n. By enlighte ning th e
minds of th e people with the truths
of salvatio n , God's Word was, in
effect, exposing the e rro rs of
Ro ma n Cath olicism. T hus th e
Bible became a migh ty weapo n for
th e believe rs in th e ir comba t for
lie tru th.
T h ou g h h e was a rrested sev-
e ral times a nd brought to tria l,
Wycliffe was n ever impriso ne d o r
torture d . Fo ll owin g his d eath in
1384, his teachings con ti nu e d to
sp read thro ugh o u t E ng la nd , n o t
o nly th ro u gh th e many books h e

lOB
had writte n bu t also by the
p reac h ing of his disc ipl es. His fol-
lowe rs we re referred to by th eir
e ne mi es as "Lolla rds," a te rm
mea ning "mumbl ers,"-an accusa-
tio n of bein g unlea rn ed and con-
fused. Th e Lo ll ards lived simpl e
lives and travel ed a ro und the
coun tryside teaching the Wo rd of
God to th e comm o n peopl e in
th e ir own language.
As the influence of the Lollards
increased, so did the o pposition of
th e church . In 1401 th e bishops
succeeded in passing a law making
heresy in England a capi tal offe nse.
Even the mere possessio n of
Wycliffe 's writings was punishabl e
by death. From o ne e nd of the
country to th e o th er, th e Lollards
perished as martyrs in the flames.
The ch urch orde red th at all
Wycliffe's writings be destroyed
and that his body be dug up and
burn ed. To show added contempt,
his ashes we re disdainfully scat-
tered into a nearby river.
The work of refo rm that was
started by Wycliffe was boldly ca r-
ried o n by John Huss of Bo hemi a,
a regio n cen te red around th e city
of Prague. H e was a ppo inted dean
of the th eological fac ulty at th e
Unive rsity of Prague and eve ntually
became the head o f the university.
In this influential positio n , he pro-
claimed Wycliffe's teachin gs with
grea t enthusiasm . Huss's powerful
preaching was wholeheartedly
accep ted by both th e common peo-
100
pIe and the nobility. Bethle hem
Cha pel, located near the university,
gave Huss a splendid o ppo rtuni ty
to circulate Wycliffe's teachings,
including his criti cism of the abuses
of papal power. On the walls of the
chapel were paintings contrasting
th e behavior of th e po pes and
J esus. Th e po pe rode a horse;Jesus
walked barefoot. J esus washed His
disciples' feet; the po pe was shown
having his fee t kissed. The lesson
,vas obviolls.
In 1415, Huss was arrested and
imprison ed. With out bein g given
an opportunity to defend himself,
he was bro ught fro m the dungeon
to the cathedral in Co nstance. In
th e presence of a large assembly of
church leaders, Huss was openly
degraded and subj ec ted to all
kinds of mockery. The n he was led
fro m th e cath edral to o ne of the
city gates, where he was ti ed to a
stake surrounded with firewood.
T he dry wood was kindled , and in
a sho rt lim e ano ther g reat man of
God had died a martyr's death .
Seve ral years after the death of
Huss, Pope Martin V commanded
the king of Poland to exterminate
all Hussites and anyo ne else wh o
was in agreeme nt with the
deceased martyr.
It was time fo r the tyranny of
th e Roman Catho lic Church to be
broke n. It was tim e for th e truths
of God 's Word to be freely and
ope nly proclaim ed . It was time fo r
th e Protestant Refo rm ation !
S Anchor Text
"Though we live in th e wo rld , we do not wage war as th e wo rld does.
The weapons we figh t with are not th e weapons of the wo rld. O n th e con-
trary, th ey h ave di vine power to d emolish stro ng ho lds .... We take captive
every tho ug h t to make it o bedient to Ch rist" (2 Corin thians 10:3-5).

(lJ Into the Bible

1. Yo ur An ch o r Text states th a t the Christian is n ot to "wage war as the
wo rld d oes" no r u se "th e weapo ns of the world ." A spiritu al foe can be
conq uered o nly by spir itual weap ons. Read Ephesia ns 6:1 0-1 8, o n the
"armo r of God ," a nd do th e following exercises.
A. List the five d iffere nt ways o ur spiri tu al e ne my is desc ribed in th ese
verses.
B. Describe what th ese differe n t te rms are saying to yo u abo ut the
na ture of o ur e n emy.
C. Identify the six items that Paul lists in these verses as the full a rmor
orGod.
D. Expla in in yo ur own wo rds why eac h p iece of a rmor is impo rta n t in
o ur battle against evil.
2. In th e great co n trove rsy, God a n d Sata n are e n gaged in a struggle for
o ur minds, o r as th e Bible says, o ur "h earts."
A. Listed be low are seve ral texts abo ut th e m eaning a nd impo rta nce
of th e "h eart." Read each text a nd wri te a bri ef summa ry.
(1) 1 Samue l 16:7
(2) Prove rbs 4:23
(3) Proverbs 28 :26 (Use KJV or NKJV.)
(4)Je remiah 17:9, 10
(5) J e re miah 29:13
B. If yo u were to give a Bible stu dy o r a devotio n al tal k o n th e subject of
the "heart," what is th e o rde r in wh ich you would p resent these texts?
C. Write a paragraph expla inin g th e reason fo r the order you h ave
ch ose n .

110
 l. In the Christi an's combat with evil, there is no ne utral ground. Divide
into groups of three or four and discuss the following two questions.
Write your group 's conclusion and present it to the class. QUESTIONS:
How can one know fo r sure that he or sh e is on Christ's side ? What
ma kes it difficult to know whose side you a re on?
2. Your lesson na rrative describes a painting in the Bethle hem Chapel at
the University of Prague that depicted the differe nce between Jesus and
the popes of their day. Draw a picture or make a collage in which the life
or teachings ofJ esus are compared or contrasted with mode rn Christianity.
3. Browse through a church hymnal and select two o r three son gs th at
focus on the importance of the Bible in the Christian life . Share them
with the class, or, bette r yet, have the e ntire class sing the songs, provid-
ing they are famili ar tunes. As an alternative, choose a co ntemporary
song that deals with the same topic. Play it a nd discuss the lyrics in class .
...............................................................................................
focus Qut~stions
1. We don't approve of religious wars, but are we guilty of going to the
opposite extreme and n o t making any efforts to defend our faith from
attack?
2. Doing good to me rit salvation was a big thing during the Middle Ages.
Are we guilty of the same thing?
3. Ide ntify what you think are wrong methods of ra ising money by some
churches today.
4. Is it wrong to spend large amounts of money to build beautiful churches?
5. What reforms do you think God wants within our church today?

* Don F. Ne ufe ld an d Juli a Ne uffer, ed., Sevenlh-daj' Adventist Students' Source Book
(Hage rstown, Md,; Review and Herald, 1962), 739,

III

It Only TakQs aSpark
Lesson Setting
The personal life, spiritual su'uggles, and public ministry of Martin
Luther and his role in igniting the Protestant Reformation in the six-
teenth century (1500s) .
ittle Alfred li ke d to tin-
ke r around in his
fa ther's shop. He had
a very inquisitive mind ,
~ a lways expe rime nting
\ _ .J a nd trying to fi gure
...._ _ _ _... things out fo r himself.
As he grew old e r and fo llowed
thro ugh with some of his experi-
me n ts, h e eve ntually pro duced a
substance call ed tri ni tro to lue n e
(T NT ), a n explosive commonly
known as dyna mite.
Alfred was excited a bo ut his
newly created product, and h e fe lt
co nfide nt tha t it would serve a use-
ful purpose in society. As its
d e ma nd in creased, he began to
build factori es a ll around his home
cou ntry of Swe den and eve ntua lly
throughout the world . Within a few
years, Alfred Nobel became a n
ex tre me ly wealthy ma n .
As th e years passed , h e was
in creasingly p lagued with physical
a nd e mo ti o nal illness . He suffered
a great d eal from g uilt a nd misgiv-
ings for havin g crea ted some th ing
Martin Luthe r
posting his 95 theses. ••
lesson II
tha t had so much po te nti al fo r
d eath and destruction . His greatest
fear was tha t dynamite wou ld be
used in \-var, rather than for con-
structive and peaceful purposes.
Before his d ea th in 1896, h e se t up
a trust fund of approxim ate ly nine
m illio n d ollars. The inte rest th a t
wou ld come from this mo ney was
to be used to prese nt a n a n nual
award to the person who h ad most
effectively promoted inte rn a tiona l
peace. You have pro bab ly h eard of
the Nobel Peace Prize th at has
been awarded annually eve r since.
For Alfred it started just by put-
tering around in his fa th e r's shop.
It is impossible to overestimate the
importance of little tll ings, of littl e
choices. God declares, "Don't look
down on small beginni ngs"
(Zecharia h 4:10, Th e Clea r Word ) .
There are no small d ecisions in
life; they just loo k tha t way at the
time. No o ne would have guessed
that a middle-aged priest tacking
an announ cement on his church
door on O cto be r 31, 1517, would
~
ignite one of the greatest religious
movemen ts this world has ever
seen-the Protestan t Reformation.
Thanks to Martin Luther, the
world would never be the same
agam.
MARTIN LUTHER'S EARLY LIFE
Martin Luther's decision to
write and d isplay a list of ninety-
five statements regarding issues he
was deeply concerned about wasn't
especially significan t at the time.
The door of the Castle Church was
generally used by the town's un i-
versity as a school bulletin board. It
was a commo n thing for teachers
at the school to post an noun ce-
me n ts, or essays, inviting other pro-
fessors to a public d e bate. But let's
go back a nd start at th e beginning
of the sto ry.
Martin Luther was bo rn in
Eisleben , Germ any, on Novembe r
10, 1483. T h e three most outstand-
ing features of his early hom e life
were religious training, severe dis-
cipline, and extreme poverty.
Whe n walking home from sch ool
as a child , he would often obtain
food by singing for people at their
doors. Being very strict Catholics,
his pa re n ts m ade sure that he went
to all church services, believed in
saints a nd relics, and bought indu l-
gences. Martin ' 5 mother was a
godly woman but very supersti-
tious. She would often tell him
frightfu l stories about the devil and
evil spirits, and speak about God as
a stern and demanding Judge.
Such views were typical of most
people at that time .
At the request of his fath er,
Martin took up the study of law at
II.
the University of Erfurt, the most
renowned school in a ll of Ger-
many. One day as he was browsing
through some books in th e library,
h e discovered a Latin Bible
chained to a wall. Up to this time
he had never read or eve n seen a
Bible. From time to time he had
heard a few passages read by the
priest and had assumed that those
passages were the entire Bible. As
he eagerly scanned its pages, he
became convicted of his own sinful-
ness, leaving h im deeply troubled.
Sensing his wretched condition
before God, but not knowing what
to do about it created a great deal
of fear and anxiety. He recalled
that at another time when one of
his teachers saw h im reading th e
Bible, he said , "Brother Martin, let
the Bible alone .... Reading the
Bible breeds unrest.'" Luther won-
dered if the study of the Bible had
the same effect on everyone!
Some time later, as he was walk-
ing home one night, Martin got
caught in a terrible thunderstorm.
When a bolt of lightning knocked
him to the ground, he cried out in
terror, "St. Anne, help me! " CSt.
Anne was the patron saint of coal
miners, his father's occupation.)
This frightening experience, a long
with the nagging conviction of his
lostness, convinced Martin to leave
the univers ity h e had bee n attend-
ing for fo ur years and enter a
monastery in Erfurt.
BECOMING A
MONK AND PRIEST
After six months in the
monaste ry, he took his vows as an
Augustinian monk, and at the age
of twe nty-four, Marlin Luth e r was
o rda in ed a priest. After rece ivi ng
two theological d egrees withi n two
years, he accepted a teaching posi-
ti on at th e unive rsity, beco ming a
ve ry popular biblica l lec ture r.
Thro ughout this tim e, h oweve l~ he
was d eeply conce rn ed about his sal-
vatio n. Martin fe lt doom ed by a
strong sense of his own sin fl.l lness
a nd his view ofa ho ly God who
exacted justice fro m a ll. This lack
of peace a nd ass ura nce of salvation
led to extreme me ntal a nguish a nd
serious physical a il me n ts. At tim es
h e fea red for his life . Determin ed
to me rit God 's forgive n ess, Luther
will in gly performed any task give n
him . H e prayed , fasted , an d chas-
tised himself far beyond th e call of
duty. The mon astery cell where h e
studi e d and slept was un heated,
eve n in the coldest days of winte r.
Overwhe lmed with a sense of his
unworthiness, it seemed that no
matter how ha rd he trie d , he could
neve r do e nough to fee l God's
accep tance and a pproval.
Marlin Luther wri ting his theses.
liS
Years later as Luth e r looked
back a t th is de p ressin g ti me in his
li fe he exclaim ed , "If eve r a monk
could have gotte n to h eaven by his
shee r monke ry, it was l. "z Even
thoug h he had beco me a distin-
guished teach e r of th e Bible,
Martin sti ll d id not pe rce ive the
tru th of God 's free gift of salvation.
Because of his distorted view of
God , eve ry tim e h e h ea rd about
God's justice or righteousness, h e
tho ught of punishm e nt be ing
me ted o ut rath er tha n grace be ing
exte nded to th e sinn e r.
Keep in mind th at spiritual
truths a re progressive ly discerned
and accepted. It dieln 't come to
Luth er, nor does it come to us, in
o ne mighty dose . Hu mans are slow
lea rn e rs; we learn b it by bit, piece
by pi ece . One tim e wh il e instruct-
ing His d iscipl es, J esus said, "There
a re a lot of thin gs I co uld te ll you,
but you 've heard e nough and are
not really ready for any more"
Go hn 16: 12, Th e Clear Word) .
God is lo ng-sufferi ng an d chooses
 not to overload us with new truths
o r overwhelm us with the changes
we need to lnake.
Around 1510 Luthe r was se nt
to Rome on a busin ess trip as a
representative of th e unive rsity. H e
anticipated that his first visit to the
"holy city" would be a spiritual
highlight. But just th e o pposite
happened. Along the way h e
lodged in monasteries and was
dumbfounded at the corrup tio n h e
saw. At one monastery in Italy, he
was dismayed at the wealth a nd
luxurious lifestyle of th e monks.
They were dressed in the most
costly robes and feasted at lavish
tables. Comparin g this wi th his
own se lf-denia l and hardships led
him to ope nly criticize such
extravagance. The censure brought
immediate results-a shorter stay
for him at the monastery!
Luther was eager to move on,
confident that things would be dif-
ferent in Rome. But these hopes
were likewise shattered.
Everywh ere he looked he saw
scenes that utterly shocked him.
He was horrified at the obscene
behavior and awful profanity of the
clergy, at times even during the
Mass. Tryin g to find somethin g
positive, he decided to obtain an
indulgence by climbing "Pilate 's
staircase." Bya recent decree, the
pope had promised a n indulgence
to all who would climb Pilate's
twenty-e ight-step staircase on their
knees. The Roman Catholic
Church claimed that these stairs
we re the ones Jesus Himse lf h ad
cl imbed on His way to the Roman
judgment hall and that they had
been "miraculously conveyed from
116
J e rusale m to Rome.""
Wh il e pe rform ing this act of
me rit, th e tex t, "Th e just shall live
by fa ith " (Roma ns 1:17, KJV)
fl ashed upon his mind with con-
victing force . It was a verse Luth er
had ofte n share d with his students.
Bu t for the first time in his life he
began to disce rn the foolishness of
trusting in human works rather
tha n in the saving work of Jesus.
With a h eart full of sorrow and
indigna tion, yet one where the
ligh t of th e gospel had begun to
pe n e trate, Luthe r re turned to
Witte nbe rg a changed man. As he
continued his work as a faithfu l
Cath oli c priest, the memories of
this expe rie n ce triggered a whole
series of questions and doubts
about his church.
THE SALE OF INDULGENCES
There were many c hurch prac-
tices with which Luther found fault
but none were as severely
denounced as indulgences. Several
years earlier, Pope Julius IT had
issued an indulgence to raise
money for the construction of a
new St. Peter's Cath edral in Rome.
When funds did not come in as
expected, Pope Leo X issued a
bull, increasing the pressure on all
churches to promote the sale of
indulgences. Luther objected bit-
terly to Germans being asked to
pay for an Italian church. He
demanded to know, "Why doesn't
the pope build the basilica of St.
Peter's with his own money?"
What especially a ngered Luther
was the fact th at one-half of the
profits from the sale of indul-
ge nces was secretly being funneled
to Albert of Bra ndenburg, an arch-
bishop of severa l Germa n districts.
Be ing an a rchbish op of more than
o ne district was stri ctly forbidden
by church policy. But since you
could buy a church position , Albert
bribed the pope into g iving him
three districts. In o rde r to pay the
pope the agreed price o f 10,000
ducats (gold coins), Albert bo r-
rowed a large sum o f money from
a Germ an banking ho use. He the n
asked the pope for o ne-half of the
proceeds from the sale of indul-
gen ces in his distri cts to he lp re pay
th e loan. But this supposedly secret
deal was not the o nly thing th at
outraged Luthe r.
TETZEL ENTERS THE SCENE
Albert hired as his chi ef se ller
J o ha nn Tetzel, a skilled a nd crafty
dealer of indulgences. Faced with
th e pressure to raise large amo un ts
of mo ney, Te tze l did not hesitate to
use high-powered techniques to
persuade people to buy his "holy"
wares.
Although Tetzel was not per-
mi tted by Frederick the Wise to
enter Saxony, the area where
Luth e r's church was located, towns
near the border of Saxony we re
close e no ugh for Luther's me m-
bers to go there a nd buy indul-
gences for th e mselves. As Tetzel
entered a town carryin g the scroll
of papal indulge nces o n a velvet
cushion covered with a cloth of
gold , every ma n, woman, a nd child
wou ld go out to meet him , formin g
a great procession. T he re would be
sing in g, lighte d ca ndl es burning
with incense, and th e waving of
banners. With a ll the c hurch bells
117
ringing, the people wou ld accom-
pa ny him to the largest church in
town, wh e re he would set up his
sta nd an d do busin ess.
"In dulge nces," he declared,
"are th e most prec io us and most
n oble gifts of God."" His greatest
boast was that indulgences were of
slich great value that "even the sins
that you inte nd to commit may be
pardoned .'" His favorite a nd most
repeated phrase was, "As soon as
the coin in the coffe r rings, the
soul from purgato ry springs!""
With great e motion he would pi c-
ture a father, or mother, or some
o th e r loved one, pleading from
purgatory to h e lp them o ut. T he n
he would exclaim , "I declare to
you, though yo u sho uld have but a
sin gle coat, yo u o ught to strip it off
and sell it, in ord er to o bta in this
grace .... Th e Lord our God no
longer reigns. H e h as resigned a ll
power to the pope.'" According to
Tetzel, it was God wh o se nt peopl e
to purgatory, but it was the pope
who was now providing a way for
their quick release.
In a sh ort time many of
Luther's church me mbers came to
him , confessing th e ir sins a nd
expecting absolution (forgiveness),
not because they had repented but
because of the indulge nces they
had purchased. Luther refused to
absolve his people and denounced
the outrageous claims that Tetzel
had made . Perhaps he reminded
them of Peter's words to Sim o n the
sorcerer, "May your money perish
with you, because you thought you
cou ld buy the gift of God with
money" (Acts 8:20) . Ma ny return ed
to Tetzel , aski ng for their money
back. Te tzel was fill ed with rage.
H e te rro rized the people by utte r-
in g th e most te rrible curses, light-
ing fires in the public square, and
de cl aring that all the heretics who
o pposed th e sale of indulgences
would be burn ed to death.
Bu t Luth e r would not be
daun ted by such threats. From th e
pulpit he wa rned his me mbers tha t
all sin is against God and in no way
can sinners, by tbeir own efforts,
merit forgiveness or decrease its
punishment. He shared with th e m
his own agoni zing experience of
h ow he had so d espe ra tely sought
salvatio n and peace o f mind
thro ugh pe n an ce, o nly to discover
th at th ese ca me by looking away
from se lf and trusting in Jesus.
LUTHER AND THE
NINETY-FIVE THESES
Afte r much thought, Luth e r
d e te rmined to call the attention of
th e people to the worth lessness
and spi ritua l da nge rs of indul-
liS
gen ces. He kn ew tha t the festival of
Al l Sa in ts ' Day was drawin g near,
a n impo rta n t even t, especially fo r
Witte nbe rg. On that d ay a ll th e
re lics o f Fred e ri ck the Wise we re
d isplayed in th e Castle Church fo r
peo ple fro m all over Euro pe to see.
Th ose wh o visited tbe c hurch o n
th at day a nd mad e co n fess io n
would be be n e fi ted by the indul-
ge nces a ttac hed to the m .
In the few d ays before th e festi-
val, Lu th e r stayed in his private cell
a nd prayerfully wrote o ut his con-
d e mn atio n of indulgen ces. He did
not a ttack th e church, only the
unbi bli cal basis fo r indulgen ces
a nd th e fa lse cl aims being made by
the se ll e rs. On October 31, 1517,
the d ay before All Sain ts' Day,
Luth e r na il ed his protest-"The
Nine ty-Five Theses"-on the door
o f th e Castle Church. It was the
spa rk tha t ignited the Protesta nt
Refo rm ati o n !
Wh e n th e large crowds arrived
th e next d ay, the ir a tte ntion was
ca ptured by this ra ther length y
docum ent. Sin ce it was written in
La tin , th e few who could read
La tin sto pped to read and pe rhaps
read it al o ud to oth e rs. Wh e n the
people got h o me, they told th e ir
fri e nds a nd ne ighbors what they
had read or h eard. Th e news
spread like wildfire.
Imm e di a te ly the Ninety-Five
Th eses we re tra nslated into many
la nguages, printed, and quickl y
carried to citi es a nd countryside
a like. Fo ur wee ks afte r publication ,
th ey were known a nd read in eve ry
country o f Europe. The imme dia te
effec t was th a t til e sale of indul-
gen ces almost dried up. Na tura lly,
the archbishop, who was to receive
h a lf of the profits made by Tetzel,
became ve ry upset. H e immediately
se nt a copy of Luther's theses to
Pope Leo. Th e pope's respo nse was
that this Wittenberg mo nk should
simply be advised by his supe riors
to keep quie t. But th e fire had
been ignited, and the rising fl a mes
of protest were not about to be pu t
o ut quite that easily.
THE AFTERMATH
OF THE THESES
Whe n Luther cha ll e nged the
sale a nd the spiritual value of
indu lgences, h e had no idea where
his protest would lead . He h ad no
inte ntion of creating division or a
spiritual revolution within the
church. He was surprised by the
e no rm ous impact that was trig-
gered by his protest. Its strength
lay in the fact that his protest
struck the po pe in two crucia l
spots-h is power and his purse.
If Luther was right about salva-
tion coming thro ugh faith in
Ch rist alone, then th ere was no
n eed for pe nan ce, priests, the
Mass, pilgrimages, or prayers to the
Virgin Mary. And certainly no need
for indulgen ces. If Luther's
protests were acted upon , the
churc h 's powe r over the people
wou ld be greatly diminished, a nd
its chann el for vast amou nts of
income would be dried up. The
response o f th e c hurch was swift
a nd hard-hitting. German
Dominicans immediate ly
denounced Luth er for inciting
"d angerous doctrin es." Luther
reacted by comp la ining th at many
of his foes were no more qua lified
II.
to defend th e Christian faith than
"an ass is to playa ha rp." 8
As the battle h eated up ,
Luth e r began to insist o n biblical
proof that h e was wro ng. Durin g
a n e ightee n-day d ebate in 15 19
with Dr. Joha nn Eck, Luth er stated,
"A council may someti m es e rr.
Ne ith er the churc h n o r the pope
can esta blish a r ticl es of fa ith .
These must co m e fro m
Scripture.'" Luther h ad moved
from his first conviction-that sa l-
vation was by faith in Ch rist alo n e,
to a second one-that the Bible ,
not popes o r coun cils, was the
standa rd for Christian belief and
practice. With Luther's rejec tio n
of the supre macy of the papacy,
hi s break with the papal system
was now firm ly esta blish ed.
THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN
In Jun e of 1520, Po pe Leo X
signed a bull g ivin g Luther sixty
days to recant o r be excommuni-
cated. He condemned Luther's
teachings as heretica l a nd offe nsive
to the Roman Catho lic faith. The
bull forbade Luther to preach a nd
call ed upon all Roman Catholics to
burn Luther's books. Not o nly
Luther but all his fo llowe rs were
ordered to publicly recant within
sixty days. If th ey did not comply,
the bull ordered the governme nt
to seize an d imprison Luther and
anyone e lse who defended him.
Luther decided to go on th e
offensive and present his case
before th e German people by pub-
lishing a series of Reformation
pamph lets. Sin ce there were no
n ewspapers at that time, it was by
publish in g sma ll books that Luther
gained the support of a great num-
ber of fo llowers in Germany and in
other countries.
Writing against the Roman
Church, however, did not satisfy
Luther. He felt the need to do
something that would grab the
atte ntion of the German people.
Since the pope had ordered his
writings to be burned, why not
burn the writings of the pope? On
December 10, 1520, before a
cheering crowd gath ered at the
main gate of Wittenberg, Luther
tossed the papal bull and the
books of papal law into a burning
fire . Luther's point had been
clearly made!
Alter officially excommun icat-
ing Luther early in 1521, the pope
summon ed Luther to the Imperial
Diet (an assembly of German
rulers) at Worms (pronounced
Vorms) to defend his "heretical"
teachings. In April , Luther
appeared before this regal assem-
bly and once again declared that
he would not recant anything
unless he was shown from
Scripture to be in error. Luther
ended his defense with these
resounding words, "It is impossible
for me to recant unless I am
proved wrong by the testimony o f
Scripture . My conscie n ce is bound
to the Word of God. It is ne ith e r
safe nor honest to act against one's
conscience. Here I stand , God help
me. I cannot do othe rwise .""
Luther was orde re d to leave
Worms and was granted twe nty-on e
days of safe travel back to
Wittenberg. The plot, howeve r, was
to seize him at that po int a nd kill
him like any despised he re tic. But
120
the scheme never came to pass. Six
days after leaving Worms, while he
was traveling through a heavy for-
est, five masked riders appeared,
lifted Luther out of his can, and
took him to the Wartburg Castle in
Eisenach. This daring rescue,
which saved Luther from arrest
and ce rtain death , was carried out
by the Prince of Saxony, Frederick
th e Wise. While hidin g in this cas-
tle for n early a year, Luther trans-
lated the New Testament into the
German language.
THE CONCLUSION TO
LUTHER'S MINISTRY
In 1522 Luther returned to
Wittenberg, where h e put into
effect sp iritual reforms that eventu-
ally became a model for most of
Germany. Church services were
changed from Latin into German,
and the office of bishop was abol-
ish ed. T h e laity were allowed full
participation in the Comm union
service, receiving both the bread
and the wine. The emphasis of the
worship service went from per-
forming the Mass to preaching the
Word . The re was also a radical sh ift
from th e Catholic idea of a ruling
clergy to the Protestant ideal of the
bro therhood of all believers.
Congrega tional singing, emphasiz-
ing harmony and instrumental
accompaniment, replaced the
ch antin g of the priests during the
Mass. Ma ny of the hymns were writ-
te n by Luthe r himself, his first col-
lectio n of' hymns being published
in 1525.
OnJune 13, 1525, Luther's life
a nd m inistry were visibly changed
a nd spiritually enhanced, for on
that day he married Katharina von
Bo ra, a young woman who had fl ed
from a convent three years earlier.
From th is marriage were born six
chi ld ren, wh o were Lu ther's pride
and j oy. For more than 300 years
priests h ad been strictly forbidd en
by the church to marry. With
Luther, a new im age of the min-
istry appeared, a married pastor,
living like any other man with his
wife a nd fam ily. When Luther mar-
ried, many priests, monks, and
nuns followed his example.
Durin g his later years, most of
Luthe r's time was spent writing
books, hymns, and Bible commen-
taries. During his lifetime, he wrote
more tha n 400 published works. In
1534, th irteen years after translat-
ing the New Testament into
German, he published tbe com-
plete German Bibl e. Luther con-
sidered th is as his crown in g work.
Though under the constant threat
of im prisonment and deatl1, he
re main ed active as a writer,
teach e r, and preach e r until his
death in 1546.
I n o rder to ap preciate
Luth er's extreme ly d ifficult task,
re membe r that J esus Himse lf
overthrew the tables of th e
mon eyc hange rs "and drove out a ll
those who bo ught a nd sold in the
templ e," cryin g out, "You h ave
made it a den of th ieves"
(Matthew 21:12, 13, NKJV). The
Roman Ca thol ic system was guilty
of the sam e sin. Its money-making
business of buying a nd sellin g
ind ulgences also overshadowed
the n eed of simply believing in
Jesus as the way of salvation. In
driving out "all those wh o bought
and sold," a nd offering instead
salvation that is freely given to all ,
Luther was , in fact, following the
examp le of J esus, the world 's
greatest Protestan t!

Anchor TQxt
"In it [the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith ; as it is written , Thejust shall live by faith " (Romans 1:17, NKJV).

(lJ Into thQ BiblQ

1. Read the following texts th at deal willi th e progressive way we gain spir-
itual knowledge and write a brief summary of each.
A.John 12:16
B.John 14:26
C. Colossians 1: 10
2. Luther believed in these two Bibl e principles: (A) sola fide and
(B) sola scriptum. Provide the meaning of these principles based on

121
 the following verses:
A. Sola Fide-Romans 1: 17; Romans 3:28.
B. Sola Scriptum-2 Timothy 3:16.

Proj~(ts
1. In every person's life there are events we might call "turning points."
These are times when significant life-changing choices are made. Listed
below are several crucial events in Martin Luther's life . List on a sheet
of paper the five you bel ieve were the most crucial experiences in his
life and explain why.
A. H is discovery of a Bible in the monastery library.
B. Being frightened by a bolt of lightn ing.
C. H is spi ritual struggle wh ile in the monastery.
D. His first visit to Rome.
E. Clim bing up Pilate's staircase.
F. Confro n ting his church members who bought indulgences.
G. Writing his Nin ety-Five T heses.
H. His rejection of papal supremacy.
1. Burning the papal bull and papal law books.
J. His refusal to recant before th e Imperial Diet at Worms.
K. Hiding in the Wartburg Castle and translating the New Testament.
L. His marriage to Katharina von Bora.
2. As one studies th e life of Martin Luth er, it becomes obvious that God
was defin ite ly at work in his life. But it is also important for us to trace
God's lead ing in our own lives. Recognizing that God had led in th e
past he lps us to see His leading in o ur lives now and to have confidence
that He always will. This exercise is designed to help you recognize
God's leading in your life. Choose A or B; then do C and D.
A. List three or four events in your life that you conside r especia lly
important or that had a real impact o n your li fe.
B. List three o r four in cidents or choices you have made that seemed
insignificant at th e time but turned out to be very important.
C. Describe the lessons you learned from the events you experienced.
Can you see God's hand in any of these experiences? Explain .
D. Many times we go through experiences that seem to have no posi-
tive value. Perhaps Martin Luther may have felt that way too. There
are some things we won't understand un til we get to heaven and
ask God Himself why they h appened. This part of the exercise does
not requ ire a written response, but it does ask for a commitment on
your part to pray, asking God to help YOll see His leading in your life,
especially with those things th at are hard to accept or understand.

122
 3. Martin Luther changed the course of history by tacking an an nounce-
ment on a bulletin board. Prepare a bulletin board o r make a collage
that challenges something wrong in your world and suggests a so lution.
4. You are livin g in Wittenberg at the tim e of Martin Luth er, and a very
close friend of yours has just bought some indulgences. She walked
twenty-one mil es to make her purchase and fee ls that it was well worth
the effort. As a member of Martin Luther's church, you are deeply con-
cerned. Express to her your concerns in a letter of about 200 words.

focus Qu(>stions
1. Why do you think the Bible Luth er discovered in the monastery library
was chained to the wall?
2. Do you think less-educated people tend to be more superstitious?
3. Why is it that for some people, reading the Bible "breeds unrest"? Is
that good or bad?
4. Tetzel declared that indulgences were God's most precious gifts. What
would you say are God's most precious gifts?
5. H ow does one go about receiving the assurance of salvation?
6. Luther was greatly disappointed in what he saw and heard as he walked
from Wittenberg to Rome. What disappoints you as you walk through
your school campus or your town ?
7. What do you think are the main reasons for a Roman Catholic becom-
ing a Protestant? Or a Protestant becoming a Roman Catholic?
8. If people beli eved the Bible teaching that the deceased are truly dead,
what spiritual problems would that resolve?

1. Dani el Walth er, "LlILh er- Th e M an of th e Hour," Review and Herald, 19 October 1967, 3.
2. Bru ce Shell ey, Church History in Plain Language (Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1982), 256.
3. Ellen C. Whi te, The Great Controversy (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1950), 125.
4. J. I-I. M . D 'Aubigne, J-/islol)\ of the Reformation (New York, N .Y: Robert C"l rtcr & Brothers,
1966),3:86.
5. Ibid.
6. Bruce Shelley, Chu'l"ch /-listory in Plain Language, 258 .
7. J. 1-1 . M. D 'Aubigne. l1i.slOI)' oj the Reformation, 87 .
8. Ro land Bainton , Here I Stand (Nashvi lle, Tenn. : Abingdon Press , 1950), 96.
9. Bruce Shell ey, Church Hislory in Plain Language. 259.
10. B. K. Kuiper. The Church in History' (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Ecrdmans Publishing
Co., 1994), 179.

Voi«JS of Prot(Jst Br(Jak Through
Lesson Setting
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century (1 500s) and its
atte mpt to restore biblica l truths that had been lost sight of during the
Middle Ages.
h e story is told of a
man lost in a d e nse
jungle. As he despe r-
ately struggles to find
his way o ut, he stum-
bl es across a small
..._ _ _ _... clearing. Tired a nd..-
frighte ned, he po nde rs his next
move . As the eerie darkn ess cl ses
in , he d ebates whether he sho uld
stay in the clearing o r press o n" 0
save tim e. Sudden ly he is startletl
by some noises be h ind him. His
hear t pounds with fear as he S€les
something coming toward him that
appears to be a beast of some kind .
He has an ovenwhelming urge to
run, but fear pa ra lyzes him .-As it
comes close r and e nters the clear-
ing, he realizes th at a mall , not an
a nim a l, is approaching him. H e
rises to extend his hand in friend-
ship a nd makes an amazing discov-
e ry. What h e first imagined to be a
ferocious beast is actua lly h is own
brother o ut searching for him .
As the Roman Cathol ic hierar-
c hy peered out of the ove rwhelm-
.2S~
John Calvin .
lesson 12
ing d arkness that h ad shrouded
the church, they discern ed a n
alarming move ment. They did not
see the Reform e rs as brothers wh o
had come to he lp th e church , but
instead as beasts de termined to
tea d own and destroy. Rath e r tl1a n
extend a hand of fe llowship, the
papacy I h ed o ut with a ll of its
fury, determined to e liminate any-
o n e who threate ned its kingly
power.
---- _
THE PROPHETIC OICE
The term Protestant vas first
used in 1529 as a label for
Germa ns wh o rerusec to obey a
papal decree forbidding involve-
me nt i the Refo rmation. We
sh ou ld avoid, howeve r, label in g
Protes ntism as sim p ly a re ligious
moveme nt of the sixtee nth cen-
tury. The in centive to protest and
conde m e rro r h ad its beginning
in the WO~k of the O ld Testament
proph ets . n a n cie nt Israel, both
th e pries (clergy) and the
proph ets (laity) had a n importa nt
work to accomplish. The priests
inh erited their position and repre-
sented the religious establishm ent.
The prophets, o n the other ha nd ,
we re called directly by God for a
special min istry. Their task was to
ex pose and rebuke Israel's sins,
including the wrongdoing of the
priests. Prophets were not so much
predictors of future eve nts as they
were protesters of present-day evils.
Prophets were Pro testants!
As the ea rly Christian C hurch
ex panded into a worldwide body, a
proud, controlling spi rit emerged.
It resented t he rise of prophetic
(protesting) voices a nd endeavored
to silence them. In fact, the papacy
persecuted and killed dlOse wh o
pro tested, just as the]ews had per-
sec uted and sla in their prophets,
including J esus H imself. The
Protestant Reformatio n was the
breaking forth of the prophetic
vo ice, which had been h e ld back
for centuries .
THE REFORMATION SPREADS
The papacy tri ed to crush the
Reformati on with threats of impris-
onment, torture, fire, and sword;
but Protestantism had taken root
in many cou ntri es across Europe.
Dedicated men and wom en were
deeply moved by the biblical teac h-
ings of Luther and his bold stand
against the papacy. But non e were
as powerful a leader or as brilliant
a wri ter as ] o hn Calvin . H aving
e nte red th e Un ive rsity of Paris at
the age of fo urtee n and h aving
received a law degree, h e turned
his back on huma nism in favor of
Protestantism a nd open ly pro-
claimed h is n ew convictions
126
througho u t France. Calvin spent
much of his time formulating the
teachings of d,e Bible in a n o rderly
fashion. In 1536, a t the age of
twe n ty-seve n , he publish ed th e
Institutes of the Christian R eligion, the
most sch ola rl y, organ ized, and
readable book of I'ro testant d oc-
trines produced during th e
Reform atio n .
Calvin was co nsta ntly pursued
by his Cath olic e ne mies . .He fl ed
frollLQne city to a nod,er to e lude
capture and fin a lly se tt~ed in
Geneva, Switzerla nd . As a reside nt
there for nearly thirty years, Calvin
pursued d,e o bj ective of turn ing
this rad,er corrupt and immoral
city into a mo<jel city, a "city of
God ." Eventually Geneva ecam e
a home for Protestant refugees
from all over Europe. H ere the
starvi n g, the beaten, and those for-
sake n by family a nd friends were
warm ly welcomed a nd tenderly
cared fo r. Calvin be lieved that true
C hristian ity leads to holiness of life
a nd an orderly socie ty; thus a stre n-
uous program of high mora l disci-
pline was e nforced. Anyo n e who
wished to be a citizen of the city
had to accept a confession of faith
written by Calvin.
If Luther a nd Calvin were key
players in the Reformatio n , what
were th e key issues? We n eed to
understand that th e Reformatio n
was not the creating of new d oc-
trines, but rath e r th e restoring of
biblical teachings that h ad been
abandoned. All reform e rs ge ner-
a lly ag reed on the three bibli cal
principles th at served as t he fo un-
dation for ~le Pro testant
Refo rmatio n.
 JUSTIFICATION
BY FAITH ALONE
The first fundamental belief
was that justification came by faith
alone, plus nothing. In the
Catholic system, salvation came by
fai th, plus good wo r ks.
The Refonmers viewed justifi-
cation as God declaring a repen-
tant sinn er righteous. This means
that God accepts the believer as
righteous, not on the basis of any
righteousness found in him or
her, but in the righteousness
found in Jesus. When a sinn er
exercised faith in Christ and
accepted Him as a personal
Savior, Christ's perfect ri ghteous-
ness was imputed (cred ited) to
the believer. Only the perfect
righteousness of Jesus, our
Substitute, meets Heaven's
requirements, and it is received
through faith alone . Paul puts it
this way, "Therefore, since we have
been justified through faith, we
have peace wi th God through our
LordJesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).
Roman Catholi cism's view of
justification focused on the sav-
ing work being done by God
within the believer, rather than
the saving wo rk already done by
Jesus in the believer's behalf.
Salvation was seen as an in fusion
(a pouring in) of God's grace
into the sou l (beginning at bap-
tism), creating an inner right-
eousness that made a person
pleasing and acceptable to God.
The entire focus was on a life-
long process of becoming righ t-
eous or good enough to receive
eternal life at one's death.
But there were still unsettling
127
questions such as: How much
goodness must I have? How many
good works must I do? How
righteous must I become before I
can have the assurance of salva-
tion? Remember Luther's trou-
bled feelings that "no matter how
hard he tried , it seemed that he
cou ld never do enough to fee l
God's acceptance and approval?"
This haunting uncertainty drove
multitudes to become engrossed
in good works or buying indul-
gences. Even more tragic, the
church stood ready to prescribe
and se ll a wide assortment of
spiritu a l merit.
What, then, is the relationship
between faith and works? What
about obedience to God, service to
others, and victory over sin that the
Bible talks about? Luther
explained it this way: "Good works
do not make a man good but a
good man does good works." Acts
of loving service and obedience to
the laws of God are an essential
part of o ur relationship with Jesus.
In the context of this relationship,
obedience is a response of grati-
tude for salvation received, not a
requirement for salvation desired.
Calvin with government officials.
 We are saved by faith, unto good
works. In oth e r words, if good
works are not present, then n e ith er
is saving fait 1.
.11!¥ lJlL.tI~
AU'll '~~1;'f OF StRIPTURE
The sec nd funda m;e n tal bel ief
of Protestan 'sm is that Scriptlll:e
alone serves s the be lieve r s ulti-
ma uthority. As divine revela-
tion, the Bible is the standard by
which everything e lse is judge d a nd
tested.
_ . As n e RO n;1an Cathol c Church
grew and developed , its e tire
foc us switched Tom Chris and
Scripture to the churc h ana tra di-
tion. Human be ings h ad re~ l aced
God with a con en ie nt self- \
serving re ligion In this syste ,th e
church created Its own laws a ld
evalua ted them in ligh t of its own
traditions, rather than testing them
by the ScripLllre. It's li ke som eone
su gges tin g a n i ea a nd then
defending it by xcla imin g, "1.\.
don ' t see anything wrong witl;1i t!"
Such circ ul a r reasoning allowed
the church to be its own judge and
jury, with n o vo ice of protest
allowed!
But the Re formation is no t fin-
ish ed. Its work must continue in
our own lives. I n ou r own pe rsona l
kingdom, it is natural for us to
ignore the voice of protest. We
want our ideas, O Uf standa rds, o ur
likes to go unchallenged . We
resent correction! The shared sin
of a ll human ity is seeing self rather
than God as th e ultimate auth o rity.
T his ongoing rivalry between God
and se lf is a crucia l aspect of "th e
great controversy." The g reatest
128
battle to be fought, th e greates t vic-
tory to be won , is ti, e surre nde r of
self to ti,e loving a uthority of God.
PRIESTHOOD
OF ALL BELIEVERS
The third fundamenta l be lief
is the pri esth ood of all believe rs.
T hi mea ns that eac h p erson ca n
communi ca te directly wi th God
through Jesus a nd that every be-
lie .lf r has a resp o n sibili ty to minis-
ter"to others.
During the Dark Ages, th e
equality of a ll beli evers h ad been
replaced by a system that e levated
th e cle rgy above the la ity. This was
clearly illustrated by ti,e e levation
of the pope to the statu s of infalli-
bility and supre m e rulership. O n
the oth e r h and , th e ro le of the
common people was reduced to
being m ere spectators during th e
Mass. But m ost serious of all , as the
sacrame nta l work of the priests was
e levated to eve r g reater impor-
tance, the be li eve rs lost sight of
J esus' work as heave n 's High Pri est.
Protesta nt Re formers main-
tain ed that baptism a nd th e
Com munio n service were m e on ly
biblical sacra me n ts. T h ese sacra-
me nts (also known as ordinances)
were see n as symbols of salvatio n-
salvation perso na lly received from
Christ, rather tha n channels of sal-
vation-salvation disp e nsed to th e
believer by the church.
Their belief in the pri esth ood
of all be li evers led Protestants to
vigorou sly proclaim that n e ith e r
the pope, priests , the sacramen ts,
the Virgin Mary, nor any sain ts
were to serve as human channe ls
for divin e g race . There was n o
need for co nfession to th e priest,
pe nance , indulgences, worship of
images, veneration of relics, pil-
grimages, monastic ism, the Mass,
o r praying for the d ead. This
lengthy assortment of works cre-
ated by the medi eval ch urc h had
virtually enslaved th e people for
centuries.
THECAPTMTY
OF THE HUMAN RACE
T he Scripture depicts o ur
enti re planet as be ing under siege.
All of us are born into this world as
captives of Satan , bound by a sinful
nature. Jesus told His disciples, "If
you hold to my teaching, ... then
you wi ll know the truth, and the
truth will set you free" (John 8:31 ,
32). Instead of trusting God for
d e livera nce, people we re deceived
into thinking tl,at doing good
works prescribed by the church
wou ld set them free from the guilt
a nd grip of sin. Such dece ption led
to agonizing efforts and end less
striving to eam salvation during
the Dark Ages. But when the liber-
atin g truth of God's grace was
made known , it "set free the
oppressed" (Luke 4:18, TEV) , free-
ing believers from sin , e nabling
th e m to se rve othe rs.
The idea of the pries thood of
a ll be lievers not only establishes a
saving relationship with God , it
promotes a sharing ministry with
others. The Bibl e says, "Freely you
have received, free ly give"
(Matthew 10:8). The apostle Peter
ex plained it this way, ''You are a
chosen people , a royal priesthood,
a ho ly nation , a people belonging
to God , that you may declare the
praises of him who call ed you out
of darkness into his wonderful
light" (l Peter 2:9).
It was the finn conviction of
the Protestant Reforme rs that if
believers were to carry o ut these
God-given privileges, th ey needed
to study the Bible for themselves.
They could share only what they
the mselves h ad received and ex-
perienced. But the Bible was in a
language none but the clergy
could read and understand . Thus
the church mainta ined that only
th priests were qualified to study,
ex~ a in , and preach the Bible to
oiliers.J3 t the truth lVas that the
p ie ts tKemselves we re unpeliev-
ahl ignoralJt of the teac hings of
G~Cl 's Word .
.~ To change th is Cleplorable
situ atio n, many of the Reform ers
tran slated the Scri tures into
common languages and taught
the Bible so that o rdinary people
could understand its teac hings.
Th e priests becam e a larmed at
the thought that commo n peop le
cou ld now know more about th e
Bible than they tllemselves..knew.
o longer would church members
n eed to come to th e m for interpre-
tatio n. The Reformers believed
that not only w we the people to
read God's Wor8 for themselves,
they were to rely. upon the Holy
Spirit to help tHem rightly under-
stand and apply its teachings. The
control the clergy o nce he ld over
th e people was fast slipping away.
OTHER ISSUES OF REFORM
There were diffe re nces in the-
o logy a nd in tH reforms carried
out, but the Reformers were in
general agreement about their
main goals. First, to emphasize the
upward focus-the need for a per-
sonal, faith relationship with
Christ. Second, to express the out-
ward focus-the need for commu-
nity among believers. Third, to
encourage an extended focus-the
need to take the good news of the
gospel to all people.

S Anchor TQxt
"Now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God
comes through fa ith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (Romans 3:21, 22).

1. Justification by faith was one of the pillars of the Protestant Reformation

because it is the central teaching of the Bible. Listed below are texts
explaining right and wrong ways to view or experience justification.
Read and briefly explain each text.
A. The wro ng way to achieve justification:
(1) Romans 3:20
(2) Ga la tians 2:21
(3) Galatians 5:4
B. The right way to receive justification:
(1) Romans 3:23, 24
(2) Romans 4:25 to 5: 1
(3) Romans 5:9
2. O ne of the spiritual tragedies of the Dark Ages was the continu ing el-
evation of Catholi c priests and the diminishing awareness of heaven's
High Priest. Scrip ture emphasizes the comfort and assurance ofJesus '
work as our Representative before the Father. Read the fo llowin g texts
and write a summary of each.
A. Hebrews 2:17, 18
B. Hebrews 4:15, 16
C. Hebrews 9:11 , 12
D. Hebrews 9:24-28

.e.o
 Projects
I. The narrative states that one aspect of the priesthood o f a ll beli evers is
th at each pe rso n is involved in a carin g ministry. Set up a plan in wh ich
yo u will reach o ut in two diffe re nt ways to h elp one o r mo re persons in
the next seve n days.
A. Describe on a sh eet of paper what activi ties yo u pl an to do.
B. Indi cate whe n these activities will take place a nd (optio na l) for
whom.
C. When you h ave comple ted these two activities, write your pe rsona l
response to these sharing ex pe ri e nces.
2. Your teacher will provide an article titled "The Prophetic Voice of Our
Day." From yo ur read ing, do one of the fo llowing:
A. Write e ight statemen ts that strike yo u as being especia lly meaning-
ful or important.
B. Write a ha lf-page reaction or summa ry to what you read .
.............................................................................................. .
focus Questions
1. If you had a ch o ice between servin g as a priest or a pro ph et, which one
would you c hoose? Why?
2. T he narrative stated that the primary work of the Refo rm atio n was the
restoration of bibli cal truth. What bi bli cal teachings were not restored
by the Reform e rs?
3. Wha t kind of freedoms a re most important to you?
4. Why d o people want to earn by d o ing good works wh at can be received
simply by faith?
5. If a law we re passed prohibiting readi ng th e Bibl e, how wou ld such a
decree affect your d aily life?
6. In an eve ryday, practical way, what does it mean to you that the Bible is
the ultima te standard?
7. Sin ce the Refo rm e rs be li eved th e Bible to be th e ultim a te sta ndard ,
why d id they continue to worship o n Su nday?

.~.
•
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.....

R~spons~ of Rivals and Radi(als
Lesson Setting
During the latter half of the sixtee nth ce ntury (1500s) , th e radical
Reformers so ught to deepen the impact of Protestantism while Roman
Catholics sought to destroy it through the Cou nter-Reformation .
r---:=:::~, ave you ever gotte n
involved in some
project that turned
out altogeth er dif~
fe re n t from the way
you expecte d ? Or
L.~;;;;::='___.1 even worse , halhvay
through the ordeal you got a sick-
ening feeling that things were totally
out of control? No doubt we have
all had at least one such experien ce.
When I was fourteen, I invited
several friends to my ho use fo r
some fun and games on the Fourth
ofJuly. The day before I'd stocked
up o n all kinds of fireworks. In
th ose days th ere weren 't as many
restrictions on fireworks, so I'd
bought some really big ones calle d
"ch e rry bombs," as well as some
rockets that, wh e n ligh ~ed, shot off
into space a nd exp loded.
After playing around with th e
firecrackers fo~ a while, we decided
it was time to ignite a rocket. So rt
of like the grand finale! The main
part of the rocket, the part that was
to be ligh ted, was attached to a
Translating the Bible.
lesson .~
thin stick of wood a bout ten inches
long. I put the stick into an e mpty
soda bottle to h o ld th e rocket
upright and lighte d the fuse. As we
watch ed the sparks gobble up the
two-inch fuse, the bo ttle tipped
over. Before a ny of us could react,
the rocket shot out of the bottle
an d sai led right between the legs
of one of th e guys, who was obvi-
ously too starl1ed to move. Afte r
glancin g off the garage door, the
rocket caree n ed a ro und the yard,
zoomi ng under parked cars and
narrowly. missing my friends as they
ran , jumped, and dodged. The
whole episode probably lasted o nly
fifteen seconds, but for those of us
running for our lives, it seemed as
if nhat be rserk rocket h ad at least
three spare boosters. After a hearty
laugh and com ments revealing
both relief and disbelief, we d e-
cided not to try that stunt again.
In a small way, this illustrates
what happene<;l when Martin
Luther lighted the fuse to the
Protestant Reformation by nailing
his Ni nety-Five Theses to the Castle
Ch urch d oor. At the time, h e had
no idea of the revoluti onary effect
it wou ld have on him, his church,
an d the world arou nd him. But it
d idn 't take him long to real ize that
thin gs were n 't going as he'd
expected . The turmo il a nd
upheaval that he witnessed every-
whe re went far beyond what he
ever imagined would take place.
Many times he wondered if he h ad
done the right thing.
RELIGION
AFFECTS EVERYTHING
T h e Reformation no t only
ignited some big changes with in the
church , but in society as well. During
the Middle Ages, people's religion
was closely tied to all other aspects of
life. This was reinforced by the close
Peasan t uprising in Germany.
• ~.
ties between church and state.
Conseque n tly, what started out as a
re ligious movement had a great
impact on the political, econom ic,
and social cond itions of that day.
An example of this was the
bloody uprising of the peasa n ts in
Germ any in 1525. Th e p easants
viewed Lu th er's call to e nd all
tyranny and in equality as a signal
that the Reformation would h e lp
them attain social justice, even if
force was used. Luther u rged the
peasants not to take up a rms
against the rulin g class. When th e
peasan ts began to ram page
through th e la nd , Luth er's imme-
diate response was that the govern-
ment should crush the revolt. In
th e ensu ing battle, 100,000 peas-
ants lost their lives. T hose who
escaped experie nced unbe lievable
misery as farms , ho mes, and lands
were d evastated. T his e pisode
greatly stifled the Reformation.
THE RADICAL REFORMATION
T his unfortun a te event illus-
lrates a weakness of th e Protestant
Refo rmation. It was still e nmeshed
in the established Catho lic practice
of uniting church and state . This
co nten tious issue ignited a move-
ment known as the Rad ical
Reformation. It invo lved those
Protestants who firmly believed
that the Refo rme rs were not mov-
ing fast enough or far enough in
reforming the church. These disap-
po inted believe rs wou ld gen erally
meet in each other's ho mes for
Bible study. During such meetings
a numbe r of bibli cal truths were
un cove red, su ch as th e practice of
bap tism by imm ersion. Th ose who
rejected infant ba p lism a nd chose
to be re baptized became known as
Ana ba ptists (meaning LO be bap-
tized again).
In spite of Luthe r's stress on per-
sonal faith and freedom , Lutheran
churches were "established churches,"
meaning they were state conu·olled.
To the Anabaptists, Protestantism
didn 't seem all that diffe re nt from
Catholicism. Anabaptists believed
that the state shou ld not influence
church decisions or determine
church doctrine. Instead , they
believed that all church authority
sho uld reside in local congregations.
Anaba ptism was also a reaction
to a lack of hig h moral standards
within Protestan tism. Ma ny
Protestants had misunderstood
'Justification by fa ith a lo ne." They
reasoned that if good works were
.~s
not necessary for salvation , why do
a ny good works at a ll? T hus g race
was cheapene d to mean "gratifi ca-
tion, "
Another proble m was that as
th e Reformation swept over
Europe , th e re had bee n mass con-
ve rsi o ns. The d ecisio n by a city
co un cilor a ruling prin ce to join
th e Reformation bro ught everyo ne
in that city or state inLO the
Protestant Church . In one German
region , for example, the people
h ad to change re lig ion six times in
less th a n a cen lUry because of th e
diffe rent re ligio ns of their rulers.
Co nsequently, ma ny people
became Protestant because of the ir
citizenship rath er than because of
the ir commitme nt to J esus Christ.
Anabaptist was a te rm that
included several religious groups.
Qu ietists \vere Anabaptists who were
extre me ly devou t and peaceful. At
the o Ul er extreme were the
Revolutionaries, who were largely
respo nsible for the peasant revolt. A
th ird group were th e Mystics, who
be li eved they had received a new
and deeper un derstanding of salva-
tion through special revelation from
God. They he ld that the inner ligh t
of the Spirit was supe rio r to the writ-
ten word of Scripture. Putting maxi-
mum confidence in the impressions
of tlle Spiri t led LO all kinds of
extre mes and fanatici sm. Wh ereas
Ro man Catholicism p laced tlle
church above Scripture, the Mystic
placed the individual above
Scripture. Though at opposite ends,
bOtll were guil ty of th e same e rror-
rejection of the Scripture as th e
be liever's final a utho rity.
T he relatio nship betwee n the
Word and the Spirit was of vital
importance to the Protestant
Reformation. Since God had
revealed Himself through
Scripture, the Spirit was not seen
as an additio nal source of truth.
While the written Word imparts
saving knowledge, the Spirit con-
victs us of its relevance and helps
us put it to work. I yo u have only
the Spiri t, you have no content for
yo ur faith. If you h ave on ly the
Word, you have no conviction or
enabling power to make your faith
come alive. The Spirit does not
replace the WOLd; its role is to
reveal ' yhat the Word teaches. J esus
expla ined it this way to His disci-
ples, "The Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name, He
will teach you a ll things, and bring
to your remembrance a ll things
that I said to you" (John 14:26,
NKJV).
Because of their beliefs,
Anabaptists were though t of as
radicals and were despised by
Catholi cs and Protestan ts a like.
Their refusal to baptize infa nts
was something unheard of, their
belief in the separation of c hurch
a nd state was seen as heresy, and
their unwillingn ess to defend a
legitimate cause with the sword
was regarded as dangerous.
Persecuted by both Protestants
and Catholics, thousands of them
died as martyrs at the hands of fel-
low believers.
THE COUNTER-REFORMATION
The Roman Catholic response
to the Protestant Reformation is
known as th e Counter-
Reformation. Pope Paul (1534-
.~6
1549) appointed nine cardinals to
a reform comm ission , whose report
in 1537 was painfully blunt. The
document called attention to abuses
of papal power, bribery in high
places, moral breakdown in the
monasteries, abuse of indulgences,
and widespread involvement in
prostitution among the clergy. It
recommended immediate action to
correct the worst offenses and to
remove the worst offenders.
Pope Paul took action on a few
items, but his most significant
move was to call for a ge n eral
chu ml cou ncil to be h eld in Trent,
a small town in northern Italy.
Representatives met in three main
sessions between 1545 and"] 563.
The coupcil had three primary
goals: define Catholic doctrine,
reform the ch urch, a nd stamp out
heresy. It was this council that ulti-
mately determined the shape and
direction of modern Cathol icism.
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
The Council of Trent defiantly
rejected the Protestant Reforma-
tion. Whereas Protestantism had
emphasized justification by faith
alone, the council uph eldjustifica-
tion by faith and good works.
Protestants maintained that ulti-
mate spiritual authority resided in
Scripture alone; the council in-
sisted on the equality of tradition
and Scripture and upheld the
pope a nd bishops as the official
interpreters of the Bible. The
council also gave its approval to
the Apocrypha, fourteen books
that had never before been offi-
cially considered as canonical. The
power of the pope was increased,
 Cartoon contrasting papal direction wiLh the insp iration of Ignati us of Loyola.
and the seven sacrame nts were
rea ffirmed as th e ch a nn e ls of
d ivin e grace. In add itio n, th e Mass,
transubstan tiation, co nfess io n to
th e priest, praying to sain ts, celi-
bacy of the clergy, a nd the exis-
tence of purgatory a ll re ma ined as
Catho li c doctrin e.
LOYOLA AND THE JESUITS
In order to bette r understand
the Cath o lic Coun ter-Reformation,
we need to take a look at Ig natius
o f Loyola (1491-1 556) a nd the
j esu it order that h e fou nde d. It
was this g roup that a lm ost sin gle-
ha nde dly co nducte d the Co unte r-
Refo rm atio n.
Loyo la was a Span ish noble-
man who h ad pre pa red himse lf
for a mi lita ry career. After receiv-
ing a life-threate ning injury a nd
goin g through a le n gthy time of
un ce rtainty, h e dedi cated himself
to a life of ministry with in th e
.~7
Roman Catholic Church . Loyola
spe nt the n ext e leve n years
attend in g sch ool, th e last seve n at
th e Un iversity of Pa ris. During his
last year at th e unive rsity, he organ-
ized a gro up of yo un g me n to
take an oath of chastity, poverty,
a nd absolute obed ie n ce to the
pope . Fro m thi s sma ll beginnin g
ca me th e j esuits, a lso known as
th e Society of j es us. In 1540, Pope
Paul III approved this small mili-
tan t band of ded icated me n as a
new religious order within th e
church.
T he prima ry obj ective of this
military-style organi zation was very
simple: to restore th e Roman
Catholic Ch urch to a position of
supre me power a nd infl uence by
wh atever means necessary. One of
the most distinguishing features of
th e j esuits was the way th ey se-
lected a nd train ed their members.
T hose who were ch ose n were of
 robust hea lth, handsome in
a ppeara nce, inte llige nt, and elo-
que nt in speech. Each took strict
vows of unquestionable morality
and absolute obedien ce to th e
j esuit Order. H e had to be willing
to go through a minimum of fif-
tee n yea rs of intensive study, vigor-
ous training, and testing. Within
fifteen years, the handful of origi-
nal me mbe rs had grown to over
1500. By th e turn of the century,
th ey numbe red over 16,000.
JESUIT MISSIONARIES
AND TEACHERS
In the ir missionary work, j esuit
pri ests sai led the seven seas in
sea rch of new colonies and riches.
Wh ereve r they went, they opposed
th e greedy impe rial ism (wanting to
ex te nd co ntrol over another) of
the European merchants and
sa ilors. j esuits, along with the
Domini ca ns, Francisca ns, and
Augustin ians, led the Catho li c
Church to new eras of missionary
expansion in th e Americas, Africa,
and Asia between 1550 and 1650.
The j esuit goal of counteracting
the influence of Protestantism in
Europe a nd doing missiona)), work
in new lands was primarily aCC01TI-
plished uuough the avenue of edu-
cation.Jesuits recognized that one of
the main reasons why Protestantism
had been so successful in its con-
(-i'onta tion with Catholicism was that
Protestants had made an effort to
educate the ir people, and Catholics
had not.
Th e j esui ts, howeve r, were wag-
in g a wa r on l WO fronts-e ndeavor-
in g to gain new converts in CO Ull-
tri es overseas whi le striving to
.~B
Ignatius of Loyola
regain co nverts in Europe . To com-
bat Protestant teachings,jesuits
found ed schools in nearly every
Europea n co untry. By 1640 the
j esuits had over 400 coll eges, with
a to tal e nrollment of nearly
200,000 students. The children of
the nobility a nd th e wealthy, the
brightest and the most promisin g,
Protestant as well as Catholic, were
th e o nes most interested in attend-
ing these sc hools.
Recognizing the importan ce of
educatio n, Protestant reformers
had started to develop an educa-
ti o nal program designed to keep
Protes tantism vibrant in the gener-
ations th a t fol lowed. However, as
Protes tan ts focused more and
mo re a ttention on theological dis-
putes, th ey began to rapidly lose
the gains already made.
Protes ta ntism lost so much by not
ma in ta ining their own school sys-
te m a nd by all owing their youth to
attend J esuit schools.
Keep in mind that Catholic
 re ligion and J esuit education were
both papal in nature . Their basi c
o bjectives were identi cal; to effec-
tively co unteract th e teachings of
Protesta ntism. What Ro man
Catholicism could n ot accom plish
through th e church , it readi ly
attain ed through th e j esuit schools.
The Jesuit me thod o f teaching was
for the teach er to give instruction
and the pupils to rece ive it. It was
patterned afte r the medi eval con-
cept of an active clergy a nd a pas-
sive la ity. Me morization a nd repeti-
tio n were e mphasized , with li ttle
o pportunity fo r originality, ques-
tioning, inde pe nde nce of tho ught,
o r individual judgmen t.
Unquestio nin g obedi e nce to the
teachings a nd the a uthority of the
Catholic Church was the underlying
aim of a ll lea rnin g.
Protestant schools h ad been
designed to stre ngthen the spirit-
ual nature, focus ing on simplicity,
humili ty, fa ith , and service-quali-
ties revealed in Christ's life and
teachings. In co ntrast, th e j esuit
sc hools appea le d to th e carna l
nature of the ir students. Taking
advantage o f youthful desires for
self-exaltatio n, love of pra ise , and
o utward show, the j esuits effectively
motiva ted their pupils through
riva lry, com pe tition, a nd high hon-
ors. T h e j esuit system of rewards
and recognitio n instill ed within
their pupils th e same self-serving
principles th at had cha racte rized
the papacy for centuries.
IEl9
T he Counter-Reform ation was
effective in h alting th e progress of
Protestantism for ma ny reasons.
First, some radical refo rm e rs hu rt
th e Protesta nt cause by ex tre me
a nd fan ati cal conduct. Second ,
internal feuds and rivalry often
occupied cente r stage with in the
Refo rmatio n. Third , the Council o f
Trent took a ve ry un compromisin g
and aggressive stance towa rd
Protestantism. Fourth , the jesui ts
were extremely effec tive in stem-
ming th e tide of the Pro tes ta nt
Reformatio n by the ir massive ed u-
cationa l program.
Fina lly, there was the re newal of
the papal Inquisition . Catho lics
viewed Pro testants as heretics, as
traitors aga inst God, as the very
worst of criminals. Roman
Catho licism h e ld tha t it was the
o nly true church; thus, no other
ch urch had the right to exist.
Those suspected of he resy were
brough t befo re the papal court.
Confessio n of e rror was usually
sough t by using torture as cruel as
the imagination could d evise. The
Inquisitors reasoned that torture
wasn't a ll th at bad , conside ring that
th ey we re saving lost so uls from th e
agoni es of an e te rnal h ell. It was
obvious that n e ithe r Protestantism
nor th e Counter-Reformatio n h ad
significantly cha nged the papacy. In
a rrogan ce a nd anger, the papacy
h ad re turn ed to th e battle fi e ld,
rearmed , determ ined to d estroy a ll
who stood in its way.
 An(hor T~xt
"Flee the evil desires of you th, and pursu e r igh teousness, fa ith, love
a nd peace, a lo n g with th ose wh o ca ll o n th e Lord o ut of a p u re h eart"
(2 T im othy 2:22).

t1J Into th~ Bibl~

1. A critical p oint of con te n tion be tween the Pro testa n t Reformatio n, th e
Radical Reformation , a n d th e Counte r-Refo rmation was o n e of autho r-
ity. Did a uthor ity reside in th e Bible, in th e believe r, o r in the church?
This issu e is still re levant in Ch ristianity tod ay. Read th e foll owing texts
and write a bri ef summa ry of each. T h e n wri te o ne paragraph d escrib-
ing your answer to this questio n abo ut a uth ori ty.
A. Matth ew 28: 18 C. Eph es ia ns 5:23, 24
B. Acts 17:11 D. H ebrews 4:12, 13
2. Closely related to th e con cern d iscussed in questio n 1 is th e re latio n-
ship be twee n God's H oly Wo rd an d the H o ly Spirit. Since God's Word
is inspi red by th e Holy Spiri t, it indi cates a cl ose re latio nshi p between
the m. H ow sh o uld th e Ch ristian respon d to each of th ese? Brie fly sum-
ma rize th e fo ll owing texts a nd th e n wri te your answer to this questio n.
A. Isaia h 8:1 9, 20 C. I J o h n 4:1
B.Jo hn 16:1 3, 14

Proj~(ts
1. Th e n a rrative states th at the re develo ped a mo ng the Protes ta nt be li ev-
e rs a misunde rstanding of justificatio n by faith a lon e. O r, pu tting it
a noth e r way, if God accep ts us th e way we are, why sh ould we ch an ge?
Read Ro mans 6 and th e n write a 150-word response to this id ea .

• •0
 2. T h e narrative says tha t self-serving is the very essen ce of sin . In yo ur
response to this sta te ment, j o in with o ne o the r stude nt a nd ch oose one
of the following two proj ects.
A. O n th e to p left of a sh eet of pape r, write this h eading: "Things th at
e n courage self:serving," and on th e to p right, wri te this h eading:
"Things tha t discourage self-se rving." U nde r each h eading, list
school activities, fun ctions, rela tio nshi ps, r ules, e tc. tha t contribute
to each h eadin g. Wh en you h ave two o r three items unde r each ,
rol e play before th e class at least on e ite m fro m each h eading.
B. O n the to p left of a sh eet of poste rboard o r lar ge sh eet of pa pe r,
wri te this h eading: "Thin gs that e n co urage self-se rving," a nd on
th e top right side ma ke this h eadin g: "Things that disco urage se lf-
serving." Below each h eading assemble a collage o r draw pic tures
to illustra te th ese two principles .
.............................................................................................. .
focus Qu~stions
1. Is it a good thing to allow your religio n to affect everythin g else in you r
life?
2. Do you thi n k Ch ristians should pa rticipate in revolutio nary wars against
oppression?
3. If someone came to you a nd said h e h ad been baptized as an infan t
a nd h e wonde red if h e sho uld be ba ptized again , wha t would you say?
4. Do you think we sh ould follow th e example of th e J esui ts a nd n o t ge t
involved in a ny kin d o f missionary wor k until we a re sufficie ntly
tra in ed ? Wha t is "sufficie n t tra ining"?
5. Wha t differen ces a re th e re between a Pro testan t yo uth atte nding a
J esui t school and a Seventh-day Adventist atte ndin g a public school?
6. What do you see as th e most positive a nd th e most n egative aspects of
the J esuit schools?

•••

Th~ Saga of S~paration
Lesson Setting
The religious wars that prevailed during the latter stages of the
Reformation (1550-1650) , a nd the four divisions a nd various types of
church governm e nt that e me rged within Protestantism.
r-------~
~., h at's the small-
est, most trivial
\ thing over
which you 've
had an argu-
me nt? How
about a postage
sta mp? Do you know that one of
the bloodiest wars of mode rn times
was foug h t over postage sta mps!
O ver sixty years ago, Paraguay
issued new stamps that showed a
map that seemed to in clude th e
greate r portion of the Gran Ch aco
as part of Paraguay. The border of
this 100,000 square miles of jungle
had bee n bitterly disputed by
Parag uay and neighboring Bolivia
for many years.
Bolivia countered by issuing
postage stamps that showed a map
on wh ich the greater part of the
Gran Chaco went to Bolivia .
Paraguay's next stamps showed
most of the Gran Ch aco in its own
borde rs, with bolder lines and
brighter co lors. Bolivi a retali ated
with a new stamp, calling the dis-
.4~
Pilgrims leave
fo r the New World.
lesson • •
puted a rea Chaco Bolivia n. In turn ,
Paraguay's new stamps had these
words: "The Gran Chaco h as been ,
is, and always will be-Paraguay."
Bolivia saw this latest claim by
Paraguay as a se rious threat to her
rightful territory, and imme diate ly
warfare broke out between the two
countries. This war lasted more
tha n ten years, leaving both coun-
tries with huge losses a nd countless
casu alties. Th e disputed territory
was finally divided , but the effects
of that con flict still plague th ese
two countries-because of pictures
on postage stamps!
It is horrifying to rea li ze th a t
millions of men, women, and
childre n , both Pro testants a nd
Ca th o li cs, died during the six-
teen th and seve n teen th ce n turies
as a result of religious warfare.
But re li g ious co nfli ct h as bee n a
trad emark of our planet ever
sin ce Cain killed Abe l in a dis-
pute a bout their offerings to God.
Alth o u gh persecution has bee n
suc h a dark bl ot on the past,
 Pilgrims de parting from Plymouth, England .
peopl e co ntinu e to pursue th e
sa me course . In fact, the book of
Revelation pre di c ts that durin g
th e fin a l eve nts o f human histo ry,
th e gove rnm e nts of th e wo rld will
d ecree that a ll wh o do "not wor-
ship" accordin g to huma n laws
should "be kille d " (Reve lati o n
13:1 5, J:'IgV). Wo rship e nfo rced
by hum a n d ec rees a lmost a lways
brin gs pe rsecu tio n a nd d eath .
MAJOR DMSIONS
WITIDN PROTESTANTISM
The latter stages o f th e Refor-
ma tion e ra n ot o n Iy brougl\ t
about a d efini te break be twee n
Roman Ca th o lics a nd Pro tes ta nts,
it also le d to d ivisio ns within
Protesta ntism . T h e re e me rged
four major reform groups: th e
Luth e r a ns, th e Refo rm e d , th e
An a ba ptists, a nd t~ e An glica ns.
T his lesso n will examin e th e simi-
la rities and diffe re n ces o f th e
Reform e d a nd Ang li ca n gr o ups,
•••
as well as th e co ntinuin g
atte mpts by ea c h g roup to ca rry
o n th e wo rk o f reformation.
Altho ugh th e Pro testa nt g ro ups
we re divided over doctrines, th e ir
most inte nse diffe re nces gene ra lly
involved c hurc h gove rnm ent a nd
forms of chu rc h wo rship. Th e
Lutheran Church, th e oldest o f the
four, had its roo ts in Ma rtin
Luch e r's wo rk in German y. Next to
e merge was the Reformed Church
in Switze rland and France, which
claimed j o hn Calvin as its fo under.
T h e Anaba p tists a rose, a ttemptin g
to haste n a nd dee pe n the refo rma-
tio n taking place in the othe r two .
The last group to appear was the
An glican Church, whi ch had its o ri-
g in in the Refo rma tion in Engla nd .
In time, each gro up d eveloped into
a fa mily of churches. Since we've
a lread y examin ed th e Luthe ra n
a nd the An abaptist gro ups, we will
now turn our attention to th e
Reformed a nd the An glican .
 THE REFORMED
MOVEMENT IN FRANCE
The followers ofJ o hn Calvin
were called Refo rmed because of
th eir attempts to carry out princi-
pl es of reform in doc trine, wor-
ship, and holiness of li fe. At the
beginning, Calvin 's fo llowers were
kn own as Hugue nots. Th ey grew
into a powerful fo rce in France,
but civil war broke out betwee n th e
Huguenots and the Ro man
Catholic Church as bo th sought to
control the governm e nt.
Catholic extremists devised a
pl ot to destroy their rivals. All the
leading Huguenots we re invited to
a royal wedding in Paris. During
the nig ht of August 24, 1572, Saint
Bartho lomew's Day, bells we re
run g throughout th e city as a sig-
nal for the killin g to begin. For
three days the slaughter went on ,
with at least 2,000 Hugue nots mur-
dered. The massacre extended into
o ther towns, and during a two-
mo nth period , ove r 70,000 people
we re brutally murdered . Wh e n
word of the killin g reached Rom e,
th ere was ajubilant cele bration
amo ng the clergy. The po pe
o rdered a special medal struck to
commemorate this notable event.
Al tho ugh the Hugue nots ceased as
a political group, th ey continued to
g row as the Reform ed Church.
THE ANGLICAN
REFORMATION IN ENGLAND
The Reform ati o n in England
was quite different from what had
take n place in o the r Euro pean
countri es. Its roots we re in the
preaching of John Wycli ffe and his
translation of th e Bible into
145
English. After nea rly two centuries,
th e English lang uage had changed
so much that Wycli ffe's Bibl e could
no lo nge r be understood. In 1525
William Tyndale, wh o is re puted to
have mastered seven languages,
dec ided to translate th e New
Testam ent into the English of his
day. All of this was d o ne when
England's Catho lic Church had a
law making it a crim e punishable
by death to translate the Scrip tures
into English. Nin e years after the
publi cation of his translatio n,
Tyndale was arrested and thrown
into a cold, dark, rat-infested
prison [o r eighteen mo nths. For
th e "critnes" o f translating
Scripture and teaching thatjustifi-
cati o n is by faith alo ne, he was pub-
licly strangled and burned at the
stake at the age of fo rty-two.
Tyndale's New Testament,
alo ng with Luthe r's writin gs, we re
the keys that ignited th e
Refo rmation in England. H owever,
th e English Reformation had
strong political ove rtones. The
English developed great resent-
ment against any domin ation by a
fo reig n power. Alth o ugh the majo r-
ity were stro ngly Cath olic, they
o pposed the power of an Italian
pope over the ir country.
At this time H en ry VIII (1509-
1547) , a staunch Catholi c, asked
th e pope for permissio n to divorce
his wife. He was greatly distressed
because his wife Cath erine had not
bo rne him any male heirs to the
thro ne. Besides, he had fall en in
love with Anne Bo leyn. After a
lengthy wait for the po pe's re ply,
th e impatient kin g decided to take
matte rs into his own hands. In
1534 he had Par li ame nt pass the
Act of Supre macy, a law d ecreeing
th at the king 'Justly a nd righ tfully
is and ought to be the su pre me
h ead " of th e (Catho li c) Ch urch of
England. By exch a ng ing th e idea
of an infallible pope for a n in vin-
cible king, Henry got wh at h e
wan tecl-po,ver, a divorce, and a
new wife!
T h e Act of Supremacy resulted
in a signifi can t ch an ge in church
gove rnment. The king h ad
replaced th e pope as the head of
the church. Most of th e E nglish
Cath o lics went along with th e
idea, but not al l. So H e nry passed
another law, th e Law of Treaso n
and H eresy, whi ch stated that any
doc trines o th e r than those of the
En gli sh Catholi c Church were
h e resy, and anyon e who refused to
ack nowle d ge th e kin g as head of
th e ch urch was guilty of treason.
The En glish Catholi c Church had
bro ught abo u t a ch a nge in lead er-
Pilgrims study and pray on theirjourney.
• •6
ship with out major changes in
doctrin e .
In the years that followed ,
o ther chan ges gradually took
p lace. Monasteries were disco ntin-
ued (and th e ir e normous wealth
give n to the king), images were
removed from the churches, a nd
relics were no lon ge r displayed .
Reli cs had become a re ligious
fraud in En gla nd just as in
Germany. For example, scattered
a ll over Englan d we re pieces of
wood that were said to be frag-
ments of J esus' cross. Whe n col-
lected , there were e nough to fi ll
three large horse-drawn carts!
O ther changes included a llowing
be lievers to participate in the
Comnlunio n service, perm itting
priests to marry, no lo n ge r praying
for the dead, a nd rep lacing th e
Latin church service with English.
Perhaps most significa nt of a ll ,
En glish Bibles becam e avail able for
the churches.
 Unfortunate ly, as new kings or
queens took the throne, there were
new d ecrees, e ith er to rescind or
rene\v what previous rul e rs had
e nac ted. Pro testamism suffered
severe setbacks a nd we nt through
intense persecution when Queen
Mary took the throne in 1553.
Fortunately, sh e ruled for o nly five
years, but she is still known as
"Bloody Mary." J o hn Foxe collected
vivid accounts of the e normous
numbe r of martyrdo ms during this
time a nd recorded the m in his
Booll oj Mm·tyrs published in 1563, a
book that sha ped a nd influe nced
fi..ture generations of English people.
PURITANS AND SEPARATISTS
Change and unres t co ntinued
in th e Church of En gland long
after Protesta nt churches in other
co un tries had settled down. During
the persecution led by Bloody
Mary, many Protestants in England
fl ed to Geneva a nd were g reatly
influe nce d by John Calvin 's teach-
in gs. After Mary di ed and pe rsecu-
tio n subsided, the Pro testa nts
re turned to their ho me land,
e nthusiastic about th e reform s they
had \",itnessed in Geneva, Calvin's
"mod e l city." Those people who
clamored for a pure r church
becam e known as "Puritans, "
Puritans had very little confi-
d e nce in tradition al religion. Like
th e Anabaptists, ill ey h e ld a deep
conviction that spiritua l co nve r-
sion-a miraculous ch ange of
heart a nd life-was the esse ntial
e leme nt in Christianity. They
be li eved in the redeeming grace of
God a nd His laws and fe lt com-
pe ll ed to shape the church accord-
• •7
ing to biblical prin ci ples. It was
th e ir be lief that th e Bibl e gave spe-
cifi c guidan ce for th e o rdering of
o ne 's life, for structu rin g the
church, and for regulatin g society.
Among oth er thin gs, they e mpha-
sized strict obse rvan ce of Sunday,
reading the Bible, cl eanliness, and
purity of life . They co nducted wo r-
ship services in th e ir ho mes and
wan ted ministers wh o co uld preach
fro m the Bible a n d were chosen by
local churches rath er than ap-
pointed by the king.
During this tim e English
Protestants were divid ed in to
Anglica ns, Purita ns, a nd
Disse nters o r Separatists. The
Angli ca ns were the uppe r class,
who were faithful to th e Church
o f Engla nd. Th e Puritans were pri-
ma ril y of the middl e class. They
did not push for the se paration o f
church a nd state, a lth o ug h th ey
did insist o n a representative form
of c hurc h government and the
e limin a tion of th e remnants of
Ro man Ca th o lic be li efs a nd ritu-
a ls. The poo re r classes were th e
Di sse nters or Separatists. Be ing
greatl), influe nced by Calvin 's
teachings, they were much more
rad ical in their beliefs and de ma nds.
They were openly opposed to a
state c hurch a nd uphe ld the con-
gregationa l form of church gov-
e rnm e nt-in which each local
church is self-governin g a nd inde-
pendent from a ny other chu rch .
They, too, wanted to abolish every-
thing tl,at hinted of Roman Catholic
th o ug ht o r practice . Be lieving that
suc h reforms would never h appen,
th ey chose to se pa rate th e mselves
fro m th e Chu rch of Engla nd, thus

Separatists in England .
th e la be l "Sepa ra tists."
PUBLICATION OF
THE KING JAMES BIBLE
During the reign of King J ames I
(1603-1625) , som e of the leading
Purita ns met with th e king in a n
importa nt confe re nce, prese ntin g
him with some mod e rate requests
for ch anges in the Church of
Engla nd . James readi ly dismissed
most of their suggestions, but did
con ced e to their re quest for a new
tran slation of the Bible.
J a mes a ppointe d fifty-four
scholars, divided into six groups of
nine me n, each gro up working indi-
vidua lly. They used as their base the
original languages in the best man-
uscripts the n available. The wo rk
started in 1607 a nd ended with the
publication of the King J a mes
Ve rsio n in 1611. It became a classic
among th e English-speaking peop le
of the wo rld because of its dignity,
powe r, a nd a ptness of expression.
Despi te scores of new translatio ns in
I ••
the past hundred years, the King
J ames Ve rsion has re mained th e
standard and most-quo te d English
Bible fo r nearly fo ur centuries. It
h as ofte n been refe rred to as "the
grea test li terary mo nument of the
English language."
THE EMIGRATION OF
SEPARATISTS AND PURITANS
Over the next forty years, the
Puritans suffered ma ny religio us set-
backs a nd were o ppressed and pe r-
secuted. In 1608 a large numbe r o f
Se para tists sought ref·uge in
Holland. While the re, they hea rd of
an English colony that had settled in
ti,e New World. Being dissatisfi ed
with their stay in H o lland, they
began to wonde r if this new conti-
nent was the answe r. It was a daring
though t, fu ll of unknowns, but a
small numbe r we re willing to take
tha t risk. They re turn ed to England,
whe re they we re j o ined by othe r
like-minded pilgrims. In Septe mber
1620, a company o f 102 Separatists
set sail for tI,e ir new home, arriving
two montllS late r o n the rocky
sh o res of New Engla nd. Th ese
Separatists (called Pilgrims) ste pped
ashore on what is now known as
Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. By
1642 ti,e colo ny h ad nearly twenty-
five thousand reside nts.
Th e Se pa ratists a nd Purita ns
we re d e te rmin e d to establish th e
kingdo m of Go d in the America n
wilde rn ess. It was th e ir finn co n-
vi cti o n th a t God was direc ting th e
n a ti o na l d estin y o f Engla nd much
as He h ad g uide d Israe l afte r th e
Exodus. Be lieving tha t God ha d
led th e m to America, th ey esta b-
lish ed th e Massachusetts Bay
Co lo n y on the idea of a theoc-
racy-where God is the Head of
th e earthly governmen t. T h ey
believed that America wou ld be
~he nation from which Christ's
earthly kingdom would arise. All
along the coast li ttle congrega-
tions set up a com bin ed civil a nd
religious form of gove rnme nt,
modeled after Geneva, Calvin1s
"City of God." Old Testament
principles of legislation were
made th e pattern of Puritan life,
wh ich included punishment for
blasphemy, idolatry, gam bling,
and the breaking of th e "Lo rd 's
Day" (Sunday) . For several gen er-
ations, people could b e seve re ly
ch astised for failing to attend
church se rvices, taking God's
nam e in vain, or showing disre-
spect for th e Bible.
There is a stra nge paradox con-
cerning th e people who broke
away from the domination of
Roma n Catholicism a nd came to
America. T h ey rejected Roman
Catholic beliefs without re n o unc-
ing the concept of a c hurch-state
union. They h ad come to America
to worship God according to th e
dictates of the ir conscie nce, but
upon arrival, they set up a kind of
theocracy and persecuted dis-
sente rs. The fi'eedoms that the
Puritans had so desperately so ught
for th emselves, they were unwilling
to extend to others.
All who broke away from
Roman Catholicism agreed on one
point- it was a n evil church . They
•••
failed to realize, however, that th e ir
attempts to control the spiritual
lives of other people was also evil.
H ere in lie two important lessons.
First, the uniting of church a nd
state, no matte r by whom it is
do n e, is inherently wron g and will
inevitably lead to pe rsecution.
Second, when there is a shift in
power, the pe rsecute d gen e ra lly
become the persecutors. The spiri t
to rule and dominate is not simply
a feature of one pa r ticular church
or group of people. History co n-
firm s what the Bible d e cl ares:
within each of us lies the desire to
control. All it needs is th e opportu-
nity. Someo ne has wise ly observe d
that the only thing wrong wi th the
world is the people! Therefore,
none of us are exempt from the
need of having Jesus Christ in con-
trol of our lives.
The Puritans, like all other
Christian churches, had strengths
and weaknesses . They are often
mistake nly re membe red as killjoys,
a people with "a h aunting fear that
someone, somewhe r.e, may be
happy." But tbe Puritans were ve r),
committed to J esus Christ, lived
clean and pure lives, were industri-
ous and h ard worki ng, and above
all, were courageous I)' d edicated to
the ideals in which the)' believed.
T h ey served as a vital transition
from the Old World to the New.
T h e)' stood at me crossroads and
took the plunge to begin anew for
Jesus Christ. For this th e)' can
n ever be faulted .
~ Anchor T~xt
"Don't let people look down on you because you a re young; see that
th ey look up to you because you a re a n example to th em in your speech
a n d behavior, in your love and faith a nd sincerity. ... Give you r who le
atte ntion , all yo ur ene rgies, to these things, so that your progress is p lain
for all to see" (1 T imothy 4: 12-15, Phi lli ps).

L!J Into th~ Bibl~

Revelation 12 is a chapter that presents a pan o ramic view of the g reat
controversy, from Lucifer's rebellio n in h eaven to th e final conflict o n
earth. In this ove rview, the major co nflicts betwee n God a nd Satan are
depicted, includin g th e devastation during the Dark Ages and the discov-
e ry of a have n for fle e ing refugees. Read verses 15 and 16, where these
events are prese nte d in symboli c language . In th ese verses you wi ll see a
life-and-d eath struggle between a serpe n t whose mouth spews out water to
d estroy a woman a nd th e earth opening its mou th a nd swall owing up th e
water in o rde r to save her. T his assignm e nt involves three exercises.
A. Iden ti fy the mea nings of th e symbols in Revelatio n 12:15, 16 by discov-
ering th em in other passages o f Scriptu re. Read the followin g tex ts a nd
write th e mean ing of each symbol.
(1) Serpe n t: Revelatio n J 2:9
(2) Mo u th: Daniel 7:20, 25
(3) Wate r/ Flood: Revelation 17: 15; Danie l 9:26 (last h alf)
(4) A (pure) woman: J ere mia h 6:2; Ep hesians 5:25-27
(5) T h e earth: Revelatio n 12:14
B. Write a paragraph summary of th e mea ning of Revelatio n 12:15, 16,
giving wh at you learn ed in A.
C. After yo u h ave finish ed exercises A a nd B, your teac he r will give you a n
article "The Earth's Open Mouth. " Read it and write a summary para-
graph listing a ny new insigh ts as to the meaning of th e symbols.

ISO
 Projects
l. The narrative states th at the Separatists were willing to take a risk for
God by sailing to the New World. Do o n e o f th e following.
A. Write a one-page pape r describing a ris k you or someone you know
h as taken for God. Explain how it turned out.
B. Choose th e Bible ch a racte r that you think took th e greatest risk for
God. Write a one-page pape r explaining yo ur choice and what
lessons can be learn ed from this person 's experience.

focus Questions
l. Is there one fundamental reason why people fight religious wars?
2. If th e re were a decree tha t banned the owning or th e reading of the
Bible in your language, what would you d o?
3. Why do you think Protestants attached so much importa n ce to church
government?
4. What would it ta ke to start a reformation in your church?
5. What is it that you most admire about the Puritans? What do yo u most
dislike?
6. What value is there in h aving so many modern tra nslation s of th e Bible
in English?
7. Why do you think the Purita ns refused to extend religioLls freedom to
o thers after they had so d espe rately sought it for themselves?

lSI

Christianity at th~ (rossroads
Lesson Setting
The religious and social moveme nts that arose during the seve nteenth
an d e ighteenth ce nturi es (1600s to 1700s) as a response to religious
wars l persecution , intoleranc e, and spiritual declin e.
o you remember lick-
in g whipped cream
or frosting off the
beaters? Do you sti ll
like gettin g that
cha nce?
You know that an
Eskimo kills a wolf by gettin g it to
"lick the beaters"? Well, not quite,
bu t pre tty cl ose. The Eskimo takes
a sha rp knife, covers it with blood
and a ll ows it to freeze. Th e n he
adds a nothe r layer of blood, and
then ano ther, until th e knife is hid-
den by severa l laye rs of frozen
blood. Next, the Eskimo pa rtially
buri es this chunk of bloody ice in
the snow with the blade standin g
up. As the daylight disappears, a
ma rauding wolf catch es the scent,
a nd when he find s th e source, h e
begins to lick th e frozen blood. As
the taste of b lood whets his
ap petite, the wolf begi ns to li ck
mo re vigo rously until the blade is
exposed. His awakened craving for
blood is so great that he feverishly
licks away, unawa re that his own
ISe.
lesson IS
to ngue has been severely slashe d.
Now his insatiable thirst for blood
is bei ng satisfi ed by his own warm
blood. With his carnivo rous
appetite in high gear, he keeps
licking until th e morning sun finds
the wolf lying dead in the arctic
snow.
We have co me to expect blood-
thirsty be havior from wild a nima ls
but not from civili zed people. The
dreadful battles a nd h o rrifying pe r-
secutions that took p lace over cen-
turies of time, especially in the six-
teenth a nd seventeenth centuries,
a re difficult for us to accept or
unde rstand. These acts of bru tali ty,
ofte n carried o u t by churchmen ,
not only caused d evastation and
death , but a ltered the co urse of
histo ry.
THE AGE OF REASON
Generatio ns of religious wars
and intolerance left people disillu-
sio n ed. Around 1650, a n inte llect-
ua l (and spiritual) revolution,
kn own as the Age of Reason, some-
times referred to as "the Enlighten-
ment," sig naled the start o f a power-
ful bac klas h again st re li g io n. It
marked a significant turning po in t
in peopl e's attitud es toward God,
re ligio n, th e world , a nd the m-
selves . A growing reli ance upon
one's o wn reaso nin g rather th an
believing th e Bible o r o beying
church authori ty e me rged.
During this time, human reason
was con side red a n a ll-su ffic ie nt
source for tr uth and was accepted
as th e fin al autho rity. Huma nkind
was seen as having th e abili ty to
discover truth on its own, witho ut
re lying on the church or divin e
revelation. Pe ople who idolized
reason were kn own as Ration alists.
T h ey be lieved that h appiness an d
meanin g fo r the ir lives was found
no t in God o r in re ligious be liefs
bu t in the mselves. Like th e huma n-
ists du ring the Ren a issance, th ey
had a n inflated view o f huma n
power and ability. In affirmin g peo-
ple's natural sta te, they saw no
need for a supernatural re ligio n .
An other reason fo r th e loss of
faith in re ligion was th e rise of
mod ern scie nce . Durin g the six-
tee nth and seven tee nth ce nturies,
the discove ri es of mode rn sci e nce
fo rced n ew ways of thinking. For
mo re th an o ne tho usand years peo-
pl e had a n earth-centered view of
the unive rse. Bu t the n Cope rnicus
(1 473-1543) de clar ed tha t th e sun ,
not the earth , was the cente r of
our unive rse. Ke ple r (1571- 1630)
con cluded that the sun e mitted a
magne ti c fo rce th a t moved pl a ne ts
in th e ir courses. Usin g the tele-
scope that h e inve nted , Galil eo
(1564-1642) examin ed th e pla nets .
154
H e also proved tha t th e accelera-
ti o n of falling bodi es is constant.
Bu t it was th e wo rk of the most
illustrious scie ntist of th e Age of
Reason, Sir Isaac Newto n, who in
1687 united all th ese discove ri es
in to one all-embracing prin ciple.
Newton explaine d the law of g ravi-
tation and presented the universe
as o ne g reat machine, ope ra ting
according to fi xed laws .
The impact of scie nce was swift
a nd dra matic. Supe rna tural even ts
of the Scriptures we re explaine d as
simply n atural ph e nomena. As
many church teachings o n the
physical unive rse were shown to b e
in error, th e Bible appeared less
plausible a nd less trustworthy.
More than this, man 's revolu tion-
ary discoveries were seen as evi-
d e n ce of his unlimite d pote ntial.
Th e advances of scie n ce were
viewed as makin g God, the Bible,
a nd th e church unre liabl e and
irrelevant.
But ath eism was n o t yet fash-
io nabl e a t the time. Most of the
promine nt unbe li evers still h e ld to
a "Supre me Be in g," but One wh o
has no person al in vol ve ment with
the universe. This view became
known as d e ism . De ists gene rally
held that a High e r Powe r had cre-
a te d th e wo rld and its physical
laws, th e n le t it run its course with-
out a ny interventio n o n His pa rt.
T h e revolution a ry ideas carried
o ut by the Age of Reaso n illustrate
an important lesson . Protest move-
me nts te nd to ove rreact, o fte n cre-
a tin g a new set of probl ems. The
truth is th a t in th e spi ritu al life,
bo th divin e revela tio n a nd human
reason are esse n tial. Reason is
n eeded to gras p and a pply revela- no m iniste rs, no cerem on ies, and
tio n, but revelation remains d istin guished th emselves by a pecu-
authoritati ve. Revelatio n is God 's li ar style of dress. Th e Q uake rs
wisd OlTI shared with LIS, whereas were, indeed, a radi ca l de partu re
human reaso ning Rows out of a not o n ly fro m Cath o lic ism , but also
sinfu l mind. As fi n ite be in gs, our from Protes ta ntism .
g ras p o f tr uth is limite d . Wha t
seems rig h t today may a ppear ENGLAND AND METHODISM
wro ng tomo rrow. It is through Duri ng the e igh tee n th ce ntu ry,
divine revelation that God enlight- Englan d became a wo rld e mpi re.
ens our understanding and enables T h e industria l revolutio n trans-
us to discern truth from errol'. fo rm ed Engla nd fro m a la nd of
sma ll towns a nd fa rms in to a
THE ORIGIN OF THE QUAKERS natio n of la rge cities a nd factories.
An o the r spiritua l pro tes t move- Great wea lth was accu m u la te d by
me nt that a rose in Euro pe at this a n e li te few, whi le th e maj o rity su f-
tim e was the Socie ty of Fri e nds, fered fro m extre me poverty.
gen e ra lly kn own as th e "Quake rs." Among the rich a nd u p pe r classes,
Th ey were fo unde d in 1652 by th e th e En ligh tenm e n t h ad esse ntia lly
Puritan Geo rge Fox, a ma n who e lim inated re ligio n fro m th e ir
had no use whatsoeve r fo r a ny o f lives. Th e poo r and un educated
the churc hes of his day. T hus h ad little o pportuni ty to h ea r the
Q ua kers call th e mselves a "society" gospe l and to live the Christia n
ra th e r th a n a churc h . Fox ta ugh t life. T h e fe rvor of Puri ta nism was
tha t Ch risti ans we re not to be gon e; Engla nd despe rately need ed
unde r th e control o f a ny spiritual spiritu al revival.
power except the H oly Spirit, wh o
would impart to the m the "Inn e r
Lig ht. " It was commonly be lieved
that in th e ea rl y days of this move-
me n t they wou ld lite rally tre mble
with emo ti o n durin g th e ir meet-
ings, thus the nickna me "Qua kers."
T he ir meeti nghouses were
exceedingly pla in , witho ut eve n a
pulpit. Th e ir worsh ip services
included no singin g o r p laying o f
m usica l in strum e n ts. Instead , th ey
would sit in sile nce un til th e Spirit
wo uld move someon e to speak. If
th e re was no movin g of th e Spirit
with in a ce rta in le ngth o f time,
they left witho u t a word be in g spo-
ke n. They d id no t be lieve in oaths
o r war. Th ey had no sacrame nts, John Wesley

ISS
 Revival did come through
John and Charles Wesley, two of
the nineteen children born to
Samuel and Susanna Wesley. J ohn,
the fifteenth ch ild, and Charles,
the eightee nth , received religious
instruction from their nlother, as
did a ll members of the family.
T h eir father, who was the pastor
of the Epsworth church ilJ
England, was also very influential
in preparing the boys for the
important work they were call ed
by God to do.
Both were excellent students
and entered Christ Church Co llege
in Oxford-John in 1720 and
Charles six years later. Alarmed at
the popularity of deism on campus,
Ch arles formed a club for students
in terested in Bible study and
thoughtful discussion. Under
John 's leadersh ip, the club drew up
specific plans for a consecrated
lifestyle, includin g prayer, Bible
study, fasting, attendance at
Commun ion service, and visiting
prisoners at the Oxford jail. T h e
Oxford students began to poke fun
at this spiritually energetic group
and scoffingly called them the
"Holy Club. " When the club drew
up a definite plan or a method for
living their lives, it wasn't long
before students began to call them
Methodists. The label stuck.
THE WESLEYS GO TO AMERICA
In 1735 General James
Oglethorpe invited missionaries to
come to America to preach to the
settlers and the Indians in his
newly established colony of
Georgia. With youthful enthusi-
asm, the two brothers accepted the
156
ch allenge and set sail for America
in the fall of that year. On their
voyage they encountered such rag-
ing seas thatJoh n and Charles
feared for their lives. Aboard the
ship was a company of twenty-six
born-again Moravians. In the midst
of storm they were peaceful and
calm , even singing hymns as waves
battered the decks. John cou ldn't
believe what he saw and heard. It
was obvious that these people had
a trust in God th at went far beyond
his own experience.
Upon their arrival, John and
Charles worked with a ll their
might in the Georgia colony.
J ohn preached in German,
French, and Italian, as we ll as in
English. He developed a small
society, patterned after his col-
lege club, to promote friendship
a nd study. Unfortunate ly, he was
not very tactful and attempted to
enfo rce church regulations upon
unwilling people. He was unsuc-
cessful in his efforts. Charles
became ill and wi thin a year
returned to England. Meanwhi le,
John 's work was compounded by
hi s involvement in an ugly love
triangle. A trial ensued, dragging
on for six months. T hi s in cident
so demoralized John that he
packed up his belongings and
sai led back to England.
For the Wesleys, their brief stay
in America was a failure as far as
missionary work was concerned.
Yet the entire episode was an espe-
cially valuable experience for John.
On his way h ome, he had p lenty of
opportunity to ponder what had
taken place. He concluded that he
had gone to America to convert
the India ns, but it was he who
need ed conversio n. Up to this
point h e had simply gone through
th e motions of re ligio n, trying to
be good and doing what was right.
But within his sou l th ere was a spir-
itual e mptiness, a lack of j oy,
peace, and assura n ce th at only
comes from an intim ate frie ndship
with j esus Christ.
WESLEY'S HEART-WARMING
EXPERIENCE
Back in England,john became
pa infully uncertain about his faith
a nd his future. In his spiritual
struggle, he recalled the o n e posi-
tive no te of his Georgia adven-
tUl"e-his con tact with the
Moravians on th e stormy seas. H e
was d e te rmin ed to learn the secret
of their peace and the ir unwave r-
in g trust in God.
One evenin g J o hn attende d
a n Anglican meeting where so me-
one read Luther's preface to the
.c;)istie to the Romans. Concernin g
th is eve nt, he wrote, "About a
qu arter to nine, whi le h e was
d esc ribing the c ha n ge whi ch God
works in the h eart thro ugh fa ith
in Christ, I felt m y h eart strangely
warmed. I fe lt th a t 1 did trust in
C hrist, Christ a lo ne, for salvation;
and an assurance was g ive n me
th at he had take n away my sins,
even mine, and saved me from the
law of sin and d ea th ."* In this
experie n ce, john went from hop-
ing to h aving. In Christ h e
rece ived the ass urance that h e
lac ked a nd di scovered a se nse of
purpose that wou ld sustain him
for a ha lf century o f fa ithful min-
istry to E n gland's masses.
157
WESLEY'S SECOND
MINISTRY BEGINS
john soon discovered that his
ministry in England was even more
difficult than his work in America.
Among the English commo n folk
there was widespread ig norance
and unbelief, much coarseness, bru-
tali ty, and drunkenness. The highly
paid clergy sham efully neglected
the ir work, choosing instead to min-
gle with the upper class, spending
much of the ir time socia lizing, fox
hunting, and card playing.
As Wesley began to preach , he
fearlessly denounced the sins of his
day. H e called upon all to repent
a nd totally surre nde r their lives to
j esus Christ, but the Anglican
Church did not look with favor on
such preaching. H e insisted that it
was God 's will that all sh ould be
saved a nd th at every person was
free to ch oose or refuse God 's
offer. This spiritual conce pt gen e r-
a lly ra n counter to the An glican
teaching that it was God alone who
chose who wou ld be saved or lost.
Conseq ue ntly, the Wesley brothers
received very few invi tatio ns to
preach in the establish ed churches.
J o hn was not stifled o r discour-
aged by the Anglican response. H e
simply took his pulpit e lsewhere.
H e preached in j ails, to travelers in
in ns, and aboard sailing ships.
About this time , a close friend of
his, George Whi tefield , began to
preach to coal min ers in th e open
fie lds. j o hn was re luctant to preach
in this ma nn er, until he became
aware that these coal miners had
never been inside a church and
knew nothing about the gospel.
Besides, since church doors were
 cl osed a nd th e fi e lds we re ope n,
why not preach outdoors, eve n as
J esus had so freque ntly don e? O n
April 2, 1739, J o hn 's first se rm o n
in a n o pe n fi e ld ma rked a signi fi -
cant turning poin t in his ministry.
This was the beginning of
Wesley's preaching caree r, whi ch
exte nded ove r fifty years. At a na t-
ural amphith eater in Cornwa ll , he
spo ke to a n a ud ie nce of over
30,000 peopl e. Wh e n he was
refused ad missio n to his childhood
church a t Epsworth , he preached
to hundreds in the c hurc hyard
whil e sta ndin g o n his fa ther's
to mbsto n e. In his d ia ry ofJun e 28,
1774, Wesley wrote th a t his mini-
mum m il eage pe r year was 4,500
miles. Th at meant that h e had trav-
e led in his li fetime about 250,000
mi les, ten times aro und th e world .
An d most o f this was do ne o n
ho rseback in every kind o f weath er.
Wh e n Wesley die d in 179 1, h e had
79,000 fo llowe rs in E ngla nd a nd
IS8
40,000 in Ame rica. Eventua lly
these "Me th odi sts" se pa rated fro m
th e An glican Churc h a nd orga-
n ized th e Meth odist Church .
Cha rles Wesley, wh o experi-
e nced th e new birth th ree days
before j o hn , wrote a pproxima te ly
6,500 hymns fo r the Me thodist
mee tings . Whil e j o hn 's preachin g
was th e key to th e Me thodist
revival, it's ofte n bee n said th a t
Ch a rles's so ngs were Meth odi sm 's
greatest legacy. T h e bro th e rs h ad
very d iffere n t ministries-j o hn
preaching m igh ty sermo ns a nd
Cha rl es writin g an average of th ree
hymns per week fo r fifty-seve n years.
Hundre ds of these hymn s a re still
being sung today in Ch ristia n
church es thro ugh out th e worl d .
DENOMINATIONS
BECOME A REALITY
As th e American colo nies
expa nde d a nd d eve lo pe d , the ir
re ligious dive rsity ca lled for a n ew
 unde rstanding of church commu-
ni ty. It was esse ntial that ma ny
churches be allowed to exist in har-
mo ny. Th is was the idea of denomi-
nations-a variety of church es within
Christianity.
Denominations were seen as
God's answer for dealing with the
in creasing number of different
beliefs in the New World. Of course,
those living in the eighteenth cen-
tury neve r dreamed that someday
there would be hundreds of
Christian church es making up the
world body. It was not the inte ntion
of those advocating denominations
that Christianity should change its
basic beliefs to accommoda te new
groups. That would have mad e
denominations biblically invalid.
They simply wanted to eliminate
the intole rance and bloodsh ed of
the past by providing new religious
freedom for the future.
Th e d enominational concept is
based on seve ral key factors. First,
th e re will always be d ifferences
among Christia ns concerning
beliefs, organization, and fo rms of
worship. The refore , divergence of
outward expression of pe rsonal
faith must be a llowed. Second,
every Christian is obliga te d to prac-
tice what he be lieves the Bible
teaches. Third, no church has a
fin al a nd fu ll grasp of divine truth;
thus the true church of Christ can-
n ot be fu lly re presen ted by anyone
single church or religious organ iza-
tion. Fourth , division does not con-
stitute schism. It is possible to be
divided on many points, yet be
united in Christ. Fifth , a tolerant
attitude does not imply indiffer-
ence to doctrinal issues . Christian
159
uni ty is not exten d ed to just a ny-
one wi th religious convictions, but
o nly to those who sha re a common
comm itm e nt to the Christian fa ith.
AMERICA'S FIRST
GREAT AWAKENING
Th e winds of deism and ration-
a lism that bl ew in Europe also had
a negative effect o n American
churches. In the ea rly years of the
e ighteenth century, religion in
America was for ma ny reasons at a
low e bb. People were absorbed in
se ttling new la nd. A lack of
schools, organ ized churches, and
good pastors, and the demands of
frontie r life were d amaging to spir-
ituallife. Thus the re ligious fe rvor
of the first settle rs was no longer
sh a red by th eir grandchildre n.
From 1720 to 1760 Am e rica experi-
enced its fi rs t grea t revival. This
revival , ge ne rally known as the
Great Awakening, not only re kindled
church attendance but fostered a n
antislavery moveme nt. It a lso
spurred Native American evangelism,
prompted the founding of many
sch ools, and actively resisted th e
idea of state-co ntrolled church es .
The lead ers of the Great
Awakening were not the on ly
colonists in favor of voluntary rather
than mandatory religion. De ists
such as Jefferson, Franklin, and
Madison, who were inspired by the
spirit of th e Enlightenment, strongly
be lieved that people sho uld be free
to make the ir own decisions rather
than be coerced by the state. This is
where th e "reasonable me n" of th e
En lightenment and the "revival
me n" of the Great Awaken ing were
in agreemen t. Both were opposed to
 legislated religion. For this reason, Constitution-"Congress shall make
revivalists and rationalists combined no law respecting an establishment
forces in support of religious free- of religion, or prohibiting the fi"ee
dom. The success of this cooperative exercise thereof ... " became the
effort is now history. The adoption cornerstone of religious freedom in
of the First Amendment of the the New World.
...............................................................................................
S Anchor TQxt
"We know that God causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to H is purpose"
(Romans 8:28, NASB) .
...............................................................................................

l. The Bible has a great deal to say regarding the use of our minds. While
pointing out the importance and necessity to think and to reason, it
also warns of the dangers and limitations. Read the following texts and
show how each relates to the heading.
IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY:
A. Matthew 22:37
B. Romans 14:5
C. Philippians 4:8
DANGERS AND LIMITATIONS:
D. Proverbs 3:5-7
E. Romans 8:7
F. Romans 12:3
2. The Scripture reveals God not on ly as the Creator but also the
Sustainer of all that He has created. Deism speaks of a Higher Power
th at is totally removed from the universe. Summarize each of the texts
below that relate to this issue.
A. Psalm 139:7-16
B. Acts 17:24-28
C. Colossians 1: 16, 17
3.John Wesley experienced intense disappointments and defeats, yet
these became the very avenues that God used to change Wesley and
prosper his ministry. What does the Bible say about how God works in
our lives? Read and summarize th e following texts:
A. Romans 8:28-39
B. J ames 1:2-5

160
 Proj(>cts
1. Read the article "Emotion in Religion" provided by your teach e r. Write
a lOO-word response to the fo ll owi ng questions. Use the article and the
lesson narrative for h e lp with your response.
A. What is the appropriate role of emotion and inte llect in th e
Christia n life?
B. How does one maintain a proper ba lance between the two?
2. The narrative states that Ch arles Wesley's hymns are Methodism's
"greatest legacy." Find a church hymnal and locate several of his
hymns. Bring the hym nal to class and sh are (or sing) the lyrics of some
of Wesley's hym ns.
3.John Wesley had a defini te plan (or method) by which h e lived his life.
It was a ch aracteristic of his entire ministry. Devise a daily d evotional
plan for the next ten days to which you will be willing to commit your-
self. This sh o uld in clude a specific time for devotions or Bible reading,
prayer, and a plan of witnessing, sharing, or h elping someone .
...............................................................................................
Focus Qu(>stions
1. In wh at ways was the Age of Reason good or positive?
2. What do you see as the most positive and negative aspects of a Quaker
worsh ip service?
3. Rationalism and Deism are generally more enticing to intellectuals
than to th e average person. Agree or disagree?
4. Do you think J ohn Wesley did the right thing by leaving America wh en
h e felt h is work was a fai lure?
5. Roman Cath olicism declares that being o ne united world church is
much better than the many denominations that divide Protestantism .
How would yo u respo nd to that statement?
6. The tr ue church of Christ cannot be fully represen ted by anyone sin-
gle church or religious organization. Agree or disagree?
7. Do you agree th at th e United States is a Christian nation?

*ChUFCh HislO1), (Worcester, Penn.: vol. I, no. 1),28.

101

R~liqion Provok~s R~volution
Lesson Setting
The American a nd Fre nch Revo lutio ns in the latter yea rs of the
e ighteenth century (1700s) a nd the role of religion in these significant
conflicts.
e was the first man
in Alnerican his-
tory thrown in jail
for \,,'ea ring a
beard. His nam e
was J oseph Palme r,
a forty-two-yea,~old
Massachusetts farmer who moved
into Fitchburg with his wife a nd
so n in 1830. H e was an average
kind of guy, except for his flowing
beard . No Americans wore beards
in those days. The leaders of the
American Revolution, the signers
of the Co nstitution , the president
o f the Uni ted States, and every
man in Fitchburg was beardless.
When Palmer went for a walk,
children jee red , women crossed to
the o pposite side of the street,
while men snickered and sn eered.
One day four men ambushed
Palmer in front of his ho use. They
threw him down to the ground,
a nd whi le h olding him down,
struggled to cut off his beard with
a razor. Palmer managed to pull
out a pocket knife and put a cou-
Roger Williams
communicating with
the Peq uol em issaries.
.6~
lesson 16
pie of nasty cuts into the legs of
lwO of his assailants. The town
magistrate arrested Pa lm e r and
fin ed him for "unprovoked
assa ult." When Palm e r refused to
pa)', he was thrown in to the
Worcester j a il.
Whi le serving his sentence,
Pa lm e r smuggled some letters out
to hi s son, who had them pub-
lished in the Massachusetts Weekly
S/)'. Palmer's plea to the o utside
world was simple: Did not the
Constituti on give every ma n the
freedom to wear what he wanted ?
H enry Thoreau, Bronson Alcott,
a nd Ra lph Waldo Emerso n heard
his pl ea and rallied in his behalf.
With suc h a turn of eve nts, the
jaile r d ecided that h e co u ld go
h ome. H owever, Palmer refused to
leave unl ess the auth oriti es pub-
licly adm itted that he had a right
to wear a beard . One day the jailer
a nd his assistant si mply picked him
up in his cha ir, carried him out to
th e stree t, and left him th e re-wi th
his beard. Palm er died in 1875,
 The landing of Roger Williams.
fourteen yea rs after Preside nt
Lincoln was in augurated-wearing
a beard!
Palm e r's revolt against the
fashion of his day was for him a
matter of perso na l freedom. T hat's
genera lly the most common co n-
cern of every revo lu tion . In this
a nd th e n ext two lesso ns we wi ll
ex p lore several kinds of revolu-
tio ns that took p lace between the
closing decades of the 1700s and
th e openin g years of the 1900s.
Th e unique cha ll e nges and dra-
matic chan ges that took p lace dur-
in g th is tim e created a whole array
of deep-seated pro ble ms. At times
these were resolved in peaceful
ways, bu t in most cases they re-
sulted in bloodshed and vio le nce.
ROGER WILLIAMS
AND RHODE ISLAND
The eve nts th at eventua lly led
to the Ame rican Revo lu tion
involved po li tical and religio us
164
issues. In 1631, e leve n years a fter
the fo unding of th e first co lo ny,
Roger Wi lli ams came to America.
Like the earl y Pilgrims, he came to
e njoy re ligio us freedom, but unlike
th em , he believed that th is free-
dom sho uld be exte nded to a ll ,
whatever their creed. Affirming the
se pa ration o f church and state, he
declared that th e state h ad a n
o bligatio n to restrain crime but n o t
to co ntrol th e conscie n ce. He
beli eved that th e state could define
the duties between people bu t
never th e duty between the people
and the ir God.
Sh o rtly after his arrival,
Williams became the minister of
the Pilgrim Church at Plymo uth. It
was h e re that he made friends with
the Narraganset Indians a nd
learned their la nguage. His revolu-
tionary ideas about religious liberty
were not acceptable to colonial
church a uthoriti es, who main-
tained that suc h be liefs wou ld
 unde rmine governme n t authority.
Within a year Willia ms was ba n-
ished from the Massachusetts
colony. Leaving be hind his wife
a nd two childre n , he fl e d in to the
wilderness, amid the cold and
sto rms of win ter. For fo urteen
weeks he continued his pain ful
fli ght in the d ee p snows of th e for-
est. He fin ally found refuge with
the Indian tribe h e h ad befr iend ed
while at Plym o uth. Later th at sum-
m er h e purchased from the m a
plo t of land at th e m o uth of th e
Mohassuck River. T his was the
beginning of the state of Rhode
Island. Th e principl es of religious
freed om esta blishe d in 1647 by th e
governm e nt of Rh od e Isla nd
becam e the mode l for the fram e rs
of th e Co nsti tution nearl y 150
years later.
In th e mean tim e, th e sta te
church es in th e oth e r colonies con-
tinue d to create re ligious strife and
pe rsecution. We find a n example
of this in th e Q uake rs' expe ri e n ce .
Beca use the Q u ake rs opposed
established church es, the Massachu-
se tts colo ny proceed ed to pass laws
forbiddin g the m to ente r. In 1661
a law was passed imposin g the
d eath pe n a lty upon Q ua ke rs wh o
re turn e d to the colony afte r b e in g
b anishe d. But th ey continue d to
come , a nd by 1760 th e re we re
m o re than 30,000 Q u ake rs in
Am e rica.
In th e colonies, an establish ed
church was a state-contro lled
church. All citizen s of the state
were con side red m e mbe rs of th e
sta te church . The citize ns in those
colonies where the re was a n esta b-
lish ed church h ad to suppo rt it by
l OS
paying a re ligious tax. Only minis-
te rs of the establish ed church h ad
the autho ri ty to pe r form re ligious
ceremoni es. A law tha t allowed
o nly chu rc h m e mbers to vote or
ho ld o ffi ce was d esigne d to pre-
serve the purity of the sta te, but
instead , it becam e the basis for
much evil within th e church. Many
people, wanting civic privil eges,
joined th e church from self-serving
mo tives. Very quickly the church es
were ta ke n ove r by la ity a nd clergy
who h eld unbiblical views and were
ignora nt of the truths of the
gospel. Whe n ever th e church h as
a ppealed to th e sta te to support its
spiritual missio n , it has always led
to evil rath e r th a n th e good it se t
o ut to accomplish.
THE AMERICAN REVO LUTIO N
Freed o m was the unde rlying
issue in the Ame ri can Revolu tio n.
From th e poli tical side, th e
colonists stro ngly o pposed
England 's atte mpt to ra ise th e ir
taxes. O n the religio us side, the
Chu rch of England wante d to
appo int a p residin g bish op for th e
colonies. T h e Great Awake ning
had establishe d a re ligious bond
be tween the colonists, a nd they
rese nte d this kind o f authority
being imposed on th em. Wh en
E ngla nd moved to take away the
righ t of colonia l self-government,
th e war for inde pe nde nce began.
Whe n the Revolutionary War
broke out, the maj o rity of the
m e mbe rs and the cl e rgy of th e
establish ed churc hes in New
England re ma ined loyal to
Engla nd. In th e Middle colonies
th ey were abo ut equally divide d. In
th e southern colonies they took
th e ir sta nd o n the Ame rican side .
Though the Quakers and the
Moravians were conscientio us
objectors to war, th ey supported
the idea of inde pe ndence. With
the Revolu tionary War gainin g
independence from England for
the coloni es, th e re was also a
stro ng shift toward independence
for the church es from the state.
For th e colon ists, freedom from
oppression \vas as essential in re li-
gion as it was in gove rnment.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
What started out as an
American revolutio n for freedom
quickly spread to European shores.
The success of the American
Revolution greatly e ncouraged the
French people, who wanted poli ti-
cal, economic, and religious
changes in their own nation. The
spirit of the En ligh tenme nt a lso cre-
ated an aggressive mood for funda-
mental changes. Having been dom i-
nated by popes an d kings for cen-
turies, th e genera l population now
wanted a representative govern-
me nt, voting privileges, equal
opportunities to gain wealth, a nd
the freedom of public expression .
Th ese were some of the key issues
that igni ted the French Revolution
(1789-1797).
But th e re was another impo r-
tant factor. Lo ui s XV, who rul e d
Fra n ce from 1715-1774, distin-
g uish ed him se lf as a se ns ua l and
spe ndthrift monarch a nd left th e
nation in financia l c h aos wh en
h e died. His s uccesso r, Lo ui s
XVI, d ec id ed to reso lve the c ri sis
by taxing the wea lthy classes.
166
They angril y obj ected.
After much heated d ebate a n d
cOl1lroversy, o n July 14, 1789, a vio-
lent mob stormed the Bastille, a
tower in Paris used as a prison ,
wh ich was a h a te d symbol of
a bsolute rul e. After re leasin g the
prisoners, they march ed on tow n
ha ll , murde red the mayor of Paris,
a nd set up a new city governme n t.
The king, a t his palace in
Versailles, re luctantly accepted the
new government a nd ordered hi s
troops to leave Pari s.
The Nationa l Assembly,
alarmed by ra pidl y spreading vio-
le nce, acted swiftly. Within three
weeks it brought to an e nd a ll
class distin ctio ns. I t proceeded to
create a new kind o f government
for France, with a co nstitution
that wo uld include the prin c ipl es
of libe rty, equa li ty, an d the n atu ral
righ ts of the individual-the ideals
of the Enlightenment. The consti-
tution favored the bourgeoisie
(the midd le class), while the
nobility lost most of thei r privi-
leges. Everyone was to have eq ua l
status. Th e gove rnm ent took over
a ll church lands, took control o f
th e clergy, and e limin ated papal
control of the French c hurch .
Thirty to forty th o usan d p r iests
were drive n Ollt of their towns
into exile o r hiding.
As th e revoluti o n turned every-
thi ng upside down, thousands were
imprisoned or put to death. Lo uis
XVI himself was arrested a nd
beheaded by a guillotin e in a pub-
li c squa re. With fear, d isconte n t,
a nd confusion reigning supreme, a
huge mob e n tered the legislative
h all and threw o ut the moderate
French leaders. Extreme radicals
took control, igniting what has
been call ed the Reign of Terror
(1793-1794), when more th an fo rty
thousand people were beheaded.
The spirit of the Enlightenment,
which had sparked the revolution
for legitimate freedom, now lashed
out with all its fury against the
church, religion, and the Bible. A
new calendar was instituted to
remove all U'aces of Christianity. The
weekly day of worship was thrown
aside, and in its place every tenth
day was devoted to immoral revelry.
The worship of God was officially
abolished by law, and Bibles were
collected and publicly burned with
great fanfare. Churches were con-
verted into "Temples of Reason." In
the cathedral of Notre Dame in
Paris, the revolutionaries enthroned
a scantily dressed yo ung woman on
the high altar and hailed her as the
"Goddess of Reason."
In 1797, three and a half years
Roger Williams explores Rhode Island.
167
after a law had been passed to
abolish C hristiani ty, moderate lead-
ers regained control of France and
rescinded this legislation. The new
governme nt, weak and inefficient,
was unable to resolve serious lin-
gering problems. This provided the
opportun ity for a young lieutenant,
Napoleon Bonaparte, to step in
and lead France to the pinnacle of
power for nearly three decades.
REASONS FOR
A RUTHLESS REVOLUTION
In order to understand the full
significance of the French
Revolution, we need to identify
those events of past centuries that
set the stage for the anger, hatred,
and violence that characterized
this explosive confl ict.
For nearly 1300 years, begin-
nin g with the reign of Clovis in the
fifth century, France had been
under the contro l of the Roman
Cath o lic Church . During the Dark
 Ages the d o mina ti o n of the papacy
in France was o ppressive. The
Wa ld e nses tried to bring th e
church back to th e truths of
Sc ripture, bu t a ll atte mpts to
resto re biblica l fa ith or to reform
th e church were d ecisive ly crushed .
In th e late sixteen th cen tu ry, the
Hugue nots, fo llowe rs ofJ ohn
Calvin, we re slaughte red by the tens
of thousands, culminating in St.
Bartholomew's Massacre. Altho ugh
a peace ed ict was signed , it was la te r
revoked, Witll tho usands of me n,
wo men, and childre n be ing pu t to
deatll. Although some attempted to
hide in caves, deserts, and wilde rness
a reas, a round seve n hundred tho u-
sand to eigh t hundred thousand
Hugue nots fled to o ther countries.
Conseque ntly, France lost many of
its most able leade rs, its best schol-
ars, and its most skilled worke rs.
Centuries of papal pe rsecuLi o n
a nd domin a tio n left pe rma n e nt
scars upo n th e Fre nch. De p rived of
th e Bible, th e peop le knew very lit-
tle o f the saving a nd re newin g
powe r of th e gospe l. The ir hearts
we re harde n ed by extre mely ha rsh
church practices, ra the r tha n soft-
e ned by Christia n love a nd fo rg ive-
ness. Compo unding the proble m
was the ever-wide ning gap betwee n
the rich and th e poo r. As th e
wealthy grew mo re powe rful, they
became in creasin gly oppress ive.
When the church fa iled to con-
demn su ch a buse, it greatly inte nsi-
fi ed the ha tred of the poor for th e
rich with each passing gen e ra tio n.
Domin a te d by a church
steeped in huma n traditions, the
pe ople we re ke pt in ignora nce,
vice, and superstitio n so long tI,at
168
they we re incapable o f governin g
th e mselves. Having witnessed th e
bru tality of th e church ove r ce n-
turies of time, it ,vas o nly natural
for them to be h ave in like ma nn e r
when th ey ca me in to powe r.
When th e poorer classes took
control, they we re filled with bitter
me mo ries of the pain a nd suffe ring
tha t ti,e highe r classes had broug ht
upon the m. T hey we re d ete rm ined
to avenge the mselves. Galleys a nd
prisons th at o nce held the
Waldenses, refo rme rs, and
Hugue nots were now fill ed with th e
elite and church o ffi cials. Whe re
the Catho lic Church had o nce set
up stakes to burn dissente rs, revolu-
tionaries now set up the guillotine
to elimin ate the ir e ne mi es-the
wealth y, th e no bili ty, and the cl e rgy.
CATHOLICISM'S
CONTEMPT FOR DEMOCRACY
In both the Am e rican a nd
Fre nch Revolu tio n, Ro ma n
Catho licism was o pposed to the
idea of freed o m a nd basic hum a n
rights for whi ch bo th nations so
valia ntly struggled. Since th e
Protes tan t Refo rma tio n, th e drive
for re lig ious a nd civil libe rty h ad
take n roo t among th e comm o n
peopl e a n d was gainin g mo me n-
tum across Euro pe. T he revolutio n-
ary ideas of freedo m of th e press,
of religio n, o f consc ien ce, the co n-
cep t of ti,e people's right to ch oose
tll e ir rule rs, a nd the belief in th e
separati o n of church a nd sta te h ad
a ll bee n clea rl y sec ured in the New
World by th e Un ited Sta tes
Constitutio n. T his n ew wave of reli-
gious freed o m was a serious threa t
to Catholicism 's d ictatoria l ru le.
 T he Constitutio n of th e Un ited
States was o pe nly d eno un ced by
the pa pacy beca use it separated
church a nd state a nd pro h ibited
the esta bl ish me n t o f a re ligion by
th e gove rnment. T he popes had
lo ng requ ired governm e n ts to
ma ke Roman Cath o licism th e offi-
cia l re ligion a nd to pro hibit th e
practice of any othe r. In his
Syllabus of Errors, Po pe Pi us IX
soundly conde mn ed the be lief th at
"eve ry man is free to e mbrace a nd
pro fess the rel igio n he sha ll believe
tru e.'" H e decreed Ula t chu rch
and state must be un ited , tha t
Roma n Catho licism must be the
sta te religion eve rywh e re, thus
a llowing all people to e nj oy th e
blessin gs of Ro ma n Cath olic rule.
T his pa pa l obj ective fo r the Un ited
States has never bee n re tracted by
the Ro ma n Catho lic hie rarchy.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Wh a t importa nt lessons can we
learn from o ur study o f th e
Ame rican and Fre nch revolutions?
Alth o ugh these two confli cts we re
unlike in many ways, o ne essential
like n ess was th e ir comm o n struggle
for free do m a nd independe n ce.
But whe re the Am e ri can
Revo luti o n was te mpe red by
Christi an prin cipl es an d restraint,
the Fre nch Revo lutio n was steeped
S An(hor Text
"The Spi rit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and
recove ry of sight to the bli nd, to set free the oppressed " (Lu ke 4:18, TEV).
169
in pe nt-up rage . T h e ideals of th e
En lightenm e nt could no t by th e m-
selves bring abo ut a co nstructive
revo lutio n. Freedo m, equality, a nd
huma n rights are a blessing o n ly
wh e n th ey are based o n God's
Wo rd a nd e mpowere d by His
Spi rit. On its own, huma n nature is
too evil a nd self-se rvin g to accom-
plish Ule good we desire. Apa rt
fro m God, th e ideals a nd spirit of
th e world 's best phi losophies will
lead only to d estructive paths.
The Renaissance and th e
Enlightenment were a "re birth" of
learning-but no t the "new birth"
the Bible talks abo ut. T he fa ta l fl aw
o f th e Enligh te nme nt was that
huma ni ty placed a ll o f its h o pes
a nd dreams in its own reso urces . It
trus ted its own abilities a nd exalte d
its own efforts a n d accomplish-
ments. T he freedom so valia ntly
fo ugh t for turn ed in to bo ndage by
men 's passio n a nd greed . In
Christia ni ty, howevel; the be lieve rs'
resource is J esus. In J esus we are
first redeemed and re newed within.
By breaki ng the shackles of sin ,
J esus creates peace in o ur lives,
e nablin g us to establish peace in
o ur world . Ortly in J esus are we
truly free, a freedom not achieved
through human efforts but
received through the outpouring of
divine love.
l. In this lesson th ere is a great deal of focus upon the confl icts between
the upper a nd lower classes, between th e rich and th e poor. The Bible
has much to say about the n egative effects of wealth a nd riches. Read
the fo ll owin g texts and list those effects.
A. Matthew 6:19-24
B. Matth ew 19:21-24
C.James 5: 1-6
2. The struggles, the suffe ring, a nd the helplessness of the poor, needy,
and homeless has been a ch aracte ri stic of a ll ages and all nations. In
the following texts, God shares with us His con cerns and His counsel
regarding this segment of society. Write in you r own words the meaning
of the following texts.
A. Deu teronomy 15:7, 8, 10, 11
B. Psalm 82:2-4
C. Matthew 25:3J-40
D.James 2: 1-6
3. Revolution was Lucife r's idea. From the following texts, list the similari-
ties between Lu cifer's revolution in h eaven a nd th e French Revolution.
A. Isaiah 14:12-14
B. Ezekiel 28:2, 17-19
C. Revelation 12:7

1. Read again the section of your lesson What Does It All Mea n? Write a
description of a personal expe ri ence or a recent cu r rent even t that
illustrates one of the important principles that is presented in this sec-
tion.
2. The lesson states that the French peop le had observed so much b ru tal-
ity by the church and th e government that it was only natural for them
to act likewise. In other words, we do what we see others doing. Do one
of the fo ll owing two options.
A. Write a 200-word paper o n this topic: Explain or illustrate the prin-
ciple that we patte rn our lives after what we read, listen to, or
watch .
B. Make a coll age of newspape r a rti cles, headlines, or television pro-
gram listings that demonstrate h ow brutality, vio lence, and perver-
sion is encouraged and justified in today's world.

170
 focus Qu~stions
1. Do you think Am e ri ca will once again use th e law to e nforce relig io us
beli efs?
2. Wha t a re the legitimate ways Christi ans ca n become involved with poli-
tics a nd gove rnm e nt?
3. Wha t is the diffe re n ce between revolution a nd rebe lli o n?
4. Although th e Bible is no t prese n tly ban ned o r banished in most co un-
tries of the wo rld, wha t are th e mos t common ways tha t the Bible is
kept from people?
5. Why do people become athe ists?
6. Do you think th at th ere will be a revo luti o n of the poo re r cl asses
against the wealthy in Ame ri ca?
7. The lesson ti tle sta tes th at religion provokes revolutio n. Do you agree
or disagree? Did re lig io n provoke Lucifer 's re be llion in h eaven?
8. Wh at a re so me benefits and d a ngers involved in having th e ch urch a nd
state work togeth e r o n huma nita rian service proj ects?

* Dave Hun t, A Woman Rides lite Beast (Eugene, O rc.: I-Iarvest I-louse Publishers, 1995), 140.

171

AWorld of Unr~st and Unbelief
Lesson Setting
T he ninetee nLh cenLury (1800s) was an era whe n inve ntio ns brought
about vast social ch a nges, and hum anistic thought led to widespread
unbelief.
don't be lieve in God!"
l" What causes unbel ief?
Why do people become
atheists? Ma ny do not
be lieve in God because of
some mistaken views they
ho ld. For example, the idea
that the lost are eternally tortured
in a fiery h ell h as caused many to
become ske ptics and scoffers.
There a re those who become disil-
lusio ned by the hypocrisy they see
in the church . Oth ers have lost
th e ir fai th in God after a n over-
whelming personal tragedy has left
them with una nswered questions.
The fo ll owing letter from an
anonymous writer that ap peared in
a Chicago news pape r illustra tes
this attitude:
"I used to be a very zealous and
ded icated Christia n. I attended
church regularly and lived by very
high sta ndards. I did my very best
to serve God . One even in g while I
was away from h o me, my h o use
caught o n fire. My yo un g daughter
suffered third-d egree burns and
William BOOlh.
lesson I.,
died several h o urs late r in excruci-
ating pa in . The God I trusted for
protection and he lp didn't come
through when I needed Him.
"Right now I fee l the kindest
th ing I can say about this 'God' is
that I d on't be lieve He ex ists. H e is
a cold, merciless being, unreliable
and unfit to be call ed 'God.' You
may think I'm bitter and blasphe-
mo us, but how e lse ca n you
expla in these things? No o n e has
been able to give me a satisfactory
answer. I need h e lp!" Signed : "An
Athe ist in Chicago."
T h e Bible says th at unbe lief is a
natural expression of our pride
and sinfulness. Sin creates hostility
again st our Creato r a nd makes us
suspicious of His laws and resentful
of His ways. It triggers within us a n
overpowering desire to be our own
"God" and to fantasize the
Almigh ty out of existe nce . It's
amazing wh at people wi ll decide to
believe in just to be able to push
God o u t of th e ir thoughts. The
Bible affirms this when it says, "Th e
fool says in his heltrt, There is no
God ' " (Psalm 53:1, emphasis sup-
plied). To close our eyes to the over-
whelming evide nce of the Creator's
existen ce is just as foolish as a child
who, having closed his eyes, believes
that the sun no longer exists.
EVOLUTION
UNDERMINES THE BIBLE
During th e second ha lf of the
ninetee nth century, the hum an istic
ideas that led the way to the
French Revoluti o n brought a bout a
notable increase of unbeli ef. The
key eve nt that gave great momen-
tum to deism a nd e me rging ath e-
ism was the publica tion of Cha rles
Darwin's book Origin of SjJecies in
1859. Of course, the idea of evolu-
tion existed long before Darwin 's
time . But his book not only gave a
clear presentation as to how it may
have happened , it also came a t a
time when the intellectual climate
readily favored its teachin gs.
Tn th e Origin of Species, Darwin
turned the world upside down by
explaining the origin of the uni-
verse and li fe on this earth without
a divine Creator. In stead of God 's
creatin g th e world in six literal
days, Darwin claimed that all living
things evolved from simpler life
fo rms over millions of years of
time. Tn a late r book, The Descent of
Man (1871), he concluded that
huma n beings and apes had a com-
mon ancestor.
Al tho ugh evollIlion was a sha rp
break £i'om the biblical view of
Creation, there were those wh o saw
it fitting quite nicely with th e
increasingly popular views of deism.
For them, God had been working
174
for ages through natura l law, slowly
building the universe as we find it
today. Those who h eld to such a
belief could say, "Some call it evolu-
tion; we call it God. " Th us e me rged
the istic evolution, the idea that evo-
lution complemented, rather than
contradicted, biblical Christia nity.
By the turn of th e ce ntu ry, most
"en lightened" people accepted as
fact th e developme n t of the uni-
verse through evolutio n. T h e evolu-
tionary world view quickly affected
all areas of learning and human
experie nce. Christian ity was re-
interpreted as the product of an
evolu tionary process. Conseque n tly,
many viewed the Bible as simply
o ne of many religio us writin gs a nd
were d oubtful of its in C:tllible
autho rity and its miraculous nature.
J esus was seen as just o ne of many
religious leaders, no lo nger the
divine Son of God. Human nature
was regard ed as essen tially good,
impelling humankind in its upward
climb toward "the golde n age."
Society readily took the n ext
ste p in the process of unbe lief by
declaring that the Genesis accou n t
of Creatio n was simply a myth. It
was a rad ical de parture from th e
medieval concept that th e earth
was the center of the universe (and
the center of God's attention), to
the modern notion that the earth
was just a huge chunk of matter
fl oating in space without rhyme or
reason. And how o ne views the
beginning of human existe nce
d etermin es how one in te rprets th e
past, makes sense of the present,
and prepares fo r the future . In dis-
missi ng God as th e Creator o f
physical li fe, evolution rejected
God as our Savior and the Giver of
eternal life!
THE IMPACT OF THE
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution
refers to the rapid economic
growth and social upheaval that
occurred in Europe and the
United States in the nineteenth
century. At first , many saw it as an
evolu tionary move ment that would
usher in an era of peace and pros-
perity. The changes that took
place were mainly the result of
A factory during th e Industrial Revo lution
175
new methods of production-
power-driven machin ery replacing
hand tools. Small farms were
replaced by large factori es, large
factories meant larger cities, a nd
all of this added up to a wide a rray
of new and devastating problems.
No one was prepared to deal
with the calamities that took place
when millions of un e ducated and
unskilled people began to move
into urban (city) areas. Unpaved
streets llowed with sewage and
were cluttered with piles of
garbage. Lighting was poor, water
 supply deficient, and living condi-
tions were deplorable as small
towns turn ed in to major slums. In
Bi rmingham, an English city of
170,000 people, pigs were being
used to get rid of garbage. Diseases
of a ll kinds were widespread.
The Industrial Revolution
changed life suddenly a nd dramati-
cally. Inve n tions of new and power-
ful machines increased productivity
but also human suffering. Society
was caugh t off guard by the h ost of
evils th at accompanied th ese
chan ges. Quickly constructed facto-
ries were eith e r extremely hot or
cold, unventilated, unsanitary, and
unsafe. Horrible cases of mangled
and crushed li mbs were common,
and any accide nt a worke r might
suffer was considered a res ult of his
own n egligence . T he e mployer
could n ot be held responsible for
any kind of medi cal help, hea lth
insurance, or compensation.
Wom e n and ch il dre n often
wor ked alongside the men. Poverty
forced women to toi l until a day or
two befo re deli very of th eir babies,
and th ey almost immediately
reported back to work. Many mills
and factori es e mployed youngsters
as young as seve n or e ight years of
age. And th e work days were
twelve to fiftee n hours of hard
la bor for minimum wages . The
workers and the ir families gen e rally
lived in a single room in a dirty
tenelnent and ,,,'ere fortunate if
th ey didn't have to share it with
other fami lies . T h e hec tic pace
and d emands of the Industria l
Revolution seemed to h ave no
boundaries. Slowly, cries began to
be h eard for reforms a nd laws th at
176
would improve th e miserable
plight of th e workers.
THE BEGINNING
OF SOCIAL REFORMS
One of th e g reates t efforts in
soc ia l reform was the campaign
against slavery. T h e first battle
was for th e abo liti on of slave
trade , the captu ring of Negroes
in Africa and shipping them for
sale to the West Indi es. Th e
E ng lish h ad e nte re d this trad e in
1562, a nd it h ad g rown to e n or-
mous proportions. Many
Engli shmen co nsidered th e slave
trade as an important part of
th e ir country's commerce and
economy. Le d by the Christian
statesman William Wilberforce,
England abo lish e d slave trade in
1807, and in 1833 the
Eman cipation Act freed slaves
throughout the British Empire.
During th e latter part of the
nin e teenth cenlU ry, oth er impor-
tant political c h anges occurred,
o ne be ing the ri gh t of a ll me n to
vote . Up to th at tim e, property-
ownin g classes did not a llow me n
without property to vote. Shortly
th e reafter, there was a ca ll for
equal legal a nd poli tical rig hts for
women. By the e nd of the nin e-
teenth centu ry, women in most
Western countri es could legally
own property. But the r ight to
vote was not given to ,,,ro men until
the twe n tieth century, with
Norway and the United States
being the first nations to grant
wome n th at privilege .
Near the e nd of the 1800s, th e
o rganizatio n of labor unions
enabl ed workers to legally barga in
 The Salvatio n Arm y sought to meet the needs of the poor and ho meless.
with e mploye rs fo r be tte r wages
a nd improved wo rking condi tions.
As a resul t, governm e nts began to
regul ate working co nditi o ns by
e n fo rcin g work cod es a nd child-
la bo r laws. No childre n unde r te n
co uld work, and wo me n and chil-
dre n we re limite d to te n-h our
d ays a nd a six-day week. At th e
sa me time, a n a tio n a l syste m of
prima ry a nd seconda ry educa tion
was starte d.
Unfortuna te ly, th e churches
we re no t in a strong position to
h e lp out because of th e n ew tre nd
of sepa ra tion of church a nd state.
T his divisio n resulted in society
ofte n viewing th e church as la rgely
irrelevant or powe rless to do much
a bo u t the abuse a nd suffe ring of
th e worke rs. But ma ny Christians
did speak out against the a buses
177
suffe red by the working class.
Amo n g the m ost e ffective we re
Willia m a nd Cathe rin e Booth and
th e ir military-like o rganization
calle d the Salva tio n Arm y. Within
e leve n years they had establishe d
thirty-two statio ns in Lo ndon ,
whe re the gospe l was preach e d a nd
care was exte nded to th e poor a nd
ho meless.
THE SEEDS OF
COMMUNISM ARE SOWN
An o th e r move me nt arose in
th e 1800s th a t pro posed a revolu-
tio n a ry way of solvin g th e socia l
c risis of th a t day. Tn 1848, Ka rl
Ma rx a nd Frie dri ch E n gels pub-
lishe d th e Communist M anifesto.
T his d oc um e nt urged a whol e
n ew sch e me of soc ia l refo r m tha t
rej ec te d bo th re lig io n a nd capi tal-
ism (an eco n o mi c sys te m b ased
o n private own ersh ip of good s
and in which productio n a nd
prices a re governed by co mpeti-
ti o n in a free market). Capita lism
was seen as pro moting greed a nd
se lf-in te rest, an d re ligio n was
viewed as me re ly a too l of th e
middle class (b ourgeoisie) to
keep its co n trol over the masses.
Marx was a revolu tio na ry wh o
be li eved th at soc iety co uld r ig h t
its wron gs o nly th rou gh class
stru ggle, with th e working class
takin g ove r co n tro l fro m the mid-
dl e a nd upper classes . Marx
warn e d , "Let th e rulin g classes
tre mbl e a t a Com munistic revolu-
ti o n . T h e prol etari a ns (th e work-
e rs) h ave n o thi ng to lose but th e ir
ch a ins. T h ey h ave a wo rld to win.
Wo rkin g men of a ll co untri es,
unite,'" Marx's w ritin gs were
extreme ly influ ential, a ttested by
th e fact th a t n ea rly h a lf of th e
world 's gove rnme nts during much
Charles Darwin .
178
of th e twe n tie th ce n tu ry we re pat-
te rn e d afte r his teachings.
Mar x turne d away from
Christiani ty wh e n h e failed to see
th e church es exp ress real co ncern
regarding th e wre tch ed condi tio n
of the workers. U nfortuna te ly, too
often Ch ristians have ig nored th e
cries of th e poor and the oppressed .
Influe n ced by huma nism a nd evo-
lution, Marx never acknowled ged
th at th e Scriptures bold ly condem n
th e oppressio n of th e poor by the
ri ch. J esus, the a postle Paul , a nd
th e Old Testame n t proph ets
stron gly e ncouraged the people to
care fo r the n eeds o f th e widows,
th e ho me less, and the p oo r. Marx
attacked Christianity for its lack of
concern for th e sufferin g, yet la rge
numbe rs o f people h ave tu rned
th e ir back o n Commu nism fo r th e
ve ry same reason .
What Marx fail ed to unde r-
sta nd was tha t greed , se lfishn ess,
a nd a lack of co n ce rn for o n e's
Karl Ma rx.
n e ig h bors a re evils foun d in a ll
leve ls of soc ie ty. Ma rx fa lsely
assumed th at thro ug h revo lu tio n
th e wo rkin g cl ass woul d beco me
th e ru ling class, thus reso lving
soc iety's prima ry pro b le m. Bu t
hi story has cl ea rl y de mo nstra te d
that turn in g th e tables simply
lead s to th e o pp ressed beco min g
th e o p p resso r. Co mmun ist
regi mes thro ugh o u t th e wo rl d
h ave give n bru ta l evide n ce of th a t
fact. Mo re th a n revolution , peop le
n eed redemption . Mo re th a n ne w
lead e rsh ip , th ey n eed J es us.
Society's greatest need is not for
roles to be reversed by earthly
conflict but for hearts to be
changed by the power of God.
AMERICA'S SOCIAL CRISIS
En gla nd h a d in stitu ted man y
re fo r ms in b e h a lf of th e wo rkin g
people befo re America eve n rec-
ogn ized that it face d th e same
soc ia l crisis. With milli o ns of
A meri ca ns wallo\\'in g in pove rty,
fi lth, a nd degrad a tio n , th e socia l
ill s o f th e Un ited Sta tes we re pe r-
haps eve n more se ri o Lis than
th ose of Eng land . Be twee n 1868
a nd 1875, it is estima ted th at on e-
h a lf of New Yo rk ci ty's o ne mi ll io n
people lived in slums. Livin g con-
di tio ns were as dread fu l as those
of Lo ndo n . Fro m th e h eat o f the
mi lls, th e smoke of th e fac tories,
th e sto n e dust of th e qu a rries, the
toxic fum es of th e c h e mi cal
p la nts, o r th e coal d ust of th e
m ines, it is estim ate d that o ne
m illi o n Am e ri cans were injure d
or di ed yearl y fro m wo rk-re la te d
mish aps. Th e re was n o co mpe nsa-
tio n fo r a n accid e nt, eve n if th e
179
pe rso n was inj u red for life .
Pe rha ps the most crue l as pect
of th e industrial revo lu tio n was the
e m p loyme n t o f chi ld re n in the
sweatsho ps. An 1870 ce nsus put
ch ild worke rs at a stagge ring
700,000, and by ] 890 it ha d
in creased to over 1.7 milli on. T h e
ve ry core of socie ty-the hom e, th e
sch ool, a nd the chu rc h were be ing
ravaged by th e h a rsh a nd inhu-
ma n e de ma nds of th e workp lace .
THE SOCIAL GOSPEL
T he Scriptures make it clear that
God expects us to coope ra te with
Him in helping the poor and the
oppressed a nd also to work for social
justice. The Bible is fi lled with com-
mands to feed the hung'} a nd pro-
vide fo r the needs o f the unem-
ployed and the home less. As the ir
lives are changed by the Holy Spiri t,
God 's people are to help b ring about
justice in the world aro und them.
T he Industria l Revolu tio n led
to ma ny social refo rm movetne n ts.
O ne of th ese was a re ligio us move-
me nt th a t ca me to be kn own as
th e "socia l gospe!. " Respondin g to
th e imme nse crises of th ese tim es,
th e social gospe l took the lead in
ca ll in g fo r th e same refo rms in
th e U ni ted Sta tes that had already
taken p lace in Eng la nd . T h e lead-
ers o f the moveme n t rea lized th at
a ll a tte mpts to resolve Ame rica's
soc ia l cri ses wo uld fa il if they
neglected th e sp iritua l issu es
involved. T h e socia l gospel move-
ment foste red th e idea tha t th e
transfo rmation of ind ividuals was
n o t e no u gh ; society itse lf must be
c ha nged. In see king to b rin g
abo ut a new society-a heaven on
earth- the moveme nt te nded to
n eglect pre paring for e te rna l life .
The social gos pe l, however, rightly
maintaine d that though
Christia nity's primary conce rn is
people's eternal d es tiny, th e ir tem-
poral n eeds must not be ig nore d.
During His life on earth, J esus
h ealed th e sick, h elped the poor,
and fed th e hungr y. By first taking
care of people's physical n eeds,
H e opened their h earts to mee t-
in g their spiritual needs . Wh e n
Christians d e mon strate compas-
sion for people's physical n eed s,
unbe lieve rs will becom e more
receptive to the spiritual claims
prese nte d to them.

S Anchor T~xt
"Co me to me, all you who are weary and burdened, a nd I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you a nd learn from me, for I am gentle a nd hum-
ble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matth ew 11 :28, 29) .

l. T he lesson indicates that there a re many reasons for unbe lief.

Summa rize what each of the following texts has to say regard ing the
loss of be lief in God .
A. Psalm 53:1-3
B. Isaiah 47:10
C. J o hn 3:19-21
D. Romans 1:1 8-23
2. It is natural for us to bla me our problems a nd fa ilures on so meone
e lse. Karl Marx fo llowed this line of reasoning wh en h e maintain ed
that if th e working class co uld take over, the world's proble ms wou ld
b e resolved.
Write a 250-word respo nse to the co mm o n a ttitude of b la ming
others. In co rpora te into yo ur pa pe r ideas from "Th e Seeds of
Co mmunism Are Sown " section of the lesso n n arra tive and from the
following texts: Isaiah 53:6; Luke 18: 10, 11 ; Matthew 7:3,4; Romans
2: 1; a nd J ere miah 17:5.

lao
 Proj~(ts
1. Write a le tte r in respo nse to the "Athe ist in Chicago" th at was me n-
ti o ned in the lesson na rrative.
2. In groups of three o r four, discuss th e fo llowing issue: Industrial revo lu-
tio n is a process th at continues at th e present tim e . In what ways (pro
an d con ) does th e advanceme nt of techn o logy affect th e social a nd
spiri tu al life of people today?
...............................................................................................
focus Qu~stions
1. H ow should we un de rstand Go d 's promises to keep us safe in light of
a ll the tragedies tha t ha ppe n ?
2. H ow would you respo nd to th e ath e ist's conte ntio n tha t God is simply
the resul t of people's imagination ?
3. Setting aside its a th e istic beliefs, does Communism h ave g reater bibli-
cal support tha n capitalism ?
4. What do ),ou see as th e pros and cons of the social gospel?
5. In what ways is th e istic evolu tion mo re d etrime nta l to Christia ni ty th an
athe istic evolutio n?
6. Why a re people (including Christia ns) so prone to ig no re th e poo r, the
h o me less, a nd the d isadvantaged ?

* Bruce Shell ey, Church. I-HslO1Y in Plain Language (Waco, Tex.: Wo rd Books, 1982), 430 .

•••

Whil~ th~ World Waits
Lesson Setting
Ch ristianity's vario us atte mpts to eva nge lize th e world a nd the role
o f Pro testantism in nin e teenth-centu ry Ame rica.
uli e was a youn g bride
from an Easte rn state
who was d etermin ed to
accompany h e r husband
to a n a rm y training camp
located near the
"'_ _ _01 Cali fornia-Arizona bor-
der. Th e only housin g th ey cou ld
find was a sh ack n ear a Native
America n vil lage. The tempera-
ture wou ld rise to a miserable
11 5 d egr ees durin g the daytim e
a nd coo l off ve ry li ttl e at n ig ht.
The wind b lew co nsta ntly, cover-
in g everythin g with dust and
sa nd . Sin ce no n e of h e r n e igh -
bors co u ld speak En glish , Juli e
found th e days unbea ra bly long
a nd borin g.
Wh e n h er hu sba nd was
o rd ered fa r th e r into the d ese rt
for two weeks of intens ive train-
in g, lo ne lin ess a nd wretched liv-
in g con dition s finally go t to h er.
O ut o f despe ra ti o n, Juli e wrote a
letter to h er moth e r, saying that
she was com in g h o me . I n a few
days sh e rece ived a rep ly that
included th ese lin es :
.B~
vVilliam Carey.
lesson I .
Two me n looked out
from priso n bars,
On e saw mud,
th e other the stars.
T hese simple lin es made Julie
aware that h er focus need ed to
change. She determ ined to make
friends with he r ne ighbors a nd
become acqua inted with their cul-
ture. As their frie ndship developed ,
he r ne ighbors taught he r how to
make exq uisite ly designed tapestries
a nd po tte ry. Gradua lly Julie became
in creasingly fascinated with he r
unique surroundings, and the area
changed from a place o f bleakness
to o ne of beauty. Eve ntua lly she
wrote a book d escribing he r unfor-
ge ttable adve nture and exciting dis-
coveri es.
Julie's expe rie nce illustrates
how we can e ith e r be side tracked
or stay on track by wha t captures
o ur a tte ntio n. Thus Christ's last
words to His disciples are highly
sign ifica nt: "Go an d ma ke disciples
of a ll nations, ba ptizin g th e m in
the name of th e Father a nd of the
Son and of the Ho ly Spirit"
(Matthew 28:19) . Unfortunate ly,
proclaiming the good news of th e
gospel to all the wo rld was even tually
lost sight of by th e Christian
Church as its fo cus was narrowe d
by other matte rs. After eighteen
ce nturies, Christianity had a very
limited view of its global mission.
The world was still waiting for it to
become a worldwide re ligion.
CATHOLICISM
PROMOTES MISSION WORK
For about 150 years followin g
the Reformation , Roman Catholics
we re zealous in converting the peo-
ple of newly discovered lands to the
Catholic faith. [n this way th e
church could make up for so me of
the losses it had suffered in Eu rope
as a result of the Reformation.
During this time the Roman
Catholic countries of Spain and
Portugal d ominated the era of
exploration and discovety. T he
kings of these two countries were
commissioned by the pope to evan-
gelize the lands conquered by their
explorers. Thus, with Dominicans,
Franciscans, and Jesuits on nearly
every ship, the drive for spices, gold,
and new trade routes was matched
by the desire to p roclai m the
Catholic fa ith to the unchurched.
An unde rlyin g p roblem tha t
occurs with a ny missionary en-
deavor is th e issue of diverse cul-
tures. Culture is the particul ar way
a community of peopl e live th e ir
lives, a way that has been passed
down to them from one generation
to another. It is what makes peo ple
distinct from each other.
Missionaries' work is complica ted
I ••
by the fact th at the way peopl e wor-
ship and express their re lig ion is
greatly influe nced by culture, a nd
vice versa. Early Christian mission-
aries wondered how they were to
relate to hea the n cultures. Shou ld
they suppress or d estroy all forms
o f heath enism in order to establish
biblical faith , or sho uld tll ey seek
out what was good in a h eathe n
culture a nd use it in a positive way?
The first approach was the poli cy
of conquest; th e second was o n e o f
adaptation.
TURNING TO
AGGRESSIVE EVANGELISM
During the earl y centuries of
Christianity, the idea of adaptation
was practiced , but during the
Middle Ages a diffe rent attitude
develope d. In th e seventh century,
the Crusades were organized to
overthrow the Muslims, foll owed by
centuries of pe rsecu tion and
sla ughte r of Christian heretics.
Such mi lita nt activity resulted in
aggressive domination replacin g
persuasive eva ngelism in most mis-
sionary endeavors. Wa rs of brutality
were waged , a nd mass destruction
of pagan temples and idols was
commonplace in ti, e New Wo rld.
In the 1500s, Spain 's Pizarro over-
threw the mig hty Inca civilization
whi le Cortez d estroyed the great
Aztec empire o f Mex ico. In 1531
ti,e Roman Catholic bishop in
Mexico reported that 500 te mpl es
and 20,000 pagan idols had been
destroyed. The la nds that were cap-
tured and plundered by the con-
quistadores (co nque rors) were di-
vided up and given to the Span ish
soldie rs.
 Spa in 's initial policy toward
Native Americans granted Spanish
colonists the right to use the m to
do slave labor in the mines and th e
plantations. An entire village could
be assigned to on e Spanish
landowne r. As a result of cruel treat-
men t and deadly diseases, within
o ne century the population in Latin
America shrank from about twenty
million to abo ut four million . Since
the Indians were guilty of barbaric
be havio r and idolatry, the Spa nish
fe lt justified in th eir actions. War
against them , in the minds of th e
Spa niards, was like Israel's righteous
wars against the godless Canaani tes.
Due to such treme ndous loss of
lives, the Spanish governme nt
impo rted mo re than eleven million
African slaves to wo rk in the
Spa nish colo nies.
Some missiona ries defended
brutality against the Indians, declar-
ing that th ese wild and barbarous
peoples could not be led to
David Livingstone, missionary/ explore r to Africa.
las
Christia ni ty without the use of fo rce.
Othe rs, however, openly de nounced
the cruelties that were be ing carried
out in the n ame of Ch ristiani ty.
Between 1493 an d 1820, Spain
se nt mo re th an 15,000 mission aries
to the Am ericas. Within fiftee n
years after the Spanish conque red
Mexico, it is estim ated th a t Ro man
Catho li c m issio naries had bapti zed
mo re tha n five m illio n Mex icans,
some times th ousands in o ne d ay.
Since these mass bap tisms were
gen e rally prompte d by fear, m ost
of the conver ts did not comple tely
give up the ir h eathen ways. T h ey
ofte n ble nde d ch erish e d pagan rit-
uals with Catholic customs and fes-
tivals, a mixture of Christia n be lief
with h eathe n magic a nd supe rsti-
tion th at is still ve ry popul ar to day.
PROTESTANT MISSIONS BEGIN
T h e first great thrust for world-
wide Protestant missions was sta rte d
by William Carey (1761- 1834), gen-
erally known as th e "Fath er of
Modern Missions." Carey was an
English shoemaker, with very little
formal education, who had a
tremendous desire to read and
learn on his own. At the age of
eighteen he became a Christian,
and shortly thereafter he accepted
the position as the pastor of the
Moulton Baptist Chapel.
As a result of Bible study and
personal observations, Carey came
to the following conclusions. First,
it is the duty of all people to
repent, believe, and to receive sal-
vation through faith in Jesus.
Second, it is the obligation of
believers to make the gospel
known to all the world. It was his
conviction that the saving truths of
God's Word were not the private
possession of European people.
He opposed the common be li ef
that since it was God alone who
decided wh e th e r a person was
saved or lost, believers had nothing
to do with th e salvatio n of othe rs.
Third, as explo re rs ha d conquered
entire heath e n na tions for their
country, so e ntire h eath e n nations
could be evangeli zed for God.
Carey maintain ed tha t if explore rs
could give all they h ad to gain
financial profits, believe rs should
do no less to ga in the unsaved for
the kingdom of God.
In 1792 Carey and eleven
Baptist colleagues formed the
Baptist Missionary Society, a nd
within a year he and h is family were
on their way to India. Carey was
convinced that in order for mis-
sionary work to be truly successful ,
Christianity must be rooted in the
culture and traditions of the land in
1.6
which it is planted. This became the
trademark of all fclture missions.
Th e modern missionary must
learn to unde rstand the people to
whom the gospel is prese nted. He
or she must know the ir language,
history, customs, and, above a ll ,
their religion . Usually the people
with whom the missionaries work
are apprehensive of another cu l-
ture and generally suspicious of
fore igners. They wan t to rema in
faithful to the religion and the cul-
ture that has been passed down for
generations. Only through the
power of the Holy Spirit can hearts
be moved to give up traditional
beliefs and accept the gift of salva-
tion through faith in Jesus Christ.
For twenty-five years Carey
courageously studied Hindu beliefs
and customs. Without financia l aid
from any church and battling all
sorts of hosti li ties and hardships,
he organ ized a growing network of
mission stations. By 1824 Carey had
not only bui lt several churches,
established schools, and set up a
printing shop, but he had also
translated the Bible into six lan-
guages and had supervised the par-
tial translations of the Bible into
twenty-four Indian dialects.
By the end of the n ineteenth
century, almost every Christian
church in nearly every country was
engaged in a m issionary enterprise
overseas. In contrast to earlier mis-
sionary work, modern missionaries
we nt without state support and
worked entirely on the premise of
p e rsuasion rather than force. A
wide variety of humanitarian min-
istries accompanied the preaching
of the gospel. Mission programs
included schools, hospita ls, fa rms,
ind ustries, and cente rs fo r trainin g
n ative people to h e lp ca rry o u t this
work.
Wha t Luth e r was to th e
Reform atio n, Ca rey was to mis-
sio ns. Christi a n mi ssion s h ad to
b e transformed just as s u rely as
Ch r istia n be li efs h a d to be
re formed three ce nturies earli e r.
Apa rt from th e love a nd teach-
in gs of J es us, both be lief a nd ou t-
reach h ad su cc umbe d to huma n
se lfishn ess a nd greed .
THE DECLINE
AND REVIVAL OF RELIGION
A promin e nt fac to r in th e
d eve lopm e nt of the U ni ted States
was th e ever-expa ndin g Weste rn
fronti er. Between 1792 and 1821
nin e new sta tes we re added to th e
o rigina l thirteen. Th ese three
d ecades were ma rked by a n in cred-
ible low in spiri tua l g rowth an d
vitality. The majo r ity of frontie r
peopl e were ind iffe re n t to re li gio n;
a nd fi ghting the In d ians, ha rd
drinking, a nd ge ne ra l lawlessness
was th e order of th e day. Along
with this, th e wid esp read influe nce
of European de ism a nd a th e ism
led to widesp read ske pticism.
Perhaps th e most infl ue ntia l
Ame ri can de ist was T ho mas Paine,
whose pamphle t "T he Age o f
Reason" boldly d e n oun ced th e
Christia n fa ith. Most churches were
unable to effectively d eal with th is
c risis of unbelief because o nly 5 to
10 percent of th e American peop le
we re chu rc h members a t the time.
But just as th e first G reat
Awake n ing (1720- 1760) spi ritually
revived Ame rica du rin g th e e igh-
1 87
tee n th ce n tu ry, so a Second G reat
Awaken ing (1 800- 1830) renewed
th e people's in terest in bi bli cal
fa ith a nd th e Christi a n life. An
unusual characte risti c o f the sec-
ond great revival was th e use o f
camp meetings. Th e pe ople
bro ught th eir provisions a nd spe nt
severa l days campin g o n th e
gro unds whe re th e revival meeti ngs
we re he ld. T h e re were lo ng rows of
te n ts, illumin ate d by hund reds of
campfires a nd lan terns ha ngin g o n
tree limbs. Day a nd nigh t you
could h ear eloqu e nt preaching,
earnes t p rayin g, a nd tearful con-
fess ing of sin. T h o usands of m e n,
wome n, and childre n woul d j o in
th e ir voices in singing gospe l
songs. T his was indeed a n excell en t
opp ortunity for circui t-
riding preach e rs to b ring salvati o n
to th e fo lk of th e back co untry.
Highly e motio nal meetin gs, some-
ti mes lasting far in to the nigh t,
us ua lly e nded with hundre ds o f
peo ple walking d own "th e sawdust
tra il ," giving the ir lives to J esus.
An imm edia te result of the
Seco nd Great Awake ning was the
fo r mation o f missiona ry a nd Bible
soc ieties a nd the establishm e nt of
many Christi a n colleges . T h e re was
a great n eed for training Christian
pastors, fo r publishing Christian li t-
erature, a nd for tra ining people to
d o missio na ry work. T he primary
foc us of the mission a ry a nd Bible
soc ie ti es was to bring th e gospel to
th e un church ed at ho me, espe-
cially to the people on th e fronti e r,
th e Na tive Ame ri cans, a nd th e
slaves. In time , th is focus was
b road e ned to incl ude missio n work
in fo re ign countries.
 The Mmning SLar, a vessel used in mission service amo ng
black Americans in the South, USA.
THE AMERICAN
CHURCHES AND SLAVERY
The greatest challenge [or the
United States during th e turbu le nt
nineteenth ce ntury was the prob-
le m of slavery. Slavery on American
soil began o n August 20, 1619,
when twe nty African slaves were
unloaded from a Dutch frigate at
Jamestown , Virginia. When the
Declaration of Inde pe ndence was
signed 150 yea rs later, o ne out o f
every five residents of th e n ew
nation was African or o f Afri can
d escent. Throughou t colonial
times slave ho lding was a generally
accepted practice. Not o nly
landown e rs, but a lso national
lead e rs and th e clergy, were slave
owners. By 1830 th ere were over
two milli o n slaves. Every time a
n ew state was added to the Un ion,
every time settle rs moved o ut to
new lands, the same b urning ques-
tion was asked-should the n ew
te rritory be slave or free?
Looking back, one wonders
I ••
how a de mocrati c nation guided by
Christian princ iples could give its
approval to th e slavery of mi ll io ns.
No doubt th ere were many rea-
sons, but we will focus on only two .
First, there were economic reasons.
The inve ntio n of the cotton gin in
1792, as well as the invention of
machin ery for spinning a nd weav-
ing cotton , bro ught a bout a
change o[ attitude toward slavery.
Cotton rapidly became the most
important American product, a nd
in th e South it was common ly
thought that cotto n could not be
profitably ra ised without slave
labor.
Second, there were religio us
reasons. Most colo nial Christians
found no reason to oppose slavery,
for ever since the New Testarnen t
era, the churc h had e mbraced
both slaveh o lders and slaves. From
the start, o nly the Quakers a nd the
Am ish took a definite stand against
slavery. As th e a n tislavery move-
ment beca me more widespread ,
slave owners began to defend slav-
ery as a Christian institution.
Didn 't Israel h ave slaves? Neither
Christ nor the New Testament pro-
hibited slavery. It was even pre-
sented as a blessing because it h ad
taken the Africans away from hea-
thenism, giving them the be n efits
of a modern civilization and access
to the Christian fa ith.
Opponents declared that slav-
ery was contrary to the "gold e n
rule" and the sp iri t of Christiani ty.
Stealing people was a crime in bi b-
lical times, a nd most importan t, all
people were descendants of Ad am,
with no distinction made in status
or treatme nt. Interestingly, the
Bible was freely used by those wh o
supported slavery, as well as by
those who opposed it. As a result,
serious rifts developed between
Christians in the South and those
in the North. Be tween 1845 and
1861 the Baptists, th e Methodists,
the Presbyterians, and the
Episcopalians all spl it into so uth-
ern and northern denominations
over the slavery issue.
And so the Civil War was
fought, with nearly 620,000 men
losin g their lives. How tragic that it
took the loss of so many lives for
America to see the blind spot in its
dream for a Ch ristian democracy.
Even so, the deeper issue of racial
equali ty was not legally resolved
until the middle of the twentieth
century. But there is a limit to what
can be accomplished by warfare
a nd judicia l decrees. Legislated
equali ty is not the same as genuine
brotherhood. Racial strife, rivalry,
and in equity are much d eeper
than outward social injustice.
IBO
These attitudes spring forth from
human h earts that are sinfully
biased and self-serving. En forcin g
laws can compel outward compli-
ance, but only the indwelling pres-
ence of Christ can create inward
compassion. New laws are tempo-
rary adjustme n ts, but new hearts
a re th e u ltimate solution, empow-
e ring us to love and respect those
who are diffe rent from us.
THE ADVENT MOVEMENT
A re ligious movement emerged
from the Second Great Awakening
in th e 1830s that was significantly
differe nt from all previous American
revivals. As J esus was uplifted before
the people, the Advent movement
powerfully emphasized the nearness
of His second coming. This climac-
tic eve nt had been greatly neglected
by most ch urches because of the
popular view that tl1e re would be a
millennium (1000 years) of world-
wide peace before Christ's second
advent.
As the adve nt preachers, such
as William Miller, proclaimed that
Christ's return would take place in
1843 or 1844, th ose who believed
this startling message were e ithe r
expelled or voluntarily withdrew
from their ch urch es. As clergymen
became increasingly h ostile to the
views of the advent movement, the
Millerites (also called Adventists)
adopted the idea of camp meet-
ings. This manner of evangelism
allowed adve nt preachers to freely
proclaim their beliefs to great
throngs of people, despite mount-
ing opposition. Between 1841 and
1844, it is estimated that one hun-
dred thousand to two hundred fifty
thousand people in the North-
eastern Un ited States left their
churches to join the ranks of
advent be li evers.
The Grea t Disappointme n t
occurred in 1844, whe n Christ d id
not come, as the Millerites had so
boldly pred icted. T hough the
majority of the people consequently
abandoned their advent views, the
small group o f dedicated be lieve rs
that emerged became the nucleus
for what is today th e Seventh-day
Adven tist Church. Rather than see-
ing the disappointmen t as sim ply a
humil iati ng mistake, they saw it as
God 's appointed way of prepa ring
them to complete the work started
by the Reformatio n. It was now time
for a more compl ete understan ding
of God's Word to be proclaimed.
T he advent be li evers did not me re ly
look back with regret. Instead, they
looked beyond th e ir d isappo int-
ment a nd gras ped the need to pre-
sent th e gospel to a ll the world in
ligh t o f the judgme n t th ey be li eved
was now taki ng p lace in heaven.
T h e Seve nth-day Adventist
Church sees itself tod ay as a special
move me nt raised up by God in the
last days to finish the task originally
given to His d isciples. As individua l
members, we be lieve that God has
given to each of us the sa me spe-
cific missio n-to pro cla im J esus in
the context of th e th ree a nge ls'
messages. (You will study this in
depth in the next unit) . This mes-
sage will en lig hten the world to the
crucial issues that a ll must face a nd
will e nable those who have commit-
ted themselves to Jesus to be ready
a nd prepared fo r His re turn .

"We a re n o lo nger J ews o r Gree ks o r slaves o r free me n o r eve n me re ly

men and wome n, but we are all the same- we are Christians; we are o ne
in Ch rist J esus" (Galati ans 3:28, LB ).

(!J Into thQ BiblQ

1. Read the fo ll owin g texts and list the biblical prin ciples th at should gov-
e rn Christian missio nary work .
A. Matthew 25:34-40 C. Ephesians 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:24, 25
B. 1 Corinthia ns 9:19-23 D. Romans 14:13-21
2. Read Ga latia ns 3:28 and answer the following questions:
A. List the three sets of relationships that a re mentioned in th is pas-
sage. Do you see any reason why Paul listed them in th is order?
B. What does Pa ul decla re is the key to all harmon ious relationships?
Explain your answer. (See Ephesians 2: 11 -18.)

1.0
 C. Choose one of the relationships and expl ain : ( I) How has it bee n
affecte d by culture? (2) How should o ne's relatio nship with J esus
affec t this relationship?

I!I
l. If you were a missiona ry to a non-Christi an cou ntry, which of th e fol-
lowin g would you see as spiritual issues that needed imme diate a tten-
tion and which as cultural issues that could be ig no red o r dealt with at
a later time? Be pre pared to d efe nd your positio n in class.
A. Practicing po lygamy
B. Worshiping before idols
C. Disfiguring their bodies
D. Wearing immodest attire
E. Subjecting children to painful traditi o nal ritua ls
F. H o lding hostile a ttitudes be twee n diffe re nt gro ups
2. Many choose to serve as student mission aries o r fu ll-tim e missionaries.
If yo u we re to se rve in one of these capacities :
A. To what country would you like to go? Why?
B. Wh at would it take to motivate yo u to se rve God in this way?
C. How wou ld you pre pare yourse lf for such work?
3. Read the a rticle "Lights in the Darkn ess" that your teac her will give you
regarding mission 1V0rk in the Americas and write a o ne-page response
to your reading.

focus Qu~stions
1. H ow has Christia nity been positive ly or negatively affected by Western
culture?
2. Is milita ry force wrong for Christians now when it was so often used in
th e O ld Testament?
3. Why do peopl e ge nerally have so li ttle inte res t in mission work?
4. What a re the ma in reaso ns for such a lack in spiritu al growth and inter-
est in today's socie ty?
5. Why is racism, sexism , a nd e thnic conni ct so rampant in our world?
6. What is the best a rgu ment against slavery?
7. Wh at d o you see as the special missio n of the Seven th-d ay Adventist
Churc h?
8. HolV sho uld Christianity ad apt itself to the various cullures it e ncounte rs?

1.1
Ind~x for Unit I
• EVENTS·
Adven t movement 189, 190
Age o f Reason 153-155, 167
America, immig ratio n to 148, 149
America n Revolu tio n 165, 166, 169
Anglican Reform ati o n 144
Aposto lic Age 14
Ari an tri bes overthrown 63
Awake nin g, Great 159, 187
Awakening, Second Great 187
Babylo nian Captivity 105
Bibl e, King J ames 148
Bible translations 54, 108, 120, 121,
129, 145, 148
Camp meetings 187
Canon fo rm atio n 26, 42, 52-54
Cathedrals 75, 76, 106, 107
Christiani ty divided 43,56, 73
Church co uncils 43
Civil War ] 89
Clergy exalted 34-36, 128
Co mmunism 177, 178
Co ntroversies, church 42-44, 47
Co uncil of Carth age 53
Coun cil of Chalced o n 46
Council of Constantino ple 46
Council of Eph esus 46
Council of Nicaea 44, 45
Counter-Reform atio n 136, 139
Crusades, T he 76, 77
Dark Ages 64, 82, 104
Denominations, rise of 158, 159
Diet of Worms 120
Edict of Milan 25, 31
Empe ror worship 16,55
Enligh tenment, The 154, 167, 169
Feudalism 72-74
Fre nch Revolutio n 166-169
Fro ntier life 187
Great Disappo in tme nt 190
102
Imperial Diet 120
Industri al Revolu tio n 155, 175,
176, 178, 179
Inquisitio n 88, 139
Islam/ Muslims 65, 66, 76, 77
J e rusalem destroyed 13
J esui t sc hools 137, 138
Labo r unio ns 176
Lucifer's re belli o n 65
Luther's life and ministry 11 4-121
Manuscript copying 62, 63, 96
Methodism 156, 158
Middl e Ages 62,75,81,82
Mill ennium 189
Missio ns, Cath o lic 184, 185
Missio ns, modern 185, 186
Missio ns, Protesta nt 185-196
Mo nasticism 37
Muslims (See Islam )
Ninety-Five Th eses lJ 8
Origin of Species ] 74
Paganism invades church 32
Pa pacy (pope) emerges 36, 56, 57,
64, 81-83, 98
Pa pal Schism , the 105, 106
Pax Romana 13
Peasant uprising 134
Persecutio n , Catho li c 87, 88, 104,
109, 168
Persecutio n, Ro man 15, 16, 27, 44
Printing press 96
Protestant Reform atio n 119-12 1,
126-130
Pro testant schools 138, 139
Pro testantism , divisio ns within 144-
147
Radical Reformatio n 134-136
Reign of Ten'o r 167
Religio us freedom 135, 149, 160,
164, 165 , 168, 169
Re naissa nce, The 93-95 He nry lV, King 74, 75
Roman emp ire divided 32, 56, 57, Hen ry VIII , King 145
73 Heruli 63
Rome (city) fall s 56,57, 61 ,62 Huguenots 145, ]68
Schism, The Great 73 Hum anists 94
Schism, The Papal 105, 106 Huss, john 109
Slavery, America n 188, 189 Ignatius of Loyola 137
Social reform s 176 Inn oce nt III , Po pe 88
St. Bartholomew's massacre 145 james I, Kin g 148
St. Peter's Cathedral 106, 107, 116, j erome 54
117 j esuits 137, 184
Sunday law, Constantin e's 25 j ews 14, 15
Sunday observance 23, 24 Leo IX, Po pe 73
Sweatshops 176, 179 Lollards, The 109
Voting rights 176 Luth er, Martin 11 4-121
Walde nses, The 86, 87 Marx, Karl J 7, 178
Wesleys in America 156 Mill el; William 189
Mohammed 66
-PEOPLE- Monks 37, 62
Albert of Brandenberg 117 Moravi ans ] 57, 158
Anabaptists 135, 136 Narraganset Indians 164, 165
An glica ns 157 Nero 16
Arius 44 Newton, Sir Isaac 154
Barbari ans 56, 57, 62, 63 Nobel, Alfred 113
Boniface VIIJ , Pope 97,98, 105 Ostrogoths 63
Boo th , William and Cath erine 177 Pain e, Th omas 187
Bourgeoisie ] 66, 177 Pelagius 46
Calvin,john 126 Philip, King 97, 105
Carey, William J 85-187 Polycarp 27
Ceru larius 73 Puritans 147-149
Clovis 63 Quakers 155, 165
Columbus, Christoph er 95 Salvation Army 177
Co nstantin e 24, 25, 31, 32, 42-44 Separatists 147-149
Copernicus 95, 154 Serfs 72, 73, 96
Darwin, Charl es 174 Seventh-day Adventists 190
Dominicans 75,88, 119, 184 Simon the Stylite 37
Erasmus 95 Tetze l, johann 117, 11 8
Fox, Geo rge 155 Turks, Muslim 76
Foxe, j ohn 147 Tyndale, Willi am 145
Fran cisca ns 75, 88, 184 Vall a, Laurentius 95
Franks 63, 67 Vandals 57, 63
Frederick the Wise 118 Vikings 72
Galil eo 154 Waldenses 86, 87
Gregory VII, Po pe 74, 75 Waldo, Peter 86
Gutenbe rg, joha nn 96 Wesley, Charles 158

•• ~
Wesley, J o h n 156-158 De no min a tio ns 158, 159
Wilbe rfo rce, Willia m 176 Diaspora 13
Will iams, Roger 164, 165 Doctrin es corrup ted 82, 83, 108,
Wyc1 iffe ,J o hn 107, 108 119, J 29
Doctrin es established 47
• CONCEPTS· Dying to se lf 98
Abbots 37 Enligh te nme n t, T h e 154, 167, 169
Al la h 66 Establish ed ch u rches 135
An glica n 144 Eucha rist, T he 83, 84
Apocrypha 136 Evoluti o n 174
Apo logist 27 Excommun ication 44, 74, 88, 97
Apostolic successio n 56 Fa ith a nd wo rks 127
Archbish o p 36 Fief/ Fe ud 72
Arianism 44, 63 Fla t Earth Society 103
Ascetics 36, 37 Gods (Ro ma n ) 15, 16
Ath e ism 173, 174 Gospe l 15, 25
Basilicas 34, 35 Great Con trove rsy, Th e 65, 128
Bible, its nature 54 Greek Orthodox Chu rc h 56, 73
Bibl e study 54,82,96, 104, 108, H e resy/ H eretics 26, 27
129 H e rmits 37
Biblical auth o rity 26, 53, 54, 82, H o ly Spirit 46, 54, 82, 135, 136
83, 119, 128, 135 Huma n n ature 98, 128, 149, 169
Bish ops 22 , 36 Humanism 94, 174, 178, 189
Camp meetin gs 187 !chth"s 23
Ca no n, Th e 42, 52, 53 Ico ns 83
Capi talism 177 Idolatry 15,83
Catacombs 23 Impe ri alism 138
Cathedrals 75, 76, 106, 107 Imputed rig h teo usness 85, 86
Cath o lic 12 Indul ge n ces 84, 85, 104, 105, 107,
Celibacy 37, 12J 11 6-11 8,1 27
Christmas 33 Infa nt ba ptism 23, 34, 83, 135
Church 21, 22, 71 Infused rig h teo usness 85, 86, 127
Church a nd state 64, 134, 135, 149, In terdict 88, 97
160,164, 165 , 168 , 169, 176, l sidorian Deeretats 64, 95
177 Isla m 66, 67
Cle rgy 22, 34, 35, 128 J esus, His nature 44,46, 53, 54
College of Card in a ls 74 J esus, o nly Savior 25,45-47,85, 169
Co mmunion se rvice 23, 83, 120 Jubilee 105
Communism 177, 178 J ustifica tio n by fa ith 85, 127
Congregatio na lism 147 Koran, T he 66
Creeds 25, 43, 44 Labor unio ns 176
Cross, T h e 33, 34, 98 La ity 22, 35, 36, 128
Cu ltures 43 , 73, 184, 186 Lay in ves ti ture 74
Deism 154 Little ho rn 64, 82, 98
Democracy 168, 169 Lu th e ra n 144

104
Mart)'rs 16, 33 Rationalism 154, 160
Mass, The 83, 84 Reason and revelation 154
Med iator 46, 86 Reform rejected 104, 106, 125
Method ism 156, 158 Reformed Churc h 145
Midd le Ages 62 , 75, 82 Re li cs 33,83, 107, 146
Missio nar), work 63, 184-187 Religious freedom 135, 149, 159,
Monas ter), 37 160, 164, 165, 168, 169
Monasticism 37, 146 Remnant 37, 89
Monks 37,62 Renaissance 93-95
Mystics 135 Rivalry 55,56, 64
Nationalism 96 Roman religion 13
New Testament 26, 52, 53 Sacrame nts 86, 128
Nice ne creed 45 Saints, honoring of 33, 83
Ni nety-Five Th eses 118, 119 Salvation 45, 46, 54, 85, 86, 98 , 99,
Obedience 127 129
Ordinances 23, 128 Science, modern 154, 174
Ordination 23 Sect 15
Orthodox 44 Separatists 147, 148
Paganism 34 Shrines 33
Pagans 36, 44 Sin 45, 67, 98, 129, 149, 169, 173
Papacy, T he 81-83, 98, 104, 106, Slavery 176, 188, 189
108 Social gospel 179
Patriarchs 36 Sunday obse rvance 23, 24, 25, 31
Pax Roman(, 13 Sweatshops 176, 179
Penance 75,77,84, 11 8 Synagogues 23
Pilgrim ages 35, 76, 105 Synod 74
Plu ralism 41, 43 Taj Mahal 71
Polem icists 27 T heoc racy 148, 149
Pope, power of 36, 56, 64, 106, Trad itions 25, 53, 82, 83, 128
108 Tra nsubsta ntiatio n 84
Pope, rise of 36,56, 57, 64 Treasury of merit 84,85
Pride 64, 65, 98, 173 Trin ity 46
Priesthood of all believers 35, 36, Truth, slowly learned 115, 116
128, 129 Vassals 72
Proleta rian 177 Vicar 56, 106
Prophet (proph e tic voice) 125, Vu lgate 54, 55
126 Wealth 36,85,96,97,104-106, 108,
Proselytize 15 109, ]]9, 121, 168
Protesta nt 125 Witn essing 14, 15
Purgatory 77, 84, 86, 11 7 Wo rd and Sp iri t 135, 136
Quake rs 155, 165 Worship 22, 23, 34

lOS
 God's Call to Abram I 1850 B.G.

The Exodus I 1445 B.G.

Second Great Awakening • 1800

'- r'

Millerite Movement Begins

• 1831
Septuagint Translated
Jesus' Birth
150 B.C.
3 B.C.
A"=w;~ S"".me From Ch=h~t 1843
The Great Disappointment
Jerusalem Destroyed A.D. 70

Ellen White's First Vision 1844 Christianity Made Legal A.D. 313
Sabbath Conferences 1848 Canon Completed A.D. 397
Publishing Work Begins 1850

Denominational Name Chosen

General Conference Organized
=1= 1860
1863 Crusades Begin , D.1095
Health Reform Begins

Battle Creek College Begins

J. N. Andrews: First Missionary
+ 1874 Luther Posts 95 Theses
Puritans Go to America
,
,
D. 1517
D.1620
The Great Disappointment , D.1844
General Conference Organized .t, -\1-- , D.1863
Righteousness by Faith Conference
• 1888 E. G. White Dies I,
Satellite Evangelism
,\ ,
,
D. 1915
D.1995
General Conference Relocated If" i903
Pantheistic Crisis " "
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Ellen G. White Dies , , ~
1915
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Airwave Evangelism Begins 1937 ,....,.
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Student Missionary Program
1971 3 ,.....
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27 Fundamental Beliefs 1980

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II
It

Disappoint~d
Lesson Scrlipture: Revelatlion I 0:8- II
Hlistorlical Focus: October 22, 1844
erspiration pouring
down your face
despite the chilly
weather, you drop a
load of firewood
beside the potbellied
stove. 'That should
do," you murmur. Then the tired-
ness in your voice g ives way to a
cheery afterthought. "H ey, I'll
n ever have to chop wood again. "
"Right!" Your dad sm iles . "No
more bitterly cold Maine winters
freezing us to the bone."
"And no more kids making fun
of us," you r little brother adds.
As you r mother begins to sing
softly, severa l oth e rs join in:
You wi ll see your Lord a-com ing,
You will see your Lo rd a-com in g.
Then we' ll shout, o ur suff'rings over
In a few more d ays .'
With each tic k of the grand-
father clock, your sen se of excite-
ment grows as you think a bout
leaving all your probl e ms and
frustrations b e hind . You smil e at
the thought o f trading your drafty
cabin fo r a h eave nly m ansion. \!
The date is Tuesda y, O c tobe r 22,
William Miller
in hi s study.
•••
lesson.
1844, and you are a Millerite. You
believe that sometime today Jesus
is going to co me. You can't wait.
You're even more excited than
you were last Chri stmas Eve. The
"presents" you' re expecting today
a re infinitely more thrilling than
the ones you dreamed abo ut ten
months ago.
Out in Ohio the Fitch family
is awa iting the Advent with even
g reater anticipation. Just last wee k
the Fitch c hildren and th e ir
mother attended th e ir fa th e r 's
funeral. That was th e fifth fun e ral
fo r this li ttle fa mily. Four children
h ad been buri e d , on e by one. But
they a re confid e ntly expectin g to
see their father, a nd th eir broth e rs
a n d siste rs as well , before thi s day
IS ove r.
1n Low Han1pton , New York,
Wi lli am Mill e r, th e man wh o
started it a ll , confidently awaits
th e Adve nt. His quiet e nthusiasm
is a lm ost overpowe ring. Recently
h e wro te a letter to J oshua
Hi m es, the 1l10Ve men t's mos t
impo rtant publicist. "[ mn almost
home. Clory! Clory!! Clory!!!""
Mi lle r isn 't just looking for
streets o f gold and freedom from
 William Miller's hOllse.
labor. He 's especially anxious to
see his Savior face to face . In the
countless hours h e has spe n t in
se rious Bible study and earnest
prayer, h e has d eveloped a real
fri e ndship with j esus. H e 's eager to
continue that friendship in pe rson.
It's n ot just o lder peopl e who
co nside r j es us Himself the star
a ttracti on of the Second Advent.
H e re in Portl a nd , Ma in e, sixtee n-
year-old Ell e n H annon is ex pe ri-
e n cin g "th e h a p p iest yea r of [h e r]
li fe ... • Why? H e r h eart is "full of
g lad expectatio n '" because sh e
be li eves j esus is co min g.
As you watch th e sun slowly
sink into the western sky, you say,
"This is the last sunset we 'll ever
see, beca use we' re go ing to heave n
this eve ning, a nd th e re's no night
th e re." You ' re sure j esus will com e
befo re midnight- before O ctobe r
22 turns into O cto be r 23 . But H e
200
doesn't! You h ear the grandfath e r
clock chim e twelve times, a nd you
realize He 's not coming today. You
are crushe d with bitter disappoint-
m ent.
You ' re n ot a lone. Thousands
of people were expecting j esus to
co me today. As the reali zation
sinks in that He won ' t be coming
tonight, m an y of these Millerites
are crushed.
H oweve r, so me Mille rites still
h ave n 't give n up. Maybe j esus wi ll
be just a little late, they think. For
at least two peopl e, the full force
of sh atte red expectations wi ll wait
unti l Joshua Himes visits th e ir
com munities: Waterbury,
Ve rm o nt, and Portland, Maine.
Jam es White a nd Washington
Morse both express their feelin gs
in n ear ly identical lan gu age. As
White puts it, "And now, to turn
aga in to th e ca res, perpl ex iti es,
and dangers of life, in full view of
the jeers and revilings of unbe liev-
ers who now scoffed as neve r
before , was a terrible trial of fa ith
and patience. When Eld er Him es
visited Portland , Maine, a few days
after the passing of the time and
stated that the brethren shoul d
prepare for another cold winter,
my fe e lin gs were a lmost uncon-
trollable. I left the place of meet-
ing and wept like a child.""
William Miller himself took th e
disappointment more stoically. On
November 10 he wrote , "Although
r have been twice disappointed , I
am not yet cast down or discour-
aged. God has been with me in
spirit, and has comforted me ,"7
Five years late r, on his
deathbed , Mill e r left a m essag e
fo r h is fe llow believe rs: "Te ll
tb e m we a re rig ht. Th e comin g
of th e Lord draweth nig h ; but
th ey must be patient, and wai t
fo r hi m ."B
How could h e say this so confi-
d ently five years after the Great
Disappoinunent? Was William Miller
simply a deluded old man? Where
did he get his ideas? And why did
so many people believe him ? These
are a few of the questions we wi ll
explore in our next lesson.

S An(hor T~xt
"[ took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as
sweet as h on ey in my mo uth , but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned
sour" (Revela tion 10:10).

tIJ Into th~ 8ibl~

1. What sim ilarities to the Millerite experience do you see in the fo llowing
passages?
A.jonah 1:1,2; 3:4, 5, 10; 4:1-3
B. Luke 19:11; 24:1 3-21 (compare with Acts 1:6)
2. Seventh-day Adventists have seen Revelation 10:8-11 as a prediction
of the Great Disappointment. Look up that passage and answer the
following questions:
A. How did the scroll or book taste injohn's mouth?
B. Mter he ate it, what was the sensation in his stomach ?
C. What was the angel's instruction to john after he ate the little book?
D. What simil arities do you see between the Millerite expe rience and
(1) the taste injohn's mouth?
(2) the sensation in his stomach ?
(3 ) the angel's instruction ?

201
 ProjQcts
1. Read th e recollections of a person who actually experie nced the G reat
Disappointm e nt. You could , for example, choose o ne of the followin g.
(Your teache r h as a copy of ite ms A and B; ite m C sho uld be in your
school libra ry.)
A. Uriah Smith 's story of the way some people harassed a Millerite
meeting the night before th e Grea t Disappo in tment.
B. Washington Morse's account of his experie nce just before a nd just
after the Great Disappo intm e nt.
C. Elle n H a rm o n 's d escripti o n of "the happi est yea r of my life" and
the disappointm ent th at fo ll owed (Ell e n G. White, Testimonies JOT the
Church, vo lume 1, pages 54-56).
Tell the story o f th is perso n 's expe rie nce in o ne of the followin g ways:
A. Im agin e you are that person . Keep ajourna l of the period from
O ctober 21-23, 1844. Record yo ur thoughts, feelings , and acti o ns.
B. Write a scri pt for an imagina ry "live" radio news repo rt d escribing
the eve n ts in U riah Smith's story.
2. Write a sc ri pt fo r a skit reenacting a portion of today's lesson . Wi th a
few fri e nds, prese nt this skit for one o f the foll owing:
A. A dormi tory worship .
B. A c hapel progra m.
C. An e le me ntary school.
D. A Sabbath Sc hool program.
E. A n earby church.

202
 ro(Us Qu~stions
1. If you had been a Mille rite in O ctobe r 1844, what do you think would
have bee n the most disappoin ting as pec t for yo u?
2. What might have led Ellen Harm o n to call 1844 the happi est year of
her life?
3. Do you thinkJonah's a nger in J onah 4:1-3 wasjustified ? Why or why
not?
4. How do you explain th e fact that his predictio n did n 't come true?
5. If you ex pected J esus to come n ext wee k, h ow might your a ttitude
ch ange toward such things as school, enterta inm e nt, fri e ndships, or
disagreeme nts with fami ly membe rs?

1. Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, no. 438.

2. Some of th e imagery is sugges ted by James Nix, "Oc LObcr 22, 1844: Li vin g Through
Disappoinuncnl Tuesday," Adventist Review, No rth America n Edition, -I 50-year
Annive rsary Issue, 1995 .4-7.
3. George R. Kni ght, Ivlillennial Fever arul tlte End oj tlte World (Boise, Id aho: Pacific Press,
1993),204.
4. Ell en C. White, Testimonies Jo/' tlte Church. (Boise , Idaho: Pacifi c Press, 1948) , 1:54.
5. Ibid.
6. Nix, 7.
7. Sylvester Bli ss, Memoirs ojWillim!L MilleI' (Bosto n, Mass.: Jos hua Him es, 1853),2 77.
8. Ibid., 377.

from S(off~r to [vdng~list
Lesson Scripture: Daniel 8:9 to 9:27
Historical Focus: 1814.18J8
r-
., HE RELIGIOUS
SETTING
Nineteenth-century
L, ~ Americans were mostly
Protestant but
belon ged to a variety of
\ ~ re ligious denom ina-
tions. Most we re postmille nnialists,
be li eving thatJ esus wou ld come at
the end of a th ousand years of
peace on earth. T hey thought that
Christians sh ou ld be making the
world a beller place so that God's
kingdom coul d be established
here. Until the Mille rite move-
me nt, few tho ugh t about going to
heaven immedi a te ly.
Durin g the earl y decades of the
century, America experie nced a
religious revival call ed the Second
Great Awaken ing. Powerfu l preach-
ers call ed on Christians to make a
stronge r commi tment to Christ. A
co ncern for spreading th e gospe l
to fore ign countries led to the
establishm e nt of Bib le socie ties
and foreign mission boards con-
cerned with sending out mission-
aries and translating the Word of
God for peopl e all a round th e
world. Christia n colleges were
established to train m iniste rs a nd
William Mi ller.
205
lesson '2
others who wan ted to serve in
spreading Christianity.
Some groups were so con-
ce rn ed with becom in g holy that
they began religious communes in
which they lived together, but apart
from the wo rld , and tried to
become perfect. T he Sh ake rs are
an example of such a group.
Other religious ideas included
a growing curiosity, even among
ma instream Christia ns, with spiri tu-
alism and th e occu lt. Others who
considered themselves Christia ns
had humanistic views, e mphasizing
humanity's potential for self-
improvement more than the ir
need of a Savior.
During much of th is century,
immigrants flooded the Un ited
States. Most of the m came because
of the job opportunities that resulted
from the In d ustrial Revolution.
Many of these immigrants were
Catholic. Because America had been
largely Protestant, tl,ese Catholic
immigrants were the victims of much
prejudice.
The time of the Mill erite
moveme n t was one of a great deal
of diversity. Many Americans were
ope n to new ideas and were
 V\'illiam M iller's ch urch.
search i n g fo r tru th.
Less than three decades aher
England had recognized American
independ e nce, the Un ited States
once aga in went to war with the
mother country. Lake Champ la in
was the scene of what some histori-
a ns conside r the most decisive bat-
tl e of this second war with
England, known as til e War of
1812. As the Battle of Plattsburg
began , th e British troops outnum-
bered the Ame ri can forces by
a lmost three to one. But within two
hours it was a ll over-and the
America ns had v,"on!
One of this battle's astonished
participants was Captai n Wi lliam
Mill er of Poultney, Vermon t. "At
the commencement of the battle,
we looked upon our own defeat as
almost certain; and yet we were vic-
torio us," Mi ll e r later recall ed. "So
su rprising a result, against such
odds, did seem to me like the wo rk
206
of a mi gh tie r power than man."l
Mil le r wasn't just grateful fo r
th e America n victory-h e was
g lad to be a li ve. As h e wrote to
hi s wife, "Th e fort I was in was
exposed to eve ry shot. Bombs ,
rockets , and sh rap n e l sh e lls, fe ll
as thi ck as h a ilsto n es.'" A she ll
had bu rst with in two fe et of
Mi ll er, woundi n g three of his
men and ki ll ing a n oth er.
H owever, Mi ll er escaped injury.
Could God have, for some rea-
son, in te rvened on be half of the
United States? Had H e provide n-
tially protec te d Captain Mi ll e r?
Such ideas we re co ntrary to
Miller's personal bel iefs, because
he was a de ist.
As a deist he believed th ere was
a God who had created the world,
setting the laws of nature in
motio n , a nd then left it alone. He
didn ' t be lieve in miracles, specia l
revelation, or d ivin e providence.
 Nor did h e believe in salvation
through fa ith in J esus Christ and
His a to ning sacrifice . To Miller,
God was something of a n absentee
landlord who didn 't co ncern
Himself with hum an affairs.
Mille r had crue lly mocked his
gra ndfather and uncle , both
Baptist ministers, when they had
tried to conve rt him-but not to
th eir faces. While they were in his
home he had trea ted th e m courte-
o usly, but afte r th ey had gon e, h e
would e nte rtain his ske ptical
fri e nds by mimicking their rough-
hewn speech a nd the ir earnest
tone of vo ice.
But the American victory at
Plattsburg, alo ng with his own pe r-
sonal escape from harm during
that battle, was part o f a seri es of
even ts that began to shake his faith
in d e ism . Neverthe less, it would be
a no th e r two years before h e was
co nve rted.
Afte r th e wa r, Mill e r move d
fro m Ve rmon t to the tow n wh ere
h e h ad lived as a child-Low
Hampton, New York. His Uncle
Elish a was pastor of th e local
Bapti st Church. Alth o ug h Mi ller
still was n 't a c hurc h me mbe r, h e
atte nde d services wh e n h is uncl e
was preac hin g, but h e stayed away
whe neve r his uncl e was out of
tow n. His moth e r asked him why
h e never atte nd e d wh e n th e pas-
tor was away. Afte r Mill e r
expl a in ed that h e rece ived n o
benefi t from th e deaco n 's poor
read in g of printed se rmons, sh e
suggeste d to th e c hurch officers
th at wh e n the pasto r was go ne ,
th ey should ask Will iam to read
th e se rmon.
207
MILLER'S CONVERSION
Frolll th e n Oil. whe never his
uncle was absen t, Mill er read the
se rmon th e ch urch lead e rs h ad
chosen. One Sunday, as h e was
reading, the message to uc hed his
heart so powerfu lly th a t he was
unable to continue. Overcom e with
emotion , h e return ed to his seat.
Miller accepted J esus as both
Fri e nd a nd Savior. H e joined th e
church a nd bega n co ndu ctin g fa m-
ily worship.
Th is was too muc h for his o ld
d e ist fri e nds. They began to tluow
back at him a ll the things h e had
sa id a bo ut th e a ll eged inconsis-
te ncies in the Bible. Miller replied,
"G ive me time, a nd I [will ] hanno-
ni ze all these appa re n t contradic-
tion s, to my own sati s f-~l c tion, or I
[will] be a De ist stil!. '"
He spent the n ext two yea rs
inte nsively studyin g the Bible .
Beginnin g with Genesis, he read
"verse by verse,"4 staying with eac h
passage unti l he clearl y understood
its meaning. Wh e n h e had diffi-
culty understandin g a ve rse, h e
compared it with oth e r texts on
the subject. Us ing Cmden's
Concordance, he found other pas-
sages containin g th e verse's key
words. As he praye rfull y studied,
he found h armony rathe r th an
co ntradiction. H e a lso found, by
co mparing prop hecy with history,
that most of th e Bible's pre dictions
had been literally fulfill ed.
By intense a nd logical study,
Mi ll er had convinced himself th at
the d e ists were wrong. Much of
wh at he found agreed with wh at
Baptists and many o ther Christia ns
be lieved: th e inspiration of the
Bible, the Trinity, Christ's substitu-
tionary sacrifice on our behalf, and
baptism by immersion . But he a lso
discovered th at most of th e
Chri stians of his time were wrong
in expecting "a te mporal mill e n-
nium befo re the e nd of the
world .'" In stead, h e found that
b efore th e mill e nnium , Jesus
would co me personally, accom-
pan ied by all the a n ge ls.
Mi ller's interp retation of the
Bible was no t haphazard or arbi-
trary. H e d eve loped fourteen
Scripture-based rul es for systema tic
Bible study. Some of these rules were:
• Nothing in Scripture will be
hidden from those who ask in
unwaverin g faith. "The most
importa nt rule of all is that yo u
must have fa ith ."6
• To understand doctrine, brin g
toge th er all the Scriptures o n
th e subject.
• The Bible must be its own
interpreter.
• Symbols can often be under-
stood by discovering how the
symbol is explain ed in other
Bi ble texts.
Following this m e thod, allow-
in g th e Bibl e to expl ai n itse lf,
Miller discovered that a day in
prophecy sym bol ized a year. T h us
when h e came to Danie l 8 :14, h e
co ncluded that the 2300 days
represented 2300 yea rs. But wh at
was the cleansing of the san ctu-
ary this verse talked about? Mi ll er
ass um ed that it was the fiery
cleansing of thi s earth at the
Seco nd Advent. Determin in g
from hi storical so urces that the
prophecy bega n in 457 B. C.,
20B
Mi lI e r co ncluded that J esus
would co me sometim e before the
e nd of the J ewish cale ndar year
1843 to 1844.
This was an un expected discov-
e ry. When he had begun his stud y
h e had "no expectation of finding
the time of the Savior's coming.'"
At first, he didn't tell anybody
about this findin g. Wha t if h e were
wrong? Wh at if h e had made some
kind of mistake in his calculati ons?
He stud ied a nd restudie d ,
thinking of every possible obj ec-
tion. His conclusions seemed air-
tight.
What abou tJ esus' state ment
that nobody knew th e d ay and
hour of His com ing? We ll , Miller
told himse lf; h e wasn't setting a day
or an hour. He was just saying it
would come sometime betwee n the
present a nd 1843 or thereabouts.
After all , didn 't the Bible say we
could know whe n His comin g was
"nigh, even at the d oor?"
For four years-from 1818 to
1822-Miller examine d and reex-
am ined the evide n ce . He co nsid-
ered eve ry obj ectio n h e could
think of. When he was absolutely
sure r than sure, he to ld a few
friends a bout his discovery.
Disappointed at their lack of inter-
est, h e refra in ed from proclaiming
his findin gs publicly.
THE CALL TO MINISTRY
Nine more years went by. H e
was beginning to fee l un easy. If
J esus really were com ing in a
dozen years or so, didn't h e have
an obligation to le t peopl e know?
And th e n, o n Saturday, August
13, 1831, h e had a n overpowering
impression: "Go and tell it to the
world. "
"1 can't go, Lord," Miller prayed .
"Why not?" the Lord see med to
ask.
Miller began to give reasons for
not complying with this impression ,
but they seemed inadequate. Finally
he told the Lord h e would proclaim
the message if he received an "invi-
tation to speak publicly.'"
Miller breathed a sigh of relief.
He was sure nobody would ask him
to speak on this subject. After all,
nobody had during the previous
nine years .
But half an hour later his
sixteen-year-old nephew showed
Cartoon lampooning vVilliam Miller and his followers.
209
up. The teenager, Irving Guilford,
had come from his home in
Dresden, sixtee n miles away. His
pastor was going to be out of town
the next day, and the co ngregation
n eeded a substitute preacher.
Would Miller come and speak
about the Second Advent?
Miller didn 't answer Trving.
Angry with himself for his promise,
he re be lliously "d eterm ined not to
go ." H e went out to his maple
g rove to pray. There he argued
with God "for about an hour."
The Lord seemed to be saying,
"Wi ll you make a covenant with
God, a nd break it so soon?"
Overwhelmed with guilt, Miller
 Williarn Miller preaching.
yielded. H e agreed to go if God
wou ld sustain him.
And God did sustain him . As
soon as Miller started speaking, h e
says, "All my d iffide nce a nd embar-
rassme n t were gone."9
When he returned home after
givin g this sermon, anoth er
preaching in vi tation was waiting
fo r him. Soon h e had more
requests than h e could possibly fill.
For seven years Miller worked
virtually a lone. He preached the
Second Adve nt message in small
towns and villages thro ugho ut New
Engla nd and in to southern
Canada. To carry his message
beyond the so und of h is voice, he
publish ed a pamphlet in 1833 co n-
taining some of his lectu res. The
fo llowing year he quit farming and
became a fu ll-tim e licensed , bu t
unpaid, Baptist preacher.
Ministers of various denomina-
tions were eager to h ave Miller
address the ir congregations because
21.
his messages were so effective in
bringing about conversions.
Although Mille r's preaching style
was logical rather than emotional,
he clearly e mphasized the impor-
tance of accepti ng J esus Christ as
on e's personal Savior. He would end
his messages with an appeal for
re pentance, urging the people in his
audience to come to Jesus. Here is a
portion of one of those closing
appeals: "Be warned; repent; fly, fly .
.. to J esus Christ, the Lamb that was
o nce slain , that you might live ....
Believe, and you sha ll live. Obey His
word, His spiri t, His calls, His invita-
tions; there is no time for delay."'o
Like the first angel of
Revelatio n, Mill er was preaching
the everlasting gospel. Like that
angel, he warned of impending
judgment. But his was a lonely
voice. Alone he could never preach
to the worldwide au d ience foreseen
in Revelatio n . But his ideas gave
birth to a movement that wou ld .
 S Anchor Text
"I saw another a ngel flying in mid ail~ and he h ad the ete rna l gospel to
proclaim to those who live on th e earth-to every nation , tribe, lang uage,
and people. He said in a lo ud voice, 'Fear God a nd give him glo ry,
because the hour of his judgme nt h as come. Worship him who mad e the
heave ns, the earth , the sea a nd the spri ngs of water' " (Revela ti o n 14:6, 7) .
.............................................................................................. .
CfJ Into the Bible
1. William Mill er stands as a gia nt of his d ay with regard to the serious-
ness with which h e undertook the study of Scripture. Your teacher will
provide you with a worksheet titled "Mi ll e r's Prophetic In te rpretations,"
which wi ll introduce you to some of Miller's discoveries.
2. William Miller's study of the Bible convinced him that Baptists and
many other Christians we re correct in some of th e ir doctrines. Your
teacher will provide you with a worksheet titled "Miller's Mainstream
Be liefs," wh ich will examine four of these .
3. When he was an evangelist, Miller h ad some very different beliefs from
whe n h e was a deist. Your teach e r will provide yo u with a worksheet
called "Deism Is Unbiblical," which explores what the Bible has to say
abou t some of Miller's earlier beli efs .
.............................................................................................. .

J. The Millerites were not the on ly people who be lieved , during the 1830s
a nd 1840s, that they were on the ve rge of a better tomorrow.
Protestan ts from most of th e major denominations expected th e mil-
lennium to begin soon. The diffe re n ce was th at they thought the mil-
le nnium would be a thousand years of peace and prospe rity on this
earth prior to the second advent. Th ey believed Christian social , politi-
cal, a nd evangelistic activity would h e lp bring on this Golden Age.
They were en couraged in this expectation by the thousands of con-
versions resulting fro m the Second Great Awake ning. This was an e mo-
tional series of revivals that swe pt th e United States from 1800 unti l the
late 1830s. Charles Finney, the most famous eva ngelist of the Second
Great Awake ning, wrote in 1835 that the mille nnium would co me to
the United States within three years "if the church will do h e r duty."

211
 Many of the people conve rted in these revivals tried to bring about a
better wo rld by j oin ing voluntary societies. These organizations worked
to e radicate many of the evils fo und in the U nited States, especially
in temperance and slavery.
Use the informatio n in this section a nd in the main part of the les-
son to complete one of the following activities:
A. Pretend you are a Millerite. Write a letter to Ch arles G. Finney
explaining cl early, but politely, why you disagree with him. (Refer
to the above paragraphs for insights into beliefs of th e d ay.)
B. Make a poster com paring a nd co ntrasting the views of Christ's com-
ing before the millennium a nd after the mille nnium.
2. Besides ma instream Protestants like Ch a rles G. Finney, there were at
this time several specific groups dedicated to creating a h eave n on
earth. Use the worksh eet provided by you r teacher, entitled "Religious
Communes," to find and report informa tion about these groups.
3. Among the other religious groups springing up during this time were
the Mormons and the Spiritualists. Mormons, members of the Church
ofJ esus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believed thatJoseph Smith was a
prophet. Although Mormons do be lieve thatJesus will come at th e
beginning of the millennium, their concept of the millennium is in
some ways similar to that of most mainstream Pro testan ts of Joseph
Sm ith 's day. Mormon lead ers teach th at there will be a thousand years
of peace on this earth during the millennium , that people will co n-
tinue to die during this time, and that there will sti ll be a "need for . . .
preaching the gospel" to the unconverted. Smith was murdered by a
mob in Carthage, Illin o is, in J 844.
Some people confuse Seventh-day Adve ntists with Mormons.
Alth ou gh we have some things in common, including concern for
health and a belief in a modern manifestation of th e gift of prophecy,
there are many importa n t differences. Look up "Mormons,"
"Mormonism," o r "Latter-day Sai nts" in an encyclopedia, focusing on
the sectio n dealing with beliefs. List some of the Mormo n doctrines
that differ from Seventh-day Adve n tist teachings. Be sure to include the
difference mentioned in this lesson .

212
 focus QU(~stions
l. Which of Miller's rules for in terpreting th e Bibl e do you think is most
important? Why?
2. Why do you think William Miller was so confident abou t the Second
Adven t five years after the Great Disappointment?
3. Why do you th ink so many people believed him?
4. Miller learned to believe in d ivin e providence as a result of develop-
ments at the Battle of Plattsburg. Have you o r someone you know ever
had a providential experie nce? Cou ld you share it?

1. Sylvester Bliss, lvIemoin of William JUiller ( Boston, Mass.: Joshua Himes, ] 853), 53.
2. I bid" 50.
3. George R. Kn ight, lvIillennialFever a.nd the E'n,d of the World (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press,
1993),35.
4. Sylvester Bliss, ,Vlemoirs oj William Nlillel~ 69.
5. Ib id., 72.
6. Ibid., 70 .
7. Quoted in Le Roy Edwin Froom, Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers (Hage rstown , MeL: Review
and Herald, 1945), 4:474.
8. Sylvester Bliss, lvlemoin a/William JVlillel~ 97.
9. Ibi d., 98.
10. C. Mervyn Maxwell , Tell It to the World: The Stmy of Sevenlh-da), Adventists (Boise, Idaho:
Pac ifi c Press, 1976, 1977), 26.

Mill~r's M~SSdg~
B~(om~s d Mov~m~nt
Lesson Scrjptures: Revelatjon 14:8; 18: 1-5
Hjstorjcal Focus: 18i18-1844
harl es Fitch was
p reaching the Second
Advent near
Clevela nd, Ohio. At
one o f his meetings,
h e mad e an altar call.
L.._ _ _ _.... A la rge, cl umsy ma n
who h ad bee n sittin g in the bal-
co ny sta rted d own th e stairs lead-
in g to th e fro nt of th e audi torium.
H e stumbled. T h e a udie n ce began
laughing. Fitch res ponded ,
"Bro ther, n ever mind. It's be tte r to
stumble into h eaven tha n to walk
in to hell ,'"
Miller's was n o lo nger a lone ly
vo ice. Beginnin g in 1838, o th e rs
j oined him in p rocla imin g th e
im pending advent. Fitch was o n e
of severa l outstanding ministe rs
who soon became allied with
William Miller. Two oth ers were
J osiah Litch and J oshua H imes.
JOSIAH LITCH
T h e fi rst of these three to
become a Mill e ri te was J osiah
Litch, a twenty-eight-yeal' old
Charles Fitch.
215
lesson ~
Me thodist ministe r. Like so m a ny
o the r Millerite p reach ers, Litch
had been a stro ng oppon ent of
slavery and alcohol.
A frie nd asked Litch to read
a nd evaluate Mille r's pamphl e t.
Be lievin g h e coul d d e mo lish
Miller 's "whol e system in five min-
u tes,'" Liteh began read in g. H e
was surpr ised to find several of
Mille r 's argum e nts co nvincing,
especially th e idea th at th e mille n-
nium wou ldn't begin before th e
Second Advent. Litch also accep ted
Miller's interp retation of th e time
proph ecies .
Conviction soon produ ced
acti o n. Li tch began preac hing
and writing a bo u t the Secon d
Advent, contributin g column s and
a rticles a bout th e subj ect to a n
a n tislavery Me thodist m agazin e
call ed Zion's Watchman. Before
long, h e aske d to b e re leased
fr o m d en o mina tional e m p loyme nt
so h e could d evo te hi s time to
p reaching th e a dvent.
As Millerism 's fi rst full-time
paid ministe r, he trave led , lec-
tured, and wrote and edited
Mille rite newspapers. H e h as been
d escribe d as Millerism 's leading
theologia n.
JOSHUA HIMES
Joshua Him es was a thirty-five-
yea r-old ministe r of th e Christi an
Conn exion , a group a tte mp tin g to
ge t back to th e teachings of th e
early ch urch. Him es was ve ry
much involved in the socia l
r eform moveme nts of his day, cru-
sadin g again st slave ry and th e
liquor traffi c and sta rtin g an a nti-
war o rganization. H e was also
inte rested in education a l refo rm
a nd wom e n 's r igh ts .
Mille r was holding a series of
meetings in Exeter, New
H a mpshire, in Nove mbe r 1839 at
the same time as a Christia n
Conn exio n confe re n ce in that
town. Curious, th e ministers went
J oshua Himes.
216
togethe r a nd visited Mill e r, asking
him all kinds of questions.
Impressed with Miller's answers,
Himes invited him to h o ld a series
in the Chardon Street C h ape l.
At the e nd of that se ri es, Himes
asked Mille r wh y he h adn 't been
preaching in the large cities. Mille r
r esponded th at h e we nt only wh ere
h e was invited.
"Well," Him es retorted, "will
you go with me wh e re doors are
ope ned ?"
''Yes, I a m read y to go a ny-
wh ere."3
At this, Him es bega n to use
his pro motion al skills to publicize
Mill e rism , thus facilita tin g invita-
ti o ns for Mille r to preach in th e
la rge citi es . O n e of the ways h e
did this was to establish several
Mille rite pe riodicals. T h e first o f
th ese, Signs oj the Times, began
publi ca ti o n in Ma rch 1840.
Besid es keepin g Mill e r busie r
th a n eve r, Himes himself h e ld
thousa nds o f meetin gs a nd co-
o rdina te d the work of othe r
Adve n t preach e rs. Adve ntist histo-
rian George Knight h as summa-
ri zed Him es' importa n ce in th ese
wo rds: "Him es provide d th e n ec-
essary o rgani za tion a nd structure
to tra nsform Mill e rism fro m a
on e-m an show into a genuin e
social movem e nt; h e tra nsfo rme d
a doc trin e into a cau se ,"'!
CHARLES FITCH
Like Him es and Litch, Ch a rl es
Fitch h ad been ac tive in th e aboli-
tionist moveme nt. In 1837, at the
age of thirty-two , h e wrote a pam-
phle t called Slaveholding Weighed in
the Balance oj Truth.
 The following year someone
gave him a copy of Mill er's pam-
phlet. Afte r reading it, co nvinced
that Mille r's views were co rrect,
Fitch bega n preaching a bout the
Second Adve nt. He eve n made a
presentation on the subject to a
group of his fe llow ministe rs. But
they ridi culed his position with
such contempt that Fitch had sec-
ond tho ughts. Feeling that they
thought o f him as a "simpleton,'"
h e now returned to his o ld view
th a t the whole world wou ld be con-
ve rted before J esus comes.
He again faced opposition
when h e wrote a book promoting
the doctrin e of sanctifi cation. His
e mployer, the Newark Presbytery,
ce nsured him, denoun cing his con-
cept of spiritual growth as "a dan-
ge rou s error. "6
T his time Fitch didn't back
d own. Instead , he withdrew from
the Presbyte ri an ministry an d pub-
lished a booklet explaining his rea-
so ns for doin g so.
Latel~ at Litch 's urg in g, he
began restudying th e Second
Advent. Again he was co nvinced.
Soon he was preaching it, combin-
ing his in te rest in sanctifi cation
with his re newed emphasis o n the
Seco nd Coming. H e soon had
more speaking invitations tha n he
could poss ibly accept.
Charl es Fitch gave th e
Adve ntist message a visual dim en-
sion. H e a nd a Mill e rite Methodist
na med Apoll os Hale d es ig ned a
chart that was gen e ra lly used by
Millerite preach ers. It showed vari-
ous biblica l prophecies co nvergin g
o n 1843. H e a lso created a big
sta tue with in te rlocking section s to
217
re prese nt th e image of Daniel 2.
As h e d esc ribed in his se rmons
the end of each of the great
e mpires, h e re moved th e portion
of the image that nati o n repre-
sen ted. "Wh e n only th e feet of th e
modern nations were left, the peo-
ple unde rstood that we are tru ly
living in th e last days.'"
On J anuary 18, 1843, Fitch
began publishing a weekly paper
called The Second Advent of ChTist.
The July 26, 1843, issue contai n ed
one of his most important ser-
mons, "Come Out of H e r, My
People."
By this time, quite a few
Millerites had been expe lled from
their churches because of their
belief in the Seco nd Adve nt. Fitch
argued that by rejecting the truth
of Jesus' soon comin g, most of
Protesta nLism had joined the
Catholic Church as pa rt of
"Babylon" in the book of
Revelation. He urged the Millerites
re mainin g in the various Protestant
denominations to separate them-
selves from these churches.
Mille r, Himes, and Litch did
not join Fitch in his a ppeal to
co me out of "Babylon." Nor did
they accept anothe r doctrine that
he soon began preaching: that the
wicked would be destroyed instead
of burning forever.
Co n ti nua lly adva nc in g in th e
light, Fitch began assertin g th e
importan ce of baptism by immer-
sion. Fitch 's baptisma l be liefs
would cos t him his life. In
Buffalo , New York, h e baptized
several people in the lake, wearing
his street clothes. It was Octobe r,
the water was cold , a nd a chilling
wind gree te d him as h e e m e rged
fro m th e lake. As h e was leaving,
a no th e r group of peo ple met
him , requestin g bap tism. H e com-
pli e d. Then , as h e was once again
d e parting, h e e n counte re d a third
group, who mad e the same requ est.
Aga in h e e nte re d th e chilly wate r.
T hi s le d to pne umoni a. H e die d
on Oc to be r 14, 1844, a t th e age of
thirty-n in e.

THE MIDNIGHT CRY

I t wasn't Mille r who d ec ided
th at Jesus wou ld co me o n O ctobe r
22, 1844. H e didn 't rea lly preac h
a spe cific d a te, bu t did expect
th at J esus wou ld com e som e tim e
before th e e nd of th e J ewish year
1843-1844, a yea r th a t wo uld e nd
on Marc h 21, 1844. H e a nd his
foll owe rs a lso co nside red it possi-
ble th at th e ir calcu la tion s a nd hi s-
to rical dates might be off a little
b it. So Ma rch 21 was a n a pproxi-
m ate targe t, n o t a firm d a te .
Th e refo re, wh e n Ma rch 21 came
a nd went, hi s fo ll owers we re dis-
a ppo inted but no t crush e d.
Th e person who decide d th at
the 2300-day p rophecy would be
fu lfi ll ed o n Octo be r 22 was Samuel
S. Snow. Noting th at Christ had
been cru cifi ed at the time of the
Passover and th at H e had se nt
forth the Holy Spirit o n th e Day of
Pe ntecost, Snow co ncluded th at
Christ's fu lfillment of O ld
Testa me nt types were all sch eduled
to ta ke place a t the tim e of the
h oliday fo reshadowing the event.
Thus, th e j u dgme nt would co me
on th e Day of Atoneme n t.
Snow first pub lishe d this idea
Sam ue l Snow.
before the Ma rch disappoin tme nt,
but few people seemed to notice.
H owever, after the J ewish year
1843-44 ended , more people started
listening to Sn ow's explanatio n.
Dubbed "th e true m idnigh t
cry," th e idea cau gh t o n like wild-
fire. The recognized Mi ll e rite lead-
ers were slow to acce pt it: the ir fo l-
lowers were leading the way. Both
Him es a nd Mille r would, unbe-
known to each othe r, fin ally acce pt
th e Octobe r 22 d ate on October 6.
Before anothe r week h ad passed ,
Fitch and Li tch also d ecla red the ir
expectation of seeing J esus on or
before O cto ber 22 .
Un ited in th e ir expectation ,
the Mille rites we re unite d in the ir
disappoin tme n t. Bu t th ey wou ld be
very much divided in th e way they
d ealt with that disappointme nt.

21.
 "A second a nge l followed and sa id , ' Fallen! Fa llen is Babylon the
Great, which made all th e natio ns drin k the madden ing wine of her
adu lleries' " (Reve lation 14:8).

tlJ Into th() Bibl()

l. In d escrib in g the church es th at rejected th e adve nt message as
"Babylon ," Fitch was referring to the im agery in the book of Revelation.
Look up Revelation 18:2, 4, 5 and answer the fo llowing questions.
A. What does the voice fro m heaven tell God's people to do?
B. What wou ld be th e conseque nces if th ey didn ' t h eed that appea l?
C. Why?
D. Write a brief statement explainin g Fitch 's application of this passage.
2. Mi lle r, Himes, a nd Litch disagreed with Cha rl es Fitch o n the issue of
the d estruction of the wicked.
A. What does th e Bible sayan this subj ect?
(1) What is the destiny of Christ's enem ies? Phi lippians 3:18, 19.
(2) What does Psalm 37: 10 say about the wicked ?
(3) What is going to happen to evildoers, according to Malachi 4:1 ?
(Note: the I~ and NKJV express the idea more clearly than
some other translations. Use one of these ve rsio ns if you h ave it
available.)
(4) How mu ch does this verse say will be left of them?
(5) What will they become, accord in g to verse 3?
B. According to what you read in th ese texts, who was right on th is
point-Miller, Him es, and Litch , or Cha rles Fitch ?

210
 ProjQcts
l. Before he was joined by Litch, Him es, and Fitch, William Miller's was a
lonely voice among Americans as he chall e nged the prevailing view
that-if th e re was going to be a lite ral Second Advent-it would be at
least a thousand years away. Howeve r, there were voices in various pa rts
of the world proclaiming that J esus would indeed co me literally and vis-
ibly and break into the normal co urse of hum a n history.
A. Read about one of these individua ls o r groups of individuals. You r
teacher has information to sha re about th e person o r group you
choose.
(1) Manuel Lacunza.
(2) Edward Irving and od,er English heralds of the advent.
(3) The teenage and child preach ers of Swede n.
(4) Other European heralds of the advent.
(5) Jose ph Wolff,Jewish Christian and "missio nary to th e wo rld."
B. Report o n your reading in one of th e Following ways:
(1) Make a poster showin g key eve nts in the life of the person (o r
group) you read about.
(2) Pre te nd you are the pe rson (or o ne of the peo ple) you read
about. Write a letter to a Frie nd expla inin g your be liefs and
expe rie n ces.
(3) Wri te a n obituary for the pe rson (or one of the people ) you
read about.
2. Create a bull etin boa rd summa rizing a nd illustrating the co ntribution
to the Adve nt movement of one of the Fo llowing people:
A. J osiah Litch
B.J oshua Him es
C. Cha rles Fitch
D. Samue l S. Snow

220
 focus Qu~stions
1. Which of the Millerite leaders you read abo ut in today's lesso n would
you say was the most important or inte resting? Why?
2. Fitch be lieved th at by rej ectin g the d octrin e of th e impe nding Second
Adve nt, the ma instream Protesta nt churches became pa rt of Babylon.
Sin ce his time, however, ma ny evangelical chu rc h es h ave accepte d this
doctrine. Assum ing tha t Fitch was correct, sho uld we n ow say th at
because of th e ir cha nge in a tti tu de toward th e Secon d Adve nt these
churches are no lo nge r pa rt of Ba bylo n? Why o r why n ot?
3. Would it be correct to call Fitch a ma rtyr? Why o r why no t?
4. Some evangelical ministe rs say th e surest way to win converts is to
p reach abo ut everlasting h e llfire. Aside fro m the questio n of biblical
correctness, h ow do you think a serm o n o n this subj ect would affect
you if you were un converted ? Why?
5. Wh at might be some ways Himes, Fi tch, and Litch coul d d o th eir wo rk
d iffere ntly if th ey were launching it tod ay?

1. James Nix, "Behold th e Bri degroom Co meth ," a serm on preac hed on O cto ber 8, 1994,
for th e Ann ual Cou nci l at Sligo Church, Takoma Park , M d.
2. Geo rge R. Knight, i'vliliennial Fever and the End of the World (Boise, Idaho: Pacifi c Press,
1993) ,93.
3. Sylvester Bliss, Memoirs o/William lUiller (Boston, Mass.: Jos hua Hi mes, 1853), 140, 141.
4. Gcorge R. Kn ight. lHilienial Fever and lhe End of the World, 75.
5. Ibid., 106.
6. LeRoy Edwin Froom , The Plvphetic Faith o/Our Fathers ( l-IagersLOwn. Md.: Review and
Hera ld , 1954), 4:535.
7. Ibid., 540.

. .-.&.. , ~. I _I
· ,~ .
'"

[xpiaining th~ Disappointm~nt
Lesson Scr~p.ure: Dan~el 7:9-14, 22
H~s.or~cal Focus: Odober 2:1, 1844,.0
February IS, 1846
r------, he Adve nt be lievers o f
Po rt Gibson , New Yo rk,
like Mille rites every-
wh e re, were bi tterly dis-
appointed o n Octobe r
22, 1844. On that date
...._ _ _.... they had gathe red at
the h o me of th e ir lead e r, a
Methodist fa rm er name d Hi ram
Edso n . Whe n J esus didn 't come
befo re midnight, th ey couldn 't
bring themselves to re turn to th e ir
homes until d awn . Even then ,
some re mained. To so me of th ese,
Edson said, "Let us go to the
barn .'"
Th e ba rn was almost e mpty.
Believing tha tJesus wou ld co me
before winte r, Edson hadn 't h a r-
veste d his corn. Many othe r
Millerites in various parts of th e
Northeast h ad believed in the
"Midnight Cry" so com ple te ly th at
th ey had failed to harvest th e ir h ay,
their po tatoes, o r their apples.
O th e rs had resign ed fro m th e ir
jobs.
Now Edson a nd his frie nds
prayed until th ey felt the ass ura nce
th a t th e ir prayer h ad been h eard.
Th e n Ed son said, "Let us go ...
H iram Edsoll .
lesson.
and e ncourage some of our
bre thre n ."2As h e a nd an oth er
b eli ever walked ac ross Edson 's
unhar vested cornfie ld , h e sto ppe d
su d de nly, struck with th e convic-
tion tha t J esus had e nte red th e
Most H o ly Place of th e heavenly
san ctuary the previo us d ay. H e had
begun a new ph ase of His ministry,
whi ch H e would compl e te befo re
re turnin g to th is ea rth. Edso n
unde rstood th a t th e Millerites h ad
bee n wro ng, n o t a bo ut th e date,
bu t abou t th e eve n t ta king pl ace
on that d a te.
Noti cing th at Edso n was n o
lo nger beside him , his compa nio n
asked why h e h ad stopped . Edson
re pl ied, "Th e Lord was a nswering
our morn in g p rayer, giving light
wi th regard to O U f disappo in t-
m ent. "!!
Ed son 's insigh t was fo ll owed
by intense Bi ble study. H e studi e d
with Owen Crosie r a n d a physi-
cian named Fra n klin B. H a hn .
Earl ie r th e th ree me n h a d p ub-
li sh ed a paper calle d The Day-
Dawn. W h e n th ey we re sure th a t
th e ir new ligh t was bibli cally
so und , th ey d ecid ed to produ ce
ano th e r iss ue, ex pl ainin g th eir
co nvi cti o ns rega rdin g wh a t had
ha ppe n ed o n O cto ber 22, 1844.
Published in J 845, it reach ed sev-
eral peo pl e wh o would be impor-
tant to th e future of the advent
moveme nt, including Jose ph
Ba tes and J ames White.
Meanwhil e, in December 1844,
the Lo rd gave additional light to a
seventeen-year-old girl named
Elle n Harmo n . A shy and sickly
young wo man whose health had
been impaired as the result of an
accide ntal injury several years
before, she had recently unde r-
go ne a battle wi th tuberculosis that
had nearly take n her life.
Elle n had eJ"Uoyed a profo und
reli gious experi e nce whi le anti ci-
patin g th e Seco nd Advent. But now
she suspected that she had bee n
mistake n in her beli ef tI,at O cto ber
22, 1844, marked the e nd of th e
2300-d ay pro ph ecy.
At this time, Elle n was visiting
Ellen Harmon's binhplace.
in the ho me of Mrs. Elizabeth
Hain es, a close fri end. They, alo ng
wilh three o th er wom en, \ve re
kneeling in praye r wh e n "the
powe r of Cod cam e upon [he r] as
[she] had neve r felt it before ."·'
She see med to be rising "higher
and higher from th e earth ." Ell en
saw Cod 's peopl e traveling "a
stra igh t and narrow path , . .. high
above the wo rld." Behind them was
"a bright light," which an angel sa id
was the "midnig ht cry.'"
So me "rashly denied th e lig ht
be hind them, and said it was no t
Cod tI, at had led th em . .. so fa r.
Th e light behind them we nt o ut,
which [left) th eir feet in perfec t
darkness, and th ey stumbled and
lost sight . .. of J esus, and fe ll off
th e path down into the dark and
wi cked wo rld below.'"
Th en in visio n she witn essed
the Second Adve nt and was taken
to heaven . After expe riencing in
vision ti,e glo ri es of heaven, re turn-
 ing in consciousness to earth was a
gloomy experience.
Ellen's n ew in sigh ts comple-
mented those of Hiram Edson.
Alth ough not told at this time
what had taken place on October
22, she was shown that the
Midnight Cry had been God-given
li ght. Within the n ext two mo n ths
she saw in another vision "the
Father rise from the throne and
in a fl aming ch a riot go into the
holy of holies.'" Then sh e saw
J esus in a "cloudy chariot with
wheels like fl ami n g fire.'" The
ch a ri ot carried Him to the Most
Holy Place, wh ere the h eave nly
Fath er was now sittin g. Then she
saw J esus standing before His
Fathe r as o ur "great high p riest.""
T h us sh e was prepared to receive
Edson's message when she read it
some time later.
Meanwhile, she shared h er first
vision with h er fellow advent
believers in her h ometown of
Portland , Maine. T hey accepted it
as an encouraging message from
th e Lord.
But a week later Ell en had a
disturbing vision. She was toldlo
proclaim the things she had been
sh own. With the commission , how-
ever, came a warning th at accept-
ing this assignment wo uld bring
h e r "great opposition and . ..
anguish." lO
Sh e begged the Lo rd "to lay
the burden on someone e lse. "II
After a long struggle, sh e finally
surrendered her will to God,
"ready to do His bidding, wh atever
that might be." "
It wasn 't long before sh e began
to experien ce the predicted oppo-
225
sition. The Great Disappointment
had shattere d the Millerite move-
ment. T h e majority gave up their
faith in a n impend ing adven t. A
second group , whi ch even tually
included Miller himself, retained
th e ir bas ic fa ith in the adven t but
decided th e math must have been
wrong.
A thi rd group be lieved that the
date was right but the event wrong.
Unaware of Hira m Edson's
insights, however, many of th e m
were proclaiming thatJesus really
did come o n October 22, but that
His coming had bee n sp iritual
rather tha n physical.
This co ncept led to a ll kinds of
bizarre fanatical actions. Some
declared that they we re living in
the year of jubilee, so it was sin fu l
to work fo r a living. Some said they
were now beyond sin , so wh ateve r
they did was by defin iti o n right-
eous. Others demonstrated th eir
humili ty by crawling on tile floor
like babies. Some of the fanatics
claimed that they h ad seen visions.
One even decided that he was
Elijah the prophet.
Ellen Hannon wou ld face
opposition from both groups
remaining loyal to the Second
Advent. On the one hand, a major
part of her original mission was to
bear witness aga inst the exu·emists.
On the otller hand, the more COn-
servative Mi ll erites were so
appalled by th e excesses of those
claiming sp iritual gifts that they
we nt on record opposing all
all eged visio ns.
What a daun ting task to face a
timid, sickly tee nager: to rebuke
wild-eyed fanatics a nd point out
the sins a nd sh o rtcomings of spe-
cific individua ls cla iming to be
sanctifi ed ! No wo nder she shra nk
from the respo nsibili ty. But God
promised to be with he r, a nd a n
an gel assured h e l~ [f you "d e live r
th e message fa ithfully [and l
e ndure unto the e nd, ... you sha ll
eat th e frui t of the tree of life a nd
drink of th e wa te r o f life .""
Sustain ed by th ese promises, Ell e n
began travelin g fro m one ho tbed
of extre mism to ano ther, d e te r-
mined to carry o ut th e task God
h ad la id upo n he r, knowin g th a t
He would see h e r through .

S An(hor TQxt
"A river of fire was fl owing, coming out from before him . Thousands
upon tho usands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before
him. T he cou rt was seated , a nd the books were ope ned" (Danie l 7:10).

CfJ Into thQ BiblQ

Use th e wo rksheet provided by your teach e r to learn more about th e
pre-adve n t judgme nt.

1. Pre te nd that you h ave just read a magazin e a rticl e claimin g tha t
Seventh-day Adve ntists came up with the idea of a pre-advent judg me nt
simply as a "face-saving" way to explain away th e G reat Disappo intme nt.
Your teac he r can give you a se lectio n from Me rvyn Maxwell's book
Magnificent Disappointment tha t g ives evide nce tha t wh at is be ing said in
this magazin e a rticle isn't true. Usin g Maxwell 's inFo rma tion, write a
lette r to th e editor of that magazin e showing tha t th e a rticle's ass ump-
tion is in correct.
2. Read th e po rtio n of Ell e n H a rm o n's fi rs t visio n de pictin g h eaven . Yo u
will find this in Early W1itings, beginning o n page 16 (last paragra ph )
and e nding a t th e top of page 20. Re port o n your reading in on e of the
followin g ways:
A. Draw a picture illustra ting o n e of the scen es in th e vision.
B. Imagin e yourself as on e walking o n the pa th shown in th e visio n.
Write a o ne-page acco unt of your experie nces .
 roms Qu~stions
1. What lessons can we learn fro m the experience of the Millerites?
2. Why do you think God needs a pre-advent judgme nt? Doesn 't He
already know who's going to be saved ?
3. How do you perso nally fee l about the pre-advent judgment? Do you
think of it positively or negatively? Why?
4. Imagine that you had "visited " heaven in a vision or dream that seemed
so real that you felt you had actu ally been th e re . Would you be disap-
pointed by your "return to ea rth"?
5. How do you explain the fact that people who had been joyfully expect-
ing Christ's re turn reacte d so differently to the Great Disappointme nt?
Why do you think some clung to th e ir belief th at J esus was coming
soon, while others gave up o n the idea?

1. Francis N icho l, The Midnight C1)l (Hagerstown, Md. : Review an d He ra ld , 1944),78.

2. Ib id.
3. Ibid.
4. Ellen C . White, Life Slwlches of Ellen C. While (Bo ise, Idah o: Pacific Press, 191 5), 64.
5. Ibi d .
6. Ibid., 64, 65.
7. Arthur L. "" hite , Ellen C. While: The l!.arl)' Years, 1827-1862 (Hagerstow n, Md.: Review
and Herald , 1985), 78.
8. Ib id .
9. Ibi d.
10. Ellen G. White, Life Shete"es, 69.
11. Ellen C . White, Emiy Writings (Hage rstown, Md.: Review and Herald , 1882) , 20.
12. Ell en G. Wh ite, Life Sketches, 72.
13. Ibid.

227

Th~ Gift of Proph~(y
Lesson Scrliptures: I Corlinthlians 12:4-11;
Ephesians 4: 11-16
Historlical Focus: 1842-1845, wlith a
look forward to 1990
...
-
'-'1
,-
wo years before the
Great Disappointment,
William Ellis Foy was
atte ndin g a prayer
m eeting in Boston.
\ J floor, lostly consciousness
Sudden he fell o n the
of his surro undin gs, and quit
breathing, a fact verified by a physi-
cia n in th e congregation who
examined him during the two and
a h alf h ours he spent in a breath-
less state. Foy was in visio n, witness-
ing the glories of h eaven a nd th e
fi ery destruction of the lost.
This was the fi rst of four visions
that Foy received . He was the first
of three prophets that God call ed
to provide e ncouragement and
guidance to the Millerites during
the period 1842-1844. The third of
these prophets wou ld playa major
ro le in salvagin g th e d isintegrating
Millerite movem e n t in the wake of
th e Great Disappointment.
T h e Millerite movement was
interdenominational. William
Miller n ever intended to start a
new church , yet his m ovement
gave birth to several, includin g the
Ellen Harmon in vision.
lesson 5
Evangelical Adventists, th e Adve nt
Ch ristia n Church , the Li fe a nd
Advent Union , th e Chu rc hes of
God in Christ J esu s, a nd the
Seve n th-day Adventist Churc h. In
1860 t here we re o nly abo ut 3,000
Sabba th keepers out of a bout
54,000 Adventists. But by 1994
there we re 779,160 Sabbath-
keeping Adve ntists in the Un ited
Sta tes, all but abo ut 39,000 of
whom were m e mbers of the
Seve n th-d ay Adventist Church.
Only the Seventh-day Adve ntist
Church co n tinues to fl o urish and
g row right up to the present time.
What happened? Why h as the
Seventh-day Adven tist Church
flouri sh ed while the oth er Millerite
bodies seemed to disintegrate with
time?
Francis David Nichol sugges ts
a n interesting answer. T he setting
is a car ride h e was ta king with a
leader of one of the o ther
Adventist de nom inations.
Nich ol had bee n on the cam-
pus of the coll ege o perated by the
Advent Christia n Church d o ing
so me research in the writings of
William Mille r. Th e e lde rly forme r
p resident of that college h ad been
g racio usly assistin g him in this pro-
ject. As Nicho l te lls the sto ry:
"We had days of sweet fellowship
toge the r, and a t times J din ed at
his h ome. H e kn ew of th e amazin g
growth of Seve n th-clay Adventists,
of the diffe rent b ranch es of our
work that sp read over the earth . As
we drove a lo ng at sunset o ne
evening in his car, he said to me in
substan ce:
" 'Yo ur church leade rs thro ugh
th e years h ave been wiser me n
tha n ours. Th ey saw the n eed of a
publishing wo rk a nd sta rted it, th e
need of medical work, of educa-
tional, a nd of a great mission pro-
gram. They a lso saw the n eed o f a
close-knit organi zatio n. And so
today you a re stro ng a nd g rowing
fas t, while we are no t.' "
J re plied : "No, my dear bro th e r,
I don ' t thin k th at is qui te a n
accura te sta te me n t. O ur lead e rs
we re n o t wise r th an yours, n o r
mo re fa r-visio n ed . Th e record will
show th a t th ey we re ordin a ry
ll esh a nd blood , like your m e n ,
with g rea t limi ta ti o ns of visio n
a nd faith . But we had in our
midst a most singul a r woma n. Sh e
ma rke d a u t wh a t we o u g h t to d o
in th e diffe re n t bra nc h es of o ur
wo rk. Sh e was spec ific , emph a ti c,
in sistent. We acce pted her co un -
se l and direc ti o n , fo r we be li eved
sh e h ad visio ns fro m God. T h at is
th e reaso n we h ave this ma r-
ve lo us orga ni zatio n a nd why
we've grown.
"A great sile nce descended , fo r
th e d ear Adve nt Christian people
have eve r bee n cri tical of o ur d oc-
trine tha t Mrs. White possessed th e
gift of th e Sp iri t of prophecy....
"We can think of n o more
impressive testim o ny to the singu-
la r qualiti es of Mrs. White tha n
th at so e loque ntly, th o ug h unwit-
tingly, given by this d ear ma n. '"
Evide n ce su ggests th a t th e
be nefi ts o f Ell e n Whi te's ministry
we re n 't limi ted to th e d e no min a-
tio na l o rga nizatio n . Individua l
me mbe rs h ave pro fite d a lso.
Seve ral stud ies h ave sugges te d , fo r
exampl e , th a t Seve nth-day
Adventists li ve, on ave rage, six to
e ig ht years lo nge r tha n th e po pu-
la tion in ge n e ra l. Obse rve rs both
inside a nd o u tside th e Seve n th-
d ay Ad ve ntist Church h ave recog-
ni zed th a t E ll e n Whi te 's writin gs
were th e key fac to r in th e
"Adventist adva ntage ."
Who was this remarka ble
woma n? What were the hig hligh ts
of he r ministry? Wha t evide nce is
th e re tha t he r proph e tic gift was
ge nuin e?
We will ex plo re th ese ques-
tion s sh o rtl y. Bu t befo re we d o , we
want to turn to a no the r fascina tin g
sto ry abo u t th e g ift o f proph ecy.
As you reca ll , Elle n Whi te wasn 't
th e first Am e ri ca n to rece ive
divin e visio ns.
WILLIAMFOY
Th e three peo ple God chose in
the 1840s fo r a pro ph e tic ministry
illustrate th e fac t tha t H e d oesn 't
discrimina te o n the basis o f race o r
sex. His first cho ice was a twe nty-
three-year-o ld Afri can-Ame rica n
man. His seco nd choi ce was a
young whi te ma n, a nd His third
choi ce was a tee nage girl.
 William Ellis Foy was converted
in 1835 a nd bap tized into the
Freewill Baptist Church . In 1842 h e
was pre pa ring for th e Episcopal
ministry. At this time, he said, he
was "opposed to the doctrine of
J esus' near approach. '"
But the Lord gave him two
visions that year th at changed his
mind o n the subj ect. Foy didn 't
wa n t to tell the public about his
first vision , d escribed at the begin-
ning of this lesson. In the first
p lace, many people were preju-
diced against an y claims to the
propheti c gi ft. In th e second place,
he knew he would e n counte r racial
prejudice if he sh o uld try to
d ecla re publ icly wha t he had seen.
And fina lly, the vision had n 't
specifi cally told him that h e must
sha re this experience. Nonethe less,
his conscie n ce bo th e re d him .
Seeking peace of mind , he tried to
write o u t what he had seen a nd
had it printed.
H e had an oth e r vision two and
a ha lf wee ks late r. T his time he saw
earth 's inhabitants summon e d
befo re heaven's judgme nt bar. H e
saw two reco rd books: the names of
the saved were wri tten in one,
th ose of the lost in th e other. He
obse rved that some of the people
who were condemn ed were church
me mbe rs. This tim e he was clearl y
instructed, "Thou must reveal
those things which th ou hast see n,
a nd also warn thy fe llow creatures
to nee from the wrath to come.'"
Two days late r a Boston pastor
asked him to tell wha t h e had seen.
He reluctantly agreed .
The fo ll owing afte rn oon, while
spea king to a large co ngregatio n,
his fear vanished. H e tra veled the
next three months, speaking to
th o usands of peo ple in both rented
ha lls and churches of vario us
denominations.
Then, seeking to support his
fa mily, he left the lec ture circuit
for a while. Again h e experienced
an uneasiness of mind , so he
resum ed his itin era n t preaching.
Sho rtly befo re th e Great
Disappointme nt, FOY had a th ird
visio n. Observin g the peopl e of
God o n the path to heave n, h e saw
a crowd gathe ring o n a huge step .
O nce in a while o n e of t1,ese peo-
ple would dro p from sigh t, a nd a
voice would say, "Apostatized .'"
Then th e peop le we n t up to a
seco nd step. Again so me dropped
from sig h t.
T hen they ad vanced to a third
step, which we nt a ll the way to th e
gates of th e New J e rusalem. A large
numbe r of people joine d the
g ro up on this third step.
What did it all mean? Foy d idn 't
know. Perha ps he was confused by
the fact that most Mille r ites ex-
pected th e wo rld to e nd in Octo ber,
whe reas this vision seemed to
cl early suggest that there were sti ll
progressive steps to be take n by
God 's people before the Second
Advent. If t1,is had bee n unde rstood
and proclaimed, it would have
warned th e millio ns that Jesus
wouldn 't come on October 22,
1844. Arter havi ng a similar vision
herself, Elle n Ha rm o n iden tifi ed
these steps as the three angels' mes-
sages of Revelatio n 14.
T he fo llowing year he h eard a
yo un g woman speakin g about a
visio n she h ad see n. Ell e n Harmon
didn't know Foy was in the aud i-
ence until he shouted for joy, stood
up, and started jumping up and
down excitedly, praising the Lord
and repeatedly saying, "That's just
what I saw!"

HAZEN FOSS
A few weeks before the G reat
Disappointment, a similar visio n
came to Hazen Foss, a handsome
and we ll-educa ted resident of
Poland, Ma in e. Foss, like Foy, saw
the believers' journey to th e h eav-
en ly Jerusalem represented by
three steps. He was a lso g iven
so m e warnings to deliver, but was
shown the trouble he would face
if h e related what h e'd seen.
Since he expected the Lord to
come by October 22 , the three
steps made no sense to him , and
he was reluctant to face the
ridicul e a nd o pposition that
com es with a cla im to be God's
messe nger.
Foss had a second vision shortly
a fte r the Great Disa ppointment,
wh e n he was feelin g that he'd been
deceived by believing in the
Midnight Cry. This time he was
told that continued refusal to tell
what he had seen would release
him from "the burden ," which
would then be given to "one of the
weakest of the weak."5 Unlike Foy,
h e persisted in his refusal to reveal
what h e had seen, even after the
vision was repeated a third time.
Then he heard a voice saying, ''You
have grieved away the Spirit of the
Lord."G
Terrified , he decided to call a
mee ting to tell about his visions,
but when he began to speak, his
Hazen Foss.
mind we nt blank. In h o rror, he
exclaimed, "It is gone from me; I
can say nothing, and the Spirit of
the Lord has left me.'" Witnesses
later told Ell en Harmon that it was
"the most terrible mee ting'" they
had ever attended.
It was shortly after this that
Miss Harmon began rece iving
visions. Mter Ell en's third vision,
sh e visited her o lder siste r Mary
Foss (Hazen's sister-in-law) in
Poland, Maine, about thirty miles
north of Portland. There sh e was
invited to attend a meeting of
advent believers.
As Ellen later recalled in a let-
ter to her sister,
"I went with you and your
husband. There, that night, I
stood ... to relate the testimony
g iven me of God . For about five
minutes I labored to speak, and
then everythin g broke away, and
 my voice was as clear as a bell , I me, and given to you. Do not
talked for about two h o urs. I refuse to obey God, for it will be
knew nothing of the ex pe rience a t the peril of your soul. I a m a
Haze n Foss had bee n passing lost man. "LO
thro ugh. In this meeting the After that his pe rsonality deterio-
powe r of the Lo rd came upon rated. Physically h e lived a nother
me and upon th e peo pl e .'" half ce ntury, but evide nce suggests
This was the first time Ellen that, spiritually, he h ad died.
had talked about he r first vision I ron ically, Willia m Foy and
a\vay from her hom etown. Once Haze n Foss di e d in th e same year,
sh e fini shed speaking, she lost h e r 1893, but how diffe re nt their life
voice again until the next time she sto ries were after 1845. Alth ough
spoke in public, whe n, as she says, Foy lost contact with the other
"the same sin gu lar resto ration was advent believe rs, received no
repeated." more visions after 1844, a nd
In the next roo m was Hazen a pparently neve r lea rn ed about
Foss. H e had been invited to the the Sabbath , h e re ma in e d in th e
meeting, but h e had d ecl ined , hav- ministry and co ntinu e d to preac h
in g lost interest in re ligio us mat- the Second Adven t. Un like Foss,
ters. But he ove rh eard Elle n talk- h e was interested in spiritual mat-
in g. What sh e was saying seemed ters throughout his life .
stra ngely familiar to him. That's it' Foy 's proph e ti c g ift was only
he thought. That 's the vision J tried temporary. Howeve r, th e yo ung
to relate three months ago. woman wh o told abo ut a vision
The followin g morning, Hazen similar to his co ntinu e d to have
told Ellen about his experie nce. proph etic visions and dreams
Then he said: throughout h e r le ngthy life. We
"I heard you ta lk last night. I will turn again to h e r ministry in
be li eve the visions a re taken from th e lesso ns that follow .
.............................................................................................. .
S Anchor TQxt
"Have fa ith in th e Lo rd yo ur God a nd you will be uph e ld ; have fa ith in
his pro ph ets a nd you will be successful " (2 Chro nicles 20:20b) .
...............................................................................................

1. Let's see what the Bible has to say a bout "The Purpose of Spiritual
Gifts." Your teach e r will provide a workshee t by that name.
2. Let's explore some of the Bible's statements about spiritual gifts in the
last days.
A. Look up Joel 2:28-3 1. Verse 31 clearly indicates that this prophecy
would be fulfilled during the closing period of this earth's history.
What spiritual manifestations does Joel predict will take place at
that time?
B. According to Revelation 12:17, what will be the two ch aracteristics
of God's special church in the last days (the offspring of the woman
with whom th e dragon, or Satan, m akes war)?
C. How does Revelation 19:10 define "the testimony of Jesus" ?

ProjQcts
1. Although Dr. Clive McCay, a highly respected professor of nutrition at
Cornell University, was not a Seventh-day Adventist, h e had great
respect for Ellen White's teachings regardi ng health. Read a portion of
a lecture he gave on the subject in 1958. Bear in mind that medical
research sin ce th at time has supported her views eve n more strongly.
A. Ask your teacher for a copy of "No Better Overall Guide to
Nutrition,"
B. Report on your findings in one of the following ways:
(1) Sketch a proposal for a bulletin board illustrating the major
points Dr. McCay makes.
(2) Write a summary of the most importa nt ideas in Dr. McCay's
speech.
2. Your teacher wi ll provide you with a compilatio n of Ellen G. White
statements on the fo llowing topics: (a) exercise, (b) th e relationship
between body and mind, a nd (c) tobacco . Select one or more of th ese
h ealth issues a nd do some research into recent printed materials abo ut
h ealth and nutrition that validate Ellen White's comments.
Your report can be given as (a) a three- to four-minute oral report,
(b) a 250-wo rd wri tte n summary, or (c) a poster illustrating the key
poin ts.
 focus Qu~stions
1. In what ways did Ellen (Harmon) White build up or strengthen the
Seventh-day Adventist Church?
2. What lessons might we learn from the experiences of William Foy and
H azen Foss?
3. Do you think Hazen Foss committed the unpardonable sin? Why or
why not?
4. Why do you think the gift of prophecy was given at this time in history?
5. Do you think William Foy and Hazen Foss were correct in believing
they would be ridiculed for talking about the visions? Why or why not?
If your answer is Yes, can you think of some reasons that claims to a
prophetic gift might result in ridicule?

1. Francis D. Nichol, Why 1 Believe in Mrs. E. G. White (Hagerstown, Md.: Review a nd

H erald, 1964), 126, 127.
2. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald , 1966), s.v.
"Foy, \t\'illi am Ellis."
3. T. HouselJem ison, A PmphetAmong You (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1955), 485.
4 J. N. Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and
Herald, 1909), 146.
5. Ibid. , 182.
6. T. House l J emison , A PmphetAmong You, 489,
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., 488.
10. Ibid. , 489.

God (hoos~s dT~~ndq~r
Lesson Scripture: I t'hessalonians 5:20, 21
Historical Focus: 1827-1844
hat kind ofa
person did
God choose to
be His modern-
day messen-
ger? Was there
an ythin g sig-
nificant a bout E ll e n Harmon's
first sixtee n years of life that
might h ave led the Lord to
choose h e r for this special resp o n -
sibility? Let's go back to h e r c hild-
h ood a nd ea rly teenage years,
loo kin g for a nswers to the ques-
tio n- What experie n ces in Ell e n
H armo n 's earl y life prepared h er
to be God 's m esse n ger?
E ll e n Harmon and h er twin
siste r Elizabeth were the youngest
of eigh t childre n. They we re born
in a rural hillside cottage n ot fa r
from the village of Go rham,
Maine , on Novem b e r 26, 1827.
When Ellen was four o r five years
o ld , the family m oved to the city
of Portland, Main e.
STRUCK BY A ROCK
As Elle n, age nine, was walking
h ome from sch ool, a n a ngry
schoolmate threw a rock that hit
her nose a nd knocked h e r uncon-
The V\'hi tes and
othe rs stu dyin g.
lesson 6
scious. When sh e came to, she
tried to walk home, but became
d izzy and fell. Elizabeth a nd a n-
o th er schoolmate carri ed h er the
rest of the way h o me.
For three weeks sh e lay in a
co ma. Eve ryon e except h e r mother
,vas sure she ,vas go in g to die.
When sh e regained conscious-
ness, Ellen overheard a neighbor
making remarks abou t h er ap pear-
ance . Looking in a mirror, she was
sh ocked. Her nose had been bro-
ken and, sh e said, "Every feature of
my face seemed ch a nged. '"
She was crushed. How could
sh e bear to go through life looking
like that?
Soon after this, Ellen 's father
returned from a business trip. H e
greeted the oth e r childre n a nd
asked whe re Ellen was. Her appear-
a n ce had ch anged so much that h e
didn 't recognize h er. "T h is cut me
to the heart,"2 she wro te.
As Elle n became stron g
enou gh to play o utd oors, sh e dis-
covered that far too many children
who are willing to befriend a pretty
girl will reject that same girl wh e n
h e r face h as been disfigured. In
d esperatio n , sh e turned to Jesus.
As she prayed, sh e felt comforted.
Sh e discove red by ex pe ri ence that
J esus love d eve n unattractive c hil-
dre n. Sh e la te r recalle d , "Th e
c rue l blow ... was the means of
turning my eyes to h eaven . I
might h ave n eve r known J esus,
had not th e so rrow that clouded
my early years led me to see k
comfort in Him, "!!
She tried to return to sch ool,
but it was too much for h e r sh at-
tered ne rves a nd weakened body.
Poor health forced he r to becom e
a dropout.
SPIRITUAL UPS AND DOWNS
Despite Elle n's earlier
e n counte r with J esus, h e r spiritua l
life wasn't a bed of roses.
Sometimes sh e blamed God fo r
her proble ms. T he n she would feel
guilty for having those though ts.
Ellen Harmon's home in Portland, Maine.
T hinking that oth e r Christia ns
were "so muc h nobler a nd pure r, "·'
she didn 't dare talk to anybody
about her feel ings .
Wh en sh e was twelve, Elle n
h eard William Miller preach that
J esus was coming in a few years.
This frighte ned h er. Ellen was sure
that sh e would be lost if H e came
while sh e was in h e r curren t spir-
itual state.
Sh e found peace of mind a t a
Methodist camp meeting h e r fam-
ily attended during the summe r of
1842. One speake r urged those
who were "wave ring betwee n h ope
a nd fear ... to surre nder the m-
selves to God " and trust His me rcy.
Doing this, he said , would insu re
"pardon and peace.'" She reso lved
to surrender h e r will to God. Later
she wrote, "Th ese words comforted
me, a nd gave me a view of wha t I
must do to be saved.'"
OnJun e 26, 1842, Ellen was
baptized by immersion in Casco
Bay. "The waves ran bigh, a nd
dashed upon the shore," she says,
"but my peace was like a river.... I
felt dead to the world , and that my
sins were all washed away.'"
Miller returned to Portland
that summer. Again atte ndin g his
lectures, Ellen acce p ted his mes-
sage, despite renewed fears that
she wasn't ready for the advent.
These fears were intensified by a
feeling that she was resisting God's
will because she was afraid to pray
in public.
A DISCOURAGING DREAM
Despondent, Ellen dreamed
about a temple:
"Only those who took refuge in
that temple would be saved ... ; a ll
who remain ed outside would be
forever lost. The multitudes ...
derided and ridiculed those who
were entering the temple, and told
them ... there was no danger
,·vhatever to avoid."8
Afraid of ridicule, sh e decided
to wait to enter the temple until
the crowd thin ned out. But instead
of dwindling, the crowd grew.
Afraid that sh e'd be left out, sh e
decided to go in , regardless of
what those in th e crowd thought.
Inside, she saw a mangled ,
bleeding lamb tied to a huge pillar.
Those entering were required to
go before that lamb, confessing
their sins. A group of happy-looking
people were sitting on "elevated
seats" in front of the lamb. Having
"co nfessed their sins" and
"received pardon," they "were now
waiting in glad expectation of
some joyful event.""
Embarrassed at the thou ght of
publicly humbling herself, she
hesitated. Suddenly "a trumpet
sounded, the temple shook, shou ts
of triumph arose from the assem-
bled saints, an awful brightness illu-
minated the building, then all was
inte nse darkness. The happy peo-
ple had a ll disappeared with the
brightness, and I was left a lone in
the silent horror of night." 'o
Awakening "in agony of mind,"
she says, "I ... could hardly con-
vince myself that I had been
dreaming."" Sh e felt doomed. Sh e
feared that God's Sp irit had perma-
nen tly left her.
AN ENCOURAGING DREAM
Shortly after this discouraging
dream, Ellen dreamed about being
"in abject despair,"" wishing that
Jesus was physically present on tllis
earth so that she could visit Him,
throw herself before Him, and tell
Him all her problems. Then, she
thought, "He would not turn away
from me; He would have mercy
upon me, and I would love and
serve Him always."13
The door opened, and a hand-
some man entered the room. He
asked Ellen if she wanted to see
Jesus. "He is here, and you can see
Him if you desire it." " T hen he
told he r to follow him.
Ecstatic, she followed the man
up a steep stairway. He told her to
keep looking upward, so she
wouldn 't "grow dizzy and fal l. ""
After they had asce nded the
stairs, her gu ide opened a door.
She e ntered and there was Jesus,
 his face showing "benevolence and
majesly," 16
Realizing that He knew every-
thing about h e r life, including all
her hidden "thoughts and feel-
ings," she felt "u nable to endure
His searching eyes," But H e smiled,
put His hand on h er head, and
said , "Fear nat."1 7
The sound of His sweet voice
thrilled my h eart with a happiness it
had never before experie nced. I was
too joyful to utter a word, but, over-
COIne with emotion, sank prostrate
at His feet. ... His smile filled my
sou l wiill gladness ... and ... love."
After they left the room, h e r
guide gave Ellen a tightly coiled
green cord, telling h er to put it
next to her h eart. Whenever she
wanted to see J esus, he said , she
should take it out and stretch it as
much as possible.
"He cautioned me not to let it
remain coiled for any le ngth of
time, lest it sho uld become knotted
and difficult to straighte n. I placed
th e co rd n ear my h eart, and joy-
fully descended the na rrow stairs,
praising the Lord, and te llin g all
who m I met wh ere they could find
Jesus .
.............................................................................................. .
S Anchor T~xt
"You wi ll seek m e and find m e when yo u seek m e with all yo ur heart"
Ueremiah 29: 13).
240
"This dream gave me hope.
The green cord rep resented fa ith
to my mind, a nd ille beauty and
simplicity of u' usting in God began
to dawn upon my soul. "19
BEGINNING TO WITNESS
Now sh e fou nd the courage to
pray in public and to testify of
"th e wondrous love that Jesus h ad
shown for me."" Sh e began to
share h e r expe rience with h er
friends . Her happiness in creased
eve n more when all but one of
them gave their hearts to J esus.
Still , sh e e ncountered problems.
Some of the o lder C hristians tried
to tone dO\'V ll h e r enthusias m , a nd
some of h er fellow Methodists
became antagon istic wh e n she
sh ared her adve n t joy. T h e ir pas-
tor visited the Harmons a nd told
them that this "n ew a nd strange""
belief was unacceptable to the
denomination. In Septe mber
1843, Ell en a nd the rest of h er
family were disfellowshiped from
the Methodist Ch urch. Th irteen
months late r they expe ri e n ced
the Great Disappoin tment. A few
weeks after th at Elle n h ad h e r
first vision .
lIJ Into thQ BiblQ
1. Before we return to th e life and minisu'y of Ellen Harmon (later E lle n
White), we wa nt to explore wh at th e Bible has to say abou t a very
impo rtan t question : How do we kn ow if a person really h as the gift of
prophecy? For help in answe ring this question , complete th e worksh eet
provided by your teacher.
2. Elisha's experie nce in 2 Kings 6:8-12 suggests some principl es regard-
ing prophetic messages.
A. What did Elisha tell the king of Israel abo ut the p lans of the king of
Aram (Syria)?
B. State in your own words what his experie nce tells yo u abou t some
of the reasons God gives proph etic messages.
C. What does this passage suggest about the timing of these messages?
3. Let's learn something abo ut the kinds of experiences a prophet might
have \vhen God wants to comm unicate with him o r her.
A. By wh at methods does God commun icate with prophets? Numbe rs
12:6.
B. List fi ve physical phenomena Daniel experie n ced while in vision .
Daniel 10:8-19.
C. The KJV and NKJV a re even stronge r in their translation of verse
17. Look up the last part of this verse in one of these versions and
copy Daniel 's description of his physical state.
D. Even though Daniel was in a sleeplike state, unaware of wh at was
happening aro und him, were his eyes necessarily closed ? What bib-
lical cha racte l~ at o ne tim e used by .God to deliver His message, had
trances in whi ch his eyes were open? N um bers 24:3, 4.

1. Find out more a bout one of Elle n Harmon's brothers or sisters.

A. Choose one perso n from th e fo llowin g li st. Use th e references
listed to find information about the person se lec ted. Most of the
books probably wi ll b e found in your sch oo l library.
(1) Robert Harmon,Jr.: Ellen G. White, Testimoniesjo,- the Church,
1: 34,35; Spiritual Gifts, 2:161-165 .
(2) Elizabeth Harmon Bangs (Ellen's twin): Ellen G. White,
Testimoniesjor the Chun;h,1:9 , 10, 38; Selected Messages, 2: 259, 260;
Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White: The Progressive Years, 1862-1876,
450 .

2 ••
 (3) Sarah Harmon Belden: Ellen G. White, Testimonies JOT the Church,
1:38; Sf)iTitual Cifts,2 :65, 75, 76, 138, 143, 16] , 162; Welfare
"'finist,y, 324.
B. Pre te nd you are Ellen Ha rm on (White). Write a lette r to th is
bro th e r o r sister, g ivin g spi ritual encourage me nt or admonitio n
(based on th e clues to th e pe rson's sp iritual successes a nd fa ilures
you found in your reading).
2. Shortly before th e Great Disappoi ntm ent, Elle n a nd h er mother had
a n e nlighte nin g discussio n on the fate of the wicked.
A. Read abo ut this disc ussio n in one of the followin g sources:
(1 ) Life Sketches oj Ellen C. White, 48-50.
(2) Ell e n G. White, Testimonies Jor the ChuTch, J :39, 40.
B. Report o n yo ur read ing in one of the fo llowin g ways:
(1) Write a di alogue for a skit.
(2) Draw a co mic strip .
(3) Imagi n e that you a re Ellen's moth er. Write a le tter to your o lde r
daughter, Mary, telling about this expe rie n ce.
3. After reading Ellen H armon 's co nversion story in this lesson, produce a
book of co nversion expe ri ences as a class proj ect. Use the foll owin g
procedure :
A. Each stude nt should ch oose a different pe rso n to inte rview, such as :
(1) o ne of your pa re nts.
(2) an acq uai ntance .
(3) someone your pastor recomm e nds.
B. Ask this pe rso n about his o r he r conve rsio n expe rience.
C. Write out the story.
D. When all th e sto ries have been turn ed in , put th e m together in a
loose-leaf no te book to display in yo ur classroom. An artistically
inclin ed cl ass member cou ld prepa re an a ttractive cove r for your
book, featuring a title such as "Our Conversion Stori es."

Focus QU(~stions
1. Wh at advice would you g ive a fri e nd who was go in g through a spiritual
struggle simil ar to Ellen H armon 's?
2. If a person admits that J esus is co me in th e fl esh bu t teaches oth e r doc-
trin es th at are clearly contra ry to the Bible, would yo u conside r that
person a ge nuine prophet? If not, how would yo u ex plain 1 J o hn 4:2, 3?
3. Can you think orany peop le today who cl aim to be proph ets? Do you
think they are genuin e? Why o r why no t? Which bibli cal tests apply?
4. God spo ke to Elle n through dreams, visions, a nd impression s. H ow
does God speak to you ?
 5. Why wou ld God ca ll a teenager to be a p ro phe t? Cou ld tee nage rs have
any advan tages ove r old e r people fo r th is ly pe of ministry? If so , wh at
migh t some of the m be?
6. Do yo u thin k th e chu rch wou ld accep t the legitimate p roph etic gift
today if it we re man ifest through a sixtee n-year-o ld?
7. Could it be possible that Matth ew 12:24, 31 m igh t a pply to a person
who rej ects th e messages of a genui ne pro ph e t who trul y received this
gift from the Ho ly Sp irit? Why o r why no t?

1. A rth ur L. Whi te, Ellen C. White: The Earl), Years ( H age rstow n, Md. : Review and i-I cml d,
1985), 29.
2. Ellen C. While, S/)ilituai Gifts ( Battle Creek, Mi ch.: Jamcs \"'hite, 1960),2:1 0.
3. Arthur L. WhiLe, Ellen C. While: The t.ftd)' Yew:5, 30 .
4. Ell en C. While, Lift Shelcltes (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1888), 136.
5. - - - , Christian E~1Je1ience and Teachings ( Boise, Idaho: Paci fic Press, L922), 17, 18 .
6. Ibid., 18.
7. Ellen C. Whi le, Spiritual Gifts, 2:13.
8. - - , Chris/ian EX/Jelien.ce and Teachings, 25 .
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid. , 26.
II. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., 27.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid., 27, 28.
16. Ibid., 27.
17. Ibid .
18. Ibid .
19. Ibi d., 27, 28.
20. Arthur L. White, Ellen C. While: n le Earl), Yem:5,40.
21. Ibid., 43.

AR~markabl~ Woman
Lesson Scripture: Revelation 1'1: 17
Historical Focus: 1844-1915
. - - - - - - , et m e out o f h e re!" Dr.
Brown raced for the
door.
As both a physician
a nd a spiri t m edium ,
l~:::::::J Brown had bragged
tha t h e co uld bring
Ell e n o ut of visio n in a minute . On
j anuary 12, 1861, h e was in the
audie nce wh e n j a m es White
repea ted an invitation h e had fre-
que n tly made .
j am es, who had m ar rie d Ell e n
in 1846, told th e people: "Ell e n is
in visio n; she does not breathe
while in this co ndi tio n . If a ny of
you desire to satisfY yourse lves of
this fact, you are at liber ty to exam-
in e her. "l
Some one in th e congregatio n
said, "Doctor, go ah ead a nd d o
what you said you wo ul d ."
Overhearin g this, j a mes "'ihite
asked th e d octo r to examine Elle n.
Accepting the ch all e nge, the p hysi-
cia n began moving toward Mrs.
White, but he sudde nly stopped.
"Turning d eathly pa le," he sh ook
"fro m head to foot. "
J a mes urged him o n . The doc-
to r checked E ll e n's vital signs, the n
h e h eade d straig ht fo r th e door,
Ell e n White .
lesson .,
bu t the peo ple a t th e doo r urged
h im , "Go bac k, a nd do as yo u said
you would. " james White insisted
th a t he te ll th e entire co ng regati o n
what he h ad see n. T h e phys icia n
responded , "He r heart a nd pulse
a re all rig ht, bu t the re is no t any
b rea th in he r body."
Somebody n ear him as ke d ,
"D octor, what is it?"
"God o n ly knows," th e physi-
cia n said, hurryin g o u t the d oor.
A judge in th e a udi e nce late r
comm ented, "It was evident . ..
tha t the spirit th a t controlled th e
d octo r as a me dium a nd tile Spiri t
th a t contro lle d Mrs. l.Nhite in
visio n had no sympathy fo r each
other. ":!
ELLEN WHITE IN VISION
Q ui te a few people were con-
vinced th at Elle n Whi te had the
gift of pro phecy wh en they person-
ally wi tn essed h e r in visio n . T h e ir
own eyes told them that something
su pernatural was going on. J. N .
Loug h boroug h saw h er in visio n
"about fifty times," including a
numbe r of occasio ns when she was
exami ned by physicia ns. H e gives
th e following eyewitness account of
what th ese experiences were like:
"In passing into vision she gives
th ree e n ra pturing shou ts o f
'Glory!' wh ich ec ho and re-ech o,
th e secon d , a nd especially th e
thi rd , fainter, but more thrilli ng
tha n the fi rst, th e vo ice rese mblin g
that o f o ne quite a distance fro m
yo u, a nd just go ing o ut of hearing.
For about four o r fi ve seconds she
seems to drop down like a person . . .
having lost h is stre ngth; sh e th e n
seems to be insta ntly fi lled with
supe rhum a n stre ngth , som e tim es
rising a t o n ce to he r fee t a nd walk-
ing about the roo m . .. . In what-
ever positio n th e hand or arm may
be p laced , it is impossible fo r a ny
o n e to move it. He r eyes a re a lways
o pe n, but she d oes not wink; he r
head is ra ised , and sh e is lookin g
upward, not with a vaca nt stare,
b u t with a pleasa n t expressio n . .. .
Sh e appears to be lookin g inte n tly
at some d istant obj ect. Sh e d oes
not breathe, yet he r pu lse beats
regula rly." 3
Dr. M. G. Ke llogg witn essed sev-
e ra l of Elle n Wh ite's visions. O n
o n e occasio n, a Sunday-
keep ing p hysicia n by the na me of
Dr. Drummond was also prese nt.
Prio r to this, Dr. Drumm ond had
clai med tha t h e r visio ns we re
caused by hypnotism , eve n brag-
ging that he cou ld induce th e m.
But now, afte r exa min ing Elle n
carefully, h e "tu rned very pa le, and
re marked , 'She d oesn ' t brea the.' "
Ke llogg affirm ed that she didn 't
brea tJl e during a ny of the visio ns
he witnessed:'
An o the r phys icia n who exam-
ine d Mrs. White duri ng visio n, Dr.
Lo rd , sa id , "He r hea rt beats, bu t
th e re is n o brea th . T he re is life,
but no acti o n o f the lungs; I ca n-
n o t account fo r this condition .'"
Da niel T. Bo u rdeau did n ot
be lieve Ell e n "Vhite had the
pro p he tic gift u ntil he observed
he r in vision o n J un e 21, 1857. H e
re po rted
"... pin ch ing he r nostri ls
be tween my th umb a nd fore fin ge r,
so tha t it was impossible fo r he r to
ex ha le or in h a le a ir ... [for] a bo ut
te n minutes, lo ng e no ugh fo r he r
to suffocate unde r o rdi na ry cir-
cum sta nces. Sh e was not in th e
least affe cted by this o rdeal. Since
witn essing this ... I have not once
bee n inclin ed to d ou bt th e divin e
origin of he r visio ns.'"
TESTING THE PROPHET
But su pe rn atural mani festa-
tio ns don 't prove that th e p ro ph e t
is d ivin e ly insp ired. We must
re me mbe r tha t the Bib le teaches
tha t th e re are bo th good and evil
supe rn atu ra l powe rs. Le t's apply
th e bibli ca l cri te ri a for th e gift of
prop hecy to the life a nd work o f
Elle n White.
T h e re is a beautiful harmony
betwee n Ell e n Wh ite's writings a nd
the Bibl e. T h ro ugh o ut h e r life she
exalted the Bible, refe rring to he r
own writin gs as a lesse r ligh t lead-
in g to the greate r ligh t, the Bible .
H avin g warn e d aga inst fashio nable
th eo ri es that te nde d to unde rmin e
the a u thori ty o f God 's Word , she
wrote, "T h e H o ly Scriptures a re to
be accepted as a n a uth orita tive,
infa lli ble reve latio n of [God 's]
will. "7 The last time she addressed
a Gen e ral Confere nce sessio n, she
he ld up th e Bible a nd said ,
"Brethre n and sisters, I comm e nd
to you this book.'" T he re is no con-
tradiction betwee n Ellen White's
writings a nd the Bible, alth ou gh
there is a clear con tradiction
belween he r wri tings and SOIne
people's intelpretations of the Bible.
What abou t fulfilled predic-
tions?
The most important role of a
proph et is delivering God's mes-
sages on wh a tever subj ec t He
chooses, wheth e r or not th ey con-
tain predictions of the future. But
the Bible clearly indicates that
whatever a true prophet says about
the future will come to pass,
unless, of course, th e pro ph ecy is
conditio nal , such as th e one J onah
was asked to deliver.
Many of Ellen White's predic-
tio ns have to do vlith events that are
still future, re lated to th e closing
scenes o f earth's history. H owever,
she a lso made quite a few predic-
tio ns of things that would h appen
Ellen "Vhite sees a templ e in vision.
2.7
within a shorter period of time.
Some had to do with specifi c
individuals. One such person was
Steph en Sm ith. Smith became
involved in one offshoot group
after anothe r. He had a very criti-
cal spirit. Said one acquaintance,
"He cou ld say the meanest things,
in the meanest, most cutting way of
an y 1113n I ever met." He was espe-
cia lly critical of Ellen White.
She sent him a lettel~ predict-
ing what hi s life would be li ke if he
didn't change his ways . He didn 't
even bother to open th e le tte r.
Instead, he put it in a trunk.
Twenty-eight years later, Sm ith
returned to the Seve nth-day
Adventist fellowship. Re me mbe ring
the old letter, h e opened the
trun k. H e read the testimony Ellen
White had written for him and dis-
covered that it was true. The fol-
lowing Sabbath h e to ld his fellow
believers, "If I had heeded [the tes-
timonies], they would have saved
 Elmshave n, Elle n V\'hite's last ho me.
me a world of trouble." He con-
cluded his remarks by saying, "I a m
too old to undo what I've done ... ,
bu t I want you to tell our people
everywhere that anothe r rebel has
surrendered. " Il
Some of Ell e n Wh ite's predic-
tions h ad to do with the advent
movement, including prophecies
rega rding the d e no mination 's pub-
lishing work and a warning regard-
ing the Review a nd Herald fire .
Some had to do witJ, other reli-
gious move me nts, including
remarkable prophecies regarding
spiritualism that have been fulfilled
to th e letter, as we ll as pred ictio ns
of cooperation between Protestant
and Cat110l ic groups. These predic-
tions} written at a time when
Protestants we re extremely anti-
Cath oli c, are be in g fu lfi lled at the
present tim e.
Some o f her predictions had a
broader scope, fo rete llin g national
and in ternationa l even ts. These
in clu ded th e Civil Wa r, the San
Francisco earthquake, and th e sac-
rifice of hum a n life by the mi ll ions,
slaughter unhea rd of before th e
world wars. All these predictions
were fu lfi lled .
PROVIDENTIAL TIMING
The timin g of Ell en White's
messages sometim es seemed
remarkably provide ntial. The day
afte r Alonzo J o nes preach ed a ser-
mon in Battle Creek promoting
Anna Phi lli ps as a proph etess, he
received a le tte r from Ellen Whi te.
T h is l ette l~ ma iled from Austra lia
several weeks before, rebuked him funeral services were held at
for the message of that sermon . Elmshaven, h er home in California,
and at Battle Creek, wh ere she was
BY THEIR FRUITS buried. A memorial service was held
\/ihat have been the fruits of at Richmond, Californ ia. The St.
Ell en Wh ite's work? We have 1-!e1ena Star reported, "Th e preva il-
already noticed that her guidance in g sentiment of th e speakers who
has brought incredible growth to addressed the congregations at St.
the Seventh-day Adventist move- Hele na and at Richmond was that
ment. In addition, her books have Mrs. VI'hite's most e nduring monu-
led thousands of people to a closer ment, aside from h er god ly life and
walk with J esus. In my own experi- conversation, was her published
ence, I didn 't rea lly get to know works, which tend to the purest
Jesus personally unti l I read books morali ty, lead to Christ a nd to th e
such as Steps to Christ, The Desi!·e oj Bible, a nd brin g comfort and con-
Ages, and 77wughts From the Mou.nt so lation to many a weary heart. "II
oj Blessing. They helped me to have
a much greater appreciation of His TASTE AND SEE
love and the suffering He endured When Francis David Nichol was
Qn our behalf. ed itor of the R eview and Herald
Ell en White l1$rself was a chee r- (now calle d the Adventist Review),
fu l, pleasant, gracIous, unselfish h e told the fo ll owin g story:
person who was known for h er acts "Nearly seventy years ago, in a
of kindness to he r neighbors. Her vi ll age in Australia lived a young
books have h elped others d evelop couple. They had never heard of
some of these characteristics. T hey
have inspired countl ess people to
live more Christli ke lives.
Her writings have he lpe d
mothers a nd fathers become bet-
ter parents, ministers to preach
Christ more effectively, teachers to
be better educators, and health-
care workers to care for the sick
more successfu lly.
T hey h ave a lso helped well peo-
p le stay healthy. Dr. Gra ham
Maxwell , whose research verified
some of Ell en White 's insights, says,
"She 's been prove n right o n so
many things that I'd be a foo l ifI
didn't believe the few things she
wrote that haven't yet been scie ntif-
icall y demonstrated." "
When Ellen White died in 191 5, F. D. Nichol.

24.
 Mrs. White, nor of Seventh-day
Adve ntists.
" .. . One day th ey found by th e
roadside a m ud-spa lte red copy of a
pape r. Reading matter was scarce,
so th ey too k the pa pe r home a nd
d ried it out by th e kitche n stove . It
was a copy of th e Review and H erald.
!n th e qui et of th eir little cottage
amid the e uca lyptus trees, th ey
turn ed th e pages o f this unkn own
journa l fro m Ame rica . Th ey read
a n a rticle o n tithin g. They we re
impressed tha t whoever the pub-
lishe rs we re, th ey must be mos t
ea rn est, sacrificial people, because
th ey be li eved in giving God o ne-
te n th of th e ir in com e- a tithe-
besides freewill offe rings. Who could
th ese people be ! They furth e r leafed
the pages, read an a rticle by a Mrs.
E. G. White, and excl aim ed: 'Wh o
is this Mrs. White? Sh e writes as
thoug h sh e is inspire d .'
"A few days late r a vill age r who
sold fresh vege ta bles stopped at
the ir d oor. 'Do you kn ow about a
pa per ca ll e d th e R eview and
H erald? ' th ey as ke d . When he
a nswere d , 'Yes,' th ey promptly
inquire d: 'Do you know a bo ut a
Mrs. E. G. White?' H e did. 'And
wh o is sh e?' th ey as ke d. H e hesi-
ta ted .... But hi s h es ita n cy o nly
m a d e th e m th e mo re in siste nt.
S Anchor T~xt
"T he dragon was en raged with th e woman, and h e went to make war
with the rest of h er offspring, who keep the comm a ndments of God a nd
have the testi mony ofJ esus Christ" (Reve latio n 12:1 7, NKJV).
250
Finally, fi x in g hi s eyes o n th e m ,
h e a nswe re d with fe rvo r : 'Sh e's a
proph e t.'
"... His words . .. re inforced
th e convi cti o n th at had gripped
the m in th e quiet of the ir humble
cottage. Not lo ng afterward they
were baptized into the Seve n th-day
Adven tist Churc h . Th e ir fa ith in
th e church, an d pa rti cula rl y in
Mrs. White, o nly increased with the
years. And that fa ith th ey passed
o n to the ir son , . .. th e \vrite r of
th ese lin es.
"This little drama e n ac te d in
fa raway Austral ia has been ma ny
times dupli cated in diffe re nt la nds
as me n a nd wome n h ave foun d
tha t th e ir stro ngest reason for
be lievi ng in the pro ph etic status of
Mrs. Whi te is th e inte rna l evidence
tha t h e r writin gs p rese n t." "
O n e of th e twen ty-seven funda-
men tal beliefs of the Seve nth-day
Adve ntist Church is that Elle n
\J\7hite's "writings are a continuing
and a u thorita tive source of tru th
which provide for the church com-
fort, guidance , instructi o n , and
correctio n. "\ :1 Th ey don 't replace
the Bible but are h elpful messages
from our loving Lo rd , who wants
us to be truly happy in this world
and to be pre pared for e te rn al
h appin ess in th e world to come .
CEJ Into the Bible
1. Name four true prop hets of Bible times who wrote books, but their
books aren't pan o f the Scriptures. 2 Chronicles 9:29; 12:1 5.
2. Na me four prophets of Bible times who were women. Exodus 15:20;
Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22: 14; Luke 2:36.
3. What New Testame nt chu rch leade r had four daughters wh o proph-
esied? Acts 21 :8, 9.
4. Sometimes Ellen White had to confront peopl e with the ir si ns. Your
teacher has a works heet about sim ila r confrontatio ns recorded in the
Bib le. Obtain a nd com plete the worksheet "Exposin g Sin s."

~~
@ ~ Projects
I!J
I. Today's lesso n talks about the physica l p h enome na that accom panied
E ll e n White's vis io ns durin g h e r ea rl y ministry and mentioned several
witnesses. You mig ht e njoy reading the testimoni es of some of the
o th e r eyewitnesses.
A. Ask your teacher for "Additio na l Testim ony of Eyewitn esses to the
Visions. "
B. Report on your reading in one of the fo llowing ways:
(1) Write and perform a skit portraying the various physical phe-
nom e na a nd methods used to ve ri ry them.
(2) Pretend yo u were o ne of the witnesses. Write a letter to a
friend, tellin g in your own words what yo u saw.
(3) Pretend you were one of the witnesses. Write ajournal en try
exp lain ing what you have seen . Include your personal reaction
a nd re nections about these phenomena.
2. You might wan t to read in more detail some of the in cidents men-
tioned in this lesso n.
A. Ask yo ur teacher for a copy o f one of th e fo ll owing stories:
(l ) "Th e Anna Ri ce Phillips Story."
(2) "Ellen Wh ite Foresees the Civi l War."
(3) "Prop hecy of the San Francisco Earthquake."
B. Re port on your story in one of the fo ll owing ways:
(1) a comic strip .
(2) an oral report.
3. "Taste and See"
A. Prayerfull y read o ne of th e foll owi ng excerpts fro m th e writings of
Ell e n Wh ite:

251
 (1) Steps to Christ, 9-13.
(2) The Great Controversy, 675-678 (From H ere to Forever, 408-411 ) .
(3) The Desire of Ages, 686-693.
(4) Patriarchs and Prophets, 596-600.
B. Report on your reading in one of the following ways :
(1) Select five "ge ms" (quota tions that you find especially beautiful
and/ or meaningful). Record each in th e following way:
a. Write o ut the quote .
b. How does it apply to your life? How does it help you see J esus
more clearly?
(2) Meditate about the passage a nd then write out a praye r that
responds to its message. T his could be a prayer of thanksgiving or
a prayer of request, d e pending o n the type of passage you read.

focus Qu~stions
1. Remarkable physical phenomena accompanied Ellen White 's visions in
the early decades of h e r ministry but not in h er later years. Why do you
think this might be?
2. H ow much authority do you think Ellen White's messages should h ave
in the Seventh-day Adventist Church today?
3. Why do you think the writings of some prophets would be left o ut of
the Bible?
4. Why would God lead J o hn the Baptist to risk his life to unsuccessfully
rebuke Herod?
5. Do you think the Seventh-day Adventist Church sh o uld- like Nathan ,
Elijah , a nd John-rebuke government offi cia ls for their sins? Why or
why not?

1..J. N. Loughbo rough , The Greal Second Advent iVIovemenl: Its Rise and Progress (Hagerstow n,
Md. : Review a nd H era ld , 1905, 1909),318.
2. Arthu r L. Wh ite, Ellen C. White: The EaTly Yean, 1827- 1862 (Hage rstown , Md.: Review
an d H era ld, 1985), 464.
3. J. N. Lo ughborough, Th e Oreat Second Advent Movement: Its R ise and Progress, 204, 205.
4. Arthur L. White, Ellen G. While: 71/C Ea1'ly Years, 1827-1862,275 .
5. J. N. Lou gh borough, The Great Second Advent M ovement: Its R ise and Pmgress, 209.
6. Arth ur L. Wh ite, ELlen G. While: The Early Years, 1827-1862,358.
7. Ell e n C. White, The Great Controveny Bel,ween Christ and Satan (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press,
1888,1907, 1911 , 1939, 1950), vii.
8. Quoted in Seventh-da), Adventists Believe: A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines
(Hagerstown, Md.: Ministerial Associa ti on, Ge neral Con fe rence of Seventh-day
Adve n tists, 1988), 227.
9. Arth ur L. \Nhite, Ellen C. While: TheEad), Yean, 1827- 1862, 492.

252
10. Reported in a class the author took from Dr. Graham Maxwe ll at Lorna Linda University
during th e 1969-70 school year.
11. Quoted in Arthur L. White, Ellen G. While: The Later Elmshaven Yeanl~ 1905-1915
(Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald , 1982),440.
12. Francis D. Nichol, Why I Believe in Mn. E. G. White (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and
Herald, 1964), 124, 125.
13. Seventh-day Adventists Believe: A Biblical Exposition oj 27 Fundamental Doctrines, 216.

Th~ S~v~nth Day
Lesson Scriptures: Isaiah 58: 1'1-14;
Revelation 7: I-I 0 ; 14:9 - 1'1
Historical Focus: 1844- 1847
iftee n-yeal' old Marion
Stowell h ad rece ntly told
the Lo rd tha t sh e was
willin g to do wha tever
H e wanted h e r to do . As
it h appe ned , that
. ._ _ _ _.. tee nage commi tme nt
wo uld have tre me ndous conse-
qu e nces fo r the Seventh-day
Adve ntist Church .
Her family had already made a
m'!jor sac rifi ce for th e ir religio us
faith. Be li eving th at J esus would
co me on October 22, 1844, h er
parents had sold th e ir far m.
Sensing tha t coun tless souls wo uld
be in j eopa rdy unless th ey were
warn ed , th ey appare n tly used the
mo n ey to sp read th e Mille rite mes-
sage . Conseque ntly, wh e n J esus
didn 't come o n Octo be r 22, they
were home less and pennil ess.
Fortun ate ly, th ey weren 't
friendless. A fe llow adve nt believer,
Edward An d rews, invited the m to
stay in his roomy house in Poland ,
Ma in e. While Ma rio n was staying in
th e Andrews hom e, she read a tract
by T h omas M. Preble th a t con-
vin ced her th a t the seventh day was
God 's holy Sabbath . She d e te r-
Rachel Oakes Presto n.
255
lesson II
mined to keep th e Sabbath , even if
she we re th e o nly pe rson in Po lan d
to do so .
But she didn 't have to keep the
Sabba th a lone. Sh e sh owed th e
tract to her o lde r bro th e r Oswald.
H e, to o, was convin ced. vVi tho ut
sayin g a nythin g to the ir pa re n ts,
th e two youn g peo pl e qu ietly ke p t
th e ir first Sabbath.
On Mo nday, Ma ri o n sh ar ed
th e tract with a n o th e r tee nage r,
seve n teen -year-old .J o h n Nevins
An drews, Edward 's son. As J o hn
read th e tract, co nvictio n grippe d
his h eart. T h e seve nth d ay was th e
Sabbath . H e m ust keep it.
Mter th e teenagers share d th e
u'act with th eir parents, bo th fa mi-
lies d ecided to keep th e Sabbath.
Soon seven oth er fa milies fro m
Po la nd a nd ne ighbo rin g towns
were a lso kee ping the seven th day.
You ng as he was, it wasn 't lo ng
before J ohn Nevins An d rews
became one of the key lead e rs of
th e emb ryonic Seve nth-day
Adven tist Churc h. H e later became
th e greatest Adve ntist sch o lar of his
gene ra tion a nd th e de no mination 's
fi rst fo re ign missio na ry.
 All of these peopl e learned
about th e Sabba th by reading a
tract by T. M. Pre ble. Bu t who was
Preble, a nd h ow had h e discove red
th e seve nth day?
SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS
Eve n during Ma rtin Luth e r's
life time, th e re we re those wh o
didn 't be lieve th at his Refo rma tio n
went far e n ough in re turnin g to
the teachings o f Christ and th e
a postles. Som e o f these "Radical
Refo rme rs" o n th e European co nti-
ne nt obse rved th e seventh-day
Sabbath.
Amo ng th e English Purita ns,
a no th e r group o f Christians discov-
e red that the Bibl e ta ught tha t th e
seve nth-day Sabba th should be
o bse rved. Terribl y pe rsecuted a t
first, this gro up becam e known as
th e Seve nth Day Ba ptists. Som e of
th ese Seventh Day Ba ptists came to
Ame rica, o rgani zing the ir first
c hurch in 167l. After 130 years,
they had 1,031 me mbe rs in th e
Unite d Sta tes of Am erica.
In 1843 a nd 1844 they set aside
d ays to fast a nd pray "that God
would ... p lead fo r his h oly
Sabbath ." God an swered th e ir
prayer, using a Seventh Day Bap tist
"vido,v to start a Inoven1ent that
n ow includes a lmost nine millio n
Sabbath keepe rs wo rldwide.
Th e widow, Rache l O akes, h ad
moved to Washin gton, New
H ampshire, to be near her daugh-
ter. Since the re was no Seventh Day
Baptist Church in th e a rea, sh e
worshiped with a little Christia n
Bre thre n congregatio n tlla t had
accepted Willi am Mille r's second
advent teachin gs.
256
At a Communion service in
tha t little church, Fre d e rick
Wh ee l e l~ a circuit-riding Milleri te
Me thodist ministe r, sugges te d th at
those takin g pa rt in th e Lord 's
Supper "sho u ld be ready to o bey
God and kee p His comm andm e n ts
in all things." Mrs. Oakes felt like
jumping up and te lling the preache r
that h e himsel f wasn 't keeping all
God's commandme n ts. But she
res tra in ed h e rself until h e came by
for a pasto ra l visit. Then she to ld
him about th at impulse, pointing
to his neglect o f th e fourth com-
Inandme nt. 1
After thinking about h e r
re mark, Wheele r began private ly
o bserving the Sabba th a round
Ma rch of l 844. The n e ithe r he o r
Mrs. Oakes appa re ntly convin ced a
Baptist Mill e rite ministe r named
Tho mas Pre ble regarding th e sev-
e nth d ay. Pre ble began keeping th e
Sabba th in August 1844. It was a n
a rticle tha t he wro te fo r a Mille rite
pa p e l~ re published in tract fo rm ,
th at convin ced th e Stowe ll a nd
Andrews fa milies to become
Sabbath keepe rs.
Meanwhile, Rache l's witn ess
was bearing eve n mo re frui t.
Shortly afte r th e G reat
Disappo intm e nt, seve ral me m bers
of tlle Washingto n congregati o n
took the ir sta n d fo r the seve nth-
day Sabba th . As a result of th e ir
sta nd , th ey we re dropp e d fro m
me mbe rship in th e Christian
Bre thre n Churc h . Am o ng th ose
dro pp e d were Mr. and Mrs.
Willi a m Fa rnswo rth a nd Willi a m 's
bro th er, Cy ru s. It was in th e
Fa rn sworth h o me wh e re th e first
Sabbath-kee pin g Adven tist co n-
gregatio n was born.
JOSEPH BATES
But the influence of Rache l
Oakes went even farther. j oseph
Bates, a retired sea captain , read
Preble's article. Intrigued, he went
in person to Washington, New
Hampshire, knocked o n the
Wheele r d oor just afte r the family
h ad gone to bed, and talked with
Pasto r Wheeler all night a nd most
of th e next day.
Having become convinced and
accepting the seve nth-day Sabbath
message himse lf, Bates sh ared the
m essage with othe rs. O ne of
Bates's conve rts on the Sabbath
issue was Hiram Edso n. Edson, in
turn , convinced Bates of the sanc-
tuary doctrine.
JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE
Bates also tri e d to co nvince
Jam es Wh ite.
257
Ell e n H a nnon a nd j a m es White
about the seventh-d ay Sabbath ,
but th ey res isted. "I did n ot feel
its importance," Ellen said , "a nd
thou ght th a t h e erred in dwelling
upon th e fourth comm a ndme nt
more than upo n th e oth er nin e." ~
Ellen was unimpressed by
Bates's e mphasis on th e seventh-
d ay Sabba th , and Bates was skep ti-
cal of h e r visions. Although h e
thought sh e was sincere, h e fra nkly
told h er he didn't believe in a ny
mode rn-d ay visio ns.
After their wedding, j ames and
Elle n read a pamphlet Bates wro te
abo ut the Sabba th a nd stud ie d the
relevant Bible texts. Finally con-
vinced, they began obse rvin g the
Sabbath in the au tumn of 1846.
Elle n White h ad experie nced
the scorn of her fe ll ow Methodists
wh e n she had accepted th e second
advent doctrine. Now she faced th e
scorn of h e r fe llow Adventists for
worshiping o n Saturday.
The Whites h ad d ecid e d to
keep the Sabbath o n th e bas is of
scriptu ral evide n ce. It wasn't
until th e fo ll owing April that
Ellen h a d a visio n t h at confir m ed
this dec isio n. In this visio n sh e
saw t h e h eavenly sanctu ary:
'Jesus raised the cover of th e
ark, a nd I be he ld the tables of
sto ne o n which the ten comm and-
me nts were wri tte n . I was amazed
as I saw the fourth commandm e n t
in the ve ry center of th e ten pre-
cepts, with a soft h alo of ligh t
enci rcling it. Said the a ngel, 'It is
th e o nly o ne of the te n whi ch
defin es the living God who created
the h eave ns a nd the earth a nd all
things that are th e re in .' "
 She then saw th at Isai a h 58: 12-
14 had a special application "to
those who labor for the restoratio n
of the true Sabbath." Her vision
gave the Sabbath a prophetic
importance: she was shown that
the third angel of Revela tion J 4
rep rese nted Sabba th kee pers who
were warning the world to keep a ll
God's co mmandm e nts. She saw
that this wou ld be the crucia l issue
in the fin al struggle between good
and evi l and "that in response LO
this warning. many would embrace
the Sabbath of the Lord.''''
Mea nwh ile, Bates was present
wh en E ll e n had a vision in whi c h
she was shown extraterres tri al
planets. Earlier, Bates h ad tr ied
to d isc uss astronomy with her
a nd had d iscove red that sh e
knew nothing abou t th e subject.
But now, when the vision was
ove r, sh e to ld what she had seen.
Amazed at h er newfound knowl-
ed ge, Ba tes asked h er if sh e h ad
ever studi ed astronomy. T h e
third-grade dropout re p lied that,
as far as sh e cou ld remember, sh e
h ad never eve n looked inside an
astronomy book. The sea capta in
was amazed. Finally, h e was con-
vinced her visions were from
God.
The nucle us of what wou ld
beco me the Seventh-day Adventist
Church was fo rm ed. Ba tes a nd th e
Whites accepted H ira m Edson's
insights into the heavenly sanctu-
ary. Edson a nd the Whites ac-
ce pted Ba tes's teach ing regard ing
th e seventh-day Sabba th. And,
finally, J oseph Bates accepted Ell e n
""hite's visions as a ge nuin e mani-
festation of spi rillia l gifts. And , of
2SB
co urse, all four bel ieved in the
Second Advent.
A SENSE OF URGENCY
This small core of four formed
the nucleus of the e mbryon ic
Seve nth-day Adventist Church .
Together they gave the Sabbath
message a power, a force , a g reater
se nse of urge ncy than it h ad
among th e Seventh Day Baptists-
or eve n for Thomas Prebl e.
Preble, the first Adve ntist to
publish an a rticle in behalf o f the
seventh-day Sabbath , return ed to
keep ing Sunday three yea rs late r.
H e even wrote a boo k against the
Sabba th. What was it th at gave th e
Sabbath so muc h more lasting
importa nce fOl-J ose ph Bates a nd
Ell en Wh ite th a n for Tho mas
Pre ble?
Both Prebl e and the Seve n th
Day Baptists had consid e red the
Sabba th to be the right day to
keep. They eve n put the Sabbath
in th e context o f Dani e l 7:25.
"He will speak against the Most
High a nd o ppress his saints a nd try
to ch ange th e set times a nd the
laws. The saints wi ll be handed
over to him for a time, times and
half a time."
But neither Pre ble nor the
Seve nth Day Ba ptists co nnected
th e Sabbath with th e closing sce nes
of earth 's h isto ry.
Identifying Sund ay keeping as
Revelation 's mark of the beast a nd
th e Sabbath as God's seal, Bates
d eve lo pe d arguments tha t d iffe re d
fro m those of Pre bl e and th e
Seven th Day Baptists by tJ/acing the
Sabbath in the context of end-time
tJro/J/wcies. H e reali zed that
Reve lation 7 and 14 made th e
Sabbath the ce ntral focus of the
fina l sh owdown between the
forces of good and evil. Bates saw
it as a test of loyalty to j esus, ou r
Creato r a nd Red ee mer, in His
co n flict with the fall en ange l who
h ad inllue nced me n to crucify
Him and to persecute His followers .
Thi s gave the Sabbath message a
sense of urge n cy that Thomas
Preble and th e Seventh Day
Baptists neve r had.
THREE ANGELS' MESSAGES
Bates and the Whites saw
Seventh-day Adventists as special
messengers commissioned to
spread the news of the three a ngels
of Revelation 14. Co nn ectin g the
Sabbath with th e three a ngels '
messages linked it with th e eve r-
lastin g gospel , wh ich is th e good
news of sa lvation through j esus
Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
T h e first angel called a tte ntion to
th e fact that the judgme n thad
Thomas Preble (left) and the corne rstone from th e first Adventist church (Ijght).
259
already begun and u rged hum a ni-
ty to worship God as Creator. T h e
second angel 's an nounceme nt pro-
claimed that most of Christianity
had lost sight of essen tial biblical
teachings, especially th a t of
Christ's lite ral , visibl e premillenni-
al seco nd adve n t.
Fina lly, th e th ird a n ge l pro-
claimed th e importa nce of reject-
ing Sunday, the symbol of
a nti c hrist's prete nse to authority.
The third angel's warning of a
fiery e nd to those wh o rallied
a round a ntichri st's sym bol was a
ke y in g redie n t in this se nse of
urge ncy. Mrs. White d e cla re d ,
"Separate the Sabbath from the
[three ange ls'] m essages a nd it
loses its powe r. " ·1
A MEMORIAL OF
CREATION AND REDEMPTION
john Nevin s Andrews late r
pointed out a key reaso n th e
Sabbath is an a ppropria te test of
loya lty. Th e Sabbath re minds us
to worship God beca use H e is
o ur Creato r.
j esus deserves our worship, as
Creator (John 1:3; H e brews 1:2),
but a lso as our Red eemer.
Inte restin gly, the Sabbath is a
me mo ria l of both Creation a nd of
rede mption through Christ.
Speaking of the Sabbath hours that
H e spe nt in j oseph's tomb, Ell e n
White writes:
"Now j esus rested from the
work of redempti o n, a nd thou g h
there was grie f among those who
loved H im on ea rth , yet th e re
was j oy in h eaven. Glorious to
th e eyes of heaven ly beings was
th e pro mise of th e future. A
resto re d creation, a redeem ed
race , that havin g co nquere d sin
cou ld neve r fa ll , th is, th e res u lt
of Christ's comp le ted work, God
and a ngel s saw. With th is sce n e
the d ay upon which Jesu s rested
is forever li nke d .'"
Although j a mes and Ellen
Whi te, josep h Ba tes, and Hiram
Edson had reached agreeme nt on
four of the distin ctive doctrin es o f
the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
they were o nly four people, a nd
the re was much upo n which even
they d isagreed. Hira m Edso n and
Elle n White h ad been Methodists;
J a mes White and j oseph Bates had
be lo nged to the Christian
Connexion. Other Adventists had
come from a variety of re ligious
backgrounds-practically a cross-
section of Ame ri ca n Protestantism.
H ow wo u ld they ever find common
ground o n a great va riety of
bel ie fs? Th is is the subject of th e
next lesson.

Anchor TQxt
"A third angel fo llowed them a nd said in a loud voice: 'If anyone wor-
ships th e beast and his image a nd receives his mark on the forehead o r o n
the hand, he, too, wi ll drink of th e wine of God's fury, which has been
poure d fu ll strength into the cup of his wrath . He wi ll be tormented with
burning sulfur in the presen ce of th e holy angels and of th e Lamb ' "
(Revelatio n J 4:9, 10).

l. J oseph Bates became inte rested in th e seve nth-day Sabbath afte r read-
ing a tract by T. M. Preble. Complete th e study guide your teach e r wi ll
supply you on th e workshee t called "Preble 's Sabbath Texts." On it you
will examin e a few of th e Bible texts that Pre ble cited in th is tract.

260
2. Two Bibl e refe re nces th a t Elle n Whi te me ntioned in re po rting on h e r
fi rst visio n abou t the Sabbath we re Isaia h 58:1 2-14 a nd Revelati on 14:9-
12. Read the passages and a nswe r th e fo ll owin g q uestio ns:
A. Isaia h 58: 12-14
(1) Wh a t does verse 13 say we sho uld call th e Sabbath ?
(2) Wha t three ways does th e ve rse say we ca n ho n o r God 's
Sabbath ?
(3) Wh at th ree promises does verse 14 make to those wh o hono r
the Sabba th ?
B. Reve la ti o n 14:9-12
(J ) Wh at two things d oes verse 9 warn us against?
(2) Wh at two th reats d oes ve rse 10 make against those who don 't
heed th e warning?
(3) What two punishm e n ts d oes verse 11 predi ct will befall those
who d isobey th e message of the th ird a ngel?
(4) What two ch aracte ristics d oes verse J2 say th e "sain ts" h ave?
3. Use th e workshee t p rovid ed by your teache r to exam ine some of the
Bible texts J ose ph Bates used in his 1849 pa mphl et "A Seal of th e
Livin g God."

ProjQcts
1. Fin d o ut mo re a bo ut the life of J oseph Bates.
A. Ask yo ur teach e r fo r o ne of th e fo llowing stori es:
( J ) 'J oseph Ba tes' Conversio n ."
(2) 'J oseph Bates a nd Socia l Refo rm ."
(3) "His Last 12 1/ 2 Ce n ts."
B. Re po rt o n this sto ry in o ne of th e fo ll owin g ways:
(J) Pretend yo u a re J oseph Bates. Write ajo urna l e ntry te ll ing yo ur
d ia ry wha t ha ppe ne d.
(2) Prete nd yo u a re J oseph Bates. Write a lette r to a fri e nd expla in-
in g wh a t ha ppe ned.
2. Revelatio n 14:1 3 see ms like a postscript to th e third a ngel's message. It
says, in pa rt, "Blessed are the dead who d ie in the Lo rd fro m now on ."
Wh at d iffe re nce does it ma ke wh e n a pe rso n di es? Does the expressio n
"from now o n" have a nything to do with th e third a ngel's message?

261
 A. Find out what unique insight Elle n "Vhite gives regardin g th e
mea ning of th is verse . Look up at least one of th e fo llowi ng refer-
ences:
(1) T he Creal Conlmversy, 636-642 (note espec ia ll y 637, but gla n ce
over a ll six pages to see whe re this page fits into the chrono logi-
ca l order of eve n ts).
(2) The Story oj RedemjJlion, 409-41l.
(3) loc !1-{y W,ilings, 285-288.
B. Re port o n your findin gs in o ne of the fo ll owing ways:
(1) Im agin e that you are a wi tness to th e events d escribed in th e
reference. You probably wou ldn't really keep a journal under
such circumstances, but p re tend that you do. Write your journal
e ntry for wh at you have o bse rved . If possible, make it person a l.
In volve friends, re latives, a nd/ or oth e r acqua inta n ces . Desc ribe
your emotions.
(2) Write an essay refl ecting o n wh y you think God might have
decided to perform this special series of miracl es.
(3) Write a letter to God about how this seri es of circumstances
co uld be important in yo ur life . Can you think of a nything spe-
cia l to th a nk Him for in this sequence of eve nts?
3. Read some o f Ellen White 's predi ctions aboLIL the Sabbath issue as th e
focu s of th e final sce nes of ea rth 's history.
A. Look up o ne of the foll owing:
( I ) T he C,ml Contmversy, 587-592.
(2) T he Oreal Conlmversy, 60 3-6 10.
(3) Testimonies Jor the C/""rch, 5:449-454, 464, 465.
(4) Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 7:975-977.
B. Report on yo ur read ing in one of the fo ll owing wa),s : (So me activi-
ties may work better with so me re feren ces tha n with others.)
(1) Write a script for a n ews broadcast reporting on the even ts yo u
read a bout.
(2) Ma ke a list of Satan 's actio ns in the natura l wo rld and a no th e r
list o f his activities in the re lig ious world that wi ll prepare th e
wa), for th e final d ece ption.
 (3) Make a scrapbook of cl ippings abo ut developments in o ur
world LOday th at are sim ila r to th e on es you read about.
(4) Write a reaction paper. Summ arize yo ur read ing in a paragraph
or two a nd th e n share you r thoughts about th e events in the
read in g. In this reaction paper, yo u mig h t want to co nsider
such questio ns as these: H ow ca n I prepare fo r th ese events?
Wo uld knowing abou t them in adva nce help me to be be tter
able LO make the right decisions whe n the time comes? When
shou ld I begin making this prepa ration?

Focus Qu~stions
l. Why is the Sabbath im portant to you?
2. What pe rsonal lessons ca n we learn from the life of J oseph Bates?
3. Do you thi nk on ly 144,000 peopl e wi ll be translated ? Why or why not?
What evide nce can you give for yo ur position ?
4. Why do yo u think so many tee nagers in the ] 840s took the initiative in
spi ritual matlers?
5. Wh at might be some ini tiatives that tee nagers cou ld take today to con-
tribute to spiritual growth in . their church o r comm unity?

1. Arthur White fi e ld Spaldin g, Origin and H is101)1 oj Ser.Jtmlh-(/a)' Adventisls (Hage rstown ,
Md. : Review an d Herald , 1961) , 1:115.
2. Ell en C . "\Illi te, Chris/ian Expelience and Teachings (Boise. Idaho: Pacifi c Press, 1922) , 85.
3. Ibid. , 85-87.
4. Ellen G. White. 'testimonies for lhe Chu rch (Boise, Idaho: Pac ifi c Press, 19·4 8), 1:337.
5. - - - . The Desire oj Ages (Boi se, Idaho: Paci fic Press. 1898 , 194 0 ) . 769.

Continuing th~ R~formation
Lesson Scripcure: Revelacion 12
Hiscorical Focus: 1846-1848
__, mag in e you ' re a Millerite.
Because of you r be lief in
th e Second Advent, you 've
been expe lle d from th e
c hurch you used to atte nd.
\ _ You feel abando ned by
L':::~ your former denomination,
but a nti cipating th e advent has
brought you the most precious
spiritual experience you have ever
had. Never before have you fe lt so
close to the Lord . Because of this,
you are sure that the H o ly Sp irit
has been lead ing you, even though
you 're not sure \,vhere you are
gO ll1g.
Your fellow Millerites include
a ll kinds of Protestants, h o ld in g a
wide variety of doctrines. But th e
glu e that h o lds th e m together is
a belief in the imminent, personal
retu rn of J esus. After the
Disappointment m any of them
drift back to the ir former ch urch es,
a nd ma ny lapse into spi ri tual
indifference . But you sti ll believe
J esus is coming soon and, co nse-
qu en tly, no longer feel welcome
in your o ld church.
Having been driven from your
spiritual h ome, you no longer take
your former beliefs for granted.
Joseph Bates.
265
lesson 9
The Disappointment has led you to
study your Bible in a n ew a nd
refreshing way. You ca n read the
Bible witho ut some of your earli e r
prej udices and are willing to exam-
ine it more ope n-m indedly. You are
more inclined to see what the
Bibl e really says-and not just what
you have been taught it says .
You study the Bible individually
a nd in small groups. You sh are
your findings and continue your
study at meetings known as
Sabbath confere nces.
Im agine for a moment th at you
a re there. You are a participant in
one of these Bible-study sessions,
meeting with other adve n t believ-
ers, wh o have come to the confer-
ence with different theological
backgrounds.
Perhaps th ose diffe rences
incl ude your views about baptism,
the state of th e dead , the sanctu-
ary, and the Sabbath. But you a ll
come together, determined to
know wh at is truth. You eage rly
search your Bibles for new
insights. You pray with a ll your
might to clearly understand the
truth. Working together, you ham-
mer o u t wh at th e Bible seems
cl earl y to be sayin g.
Six people a re at the core of
this process, although many oth ers
pa rti cipate. The key people are a
tee nage r (J. N. Andrews), two peo-
pl e in th e ir twenti es (James a nd
Ellen White), two in the ir forties
(Hiram Edson a nd Stephe n
Pi erce), a nd one person in his
fifti es (Joseph Bates) .
You earnestly sea rch "for truth
as for hidde n treasure," ofte n
re maining "toge th e r until late at
night, and some tim es through th e
e ntire ni ght, praying fo r light and
studying the Word. '" Thi s is a pas-
sion ate missio n. You sense that
God is direc tly speakin g to you
each time you o pen the Bibl e. You
feel as though God h as o pe n ed the
faucet full force as you find
answers to yo ur questions in the
Word. So you deprive yourself of
sleep and food in your drive to
The th ree angels of Revelation 14.
266
uncover a ll the truth yo u can. In
tl1 e words of one participant, you
"would come togeth er burdene d in
soul , praying that we mi gh t be o n e
in fa ith a nd doctrin e," even fasti ng
so you could "be be tte r fitted to
unde rstand the truth.'"
God always makes good things
come o ut of bad circumstances.
From the ashes of the Great
Disappointment, H e h as broug h t
together a group of people who
are ready to loo k at th e Bible
through new eyes, willing to put
aside a nythin g th ey previously
beli eved, puttin g everything up for
grabs, testing eve ry facet of th e ir
previo us be li ef systems in the test
tube of God 's Word.
On a few occasions you reach a
d eadl ock. Then God takes a n un-
educated young woman who doesn't
even understan d what you're talk-
in g about and g ives h e r some
cl ues. Yo u go bac k to yo ur Bibles-
a nd the re it is! It was the re all the
time, and you just didn 't see it.
He re 's how she puts it:
"Wh e n [th e bre thre n] came to
th e po int in the ir stud y whe re th ey
sa id, 'vVe can do nothin g more,'
th e Spi rit of th e Lo rd would come
upo n me, ... and a cl ea r explan a-
tio n o f the passages we had bee n
studying would be give n me . .. .
"During this who le time 1 cou ld
no t understand th e reasoning of
th e brethre n . My mind was locked,
as it were, and I could no t compre-
he nd the m eanin g of th e scriptures
we were s lud yin g . " ~
Knowing tha t she can 't '\Ulder-
stand these matte rs" whe n she isn 't
in visio n, the men accept her revela-
tio ns "as light direct fro m heaven."1
So me times hum an nalure and
prid e o f o pini o n ma nifest th e m-
se lves. Wh e n this h a ppe ns, yo u
susp e nd your m ee tin g so you can
priva te ly pray a nd "s tud y th e
po int o f di ffe re n ce, askin g light
fro m heave n. " Partin g with
"ex pression s of fri endlin ess, " YO LI
pla n "to m ee t aga in as soon as
poss ible for furth e r investi-
gation. II ;;
Yo ur disagree me n ts a re te m-
pe red by the love yo u have for
J esus a nd for on e a nothe r. So whe n
yo u resume your mee tin g and
fin a lly find agreem e n t, yo u "wee p
and rej oice togeth e r. "I,
Thus the Seve nth-d ay Adventist
Church is born.
THE REFORMATION
CONTINUES
Th e spirit of fid e lity to
Scrip ture was th e hea rtbea t of the
267
Re fo rmation . Sh a ring a passion a te
zeal fo r God 's Wo rd , the Re form e rs
la unch ed a movem e nt tha t carri ed
the Bibl e to th e hearts o f millions.
Clin ging to the Bible as th e only
standard for truth , these dedica te d
be li evers sought to restore
Christia nity to th e p urity of th e
ap osto li c chu rc h . This spirit, this
Re fo rm ati o n he ri tage, is a t the
heart of Adve ntism .
In thi s spirit t h e six tee nth-
ce ntury Re form e rs re di scovere d
su c h g reat truth s as ri g hte ou sn ess
by fa ith and the universal priest-
hood o f the be lievers. Th ey
lea rn ed that o ur salvati o n doesn 't
come from o u r good works but
fro m God 's grace, whi ch H e freely
gives to those who pu t the ir trust in
Him . Th ey a lso found that we can
a pproach God directly fo r grace
a nd fo rg iveness witho ut a ny human
inte rm ediary.
The zeal o f the Reform e rs to
find hidde n gems in th e Bible was
re fl ected by th e pio nee rs of our
church. Like th e Re form e rs, they
be li eved the tim e had com e to
rediscove r Bibl e truths tha t most o f
th e Christi an world had lost o r
igno red . Recogni zing the re was
eve n mo re light to be bro ught to
the wo rld , they saw the ir work as
co ntinuin g the Refo rma tion. The ir
stud y convinced th e m tha t the
ad vent movem e nt wo uld bring to a
clim ax th e progressive unde rstand-
ing o f God 's Wo rd .
T hey be lieved th at Revela tion
12: 17 po in ted to a specia l group of
people with a n importa nt missio n .
This mission was to rediscover and
procl aim th e be lie fs o f th e origin al
Christian Church , be li efs that h ad
 been lost during nhe Middle Ages.
They interpreted this text to say
than there will be a church in the
last days whose doctrines are the
same as those of the earliest
Christians.
The King J ames Version of the
Bible uses the word remnant to
';!!I!~"""-"'describe the people who respo nd
to God's call in the last days.
Because this word is so important
in depicting the sense of mission
our denomination 's founders had,
we want to examine its meaning
carefully.
A rernnant is something that
remains. It refers to the remainder
of anythi ng, including ideas or a
group of people. It could be the
only remaining trace of a belief
that once was held. It could be "a
small remaining number of peo-
ple." It could also be the last piece
of cloth on a bolt. The last piece, of
course, would be just like the first.
Similarly, the teachings of the
Seventh~day Adventist Church at vVashington, New Hampshire .
2CiB
remnant church should be just like
the oliginal. The Oliginal church
believed in salvation through faith in
Jesus Christ. It beli<';yed in a pre-
millennial second advent. It wor-
shiped on the seventh day of the
week. It practiced baptism by immer-
sion . And it believed the righteous
dead had not yet gone to heaven.
Wouldn 't you expect the remnant
church to have those same beliefs?
Reformers like Marti n Luth er
did a wonderfUl work by recover-
in g the Bible's teaching on salva-
tion by faith a lone . But there were
other biblical teachings Luther
didn't understand.
The Anabaptists and Baptists
took the Reformation a step far-
ther wh en they d iscovered the
Bible's teaching on baptism. They
bravely proclaimed this truth, often
at the cost of their lives.
When the Reformation zeal
seemed to be dying in Engla nd,
J o hn Wesley sparked a fantastic
revival. H e rediscovered the Bible 's
teachin gs about san ctifi cation but
fai led to recogn ize the importance
of Bible baptism.
As th e Refo rm e rs rediscove red
th ese wonderful Bible doctrines,
th ey sta rted church es committed to
th e ir teachings. But, in general, the
vario lls denom inations advanced
no farther than their founders.
Thus it became necessary for others
to take these newly discovered
truths, advance the m with new
light, completing the stalled refor-
mation . Someone e lse would have
to establish th e mnnanl church.
INTENSIVE BIBLE STUDY
J oseph Ba tes used the te rm
!)1~senllmlh to desc ribe teachings
that had bee n in th e Bible a ll
a long but that the church had
overlooked. He a lso used the te rm
for those biblical u'uths to which
God was just now call ing special
atte ntio n. "Present truth " did not
contradict that which was true in
previo us teach in gs of th e church.
It was advancing light that provided
guidan ce for conte mporary needs
of the church.
Th e Sabbath co nfe re nces were
Anchor TQxt
"This is what the Lord says: 'Stand at th e c rossroads and look; ask for
the a ncie n t pa ths, ask where the good way is, a nd walk in it, and you will
find rest fo r your souls'" Uere miah 6:16a).
269
a n impo rtant part of the process of
discove ring a nd sharing neglected
truths that had begun with the
Bible study a nd preaching of
Willia m Mi ll e r. Add itional contrib-
utors to this process we re Charles
Fitch, Hira m Edson, Rachel Oakes,
a nd J osep h Bates.
Ell e n White insists that the
poin ts of doctrine th e believers
d iscovered durin g those study ses-
sio ns a re ete rn a lly true . "That
whi ch was truth lhen, is truth
today," sh e says. "When the powe r
of God testifi es as to wh at is u·uth ,
th at truth is to sta nd forever as
th e truth ." As far as sh e was con-
ce rn ed , th e Lord would never
lead Hi s people to in terpret the
Bible in a way th a t wo uld "under-
min e the foundation and re move
th e pi ll ars of th e faith that has
made Seventh-day Adven.tists what
they are today."7
This in no way suggests that
our pioneers h ad discovered all
truth by 1849. T h e Sabbath confer-
e nces were a high po int in this
process, but no t th e e nd . The
process of rediscove ring n eglected
truths co ntinued . But the founda-
tions had been b uilt.
flJ Into the Bible
1. By th e e nd o f the Sabba th confe re n ces, probab ly hundre ds of
Adve nti sts sh ared certain be li efs . You r teache r wi ll give you a worksh ee t
called "Sabbath Confe re n ce Co nse nsus," whi ch is a bout these be liefs.
2. In addi tio n to th e Sabba th Co nfe re nce Conse nsus, th e be lievers h ad
d evelo ped a ge ne ra l agree me n t regarding most o f the major po ints in
the pro ph ecies o f Da nie l 2, 7, 8, a nd Revela tio n 12-14.
A. Th ey saw those th ree cha pte rs in Da niel as pa rall e l passages o utlin-
ing the sa me impo rta n t hislOri cal develo pme n ts, including fo ur
grea t multination al e mpires.
(1) Wh a t nation does th e Bible say was th e first in this seri es of pow-
e rful e mpires? Da ni e l 1:1; 2:28, 37.
(2) Wh at we re the n ex t two world empires, according to Da ni e l
8:20,2 1?
(3) Like ma ny proph e ti c inte rpre te rs befo re the m, th ey saw th e
last o f th e four e mpires as Rome. This was fo llowed by the
breakup of the Ro ma n Empire . Wha t d oes Da ni e l 2:44 say will
ha ppe n d urin g th e tim e wh e n the fo rm e r Ro man Empire was
still d ivided inlO se pa rate n a tion s?
B. Th ey inte r pre ted the woman of Revela tio n 12 as th e true chu rch,
d rive n into the wilde rness fro m 538 to 1798, a nd saw th e mse lves as
th e "re mn a nt o f h e r seed " (lgY). What two ide ntifying ma rks d oes
ve rse 17 g ive fo r tha t re mn ant?
3. Sabbath confe re n ce pa rticipa n ts a lso continued to acce pt certa in basic
Protes ta nt be li efs. Wha t doctrin es a re suppo rted by th e fo llowing tex ts?
A. J o hn 20: 31- two doctrin es .
B. Ro ma ns 3:23.
C. Ro ma ns 6:23 .
D. 1 Timothy LI S.
E. Ro ma ns 5:9.
F. J ohn 17: 17.
4. On th e workshee t provided by yo ur teach e r, look a t "Tru ths Adventists
Rediscovered " in a bit mo re d e ta il.

270
 Projects
l. Sup pose you have a fri e nd wh o conside rs Seventh-day Adven tists to be
a "sec t" because of th eir regard fo r the wri tings of Elle n G. Wh ite.
Usin g th e in form ation in this lesso n, wri te a letter to yo ur frie nd to
convince him o r h e r th a t, alth ough we be lieve Mrs. Whi te rece ived spe-
cial guida nce from th e Lo rd , our doctrin es come fro m th e Bible a nd
th e Bibl e o nly.
2. Wri te and pe rfo rm a skit. Wi th half a doze n of your classma tes, ree nact
a lypi cal Bible study session of th e type you read a bo ut in this lesson.
Perfo rm th e skit fo r a ch ape l progra m ; a n e le me n tary sch oo l class; o r a
n earby church, Sabba th Sch ool, o r yo uth meeting.

Focus Questions
l. Can you think o f a ny issu es in our church tod ay that might call fo r
in te nsive study of th e kind we read abo ut in today's lesson ?
2. Ca n yo u think of some possi ble reasons why God didn 't just spell o u t
all th e doctri nes to Ell e n Wh ite in vision instead of waitin g fo r th e
de no minatio n 's pi o neers to wo rk so ha rd at extracting th e m from th e
Bibl e?
3. Do you feel comfo rtable d escribin g th e Seventh-day Adve nti st Church
as th e re mn a n t church? Why or why not?
4. Wha t, in yo ur o pinio n, is th e most impo rtant idea rediscove red by ear-
li e r Refo rm e rs? Why?
5. Which of the bibli cal teac hings rediscove red by Seven th-d ay Adve ntists
h ave you fo und most mea ningful ? Why?

1. Ell en C. While, Seleued Messages (Hagerstown , MeL Review and H era ld, 1958), 1:206.
2. Ell en C. Wh ite, Testimonies to iVlinislers and CostJei WorllelJ' (Bo ise, Idaho: Pacifi c Press,
[923, [ 944),24.
3. Ell en C. While, Selected Messages, 1:206,207.
4. Ibi d. , 207.
5. ''''hi te , Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Worlias, 25.
6. Ibid., 25, 26.
7. Ell en C. Wh ite, Selected iVJessages, 2:104; 1:161; 2: 103.

271

Organiz~d to Witn~ss
Lesson Scripiures: Ads 1:15, 16,21-26; 6:1-6;
14:2i1; Maiihew 2i1:11
Hisiorical Focus: 1849.186i1, 190 I
onfess! Confess!"
d e ma nded Elde r H . S.
Case, the Sabbath-
kee pin g Adventist pas-
to r inJackson ,
Michigan, urging a
member of his congre-
gation to admit that she h ad lied.
Case's daughter had accused the
wo ma n of using a ce rta in vi le word ,
but many of the other members
h ad believed her denial, so Case's
insiste nce that th e congregation
discipli ne the a lleged offender was
causin g tension among the local
Adventists.
Visiting J ackson, Elle n White
was shown in vision that Case and
his friend C. P. Russel were proud,
overbearing men whose influences
were divisive. Sh e reproved the two
for un-Christlike behavior, avarice,
a nd ex travagance in th e use of
God 's mon ey. She also revealed
tha t the accused woman had not
used the particular word in ques-
tion.
Bitter over the reproof, Case
and Russel established a paper
called The Messenger of Truth. Its
purpose was to destroy the influ-
Uriah Smith .
lesson I .
e nce of the Whites a nd the Review.
Not satisfied with printed attacks,
Case a nd his suppo rte rs made a
nuisance of themselves by disrupt-
in g meetin gs. '
T his in cident underscored the
validity of Ellen White's concern
that ministe rs should be carefully
selected, a belief that led to the
first of her many p leas for church
organization. In 1853 sh e wrote,
"Th e Lord h as shown that gospeL
order h as been too much feared
a nd neglected." Sh e said that "self-
sent" ministers lacking "spirituali ty,
judgment, a nd expe rie nce" were a
"curse to the cause."2
But this plea met a lot of resist-
ance. Adventists were very negative
about church orga ni zatio n. Many
of them had been dismissed from
their former churc hes for following
t11eir own consciences instead of
church dogma. T hus they saw thei r
fonner denominations as part of
"Babylon " and feared that any new
church organizatio n would also be
a compo nent of Babylon.
The Sabbath conferences had
fostered un ity of belief a mo ng "the
little flock." Confidence in Ell en
White's visions pro moted a uni ty
of spirit. Trave lin g ministe rs such
as Jose ph Bates a ndJa mes White
prea ch e d unifyin g messages to
wid e ly scatte re d be li eve rs. But
pro bably th e most unifyin g inHu-
e n ce a mon g Sabbath-kee pin g
Adve ntists was th e Advent Review
and Sabbath H erald, first publish ed
in 185 0.
PROBLEMS
Despite all these uni fYin g inHu-
e nces, the lack of church organiza-
tion bega n to cause proble ms.
Because the church wasn 't incorpo-
rated , it couldn ' t legally own pro p-
e rly. Deeds to church build ings
were registered in th e n ame of a
me mbe r. This type of a rra ngeme nt
was d an ge rous. T he me mbe r wh o
was the no mina l owner of the
prope rty might leave the chu rc h
a nd ta ke "his" pro perty with him .
O r he migh t die, a nd a n unbeli ev-
ing fa mily me mbe r could inh e ri t it.
That sort o f thin g actua lly hap-
pen e d a couple of tim es . On e of
th ese in cide n ts involved a mee ting
house built by th e Sabbath kee pe rs
in Cin cinnati. O ne of th e ir me m-
bers gene rously let th e m co nstruct
it on his la nd. The n he changed
hi s re li gious be liefs . Con seque ntly,
h e refused to le t them meet in th e
buildin g tha t was legally his-eve n
though the e ntire congregation
had paid for it. H e turned the
church building into a vin egar
warehouse.
And th e re was th e ma tte r of
ministe rial pay. With no church
organi zation , th e re was no syste m
for making sure a minister ,vas
pa id . Contributions to the ir sup-
274
port were so small and so irregular
th at som e o f th e most promising
ministers became discouraged and
sought o th e r e mployme nt.
While the true she pherds were
beco min g discouraged abou t feed-
ing the ir fa milies, wo lves in shee p 's
clothin g might be loo king for ways
to Heece the flo ck o r to confuse it.
vVith no c hurch organi zation, any-
o ne could call himself a Sabba th-
kee ping Adventist ministe r, regard-
less of c ha racte r, qua lifica tio ns, o r
eve n be liefs. A se lf-style d ministe r
co uld eve n be a can ma n, and the
scatte red believers wo uld h ave no
way of kn owing.
STEPS TOWARD
ORGANIZATION
Some o f th e local Sabbath-
keeping cong regatio ns began tak-
ing ba by ste ps toward church o rga-
nizatio n in the early 1850s by
ordainin g d eacons, e lde rs, and
o ther loca l churc h offi cials. At
about th e same tim e, Sabbath-
kee ping Adve n tist ministe rs who
had been o rda ined by th e ir form e r
d e nomination s began ordaining
o th e r Adventist ministe rs. In addi-
tion , to pro tect loca l congregations
from impostors, lead e rs in th e
Sabba ta ria n Adve nt moveme nt
began issuin g ide ntification cards
to me n wh o h ad prove n the mselves
as ministe rs and who agreed with
the be liefs tha t had e me rged from
the Sabba th confe ren ces.
In 1853 J a mes White wro te a
series of articl es calling for "gospe l
o rde r. " H e said God didn 't desire
"to brin g his people o ut of th e con-
fu sion of Ba bylon in to the greater
confusion of no orde r no r disci-
plin e .'" Thro ughout the 1850s he
co ntinue d to be the leading propo-
n en t of church organi zati o n.
Neverthe less, most Sabba th-keeping
Adve ntists still o pposed th e idea.
By 1859 Whi te was writin g
Review articles tha t push ed eve n
ha rde r for de no min ational o rgani-
zation. In Fe bruary 1860 h e spec ifi-
cally calle d fo r two things: (1) creat-
ing a legal organi zation to be the
registe red owne r of church prop-
e rty, and (2) adopting a d e nomin a-
tional na me. Michigan law required
a prope rty-holding organization to
have a name .
Despite opposition , som e local
con gregations began to act on
White's suggestion , usin g such
names as th e Parkville Church of
Christ's Second Advent and "th e
church of the livin g God. '"
At th e suggestion of ]. N .
Anclre\vs, the movem e nt's lead e rs
call ed a meeting to disc uss incor-
pOl-a ting the publishing house .
De legates from fi ve sta tes m et in
Ba ttle Cree k, Michigan , fro m
Se pte mbe r 28 to Octo be r 1, 1860.
Stron g opposition to in corpo ratio n
was expressed. Neve rthe less, th e
proposal passed .
ADOPTING A NAME
Th e n the gathe ring took up
th e question o f a d e no mina ti o nal
name. After ri gorous di scussion ,
the mo tion to ad o pt a nam e
passed.
Some favo red "Ch urc h of
God. " Oth e rs o bj ected th at it
would be con fu sin g to use a na me
already be in g u sed by severa l
de nomin a ti o ns. Besides, th e nam e
see me d arroga nt.
275
Finally, David H ewitt, a laym an ,
moved tha t th e name Seve nth-day
Adventists be ad o pte d . After th e
mo tio n passed , Ell e n White wro te
approvingly, "Th e n a me ... carri es
the true features of o ur fa ith in
front, and will convict th e inquir-
ing mind, ""
Local cong regations passed
resolutio ns adop ting th e na m e,
usually una nimously. But some
peopl e felt so strongly th at ta kin g
this nam e was wrong th at th ey left
th e move me nt.
CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION
T h e nex t ste p was confe re nce
o rganizatio n. Be lieve rs in Mi chigan
le d th e way by creatin g, in Oc tobe r
1861 , a n administra tive organiza-
tion , whi ch th ey call ed th e
Michigan Conferen ce of Seve n th-
day Adve ntists. O ne of the duti es
th ey gave the confe re nce was issu-
in g cred e n tials for its ministe rs.
A year late r, a t the Mi chi gan
Confe re n ce's first a nnua l meeting,
de lega tes electe d a laym a n, Willia m
S. Higley, as the fi rs t Seve nth-day
Adventist confe re nce preside nt.
They a lso provided that the confe r-
e nce should pay its ministe rs a reg-
ula r sala ry. So o n Adve ntists in
o ther geographical a reas fo ll owed
Mi chigan 's lead.
THE GENERAL CONFERENCE
Twe n ty de legates fro m six con-
fe re nces m e t from May 20-23, 1863.
Th ey ad o pted a constitu tio n fo r a
union of tl, e confe re nces, which m el'
call ed the Gene ral Confe re nce,
and e lected J ohn Byington , a fonner
Me th o di st mini ste r, as th e first
Ge n e ra l Co n fe re n ce presid e n t.
Byington se rve d for two on e-yea r
terms.
Building upon an 1859 commit-
tee recomme ndation for a systematic
giving plan, delegates to the General
Conference organizing session also
suggested that th e conferences use
these systematic contributions to pay
their ministers a regula r weekly
salary of about five dollars.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
The result of this meeting was a
three-tiered structure of church
o rgani zation .
There are ulree basic types of
church gove rnm e nt. One is a hiel~
anh)" the type of organization the
Ro man Catholic Church h as. Much
like a mona rchy, th e authority in a
hierarchy is at th e top.
At the o th e r ex tre me is the
congregati o nal form of church
o rganization , such as is found in the
Souule rn Ba ptist Co nvention. Each
local congregation makes its own
John Byington.
276
decisions withou t being accountable
to any hig he r o rga nization.
In betwee n is the presbyterian
type of churc h government. This is
a re prese ntative organ ization co m-
pa rabl e to that of republi cs, such
as th e United States.
Adventists adopted a presbyte r-
ia n form of church governme nt.
Congregations e lected delegates to
co nfere nce session s. These d e l-
egates e lec te d co nfe rence officers.
T he co nfe ren ce e lected General
Conference del egates, who e lected
Ge neral Confe re nce officers.
CONSEQUENCES
Uriah Smith , the Review editor
a t the time , re po rted of that first
General Conference session:
"Think of eve rything good that has
been written of every previo us
meetin g, and apply it to this. All
this wou ld be true, a nd more than
this." 6 Over ule next two years, let-
ters written to th e Review were
nearly unanim o us in speaking o f
church organization as a blessin g.
A dozen years later, addressin g
the 1893 Genera l Conferen ce,
Ellen White gave her pe rspective
on the purpose of organization.
"As our numbe rs inc reased , it
was evide nt that without some fo rm
of organ izatio n, there would be
great confusion, an d th e work
wou ld not be ca rri ed forward suc-
cessfull y. To provide for the sup-
po rt of th e ministry, for carryin g
the work in new fields, for protect-
in g both the church es a nd the
ministry from unworthy me mbers,
for holding churc h property, for
the publication of the truth
through th e press, ... organization
was indispensable. "
Then sh e gave h er evaluation
of wha t h ad bee n accomplish ed:
"In reviewin g o ur past histo ry,
having travelled over every step of
advan ce to our prese n t sta nding, I
can say, Praise God ! As I see wh a t
God h as wrought, I a m fill ed with
astonishme nt and with confide nce
in Christ as Leade r. We h ave n o th-
ing to fear fo r the future, e xce pt as
we shall fo rget the way the Lord
has led us, a nd his teaching in our
past history.'"
Despite this rin gin g e ndo rse-
m ent of th e principl e of c hurch
o rganizatio n , Ell e n White wasn ' t
com ple te ly satisfi ed with th e way
th e de n o min a ti o n al struc ture was
ac tually o pe ratin g at th at tim e. A
single o rgani za tio n appropria te
for 3,500 me mbe rs prima ril y co n-
centrate d in th e No rtheaste rn
qua rter o f th e U ni ted Sta tes was
completely inad equa te for a much
la rge r world church. Eve n befo re
Painting of th e chapel built byJ ohn Byington.
277
h e r 1893 re ma rks, sh e h a d bee n
aware o f seve ra l pro ble ms with th e
way th e Seventh-d ay Adve n tist
Churc h was run.
Fo r one thing, th e Gen e ra l
Confe re n ce committee tri ed to
micro ma nage th e worldwide wo rk.
An administrator in Australia or
Switze rla nd o r South Africa who
neede d to make a maj o r decisio n
had to write for a pproval to Battle
Creek, Michigan, th e h eadqua rte rs
location. It took weeks fo r th e letter
to a rrive-and additio n al weeks fo r
th e re ply. By tha t time, it mig h t be
too late to d o a ny good . Nearly a
decad e befo re h e r 1893 address,
Ell e n White urged General
Confe re nce lead ers to give local
administrators more of "a chance to
exercise their individual judgme n t.""
Closely rela ted was th e concen-
tration of too much po\ver in too
few ha nds: a ha ndful o f committee
membe rs who lived in Ba ttle Creek.
While the Gen eral Co nfer e nce
Commi ttee h ad too mu ch control
ove r so me areas o f the de nomina-
ti on 's work, th ere we re o ther areas
over which it h ad too little control.
The Seve n th-d ay Adve ntist Churc h
h ad become involved in a wide
va ri ety of activiti es: establishing
h ealth-care facilities, prom o ting
re li gio us libe rty, cond ucting
Sabba th Schools, se nding o ut fo r-
e ign missionaries. advocating tem-
pe ra nce, establishing sch ools, and
e n couraging lay involve me n t in
spreadin g the Adventist m essage .
New orga nizati o ns deve lo ped,
su ch as th e Inte rna ti onal Medi cal
Missionary and Be nevole nt
Associatjo n and th e Nation a l
Re ligious Libe rty Associati o n.
Altho ugh th ese o rga nization s were
established, fin a nced, a nd o pe rated
by Seven th-day Adventists, th ey
were indepe ndent corporatio ns,
with little acco un ta bility.
Some o f th ese associa tio n s
plunged recklessly in to d e bt, a nd
th e good n am e a nd stability of th e
d e no min atio n d e m a nded tha t the
church as a wh o le "bail the m o ut. "
So th e co nfe re n ces a nd the
Gen eral Confe re nce were sad d led
with d ebts they had no t created and
ove r which th ey had no con trol.
By 1896 Ell e n Wh ite was calling
for major reorganizatio n ." In spite
o f some mino r im provem en ts, dur-
ing th e next e igh t years she
becam e increasingly harsh in he r
d e n un ciati o n o f th e way th e
denomination was be ing ma naged
from Battle Creek. Leade rs were
overworked. Oth e rs d e mo nstrated
severe spiritual problems by the ir
greed a nd unde rha nded dealings.
Some were dictatori al. Exe rcising
2711
human wisdom , th ese "un conse-
crated m e n" rej ected righteousness
by fa ith. No wonder she sa id , "Th e
heart of the work is be in g di seased
and co rru pted at Battle Creek."'"
At th e 1901 Gen eral Confere nce
session , Mrs. White dra m a tically
se ized th e initi a tive . As soon as
Ge ne ra l Confe re n ce Preside nt
George A. Irwin declared the sessio n
ope n for business, sh e m ad e he r
way to the front o f th e a uditorium .
Asserting th at chan ges should have
been made te n years earlier, she
boldly d ecla red , "Wh a t we wa nt now
is a reorganization ." She insiste d,
"There are to be more th an on e or
two or three m e n to conside r th e
whole vast fi eld. Th e wo rk is great,
and the re is no o ne hUlnan mind
th at ca n pl a n for th e work that
needs to be do ne ." Sp ea king o f th e
Gen e ra l Confe re nce Committee,
she said, "Tha t th ese m e n sh o uld
stand in a saCl-ed p lace, to be as th e
vo ice of God to the people, as we
o nce be lieved th e Gen e ra l
Co nfe re nce to be-th a t is past. ""
H e r sp eec h b ro ke th e g ridlock.
T he d e legates ap po inted a commit-
tee to reorganize th e church. Its
most pro ductive me m ber was
Arthu r G. Da nie lls_ As preside n t of
th e Seventh-d ay Adven tist work in
Austra lia , Da nie lls h ad already
impl e me n ted solutio ns to som e of
th ese problems.
In 1901 th e Australia n expe ri-
m e n ts o f g ro u ping con fe re n ces
into unio ns became the corn e r-
ston e of reo rganizatio n. Th e crea-
ti on of unio n conferen ces m ade
th e Genera l Confe re nce
Committee directly respo nsible fo r
fewer administrative un its and gave
local leaders the autonomy to
decide th e details of local work.
The General Gonference also
began absorbing the independent
associations. At th e 1903 session ,
a n effort was initiated to distribute
denominational funds on the basis
of need.
At the en d of th e three-week-
long 1901 session, the delegates
approved the reo rganization plan.
Ellen White, de lighte d with the
changes, rebuked those who were
reluctant to accept the changes
that ,,,,ere made. Reorganization
had created a structure that faci li-
tated incredible growth: from
78,000 me mbers in 1901 to almost
nin e million worldwide in 1997.
The process of reorganizing
the church in 1901 holds many
lessons for the church today. The
c hurch is not to be a static monu-
m e nt to past victories and achieve-
"ments. Rather, the church is a liv-
ing organism , a body continually
adapting and responding to the
challenges of g rowth. Rather than
resisting needed change, we must
adapt the structure of the church
to the needs of accomplishing the
mission of the church in every era.

S Anchor Tl?xt
"The greatest among yo u will be yo ur servant" (Matthew 23: 11 ).

C!J Into thl? Bibll?

l. Let's find out what the Bible has to say about church organization.
A. What is the basic biblical principle that should motivate the drive
for church organization, acco rding to 1 Co rinthians .I4:33?
B. Describe the first step in church organization during New
Testament times as found in Mark 3:14.
C. Describe the second step we read about in Acts 1:1 5, 16, 21-26.
D. What was the third? Acts 6:1 -5 .
E. What specific act by the twe lve apostles recogni zed that these men
had a sp ecial work? Acts 6:6.
F. What should be the basic attitude of church leade rs, according to
Matthew 23: 11?
2. On the worksheet provid ed by your teacher, explore what the New
Testament has to say about church officers.
3. What does the Bible have to say about church discipline?
A. What four steps does Jesu s say to take when a church member has
seriollsly wronged us? Matthew 18: 15-17.

279
 B. What specific instructio n did Paul give the church at Corinth wh e n
o n e of its me mbe rs was guilty of sexual imm o rali ty? 1 Corinthia ns
5:1 ,4-7, 13.
C. What six specifi c sins does Paul say me rit disfellowshiping a me m-
be r? 1 Corinthia ns 5:9-13.
D. According to T itus 3: 10, wh at oth e r ch a racte ristic me ri ts rejectio n
from church fe llowship if a pe rso n pe rsists in de mo nstrating it afte r
two admo nitions?
E. T h e Co rinthia n church took Paul's advice, expe lling from me mbe r-
ship th e sexu al offe nde r. Apparen tly the ma n sincerely re pe n ted
a nd stopped sinning in this way. Now wha t three thin gs did Paul te ll
the Corinthi ans to d o? 2 Corinthia ns 2:6-8.
4. Use the worksh eet p rovided by your teache r to explo re "Th e Meanin g
of the Wo rd Church in the New Testame n t."
...............................................................................................
Proj~(ts
1. Yo ur lesso n me ntion ed a systema tic-givin g pla n. Find o ut more abo ut
this plan called "systema tic be n evolence," fro m th e Seventh-day Adventist
Encyclopedia. T he n write an essay that shows h ow "syste matic be nevole nce"
was li ke tithing a nd h ow it was d iffe re nt.
2. O n e positive co nseque nce of establishing the Gen e ra l Co nfe re n ce was
e nabling th e d e no min atio n to speak with a united voi ce regard in g
Adventist pa rti cipatio n in the Civil War.
A. Find out mo re abo ut this by reading on e o r more of the followin g
refe re nces:
• Regard ing th e Seve nth-day Adve ntist position o n participatio n
in this pa rticula r war: Elle n G. White, Testimonies for the Church,
1:357, 358, 361 , 368, pa ragraph l.
• Fo r a broad e r histo rical view of th e offi cia l de no minatio nal
positio n o f no n combatancy, see the a rticle "Noncombatan cy" in
the Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. Note espec ially the first
half of the ar ticle.
B. Write a reactio n pape r indi cating, a mo ng o the r th ings, your own
pe rson al beliefs o n the subj ect a nd why you hold the m.
3. Inte rview your local confere nce treasurer a nd make a presen tatio n to
your class explaining h ow church tithe is h andl ed in your unio n.

280
 focus QU(~stions
1. Do you see any implications from this lesson for today's church? What
are they?
2. Do you have any suggestions for improving the denomination's organi-
zatio n today? If so, what are th ey?
3. Do you think that lay people have e nough inpu t into the decisions of
the General Confere nce? Why or why not?
4. Can you suggest some ways the needs of a world church with nine mil-
lion members might be diffe rent from those of a d enom ination of
78,000 members?
5. If you had been one of the delegates to the 1863 General Conference
sessio n, would yo u h ave d o n e anything differently? If so, why? If not,
why not?
6. What difference do you see between the biblical concept of church and
the institutional church ?
7. What do you see as th e advan tages and disadvantages of the va rious
types of church o rgani zation (hierarchy, co ngregational, presbyterian) ?

1. Den nis Pettibone, "The Messenger Party," Review and Herald, (23 January 1975), 8.
2. Ell en C. Wh ite, Emiy W1itings (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1882), 97-99.
3. Quoted in Geo rge R. Knigh t, Millennial Fever and the E'nd oj the World (Boise, Idaho:
Pacific Press, 1993), 324.
4. Gary Land, ed., Adventism in Ame1ica (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 1986),59.
5. Ell en C. White, Testimonies for the Church (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1948), 1 :224.
6 . Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald, May 26, 1863, quoted in Arthu r L. White, Ellen G.
While: The Progressive Yean, 1862- 1876 (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1975), 33.
7. General Conference Dail), B ulletin, 29 Jan uary 1893.
8. Ellen C. White, Teslimonies to Ministers and Gospel WorlW:5 (Boise, Idaho: Pac ifi c Press,
1923,1944),301.
9. Ibid., 342.
10. Ell en. C. Wh ite, Spalding and Magan's Unpublished IVlanusClitJt Test imonies (A. W. Spalding
and Pe rcy T. Magan, M.D., 1915-1916; reprinted 1972),35; cfE lI en C. V\'hite, ManusC1ipt
Releases (Silve r Spring, Md.: E. C. Wh ite Estate, 1993) XlII, 291; XIV, 278-279; XVI I, 22 1.
11. General Conference Bulletin, 3 Apri l 1901.

2.1

Into All th~ World
Lesson Scrliptures: "atthew 24: 14; 28: 19;
Revelatlion 14:6; Levlitlicus 2:1::12;
"alachli :I :8-1:1
Hlistorlical Focus: 1848-1900
re mbling, john Nevins
Andrews watc hed his
belove d seve n tee n-year-
o ld daugh ter gasping
for breath. How many
times he mLl st have
prayed fo r the Lord to
spare h er life. How hard it must
h ave bee n to say, "Thy will be
don e."
Ignori ng th e doctor's warning
that he was riskin g his own life by
spe nd ing so much time close to th e
tube rculosis patie nt, Andrews was
by Mary's side every day tha t she
spe nt in Battle Creek Sanita rium.
Th e disease was high ly contagious,
a nd nin etee nth-ce ntury medical sci-
ence knew no cure.
But how cou ld Andrews stay
away wh e n his o nly da ugh ter was
dying? He wa nted to make sure sh e
was co mfo rtable, to make her last
days as happy as possible. How
co uld he d o less whe n he loved h e r
so much ? He wa n ted to spend
every precio us minute with her
that h e could.
Mary had bee n he r fath e r's
righ t-hand assistant ever sin ce Mrs.
J. N. Andrews.
lesson II
And rews had died six years earlier.
Not on ly had she taken he r motl1e r's
place as th e fam ily cook and house-
kee pe r bu t for two yea rs in
Switze rla nd sh e had assisted him in
the editorial work fo r Les Signes des
Temps. I-lavin g learn ed French
much mo re quic kly than her
fat h e l~ she was a valuable helper.
Did Andrews blam e himself fo r
taking Mary a nd he r broth er
Cha rl es to a stran ge country with
an unfami liar climate where SOlne
health refo rm sta ples we re unavai l-
able? T he And rews family had
econ o mi zed excessive ly so that
mo re mo ney was avail able for
spreading the three a ngels' mes-
sage in Europe. During o ne pe riod
of several mo nth s, the family's die t
had consisted almost e ntire ly of
wh ite bread , mush , a nd gra pes.
But if th e ir lifestyle had been
less fru gal, wou ld the re have been
Seventh-day Adventists in eleven
diffe re n t European counu'ies and
eve n as far away as Egypt? Despite
his ago ny, J o hn Nevins Andrews
cou ld h ave the satisfaction of
knowin g that he had he lped to
take the three angels' messages "to
every nation, tribe, language and
people" (Revelation 14:6).
"STREAMS OF LIGHT"
It had taken the Sabbath-
keeping Adventists three decades
to send out their first official for-
eign missionary. Why? For one
thing, it had taken quite a while
for them to realize that they had
a worldwide mission. Believing at
first that probation had closed in
1844 for all non-Millerites, they
thought their task was simply to
bring the Sabbath light to other
Adventists. Besides, they assumed
Jesus would come before they
could do much more than reach
the other American Millerites.
In those early years, Ellen
White accepted the idea that "no
more sinners would be converted,'"
but not on the basis of a vision. In
1844, she saw the whole world lighted
up by a special group of oi)edient
believers. The Lord gave her a sim-
ilar view four years later, but this
time it was accompanied by a spe-
cific message for James Whi\e: ''You
must begin to print a little paper·
and send it out to the people."
Although at first it would be pub-
lished on a small scale, Ellen told
her husband, "From this small
beginning jt was shown me to be
like streams of jight that went clear
around the world.'"
PRESENT TRUTH
AND ADVENT REVIEW
Acting upon the vision, James
White was determined to publish a
little paper "in defense of truth"
even though he did not have the
28.
financial resources needed. He
found a printer who agreed to
print 1,000 copies of an eight-page
journal on credit. So in the sum-
mer of 1849, the first issue of the
new publication, Present Truth, was
printed. It was devoted mainly to
the seventh-day Sabbath.
That issue and the ones that
followed were sent free. Enough
funds were received to cover
expenses, and by the time the
fourth issue was published, James
White was able to pay the printer
in full.
The following year, White
started a second paper. Called
Advent Review, its emphasis was on
the Second Coming. In November
1850, the two periodicals were
merged into a new journal, Second
Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,
later shortened to Review and
Herald. One of the leading writers
of the paper's publishing commit-
tee was twenty-one-year-oldJohn
Nevins Andrews. He later became
its editor.
Not wanting their paper to be
printed on the Sabbath, supporters
of the Review, and Herald con-
tributed money toward the 1852
purchase of a hand press. That
same year James White started The
Youth's Instructor to provide reading
material for children.
In 1855 the press was moved
from Rochester, New York, to Battle
Creek, Michigan, and twenty-three-
year-old Uriah Smith became the
editor of Review and Herald. During
the same year the church's com-
mitment to publishing was formal-
ized. Before long the hand press
was inadequate to handle the vol-
ume of business and was replaced
by a steam press.
When Adventism spread to th e
West Coast, the de nom in ation
established, in 1874, its second
publishing h o use, the Pacific Press
Publishing Association, and its sec-
ond major evangelistic periodical,
Signs of the Times.
A WIDER VISION
When th e General Conference
was organized in 1863, the denomi-
natio n had developed a broader
concep t of its mission and had
e nlarged its territorial base. About
a decade earlier, they had come to
realize that probation hadn't
closed in 1844 for non-Millerites.
Thus they had begun to see that
they needed to evan gelize the gen-
eral population.
One man's skeptical reaction
was, "It will take you 144,000
years. " 3 There were only one or two
hundred Sabbath-keeping
Adventists, all concen trated in the
M. B. Czechowski.
2BS
Northeastern corner of the United
States, and most of their preaching
was by three desperately poor indi-
viduals,Joseph Bates and J ames
and Ellen White.
By then Adventism had begun
penetrating the southern part of
th e United States, sending evan-
gelists into Tennessee, Kentucky,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. It
was time to expand beyond th e
continent of North America.
This expansion reflected
another major shift in Adventist
thinking. In 1859 Review editor
Uriah Sm ith had suggested that it
"might ... not be n ecessar y" to
give th e th ird ange l's message
outside the United States "since
our own land is composed of peo-
ple from a lmost every nation.'"
But a chain of circumstances was
beginning th at would change that
perspective.
M. B. CZECHOWSKI
T h e key fi gure in this sequence
of even ts was Michael Belina
Czechowski, a former Polish
Catholic priest who joined the
Sabbath-keeping Adventists in
1857. Conversant in seven lan-
guages, he seemed ideal for th e ir
denomination's new emphasis on
evangelizing foreign-language eth-
nic groups in the United States.
In 1858, Czechowski was
selected to ass ist D. T. and A. C.
Bourdeau in their work among
French-speak in g people.
By 1860, Adventists had also
initiated evangelistic activity for
immigrants speaking Polish,
Italian, Swedish, Danish, and
Norwegian. Adventist tracts h ad
 bee n publishe d in German , Du tch,
and Fre nch. Using a n interpre te r,
an Adve ntist m iniste r had eve n
preached to Native Americans of
th e Se n eca tribe .
Beginning to realize that
Adve ntists had a wide r missio n ,
J ames White had wri tte n in 1856 of
th e need to "send the message
abroad through o ut Christe ndo m. ""
But the re were seve ra l proble ms:
th e lack of an o rga nization th at
could send fo re ign missiona ries,
shaky fman ces, a nd a shortage of
Adve ntist min iste rs.
J o h n Nevins Andrews le d a
study group th at came up wi th th e
idea of "systemati c be nevol e n ce"
and a lso helped crea te the legal
organi zation for the publishing
asso ciation, a m~ or step toward
denomination al organi zation .
Adve ntists we re now be tte r able
to recruit and suppo rt ministe rs.
Th ey began serio usly to consid e r
sendin g a missio na ry to Europe.
Czechowski volu nteered for th e job.
But denomin ational lead e rs
saw Czechowski as fin a n cia lly irre-
sp o nsible, impe tuo us, and un will-
in g to ta ke advice . Impatie ntl y,
Czec howski turn e d to riva l
Adve ntist d e nominations. No t
te llin g th e m th a t h e was a
Sabba th keepe r, he pe rsuad e d
both th e Adve nt Christian Churc h
and th e Evange lical Adventi sts to
le t him so lic it funds throug h th e ir
journa ls. Th e resultin g d o n a tio ns
e nabl ed Czech owski and h is fa m-
ily to leave for Euro pe in May
1864.
Concealing his ties to any of
th e Adventist denominations,
Czechowski preac hed th e Sa bbath
286
in rlaly, Switzerl and , Fran ce,
Ge rma ny, Hun ga ry, a nd Ro ma nia.
He made a few con ve rts amo ng th e
Ita lia n Wa ld e nses a nd ra ised up a
church of abo ut fifty me mbe rs in
Switze rla nd.
Albe rt Vui lle um ie r, on e of his
Swiss conve rts, ha ppe ned to no ti ce
a cop y of the Review a mon g
Czechowski's belo ngings. Readin g
it, he discove red that th e re \vas a
d e no mina tion in Am e rica tha t fol-
lowed the sam e doctrines as
Czec howski had bee n teachin g.
Vu ill e umie r excite d ly wrote to th e
Review. Consequ e n tly, denomina-
tio na l lead e rs invite d th e Swiss
be lievers to se nd a re presentative
to the 1869 Ge ne ra l Confe re nce
sess io n.
.l ames Erzbe rge r, the Swiss de l-
ega te, didn 't arri ve in tim e fo r th e
sessio n. Neve rth e less, he put his
visit to good use, learnin g English
and making a th o ro ugh study o f
Seve nth-day Adve nti st beliefs. H e
stayed a yea r and a ha lf. Befo re
re turn ing ho me, Erzbe rge r was
o rda ine d to the ministry.
So no\", th e re was on e o ffici ally
recogni zed Adve ntist ministe r in
Euro pe . But th e Swiss were n 't satis-
fi ed . Th ey wanted the d e n o mina-
tio n to also se nd a n expe ri e nced
eva ngelist.
EARLY CONVERTS
IN BRITAIN AND AFRICA
Adve ntism was a lready spread-
in g to En g land a nd Ire land ,
th anks to den om in ationa l li tera-
ture se nt by fr ie nds and re la tives
in th e U nite d States . Readin g
this li te rature le d seve ra l peo pl e
to acce pt th e third ange l's mes-
sage be twee n 1859 and 18 6l.
That message was take n to Africa
by Ha nn ah Mo re, a missionary
e mployed by a nother denomination ,
wh o had acce pte d th e Sabbath
afte r read ing seve ral Adventist pub-
lica tio ns, includin g H islory of lhe
Sabbalh by J. N. Andrews. One of
th e people she contacted while
sh aring he r n ew be liefs was a mis-
si o nary fro m Australia, who subse-
que ntly took lite rature and
preache d Sevelllh-d ay Adventist
d octrin es in his ho me land .
TITHING
Th e syste ma ti c be nevolence
progra m me n tio ned previously
didn ' t provide suffi cie nt funds for
an aggressive fo re ign mission
work. Fortunate ly, during the
1. 860s and 1870s, Adventists grad-
uall y bega n to g rasp th e bibl ical
co n ce pt o f tithin g. At the 1876
Ge ne ra l Confe re nce session ,
Dudley M. Can rig ht suggested that
if a ll Seve nth-day Adve ntists were
fa ithful in tithin g, Gene ral
Confe re nce in come would in crease
fro m $40,000 a year to $150,000.
His a ppea l led to a fo rmal Ge ne ral
Confe re nce resolution d ecla ring
th at all me mbe rs h ad a duty
"under ord in ary circumstances, to
devo te on e-te n th of all their
income ... to th e cause o f God."';
"U nde r o rdinary circumstances"
wasn 't good e nough for Ellen White,
who in sisted th a t o ne-te nth was
God 's minimum d e mand under all
circumsta nces. She wrote, " All th a t
is withh e ld o f . .. the te nth . . . is
reco rded in the books of heaven . ..
as ro b be ry. " 7
Th e impo rta nce o f the tithin g
2B7
sys te m to the mi ss ionary work of
th e Seve nth-d ay Adve nti st Churc h
cann o t be ove remphasized.
Finan cia l stability in th e denomi-
nation m ade ex tensive outreach
possib le.
ELLEN WHITE'S 1874 MESSAGES
Mea nwhil e, Elle n White con-
tinued to e mphasize th e need for
fo re ig n miss ionari es. In 1871 she
urged young Adventists to pre pare
fo r this wo rk by stud ying foreign
la nguages. In 1874 she was told in
visio n th a t "the whol e world . . . is
God 's g rea t vin eyard ." Describing
th e Seve nth-day Adve ntist message
as a "world-wid e message ,'" sh e pre-
di cte d , "Th e message will go in
power to a ll parts of the world , to
Orego n, to Europe, to Australia, to
th e islands o f th e sea, to all
nations, to ng ues, and peopl es. . ..
Nothin g is impossibl e with God .""
Th a t same year, 1874, the
Ge ne ra l Co nfe re n ce fin a lly
respo nded to he r a ppeals by send-
ing its fi rst fore ig n missio nary,
John Nevins Andrews.
Bes ides be ing th e fore most
Seve nth-d ay Adve ntist scholar of
his tim e, Andrews had played a sig-
nifi cant ro le in each of th e m,!jor
ste ps the Sabba th keepe rs need ed
to ta ke be fo re they we re ready to
assum e the respon sibility of evan-
geli zin g the wo rld ou tside North
Ame rica.
Andrews had maste red Latin ,
Gree k, a nd He brew. H e had memo-
rized the e ntire New Testa me nt. H e
had also writte n Hislory oflhe
Sabbalh, th e most sch o la rl y book
abo ut th e Sabbath up to that time.
At th e age o f twe nty-two, h e had
developed a new inte rpre tatio n of
Revelation 13, the o ne th e Seventh-
day Adve ntist Church still teaches.
Amon g his othe r contribu tions to
Seventh-day Adve n tist theology was
th e discove ry that th e Sabbath
should be observed from sunset
Friday to sunset Saturday.
JOHN NEVINS ANDREWS
IN EUROPE
U pon a rrival in Switzerla nd,
Andrews and his two tee nage chil-
dre n began learning Fre nch.
Andrews learne d a bou t a Ge rman
congregation that was keeping the
Sabba th. H e and Erzbe rge r visited
the m, discovering that, by studying
th e Bible, the ir pastor h ad reach e d
Adve ntist-like views on ba ptism, the
Second Advent, a nd the Sabbath.
Some o f th ese Sabbath keepe rs
j oined the Seven th-day Adve ntist
Church . Andrews also mad e a n
evan gelistic trip to Italy.
Andrews began organizing th e
wo r k in Europe, establishing th e
Ce ntral Euro pean Missio n . The
Gen e ral Confe re n ce sent $~ O ,OOO
fo r launching a European publish-
ing h ouse . Soon, b esides e diting a
Fre n ch ve rsion of Signs of the Times,
h e publish ed tracts in three diffe r-
ent langu ages.
Whe n h is d a u ghte r becam e
ill, An drews consid e re d ta king
h e r to Italy fo r treatme nt. Bu t
wh e n denom inatio n a l lead e rs
asked him to attend th e 1878
Ge n e ra l Co n ference session in
Battl e Cr eek, h e decide d to ta ke
Ma ry with him at his own expense,
so sh e could b e treated a t th e
sanita rium . T h e r e, Dr. J o hn
H a rvey Ke llogg told Andrews th a t
2BB
John Harvey Kellogg.
th e case was h o pe less .
Mary died o n Nove mbe r 27,
1878, thirty-on e d ays afte r the ir
re turn to Ba ttl e Creek. He r devas-
tated fath e r told a fr iend , "I seem
to be having a hold upo n God with
a numb h a nd ."10
Ell e n White wrote to th e griev-
ing fath er:
"In my last visio n, I saw you.
Your head was inclin ed toward the
earth , a nd you were foll owing in
tears your beloved Ma ry to he r last
dwelling place in this world. The n I
saw the Lord lookin g upon you full
of love a nd compassion. I saw the
coming of H im who is to give life to
o ur mo rtal bodies, and your wife
and childre n coming out of the ir
graves dad in im mortal sple ndor.""
Now his own h ealth was in
jeopardy. "From this tim e on ,"
writes a noted histo rian , "it seems
the source of his vitality was
sapped. H is physical powe rs gradu-
a lly decl ine d. "" Tube rculosis was
to take his life as well as th at of his
d aughte r. Weake ned in body, h e
continu'ed his edi torial work for
the next five years, co ntinuing to
write even as h e lay o n his
deathbe d. U. N . Andrews d ied in
1883.)
THE PRICE
By th e turn of the ce ntury,
Seventh-d ay Adve n tists were pro-
cla iming th e th ree angels' m es-
sages o n eve ry inhabited contin e n t,
as well as the isla nds of th e sea.
But this was do n e a t a n
imme nse cost-and not just in do l-
lars. The pi o neers traveled to
strange la nds with unfamilia r c1i-
ma tes a nd diseases to whi ch th ey
had no immuni ty. Ma ny o f th e m ,
like J ohn and Mary Andrews, pa id
a h eavy price fo r th e ir zeal.
O the r fa ithful m en , wom e n ,
an d ch ildre n sleep in th e soil o f
d istan t la nds, far from h o m es,
friend s, a nd re latives . T his was the
price of making Ad ve ntism a world-
wide moveme nt. Imagin e ho\v sur-
prised those slee ping sain ts will be
in th e resurrecti o n to learn that
th e ir sacrifice pre pared th e way fo r
li te rally million s of people to
e mbrace God 's fin a l m essage . An d
it d idn 't take 144,000 years!

S Anchor TQxt
"T his gospel of th e kingdom will be preach ed in th e whole world as a
testimony to all nations, and th en th e end will come" (Matthew 24: 14).

1. T h e tithin g syste m and th e givin g offreewill offerings have e n abled th e

Seventh-d ay Adve n tist Church to carry out its worldwide missio n . To
expl ore what th e Bib le h as to say about this topic, as k you r teach er for
a worksheet ti tl ed "Ti thin g."
2. You read th a tJo hn Nevins Andrews discovere d fro m the Bibl e th e
p rope r tim e to begin th e Sabbath . Let's look a t two texts d ealin g with
this subjec t.
A. At wh at tim e of day d oes Leviticus 23 :32 (last pa rt) say th a t Sabbath
begins an d ends?
B. Mark 1:32 ide ntifies "evening" as after _ __
3. T his lesso n talks a bo u t our obligatio n to preach the three a ngels' mes-
sages through o u t the world. Le t's study a few Bible texts d ealing with
this subj ect.
A. Wh e n will the end com e, according to Matth ew 24:14?
B. In h ow m any n a tions d o Christ's followe rs h ave an o bligatio n to
conduct baptisms?

289
 C. To whom d oes Revelation J 4:6 say the three angels' messages are to
be preached?
D. How far did j esus tell His followers to take His message, accord ing
to Acts l: 8?
...............................................................................................

Projects
l. Learn more abo ut j o hn Nevins Andrews, the first Seventh-d ay Adventist
fo reign miss io nary.
A. Choose o n e of the fo ll owing topics and read th e mate rial you r
teac her has o n the subj ect:
(1) Hi s first twenty-one yea rs: ''Young j o hn Andrews ."
(2) "Earl y Ministry."
(3) "Andrews' Fin a l Years."
B. Report on your reading in o ne of the fo llowi ng ways:
(1 ) Pretend you a re j o hn Nevins Andrews. Record in your di ary
your thoughts and fee lin gs about the events that too k place.
(2) Make a poster summarizing key developm e nts in the story.
(3) Wri te a poem.
2. Find out mo re a bo ut Adventism's progress in one of th e a reas you read
abo ut in this lesson.
A. Look through recent issues of the Adventist Review for reports abo ut
the area you have ch osen.
B. Report on you r lindings in one o f the fo llowing ways:
(1) Make a scrapbook of clippings. With each clipping (or pho tocopy),
write a caption or headline tha t briefly summa rizes the story.
(2) Write a script for a video program that in corporates th e infor-
mation you glean ed fro m the Review.
3. A. Choose a person to inte rview who has had one o f these expe ri e nces:
(1) The pe rson has been a foreign missio nary. T his co uld in clude a
stude n t mission ary. Alte rn atively, you could interview someon e
from a foreign country who h as been influe n ced by "expatriate
wo rkers,"
(2) T he pe rson feel s that he or she has been specifi cally blessed in
re turning ti thes and givin g o ffe rin gs.
(3) Th e person be lieves th a t Seve nth-day Ad ve n tist lite rature has
had a positive impact on his or h e r life. Th is could be a person
who was converted as a result of reading Seventh-day Adventist
lite ra ture or a pe rso n whose life significa ntly improved in some
other way as a resul t of such publi cations.
B. Whom cou ld yo u interview? Parents, o ther relatives, friends, church
members, teac he rs, peop le your pastor suggests, eve n yourse lf-if

290
 you perso nally have a story to tell.
C. Write out a list of pertine nt questi ons to ask, and th e n ask th e m ,
takin g notes as the answers are given.
D. Write o ut the p e rson 's story.

focus Qu~stions
l. Can yo u think of som e ways the histo ry o f this denomination would
have been different if early Adventists had co ntinued to be li eve that
o nly Millerites could be saved ?
2. Wh at advantages and disadva ntages do yo u think a pe rson going out as
a missio na ry today has over one going durin g th e nineteenth ce ntury?
3. Do today's missionaries sti ll risk their lives? If so, h ow?
4. Do yo u think sending out missionaries is still important? Why or why not?
5. Com pa re and contrast tithin g with th e "fl at tax" pro posed in the late
}990s by some poli ticians.

1. Ell e n C. Wh ile, Selected Messages (Hagerstown , Md.: Review a nd I-Jera ld , 1958), 1:74.
2. Ell en C. Wh ile, LiJe Sl<elclws (Boise, Idah o: Pacif'i c Press, 19'15), 125.
3. J. N. Lo ughbo rou gh , 71te Great Second Advent lVlomtl/wnl (Ha ge rstown, Md.: Review and
I-lerald, j 905), 275.
4. Advent Heview and Sabbath Herald, 3 February 1859,87; quoted in Arthur \<Vhitc f'ield
Spa ldin g, Origin mul l-lis/OJ) of Seventh-day Adventisls (Hage rstown, Md.: Review an d
Herald , 1962),2: 194.
5. Quoted in P. Gerard Damslcegt, Foundations of/he Seventlt-lilt)1Adventist J\I/essage and
Mission (Grand Ra p ids, Mic h .: Wi llia m It Ee rcirnans Publ ishing, 1977),281.
6. Review and I-Jerald, 6 Apri l 1876, quoted ill Seve/lilt-cia)' Advel/.tist EnC)'clopedia, s.v.
"Systemalic Be nevo le nce."
7. Elle n G. Whi le , Testimonies/or/he Church (Boise, Idaho: Pac ifi c Press, 1948 ),3:394.
8. Ibid., 7:34 , 36.
9. Ell e n G. While, Life Shelclies, 209.
10. Eve rell Di ck, Founders oJthe Message (Hage rstown , Md.: Review and He ra ld, ]938), 320, 32 1.
JI . Q uoled in Ibid .
12. Ibid., 32 1.

201

AH~dling Ministry
Lesson Scrlipiures: I Corlinihlians II: 16, 17;
6:19,20; 10:111
Hlisiorlical Focus: 18611 io ihe preseni
lien White was worried
about h er husband.
He was exhausted, hav-
ing worn himself out
fighting for church
organization. Even
though he had won
the battle fifteen days earlier, the
long struggle had frayed his nerves.
Depress ion overcame him.
As the Whites and several other
people met for sundown worship,
on June 5, 1863, Ellen White
poured out her heart to God about
James. As she prayed, she moved
closer to him, putting her hand on
his shou lder. Then the tone of her
voice became more musical, and
she exclaimed, "Glory to God." She
was in vision. '
A witness says, "Those presenn ...
will never forget the heavenly influ-
ence that filled the room. The cloud
passed from the mind of ElderWhite,
and he was full of p'raise to God.'"
Th is vision would turn out to
have a revolutionary impact on the
personal lives of James and Ellen
White, on the entire membership
of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church, and, eventually, on the
John Loughborough.
lesson 12
health of the world.
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
MEDICINE
Medical practice in the nine-
teenth century was far from scien-
tific. Some doctors thought that
fevers we re caused by too much vital-
ity. The cure, then , was to drain away
some of the patient's blood. Others
said the way to drive away disease was
to administer small doses of poison.
When John Loughborough was
eight, his father died of typhoid
fever after the physician not only
prescribed harmful drugs, but even
forbade the patient to drink cold
water or to breathe fresh a ir. Later,
John became a cigar smoker on
the advice o£ his physician , who,
like many other nineteenth-century
doctors, said smoking would
strengthen weak lungs.
This wasn't an isolated instance.
Especially fearful of night air, peo-
ple kept their bed mom win.dows
closed, belie\~ng the fresh air could
result in colds or even malaria. hey
thought giving wateI: to people ·th
fevers could Qurt them. They also
conside,Fed bat~ing hazardous.
 Two-year-old Emma Kellogg
became sick in th e summe r of 1849.
He r mothe r, Ann Kell ogg, be li eved
the problem was infla med lungs, but
th e physician diagnosed it as worms.
After he had th e child purged, she
died in convulsio ns. Ann de manded
an auto psy, which showed that Emma
d id not have worms, but d id have
inflammation of the lungs.
People didn't understand th e
relationshi p be tween health and
nutrition. Nor did they reali ze th e
importance of clean li ness and reg-
ular exercise .
Seven th-day Adventists seem to
have avoided liquo r from the very
beginning, and in 1848 the Whites
spoke out against tobacco, tea, and
coffee. Th e n in j 854 Elle n White
was sh own th e importance of
cleanliness and was given some
hints about a high-fibe r, low-fat
d iet. But the com pre he nsive health
message didn't come until 1863.
THE 1863 VISION
After E ll e n White had her 1863
vision , sh e didn't want to talk about
it. The message she had seen was
so radical, so co ntrary to common
beli efs, that she didn 't quite know
how to pu t it in words. A yea r
passed before she wrote it out in
SjJi-ritual Gifls, vo lum e 4. Th is
became th e core of seve ral othe r
books sh e wo uld later write on th e
subject of h ealth.
She pointed out the ben efits of
fres h ai r, water, sunlig h t, and exer-
cise. Speakin g especially of be d-
rooms, she said, "Bl inds should be
left open several ho urs each day,
th e curtain s put as ide, a nd th e
room th oroughly aired.'"
Water was beneficial both inte r-
nally and exte rnally. Drinkin g water
was important, especially to people
with a fever. Freque ntly washing
one 's clothes a nd body were also
importan t. Regarding exercise, she
said, "Inactivity will cause disease."4
Th e health visio n also empha-
sized the impo rtance of tempe ran ce
in all the areas o f life. Tempe ra nce
involved more than just abstainin g
from liquor. Overeating, overwork-
in g, and engaging in "some oth e r
hurtful indulgences" we re a lso
intemperate , she said.:'
Those other harmful indu l-
gences included th e use of drugs,
tobacco, tea, a nd coffee. Th e drugs
she specifically me ntioned included
opi um and many of the poiso nous
compo unds that doctors were pre-
scribing as medi cine. "Drugs never
cure disease,"6 she said , asserting
th at opium destroyed the ne rves,
damaged the bra in , and in terfered
with a pe rson's se rvice to God.
Ellen White desc ribed tobacco
as a slow but malignant poison.
Coffee a nd tea, she sa id, were
add ictive an d harmfu l: "The ir
effects are similar to those of to-
bacco , but ... in a less degree.'"
Two of the other h armful
indul ge n ces sh e me n tioned
in volved eating. She warned against
eating betwee n meals, sayin g, "The
stomach mu st have its regular
periods for la bor a nd rest.'"
Sh e a lso advised against eating
flesh foods, especia lly pork products.
She pointed o ut that after the Flood,
wh en God first gave huma n kind
permission to ea t flesh, humanity'S
life span "bega n to rapidly deCl'ease."
Sh e listed severa l di seases she said
were caused by eating pork and
indicated that few a nim als of a ny
kind were "free from disease." She
said, "Many die of disease caused
who lly by meat-eating.""
All this was important, she
believed, because of the interrela-
tionship between mind, body, and
soul. She said,
"Satan ... knows that persons
who have wrong habits, and unsound
bodies, cann ot se rve God so ear-
nestly, perseveringly and purely....
A diseased body affects the brain.
With the mind we serve the Lord ....
Satan triumphs in the ruinous ,-vark
he causes by leading the human fam-
ily to indulge in habits which destroy
themselves and one anothe r; for by
this means he is robbing God of the
service due him,"10
This was illustrated in the lives
of th e denomination's leaders,
including the Whites. By unknow-
ingly practicing bad habits and
consequently be in g sick so much of
the time, they were aepriving the
church of the wor k they might
oth erwise have done.
TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH
IN THE WHITE FAMILY
The Whites read about water
treatments prescribed by Dr. james
C. j ackson for the deadly disease
diphtheria. When two of their boys
contracted the d isease, th ey tried
his methods, and Ule boys rapidly
recovered.
Now, just six months after her
h ealth vision, their oldest son ,
sixteen-year-old Henry, came down
with pneumonia. The health mes-
sage was so new to them they hadn't
really absorbed it all. They call ed a
205
regular doctor! We tend to be crea-
tures of habit, and whe n we're des-
perate, we aren't always co m p letely
ration al. So Henry received con-
ventional treatment, and he died!
The Whites had ha rdl y begu n
to recover f rom their loss £rol11
Henry's death when nine-year-
o ld Willie became deathly ill. Like
his brother, he had pneumonia.
This time Mrs. White gave him
water treatments. He recovered!
What an object lesson. Two
boys, both gravely ill. One receives
conven tio nal treatlnen t-and dies;
the other is given hydroth e rapy-
a nd lives.
Two years later, james White's
health collapsed. He had been
intemperate by overworking. He
was talented in so many areas, and
his se rvices we re in great demand.
H e felt that if he didn't do the
work, wh o would ?
Ellen sent him to Dr. Jackson's
institution in Dansville, New York,
whi ch was something like a health
spa. Patients were given various
kinds of water treatments (hydro-
therapy) instead of drugs. The pro-
gram there was closer to what she
had seen in vision tI,an that of con-
ventional medical institutions.
Ellen White applauded many of
Dr. Jackson:s methods, but there was
much in his program that she didn 't
agree with . For one thing, he for-
bade Elder Wh ite to get any exercise.
For another, he tried to keep him
from thinking about religion.
After three montlls, Mrs. v\lhite
withdrew her husband from Dans-
vill e. Soon after this she had an-
other vision that call ed for the
denomination to establish its own
health institutions, inco rporating
the best features of establishments
like Dr. Jackson's without the unde-
sirable aspects.
WESTERN HEALTH
REFORM INSTITUTE
Soon John N. Loughborough,
the president of the Michigan
Conference, was soliciting fund s
for establishing such a n institution.
John P. Kellogg gave the first dona-
tion , a whopping $500-equivalent
to something like $10,000 in 19971
Remember, th e Kelloggs, like the
Whites, had lost a ch ild to conven-
tional nin eteenth-century medicine.
Kellogg co uld never have known
that this contribu tion would set in
mo tion a chain of events that would
make two of his so ns world-famous.
The Western Health Reform
Institute was much like Dc Jackson 's,
a p lace wh,ere broken-down people
coUld recuperate. ButJ<u;nes White
dreamed of something better: an
institution staffed by doctors with
the best training in both hydrother-
apy and medical science. They
would combine llie health pIinciples
given to Ellen White with training in
anatomy, physiology, a n<;l cil mistry.
He sentJohn Harvey Kellogg, son of
J o hn P. Kellogg, ta Dr. R. T. Trall 's
Hygieo-Therapeutic College for a
six-month "medicar course" and
then persuaded him to study medi-
cine at the University of Michigan
Medical School. A year later White
10an ~dKellogg $1,000 so he could
complete his medkal education at
Bellevue Hospital Medical School,
one of the best in th e country. Not
satisfied with simply mastering his
courses, Ke llogg hired professors to
tutor him in medical knowledge that
went beyond what they were teaching
in their class.
After his graduation , th e
Wh ites persuaded Dr. Ke llogg to
take ch arge of the Western H ealth
Reform Institu te. Soon h e ch anged
its name to Battle Creek Sanitarium,
d efinin g sanitarium as a "place
where people learn to stay wei!. " He
expanded it and turn ed it into a
world-re nowned institution. Many of
the rich and famous were numbered
among its guests. By 1885 it had
served more than 10,000 patients.
An excelle nt administrator and
an outsta nding surgeon, Kellogg
was also incredibly well-informed.
He read medical journals in several
languages and made numerous trips
to Europe to learn from the Con ti-
n e nt's most outstandi ng physicians.
But he especially credited his suc-
cess to the writings of Elle n White.
They gave him a way to evaluate new
medical ideas. If the new idea agreed
with Ellen White's perspective, he
latched onto it. Thus he was con-
stantlyon tl1e Eutting edge of medi-
cine. Medical science is discovering
today, as Dr. Kellogg did more than a
hundred years ago, tl1at the health
principles outlined by Ellen Wh ite
are uphe ld by scientific research.
In his lifetime , Kellogg wro te
fifty books a nd invented nume rous
medical appliances, some of which
are still in use. He 'a lso inven ted
corn fl akes a nd various oth er food
products, even coining th e word
granola. His brother Wi ll Keith
Kellogg would become a multi-
millionaire by commercially produc-
ingJohn Harvey Kellogg's dry cereals.
Under the lead ership of one of
Ke llogg's associates, Dr. Kate
Lindsay, th e sanitarium established
a nursing schoo l in 1883. In 1895
Kellogg established the American
Medical Missionary College, the
fi rst Seve nth-day Adventist institu-
tion fo r training physicians.
T hese new physicians became
the vanguard of a worldwide healing
ministry. Jungle clinics and mission
hospitals functioned as the "right
arm" of the message," opening
doors to gospel witnessing in nume r-
ous counu'ies around the world.
Kellogg himself was instrume ntal in
establishing at least twenty-seven sani-
tariums in various cou ntries.
After Kellogg severed the
denomination's ties to the medical
institutions in iBattle Creek, tl1e
Seventh-day Amventist Church estab-
lished a medical schoo in Loma
Linda, Califon~ia. This instir,utio n,
now known as Loma Linda
University, has trained thousands of
physicians, dentists, nurses, and
other h ealth-care professionals. In
1975, the Seventh-day Adventist
Church establish ed anothe r medical
school in Montemorelos, Mexico.
Many graduates from these institu-
tions have served in the hundreds of
hospitals and clinics the denomina-
tion operates around the world,
bringing botl1 "relieffrom physical
suffering and ... spiritual h elp." "

S Anchor TQxt
"Dear frie nd, I pray that you may e njoy good health and that all may
go well wi th you, even as your soul is getti ng alo ng well " (3 J ohn 2).

1. Th e Bible has much to say about h ealth and our physica l bodi es.
Explore some of these on th e worksheet provided by your teac her.
2. Answer th e following questions dealing with die t by read ing th e indi-
cated Bibl e texts.
A. What was the original diet God gave to Adam and Eve? Gen esis
1:29.
B. After the Fall , what did God tell Adam a nd Eve they could eat?
Genesis 3:18.
C. Into wha t two categories (besides male a nd fe male) did God divide
the a nimals in His instructions to Noah? Gen esis 7:1 ,2.
D. What n ew category of food did God give Noah a nd his sons permis-
sion to eat afte r the Flood? Genesis 9:3.
E. What must h e re move Ii'om flesh foods before eatin g th e m , accord-
ing to Genesis 9:4?

297
 F, What four specific ani ma ls does Leviticus 11 :4-8 say we m ay not eat?
3, Use the worksh eet provided by your teacher to examine some of th e
Bible verses that mention alcoholi c beverages .
.............................................................................................. .

l. Find out more a bout the way he r h ealth visio n affected Elle n Wh ite
personally.
Read about one of th e fo llowing experie nces . Report as d irected in
each case.
A. H er struggle to give up eatin g meat.
• Counsels on Diet and Foo[ls, 482-484.
• Spiritual Gifts, 4: 153, 154.
• Testil1zoniesJ01· the Chw'ch, 2:371, 372,
• White, Arthur L., Ellen G. White: The Progressive Years, 74-76.
Can you re la te to Ellen G. Wh ite's struggle? Does this surprise you
abou t h er? In what ways does this change your pe rspective of her?
Write a two- or three-paragrap h reaction paper.
B. Her use of hydroth erapy to save h e r son Willi e's life .
• Selected Messages, 2:304-306.
• Spiritual Gifts, 4:1 51-153.
• White, Arthur L., Ellen G. vVhite: l1w Progressive Years, 76-79.
How would you describe/explain hydrotherapy to someone else?
How can it be useful in everyday life? Write a two- to four-paragraph
response.
C. A compariso n of h e r h ealth as an e lderly woma n with h e r health as
a young girl.
• Counsels on Diet and Foods, 494.
• Testimonies Jor the Chunh, 9: 156-159.
Make two columns on a pi ece of notebook paper, la be ling o ne
"EGW as a young girl" a nd the other "EGW as a n e lde rly woman. "
Reco rd wh at sh e says about her health throughout her life, using
these columns. What conclusions can be drawn?
2. Develop a pe rsonal health p lan. Ell en White boi led d own th e essentials
of a h ealthful lifestyle into e ight principles: "Pure ai r, su nlight,
abstem io usness, rest, exe rcise, proper diet, the use of ",,rater, trust in
divin e power-these a re the true remed ies ,"-Counsels on H ealth, 90.
A. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself on how well you a re do ing for
each of th ese e ight points.
B. Look over th e rating to determi n e your three lowest a reas. Develop
a specific p lan for improvement in each of those three a reas. Write
o u t a goal stati ng specifi cally wh at improvemen t you are going to

20.
 ma ke in each a rea and set a realisti c tim e for compl e tion of this
o bjective. Three weeks mi gh t be rea listic tim e.
Afte r your stated time, give your teach e r a n eva lua ti o n of the
progress toward your goal.
3. Creatively illustra te o ne or more of th e e ight prin ciples me ntioned in
project 2 in o ne of the followin g ways :
A. Ma ke a poste r th at's like an a dvertise me nt pro mo ting the benefits
o f the prin cipl e(s) .
B. Write a jingle, such as is used fo r radi o a nd te levisio n commercia ls,
exto lling the be ne fi ts of the prin cipl e (s).

focus Qu(?stions
l. At first Ell e n White was re luctant to te ll people a bo ut he r health vision
beca use it was so fo re ig n to conte mpo rary health ideas . Do you think
she would be so re lucta nt to share th ese ideas if they h ad been revealed
in a socie ty with today's medical kn owle dge? Why or why not?
2. How do you recon cile Elle n White 's recomm e nda tio n o f sunlight (as
on e o f the e ight basic means to good h ea lth ) with th e co nce rn of
tod ay's medi cal profession abou t th e ha rmful effec ts o f so la r rays?
3. Some Adve ntists inte rpre t Ell e n Whi te 's conde mna ti o n o f "drugs" as
co nde mnin g prac ti cally a ll medicatio n. Do yo u think thi s is a correct
in terpre tatio n? Why o r why not?
4. Do yo u th in k Adve ntists a re still usin g th e health message as the righ t
a rm of the gospel ? Why o r why no t?
5. Do yo u thin k o ur in stillltions a re still on th e cutting e dge o f medical
progress? Why o r why no t?

I . Arthur L. Wh ite, Ellen C. While: The Progressive Yeal:5 ( H agc rsLOwn , M d .: Revi ew and
He rald, 1986), 17.
2. Ibid.
3. Ell en C. Wh ite, SjJiritual Gifts ( Battl e Creek , M ich.: Steam Press of the Seventh-clay
Adven tist Pu bli shing Assn., 1864),4: 142.
4. Ibid. , 145.
5. Ibi d" J25.
6. Ibi d ., 134.
7. Ibid., 128.
8. Ibid. , 129.
9. Ibid., 12 1, 146, 147.
10. Ibid. , 146.
II . Ellen C. W hi te, Testimonies Jor the Church ( Boise, Idaho: Pac ifi c Press , 194 8), 6:229.
12. - - . Counsels on Health ( Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 195 1),27 1.

[ducating for [t~rnity
Lesson Scrip.ures: Deu.eronomy 4:8-10; 6:6, 7;
.. : 19; I Corin.hians 15:JJ;
2 Corin.hians 6: 14-18
His.orical Focus: 185J .he presen. .0
r:::::=::::-l etermined to save the
fl o undering Battle
Creek Adventist
• Sch ool (launched in
1855) and to e ncour-
age other Sabbath-
1.._ _ _ _ _.. keeping congrega-
tions to hire Christian teachers,
James White wrote in 1857 a series
of Review articles that attacked pub-
li c schools as "nu rseries ofvice,'"
Neverth e less, the schoo l collapsed ,
a nd no oth ers were attempted for
more than a decad e.
Earlie r, Ellen White h ad writ-
te n, "If you wish to save your chil-
dren, separate them fro m th e
world , keep them from the com-
pany of wicked child re n. '" At the
tim e, there was a Seventh-day
Adventist school in Buck's Bridge,
New York-the on ly o ne in th e
e ntire world- but it only lasted
th ree years, 1853-1856. Severa l
oth er attempts at operatin g
Seventh-day Adven tist e lemen tary
sch ools were simila rly sho rt-lived .
Not until 1872 would tl1e de n o mi-
natio n officially ente r tl1 e educa-
tion business.
~o.
Anna Knight, a pioneer
educator in the southern USA.
lesson .~
GOODLOE H. BELL
T h e man responsible was
Goodloe H. Be ll , a n experienced
teach er who accepted Adven tism
while a patient at the Western
Health Reform Institute . At this
time, Willie and Edson White, and
John and Will Kellogg were
employed as typesetters at the
Review a nd H erald. After casual
conve rsations with Bell, th e young
men asked him to conduct evening
classes for them. Bell 's night-school
success led to a private day schoo l
for the children of Battle Creek. In
1872 th e denomination took Bell's
sch ool under its wing.
ELLEN WHITE'S 1872
EDUCATION VISION
In J anuary of that year, Ellen
White had a vision regarding edu-
cation. Like h er h ealth vision, it
con tradicted many of the common
practices of the day. Sh e calle d for
a well-ro unded education that
included physical, mental, spirit-
ual , and moral tra ining.
Emph asi zing the importance of
early education in shapi ng a child 's
character, she said, "Chil dren may
be trained for th e service of sin or
fo r the service of ri ghteousness ."
But educating a child "should not be
like the trainin g of dumb an im a ls,"
trai ned to have "no will of his own."
Instead, she said , "The huma n
mind must be taught self-controL '"
She considered moral educa-
tion more important than m en tal
train in g, describing "a ny effort that
exa lts inte llec w al culw re above
moral trainin g" as "misdirected." 4
Included in this moral dim e nsion
of education was e ncouraging stu-
dents to be unsel fi sh and to have a
se nse of th e ir obligation to society.
Teache rs, she said, shou ld be
moral exampl es to the ir students.
Thei r "habits a nd prin ciples" were
more important than their educa-
tional achi eveme n ts. Essential qual-
ities ,·v ere "se lf-control, patien ce,
forbeara n ce, gentle ness, and love,"
as well as "firmn ess of character, ";'
Regrettin g that in public
schools, the best frie nds of stu-
d e nts from good Christian hom es
we re frequ e ntly those with limi ted
religious training, sh e lamented,
"Ve ry many of those wh o leave
their hom es innoce nt an d pu re
become corrupted by their associa-
tio ns at schooL'" She hoped church
sch ools would keep their stude nts
from so much exposure to vice.
Denoun cin g the practice o f
keepin g small childre n for lo ng
ho u rs in crowd ed , poorly ve nti-
lated rooms, she urged parents and
teach e rs to sWdy h ow the body
o perates, so th ey could preserve
the c hildre n 's h ealth . "Sma ll chil-
dre n, she said , sh o uld be left as
free as lambs to run o u t of doo rs.'"
She saw man ual labor as an
esse n tial component of the physi-
cal dim e nsion of educatio n . O ne
reason for this was th e importance
of phys ica l exerc ise to health.
Another was to e nabl e the youth to
develop p ractical skills so they could
"be pre pared for a ny e merge ncy! ""
A third reason was the moral
benefit resu lting from "the disci-
pline of well-regul ated labo r. "
Phys ical labo r would contribute to
"stabil ity of cha racte r," h e lping stu-
d e nts to deve lo p "perseveran ce,
fortitude, and cou rage to surmou nt
obstacles, and such principl es that
th ey would not be swayed by a
wrong influence, however popular.""
A fourth reason was th e benefit
fo r the mind: "A po rtio n of ...
each day sho ul d have been d evoted
to labor, that the physical and me n-
ta l powers mi ght be eq ually exer-
cised. If [this had been don e] ... ,
th ere would not 11 0 \V be so many
un balanced minds." " To fac ilitate
thi s practi ca l train ing, she said agri-
cultural and manufacturin g en te r-
prises sh ou ld be co nn ected with
the Battle Creek school.
In additi on to physical and
moral training, Ell e n White said
that Adventist schools should pro-
vide re ligio us ed ucation , teaching
"th e importa nt Bible truths,"
including the proph ecies."
Regarding the importance of
intellectual training she said : "Those
who are content to devote their lives
to physical labor a nd leave others to
do th e thinking for the m, while they
simply carry out what other brains
have plann ed, will have strength of
muscle but feeble in tellects. T he ir
influence for good is small in com-
parison to what it migh t be if they
would use the ir brains as well as
their muscles."" Suggesting that
such people were more prone to dis-
ease than they would be if they made
be tter use of their minds, she said,
"The system is vitalized by the electri-
cal fo rce of the brain to resist dis-
ease." She even portrayed me ntal
improvement as an im portant com-
ponent of the Christian life, declar-
ing, "Ch rist can best be glorified by
those who serve Him in tellige ntly."'"
BATTLE CREEK COLLEGE
The year after the education
vision , the d e nom in ation d ecided
to turn th e Battl e Creek school
into a college. Alth o ugh Bell wo uld
se rve o n the faculty as a n English
teache r, Sidn ey Brownsbe rger was
chose n as adm inistrato r because he
had a degree a nd Be ll did not. As
pla ns for this college were be in g
d iscussed , Mrs. White read he r
visio n to th e board . Brownsbe rge r
Healdsburg ch urch school abo ut 191 5.
sa id h e didn ' t kn ow a nythin g a bo ut
runnin g that ki nd o f college . H e
was te lling the truth.
Instead of ch oosin g a large
rura l tract, as Mrs. White had sug-
ges ted , the board bought a small
twe lve-acre plot rig ht across from
the sanitarium. T he n they sold off
five acres of that land .
Ba ttle Creek College opened in
1874. It was nothing like the school
Elle n VI~lite hoped for. Its e mphasis
was o n the Greek a nd Latin classics.
The re was o nly o ne re ligio n class,
and it was optional. Ministerial
training consisted prim a rily of
classes in public spea king a nd bibli-
cal languages. Th e re was no
a ttem pt at incorporating industria l
education. In othe r words, Battle
Cree k was much like a secular col-
lege , except that it was run by
Adventists.
In 1880 tlle board began pres-
suring Brownsberger to make tlle
college more like Ell e n White 's blue-
 print. Frustrated, he resigned in 1881.
If Browns berge r was well-
meaning but in adequately train ed,
h is successor, Alexander McLearn ,
was downright hostile to Elle n
White's educational ideas. He wasn 't
even a Seventh-day Adventist. H e
had shown some sympathy to our
teachings, and it seemed that he
was a bo ut to join the church . Bu t
because he had such high ly
respected d egrees, the boa rd
rush ed him into th e Battl e Cree k
Co ll ege presid e ncy. Soon a fe ud
d eve loped betwee n McLearn a nd
Be ll. McLearn h ated Bell's teac h-
in g methods, and he didn 't care
who knew it.
McLearn was defi ant, refusing
to take advice from the board . H e
was divid ing th e stude nt body and
was sympatheti c with the "Mario n
Party," an offshoot group that was
seceding from the Seve nth-day
Adventist Church. The situatio n at
Battle Creek Coll ege seemed hope-
less.
In desperation, the board closed
down th e school. It stayed closed
fo r the next entire academ ic year.
Later, the school moved to a moun-
taintop above St. Helena and was
renamed Pacific Unio n College.
Away from Battle Cree k, Be ll
was free to run the kind of institu-
tion he had really wanted to o pe r-
ate ever since the 1872 vision.
Before lo ng, stude nts were learn-
ing to make brooms, ten ts, and
harn esses. They were also learning
printing and shoe repairs.
Mo reover, the curri culum was
Bible-cente red. South Lancaster
Academy later became Atlantic
Un io n College.
CHANGES AT BATTLE CREEK
Battle Creek Coll ege resum ed
o peratio n in the fall of 1883. Two
years later, Wi lli am Warren
Prescott, a form e r newspa per edi-
tor, became presiden t. Prescott
made a serio us attempt to imple-
ment Ellen Wh ite's blueprint. T he

OTHER ADVENTIST COLLEGES

Meanwhile, in 1882 the denom-
inatio n established two academies
destin ed to become colleges:
Healdsburg Academy in Califo rnia
and South Lancaster Academy in
Massachusetts. Bo th we re headed
by former Battl e Creek facu lty
members: Brownsberger at
H ealdsburg and Bell at South
Lancaster..
Chastened by his earlier experi-
ence, Brownsberger was willing to
give Ellen White's program a chance. Wi ll iam Warren Presco tt.
Bible became a more important
part of the curriculum , and several
small industries were launch ed.
Prescott seemed to be doing so
well that he was asked to head the
Ge neral Conference Education
Department a nd to be president of
three colleges simultaneously.
While remaining president of
Battle Creek, he helped establish
Un ion College in Lincoln,
Nebraska, in 1891, becoming its
president as well as that of Walla
Walla College, establish ed in
Washington state in 1892.
After nine years as president of
Battle Creek, Prescott was asked to
hold Bible institutes around the
world. After three years under
George W. Caviness, Battle Creek's
next president was Edward A.
Sutherla nd, wh o would bring dra-
matic changes to Battle Creek a nd
to denominational education in
general.
VOLUNTEERS OF '97
By 1897 there we re severa l
Seventh-day Adventist acade mies
and colleges, but only a handful of
elementary sch ools. Ell e n Wh ite
thought there should be more. In
1885 sh e called for "primary
schools in different localities."" In
1897 the Review campaigned for
"education along the lines of God 's
wisdom ratl,er than the wisdom of
this world."l'.
As a result, Battle Cree k's new
president was flooded with requests
for teachers. Consequ en tly,
Sutherland appealed in an
October c hapel service for students
to take an accelerated three-month
teacher training course so they
~os
could begin teaching in January.
T hirty signed up.
Some stude n ts didn't wait for
three months. So many parents
were clamoring for church schools
to open immediately that at least
five students dropped out of col-
lege so they could establish schools
in Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin,
and Pennsylvania. The following
year the number of church schools
mushroomed. From 1897 to 1900
former Battle Creek students a nd
other Adventists started about 200
elementary schools. By 1905 there
we re 417; by 1910 the number was
594. During the period 1900 to
1910, the denomination also estab-
lish ed quite a few seco ndary
schools. A pattern began emerging:
at least one acade my for alm ost
every conference in North
America.
The denominatio n has estab-
lish ed th e world 's largest Protestant
e lem e ntary and seco ndary school
system. By 1995 the Seventh-day
Adventist Church was operating
nearly 6,000 educational institu-
tions with 47,000 teachers and
858,000 students.
These sch ools aren't perfect,
but it's important to remember ti,e
words Ellen White wrote to the stu-
dents at Battle Creek College at a
tim e wh e n that institution was hav-
ing serious problems:
"Our institutions of learning
may swing into worldly conformity.
Step by step they may advance to
the world; but they a re prisoners of
hope, a nd God will correct and
enl ighten them, and bring them
back to their upright position of
disti nction from the world. "1 6
 Religious Liberty
Seventh-day Adve ntists a re no t alon e in the ir conce rn fo r the de mo ra l-
izing effects of the media a nd the secula r education al systems, th e growing
disregard for God a nd His comma ndm e nts, and th e ca tastro phic growth
of single-parent fa milies. But, iro nically, the solutio ns proposed by ma ny of
those with wh om we find so much agreeme nt may be a greater threat to
meaningful vibrant Christiani ty tha n are the problems they' re tryi ng to
solve .
The tro uble is, they are trying to use the power of th e government to
solve spiritual proble ms. In th e past, wh en re ligio us groups h ave been a ble
to use political power in this way, two things h ave gen e rally resulted: ( I ) a
d ecline in real spiri tu ality a mo ng the favored gro up, a nd (2) the pe rsecu-
tio n of people having different re ligio us ideas.
Eve n in th e U nited States, during th e late nine teenth century, Seven th-
day Adve ntists were sometim es th e victims of this type of church-state
allia nce. We ll ove r a hundred of o ur membe rs were arrested fo r Sunday-
law vio la tions. Ma ny o f the m we re fin ed , impriso ned , o r eve n forced to
work o n cha in gangs .
At that tim e, it was nearly impossible fo r ma ny farm e rs a nd small
trad esme n to earn a living in a five-day wo rkweek. Pa rtly in self-defense,
th e de no minatio n o rganized the Inte rna tio n al Religio us Libe r ty
Associa tio n , now part of the Gen e ra l Confe re nce Departme nt of Public
Affa irs a nd Religio us Libe rty. T his o rganizati o n wo rks o n be ha lf of two
closely interre lated p rinciples: re ligio us libe rty and church-state separa tion .
T h e wo rk o f this d e partme n t is based o n mo re tha n just self-defe nse.
It's also a ma tter of fo llowing th e golde n rule. We d o n 't wa n t oth e r people
fo rcing the ir re ligious be liefs and practices o n us. The refo re we wo rk to
provide oth e rs with th e same kind of freed o m we wan t fo r o urselves.
Over the years we've fo ught for th e righ t of Ro ma n Cath olics to se nd
the ir childre n to parochial schools, of the Amish to fo llow the ir unique
lifestyle witho u t governme nt interfe re nce, a nd of mem bers of the Sante ria
cult to offe r the ir pagan sacrifices. We've eve n go ne to court to prevent
d evout Sunday keepe rs from bein g fo rced to work on Sunday.
In d o ing this we b elieve we' re bearing witn ess to God 's ch aracter. God
does n 't fo rce a nyone to accep t Him . God considered freed o m of ch oice
important e no ugh to risk h aving huma nkind reject Him. Whe n o ur fi rst
pa re n ts mad e tha t ter rible c ho ice, J esus agreed to come to this earth and
pay th e pe n alty fo r our sins. J esus wo uldn ' t h ave n eed ed to d ie if God
h adn 't give n us religio us libe rty.
Accord ing to pro phecy, the fina l sh owd own be tween th e fo rces of
good and evil will be over the issu e of re ligio us libe r ty. De mo nic forces will
convince people tha t they are d o ing God 's will by fo rcing o th ers to fo llow
a re ligious practice favo red by th e people in powe r. But God 's true follow-
e rs will be th ose who d ecla re, "We ought to o bey God rath e r th a n ma n."
 Despite the ir imperfections,
Seve n th-day Adventist sc hoo ls offer
the ir stude nts num e ro us advan-
tages ove r publi c schoo ls. Several
resea rch studies indicate tha t the
average stude nt in a n Adventist
sc hool attains a high e r leve l of aca-
dem ic achi eveme nt than does the
average public sch ool stude nt.
Mo re important, resea rch has co n-
siste ntl y shown that stude n ts
atte nding Seventh-day Adventist
sc hoo ls a re more li kely to become
co mmitted Ch ristians a n d loyal
me mbers of th e Seve nth-day
Adventist Churc h tha n those
atte nding publi c sc hools. Th ey are
mu ch more likely to h ave a per-
so nal relationship with J esus Christ
a nd to parti ci pate in th e denomi-
natio n 's missio n to pre pare people
for His return.

"These comm andm e n ts th at I give you today are to be upon your h earts.
Impress th e m o n yo ur c hild ren. Talk about the m whe n yo u sit at home
a nd whe n yo u walk a lo ng the road, when you lie down a nd whe n you get
u p" (Deuteronomy 6:6, 7).

t1J Into the Bible

I. Let's look at so me Bibl e texts about re li gious education .
A. To whom do we have an obligatio n to teach our re ligious he ritage,
according to De ute ronomy 4:8-1 O?
B. In an attempt to sh ow h ow thoro ughl y Bible truths sh ou ld per-
meate what o ne generation teac hes the next generation , Moses told
the Israelites in De u teronomy 6:6,7 and 11 :19 to d iligently teach
God's words to the ir ch ildre n , talking about the m whe n they par-
ticipate in what four kinds of activities?
2. O ne major reason o ur pionee rs gave for having separate schools was to
decrease the chances that Adventist yo un g people wou ld pi ck up bad
habits from th e ir sc hoolmates. Let's see wh at th e Bible has to say abo ut
the cho ices we make regardin g our close fri e nds and associates.
A. What does Pau l say evil company d oes? 1 Corinthia ns 15:33.
B. Tn 2 Corinth ians 6:15,17, God has promised to be our God a nd to
make us His people, and H e has g iven directio ns o n what we are to
do. Read th ese verses and write a summary.

~07
3. Following are some texts re levant to the discussio n o n religious liber ty.
Read each text a nd answe r th e re lated questio ns.
A. O ne of th e reasons Adventists defe nd the religious righ ts of th ose
with wh o m we disagree is found in the golde n r ule , a n a me we give
to J esus' teaching in Matth ew 7:1 2. Wh a t d oes it say?
B. Which verse in Ma tth ew 7 makes it clear that th e maj ority is not
always r ight?
C. Which verse in Zec hariah 4 suggests that spiritual purposes a re n o t
achieved by milita ry means?
4. To h e lp us put these verses into pe rspective , read 1 Peter 2:9.
According to this ve rse, wh at has God calle d each of us to be?

Proj(?cts
J. Your teach e r can give you a copy of a Review article, "Vo luntee rs of '97,"
that tells th e story of the first five teache rs to leave Battle Creek College
in 1897 to teach at church sch ools. After finishing th e article, use one
of the fo llowing ways to summa rize your read ing.
A. Pre te nd th at these five pe ople got together for a chape l progra m at
Ba ttle Creek College to te ll th e ir form e r classmates abo ut th e ir experi-
e nces, pe rhaps in a pa n el discussion. Write a script showing wh a t each
of the m migh t tell th e college stude n ts.
B. Imagine tha t you are one of the five voluntee rs who h as just received a
le tter fro m each of the o th e rs sha ring the ir experie nces. Write a le tter
to o n e of the m , reacting to the n ews in his or h e r letter, te lling wh at's
bee n happe nin g to you , a nd passing o n a little informatio n abo ut
wh a t's happening to the othe rs.
C. Make a poste r listing th e n ames of the vo lunteers, telling wh e re each
went a nd giving some inform ation about th e ir teachin g and/or living
condi tio ns.

~OB
2. Avondale College in Australia provided North American Adventist
Colleges with a model from which they could learn. Read the article
"Avondale," wh ich is available from your teacher. Report on your read-
ing in one of the following ways:
A. Imagine that you are one of the American participants in the story.
Write a letter to one of your relatives back home, telling what hap-
pened.
B. Write a news story in newspaper style.
3. Interview someone who attended a Seventh-day Adventist college or
university.
A. This could be one of the fo llowing:
(1) A family member.
(2) Another member of your local church.
(3) Someone your teacher or pastor recommends.
(4) Someone who graduated from your academy a few years ago.
B. Some of the questions you might ask:
(1) Did you earn part of your expenses by working? If so, what per-
centage would you say you earned? Doing what kind of work?
Do you think you received any benefit from this work experi-
ence? If so, what were some of the benefits?
(2) What can you tell me about the social life? (If the person
attended more than twenty-l"ive years ago, he or she might enjoy
telling about some of the ru les the coll ege had back then that it
probably doesn't have today). Did you meet any good friends
there?
(3) Did you receive a good education? What was your major? Did it
specil"ically prepare you for a career? If so, do you feel that you
were well prepared? If not, did it help you develop thinking,
communicating, and/or study ski lls that were benel"icial later?
(4) What can you tell me about the spiritual atmosphere at the col-
lege? Do you th ink you received any spiritual benefit from
attending? Explain your answer.
 (5) All in all , what would yo u say we re the strongest positive a nd
negative features of the particular coll ege you attended? Would
you recommend that college to a young person today? Why or
why not?
C, Report o n yo ur fin d in gs in one of th e fo llowin g ways:
(1) Write a magazine-type arti cle te lling wh at you learned .
(2) Make a poster showing the advantages and disadvantages in
each of the dim e nsio ns (mental, social , practical, sp iritua l)
from the perspective of the person yo u interviewed .
4. Explore what Ellen White has to say about how Seventh-day Adventists
should react wh en re li gious libe rty is threatened and about the impor-
tance of church-state sepa ratio n.
A. Look up th e following re fe re nces: Testirnonies for the ChUl'ch, 5:452,
7 14; Gospel Workers, 391 , 392; Seventh-day Adventist Bible C01l!rnenta'ry,
4:1168, 11 69. In addition , if yo ur libra ry has e ith er the bo und Elle n
White Review and H erald articles o r the E. C . White CD-ROM , look
up Review and H erald, 1 J anuary 1889, 1.
B. Re port on your findings in one of the following ways:
(J) Write a brief paper giving specific suggestions as to how
Seve nth-day Adven tists should react today when there are
potential threats to liberty.
(2) Make a poster su mma ri zin g the key ideas.

focus QU(~stions
1. How does yo ur school compare with the overa ll purposes for Seve n th-
d ay Adventist e ducatio n (Ellen White 's 1872 vision )? If the re are dis-
crepancies, try to explain why th ey might ex ist.
2. What do yo u think a re th e most impo rta nt deve lopm en ts you read
about in this lesson ? Why would you ch oose these specific events?
3. What do yo u think of Mrs. White's advice to keep childre n away fro m
wicked company in order to save them ? Does attending Seventh-day
Adve n tist schools e nsure this? Why or why not?
4. Has "practical training" ch a nged in the last 100 years? Were the skills
n eed ed the n the same as we n eed now? What a re the practical skills we
use now?
5. What were th e advantages of rural settings for th e Seventh-day
Adventist sch ools? Do we still need a rura l location ? Sh o uld sch ools
located in now-urba n a reas m ove? Why o r why not?

~.o
 6. Should Adventists have made more of an effort to make sure their edu-
cationalleaders and teachers h ad superior credentials? Why or wh y
n ot?

1. Quoted in Den nis Pettibone, "Volu nteers of '97," Review and Herald (4 March 1971), 16.
2. Review and H erald, 19 September 1854.
3. Ellen C. White, 1estimonies for the Church (Bo ise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1948) ,3: 13], 132.
4. Ibi d., 142.
5. Ibi d., 131, 135.
6. Ibid., 155.
7. Ibid., 137.
8. Ell en C. Wh ite, Child Guidance (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald, 1954), 349.
9. - -- . Mind, Character, and Personality (Hagerstown. Md.: Review and Herald, 1977),
1:287; Ellen C. White, Counsels on H ealth (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1951), 178-180.
10. Ibid. , 179.
11. Ellen C . White, Testimonies for the Church, 3:160.
12. Ibi d., 157.
13. Ibid ., 157, 160.
14. Ellen C. White, 7'estimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers (Boise , Idaho: Pacifi c Press,
1923),299.
15. Reuiew and Hemld, 4 May 1897, quoted in Reuiew and Hmuld (13 March 1971), 16.
16. Ellen G. White, Fundamentals oj Christian Education (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and
Herald, 1923),290.

~ ••

(onflict and R~vival
Lesson Scrllpture: Romans 5: 1- II
Hlistorllcal Focus: 1888
u r e n e mies we re right!
Seve nth-d ay Adventists
h ad become legalists.
T hey didn 't start out
tha t way. Reme mbe r,
Wi lli a m Mille r
preac h e d Christ-
ce n te red se rm o ns, and as a teen-
age r Elle n Harm o n d evelo ped a
close rela tio nship with J esus. Ea rly
in his ministry, j ames White wrote
a rticles to edito rs, e mphasizing
righteousness by fa ith .'
Most of the earl y Adventists
had g rown up in evange lical
Protestan t churches. Righteousness
by fa ith was a d octrin e th ey took
fo r granted . But they didn 't
e mphasize it, co ncentra ting instead
on "present truth ," th ose d octrines
in which they di ffe re d fro m ma in-
stream Protesta n ts .
Over tim e, they te nded to lose
sight of this vi tal con cept of right-
eousn ess by fa ith . A new gen e ra-
tio n of Adve ntists was growing up
wi th head kn owledge but without
h eart expe rie nce. They didn 't de ny
the doctrine of righteousness by
fa ith, but that's a ll it was- a d oc-
trin e, ra th e r th a n a living, vital
experie nce. Even as a doctrine, it
A. T.Jones.
lesson I .
wasn't ce ntra l to th e ir thinking.
The ir e mphasis was o n God 's law,
especially the fo urth comma nd-
me n t. As Elle n White would la te r
write, "As a people, we have
preache d th e law until we are as
dry as th e hills of Gilboa that h ad
neith er dew nor rain ."\!
Illustra tio n I (see next page)
suggests tha t this d octrine wasn 't
ce n tral even for early Adve ntism's
greatest pro po nen t of righ teous-
n ess by fai th , J a mes White. H e pub-
lish ed th is illuslTatio n in 1876 with
the title "T h e Way of Life: From
Pa radise Lost to Paradise Restored ."
Notice that the Cross is in th e pic-
ture, but it isn ' t do mina nt.
H owever, J ames White became
dissatisfied with th e illustration.
Befo re his death h e d iscussed with
his wi fe th e possibili ty of commis-
sio nin g a new picture with the
Cross as its foc us. Elle n White had
th e resul ti ng steel e n graving,
shown as TIIustration 2 (see n ext
page), pu blishe d in 1883. Mean-
while, she had been writing exte n-
sively a bo ut righ teousness by faith
an d th e cen trality of the Cross.'
BUl lh e people wh o e lectrified
th e d e no mina ti o n by writing a nd
Illustra tio n 1

Illustratio n 2

~ ••
preaching on this subj ect were the
two you ng edito rs of Signs oj the
T imes, Alon zo T. J o nes a nd E. J.
Waggo ner. Their serm o ns and arti-
cl es aroused the opposition of
Ge neral Conference president
George 1. Butler a nd Review editor
Uriah Sm ith.
Although they accepted th e
theory of righteousness by faith ,
these lead ers disagreed with Jon es
a nd Waggo ne r over what was
mean t by the "law" in Ga latians
3:24,25:
"Wherefore the law was o ur
sch oolmaster to Ining us unto
Ch rist, th at we might be justified by
faith . But after th at faith is come,
we are no longer under a school-
master" (KJV, italics supplied).
Butler and Smith interpreted
"Iav/' in this verse to mean the eer'-
e mon iallaw, but J ones a nd
Waggoner said it referred to the
moral law, the Ten Commandme nts.
T he resulting ed itorial battle
between th e Signs an d the Review
led to placing this issue on the
agenda for the 1888 General
Conference session. Butle r se nt
te legrams a nd letters to the
Minneapolis convention del egates,
pleading with th e m to "stand by
the old landmarks." Alth ough
Butler was too sick to attend , his
influence was greatly felt.
THE MINNEAPOLIS
CONVENTION
Waggon er gave a series of at
least nine prese ntation s on the
re lation betwee n th e law and th e
gospel, three of which focused o n
Galatians. Altho ugh the General
Conference Bulletin did not publish
~.s
Waggoner's messages, we can gain
some concept of his view from his
writings. He maintained th at salva-
tion was a gift and that we are not
saved by keeping the law. Emp ha-
sizin g th e "deity of Christ,'" h e
said:
"Christ alo n e is righteous. He
h as overcome th e world . He a lone
has the power to do it. In H im is
a ll the fu ll ness of God, because the
law-God Himse lf-is in His h eart.
He alon e has kept and can keep
the law to perfection. Therefo re,
only by His fa ith- living faith , that
is, His life in us-can we be made
righteous.
"T h e fa ith which He gives to us
is His own tried and app roved
faith , and it will n ot fai l us in any
contest. We are not exhorted to try
to d o as well as H e did, or to try to
exercise as mu ch fa ith as He had ,
but simply to take H is fai th , a nd let
it work by love, and pu rify the
heart. It will do it!""
H e a lso emph asized the role of
th e Holy Sp iri t in th e Christia n 's
life.
Regard ing the text that was
causing th e most contentio n,
Waggoner pointed o u t that the
word translated schoolmaster really
meant "th e father's slave who
accompan ied the father's boys to
school to see th at th ey did not play
truant. If th ey atte mpted to run
away he would bri ng them back
and had a uthority to beat them to
keep them in the way.
"The o ne under this custod ian,
a lth ough nominally at la rge, is
really deprived of his li berty just
the sa me as tho ug h he were actu-
a lly in a ce ll. ... All wh o do not
believe are 'u nder sin ,' 'shu t Up l
' under the law,' a nd , therefore,
th e law acts as the ir superior or
custodian. It is th e law th a t will
not le t th e m go . T he guilty ca n-
n ot escape in th e ir gu il t. ...
God .. . wi ll n o t li e by callin g evil
good. Bul H e pmvides a way by which
lhe g uilly rnay lose their guilt. Th e n
the law will no lo n ge r curtail
the ir libe rty. And they can wa lk
free in Ch rist.
"... Outside o f Christ is
bo ndage. In Hi m alone there is
freedom . ...
" . .. T he law really form s th e
sinner's prison walls. They close in
o n him, making him fee l uncom-
fortable , o ppressing him with a
se nse of sin , as though they wou ld
press his life o u t. ... It goads him
an d drives him to the on ly way of
escape-' the promise by faith of
Jesus Ch rist.I 116
Waggoner's prese ntations were
met with jests a nd sarcastic
remarks. Feeli ngs of j ealousy, e nvy,
a nd bitte rness see med to influ ence
E..J. Waggoner.
~.6
the reactio ns of most of the leade rs
a nd min isters. Later Ellen White
wrote:
.. Salan lakes conlrol oj every
rnind thaI is nol decidedly under lhe
conlrol oj lhe Spiril oj God. Some
have been cultivatin g h atred
again st th e me n whom God h as
co m m issio ned to bear a spec ia l
message to th e worl d .'"
Sh e was distressed ove r the
sp iri t sh own by ma ny at th e con fer-
e nce. Pride of o pinion and a preju-
dice aga inst th e presente r made it
diffi cult for God's Spirit to reach
th eir hearts.
C. C. Mc Reyno lds was one of
those who "we nt to that m ee ting
with a prejudiced mind," but h e
la ter wrote:
.. [Waggoner's] manner, and th e
pure gospe l th at h e was setti ng
forth mate ri ally ch anged m y mind
a nd attitude, a nd I was a n earn est
listene r for Truth .... At the close
of Elder Waggone r's fourth o r fifth
lesso n I was a subdued , repenting
sinner."8
O. A. O lse n.
 1888 General Conference delegates.
ELLEN WHITE'S REACTIONS
Elle n White was e nthusiastic
abou t th e ge ne ral thrust of these
messages:
"The Lord in His great me rcy
sen t a most precious message to
His people th ro ugh Elders
Waggone r a nd J o n es. This message
was to bring mo re promin e ntly
befo re the world the upl ifted
Savio ur, th e sacr ifi ce for th e sins of
the wh o le wo rld. It presented justi-
fi cati o n thro ug h fa ith in th e
Sure ty; it in vite d th e people to
receive th e righteousn ess of Ch rist,
whi ch is mad e ma nifest in obedi-
e nce to all th e co m ma ndme n ts of
God . Ma ny had lost sight ofJ esus.
They need ed to h ave th e ir eyes
directe d to His d ivin e person, H is
me rits, a nd His c ha ngeless love fo r
the huma n fami ly. All power is
given into His ha nds, that H e may
dispe nse ri ch g ifts unto me n,
imparting the priceless gift of H is
own righteo usness to the h elpless
huma n age nt. This is the message
~.7
th at God commanded to be g ive n
to the world. It is the third angel's
message, wh ich is to be proclaime d
with a lo ud vo ice, a nd attend ed
with the o utpo uring of H is Spirit
in a large measure.
"... T he message of the gospel
of His grace was to be given to ti,e
church in clear and distinct lines, ...
that the wo rl d sho uld no lo n ger
say that Seve nth-day Adve n tists talk
ti,e law, but do no t teach or beli eve
Christ."9
Th e Ad ve nti st Churc h had
bee n co n ce n tra tin g o n o n e part
of th e thi rd a n ge l's message , the
co mm a ndm e nts of Go d.
Waggo n e r 's prese ntation had
fo cused o n a n oth e r part of th a t
message: th e fa ith of J esus.
Waggo n e r had "built a bridge
betwee n law a nd gos pe l. "'"
Later Mrs. White would write :
"O f all p rofessing Christians,
Seve nth-day Adve n tists sh o u ld be
fo re most in uplifting Christ before
the world ." "The sacrifice of Ch rist
as an atonement for sin is the great
truth around which all other truths
cluster. In order to be righ tly
understood and appreciated, every
truth in the Word of God, from
Ge nesis to Revelation , must be
studied in the light that streams
from the cross of Calvary." 11
This e mphasis was see n more
tha n eve r in some of" the books
she wrote in the years that fol-
lowed , including Ste/)s to Ch,-ist
(1892), Thoughts FIVIII. the Mount oj
Blessing (1 896), and Christ's Object
Lessons (1900).
Regarding th ei r most co n tro-
versial position , Ell e n White agreed
with Jones and Waggoner.
Although she told Butler tha t ne i-
ther he no r Waggone r had "a ll the
lig ht upon the law,"" she declared
that "th e schoolm aste r to bring LIS
to Christ" included "both the cer-
e monia l and the mo ra l code o f ten
co mmandm ents,"L'! a nd even said :
"Tn this Scrip ture, the Ho ly
Spirit thro ugh the apostle is
speakin g especially o f the mora l
law. The law revea ls sin to us, and
causes us to feel o ur need of
Christ, and to fl ee lInto Him for
pardon and peace by exe rcising
repe ntan ce toward God a nd faith
toward o ur Lordj es us Chri st"
(ita li cs su ppli ed ). "
TAKING IT TO THE PEOPLE
Ellen White d ecided tha t if til e
ministers at Minneapolis were
goin g to refus e th e light, she wou ld
take it to the peopl e. In January
1889, sh e a nd A. T. j o nes success-
fully presented se rm ons on "Christ
O ur Righteousness" to th e be li ev-
e rs in Sou th Lancaster,
~.B
Massachusetts . That summ er a nd
fall , she, toge th e r with J ones a nd
Waggone r, toured th e country,
preaching to ministerial gathe rings
a nd camp meetin gs. Many luke-
warm me mbers gras ped th e mes-
sage, a nd the church bega n to
experi ence a reviva l.
At first, some leade rs continued
the ir bitter oppos ition, but so me
who h ad rej ected the message
began to unde rstand its beauty.
Illinois Conference president, R. M.
Kilgore , was one o f the first to co n-
fess that his attitude had been wrong.
He sent te legrams to church es
through o ut his territo ry, pro mot-
ing th e mee tings. Eve n George
Butler fin a lly confessed th at his
oppositio n had been wrong.
O. A. O lsen , th e new Ge ne ra l
Co nfe re nce pres id e nt, worked
closely with jones and Waggoner.
He mad e su re th ey had opportuni-
ti es to present th e ir message to
church es, coll eges, and ministerial
mee tin gs. Nume rous articl es, pam-
phlets, a nd even a series o f
Sabba th School lessons presented
their perspective.
The 1889 General Confere nce
manifested a di fferent spirit,
according to Ell e n White . .Jeers a nd
ridicule were replaced by testi-
monies from those who discove red
justification by faith in God's Word .
Ellen White e ndorsed the mes-
sages ofJones a nd Waggoner, bu t
not beca use sh e agreed with every-
thing they taugh t. Sh e didn't. But
she felt their maj o r e mphasis had
been sent from God to wake up
this L~o di cea n churc h tha t had lost
its first love.
She supported their wo rk , even
 though sh e was co nscious of the ir wou ld not prove that th ey had no
fallibili ty. In 1892 sh e wrote: message from God , or that the work
"It is quite possible that Elder they had d o ne was a ll a mistake. ""
J ones or Waggone r may be over- Unfortunately, as the n ext les-
thrown by th e te mptations of the son will sh ow, that possibility would
e ne my, but if th ey sh o uld be, this beco me fact.
...............................................................................................
S Anchor TQxt
"Sin ce we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through o ur Lord J esus Christ" (Romans 5:1) .
.............................................................................................. .

(lJ Into thQ BihlQ

l. Justificati o n takes place when God treats th e re pe n tin g sinner as if h e
or sh e we re righteous. Read Romans 5:1-11,19 a nd answer the fo llow-
in g questions:
A. What does the justified Christia n expe rie nce?
B. How do we access God's grace?
C. What d evelopments do trials brin g to th e Christian character?
O. Fo r whom did Christ die?
E. Why did He die for us?
F. How a re we justified?
G. How are we reconci led to God?
H. How d oes God consider us righteo us?
2. Compl e te J o hn 14:6, a tex t that refe rs to J esus: "I am ...
3. Accordin g to Romans 8:1, what is the re fo r those who are in ChristJesus?
4. Accordin g to Ephesia ns 2:8, 9, (a) What are we saved by? (b ) What are
we saved through? (c) What are we not saved by?
5. At th e end o f 1 Co rinthians 1:30, what three words d escribe what Jesus
has beco me for us?
6. Read Galatians 2:21. If righteousness cou ld be gain ed through the law,
what is the result?
7. How d oes God he lp the Ch ristian keep his eyes o n J esus, according to
J o hn 14:26?
8. Read Ephesia ns 3: 14-20. How d oes Christ dwe ll in th e heart?
9. How importa nt is the Holy Spirit in the Christia n li fe, according to
Romans 8:9?
10. What is one me thod by which our faith can grow, according to Romans
10:17?

~ ••
 Projects
1. Read Romans 8: 1-17. Ch oose three or four verses that yo u feel h e lp us
see th e relationship between law and grace. Wri te these ve rses in yo ur
own words or compare several transla tions and wri te d own the ones
you like best.
2. Exam in e lIIustra tions 1 a nd 2 in th e na rrative . Note th e followin g facts :
A. J ames Whi te secured the copyri ght on the first illustration in 1876,
fi ve years before his d eath.
B. J a mes White became dissatisfied with the illustratio n and discussed
with his wife commission ing a new picture with th e Cross as its
focus. Mte r J ames's d eath , sh e had the new illustration completed .
It h ad a diffe re nt ti tle, "CHRIST, the Way of Life," a nd bore a very
diffe re nt message. This was two years after th e d eath ofJ a mes
White and five years before the Minneapolis Gen eral Conferen ce.
Write a tho ughtful essay in which you do the foll owing:
(1) Compare a nd con trast the two pictures .
(2) Reflect on what th ese pictures tell us about Ell e n White 's be liefs
prio r to the 1888 Ge ne ral Confere nce .
3. It is th e love of God th at draws us to Him. Wh e n this love fill s our
h earts, th e Ho ly Spirit gives us th e desire to be like Him . Read th e first
ch apter of Steps to Christ to discove r more abou t h ow J esus sh owed His
love o n earth. Ma ke a list of some of those ways.
 focus Qu('stions
1. Wh at factors do you think we re most important in ch a nging th e posi-
ti o n of d e nomi natio nal lead e rs regarding the 1888 message?
2. How could people like Elde r Bu tle r cla im to believe in ri gh teo usn ess
by faith a nd yet so stro ngly oppose th e teachings of J o n es a nd
Waggone r?
3. H ow can you recon cile Gala tians 3:24, 25 with the Adventist e mph as is
o n th e importan ce of God 's law?
4. Can you suggest some possible reasons why th e leadi ng people o n th e
wrong side of the 1888 d eba te stayed in th e Seventh-day Adventist
Church while th e key me n o n th e right side left the church ?
5. Ch ristians today a re ofte n divided ove r the truth of Christ our righ t-
eousness. Why d o you think this is tr ue?

1. Norva l F. Pease, B)1 {<"aith ALone (Boise, Idaho : Pacific Press, 1962), 108, 109.
2. Quoted in A. V. Olson, TMrleen Crisis Years, revised edition (Hagerstown , Md.: Review
a nd H erald, 1966, 198 1) , 28.
3. Norval F. Pease, B)I Fa.itli. ALone, 116-1 18.
4. E. J. ''''aggoner, The Glad Tidings: Studies in Galatians, edited by Robert ]. \t\'icla nd (Bo ise,
Idaho: Pac ific Press, 1972, 1978), 10.
5. Ibid. , 41.
6. Ibid., 80-82.
7. Ell en C. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gos/Jet Wodwrs ( Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press,
1923, 1944),79.
8. A. V. O lson, Tltit'leen CJisis Yean, 334.
9. Ell en C. Wh ite, 1eslimonies to Ministers and Gospel Wor/(el:~, 91, 92 .
10. George R. Knight, From 1888 to ApostaS)I: The Case oj A. 1: Jones (Hagers town, Md .: Review
a nd He ral d , 1987), 39.
11. Elle n G. White, Evangelism (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and He rald, 1946), 188, 190.
12. . Mannscrij)l Releases (Hage rstown, Mel.: E.G. White Estate, 1952), 9:2 18.
13. Ibid., 1:131.
14. Ibid., 130.
15. George R. Kni glll, Angt)1 Saints (Hagerstown, Md.; Review an d Herald, 1989), 74.
 lesson IS

Thr~dt~n~d by N~w Ag~ Id~dS

Lesson Scriptures: Genesis 1:27; lIumbers 12:8;
Psalm 1:19:7-12; Isaiah 6:1;
Daniel 7:22; John 14: 12; 17: 1-:1;
I Corinthians 9:27; 10: 12;
Colossians I: 15; Hebrews I: 1-:1
Historical Focus: 1897-190:1
, . . - - - - . , haking his fin ger at viewpoint. Our pion eers called it
General Confere nce "pa nthe ism. " Perha ps it would be
Preside nt Arthur G. mo re correct to call it "semipanth e-
Dan ie ll s, David Paulson ism." It has ofte n bee n referred to
told him , ''You are as the "holy flesh" movement.
makin g the mistake of Pantheism is th e d octrine th at
...._ _ _ _.. your life .. . . Some of eve rything is God a nd God is every-
th ese days you wi ll wake up to find thing. It denies the pe rsonality of
yourse lf rolled in th e dust, and God. The Adventist ve rsion of this
a noth e r wi ll be leadin g the forces." heresy said , "God is in everything."
Daniells rep li ed, "I would But so metimes it seemed to go
rath e r be rolled in th e dust doing beyond that. Some Adventists sub-
what I be lieve in my soul to be scribing to this viewpo int claime d
right than to walk with prin ces, to be li eve in the pe rson ality of God
do ing what my conscie n ce te lls me but said things that seemed to
is wrong,'" ma ke Him more of a fo rce than a
The controversy was over John person and te nded to weaken peo-
Ha rvey Kellogg's book The Living ple's belief of a pe rson a l God.
Temple. During the previous ten T his dangerous d eception infil-
days, Paulson, a long with Kellogg, tra ted the Seventh-day Adventist
A. T. J o nes, and E.J. Waggoner, Churc h alongside the doctrine o f
had been urging the 1903 Autumn righteousness by faith . As Ellen
Coun cil of the General Co nfere n ce White wou ld say wh e n confronting
Committee to a pprove the book- this idea, "The track of truth lies
and Daniells was afraid they would close beside th e track of error.'"
succeed. That wou ld imply denomi- What conn ec ti o n is the re
national approval of what would be tween righteousness by faith and
today be conside red a New Age pantheism? On e of the most inspir-

Arthur C. Daniells.
 ing features o f th at wonde rful mes-
sage with which J o nes a nd
Waggo ne r bro ugh t revival to th e
Seventh-d ay Adve ntist Church was
th e conce p t th at Christ dwells in
th e heart o f th e co nsecrated
Christians th ro ug h th e H o ly Spiri t.
But Waggon er took this idea too
hlr a nd mad e it too lite ral, suggest-
in g that God was p hysically prese nt
in everythi ng: no t o nly Christia n
hearts bu t a ll hearts, not only
d welling in hum a ns but residing in
seeds, plants, a ir, wa te r, and bread .
If Waggone r had stressed God 's
work for us in Christ as the basis of
salvation , rather than His \vark in
us, he would a lm os t certainly have
avoided fa lling in to the pa nth e ism
tra p. Emphasizin g th e indwe llin g
Christ more Ul a n SClipture does
o pe ns the d oor to pa nthe ism.
Scripture places fa r greate r e mpha-
sis o n the positi o n o f the be lieve r
in Christ rathe r tha n Christ's be in g
in us. In his book The Glad Tidings,
Waggone r was pe rhaps ove rl y
e nthrall ed by Pe ter's expressio n in
2 Pe te r 1:4, tha t we become "pa r-
ta ke rs of th e divin e nature " (F,1V).
AJmo ugh Waggone r a nd
Ke llogg had been hinting a t pa n-
the istic ideas fo r some tim e, both
me n made the ir positio n cl ear a t
the 1897 General Co nfe re nce ses-
sio n and th e ministe rial insti tute
he ld just befo re th e sessio n.
Speaking at th e ministe r's meetin g,
Ke llogg sa id : "This fo rce that ho lds
all things togeth e r, tha t is eve ry-
wh e re prese nt ... can be nothing
e lse m a n God Himself. Wha t a
wonde rful tho ug ht th at this same
God is in us a nd in everything.""
By 1899 Ke llogg was teaching
his stude n ts that we mceive God
whe n we eat food or drink liqu id s.
At m e Gene ra l Con fe re n ce that
year he said , "We never eat a ny-
thing good , but we a re tastin g
God. " Waggone r d escribe d eve ry
breath a pe rso n takes as "a direct
b reathing of God into his n ostrils."
H e said God 's life was in water,
seed , a nd bread . O f bread , he said ,
"It is His body, a nd we take His
body a nd get life.'"
During the sessio n , a le tte r
a rrive d from Ell e n White . Writi ng
from Australia a lm ost a mo n th
befo re these meetings b egan , she
addressed the very issues Ke ll ogg
a nd Waggo ner we re presenting:
"Nature is no t God an d neve r was
God ," she said ."
Am azin gly, n o bo dy exce pt
W. W. Prescott see me d to h ave
n o ticed th e co n n ection be twee n
this le tter a nd th e Ke llogg a nd
Waggo ne r presenta tion s. Presco tt
h ad himse lf bee n ex press in g ideas
simil a r to th ose o f Ke llogg an d
Waggon er, but this message fro m
Mrs. White co nvin ced him h e was
wro ng.
LEADERS BECOME
CONCERNED
Wh en Arthu r G. Da nie lls
moved to Ba tu e Creek in 1901 to
assum e lead e rship of the Gene ra l
Co nfe re nce, he began hearing
Adve ntists speaking of God as
being in trees, fl owers. and hum an
be ings-and even sayin g th a t "ma n
must look wi thin for .. . his God."
S Oll1C we nt so far as to say that
the re wasll 't any "great Be ing sit-
tin g on th e throne in heaven, "
Instead , God was "in all na ture ."G

W. A. Spicer.
Also moving to Battle Creek
that year was W. A. Spice r, who had
previously been a miss iona ry to
India. What he was h earing in the
headquarte rs town of the denomi-
natio n was strangely familiar. It
so unded like th e Hinduism h e had
encountered in Asia. He wondered ,
"Co uld it be that the philosophies
o f heath enism are being taught by
the leading me n in th e Seventh-day
Adventist Church ?'"
Co ncern turned to conflict
after Kellogg wrote The Living
Temple. As the next lesson will dis-
cuss, after the Battle Creek
Sanitarium burned to the ground ,
Kellogg wrote the book. It was for
Adventists to se ll , to raise money
for re building the hospital.
While the Review and Herald
was in the process of publishing
the book, Prescott happen ed to see
some of the man uscript. H aving
aban don ed his own pantheistic
ideas, Prescott was troubled by
what he read. He showed the ma n-
uscript to Spice r, who visited
Kellogg to talk about The Living
Temple.
Kellogg explained that the
book exp ressed his views in a very
moderate way. H e said h eaven was
wh ere God was, and God was every-
where. Heaven, then, must be
eve rywh e re. The picture h e painted
for Spicer left no room "fo r a ngels
go in g between h eaven and earth "
and placed the cleansing of th e
sanctuary "not ... in a faraway
h eaven" but, rath e r, in the hum a n
h eart. 8
Mter learnin g about the book's
co n tents, the General Confe re nce
committee voted not to support its
publication. Bu t at this time the
Review a nd Herald did com mercial
printing as well as de nomin atio n al
publishin g, so Kellogg simply
arranged for them to print the
book for him personally. A few
weeks late r, the Review building
burned down. Und a unted , Kellogg
had a noth e r printing establish-
ment produce 3,000 copies of The
Living Temple. Soon, conferences
were being pressured to promote
its sale, and so me Adventists were
praising th e "new light" it co n-
tain ed.
Before speak in g out publicly
again st these ideas , Ellen White
wrote to Dr. Kellogg personally,
e mph as izin g the importance of a
personal God to Adventism. Sh e
told him that his ideas h ad "virtu-
a ll y d estroyed the Lord Go d
Him self. '" But rather than
repent, Ke ll ogg push e d for
Au tumn Cou n c il to app rove hi s
book, a nd it looked as if h e were
about to succeed.
CONFRONTATION
IN WASHINGTON
After his discouraging conver-
sation with Paulson, Daniells went
back to the house where he was
staying. As h e e ntered, someone
greeted him with the words,
"De liverance has come. Here are
two messages from Mrs. White."' o
Daniells read the lette rs. One
referred to some of Kellogg's con-
cepts as "a snare that the enemy
has prepared for these last days,"
sayin g:
"We need not the mysticism
that is in this book. Those who
entertain these sophistries will soon
find themselves in a position where
the e nemy can talk with them , and
lead them away from Cod." "
The next day he read the let-
ters to the delegates. One of the
ministers present asked everyon e
who wan ted to stand firmly with
Ellen White on this issue to stand.
Almost everybody stood, thanks to
the impact of Mrs. White 's corre-
spondence.
Elated, Daniells wrote to Mrs.
White, expressing his appreciation
for the letters. "Your message came
on just the right day-a day earl ie r
would have been too soon . I read it
to the coun cil today, a nd it pro-
duced a most profound impres-
sio n. "l:!
Ellen White also wrote to Dr.
Waggoner, Dr. Paulson, and others.
To Waggonei' she said, "Had God
desired to be represented as
dwelling personally in the things of
nature ... would not Ch rist have
spoken of this to His disciples?" "
She told Paulson sh e had received
a vision concerning him, warning
that he was in danger. Paulson
changed his position, but
Waggoner did not.
For the general Adventist pub-
lic, she wrote th e eighth volum e of
Testimonies jor the Church. A major
portion of this book was specifically
intended to counteract the ideas of
The Living Ternple.
For Kellogg, Waggoner, and
Jon es, this was the beginning of
their separation from the Seventh-
day Adventist Church . Jones, who
h ad sided with Kellogg in this con-
troversy, became a bitter antagon ist
of the denomination. Waggoner
gave up many of Adventism's basic
beliefs. Kellogg went even farther
into heresy. By the 1920s he h ad
accepted th e theory of evo lu tion
and was denying suc h basic
Christian teachings as the divinity
of J esus Christ, the virgin birth,
and the atonement.
Prescott, Paulson, a nd many of
Kellogg's other former suppo rters,
on the other h a nd , accep ted Ellen
White's warn ings a nd abandoned
these pan th e istic views. They gave
the denomination long years of
valuable service, living the remain-
der of their lives as dedicated
Seventh-day Adve ntists .
S Anchor Text
"If you think yo u are standing finn , be carefl.d lh at you don ' t fall !"
(l Corinthia ns ]0:J2).

{lJ lnto the Bible

1. Peopl e like Ke llogg and Waggoner seemed to be confused about th e
nature and perso nality of God. Use the worksheet provided by your
teacher to look at some of th e Bible texts o n this subject.
2. The Bible teaches that the Creator is o mniprese nt (present everywhe re
but distinct from creation) but denies pan th e ism (the be li ef th at every-
thing is God. God does not exist separate from th e created order ).
Read the fo ll owin g texts a nd wri te a concl udin g paragraph ex plaining
what th ese ve rses h ave to say regardin g th e be li ef of pantheism .
A. Psa lm 139:7, 8
B. Ro ma ns 1: 22-25
C.J o hn 1:1-3; 15:4
D. Co lossians 1:1 6, 17
3. It see ms incred ibl e th at important leaders such as Waggo ner, Ke llogg,
and J ones should go astray. Pe rh aps some o f Paul 's wa rnin gs apply to
situatio ns like this.
A. What cautio n does today's anc hor text give a ll Christia ns? J Corin-
lhians 10:12.
B. Whal speci fi c caUlion does Paul apply to himself as a minister of
th e gospe l? I Cor inthia ns 9:27.
 ProjQcts
1. Learn about the circumstances causing E. J. Waggoner to leave the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
A. Study the article provide d by your teacher.
B. Report on your reading in one of the followin g ways:
(1) Pretend yo u are Ellen White. Write a lette r, trying to pe rsuade
Waggon e r to change his mind on the specific issues you read
about.
(2) Make a poster displaying th e steps that led him away from the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
(3) Write a thoughtful reaction pa per spelling out lessons you can
apply from your reading to your life.
2. A rece n t repackaging of pantheistic ideas is found in the New Age
movement.
A. Read "Perspectives on the New Age Movement" in Will Baron's
book Deceived by the New Age, 193-198, or some other Christian
author's summary of New Age teachings.
B. Report on you r reading in one of the following ways:
(1) Make a poster labeled "Errors of th e New Age Moveme nt. " List
the false teachings of this move me nt that you found in yo ur
reading.
(2) Using the information from your reading, write a le tter to
someon e who is involved with the New Age. Try to co nvince
him o r her to leave the moveme nt.
(3) Write a reaction paper, telling what you can do personally to
fortify yourself against the errors you read about.
 ro(Us Qu~stions
l. What sim ilarities and differences do you see between the panth e istic
ideas of Ke llogg and Waggone r and the New Age ideas circu latin g
today?
2. Why do you think A. C. Daniells and Ellen White were so concerned
about the teachi ngs of Kellogg and Waggoner? What could be som e of
th e dangers in those ideas?
3. Do you think denominational publishing h ouses should have been
involved in commercial printing? Why or why not?
4. Ke llogg, Waggoner, a nd Jon es had all made significant, positive contri-
butions to the teachings of the Seventh-day Adve n tist Church. Do you
think that made their erroneous ideas more dangerous to Adve ntists or
less so? Why?
5. Why do you think the pantheistic teachings within Adventism have
been refe rred to as the "ho ly flesh" movement?
6. Why do you think the New Age movement is so popu lar today? What is
its appeal ?

1. Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White: The Early Elmshaven Yean, 1900-1905 ( Hagerstown, Mel. ,
Review and Herald , 198 1),297.
2. Quoted in Arthu r Grosveno r Daniell s, The Abhling Gift oj Prophecy' (Boise, Idaho: Pacifi c
Press, 19%), 337.
3. Ibid., 33 1.
4. Arthur L. White, Ellen C. While: The Eady Elmshaven Yean, 1900-J905, 284, 285 .
5. Ibid" 286.
6. Ibi d ., 287.
7. Ibi d. , 288.
8. Ibid., 289, 290.
9. Ibi d., 292.
10. Arthur Grosvenor Daniell s, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, 337.
11. Quoted in Arth ur L. White, Ellen G. While: The Eady Ebnshaven Yean, 1900-1905,297.
12. Ibid ., 300.
13. Ib id ., 303.
 lesson 16

fir~!
Lesson Scrlip~ures: Psalm 127: I; 2 Chronicles
20:20; Malachli :1:5; James 1 :5;
Levli~licus 10: 1 0; Philippians 4:8;
Proverbs I: 19
Hlis~orical Focus: 190 1-190:1
ro m tim e to time, E llen in stitu tion d e pa rte d- Ba ttle Creek
White warned that disas- College moved to Be rri e n Springs
te r was coming to Ba ttl e in 1901.
Cree k, espec ially to th e Elle n White was es pecially fru s-
Revi ew a nd H e rald trated with th e pro Ht motive sh ow'n
Publishin g Association. by th e man agem e nt of th e Review
L.._ _ _...I In 190] sh e wro te, "I a nd H e rald . The ma nageme nt was
have bee n a lm ost afra id to o pe n so co ncern ed with ma king a profi t
th e Review, fearin g to see th at God tha t church proj ects were some Limes
h as cleansed th e publishing ho use pushed aside for the sa ke of ti,e
by fire .'" mo re lucraLive comm e rcia l j o bs.
Although e mba rking upon a Much of this pr in ting was spir-
wo rldwide work, too ma ny of itua lly harmful. Books o n th e
Adve ntism's me mbe rs, resources, occult, sen tim ental novels, violent
and institutions we re co ncentrated weste rns, and publicatio ns ~ rom o t­
in o ne to\;\II1. Th e de no minatio n's ing fa lse r e lig io us views we re a ll
headqua rte rs, as well as its la rgest rolling off ti, e presses at the Review
church, biggest sa ni tarium , leading a nd H erald.
publishing ho use, p re mi er college,
o nly medical sch ool, a nd Hrst nurs- THE SANITARIUM
in g scho ol we re a ll located in Ea rly in the morning of
Ba ttl e Creek, Mi chiga n. Februa ry 18, 1902, fire did d estroy
Fo r three decad es Adve ntists a n importan t Adven tist institutio n
had bee n urged to spread ou t a nd in Ba ttle Creek, bu t it wasn 't the
not concentrate so much in Battle Revi ew. Instead , it was the two
Creek. Ye t during this time, mo re ma in buildings of Ba ttle Creek
in stitutions had bee n b uilt in tha t Sanitarium.
city a nd existing o nes had been A few days later a n in surance
re peatedl y expa nded. Only o ne in spec to r, viewin g th e total d evasta-

BalLle Creek Sanitarium ,

berore and after the fi re.
tion of the two build· gs, said,
"Nothing but divin e p owe r could
have ass isted those nurses a nd doc-
tors to do as they did in getting the
people out.'"
Deeply sadde ne d by the disas-
ter, Ellen White wrote, "The Lord
permits cala mities to come to His
people to save them from greater
d angers.'" But instead of lea rning
from this expe ri e nce, Kellogg
d ecided to reject God's co nsel by
planning a bigger and better sani-
tarium fo r Battle Creek. Iil(ormed
in vision of the Lo rd 's displeasure
with Kellogg's plans, Ellen W hi te
wrote to him : " The result was foreclosure (in 1933)
"Last night I was instructed to
tell you th at the great display you
are making in Battle Creek is not
after God's order....
"Battle Creek is not to be m ade
a J erusalem .... Do not e rect an
immense institution in Battle
A Linotype at the Review and Herald.
Creek which will make it n ecessary
for you to draw upon our people
for means. Such a building migh t
far bette r be divided, and plants
made in many places .'"
Headstrong, Kellogg went
a head with his gra ndiose pans.
In the comit:lg years, Dr. Kellogg
ignored Ge eral Conference debt-
con tro l policies a nd defied Elle n
Whi te's counsel by building a sani-
tarium that \ as even la rger tha n
bpe OJ1 th at h ad burned d own.
Kellogg re peated these IJ1jstakes in
1927, building a mammoth struc-
ture fin anced by h eavy borrowing.
and ba nkruptcy.
THE REVIEW AND HERALD
Failing to see the sanitarium
fire as a wa rnin g regarding their
own institution , the manageme n t
of the Review and Herald con-
tinued with busi n ess as usua l,
igno ring the prophe tic re bukes.
Then on Tuesday, December 30,
1902, fire enveloped their pla nt.
Firefi ghte rs were unable to save
the building. The fire chief late r
remarked, "Th e re is something
stran ge about your SDA fires, with
the water poured on ac ting more
like gasoline.'" T h e entire publish-
in g complex was a total loss, exce pt
for the building where recently-
printed d enom ina tional books
were stored .
The Review and H erald admin-
istratio n took this cala mity as a
rebuke from the Lord a nd imme di-
ate ly made d ecisions to reform
th eir policies. T h e boa rd vote d to
never again accept com me rcial
printing.
 De no mina tio nal leaders also
saw th e fi re as a sign to move both
th e publishin g ho use and denom i-
na tional headquarters away from
Battle Creek. At the 1903 General
Confere nce session, Ellen White
specifically sa id , "Let th e Ge neral
Co nfere nce offices an d the pub-
lishing work be moved from Battle
Cree k. '" T he d e legates voted to
move .
MOVING TO WASHINGTON
Whe re were th ey to go? Some
leade rs thought they sh o uld relo-
cate to a su burban community
within commutin g distance of New
York City.
The locatin g committee
focused o n two pieces of real
estate: a nin e ty-seve n-acre hotel site
in Fishkill , New York, sixty miles
from th e me tropolis, and a suburb
of the na tion 's capital known as
Takoma Pa rk. Th e Fishkill prop-
erty, with its fo rty-room hotel,
seemed li ke an in credible bargain
at $12,000. But on Jun e 26,1903,
Elle n White wro te that her prayers
for guida nce regarding the reloca-
tion site had been a nswered. The
d enominatio n 's headquarters, (,h e
Review a nd He ra ld plant, and a
sani tarium shou ld be built in the
Washin gto n, D. C. , area. Within a
month they learn ed that, despite
th e promises of their real estate
agent, th e Fishkill property h ad
been sold to so meo ne e lse .
In Tako ma Park they fo und
fifty acres in which a physician
nam ed Fl owe r had invested
$50,000, pla nnin g to build a medi-
cal faci lity. Fin a ncia l problems had
led to foreclosure. Th e mortgage
h o lde r was wi lling to sell the prop-
e rty for $6,000. H e re the Adventists
bui lt the sa nitarium la te r known as
Washin gto n Adventist Hospital and
the trainin g sc hool that la te r
became Colu mbia Uni o n College.
A mil e so uth of this land, th e
committee purchased several acres
just inside the Washington city lim-
its. This would be the location of
th e Review a nd H e rald publish ing
house and th e General Conference
h eadqua rters for more than eight
d ecad es.
REACTION IN BATTLE CREEK
At first, so me Battle Creek
Adventists we re upset at the
prospect of losing the publishing
house a nd the Ge neral
Confere nce. Fearing that the ir
homes and real estate investments
would lose value, some Adventists
actually tri ed to block the move
with a lawsuit.
But wh e n th e relocation deci-
sion was an n o un ced in the Battle
Creek Tabernacle on July 25,
1903, the expected oPBositio
d idn 't materialize. After W. W.
Presco tt (.ead the relevant mes-
sages from the pen of Ellen White,
A. G. Daniells pointed out the
providential circumstances the
committeB h ad expe ri e nced. The
co ngregation co ncluded that the
move was God 's will. Daniells
wrote tha t "a softe ning and subdu-
in g influence" had been present,
addin g, "this ex pe ri e nce has g ive n
many of o ur bre thre n a nd sisters
re newed con fid e n ce that the Lord
is leading in this wo rk .'"
 S Anchor T~xt
"U nless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain . Un less the
Lord watches over the cily, the watchme n sta nd guard in vain" (Psalm 127:1) .
.............................................................................................. .

tlJ Into th~ Bibl~

1. Look up th e fo ll owing texts and write out each o ne in your own words.
Then write a paragraph explaining how these texts migh t h ave been
applied to the Battle Creek experie nces mentioned in the narrative.
A. Psalm 127:1
B. Leviti cus 10:10
C. 2 Chronicles 20:20
D. Matth ew 21:1 2
2. It was clea rl y God 's inte ntio n for the earl y Adventists not to locate h eavily
in Battl e Creek. H e had othe r plan s. The question to these peo ple was,
Are you go ing to make decisions by hum an me thods, o r are you going
to let God "build you"? Your teach e r will provide a worksh eet call e d
"God, the Architect" on which you wi ll see how God is the driving force
behind the building that really counts .
.............................................................................................. .
Proj~cts
1. Find ou t more about th e situations at the Revi ew a nd Herald that con-
cerned Elle n White by readi ng Testimoniesfm·the Chu1"Ch, vo l. 7, pp. 161-
168.
Re port on your reading in o ne of the fo llowing ways:
A. Write a one-page pape r o n what you learned about th e co ndition of
th e Review and H erald Publishin g House.
B. Write a th ough tful essay applying th e prin cipl es of Mrs . White 's
warnings to th e Review a nd He rald manageme n t to you r own spir-
ituallife.
2. Dr. Kellogg's sa nita rium organization went bankrupt, whil e the Review
a nd Herald, despite some years of fin a ncial difficulty, is still going strong.
A. Read th e a rticle "Battle Creek Sanitarium" in the Seventh-day
Adventist Encyclopedia for clues to the reasons for this. Review your
lesson for additional clues.
B. Write a thoughtfu l essay explainin g the reasons for the sa nitarium 's
bankruptcy, contrastin g its situa tion with that of th e Review and
H e rald and making personal application to your own li fe .

focus Qu~stions
1. What are some of the advantages a nd disadvantages o f Adventists living
close together?
2. Do you think the re might be too many Adventists conce ntrated to-
gether in some a reas today? Do you think Mrs. White would (if sh e
were alive today) advise some of th e m to move? Why o r why not?
3. Do you think th ese fires were God's j udgments? Why or why not? Does
He ever show His will in this mann er nowadays? If so, how?
4. What do you think were some of the advantages and disadvantages of
having the d e n o min a tional headqua rters a nd the Review located in
Was hington , D.C.?
5. Can you think of some other ways we might apply th e princ iples in this
lesson to e ith e r our pe rsonal lives or to our d e nominational expe ri e nce
today?

I. Quoted in Arlhur L. While , ElLen C. Whil e: 71ll? Ea.1"iy Ebnshaven Years, 1900-1905
(H age rstown , Md. : Review and H erald, 198 1), 148.
2. Ibi d., 150.
3. Ibid. , 151.
4. Ibid., 153, 154.
5. Ibid., 224.
6. Ibid., 249.
7. Ibid., 277, 278.
 lesson 17

Holocaust and Tyranny

Lesson Scrip.ures: "a••hew 5: J8-48; 22: 18- 21 ;
25:J4-J6; 26:50-52; Luke
9:51-55; I 0:25-J7; John 4:7-9;
18:J6;Ads 5:27-J2; 10:27-J5;
Romans I J: 1-9; James 2:8-10;
Revela.ion 14:6
His.orical Focus: 1914-1918,19J9-1996
r------, kin awa was the bloodi- Sabbath duty. But he was th e only
est Pacific land battle remaining American m edic on the
of World War II. en tire rid ge.
Pe rha ps th e most criti- His readin g was inte rrup ted by
cal day of this battle Captain Frank Vernon. "We h ave
was May 5, 1945. Part orders to move across th e hill and
..._ _ _ _.... of the action cen tered take that pillbox no matter what
aro und the Maeda Escarpm e n t, a the cost," he said. "1 know it is your
boulder-covered ridge top ped by "a Sabba th , a nd I know you don 't
sh eer rock cliff, fro m 30 to 50 feet have to go o n this mission. But the
high" from which the J apanese men wou ld like to have you wi th
co uld o bserve what th e Ame rican the m, a nd so would I."
troops were doing from o ne end of Doss realized that this wasn't
the island to the other, and eve n the kind of routine duty he had
beyond. The top of the hill was fought so hard to avoid. It'was a
heavily fortified. Two American real emerge"-.cy. Men would be
divisions h ad alread y been "cut to wo unded wh etl er he was there or
p ieces" attemptin g to cap ture that no t. His presence cou ld make the
position. ' difference between life and death
Private First Class Desmond T. for mar1 of those il~ured me n.
Doss was reading his Sabbath ''I'll go, Captain," he said. "But
School lesson th at mo rning. There I'd like to finish my Sabbath
were two reasons h e didn 't need to Sch ool lesson first."
go into battle that Saturday: he h ad "We' ll wait for you.'"
seriously injured his leg in actio n As the Americans attemp ed to
the previous day, a nd he h ad wo n a seize the pillbox, tlley encountered
long struggle for exemption from a massive Japanese counterattack.

President Truman and

Desmond Doss.
T h e orders to the J apanese troops
had been, "Each soldier will kill at
least one American devil. " 3
Emerging from caves and
holes, thousands ofJ apanese and
an immense amo unt of firepower
bore down upon the Americans.
"They came running, screalning,
firing rifles, a nd throwing
grenades." Retreat turned into
rout. The hysterical, panic-stricken
troops raced back to the cliff. The
wounded "were left to die where
they had fallen. '"
Here's how Booton Herndon
tells th e story:
"In the midst of this mad rush
was ... Doss. He ran from one fal-
len man to the other, doing what
he could. He didn't think of savin g
his own skin; he was too busy....
"For hours it seemed to
Desmond as though he was up
there alone on top of the escarp-
Harvest Ingathering Cam paign of the Banne r Society in the early 1900s.
ment, raked by enemy fire , treating
the wou nded, pulling them back to
the edge, then go in g for more.'"
Doss was cred ited with lo\ve rin g
seventy-five ,. .rounded men over the
cl iff to safety that day.
A few months later President
Harry S. Tru man presented
Desmond Doss with the
Congressional Medal of Honor,
the highest military awa rd in the
Un ited States. He was th e first
conscientious objector to receive
th is distinction. H ow different
this was from the taunts, mocking,
resentment, a nd threats of d isci-
pline he h ad encou ntered earlier.
Shoes h ad been thrown at him as
he tried to pray during his first
ni ght in the service . More se ri-
ously, his in sistence o n observing
the Sabbath and his refusa l to
carry a gun h ad aroused the
enmity of many of his sup eriors.
But this Seventh-day Adventist
you n g m an had remain e d tr u e to
prin c ipl e and eve ntu a lly had
ea rn e d th e ir respect.
WORLD WAR I
Doss was o nly one of hundreds
of Seventh-day Adventists awarded
military citations for distinguish ed
service during World Wa r II. How
different this was from th e way
Am erica n Adventist servicemen
had been treate d during World
Wa r I. Altho ugh legally bound to
respect the scruples of conscie n-
tious o bjectors, some draft boards
had refused to grant the m the
proper classification, and some
Adventist draftees hadn 't bee n
instructed in the correct procedures
to follow. Some were unfairly give n
"bad character" discharges.
A so urce of even greater diffi-
culty was the refusal of Adventist
se rviceme n to do routine labor on
Sabbath . Nearly 200 American
Adven tists were court-martiale d for
not obeying orders. At war's e nd
thirty-five court-martialed Adventists
were still in the Leave nwo rth
Pe nite ntiary. However, most of
the m were freed within a few weeks
after the fighting stopped.
But the treatment of Adventist
se rviceme n in the United States
during World War I was much bet-
ter than that of their fe ll ow believ-
e rs who were drafted in some oth er
countri es. Although some natio ns,
su ch as Canada and Australia, gen-
erally pe rmitted Adventist draftees
to be noncombatants and exempted
th e m from routine Sabbath duty,
others were less tolerant.
Even Great Britain, which
respected th e rights of conscien-
tious objectors, imprison ed a num-
ber of Adve ntists for refusing to
work on Sabbath. One group of
thirtee n British Adventists se rving
in France was treated especia lly
harshly. Sentenced to six months'
h a rd labor for refusing Sabbath
duty, their impriso nm e nt began
two hours before sundown one
Frida)'. One of those young me n
recalled:
"We were imm ediate ly give n
tools and to ld to clean up the
parade ground. Station ed all
around were sergeants armed with
revolve rs and whips.
"The clock struck fo ur. Sabbath
had just begun , and we each one
put down o ur tools .... After hav-
ing tried to make us work by the
free use of their fists and wh ips,
the se rgeants drove us like wild
beasts to the cells amid much curs-
in g a nd the cracking of whips.
" ... Our ha nds were ...
secured in irons ... which 'were
too small a nd conseq uen tly tore
the flesh on th e backs of o ur
hand s. In this cond itio n the
sergeants made sport of us by
punching us all over o ur bodies.'"
O n e of their punishments was
be in g forced to run fo r an h o ur
with h eavy we ights on their backs
an d ch ests. They also spent a
total of twenty-one days in so li tary
confi n ement on a diet of bread
and water. Toward th e end of
the ir time in so litary, a priso n
official to ld each of them that th e
o th e rs h ad given up . Every one of
those British Adventists replied
that h e would still kee p th e
Sabbath . After th e official left,
som e body starte d whi stlin g a
hymn. "Befo re lon g there we nt
u p a ch orus of whistli ng through
the buildin g as a n ass urance to
eac h that th e rest were loyal. '"
GERMANY
Ge rma ny at tha t time showed
less resp ect for th e rights of con-
scie n ce than the English-speakin g
countries did. Igno ring the histori-
cal Adventist position L. R.
Conrad i, th e de no mi natio n 's
leader in Germ any, d eclared th at
Adventists would both use weapon s
in combat and perform mili ta ry
duties on Sabbath. The Germa n
war ministry was given writte n noti-
fication of this decision. Mter the
war the German Adventist leader-
sh ip repudiated Co nradi 's ideas
about military service.
Meanwhile, some German
Adventists risked thei r lives by fol-
lowing the commandments rather
th en letting Conradi be their con-
science. German law prescribed
d eath for the refusal to bear arms.
One of these yo ung men told his
off1cers, ''You will on ly waste your
bulle. 0)) 1<;" ecause yo u can't
change me .... Bu. ] Gould,];> of
great value to the state in th e m edi-
cal corps.'" Amazingly, his re quest
was granted; h e was transferred to
th e medics. But not all Adventist
draftees were so fortunate: some
se rved le n gthy prison senten ces,
a nd some 'w ere executed.
THE NAZIS
Germany \vas even less tolerant
during World War II. Ruled by the
dictatorial Nazi Party o f Adolf
Hitlel~ the Germ ans, along with
the ir alli es (call ed the Axis powers)
temporarily controlled most of
Europe. Again the re were
Adve n tist ma rty rs, but there were
oth e rs who escaped persecu tio n
thro ugh providential inte rcess ion.
Besides mistreating Adventist
servicemen, th e Nazis directly
attacked the Seventh-day Adventist
denomination , temporarily shut-
ring down all their church es in two
German states and confiscating
the ir property. In 1940 they closed
down the Adventist publishing
work. They also tried to prevent
the church from collecting tithes
and offerings.
The Nazis dissolved the denomi-
national organization , cl osed th e
church es, took ove r the buildings,
and bann ed Adventist activities in
the Alsace region of Fra nce, as did
their pu ppe ts in Croatia. Simila r
actions were taken in Romania,
whe re 4,000 Adventists were
impr isoned a nd tortured, some of
th e m receiving death sentences.
The Nazis tried to exterminate
all J eiy's,i n Germany an d in the
other countries they conque red .
Befo e th e war was ove r, they killed
six m illi o n J ews a nd many other
i !Wo ~'ent peo ple be lon gin g to
other ethnic, religio us, a nd politi-
cal minorities, includin g Seventh-
d ay Adventists.
JOHN WEIDNER
John Weidner was a Du tc h
Seventh-day Adve n tist busin essm an
living in Fra nce wh o h ad a n inti-
mate knowledge of the borde r
between France and Switzerland,
having lived in Collonges as a boy.
His fath er, a Seve nth-day Adven tist
 Camp mee ting in Glendale. Californi a. 1928.
ministe r. had bee n o n th e facu lty
o f the Seventh-day Adve ntist col-
lege located in th at Fre n ch borde r
town .
Afte r th e Nazis co nque re d
Fra nce. they atte mpted to ro und
up a ll the J ews in that coun try.
se nding th e m to die in ex te nnin a-
tio n camps located in easte rn
Euro pe. At the Lyo n ra ilroad sta-
tion , Weidn er saw
"a group ofJ ewish wome n a nd
chi ldre n wh o had been arrested
a nd . . . were being deporte d to the
east. O ne woma n h ad a ba by in her
a rm s. Th e baby sta rted to cry and
ma ke a lo t of no ise . .. . T he [Nazi ]
offi cer who was in c ha rge ord e red
th e woman to make th e baby stop
crying, but sh e could n ot d o it. In a
rage, th e offi cer took the baby out
of th e a rms o f th at woma n ,
smashed the ba by o n the fl oor, a nd
crushed its h ead."
We idn e r says, "We heard th e
wa il of that mo th er. It was ...
~ ••
so methin g te rrible. And all th e
wh il e, the [Nazi] o ffi cers stood
a ro und laugh ing.""
Re me mbering th atJ esus h ad
sa id , "Love your ne ig hbor as you r-
se lf' (Matth ew 22:39), We idne r
says, "Whe n I saw such things ha p-
pe ni ng to the J ewish peo ple, it was
so me thing so o pposed . . . to a ll
tha t I was taught to be li eve that 1
fe lt it was my duty to h e lp those
peopl e."1U
H e o rganized "D u tch-Pa ris," a
resc ue ne two rk of abo ut th ree hun-
dred pe rsons, which he lped mo re
tha n o ne tho usand people, includ-
ing as many as e ight hundredJews,
to escape fro m th e Nazis. Bringing
th e refugees from th e Nethe rla nds
th ro ugh Be lgi um a n d Fra nce, th ey
tem porari ly hid the m a t the
Adventist college before taking them
in to Swi tzerla nd, a ne u tra l country
th at was free fro m Nazi co n trol.
We idn e r was imp riso ned but mirac-
ulo uslyescaped to continue his
,.
work in the "unde rgro und. "
GERMANY'S AXIS ALLIES
During Wo rld War II, J apa n,
a llied with German y, co n tro lle d
much of easte rn Asia and most of
th e Pacific islands west o f Hawaii.
The J apa nese gove rnm ent, like the
Nazis, treate d th e Seve nth-day
Adventist Church harshly. They
a bo lished th e de nomin ational
o rganizatio n in J apan a nd Korea,
cl osed its churches, confiscate d its
property, and impriso ne d th e
lead e rs, as well as many lay people.
Korean Adve n tists had th e ir Bibl es
confiscated a nd were ord ered to
resume me mbe rship in whatever
re ligious o rgani zatio n they had
be lon ged to befo re converting to
Adventism. T h e Ko rea n Adventist
lead e r was to rture d to death; so me
o th e r imprisone d Adve n tists d ied
from starvati o n. In various coun-
tries unde r J apa nese rule, Adventist
missio naries were interned in
dreadful co ncentrati o n camps.
AMERICA'S ALLIES
T h ousands of Adven tists su f-
fe re d ha rds hips a nd dea th during
World War II in Eu ro pean coun-
tri es unde r Axis control as a res ult
of Allied bombs a nd bu llets. Whe n
the Am e ricans d ro p ped a n atomic
bo mb o n H iroshi ma, killing nearly
100,000 people, tha t city h ad a
Seve n th-day Adventist con grega-
tion of about fi fty me m bers.
Miraculously, all th e Hiroshi ma
Adventists survived.
Alth ou gh they weren ' t in th e
mili tary, Kata Rangoso and oth er
Adven tist Solomon Islanders res-
cu ed abou t two h undred of
downed Allied a irme n. H owever,
wh e n Rangoso, fo r reaso ns o f co n-
scie n ce, refu sed to fo llow a n Allied
offi cer's o rde r, th e officer h ad him
beaten with a ca ne. H e th e n
kn ocked Ra ngoso senseless with his
revolver a nd o rde red him sh ot.
Only a miracle saved Ra ngoso's
life.
A WORLDWIDE FAMILY
Re me mber, the Seve n th-day
Adven tist Church is a world chu rc h.
If th ey hadn 't been n oncomba t-
a n ts, Adven tists could h ave been
res ponsible fo r the deaths of th e ir
Adven tist broth ers an d siste rs.
T he three an gels' messages
in cl ude a call to join a wo rldwide
fa mily th a t tra nsce nds n atio nality,
race, a nd e thnicity-o ne d estin ed
to include followers ofJ esus in
"every natio n, tribe, language , a nd
people." Seventh-day Adventists
ca n be good citizens of the ir co un-
try, whateve r it may be, a nd ye t
stand aside fro m the h atre d a nd
extre me n ationa lism that calls for
killing peo ple because they come
fro m a diffe re n t country or be lo ng
to a d iffe re nt e thnic g roup .
COMMUNISM
For many Adve n tists, the night-
mare of Wo rld War II was fo llowed
by th e nigh tma re of a the istic
Com m unist tyra nny. T h e
Com munists h ad a differen t po liti-
cal phi losophy fro m th e Nazis, but
th ey were just as bruta l, a nd the
elim ination of a ll re ligious belief
was a specific part of th e ir age nda.
T he Com munists had com e to
power in Russia d uring Wo rld War
I and had chan ged th e country's
 name to U nion of Soviet Socialist
Re publics (U.S.S.R.). T he Sovie t
U nion was o ne of the Allies fight-
ing against the Axis during World
War II. As they "liberated " Eastern
Europe from th e Nazis, they
installed Co mmunist dicta torships
in Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria,
Romani a, Czechoslovakia,
Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Albania.
"'Then Korea was libe rated from
Japan , the northern half of the
country a lso became Communist.
Soon thereafter, Chinese
Com munists seized contro l of
China, the world 's most populous
country. Later, several other Asian
countries, as well as Cuba and
Ethiopia, also became Communist
nations.
Wherever th e Com munists
took over a country, they confis-
cated church property and tried to
suppress re li gio n. Any fore ign mis-
sio naries in the country were
expell ed . Thousands of Adventists
The Berlin Wall Memorial.
were taken from their h omes by
the secret police. Many of them
went to slave labor camps, and
most of them never re turned.
Although th e Com munists pro-
hibited th e publication of any reli-
gious books and periodicals, ma ny
dedicated Adventists secretly
copied spiritual books, Sabbath
School quarterlies, a nd Seventh-
day Adventist periodicals. Among
the brave typists who riske d their
lives to make copies of Ellen
White's writings was Evangelin a
Romanov, wh o lived in th e U .S.S.R.
She put blankets ove r th e windows
a nd the typing table to reduce the
noise level. She had to work during
the day, wh en other co mpeting
noises would make the hard
pounding on the ma nual lype-
write r less conspicuous. She needed
to pound h a rd because sh e was
making ten copi es a t a tim e, using
carbon paper, since she didn't h ave
access to any compute rs or pho to-
copy machines.
Albania had the most re pres-
sive of all the Com munist gove rn-
ments. Even owning a Bible or
other religious lite ratu re was il-
legal. Daniel Lewis, the first
Adventist in the country, died in
prison after be ing tortu red a nd
beaten for refusin g to work o n
Sabbath. At the time of his death ,
there were only a dozen Adventists
in Albania.
COMMUNISM COLLAPSES
Persec ution, suffe rin g , and
repression co ntinued in the Soviet
Union from 191 7, whe n the
Communists came to power in
Russia, un til the late 1980s. Then,
wi th breathtaking speed, things
began to change. The Soviet
regime re laxed a nd th en collapsed,
disintegrating in to fifteen different
nations, the largest of which was
Russia. Communism was gone and
democracy seemed to be emerging.
As restri ctio ns in the Soviet
Union were beginning to relax,
Adventist lead e rs n egotiated with
the Com munist government for
permission to establish a publish-
ing h o use a nd a college (sem i-
nary) . The gove rnm ent granted
these previously unh eard-of con-
cessio ns. When freedom came to
Russia, the Adventists already had a
printing facility and a training
school in operation. :.;.
In 1989 Communism lost its
grip o n all the o ther European
co untries under its domination,
and re li gio us freedom returne d.
Adve ntists seized the opportunities
provided by this situation.
Am e ri can evangelists poured into
various form erly Communist cities.
Adventist World Rad io leased a
Russian sho rtwave broadcasting sta-
tion that h ad previously been used
for Co mmunist propaganda.
Adventist radio a nd television pro-
grams, such as It Is Written and Your
Story How; began to be h eard o n
Russian stations. People fl ocked to
the evange listic meetings. Almost
overn igh t, Adventist membership
in Russia more than u'ip led.
Even Albania lifted th e restric-
tions. In 1991 two leaders of the
Adventist Trans-European Division
contacted Esther Nisho, daughter
of Daniel Lewis. Ray Dabrowski, a
leader in the division , tells about
meeting Mrs. Nisho :
"[ .. , said to Esther, 'I am a
Seventh-day Adve ntist.' Sh e could
not believe her ears. Tears came to
he r eyes as she kissed me on both
cheeks and ga",e me a powerful
hug. 'So missionaries a re com ing
to Albania? ' she asked. 'Soo n,
Esther, missio naries will come,' I
replied ....
"From my travel bag [ pulled
two copies of the New Testament
a nd a few copies of Matthew's
Gospel in the Albanian language.
When sh e saw them h er eyes lit up ,
a nd taking them in h er ha nds, she
kissed them,""
On his next visit to Alban ia,
Dabrowski met e"!y!'Wi'six-y1i!u;.,0Id
eropi ~H ,a, \~n:b ha d translated
nd 'fiand-copied a portion of the
Bible fro m Greek into Albanian.
Sh e asked him , "Wh at sh all I do
with my tithe, which I have saved
all these [nearly fifty1 yea rs? Can
you ta ke it?" "
Since Dabrowski 's visit, seve ral
 Adventist congregation s have bee n
organ ized in Albania. By 1994
there were 155 baptized Alba nian
Adventists, with e igh ty preparin g
fo r baptism. Merop i Gj ika, wh o was
nine ty by then, was probably th e
oldest delegate attending the 1995
Ge ne ral Confe re nce Sess io n.
Bu t dark clouds began to
appear on the hori zo n. State
church es that h ad domin ated these
countri es before the ath eists had
taken over were concern ed . T h ey
began pressuring the ir gove rn-
ments and local communi ty leaders
to restrict Pro testant activities . T h e
church in te n sified its efforts to
take advantage of d oors that were
open in the 1990s before they
m igh t once agai n slam shu t.

S Anchor T~xt
"We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29).

CIJ Into th~ Bibl~

l. Let's look at some biblical principles about how we should relate to
government.
A. What basic princip le does Paul g ive us on this topic in Romans 13:1
(first pa rt)?
B. J esus sta ted a similar principle in Matthew 22:2 l. Com plete the fol-
lowing: "Give to , . ,"
C. What sho uld we d o when there is a con fli ct between those two typ es
of authority, according to Acts 5:29?
2. Desmond Doss refused to take hum a n life, eve n in war. For in sight into
his reasons, comple te th e worksh ee t provided by yo ur teacher call ed
"Sh o uld Christians Figh t?"
3. Because of pr<:judice, the Nazis tri ed to exte rminate all the J ews. To see
what th e Bible has to say on this subj ect, use th e worksheet provided by
yo ur teac her called "Racia l a n d Ethni c Prej udice."
...............................................................................................
Proj~cts
1. There are generally three ways a person can respond to th e call of th e
armed forces. First, e nte r as a regular recruit, willing to bear arms; sec-
o nd , become involved as a no n com batan t, wi llin g to serve as a me di c
 but not bear a rms; third, take the position of a consc ie ntious objector,
refusing to pa rti cipate in a ny kind of milita ry service.
Write a two-page thought paper a nswering the qu estion "Wh at
choice would I make and why?" In preparation [:01' writing this paper,
inte rview two or three stude n ts, teach e rs, or, if possible, people from
other church es in your n eighbo rhood .
2. Find out about oth er conscientio us objectors. Look up "Conscientio us
O bjecto rs" in an e ncyclope di a o r o n co mputer and make a list of oth e r
religious de nomin ations that be li eve it's wro ng to fight.
3. Learn mo re a boutJo hn We idn e r.
A. Loo k up "We idner, John Henry" in th e Seventh-day Adventist
Encyclopedia.
B. Re po rt on the highligh ts of his life in one of the foll owin g ways:
(1) Draw a co mi c strip .
(2) Ma ke a poster.
(3) Write a n obituary fo r Mr. Weidner.

focus QU(~stions
1. If racial and ethnic p rejudice is un-Christia n, sho uld the Seventh-day
Adventist Church co n ti nu e to have separate "regional " conferences fo r
African Americans? Why or why not?
2. Adventist se rviceme n were court-martialed for refusin g to do routine
work on the Sabbath, yet Desmond Doss chose to accompany th e sol-
diers on an attack mission on Sabbath. Do you see any di fference
be tween the two?
3. In o rde r to save the lives of 800 J ews, Dutch-Paris used false identity
papers. Do you think su ch deceptio n was justified under th e circum-
stances? Why or wh y not?
 4. How do you reac t to th e narra tive whe n it sta tes tha t a ll Seve nth-day
Adventists in Hiros hima "miracul o usly survived " th e bo mbing wh e n
nea rly on e hundred thousand peop le died ?
5. The Nazis exec uted Die tri ch Bo nh oe ffe r, a respecte d Protesta nt theo-
logian, for invo lveme nt in a n unsuccessfu l plot to assassinate Adolf
Hitle r. Pe rhaps if some on e had ki ll ed Hitle r five or six years ea rlier, th e
lives of six mill io n J ews might have been saved. Do yo u think
Bonhoeffe r was d o ing the right thin g? Why or why no t? Wha t do you
think you would have done if you h ad bee n in his positi o n? Why?
6. Some Ge rm an Seventh-day Adve lllist publications (p rior to 1940)
pra ised Ado lf Hitle r a nd his fo re ig n po licy (an aggressive o n e that led
to World Wa r II ). What would you do if Seve nth-day Adve ntist lead e rs
urged loyalty to a gove rnme n t you be li eved was wro ng?

I . Boo ton H erndon, 7'11l! Unlikeliest Hero (Boise, Idaho: Paci fi c Press, 1967 ), 98, 99,
2. Ib;d. , ] 18, 11 9.
3. Time-Lift Boohs History of lhe Second World War (New York: Prentice H all , L989) , 403.
4. Booton H erndon, The Unlilreliest Hero, ] 2 1, 122.
5. Ibkl., 122.
6. Francis M cLellan Wi lcox, Seventh-day Adventists in Time a/ Wn.,. ( H agerstow n, Md.: Rev iew
and He rald, 1936) , 290,29 1.
7. Ib;d. , 292.
8. Ibid" 350, 35 1.
9. Carol Ri ttner and Sond ra Mye rs, ed., The Courage to Care: Resctters o/Jews During the
!-Ioioeausi. (New Yo rk, I .Y.: University Press, 1986),59.
1O. lb;d .
II . Ray Dabrows ki , "Beli evers Found Faithful After 50 Yea rs of Isolati on, Adventist. Review
(7 November 199 1),28.
12. Ib;d ., 29.
 lesson I .

N~w fronti~rs in Witn~ssing

Lesson Scriptures: Matthew 24: 14; 28: 19, 20;
John 12:iJ2; Acts I: II;
I Corinthians 2:2; 2 Peter I: II ;
iJ:2, 18; Revelation 1:7; 14:6·12
Historical Focus: 19iJiJ-1996
....------~~ e could talk to 1920s, he had done a little broad-
thousands castin g, mostly wh en local radio
wh e re we only sta tions allowed him free air tim e.
reach hun- But now h e wanted to purchase
dreds in a big time for a regula r weekl y broad-
meeting," cast. Conference officials we re
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ H. M. S.
nearly una nimo us in telling him
Richards excla im ed. this was a bad idea that was impos-
"Richards, rad io is so new. It's sibly expensive.
never bee n don e before. And A year after he had first sh a red
besides, it's th e 'Devil's Tool. ' this idea with two layme n, Gle nn
Afte r all , alcohol is advertised over Luther and Harold Young, they vis-
the radio and so are cigarettes . The ited hi!)l, askin g, "Barold , do you
'DeviJ 's Tool,' that's what it is,'" really believe Gom wan ts you on
The year was 1933. Southern radio?"
Californ ia Confe rence adm inistra- "Yes, I do. r know He wants me
tors were trying to disco urage o n the radio."
Harold M. S. Richards from start- "No yo u don't. You don 't
ing a n evangelistic broadcast. For be lieve al'Y su ch thing."
te n years Richards h ad been I rritated, Richards replied,
dreaming of taking the gospel to "What do you mean ? ... I do
the ainvaves . believe it, I really do!"
Already a successfill soul-win ncr "Well , if God wants you on th e
wh o preached Christ-centered ser- radio, and you believe that's wh ere
mon s, Richards h ad begun preach- H e wants you, why aren 't you on
ing for evangelistic meetings at th e the radio?"
age of seventeen , the summer after Richards decided the time had
his sop homore year at Campio n come for action. T h at even ing h e
Academy.' Beginning in the late told his aud ience about his radio

H. M. S. Richards.
King's Heralds Q uarte t,
center (inset).
 plan. Admitting that it would be
ha rd to ra ise cash during "the
worst depression" in Anlerican his-
tory, he said, "But the re are other
things than mo ney and I believe we
can put these things to work for
God in a radio preaching se rvice .
"So from now o n, I will be
standing at th e d oor when you
leave as usual, but my left-hand
coat pocke t will be the 'radio
pocket. ' If you be lieve in radio as a
medium to give God's Word to the
world, you sh ow me by dropping
whateve r you h ave to don ate to this
work into this pocket. Gold
watch es, gold teeth, gold stickpins,
jewelry, money-everything put
into that left-h and pocket . .. will
be turned into cash to buy radio
time,"!!
VOICE OF PROPHECY
The goods dropped into that
"radio poc ket" we re sold by a
Christia n j ewe ler. Taking no pro fi t
from the tra nsactio ns, the j ewe le r
raise d e noug h mon ey to pu t
Ri c hards on th e a ir. Over the n ex t
six yea rs, sixteen addition al
Cali fornia a nd Arizona sta tion s
were added. In 1937 the pro-
gram 's name was ch an ged from
Tabernacle of lhe Air to Voice of
Prophecy, and th e Pac ifi c U ni o n
Co nfe rence ass um ed responsibili ty
for th e program.
In 1941 the General Confe re nce
decided to become its sponsor; the
following J anuary it was broa dcast
from coast to coast over eighty-nine
Mutual Broad casting System sta-
tions. In February the Voice of
Prophecy bega n offe rin g a Bible cor-
responde n ce course. By the 1990s
~so
th e Voice of Prol)hecy (or, in so me
countries, The Voice of Hol)e) was
being a ired in thirty-six lang uages
on 1,100 radio sta tio ns, and its
Bible courses were avai lable in
e ighty languages. T he Voice of
Prophecy is th e o ldest continuo us
broad cast in th e U nited States.
TELEVISION
After the Voice of Prophecy
demonstrated that modern medi a
could be effective soul-winning
instrumen ts, denomination al
leaders were less h esitant in
la unching television prog rams,
beginning with Failh For Today in
1950. Others followed, including 11
Is WriUen and B'malh of Life. Failh 1"01'
Today origin a lly broadcast drama tic
"parables," bu t in 1985 changed to
an in terview fo rm a t with a program
known in the 1990s as Lifeslyle
Magazine.
POLITICAL AND
CULTURAL BARRIERS
Many gove rnm e nts, includin g
those of Communist countries, d o
not permit re ligio us radio and te le-
vision broad casts. Some Islam ic
countri es pe rmit even less re lig io us
freedom for Christia ns. Christia n
attempts to co nve rt Muslims are
seen in Islamic countries as a
threat to the ir civi li zation a nd way
of life. Th e con ce pt of church-state
separation is foreign to the Islamic
mind. In som e cou ntries, everyone
is required to live by Islami c rel i-
gious laws, and th ere are se ri o Li s
pe nalties for tryin g to convert a
Muslim to Christia nity. Muslims
who beco me Christians are a lso
severely puni shed. Even in coun-
tries whe re Isla m is no t e nforced
by law, e mbrac ing a ny re ligion
oth e r than Islam is conside re d a n
unpa triotic be trayal o f a pe rson 's
fa mily, e thn ic gro up, and na tion .
Muslims are unl ike ly to a tte nd pub-
lic Christian meetings fo r fear of
ostracism .
Similar p rej udices ex ist in
Hindu a nd Budd hist coun tries. In
th ese a reas, serio us soc ia l a nd cul-
tura l barrie rs p reve n t most peop le
fro m eve n th ink ing abo ut becom-
ing Ch ristian s.
But J esus to ld us to "make d isci-
ples of all natio ns" (Matthew 28: 19).
Tha t includes Communist, Muslim ,
Hindu , and Buddhist la nds.
ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO
Ch ristia n broad castin g e nables
peop le to hear th e gospe l in the
p rivacy of th e ir own ho mes .
Ne t '96 evange list, Ma rk Finley.
~s.
Sh ortwave radi o ca n pe n e trate
eve n coun tri es with cultural and
legal resu·ictions against public
evangelism.
Realizing this, th e de n o min a-
tio n esta blish ed Adventist Wo rld
Radio in 1971 , seek in g primarily to
reac h people in th e co untries
whe re Adve n tists we re una ble to
broad cas t fro m local statio ns. By
1996, Adventist Wo rld Radi o was
virtua lly bla nke ting th e world ,
usin g six teen tran smitters in six
co untries to se nd o ut 140 ho urs of
d a ily programmi ng in thirty-eig ht
la nguages.
NET '96 AND
ADVENTISTS ON-LINE
During th e 1990s th e de nom i-
nali o n co n tin ued to fi nd ne\v
med ia thro ugh whic h they cou ld
preach the gospe l. Adven tists
 bega n making unpreced e nted use
of sate llite communi catio ns a nd
compute r techn o logy. In ] 993 it
conducted simultaneous evan gelis-
tic meetings in most o f Brazil's
maj o r citi es. Th e fin a l climactic
meeting in Sao Pa ul o was te lecast
live by satellite to North America.
T hese Brazilian mee tings led to
20,000 ba ptisms.
A year and a half later, the idea
of telecasting evangelistic meetings
by satellite was bro ught to the
United States with let '95. Ma rk
Finley, speaker.Ji recto r of th e It Is
Written telecast, spo ke to crowds as
large as 66,000 gath ered a t churches
and a uditoriums in 676 locations
throughout the United States,
Canada, and vario us island natio ns.
The messages, o rigin ating in
Chatta nooga, Te nnessee, were
broadcast to satelli te dishes hooked
up to receivers proj ecting gia nt
images. Church membe rs at the vari-
ous downlink sites assisted in con-
ducting the local meetings. Research
has suggested that this combinatio n
works more effectively than using a
live local preacher. T he selies resulted
in thousands of baptisms.
In 1996 the e ntire p rocess was
re peated o n an eve n la rge r scale,
this tim e o rigin a ting in Orla ndo,
Flo rida. With mo re th a n three
tim es as ma ny churches parti cipa t-
ing, it ,·vas even more successful
tha n the Cha tta n ooga se ri es.
Meanwhile, the church
improved its a bility to communi-
cate with its own me mbers. The
same sate lli te techn o logy tha t
mad e possible Net '95 a nd Net '96
enabled Gene ral Confe rence leade rs
to address loca l co n g rega ti o ns.
Seve ra l messages we re tra nsmi tted
each mo nth to churches with
d ownlin ks ; th ese we re a lso video-
ta ped for church es tha t didn 't have
such fac iliti es . During 1995 th o u-
sands o f peopl e crowd e d Adve n tist
churches through o u t North
Am e ri ca to watch the Gen e ra l
Confere nce sessio n in Utrecht, th e
e th e rlands.
But one-way communi cati o n
wasn 't enough. D enominati onal
leade rs didn 't want to just ta lk to
church members: th ey also wan ted
to hear from th e m, a nd they fo und
new ways to do so . Th e A dventist
Review began acce p ting e-mail let-
te rs to the edi to r. O ne o f th e
fastest-growing me th ods of two-way
communication amo ng Adve n tists
durin g the 1990s was through
Adve ntists On-Line, an inte ractive
fo rum available on ho me compute rs
th ro ug h CompuSe rve.
UPLIFTING JESUS
We have see n William Mill er
uplifting J esus as h e preach ed th e
soon-coming adve nt. We've see n E.
J. Waggon er a nd Alo n zo T. j o nes
re minding the church tha t Christ
is a t th e heart o f Adve ntism. And
we' ve seen a pictu re commissioned
by Ell e n White th a t illustrates the
fact th a tJesus Christ a nd Him cru-
cifi ed is central to o ur m essage .
T ha t message is th e same as it
was in th e d ays o f Pe ter, Pa ul , a nd
j o hn ; but the me th ods we use have
c ha nged. john wrote Revela tio n o n
a scroll. Th e Mille rites could ge t
peo pl e 's atte nti o n by pitchin g a
te n t a nd ha nging a ch art. Ell en
White he ld huge crowd s spe ll-
bo un d while speak in g fo r over a n
 h our without the assistan ce of a
public-address system. In this age
of cyberspace and interactive
media, how can we preach about
our soo n-to-return crucified Lord
and Savior in a way that people will
pay attention?
Our pion eers proclaimed the
everlasting gospel in the context of
j esus' soon return. Now His com-
ing is even closer than in Miller's
day, but changes in o ur society
ma ke it difficult to get a hearing.
As important as it is to take
advantage of new ave nues for
spreadin g th e gospe l quickly and
effectively, high technology is no
substitute for the personal touch.
T he best way to upliftjesus is still
by the way we live, re fl ecting His
character in our words and actions,
sh arin g Him with our friends, and
participating in the outreach activi-
ties of our church. An efficient
machine will never replace a lov-
ing, caring Christian. As North
American youth lead er jose Rojas
once told a group of yo ung people,
"The only thing that technology
can't offer is a relationship."1 Or, as
Elle n White put it, "The strongest
argument in favor of the gospel is a
lovin g a nd lovable Christia n.'"
SURMOUNTING THE BARRIERS
We need more than new tech-
nology to effectively reach the bil-
"Grow in the grace and knowledge of o ur Lord and Savior j esus Christ.
To him be glory both now and forever! Amen" (2 Pe ter 3: J8).
lions of people with strong religio us
and cultural barriers against
Christianity. Although Adventist
Wo rld Rad io is taki n g the com-
plete gospel into a reas that don't
permit preachers to e nte r, we still
need living, hum an , personal wit-
n esses in these lands . How do we
get them there? There is a way.
Countries that won't let us preach
will often permit Adventist
humanitarian activities. Doors are
opened by Ollr medical, health,
a nd temperance work and also by
ADRA, the Adventist Develop-
ment and Reli ef Agency.
Organizations like ADRA and
Adventist World Radio a re sowing
the seeds, prepa'ing the way. Before
j esus comes, God will somehow open
the doors that are now closed.
Between 1961 and 1989, the Berlin
Wall stood as a barrier between the
Co mmunist nations of Europe and
the rest of the world. That wall has
come down . Don ' t be surprised if
oth er barriers fall as well.
Meanwhile you can /Jcrsonally
he lp surmount those ba rriers by
becoming a volunteer for ADRA,
Adventist World Radio , or Adventist
Frontier Missions, or by making
contributions to these organizations.
In some parts of the world it's not
too late to be a pioneer. Your ge n-
e ration could be the o n e to break
through these last barriers.
 {lJ Into thQ BiblQ
This exercise will, among other things, review key ing re di e n ts of the
denomination 's mission .
A. What pro mise did J esus make inJohn 12:32?
B. What message was central to Paul's preachin g in Corinth ? 1 Corin-
thians 2:2.
C. What two titles does Peter re peate dly use wh e n speakin g of J esus?
2 Pete r 1:11 ; 3:2, 18.
D. What pro mise is recorded in Acts l:11 ?
E. How many people see J esus wh e n He returns? Revelatio n 1:7.
F. Wha t three things did J esus say we re th e church's mission in
Matth ew 28:19, 20?
C . Review Revela tion 14:6-12. Summarize the important ideas in the
message of each a ngel.
(1) First angel's message (verse 7).
(2) Second angel 's message (verse 8) .
(3) Third angel's message (verses 9, 10) .
.............................................................................................. .
ProjQcts
1. Find out more about what Seventh-day Adventists are doing in one o f
th e lypes of countries discussed in this lesson.
A. Choose one of the fo llowin g catego ries .
(1) Communist countries of Asia th a t are still restricting reli gion,
such as Chin a.
(2) Hindu co untries, such as India.
(3) Buddhist cou n tri es, such as Tha iland.
(4) Muslim countries, such as Egyp t, Iraq , Ira n, and Pa kista n.
B. Look through th e news sto ries in rece nt issues of the Adventist
Review and other d e nomination al publications to find one or more
articles about one of th e countries in th e category yo u selected.
C. Re po rt your findings in a two- o r three-paragra ph summary paper.
Include th e title of the article , its source, and date of publication.
2. Read an a rticl e in th e curre nt issue of the Adventist R eview. Write a
th o ugh tful respo nse of about the same length as th e average letter to
th e editor you see printed in th a t issu e. T h e n e-mail you r response to
the Review editor at one of the addresses give n at the botto m of the
page listin g th e editorial staff. At the time of this writing, that infor ma-
tion was genera lly found on page 4, a nd the addresses were these:
 • Internel: reviewmag@adve ntisLorg
• CompuServe: 74617, 15
3. Available from you r teacher is an a rticle (and a sidebar feature ) about
tee nage participation in Adventists On-Line.
A. Read the articl e.
B. Report on it in o ne of the followin g ways:
(I) Write a reaction paper, explainin g why you wo uld or would not
enjoy pa rticipating in the kinds of on-lin e communication the
articl e discusses.
(2) Make a poste r summarizing th e advantages of participating and
how one goes about becoming involved.

focus Qu(>stions
I. Evaluate the statements regarding th e de nomination 's mission in both
the narrative ponion of the lesson and th e texts for th e In to the Bible
section.
A. Which facet of this mission do yo u think is most impo rtant? Why?
B. Do you think th e lesson author has overlooked any important part
of the church's mission ? If so, what is it? Why do you think it's
important?
2. What suggeslions ca n you make of stra tegies a nd methods to h e lp the
church more effec tively accomplish its mission? H ow do you ulink they
would he lp? What drawbacks mig hl be encountered? Is there any way
you personally might be able to h e lp impleme n t this suggestion? How?
3. Why migh t Muslims see Christianity as a threat to th e ir culture?
4. How would you go about spread ing the gospel in a cou ntry in which
Christianity is ill egal and looked down on as unpatriotic?
5. Does our church succeed in upli fting J esus more Ul a n doctrine? What
reasons do you have for your opini o n? Do you think we e mphasize
J esus Christ more o r less than we did in th e past?

1. Virg ini a Cason, I-/, M. S. mclwrds: Man Alive.' (New York, N.Y.: Free dom I-I ollse Press,
1974 ), chapter 6.
2. Ibid., chapter 2.
3. Ibid. , chapter 6.
4. Jose Rojas, Asse mbly talk, Southern Adventist University, Sept. 11 , 1995.
5. Ell en C. 'White , Counsels on Sabbath School Wor/r ( Hagerstown, Mel. : Review and H erald,
1938),100.

~ss
 lesson I .

J~sus Christ Wants You!

Lesson Scrliptures: Matthew 17:12-14; 25:40; 28:10;
Luke 0:2i1; John 10:il2;
Acts I: II; I Corlinthlians 2:2;
2 Tlimothy I: 12; iI: 1-5; 4:7, 8;
2 Peter 1:11; iI:2 , II; 14: 6-12
Hlistorlical Focus: Today
hris Swaffo rd was a In the Middl e Ages, He calle d
tee nager wh o took his John Wycliffe and J o hn Huss to
church 's miss ion se ri- prepa re th e way fo r the Refo r-
ously. As soon as he matio n. In the sixtee nth cen tury,
gradua te d fro m acad- H e called Ma rtin Lu th e r to break
e my, he went to th e shackles of m edieval supe rsti-
Cambodia as a volun- tion , leading Christians back to th e
tee r fo r Adventist Fro ntie r Bible as the ir ul timate au th o ri ty
Missions. Amo ng oth e r thin gs, h e a nd back to J esus Christ as the ir
worked with h o meless refugees, a ll-sufficie nt Savio r. He led Ulrich
gave Bibl e studi es, a nd kept th e Zwin gli and J o hn Calvin to con-
mission J eep in running co ndi tio n . tinue the Reformation , em phasizing
Chris is a recent exa mple in a th e ill1portance of a Ch ristian
lo n g line of men a nd wome n lifestyle . He used J o hn Wesley to
ca lled by th e Lord to advance His revita lize a spiritually ba n krupt
work. All year we h ave bee n study- church.
ing about people wh o m God ah ose H e led William Mille r to
to do a specia l task for Him .Be re mind Christia ns of th e Bib le 's
called Moses to lead His people teachings about the secon d adve n t
o ut of slave ry a nd into th e of Christ. H e chose Rach el Oakes
Pro mised Land. H e called Da nie l to b ring the Sabbath truth to the
to witness for Him in Babylo n. H e advent believers. H e chose Alon zo
calle d Mary to be the moth e r of T. J ones a nd Elle t]. Waggone r to
th e lo ng-anti cipated divine re mind Adventists tha t we are
Messiah . H e called th e twelve a pos- saved by grace throu gh fa ith in
tles to establish His church . H e J esus Ch rist. H e chose H. M. S.
calle d Paul to take th e gospe l to Ri ch a rds to use radio to spread the
the Gentiles. three a ngels' messages . During

"Th e Invitatio n, "

Wo rld Wa r n, H e le d J ohn
We idner to rescue 800 J ews and
Desmo nd Doss to save th e lives of
more than seventy-five Ame ri can
soldie rs. And He's calli ng you.
Many o f th e peopl e we've read
about this year \vere teenagers
wh e n th ey began the ir powerful
work for th e Lo rd . As teenagers,
Daniel a nd his companions stood
firm for prin ciple in Nebuchad-
nezzar's court. Even Mary \vas a
teenage r, according to many schol-
a rs, wh e n God called h e r to the
most impo rta nt respo nsibili ty any
woman ever h ad.
As you recall , H e called Elle n
H armon to be H is special messe n-
ger whe n she was almost seve n-
tee n. Fiftee n-year-old Ma rio n
Stowell sh a red a Sabbath tract
with a fri e n d wh o would beco me
nin etee nth-cen tu ry Adve ntism 's
greatest scho la r a nd earliest offi cial
missio n ary. T he n th ose two
teen agers led the ir paren ts to the
Sabbath tru th. As a tee n age r,
H. M. S. Rich ards began his evan-
gelistic ministry the summe r before
he started his junior year in academy.
God called th e m as teenagers; now
H e's calling you.
First of all , H e's askin g you to
accep t H im as your person al Savior
and Lord of you r life. T he n He's
asking th ose of you wh o h ave
already taken this most im portant
step to re new that cOlnmitlnent
dai ly (Luke 9:23). T hrough H is
mode rn messenger, H e invi tes us:
"Consecrate you rself to God in
the morn ing; make this your very
first wo rk .. .. This is a d aily m atter.
Eac h mornin g co nsec rate you rself
to God for that d ay. Surrend e r a ll
~SB
your pla ns to Him , to be carrie d
o u t or given up as His provide n ce
sh all ind icate .'"
Next, H e's asking you to joi n
th e iln me nse crowd of witnesses
we 've read abo ut this yea r, witness-
ing in bo th your lifesty le decisio ns
a nd thro ugh a life of Christia n
service. I-Ie wants you to ,vitn ess fo r
Him in words a nd actions, today
and in th e future.
LIFESTYLE CHALLEN GES
Ch oosin g to reflect o ur Lo rd 's
ch a racte r through a positive
Christ-ce n te re d lifestyle is mo re
ch all e ngin g th a n it used to be in
Weste rn soc ie ty. Th e tru e follow-
e rs of J esus h ave always bee n in a
m in o ri ty (Matth ew 7: 14). Bu t
today in North America a nd
Weste rn Euro pe we ' re face d with
a post-Christia n society. Sec ul a r
thin kin g do min ates th e me di a
an d th e educational systems. T h e
bas ic morality of th e Ten
Co mm a ndme n ts is co nsta ntly he ld
u p to ridicule in p o pular record-
ings, motio n pictures, televisio n
programs, and mass-circulation
periodicals. Wh en th e popula r
media deal with "spirituali ty," it's
ofte n of th e New Age vari ety. Th e
message of q uite a few block-
buste r film s is thinly disguised
spir itualism. Peo ple in com fort-
able, affl ue n t socie ties fee l less
need fo r God tha n those in pove rty-
stricke n cou ntries. Th e ir con-
sc ie n ces are d ead e n e d by th e
m e di a's h ypn o ti zin g assura n ces
th a t viola ting God's command-
me nts is pe rfec tly a ll right. Ve ry
rare ly do a ny of th e I-i cti o n a l c har-
ac te rs portrayed in th e me dia give
 a serious place in th e ir lives to
any god except perhaps the pa n-
theistic "god withi n. " As people
ignore God's commandme nts and
excl ude Him from their lives, the
breakdown of fam ili es accelerates.
Living a Chri stlike lifestyle in
a post-Christian society isn't easy,
but it's rewarding, as J eann ie dis-
covered after years of rejecting
th e cl a im s of J esus Ch ri st on h er
life . Reared in a n on c hurc h goin g
family by an ex-Adventi st father
a nd a nominal Ca tholi c step-
mother, J eanni e co nsidered the
Seventh-day Adventist religion of
h er gra ndparents to be a bunch
of killjoy restriction s. Then , th e
summ er before h er se nior year in
hi gh sc hool , sh e met J es us Christ
pe rso nally, and it c han ged every-
thing.
It happened this way: Nonstop
ra in kept her indoors whil e she was
spending a few days with some
Adventist relatives. Having nothing
to do but read, she soo n discov-
e red that all the reading matter
around the ho use was religious.
Bored, she read it a nyway. As she
did, her heart was strangely moved .
One night, she couldn 't sleep.
The Holy Spirit was working on
her heart. Two questions filled her
mind: "Do you believe what yo u 've
been reading?" and """hat are you
go ing to do a bout it?"
After strugglin g ha lf the night,
she fell on h e r knees an d sun-e n-
de red h er life to J esus. As she did,
she expe ri e nced an indescribabl e
joy and a powerful feeling of
peace. In that moment,Jesus
became the ce nter of he r life.
Sudde nly, she realized that par-
ticipating in activities the church
discouraged was no longer impor-
tant to her. She loved J esus so
much that she wanted to do what-
ever He wanted . Because of His
sacrifi ce on her behalf, sh e sh owed
her gratitude by th e lifestyle she
chose . Later, as she made specific
choices that she believed He would
approve of, the Holy Spirit flooded
her h eart with even more peace
and joy.
After sh e h ad been a faithful
ad he re nt to the Adventist lifestyle
for more than twenty years,
J eann ie remarked to her husband ,
"I have n ever felt restricted as a
Seventh-day Adve ntist. I' ve never
felt that my religion h as kep~ me
from doing anyth in g [ really
wanted to d o,"
What made the difference?
Putting Jesus at the ce nter of her
life. What had seemed like dreary
drudgery before her conversio n
had become ajoyful by-product of
her relationship with J esus.
Although J eannie was con-
vinced that she had benefited from
fo llowing an Adve ntist lifestyle, sh e
understood that God lead s differ-
ent people at different speeds. She
realized that she could not be
someone else's conscience, and she
tried to be ge nerous in h er evalua-
tion of other people.
A MANIFESTATION
OF GOD'S LOVE
In time, she learned that God's
requirements are actually a mani-
festation of His love. As Ellen
White observed:
"All things in nature testifY to
the tender, fatherly care of our
God and to His Gesire to make His
childre n happy. His prohibition~
a nd injunctions are not inten ded
mere ly to display His aul1hority, but
in all that He does H has the well-
be ing of His children in view. H e
does not require them to give up
anything that it woula be for their
best interest to retain ."2
Mrs. White went on to say, "No
real joy can be found in the path
forbidden by Him who knows what
is best, a nd who plans for th e good
of His creatures.'"
If you buy a new car, it's a good
idea to follow the manufacturer's
instructions in the little book that
comes with the car. It's very proba-
ble th e people who made the vehi-
cle had a better idea of how to take
care of it than you do. Simi larly,
our Creator knows wh at's best for
us a nd sh ares that inform ation out
of genu in e love.
YOU ARE THE CHURCH
Perhaps you 've h eard church
leaders describe young peop le as
th e "ch urch oJ tomorrow." T hat is
only h a lf C(!lrrect. If the Lord
doesn ' t come first, most of you
will still be around afte r yo ur pas-
tors, teachers, a nd parents h ave
passed fro m the sce n e of action.
In o ther words, you will still be
the church after we' re go n e.
But you aren't just the church
of tomorrow. You're also the
church of today-at least a major
part of it. In some divisions, more
than ha lf the me mbership of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church is
unde r thirty.
Ir you have been bapti zed into
 the Seventh-day Adve ntist Church , sio n projects in foreign countries.
you're a full-fl edged member. You Others h ave been servin g closer
are just as much e nti tle d to par- to home, e ngagin g in such pro-
ticipate in its decision-making jects as prese n ting Revelation
process as you wou ld be if yo u Seminars, se lling Adventist litera-
we re th irty-six or fifty-six or ninety- ture, and feeding the homeless.
six. You have a rig ht to attend One year, se niors from Valley
c hurch business mee tings and Grande Academy in Texas went to
express your opinions and vote as Los An ge les for their class trip.
you choose . There they helped to repair a
You have to wait until you ' re ch urch that had been damaged
e ighteen (twenty-OIl,e in Canada) by a n earthquake .
to particip;,!te in your cou ntry's Thousands of young Adve ntists
decision-making process, but yo u haven't been satisfied with part-
don't have to wait to participate in time service or two-week trips. Like
your churcQ. You can vote, you can e hris, they have interrupted their
hold office, and you can take part education for a year, answering the
in its programs right now. As a Savior's call to serve God and
church member, both now and in humanity as fu ll-time st dent mis-
the future,Jesus is counting on you sionaries.
to he lp the denomination accom- Jesus call ed them , and He is
plish its mission. calling you to use yo ur talents for
Chris Swafford isjust one of Him-perhaps as a student mis-
the thousands of Adventist young sionary, perhaps as a summer-camp
people ac ross North America who staff member, perhaps in some
h ave been responding to this other capacity. There's no mistake
ch allen ge . For example , every about this fact: J esus Ch rist wants
year groups of students from you. He calls each one of us to live
many academies spend th e ir a life of Christian service, not just
sprin g vacation un dertakin g mis- in the future, but right now.
...............................................................................................
~ Anchor T~xt
"I can do everything through h im who gives me strength "
(P hilipp ians 4:1 3) .
OR
"Don 't let anyone look down on yo u because you are young, but set an
example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity"
(l Timothy 4:12).

~6.
 l!l Into th~ Bibl~
1. We sh ouldn 't be surprised th at tod ay's Weste rn culture is post-
Christia n. Bible p ro phecy has fo re to ld this type of situatio n. T his is d is-
cussed on th e worksheet your teache r will provide called "Society in th e
Last Days."
2. Use the worksh eet provided by your teache r to study abo ut "Positive
Christian Living."
3. Finally, let's look at some texts to thin k abo ut as we face th e fu tu re .
A. H ow often does J esus say we sho u ld ma ke th e decisio n to follow
H im ? Luke 9:23 .
B. What invitation does the psalmist give in the fi rst part of Psalm
34:8?
C. Wh at assura nce do we find in Ro ma ns 8:28?
D. Wh at questio n d oes Paul ask in Ro mans 8:31, last part?
E. H aving fou ght a good fight and having ke p t the fa ith , wha t did
Pa ul say was in store fo r him? 2 T imo thy 4:6-8.
F. Wh at words recorded in Isaia h 25:9 will Ch rist-ce n tere d people be
able to say at th e tim e of th e Second Adve nt?
C. Wh at can they expec t to h ear th e Lord say a t th at time? Matthew
25:21.
...............................................................................................
Proj~(ts
1. Write a seven- to ten-sente nce paragraph on h ow to live a positive
Christian life in o ur society tod ay.
2. Ma ke a scra pbook comparing curre n t eve nts to 2 T imothy 3:1-5 .
A. Clip articles from newspapers or n ews magazines that illustrate th e
various prob le ms Paul mentio ns in 2 Timoth y 3: 1-5 .
B. Arrange th ese articles in a scrapbook.
C. Make a caption for each page, using a relevan t word o r p hrase
from th e Sc rip ture passage .
3. Ide ntify a forme r stude n t fro m your school who is curre n tly se rving as a
stude n t missio na ry. Assemble a "care package" a nd sen d it to him or
h e r. Include letters fro m teach e rs a nd stude n ts.
 rocus Questions
l. How do you reconcile 2 T imothy 3:5 (last part) with Matthew 9:10-13?
2. Does passing a law allowing a teacher to lead out in a prayer before
class in a public school interfere with religious freedom? Why or why
not?
3. Would yo u give money to an organization that promotes the religious
freedom of Roman Catholics? Why or why not?
4. What specific things could your school do to help the denomination
accompl ish its mission? What could you personally do?
5 . Some academies make comm unity service a requirement for gradua-
tion. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not? Defend your
position.
6. Have any of you been involved in church leadership? How? Was it a
positive or negative experience? Why?
7. Do yo u see any significance in the fact that more than half the mem-
bership in some of our divisions is under thirty? What advantages and
disadvantages do you see to this?
8 . Do you have any suggestions regarding h ow Seventh-day Adventist
schools could better accomplish their mission?
9. Do you have any practical ideas for making Seventh-day Adventist
schools more affo rdable?
10. Can you think of anything we (as students and / or faculty) can do to
encourage more people to attend Seventh-day Adventist schools?

1. Ellen C. While, Slej)s 10 Christ (Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press, 1977), 70.
2 - -, Palria:rc/ts and Prophets (Boise, Ida ho: Pacific Press , J958), 600 .
3. Ibid.
 ACKNOWL[DGM[NTS
Grateful acknowledgment and recognition is given to those who made
a valuable contribution to the development of Books 3 and 4 of the
CROSSROADS SERIES for Grades 9 and 10 HIS Story-Just in Time and
HIS Story-In Our Time .

• SECONDARY BIBLE TEXTBOOK STEERING COMMITTEE·

The following served on the Secondary Bible Textbook Steering

Committee and were responsible for supervising the development of the
student textbooks, Teacher Edition and Teacher Resource Manual for HIS
Story-Just in Time and HIS Story-In Our Time.
Gerry E. Thompson, chair, director of education, Pacific U nion
Conference
DeWayne Boye r, teacher, Takoma Academy
Cherry Haben icht, teacher, Wisconsin Academy
Gordon Kainer, teach e r, Loma Linda Academy
Glenn E. Russell, teacher, Andrews Academy
Don L. Weatherall, assistant director, North American Division Office
of Education

• CONSULTANTS AND STAFF·

The following provided valuabl e support services to the Steering

Committee during the development of one or more components.

Shirley Goodridge, e ditorial assistant and copyright authorizations.

Marion Hartlein and Erma Lee, North American Division Office of
Education Consultants.
Alyce Pudewell, art co nsultant.
Beverly Benson , word processing of manuscripts for Stude nt Textbook
and Teacher Edition.
Ardyce Weatherall, word processing of ma nuscripts for Teacher
Resource Manual.
 -WRITERS-

The following functioned as a writer for one unit. Each writer brought
a rich background of experiences and a writing style that adds interest and
variety in approaches to the topics covered.
Book 3 - Unit I Jon L. Dybdahl, Institute of World Missions,
Andrews University, and Paul B. Dybdahl,
pastor, Oregon Conference
Book 3 - Unit II Roy Naden, president, and Ted Ewing,
consultant, n. associates
Book 4 - Unit I Gordon Kainer, Bible teacher, Lorna Linda
Academy
Book 4 - Un it II Dennis Pettibone, professor of history, Southern
Adventist University

- TEACHERS AND STUDENTS -

The 39 teachers and approximately 690 students in junior and senior

academ ies of the North American Division who field tested lessons during
the 1995-1996 school year. Their responses on the survey questionnaires
provided valuable input and insights.

- TEACHER RESOURCE MANUAL WORKSHOP COMMITTEE -

The following Bible teachers and other education personnel served on

the 1996 summer workshop committee that developed the Teacher
Resource Manual for Books 3 and 4, grade ten.
Don Weatherall , chair, North American Division Office of Education.
Gordon Kainer, Loma Linda Academy.
George M. Kretschmar, Un ion Springs Academy.
Jean Septembre, Fraser Valley Academy.
Gerry E. Thompson, Pacific Union Conference Office of Education.
Jan Yakush, College View Academy.
 • PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION·

Paul H ey, li aison with the Secondary Bible Textbook Steering

Committee
Mark Winchester, page-makeup

• PUBLISHERS, AUTHORS, AND AGENTS.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following publishers, authors,

and agen ts for permission to use and adapt copyrighted materials.

Abbingdon Press for the story from The Sea.rch for Meaning by Thom as
Naylor, William Will imon , Magdale na Naylor. Copyright © 1994. Used by
pe rmissIon.
The estate of Arthur Guiterm an for the poem "Ancient History," by
Arthur Guiterman. Used by pe rmissions of Louise H. Sclove.

Illustrations used within and as opening pages of lessons were provided

by the following: pp. 11,30,40,50, 77,80,92, lI 8, Judy Irene; pp. 13, 14,
74,94, 102,107,343, Corel" Stock Ph oto Library; p. 20, C. A.
Morgenth aler; pp. 22, 87,104, 143, J o hn Steel/Pacific Press Publishin g
Association ; pp. 24, 33, 82, 85, 182, Archive Photos; pp. 26, 144, 164,
Three Lions; p. 32, Trans World Ai rlin e; p. 42, Publishe rs Photo Service;
pp. 45 ,53, 66,72,97, 112,124, 127,1 34, 137, 138,162,172,175, 177, J 78,
No rthwind Picture Archives; p. 46, United Press International Photo; p.
52, Ewing Galloway; p. 55, E. A. Papazian; p. 62,john C. Trever/"The
Biblical Archaeologist"; pp. 70, 152, 158, Alyce Pud ewell; p. 98, David
Lees/ Archive Photos; p. 108, Keystone; p. 115, Beumann Archive; p. 132,
Reading ClipArt; p. 146, Robe rt Weir/ GramstorffBros., In c.; p. 167,268,
T. K. Martin ; p. 155, Salisbury; p. 185, A. E. Haswell Mille r; p. 188, ]. E.
White; pp. 198,210, H arry Anderson / Review & Herald; pp. 200, 206, 209,
214,216,21 8,224,232,238,249 , 259, 276,277,285, 288,303,304,312,
316,317,322,325,330,332,336,338,341, Loma Linda University Library;
pp. 204, 222, 244, 254, 257, 264, 272, 282, 292, NAD Education
Department; pp . 228, 247, Clyde Provonsha/ Paci fi c Press Publishing
Association; p. 236, Robert Ben·an/ Review & Herald; p. 248, Warren G.
Gough; p. 266, Pe rry Stewart; p. 300, O akwood College Arch ives; p. 314,
Review & H erald ; p. 348, Voi ce of Prophecy; p. 35 1, It Is Written; pp. 356,
360, Nathan Greene/ Creative Stock Images.
 Petre Cim poeru and J an ice Little , from th e Heritage Room , Loma
Linda Un iversity Library, h elped loca te the histori cal Adve ntist photo-
graphs used in unit 2.

Cover co mposite by Mark Win cheste r usin g a ph o togra phi c image from
Core l®Stock Photo Library and skyline illustratio n by Kevin McCa in.

All Scripture references not otherwise cred ited a re from the Holy
Bibl e: New Internatio nal Version.

Ever)' effort has been made to trace the ownership of a ll copyrighted

material in this book and to obtain permissio n for its use .

Sin cere app reciatio n is given to th e many o lh e rs wh o h ave contributed

to th e manuscript wh ose names may not be included.