The General Conference
Ministerial Association Urges Us to Keep Sunday-
A fairly
recent book, Confessions of a Nomad, published by our Ministerial
Association through Pacific Press, instructs the reader that we, today,
can only find our rest, refreshment, and strength by keeping Sunday
holy.
In the early
1980s, Carolyn Shealy Self and William L. Self, a Southern Baptist
couple, wrote a devotional book on how to deepen one’s Christian
experience. Because they live in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, they had
their book published in 1983 through a local printing house, Peachtree
Publishers. They dedicated the book to their Atlanta Baptist church.
Nearly all Biblical quotations are from two of the most liberal Non-King
James translations.
You might
wonder why our Ministerial Association would be publishing books. Keep
in mind that it was this church entity that was in charge of writing the
notorious book, Questions on Doctrine, back in 1957. It was the
first doctrinal book our denomination ever printed and, although
declared to be not "official," was printed by the Review &
Herald under the auspices of the General Conference, so our own people
could be indoctrinated and non-Adventist denominations could learn our
beliefs. Hundreds of thousands of free hardback copies were sent to
non-Adventist denominations, churches, and libraries all over the world.
Unfortunately,
that book contained a number of major theological errors which
undermined our basic beliefs. The objective was to show the Protestant
world that we held many of their beliefs, so they would give us the
right arm of fellowship.
For a copy of
the only complete narrative on the entire episode and its aftermath, you
will want to read our 146-page Evangelical Conferences and Their
Aftermath, now in our Doctrinal History Tractbook (232 pp.,
$17.50 + $2.00 p&h).
But the result
only moved us closer to a denomination-wide acceptance of salvation by
profession alone, without obedience to the ten commandments.
This 1998
reprinting of a Baptist book on the importance of keeping Sunday holy,
by our General Conference Ministerial Association, is astounding. The
assigned work of the Association is to oversee the ministers of our
church, worldwide, and give them doctrinal and other forms of guidance.
This book, it felt, fulfilled that mandate. One of our readers recently
purchased a copy in one of our Adventist Book Centers. (A couple of
others have told us they cannot find them there.) A copy is being mailed
to us, but we are too close to press time to wait for it to arrive.
Here is an introduction to what you will find on the next three pages of
this tract.
1 - THE FRONT
COVER—"Confessions
of a Nomad: What We Learned in Sinai’s Shadow."
2 - TITLE PAGE—This
"Devotional Guide" was published by our own Ministerial
Association! Since the Association does not print many books for our
ministers and ABCs, the book had to have been closely examined prior to
publication. An excuse, that this was not done, would point to
incompetence. Surely, that could not be the case.
3 - COPYRIGHT
AND DEDICATION PAGES—The
book, dedicated to an Atlanta, Georgia, Baptist Church, was originally
published in 1983 by a non-Adventist press and reprinted in 1998 by
Pacific Press. Note that our Ministerial Association not only reprinted
the book, but paid to obtain a new copyright on it; evidently this was
done so they could continue to keep it in stock in our ABCs.
4 - CONTENTS—The
entire book is concerned with what two Baptists learned from reading
what the Old and New Testaments had to say about Mount Sinai and what
was taught there. The Ten Commandments are discussed from a Southern
Baptist perspective. As they see it, the Seventh-day Sabbath may have
been good for the Jews, but not for the Christian. Sunday provides their
resurrection celebration, their rest, their day of worship, their source
of strength, the time when God talks to them, the time when they more
fully know God, their great joy, their time of remembrance, their
communion, their sacrament, their time for Bible study, and the day
their souls are rekindled and rested. Christians are to work on the
Sabbath and rest on Sunday. Sunday gives them the strength to work the
next six days. By the latter part of the chapter, the word,
"Sabbath," is being applied to Sunday. It is obvious, from
the following quotations, that much of the book is given over to
exalting Sunday worship:
—————————
"All busy
people yearn for a day of rest. God Himself gave His permission, a
command even, for a day to all the soul and spirit to be refreshed. This
is God’s gift to us. He will take care of us physically and
spiritually if we follow His plan. Our systems need the replenishment.
Sunday is a special day for this worship and refreshment."—Confessions
of a Nomad, page 86.
"Thoreau
said, if you want to destroy the Christian faith, first take away
Sunday. He was right; it’s a holy day, for those who know Jesus Christ
as Saviour it cannot be a holiday. For those of you who have gathered
around the cross and have been saved and washed clean by His blood, it’s
a sacrilege to do anything else on that day except to celebrate what God
has done.
[This
paragraph is a most powerful argument for Sunday laws!]
"If we abuse Sunday, we’re going to destroy something beautiful
that God has given. No Sunday means no church; no church means no
worship; no worship means no religion; no religion means no morality; no
morality means no society; no society means no government; no government
means anarchy. That’s the choice before us."—Page 120.
"Worship: Real
worship is not optional. You do not have to decide each Sunday morning
whether or not you’ll worship each Sunday morning; it should be
programmed into your life. Good conduct: It’s a time when you
should do things that are holy. If you do a little planning, you don’t
have to do your shopping on Sunday. There can be time to do things like
that on other days. Remember that every day is His. We are not to give
Him one day and do as we please the other six."—Page 121.
Why our
denomination would reprint a Baptist book, so obviously urging Sunday
worship, is inexplicable. Why it would go to the considerable expense of
obtaining the copyright on the book is even more so. Yet there is a
third astounding mystery: Why would our leaders place "Ministerial
Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists" on
the title page as the publisher? How often do you see that title as the
publisher of any book sold in our ABCs?
I suggest this
as the solution to the puzzle: Throughout the 1990s, our leaders have
accelerated their meetings with other denominations in order to sign
joint accords of unity and fellowship. Could it be that this book was
published specifically for the purpose of being presented to other
denominational leaders as an indication that we are no longer
opposed to the basic Protestant position, that obedience to the ten
commandments should be downgraded and Sunday worship should be
emphasized? It was our consistent opposition, in years past, to
those two points which aroused so much animosity. To yield on both of
them could bring the peace our leaders so fervently desire. Our
reprinting of a Baptist book, with its strong emphasis on both points
and as a "devotional guide" for our people, would help bring
the acceptance which the 1957 Questions on Doctrine (another
Ministerial Association project) never accomplished. —vf
WE HAVE A
PHOTOCOPY OF THE ENTIRE BOOK
A friend not
far from there told us over the phone that, in order to attract more
visitors, two Adventist churches in Atlanta are planning to switch over
to Saturday night and Sunday worship services.
See Nomad Removed