Connections

 

Before breakfast two Sundays ago (April 27), I began to read the 400-page biography of Dr Desmond Ford, authored by Dr Milton Hook and published by Adventist today. [Ford is a former chair of the then Theology Department at Avondale College.] The day included many other tasks, but I finished the tome before Monday breakfast. Such a good read is hard to put down.

This is an exceptional volume. Hook is a competent historian who has struggled for decades to understand the complex issues he treats in racy, often scintillating style. While Ford is, rightly, in every chapter, the book is very much a panorama depicting the development of Seventh-day Adventist thought.

The big issues include the interpretation of the prophetic and apocalyptic parts of the Bible as well as Adventist history and theology. Although Hook documents the text thoroughly, he can cite only some of the relevant literature. Details in his text may evoke debate and experience clarification, but the big picture he paints will sustain the most rigorous investigation.

Adventism is, at its core, a quest to understand and apply the truth of Scripture. This book illustrates the tragic consequences that occur when we disregard the lessons of history and ignore the considered advice of specialists who have given their lives searching for sustainable understandings of Scripture and theology.

Even though the 1980s began as a dark decade for Adventism, they gave us (as Hook points out) the "Dynamics of salvation" statement and the consensus document entitled "Christ in the heavenly sanctuary." The former helped Adventists mature their grasp of righteousness by faith; the latter nudged the church toward a better understanding of the biblical book of Hebrews and related matters.

Now Adventist today, by publishing this volume, calls us to deeper reflection on how we treat fellow believers. "Tensions in recent Seventh-day Adventism" (Avondale College, PhD website) lists more than a score of doctoral dissertations that help us to better understand the controversies that effervesced during the latter half of the 20th century.

At the press of a few computer keys, much of the essential information (biblical, historical, theological, sociological) is now available, especially to believers living in Western societies. This situation contrasts with the way it was in the 1950s through to the 1980s. May all of us learn from the past as we focus more fully and effectively on Jesus Christ, One "full of grace and truth."

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