Old Testament Theology in Adventism

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

18 April 2010

By definition, theology is the science about God but it is the science in a special way, it is faithfully considering God from a human perspective with the purpose of discovering God His way through His revelation.

This definition, admits that theology is a human enterprise but it asserts that it is a special human, one who believes. In fact, Adventism makes it clear that someone who is not a believer cannot fully comprehend the written object of God's revelation, the Bible properly. That includes the Old and New Testaments. We refer to two testaments, simply because a religion exists that does not want to recognize the New Testament as part of God's ongoing revelation. Then there are those extreme Christians that wants to make the ongoing revelation of God extend beyond the book of Revelation into the church fathers and even church councils and confessions, but that is not correct either.

Old Testament theology, for Adventism, is strictly to be found within the consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition as one can find in codex Aleppo dating to 1008 CE.

Some may argue that what I am outlining here as theology is not theology but parochial doctrine. Wrong. All theology of the bible, if it is correct mirroring the data of the Bible, is doctrine and all doctrine which is correctly systematized with all the relevant texts, is theology. In Adventism, the Bible of the Adventist scientist and the Bible of the Adventist Systematic theologian and the Bible of the Adventist Old Testament theologian, are not three different Bibles. They all impact the truth since they all receive their data from the Truth, pact in the data of the consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition. The Truth is not only a Person but also It. It is not only Words but "Your Word" is a lamp to my feet. In Adventism it is both. It is not a dichotomy between Jesus or doctrine but Jesus and doctrine or the doctrine of Jesus or the Jesus of doctrine as Edward Heppenstall, the Adventist Systematic Theologian pointed out so vividly in his online book, Christ our High Priest.

Worthy is to mention the words of S. du Toit, who wrote a book that this researcher's professor F. C. Fensham also proofread, namely that "God reveals Himself in the facts and therefore the facts are of incredible importance" (S. du Toit, Ou Testament en Ou Ooste [Potchefstroom, Pro-Rege-Pers Beperk, 1971]: 31). Even though both Du Toit and Fensham were regarded as conservative in their positions, from a Seventh Day Adventist position, they are still too loose.

Adventist Old Testament Theology and other denominations

An Adventist is a further developed Calvinist, a further devoloped Methodist and thus, a connection can be found with Calvinism and Methodism, but the Adventist concepts and understanding from the Bible, is further developed than these Christian traditions. 

If one has studied at a Calvinist university in any of the theology courses, it is soon clear, that Seventh Day Adventist theology is not the same. Yes, Adventists are also using all the Theological books by Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, Catholics, Judaism, Baptists, Evangelicals, and other denominations, but they are using these books with an eclectic method: the books are cited to support the Adventist way of interpretation or hermeneutics and not constructed from the book. For a Seventh Day Adventist scholar, the books are not navigating the scholar, the scholar are critically weighing the evidence and its interpretation and match that with a hermeneutics of affirmation that supports, harmonize, protects the veracity of the Word of God and if not, the interpretation is discarded as not relevant to the Word of God. One needs to qualify here: Adventists do not discard the evidence itself, it is the interpretation about the evidence that is discarded.

Adventists Old Testament Theology has no room for doubt

The hermeneutics of supicion is the one designed by Feuerbach and Nietzsche and which is embrazed by many scholars like Bultmann and others who then influenced the Old Testament Theology to create an Old Testament Pathological Theology which is deviant, sidetracked by humanistic criticism and doubt and which is filled with relativism and a-normative rejection. An Adventist Old Testament scholar refuse to cite these scholars with approval unless their words in a specific paragraph is completely watertight and 100% in correspondence with the biblical truth. Adventists do not doubt Creation or allocate it to myth or legend.

Adventist Old Testament Theology focuses on the Rebellion in Heaven motif of the Bible as a precursor to the fall of humans

The Rebellion in Heaven Motif is provided in the Bible at a number of places: Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezechiel 28:12, 15, 17; Daniel 8:11 (with the switch to masculine verbs from feminine in the previous verse); Revelation 12:4, 17, 9. 

The role of Lucifer in the origin of evil and misery we experience today is outlined in full by Adventist in dramatic terms spelled out in detail in Patriarch and Prophets, one of the five books in the conflict series of Ellen White. The role of self-exaltation in the origin of evil is clearly to be seen.

Adventist Old Testament Theology focuses on the realistic impact Satan had on the first human pair, Adam and Eve

Adventists treat the Fall description not as a Narrative but as realistic history. Of course the description is partial detail of the original reality but every detail is data or evidence that is absolute real and true. How could snakes have four feet in those days and fly? In China they found a flying snake with legs in the fossil record, of course the fossil record in Adventism is no older than the date of the Flood in 2521 BCE. The Fall of Adam and Eve was an intricate process of self-exaltation simulating Lucifer and Satan's methods of deception during this process is outlined in full in Patriarch and Prophets by Ellen White. 

The results of sin is seen everywhere today and for the past 6000 years experienced by all humans.

Adventist Old Testament Theology considers the Flood not as a myth but as reality

The Flood of Noah came as punishment for the sins of man and that event happened in the year 2521 BCE. All the dinosaurs died during that event and Adventists supports the detail of the data of the consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition in minute detail. Nothing is impossible. Nothing is in doubt and therefore Adventists are strict Creationists who believe in a 6 day Creation week.

Adventist Old Testament Theology support a 6 day Creation week

There are many reasons for this. The biblical truth about the week is that it was literal 24 hour days, seven in a row with Saturday the seventh day. On that day God rested from all His work and encouraged humanity to do the same. They did but in the time of Moses, some Israelites remembered the Sabbath command in the lives of their ancestors and collected Manna twice on Friday. That is why God repeated explicitly in the Ten Commandments the Sabbath command. Sabbath is the crown of the creation week since it is a day that during the rest the human should contemplate His maker and Creator as well as His savior from sin.

Adventist Old Testament Theology includes a Theology of the Sabbath

Adventists teaches that there are two Sabbaths required to be kept: one external and one internal. The external Sabbath is the weekly Saturday Sabbath that is from Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown. The internal Sabbath is the eternal rest that Jesus suffered as substitute on our behalf that Sabbath during Passion week when He was not resurrected on Saturday morning but on Sunday morning so that resting in the grave is the eternal rest or My rest of Psalm 95:11 or Hebrews 4:3, 5. Accepting Jesus Christ as our savior allows a Christian to enter that rest by believing. God said in Psalm 95:11 that Sabbath keeping Israelites during the 40 years in the Wilderness did not go into His rest. This is the point, if you humanistically keep the Sabbath but there is no change within you as far as a relationship with God is, you are breaking the Sabbath although you have done nothing wrong on this day. The other edge is to have faith but not keeping His day but a day created by a church or emperor like Constantine to substitute the day of the Lord commanded. This will also not do. Knowing the truth, one should not harden one's heart with excuses that one's parents use to do the same all their life.

Adventist Old Testament Theology include Atonement as seen in the context of the role of the Tabernacle, Sanctuary and Temple both on earth and in heaven

Adventists pays particular attention to the detail of the Sanctuary of the Old Testament which was a replica of what is in heaven. The services were not just human inventions or copying the practices of the nations around them. It was no earthly power system created to act in polarization of the kingship of Israel. It was a Godly institution with a role in the salvation of mankind. The coming of Jesus and His ministry continued this great plan of God unchanged. Of course, Jesus body became the final role of the sanctuary on earth but the role of the priests and high priest on the Day of Atonement, Jesus continued in His ministry after the cross in 31 CE. 31 CE is a complete Atonement of phase one of which there are no less than five. Phase two was Jesus' entry as priest and mediator on our behalf. Phase three was in 1844, calculating with that great prophecy in Daniel 8:14 using the year-day principle for prophecy when so required by prophetic periods, not historic periods like 70 years of exile, and starting in 457 BCE ending in 1844. Originally Adventists of the Millerite kind thought Jesus was to come back that year but then when He did not come, they realize their theological interpretation error and also developed into a Calvinism that recognize the role of the Sanctuary Theology for our day.

Adventist Old Testament Theology considers God as important

The character of God, His law, is very important in the Old Testament and His revelation to man is how to keep that law in such a way that glory is given to God. Perfection is possible since God said that about Job in Job 1:8 "Satan, look at Job. He faithfully obeys my law, He is perfect" (Job 1:8).

Adventist Old Testament Theology works with both the Sovereignity of God and the Freedom of the Human Will

Just as Calvinists, Adventists also work with the Almighty power of God and His divine Will as the Supreme Master and Creator of the World. No human except Jesus Christ, can take that place since He is part of the Godhead. But, different than in traditional Calvinism, Adventists also stress the freedom of the will, a will that can flee to God for solution or hide from God's calling in the Garden of Eden.

Adventist Old Testament Theology works with the multiplicity  of prophetic interpretation principles Adventists work with Historicism when prophecy requires it, preterism when it is necessary from the text and even futurism when that is biblically cutting lines parallel to the Bible. They also work with presentism and contemporary fulfillment but keep warning that the rules for prophetic interpretation has to be kept. Conspiracy theories as current fulfillment is not acceptable. Historical veracity is necessary. It has to be as public and clear as possible before a connection with the data of the Bible can be accepted as fulfillment. The most neglected aspect of prophetic interpretation is historicism and this is the are where Adventism really has a contribution to make. It is possible for Adventists to almost predict the events of the day of tomorrow and next year and the very near future till the Coming of Christ.

Adventist Old Testament Theology works with the inspiration of the consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition

Some argue that it is only the thoughts that are inspired not the words of the Bible but that is not completely true. The consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition is the very Word of God and words are the building stones of thought. Change one word and you change the thought. If the thought is clear from the consonantal text but someone recast it in another language using different words but end with the same thought in all respects, then the message is not lost. If words are changed and the thoughts are also changed from what the thoughts are when the original words were used in the first place, then the thought inspiration is disturbed as well. The Holy Spirit worked on the thoughts of the writers of the Bible and left it to them to select their own mental dictionary to express these thoughts, but as Editor of His Book, He was the final Reader who decided in His sovereignity to canonize the writing as His writing, satisfied that all His desires and wishes are represented 100% by the words.

The Old Testament Historian John Bright works with a hermeneutic of suspicion [although he is considered a conservative historian by contemporaries of his time] and thus his characterization of the scriptures is predictable as follows: "Even though many may feel that divine inspiration insures their [Bible as source] historical accuracy, to dismiss the problem by appeal to dogma would be unwise" (John Bright, A History of Israel [London: SCM Press Ltd, 1960, 1970], 91). This is just a selected example of what is almost a common working policy by conventional scholarship in Old Testament Theology.

Adventist Old Testament Theology does not allegorize the History of Israel unless the Lord made events happen to serve as a type

Adventists do not allegorize what is a literal event in history unless the specific event was in the Divine plan of God serving a purpose as a classic example or template for future generations and there is at least one text in the Old or New Testament indicating the type to be so. One thinks of Paul's comparison of Sarah and Hagar in Galatians.

Adventist Old Testament Theology does not work with a cosmology as analyzed by modern scholars of the Ancient World

Walther Eichrodt came up with very strange ideas of Moses' concept of cosmology in Genesis, Job and the rest  of the Old Testament (Walther Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament II [London: SCM Press Ltd, 1960, 1970], 93-96). Moses did not conceive of the earth standing on pillars as Eichrodt suggested (Eichrodt, 1960, 1970: 93 at footnote 2). The earth is hanging on nothing according to the book of Job. Moses had a very modern understanding of cosmology. Eichrodt is representing a Middle Age theology of the cosmology of Israel which is not supported by the Old Testament data. The square shape for the earth is nowhere in the Bible. The Bible supports a oval egg or ball form for the earth. The square paper concept of the Middle Ages is unbiblical. Moses knew in the book of Job that the Pleiades constellation of stars has links like ropes, a case that can only be seen with strong modern telescopes. The famous Egyptian astronomer and friend of Hatshepsut was Moses' teacher apparently since they were contemporaries and Moses lived in the palace between 1518-1490 BCE. That was until he was 40 years old.

A. Weiser, as selected from a host of scholars working with the hermeneutics of suspicion, said "Although no complete myth has been handed down in the OT, yet the contact with the rich tradition of early oriental myths has deeply influenced Israelite literature" (A. Weiser, Introduction to the Old Testament [London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961, 1975]: 17). Adventists do not work with these modern classifications of ancient literature so distant remove from their own context.

Adventist Old Testament Theology places a high premium on correct chronology

L. Wood, S. Horn, E. Thiele and W. Shea worked in a consorted effort to upheld the strict chronology of the Bible with a hermeneutics of affirmation and not suspicion. Some may argue that this has nothing to do with theology, but that observation is not correct. Correct chronology is absolutely important since the revelation of God is given in historical events and one need to see when a particular thought was conveyed to humanity and also how it relates to Umwelt [other Ancient Nations of that particular time's similar thoughts].

Contrary to the claim of the conservative Calvinist S. du Toit, that in biblical historiography chronology hardly ever plays a role (S. du Toit 1971: 32) Seventh Day Adventist scholars disagree. Biblical chronology is an exact science. They do not have a problem, we have as interpreters.

Adventist Old Testament Theology does not operate with theories of derivation from Ancient Nations to Israel but vice versa

Many scholars today are working with the theory that Israel adopted and adapted their thoughts from the theology of cults of ancient nations surrounding them. This is not true. Israel adopted wrongly from these cults concepts in contravention with clear revelation by God what they should not do, and this upset God in his messages through the prophets. Old Testament Theology of Israel sometimes penetrated other nations and this theology was then reworked and fused with Canaanitism, like at Ras Shamra, Ugarit and then it had correspondences with Israelite religion as M. Dahood could see, hymns, poems, theological phrases, words, etc. Adventist scholars do not work with a pan-Babylonianism, pan-Ugaritism, pan-Egyptianism, pan-Canaanitism for the construction of the theology of the Old Testament.

What is Adventist Old Testament Theology?

1. Theology of Creation as within a literal 24 hour day six day week ex nihilo

It is interesting that against those who hold an eternal matter theory for the start of Creation in Genesis 1, A. van Selms the Calvinist in Pretoria reacted saying that it is suspicious a theory in a chapter that was designed so carefully. It is more likely that the writer gave in his first verse or sentence a clear distinction between his own hymn of praise and the traditional narratives of outside nations (A. van Selms, De Prediking van het Oude Testament; op. cit. S. du Toit 1971: 89). Adventists always maintained the position similar to the Calvinist S. du Toit in 1971 on tehom: "although tehom is there, it does not provide any resistance against God's command, no struggle against order but an immediate subjection to the purpose of God. The God of the Old Testament is not part of nature but is above it and in complete control over all its processes" (C. F. Pfeiffer, "Enuma elisj" The Biblical World [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1966] op. cit. S. du Toit 1971: 90).

2. Theology of Salvation

3. Theology of Atonement

4. Theology of the Sanctuary Message

5. Theology of the Remnant of God

6. Theology of the two Sabbaths (external and internal)

7. Theology of the Judgement in all phases: investigative (since 1844), confirmatory judgement (millennium), executive judgement (hell)

a. from the tabernacle

b. from the Heavenly Temple

c. from the Earthly Temple

d. Ezechiel 1-10

e. Daniel 7

(i) date of the judgement in Daniel 7

(ii) nature of the judgement in Daniel 7

8. Theology of Mission

9. Theology of Prophetic Charts or Outlines by God

10. Theology of Spiritual Application of God's Directives

11. Theology of the Covenant

12. Theology of God

13. Theology of Rebellion in Heaven Motif and the Fall of Man

14. Theology of the Messiah to come as Shepherd (First Advent) and later again as King (Second Advent)

15. Theology of the Elijah Message

16. The Theology of the Early and Latter Rain or working of the Holy Spirit

17. Theology of the Endtime scenario and spiritual preparation

18. Theology of Heaven for the Remnant

19. Theology of Inspiration, Canonicity and Revelation

20. Theology of the Hermeneutics of Affirmation

21. Theology of Perfection and the roles of Justification, Sanctification, Vindication, Glorification in the doctrine of Man

22. Theology of Dietary Laws and Wholesome Lifestyle

a. correct meat

b. vegetarianism

c. wine as alcohol when negative and wine as grapejuice when positive [the role of total abstinence].

d. Exercise, happiness, joy, fresh water, fresh air, enough sunlight, cleanliness and their healing role as preventing and fighting cancer

e. Holistic concept that body, mind and spirit works as one fused system that influences each other

f. Salvation is visible

23. Theology of Science

24. Theology of Aesthetics (see Jo-ann Davidson)

25. Theology of Music and Art

26. Theology of Ethics

27. Theology of Education (see E. White, Education)