September 3 - Doing Theology: Appeals To Human Authority-4

I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend eanestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. Jude 3, NASB.

Contending for the faith was not one of the shortcomings of the Adventist leaders in the 1880s. Their problem wasn't contending, but doing so on a correct basis.

A final category of human authority employed by the Smith-Bulter group in their attempt to maintain traditional Adventism was their drive for a voted creed like statement that would set the pre-1888 theology in concrete and thus render in exempt from change in the future.

The General Conference leadership had attempted a voted statement at the 1886 General Conference session, but had failed when they couldn't get their theological committee to line up on the "right side" of the issues related to Galatians and Daniel 7.

One of the problems with voted creeds is they have tended to set marginal issues of current interest firmly next to the fundamental doctrines of the Bible as landmarks of the faith. Such new landmarks, once established in a creed, become almost impossible to overturn in the future, since people interpret any change as destroying the faith of the fathers.

The Minneaspolis meetings witnessed attempts at creedlike resolutions on both the 10 horns and the law in Galatians. On October 17, for example, G. B. Starr called for a vote on the 10 horns. "'I'd like,' he said, 'to put an everlasting settler on this question so it would not come up for argument again.'" The audience responded with "cries of 'amen,' 'amen.'"

Waggoner and the Whites, however, successfully resisted such a move. Mrs. White wrote on the last day of the meetings that she and "Willie. . .had to watch at every point lest there should be moves made, resolutions passed, that would prove determental to the future work"(Lt 82, 1888).

She noted in 1892 that "the church may pass resolution upon resolution to put down all disagreement of opinions, but we cannot force the mind and will, and thus root out disagreement. These resolutions may conceal the discord, but they cannot quench it and establish perfect agreement." As a result, she suggested that some "Christlike forbearance" of variation of belief was necessary. On the other hand, "the great truths of the Word of God are so clearly stated that none need to make a mistake in understanding them" The problem comes with those who magnified "mere molehills. . .into mountains and . . .made barriers between brethren"(MS 24, 1892).