Sources
I Stefanovich defense that he is
soft on Catholicism in Revelation 13 and other points of uneasiness with
Goldstein’s corrections. Adventist
Today October 2018
by
Ranko Stefanovic | 17 October 2018 | As most of you know, during these last few days, there has been
much discussion regarding the Sabbath
School Quarterly on Revelation to be studied the first quarter
in 2019. There was some discussion about the Adult Bible Study Guide (ABSG)
over some last minute changes to my manuscript. I had some dealing with the
ABSG over it, and an unfortunate email that went out from their department
that, however unintentionally, challenged
my scholarly credibility. However, we worked through it together and I assumed the issue
was behind us. I was told by ABSG that my original manuscript was put in the
file to be studied somewhere in the future (I hope it will happen soon). I
trust the Sabbath School Department that they will keep their promise. This was all very unfortunate, and I was not happy about what
happened, but it was too late to do anything about it. Most of you have learned
about this unfortunate incident from the recent article in Adventist Today. I want to let you know that that
article was not initiated by me, but by the translators of the quarterly in the
field who informed Adventist Today of what had
happened. While the original manuscript was heavily revised, the Adventist
Today article pointed only to two revised changes, which led to some perception that the
original manuscript was soft on the Roman Catholic Church. I am presenting to you the
commentary on the beast of Revelation 13 that was in the original manuscript,
and it is upon each one of you to make your judgment: The forty-two months of the beast’s activities is the same time
period of “a time, times, and half a time” and the 1,260 days of the
persecution of the woman/church in Revelation 12:14. Prophetic days stand as a
symbol for years. The year AD 538 marks appropriately the beginning of this
prophetic period as the church, with the pope as its head, established itself
as an ecclesiastical power and dominated the Western World throughout medieval
times. This period was concluded in AD 1798 when the events of the French
Revolution inflicted upon the beast the deadly wound bringing the church’s
oppressive rule and the state-instituted religion to its end, replacing it with
a human-centered philosophy and materialistic worldview. Revelation 13 gives a prophecy of the major apostasy in the
history of the Christian Church, which was fulfilled when the state church of
Western Europe claimed the position and prerogatives of God for the pope as its
head. The atoning ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary was replaced by
of the church’s priesthood to forgive sins. Those who insisted on living by the
teaching of the Bible, experienced persecution and martyrdom. History testifies
to more than fifty million Christians who paid with their lives for their
faithfulness to the Bible. Although in modern times characterized by religious
tolerance such statements are regarded as harsh, the present cannot erase
historical facts. Furthermore, the concept of the Satanic or counterfeit trinity is
well established in the church—it was adopted in 1980s by DARCOM
(Daniel & Revelation Committee) and
has appeared in Seventh-day Adventist books.
It has been used to full advantage by our evangelists. I believe that despite the unfortunate changes that have been made to the ABSG (in particular Revelation 1:9-20, and chaps. 5, 7, 11, 13, 19), the SS Quarterly that we will
study in the first quarter of 2019 contains a lot of good material. I would
recommend that you take those lessons and encourage our people to study them. I
urge you to consult my book Plain Revelation which was originally intended to be the
companion to the quarterly. You can also make a use of my commentary on
Revelation titled Revelation
of Jesus Christ. I have a full confidence that you will respect my request, and
encourage our people to study the upcoming Sabbath School Quarterly. This is a
great opportunity for us as a church to join together in studying this book
which means so much to us. Cliff Goldstein and I have great respect for each
other and no hard feelings about this unfortunate incident. I also highly
respect persons from the General Conference who were involved in dealing with
this issue. Please, pray for Cliff Goldstein, who has a great responsibility in
editing the Sabbath School lessons. Sometimes mistakes are made without bad
intentions. So, please, keep him and his team in your prayers. It is my desire
that the Sabbath School Quarterly on
Revelation next quarter be a great blessing to all of us. II Treiyer’s
exposure of more errors by Stef in the SS Revelation 2019 that was overseen by
Goldstein in his corrections of the original ms given by Stef PRINCIPLES
OF APOSTASY IN THE SABBATH
SCHOOL QUARTERLY ON REVELATION 1st
quarter of 2019 www.adventistdistinctivemessages.com Dr.
Alberto R. Treiyer This is
the first time in the history of the Adventist Church that a Sabbath School quarterly
rejects the interpretation of our pioneers regarding the trumpets, even though it has
been confirmed by the Spirit of Prophecy and the General Conference in session. This
also marks the first time the spatial correlation between the earthly and
heavenly sanctuary
is disregarded in some points in such an important work. Furthermore, when it comes
to the various apocalyptic symbols, modern interpretations and speculations are favored
above the clearly defined explanations that Jesus gave us through the Spirit of Prophecy
and which the Bible confirms. A few
years ago, I prepared a reaction to the Sabbath School quarterly on the
Sanctuary titled: Great Heresy
in the Sabbath School Quarterly Regarding the Doctrine of the Sanctuary. This
article can be found on
my website by clicking the “Articles” tab at [www.distinctivemessages.com]. The
purpose of that
title was not to identify the authors as heretics, but to alert readers of the
serious confusion some ideas
introduced in that Quarterly. Whether through ignorance or unawareness, these
new ideas being promoted
were a distinct departure from the Bible and our historical understanding of
the sanctuary. In spite of
the title of my criticism, the overall effect of that Sabbath School Quarterly
was positive, and I believe
helped strengthen the faith of God’s people. With
this piece I again want to clarify that I do not seek to demonize anyone as an
apostate Adventist. My
purpose is simply to reveal how certain proposed principles are neglecting the
Bible and Spirit of Prophecy.
The word apostasy refers to an abandonment or renunciation of original faith.
This Sabbath School
quarterly thus marks an unfortunate milestone of abandonment when it comes to
some of prophetic
legacy we received from Protestant historicism and the pioneers of the
Adventist Church. This quarterly
does make several great points and maintains historicism as the principle of
interpretation, but particularly
with the first part of Revelation, it regrettably detaches itself from the
testimony Jesus gave us in the
Spirit of Prophecy. This
paper deals more specifically with problematic issues found in the quarterly on
Revelation. If the reader
wants to watch messages from a positive perspective, without open criticism, he
can watch the youtube
videos that I prepared in both English and Spanish on every lesson, which will
be available on my
website: [www.distinctivemessages.com] Warning:
the analysis of the quarterly that you will find here is based on a document
approved by the committees
of the Sabbath School department of the General Conference. However, some
changes were introduced
at the last moment. One of them has to do with the definition of the three
unclean spirits of Rev 16
as a satanic trinity. It has to do with an innovation of Dr. William Johnsson
which was later adopted
by other Seventh-day Adventist theologians, including the principal contributor
to the quarterly. But
instead of seeing in the three unclean spirits of Rev 16 a presumed satanic
trinity, it is more reasonable
to see in those three spirits a counterpart of the three angelic messages. In
addition, the allusion
to the Trinity was also put aside because the parallelism sought by the author
between the Trinity and the
three unclean spirits is forced. Though the Trinity is clearly seen in
Revelation, in order to approach
that subject, it is advisable to offer a wider analysis. Ranko
Stefanovic reacted against those changes, because in his words, they
“challenged my scholarly credibility”
See
[https://atoday.org/dr-ranko-stefanovic-on-the-revelation-sabbath-school-quarterly/].
He 2 mentions
changes introduced in Revelation 1:9-20, and chaps. 5, 7, 11, 13, 19. But I
found other changes that in
my view are positive, though many incorrect positions have been inadvertently
kept. For this reason,
I maintain my original criticism because the same problems are found scattered
through his work, if not
in the study guide for members and teachers, in the accompanying book written
by Ranko, and in his book
on Revelation that he promotes. The interpretation of the trumpets in the study
guide marks a clear
departure from Adventist historicism which was confirmed by the Spirit of
Prophecy and maintained by the
General Conference in session. Other issues are masked in the Study Guide but
remain relevant concerning
the moment referred to in the heavenly temple. Let’s
summarize the quarterly’s problems before diving into the details. 1.
Omission of key Biblical texts that suggest a different view than the one being
proposed, and use of Biblical
texts that do not align themselves with what Revelation reveals. This
negligence leads them to put forth a version of Revelation that does not fit
with the reality Jesus wants us
to see in that book. One reason for this is that those in charge of preparing
both the adult quarterly
and the teacher’s edition either studied at non-Adventist theological centers
or alongside those at Andrews
who are predisposed to accept the theological structure inherent at such
universities, where the inaugural
coronation of Christ is seen as foundational, and a second final coronation is
not envisioned. 2.
Abandonment of the clear teachings of the Testimony of Jesus through the Spirit
of Prophecy. Key
statements of the Spirit of Prophecy that offer a perspective different from
the one they wish to present
are left out, and other statements are taken out of context and introduce a
distorted account of Revelation. 3.
Abandonment of the spatial correlation between the earthly and heavenly
sanctuary. This
trend allows them to reorganize Revelation into something other than the
prophetic legacy bequeathed
to us by Protestantism and our Adventist pioneers, despite the clear
confirmation of Jesus through
the Spirit of Prophecy. The rejection of a spatial correspondence between the
earthly sanctuary and the
heavenly sanctuary was introduced into our church about half a century ago, and
little by little expanded
its influence through various Adventist circles. Now that view is bringing
unexpected results. Thus for
instance, rather than seeing the just judgments of God in the form of trumpets
of war against the last
tyrannical empire prophesied by Daniel (Rome), the authors of the lessons
spiritualize the fulfillment
and fail to arrive at the Adventist Church between 1840 and 1844, at the
conclusion of the sixth
trumpet. Between these two dates there is a transition from the Holy to the
Most Holy in regard to the
priestly ministry of the heavenly temple that is discarded in the quarterly
(compare Rev 9:13 with 11:19).
More so the lesson prefers overlooking the prophetic time specified in the
sixth trumpet, in order to
extend that trumpet beyond the opening of the door to the Most Holy, all the
way to the end of the time of
mercy. This is why Ekkehardt Mueller and other theologians allege that
Adventists believe they are still
living in the time of the sixth trumpet (which is not true). For more
details on this see these articles on my website: [http://www.adventistdistinctivemessages.com/English/Documents/TrumpetsBRIanswer.pdf]
and [http://www.adventistdistinctivemessages.com/English/Documents/DiesiebenPosaunen-reviewed.pdf] There
are three quotes from Ellen White that encouraged me to spread the warning
about certain elements
of prophetic apostasy found in the Sabbath School quarterly. It confirms my
conviction that, in spite of
that, the goal of discussing apocalyptic topics in the quarterly is indeed
laudable, and I trust that it will
motivate people to search the Scriptures and better appreciate our prophetic
faith. “God
will arouse His people; if other means fail, heresies will come in among them,
which will sift them,
separating the chaff from the wheat. The Lord calls upon all who believe His
word to awake
out of sleep… This light should lead us to a diligent study of the Scriptures,
and a most critical
examination of the positions which we hold. God would have all the bearings and
positions 3 of truth
thoroughly and perseveringly searched, with prayer and fasting. Believers are
not to rest in suppositions
and ill-defined ideas of what constitutes truth” (CW 40; 5 T 707-8). “My
message to you is: No longer consent to listen without protest to the
perversion of truth. Unmask
the pretentious sophistries which, if received, will lead ministers and
physicians and medical
missionary workers to ignore the truth. Every one is now to stand on his guard.
God calls upon men
and women to take their stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince
Emmanuel. I have
been instructed to warn our people; for many are in danger of receiving
theories and sophistries
that undermine the foundation pillars of the faith” (1 SM 197). “False teachers
may appear to be very zealous for the work of God, and may expend means to bring
their theories before the world and the church; but as they mingle error with
truth, their message
is one of deception, and will lead souls into false paths. They are to be met
and opposed, not
because they are bad men, but because they are teachers of falsehood and are
endeavoring to put upon
falsehood the stamp of truth” (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers,
55). Positive
features