Unity and Uniformity: Short Thoughts on Principles

Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

The history of Seventh-day Adventism saw exactly the onslaught of the same demons that first knocked at the door of other denominations: Rationalism and critical Spirit of Prophecy-ship; Women Ordination in a period of Feminine Liberation Agitation; LGBTHQ rights for gays in the church resulting from the world adoption of so-called pluralism jurisdiction that is focused on the supreme role of equality above equity. The liberal elements of Satan worked in militant network of armies and made sure they had Spectrum and Adventist Today to do so in Adventism. This is since the late 1960’s and late 1970’s. Satan entered the church universities and administration with a Trojan Horse of Liberalism. It happened in the Christian churches in the 1750’s-1825 and in that year God woke up Hengstenberg, a young scholar to Berlin University. He founded a new journal Evangelical Church Gazette and just like Gerhard Hasel was appointed professor at Andrews University to root out liberalism in the late 1960’s and founded a journal ATS theological Journal, so did Hengstenberg. Just like Hasel, Hengstenberg had a “lion’s heart” and “fought steadily for the growth of the pure faith of the olden time” (John Hurst, History of Rationalism , 271). Strauss was the liberal scholar who wanted to tear the Word of God apart with scissors and glue, locking the book into its own time and trying to invent new rules unrelated to the Bible. That is in our day what Woman Ordination is and what criticism against the Spirit of Prophecy is and also the embracing attitudes of opening for gays in the ministry. The Dutch Reform Church in South Africa just opened their doors to gays. All for the sake of money [Euros] that they do not want to lose from Netherland, their mother church, which was already rotten long before. Hengstenberg said of the liberal Strauss: “He has the heart of a leviathan, which is as hard as stone and as firm as the nether millstone; he assails the Lord’s Anointed with composure and cold bloodedness; and not a tear of pity flows from his eyes”.

The liberals always act in networks of bonds of friendship. They see themselves as the persecuted, the persecutors as narrow-minded and stern. The persecutors as people who want to make religion difficult and unpleasant. But the true church has to make decisions of uniformity when it comes to the biblical doctrines. One cannot worship on Sunday and party on Sabbath with the Adventists. One cannot ride a train on two rails at the same time. Uniformity is called for especially if it is based on the Bible. Two of the greatest issues currently for the General Conference, are, seeing that the majority accepted by the Session, “considered to be the Word of God by Ellen White” that the Bible is against Woman Ordination and gay rights, what to do with the renegate unions and NAD who in a rebellious way try to cheat the system of God.

As we speak meetings are taking place to do just that. When a child is undisciplined and against the Word of God and biblical principles, also that of the Spirit of Prophecy, then there is only one way: they have to be dealt with. And the church will with serious consequences. It is a rooting out of the evil of libertarian views simmered on the stove of secularism. They object that the church is now dragonic, popish, crusaderish, even “demonizing” them with name-calling, but when someone is not following the Word of God or the counsels of the Spirit of Prophecy, the person is already on the side of Demons. The person is acting with a demon so that demonizing is not necessary. They demonized themselves by their choice. If a grace-period of a year is given to these renegates to get in line, then the grace-period announcement should also accompany an ultimatum spelling out the consequences of not following the church’s stance on the biblical principles. A year of observation of their acts and behavior is given and the whole church collect data on the actions of the people involved and after a year they have a reconsideration meeting whether they are in line or not. It is not God, me and Satan and I am following the “middle path”. It is only God and Satan and either one is for God or against Him. Unity with embracing pluralism is not unity. Unity without uniformity on biblical doctrine is unthinkable for a serious Adventist. Differences in taste, choice of color, the right to choose friends, the right to free association for the sake of the gospel, has nothing to do with uniformity. Biblical doctrines do not permit pluralism as the senses do. That is why the Bible says one faith.

Hengstenberg started in 1825 rooting out liberalism at the university and seminaries there and Hasel started in 1966. Both had journals to spell out their views. The Liberals worked in networks and got their journals out: the Halle Year-Books of 1838-1842 were the principal organ of the atheistic doctrines of Strauss and so Spectrum and Adventist Today became the organs for the unbiblical views of secularists, ex-Adventists and those with moral accidents persisting in their new lifestyles.

There is a Roman expression saying: “The shoemaker should not go beyond sandal-wearing”. The origin of this expression “Ne sutor ultra crepidam” is that of an artist Apelles who finished his paintings every day and hanged it out to dry. A shoemaker walked passed and noticed that one of the sandals were wrong. He pointed it out to the artist and the artist realized his wrong and overnight he fixed the problem. He hanged it out again but when the shoemaker passed he said: “the sandal is now fine, it is the leg that is a problem”. That is when Apelles told him that he must go home and keep to his trade of sandal-making and do not try to be an expert beyond what his authority is. John Hurst, who wrote a book similar to that of Gerhard Hasel for our times, said that when liberals go beyond the Word of God and its biblical principles, this Latin idiom is related. Scholars like Neander for example had a purity of heart and sought to faithfully interpret the divine guidance of the church, says Hurst, but his problem was that “he no doubt rejoiced in the conviction that the Rationalists had achieved their last great success, and that the work before him and those who believed as he did was to be henceforth more constructive and controversial” (Hurst 256).

In Adventism, we have the same double-mindedness of faith and horror intertwined in the lives of Liberals. Two tongue speakers and thinkers. That is why the church is waking up in the last scenes of world’s history because the time is serious and the end has come.

Dear God

We dedicate ourselves anew to Your Word and nothing beyond and behind or next to that authority. Our emotions and feelings cannot weigh in pure thought against this standard of our thoughts. Help us to stay within that authority. Amen.