Can our beliefs and the testimonies be probed and tested in friendly hands to update or confirm them, or are they untouchable by any means and locked in place.......?

Dr Samuel Bacchiocchi, world renouned scholar and former professor in Religion Department of Andrews University, has been probing the foundations of Adventist beliefs, and it seems left some shaken. He has served at Andrews University for 26 years as Professor of Theology and Church History until his retirement on July 2000. He now travels extensively around the world lecturing at universities, theological seminaries, professional meetings, and religious gatherings. .... Can our beliefs and the testimonies be probed and tested in friendly hands to update or confirm them, or are they untouchable by any means and locked in place.......?

I don't see the problem ?

I don't see the problem?

I believe that they should be able to be probed and tested in friendly hands. However, there are several things which need to be considered:

1. The time when they were written. What applied then may not specifically apply in detail today, however,the principle most probably still applies.

Correct...

2. Often the particular "testimony" was given to meet a specific need. Here again, the principle still applies, but not the specific instruction. Take, for instance, an oft quoted "statement" about not having milk and sugar together. That is so often based on a specific testimony that Ellen White gave to a man whose wife was a lazy housewife and did not do anything to provide her husband with appropriate food. He wanted to do what was right, and he left off meat, but, because his wife did not cook anything to take the place of the meat, he relied on copious amounts of milk and sugar to give to him the strength to continue his work. He eventually died -- probably from diabetes.


Everything in proper context..

So, in this case the principle to apply is to replace meat with a protein food that will be a more healthful alternative than meat.

3. God unfolded truth to Ellen White little by little. We find the same principle in the Bible. When we read the Bible stories we find the same thing happening. Take the book of Ezekiel, for instance. We find God giving Ezekiel instructions over a number of years, gradually becoming more and more insistant to the Israelites who were going deeper and deeper into idolatry. They eventually reached the place in their Baal worship where they were prepared to take their firstborn son -- the one that God had said belonged to Him -- and place him on the burning arms of Baal -- as a sacrifice. Can you even begin to understand the horror of watching that tiny helpless infant die a shocking death all in the name of worship!Eventally God said, "enough is enough" and allowed the Babylonians to take them captive and destroy Jerusalem.


We also sometimes need truth fed to us slowly so we understand...

In the Spirit of Prophecy we often find statements in the early writings that contain truth -- but not the whole truth. Later we will find God giving further instructions that shed FURTHER light on the first statement. These are not contradictions, but further light along the way.


The understanding on the GodHead comes to mind....

God bless,

Beryl