“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1) This text by Paul is one of the most contentious in all history. It has been used by court jesters and regime apologists to justify unconditional obedience to government and government policies. At the height of the notorious apartheid regime in South Africa, it was the reference text by the Dutch Reformed Church– which sought to prop up the regime using biblical and theological arguments. Unable to reconcile the text to pleadings of conscience, it has cau ..read more

1888 and Righteousness by Faith In 1888, Ellen White had just returned from her first visit overseas to Europe. She had spent two years traveling through England, France, Switzerland, and other places serving primarily as an evangelist and revivalist to help the growing conferences out there. She was also able to gather more information about the places she wrote about in what she considered her most important work, The Great Controversy. This volume about church history and last-day events was first published in 1888. The positive accomplishment of publishing this important book was ..read more

Worldwide Influence How did a fledgling movement in the 1840s transform into the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist church with hundreds of schools, hospitals, and printing presses scattered all over the globe? How did those early Millerite believers detach themselves from fanatical groups and keep their faith in the soon coming of Jesus? How did they stay on the right path theologically when those from their own ranks began propagating unbiblical teachings? Seventh-day Adventists believe that God gave Ellen White the prophetic gift mentioned so often in scripture to guide the church through the ..read more

You can’t get very far into Ellen White without coming across a statement on perfection or obedience. To some people (including myself in the past) these statements can be troubling because they can seem very legalistic. Here are a few such statements: “But very few of the Christian world are following their Master in a course of humble obedience, progressing in holiness and perfection of Christian character.” (Con 73.1) “The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. There is opened before us a path of constant advancement. We have an object to gain, a standard to reach, that includes e ..read more

A while ago, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts: Ask NT Wright Anything. N.T. Wright is a well-known Anglican minister, scholar, and author whose theological views I greatly value. His insights are biblically based and often his theology approaches that of mainstream Adventism but from a refreshingly new perspective. However, during this episode, Wright and I diverged profoundly as he advocated for theistic evolution and attacked literal creation. While listening, I felt a little hurt and puzzled. How could Wright and I, who both value the Bible as God’s inspired word, diverge on s ..read more

Mr. President Arthur Grosvenor Daniells was the longest-serving president the Adventist church has ever had. During his 21 years of presidency, he led the church through the reorganization of 1901 and 1903, the Kellogg crisis in the early 1900s, the first World War, and the famous 1919 Bible conference. Daniells was also the first General Conference president who had to navigate the church forward without the guidance of Ellen White’s prophetic voice after she passed away in 1915. The administrative ability of Arthur was just what the church needed at the turn of the 20th century, as the churc ..read more

A Man of Many Talents Stephen Nelson Haskell accomplished a great deal in his life without any formal education. He was forced from a young age to improvise when it came to job opportunities to get by in life. For over 50 years that adaptability benefited him as he served the Seventh-day Adventist church. Haskell was a Bible worker, president of multiple conferences, a missionary in Britain and Australia, and pioneered urban evangelism in New York City and other places throughout his career. Few men could say that they did more in the Adventist church than he did. Throughout his life, Stephen ..read more

“As long as the Matrix exists, the human race will never be free.” – Morpheus In the year 1999, the most influential action movie of the generation—groundbreaking and innovative in its special effects and cinematography—hit the big screen and the world of film was never the same. From that point forward, movie history could be divided into two chapters. The world before this motion picture and the world after it. And if you are a 90s kid like me then you already know what movie I’m talking about: The Matrix. For those who have not seen the film, the basic plot goes something like this: Humanit ..read more

A Highly Educated Gentleman William Warren Prescott was one of the most highly educated Seventh-day Adventists of his generation. He had the privilege of going to an ivy-league school and used that training to serve the denomination effectively in various roles for over 50 years. From the 1880s to the 1930s, Prescott was a key player in almost every major development of the church. W. W. Prescott was the first actual educational superintendent of the denomination. He worked hard attempting to implement the educational reforms that Ellen White and other contemporary educators were championing ..read more

The Pentecostal Preacher Alonzo Trevier Jones is known as one of the most powerful preachers ever to grace an Adventist pulpit. His charismatic style made him probably the most influential figure in American Adventism during the 1890s. The Sunday laws passed in the U. S. in the 1880s and 90s also called forth his best efforts to uphold religious liberty in a country that was on the brink of becoming a “Christian nation.” These were times where almost every Adventist expected end-time events to take place swiftly. Adventists couldn’t get enough of Jones’s fiery preaching in those days. As the S ..read more