This video continues the Council of Adventist Pastors (CAP) interview by Pr. Jim Brackett of Pr. Larry Kirkpatrick. Part 1 was posted separately yesterday. This is part 2, and immediately follows part 1 to complete the full segment. Part 1 had concluded with a restatement of the longstanding Seventh-day Adventist principle of not judging Scripture with independent human reason, but letting Scripture judge our reason. The above video compares this with the NAD’s “Majority Report” proposal. NAD asks that the church make its authority an imaginary future point after the New Testament where God’s ideal will for male and female roles would reach fruition. Comparisons continue to the end of the segment.
Category: Genesis
Pastor Bob Stewart takes a fascinating look at some of the male and female distinctives in the Bible, along with the Christ/Bridegroom church/bride typology. FIND IT HERE.
Biblical Sacredness of Ordination
Louis R. Torres shares an extended study on ordination and its biblical sacredness, and how the question pertains to women’s ordination. Pastor Torres has a long history of service and soul-winning in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Appended to the article is an extended section addressing many questions relating to Ellen White materials on ordination. FIND IT HERE!
NAD Minority Report
It may appear to the world church that the North American Division is immovably united in favor of Women’s Ordination. This is far from the case. Many Adventists in the small towns surrounding our universities in North America do favor Women’s Ordination. There are a few geographical locations like Southern California, Western Oregon, and parts of Ohio, where this is also the case. However, it is probably still true that the majority of Adventists in North America are not committed to Women’s Ordination. Many oppose it on serious biblical grounds.
Many NAD administrators and scholars seem in favor. But not all. For example, Edwin E. Reynolds teaches in the religion department at Southern Adventist University. Clinton Wahlen is an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute. Both are members in the North American Division and were among those selected to engage in study on behalf of the North American Division Theology of Ordination Study Committee. They have prepared a powerful study in which they dissent from the Majority report. This material is included as part of the NAD Report released on November 2, 2013. We have made available in the following link the full North American Division Theology of Ordination Study Committee Minority Report.
http://ordinationtruth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/nad-ordination-14-minority.pdf
In the report, Reynolds and Wahlen point in particular to the central issue of interpretive method. “The current divergence in views on the subject of women’s ordination is due in part to different understandings of the nature of Scripture and how it should be interpreted. . . Some advocate an approach that takes into account the ‘trajectory’ of Scripture. . . extrapolated so that the trajectory beyond and outside of Scripture can be seen. . . such an approach, even though it might broadly affirm the Bible’s inspiration, nevertheless undermines it by characterizing selected portions of Scripture as time- and culture-bound and, therefore, tinged with the author’s prejudicial views on such topics, rather than God’s thoughts which are valid for all places and all time” (p. 195). The authors are concerned about this approach, and warn, “it is one thing to study the historical-cultural backgrounds to enlighten our understanding of the setting in which the text was written; it is another thing altogether to suggest that the text was culturally conditioned and that, therefore, a trajectory beyond the text must be constructed for our current, more enlightened age” (pp. 196, 197).
Reynolds and Wahlen look closely at passages like Genesis two, Deborah in Judges, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 11, among others. They conclude that “ordaining women represents a significant departure from the biblical model” (p. 207). And, they warn that “To follow the Bible model on the issue of women’s ordination will require courage like that of our pioneers. Nevertheless, it is the only basis on which we can expect to maintain global unity, receive God’s continued blessing, and, most importantly, anticipate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to finish His work” (p. 208).
Among the varied studies produced on Women’s Ordination in the past five years in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, few illuminate so much in so compact a space as this document. The Council of Adventist Pastors encourages all to read the NAD Theology of Ordination Study Committee Report Minority Report.
What does Ellen White tell us about the the designed relation between Adam and Eve and the effect of the Fall upon that relationship? Pastor John Witcombe takes a brief look in “The Curse That Redeems.” FIND IT HERE
Part two of Pastor Kirkpatrick’s series tells us about first wave Feminist Theology. FIND IT HERE.
Ron Woolsey notices how two great institutions from Eden are under attack. Is this the Devil’s Test Run? FIND IT HERE.
Did male headship begin before the fall or was it instituted as a consequence of sin? Why is this question important? Pastor John Witcombe offers in this article a biblical answer showing that headship is the path to unity. Find it here!
This sermon by Gerhard Pfandl was preached at the Tridelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church on October 27, 2012. You can benefit from it in text form here, or, in audio form here.
New item by Larry Kirkpatrick. Discusses male and female roles and before the Fall and some preliminary discussion of ordered headship. Find it here.