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Welcome to another podcast episode of “What’s an Adventist?”
It is a historical fact that the Roman Catholic Church has a track record of religious repression and persecution. So when it was recently reported that Rome could be the new center for religious liberty the natural response was “huh?” Although we are centuries removed from the days of the Protestant reformation, Adventism has within in genetic code, if you would, the very spirit that led the Protestant reformers to break with the Roman Church and to perceive it as a threat to religious freedom. Some believe that these “Protestant” attitudes and ideas about the Catholic Church are outdated and old news and see any attempt at criticizing the Church as just plain hateful.
This week Jesse Sias and Abraham Miranda provide a commentary on this issue of Catholicism and religious liberty from an Adventist perspective. The views expressed here are not intended to promote anti-Catholic sentiments, but to show how Adventist’s view and perceive these important issues and developments. We ask that Adventists and anyone that hears this information share it in a thoughtful and loving way. And if you don't know enough about this issue, please study it further before sharing. Also in this podcast Jesse and Abraham explore the idea of whether Adventists are completely out of touch with reality and are conspiracy theory junkies.
By the way, this podcast is in no way part of a larger conspiracy to make everyone in the world accept the “Adventistee” way of life...or is it?
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Thanks for listening and supporting this ministry with your prayers. If you would like to comment on this podcast click on the “comment” link below. You can also contact us at whatsanadventist@hotmail.com or show your support by becoming a WAA fan on our facebook page. God bless!
Sources mentioned in this podcast:
"Liberty of Conscience Threatened", The Great Controversy Ch. 35
Soteriologically, Adventists and Catholics are much alike. Moreover, official Adventism cannot be considered to be even remotely Protestant with their reliance upon extra-biblical revelations. "Sola Scriptura" was the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation.
ReplyDeleteA former SDA insider,
Dennis Fischer
Blog: http://notesfromdennisfischer.blogspot.com
Mr. Fischer,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. Regarding Protestant reformers, it is true that Luther and others condemned the "prophets" of the Reformation (which many were false prophets to begin with) but there were other reformers such as Andreas Karlstadt and Hans Hut who recognized that "spiritual illumination was Biblical, and could be expected in the onward progress of the gospel message...but, they emphasized, it was never to add to or supersede the "outer" or Written Word...The true "inner word" in the church, they declared, would ever be guaranteed by its being in full harmony with the Written Word of God." -The Reformation and the Advent Movement, pg. 204
Consider also that Ellen White always considered the Bible to be superior to her own writings and made the Scripture the only rule of faith for any Christian. She called her writings a "lesser light" to lead men and women to the "greater light." On one occasion she addressed a certain Brother J who would confuse others to make it appear that the light God had given through the Testimonies was in addition to God's Word as presenting matters in a false light. Her response was "God has seen fit in this manner to bring the minds of his people to his Word, to give them a clearer understanding of it." -Selected Messages Vol. 3 "The Primacy of the Word"
While Adventists and Catholics may share the commonality of using as you call "extra-biblical revelations," the manner and substance of those revelations are strikingly different. But regardless of whether the source is Adventist or not we should always strive to test any revelation against the Word of God, and let that speak for itself.