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XXV - 10(92)
"Watchman,
what of the night?"
"The hour has come, the hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the end!" Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)
LARSON ABANDONS HIS POSITION PREVIOUSLY HELD ON INCARNATION
In 1986, Dr. Ralph Larson released a monumental work - The Word Was Made Flesh- which traced one hundred years of Seventh-day Adventist Christology regarding the nature that Christ assumed in the Incarnation. The cover design even depicted it as "light from the throne of God." From the many quotations contained in the book on the Incarnation from the pen
of Ellen G. White, Dr. Larson selected one which in his judgment best summarized his findings and placed it on introductory page V. This statement reads:
The nature of God, whose law had been transgressed, and the nature of Adam, the transgressor, meet in Jesus, the Son of God, and the Son of man. (Ms. 141, 1901)
In recent months, Dr. Larson has been embroiled in a controversy over his misuse of the Writings in an article on Tithing as printed in
OFF (Sept., 1991). Instead of simply acknowledging that he did distort his
quotes from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7, pp. 176-177, he has now produced a tract on tithing which compounds his error and signals a change of his position on the Incarnation from what he wrote in 1986. He stated in two different places as follows:
My theology is precisely and specifically the theology set forth in the book Seventh-day Adventists Believe (sic) (p. 3)
We pause to point out that the true doctrine of the nature of Christ is set forth in the book Seventh-day Adventists Believe (sic), pp. 37-56. (p. 32)
The book, Seventh-day Adventists Believe..., now gives a third
alternative for Seventh-day Adventists in regard to the nature that Christ
assumed in taking humanity. This was plainly stated by Dr. Roger Coon in the
Tithe pamphlet
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which was inserted into the Adventist Review (Nov. 7, 1991), and to which Larson directs attention in Part 2 of
his Tithe tract. Note carefully Coon's three options:
There are at least three views on the nature of Christ
current in Adventist circles: (1) that at the incarnation Christ took the nature
of Adam before Adam's fall; (2) that He took the nature of Adam after
the fall; and (3) that He took a nature that in certain respects was like Adam's before the fall, but in other respects was like Adam's after the fall. (p. 3; emphasis his)
It is the third view which the book, Seventh-day Adventist Believe ... endorses. In the section, God the Son," subsection, "The extent of His identification with human nature" (pp. 46-49), we find a quoted paragraph which reads in summary:
Thus "Christ's humanity was not the Adamic humanity, that is, the humanity of Adam before the fall; nor fallen humanity, that is, in every respect the humanity of Adam after the fall. It was not the Adamic, because it had the innocent infirmities of the fallen. It was not the fallen, because it had never descended into moral impurity. It was, therefore, most literally our humanity, but without sin." (p. 47)
This statement is noted as coming from the Anglican divine, Henry Melvill, who defined, "innocent infirmities as hunger, pain, sorrow, etc. Further it is noted that he called this view, "the orthodox doctrine" (p. 57) This now is the view which Dr. Larson states is "my theology...precisely and specifically." In his mounting self-deception, he has now abandoned the historic position of Adventism in regard to the Incarnation - that Christ took the nature of Adam
after the fall - and substituted in its place the theology of an Anglican minister. Paul did not write amiss when he warned that when we receive "not the love of the truth" God permits "strong delusion" to overtake us. (II Thess. 2:10-11)
Footnote: In his Tithe tract, Dr. Larson resorts to the same tactic used first by Enright of the Roman Catholic Church for emphasis, and used frequently by Adventist evangelists in the past to underscore the fact that nowhere in the Bible is there a text for Sunday observance - a $1,000 reward for a single reference from Scripture. We would ask Dr. Larson, "Has a reward committee been set up, and the $1,000 deposited, so that evidence can be presented in challenge for the offer?" If not, it is just so much "east wind". (See Hosea 12:1)
The Offer was doubled to $2,000 in two separate offers, but limited to Dr. Devnich, President of the Canadian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (p. 2). But will he make it open to anyone to so prove his second offer?
FERRELL COMES UNGLUED
In the issues of Waymarks Numbers 411 and 412, Ferrell seeks to
justify his diabolical perversion of truth which he had written in PG in
the title "Diabolical Perversion of Truth" - is the date - 7(92). Interestingly,
when he quoted from WWN, he was able to document it as Vol. XXV, No. 7. Then he proceeded to date the incident of Brother Stump's and my visit to Pilgrim's Rest as "approximately a year ago." The date was Sunday, April 10, 1988, well over a year ago. Brother Stump has been serving as pastor of the Smyrna Gospel Ministries in West Virginia since the Fall of 1988. In fact, within the year, Ferrell has corresponded with Stump at his West Virginia address. He simply came unglued, and what followed is the fabrication of a confused mind.
Brother Stump has talked to Ferrell on the telephone regarding his
prevarications noting that he in no wise said what Ferrell placed in direct
quotes in column 2. To assume that either Brother Stump or I would be
overwhelmed by Ferrell's assertion that the pitter-patter of alien feet walking
the streets of Jerusalem would indicate that the city of Jerusalem was still
trodden down of the Gentiles is simply ludicrous in the extreme. It is one thing
to seek to answer another's position with what one perceives, even if it is only
his opinion, but to stoop to outright lying, echoes a fatherhood with one who
abode not in the truth. The word, "diabolical" was well chosen in the title of
the article in WWN, 7(92).
After Ferrell's lying report reached the field a well-intentioned brother sincerely wrote to Ferrell suggesting a compromised position on the text - Luke 21:24. I received a copy of the letter. To this letter, I responded, and this response summarizes the issue. Here is the letter, dated August 16, 1992. (A copy was also sent to Ferrell)
Your endeavor to suggest a compromise, or a harmonizing between what Vance Ferrell has written on Luke 21:24, and the manuscripts we have published on the subject, though sincerely done, cannot succeed any more than an attempt to harmonize truth with error. I write this for
the following reasons:
1) Jesus in His prophetic discourse on the Mount of Olives did not allude to the temple mount, or what is now called the Dome of the Rock. In giving the sign which would affect Christians living in Jerusalem in A.D. 66, Jesus
did not say, when ye shall see the temple mount surrounded, then know ye that the destruction is nigh at hand. If the Christians had so interpreted what Jesus said, it would have been too late for them! Just so today, a misinterpretation as Ferrell has given will mean a too late experience for all who buy his heresy. Jesus had said some hours prior to the discourse, concerning the temple, "Your house is left unto you desolate." (Matt. 23:38) Ferrell is merely following modern Evangelical teaching in regard to his interpretation, and rejecting that which is founded on the Word of God.
2) Ferrell is making the date, 1967, the key date thus echoing the Evangelical opinions. He does not even consider the date 1980, when Israel moved its government from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and by the action of the Knesset declared on July 30, 1980 - "Jerusalem united in its entirety is the capital of Israel." This closed the brief but definable period covered by the Greek idiom in Luke 21:24 - achri hou. A series of three successive events of significance began with the welcoming of the Pope, John Paul II, to the White House. This was followed by the voting of a changed statement of beliefs at the Dallas 1980 GC session, and then the action of the Knesset.
3) It needs to be kept in mind that Jesus was talking about the "times" of the visitation of the nations, not individuals. The probation of the corporate bodies of earth was fulfilled in 1980, even as the time of visitation of the Jewish Church/State ended in A.D. 34. Individual probation is connected with another event to be fulfilled in the history of Jerusalem. Daniel 11:45. This will involve "the glorious holy mountain, BUT at that time "Michael will stand up." Too late then, and the blood of those deceived by Ferrell will rest on his head.
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CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
Part One
Ever since the revival of interest in what took place at the 1888 General Conference session in Minneapolis, with its aftermath, there has been projected upon the Adventist consciousness, the concept of "corporate repentance." This was due wholly to the research, writing, and preaching of Elders R. J. Wieland and D. K. Short since 1950. Even though in recent years, these men have waffled over the meaning of "corporate repentance," if the experience these brethren called for in the beginning had occurred, then there would be no need for further consideration of other aspects of corporate accountability. While our God is a God of mercy, He is also a God of justice. His Spirit will not always strive with men. (Gen. 6:3) While the times and seasons remain at His discretion (Acts 1:7), there is no record in all Sacred Writ where He granted unlimited time in which to repent. Thus there comes a very real aspect of corporate accountability - corporate guilt - and what God will do about it. With this is involved our individual responsibility.
That we might understand what we are talking about, we should keep before us a clear definition of the term - corporate. This word comes from the Latin - corpus - meaning, body. To incorporate is to make into a body, a single unit composed of few or many members. Such a corporate body, religious in nature, is called a church. In Scripture, such a body is compared to the human organism. (1 Cor. 12:12) The legal aspects of a corporation is a body formed and authorized by law to act as a single person although constituted of more than one person, and legally endowed with the right of succession. This right of succession, while legally recognized in its provision for corporations, is a fundamental Scriptural teaching regarding the church.
Over and above, and within a corporate concept, there is granted to every individual, the
power of choice. In most instances, I choose to become a part of a "corpus," the only exception being my natural birth, with its gift of family ties, nationality, race, and citizenship. But even here, I can spurn my family; I can renounce my citizenship, or choose another. However, in the area of the corpus we call the church, I must choose what that church shall be. Then, what are my responsibilities by so choosing? What is my accountability because of that choice? What choices does one have, once he becomes a part of such a corpus?
There is and always has been tension between individual responsibility and corporate accountability. Man was created in the Image of God, and with this image came certain power - power to think and to do. It has been stated thus:
Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator - individuality, power to think and to do....It is the work of true education to develop this power; to train youth to be thinkers, and not mere reflectors of other men's thoughts.
(Education, p. 17)
Since "in the highest sense, the work of education and the work of redemption are one" (ibid., p. 30), the Church, though a corpus, to be true to its trust, must seek the development in the individuals composing the body, that restoration of the image of God, which gives them the power to think and to act. It is the object of this study to explore what God has to say about corporate accountability, so that we may know how to relate as individuals to the crisis of corporate identity at this present time.
God created the first corporation. Its formation is described in these words:
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: for they shall be one flesh. (Gen. 2:21-24)
Here we have two individuals, with individual responsibility, yet declared to be one in a corporate identity.
The next picture presented in the Scripture record is the seduction of Eve by
the serpent to partake of that which God had forbidden. But the question comes -
Did Adam have to sin because he was one with Eve? No! He had been created in the image of God with the power to think and to do as an individual. How God would have met the situation had Adam not chosen to eat of the fruit offered to him by Eve is a moot question. However, the Scripture does not state that by Eve sin entered the world, but
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by "one man." (Rom. 5:17) By his deliberate disobedience, Adam not only surrendered his individual responsibility, but joined corporately in passing death to the human race. "As in Adam all die." (1 Cor. 15:22a) Since a corporation has the power of succession, death passed upon all man because of their identity in that first corporation. Paul stated it this way - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12
God has provided another corporation. There is the corpus of Adam; there is the corpus of Christ. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." ( 1 Cor. 15:22) "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. 5:18) Since I by natural birth am involved in the corpus of Adam, how do I change corpora? To as many as receive the Word made flesh, "to them gave He power to become sons of God [not sons of Adam], even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13) With the coming of God into humanity - "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16) - the corpus Christi became as real as is the corpus of Adam. This new corpus brought about by God, as was the first corporation in Eden, has likewise the power of succession. To that new corpus Christi, Jesus committed the great commission, and clearly stated that it was to endure to the end of the age. He would be with them by His Holy Spirit through all time. (Matt. 28:19-20; John 14:16-18) They were to become one spirit with Him, as He had become one flesh with them.
Is this succession organizational, or is it the succession of truth? In other words - Do we find the truth by submitting to the Church, or do we find the Church by submitting to the truth?
THE CORPUS CHRISTI
Jesus declared - "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6) The only access back to the Father and to life - for "in Adam all die" - is through Jesus Christ. When alone with His disciples in the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus questioned them about whom the people perceived Him to be. The disciples had heard various comments as they mingled with the multitudes who came to listen and to be healed. Then Jesus asked them directly - "But whom say ye that I am?" (Matt. 16:15) To this question, Peter responded - "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This perception of reality in contradiction to what He appeared to be - the Son of man - came only through revelation. It could not be comprehended through the insight available to "flesh and blood" but came from the "Father which is in heaven." Upon this revelation of truth - divine in origin, solid as a rock - Jesus declared He would build His Church. (Matt. 16:17-18) He, the very embodiment of Truth, became the head of that body - the Corpus Christi.
Paul perceived this nature of the Corpus Christi when he wrote to Timothy, stating:
These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the stay of the truth. (1 Tim. 3:14-15, margin)
The Corpus Christi is to be the pillar, the stay, the visible means through which truth is to be revealed to man. And only as it adheres to truth can it truly be the Church of the living God.
It is most informative, and also very revealing how the Apostolic Church viewed themselves and how they were viewed by the Jewish Church of which they were or had been a part depending upon their spiritual progression. When Paul, sought to apprehend heretics, dissidents, or whatever name they might have been called in the synagogues of Damascus, his letters of authority described these people as followers "of the way." (Acts 9:1-2, Gr.) Luke tells of an incident on Paul's third missionary journey which occurred at Ephesus and what he did about it. The record reads:
And he [Paul] went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for
the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the
kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil
of the way [Greek] before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples,...(Acts 19:8-9)
After this decision by the Apostle Paul, the word of God grew mightily and
prevailed so that "there was no small stir about the way." (Acts 19:23 Gr) This concept of "The Way" was again used by Paul as he addressed the riotous Jewish mob from the stairs of the Tower of Antonia. Speaking in the Hebrew tongue, he told of his education and training in Jerusalem "at the feet
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of Gamaliel, his zeal "toward God," and how he "persecuted this way
unto death." (Acts 22:4) It is clear from the book of Acts, that while the disciples of Christ were first called "Christians" at Antioch (11:27), they were known throughout Jewry as simply Followers of The Way.
This concept of the way of truth which brings life is very interestingly
projected in the New Testament. Christ presented the devil as a murderer - the
one who brings death, and the reason given is that he "abode not in the truth."
(John 8:44) Christ on the other hand is set forth as "the Prince of life." (Acts
3:15) He came to "destroy him that had the power of death." (Heb. 2:14) He, the
Word made flesh, was "full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) Through the atoning
sacrifice of Calvary, Jesus made it possible for the sons of Adam to become sons
of God, thus changing their identification from the corpus of Adam to the corpus
of Christ. This accomplishment of Christ, and the provision thus made for man,
is spoken of as "the way out," or the "exodus." Luke, in telling of the coming
of Moses and Elijah to Jesus at the time of the Transfiguration, states that
they spoke of "His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem." (Luke 9:31)
The word translated in the KJV as "decease" is the Greek, exodos, or "the way out." Thus those who proclaimed Him as the only way to the Father, as the sole source of salvation (Acts 4:12) were dubbed by the Jewish religious leaders as "Followers of the Way." And to the Hebrew Christians, Paul could write of that "new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say His flesh." (Heb. 10:20)
The concept as to what constitutes succession in the Corpus Christi, whether
it be organization, or whether it be truth, is vividly contrasted in the
confrontation between Paul and the lawyer for the hierarchy of Jerusalem in his
arraignment before Felix. When permitted to speak in his own defense, Paul
declared, "I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets." (Acts 24:14) His basis of belief was
the same that it always had been - he still accepted the truth of the Word of God. He still worshipped the God of his fathers. To Paul, he was merely continuing in the truth which the Lord had revealed - the revelation of the promised Messiah. But because Paul was willing to walk in that way, how was he viewed by the hierarchy of Jerusalem? Tertullus, advocate for the religious leaders, declared him to be "a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." (Acts 24:5) What really was Paul's crime? He could no longer support the hierarchy, nor the program they projected for the people. To him, the leadership of Israel had rejected the Truth; they had betrayed the Trust committed to them. He with Stephen believed they had resisted the Holy Spirit to their damnation, and though they had received the law by the disposition of angels, they had not kept it. (Acts 7:51, 53)
These convictions form the basis for Paul's teachings as found in the book of Romans: "They which are the children of the flesh [the succession upon which the corpus of Israel was based], these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise [succession based upon the Word of God - truth] are counted for the seed." (Rom. 9:8) Therefore, "hath God cast away His people?" To this Paul answers - "God forbid." What then is the answer? Noting the history of Israel in the days of Elijah, Paul concludes - "Even so then at the present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." (Rom. 11:1-5) To Paul, this remnant is "the Israel of God." (Gal. 6:16)
What did Paul want those to see - those still attached to the succession of
the flesh? "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise." (Gal. 3:29) The inheritance would not come through the
corporate structure of Israel, but by following The Way - truth that leads to
life. To remain attached to the earthly Jerusalem was not the answer. Paul
declared that church controlled by the hierarchy to be "in bondage with her
children. But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us
all." (Gal. 4:25-26) He wrote to the Hebrews that they had come "unto Mount
Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels [who still abode in the truth], to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God
the judge of all." (Heb. 12:22-23) And the only way - The Way - to that God with Whom we have to do, is by Jesus Christ, "the way, the truth and the life." The succession which God recognizes is not the way of organization, but the way of truth. Organization, though necessary, is only a vehicle, a means by which truth is carried. Loyalty is not to a vehicle, but to truth itself. Those who are thus loyal to truth constitute the Corpus Christi.
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Let us consider Paul's question - "Hath God cast away His people? - in the context of today - the "now time." Hath God cast away the Advent Movement? God forbid! How can He deny that which is the fulfilment of prophecy which He himself mandated? (Rev. 1:1; 14:6-12) But the Advent Movement and the Seventh-day Adventist Church are two different things. The latter is merely the vehicle God chose through which to carry forward His Movement. God never told His people that in the balances of the sanctuary the Advent Movement would be weighed. But He did declare, through His messenger to the remnant, that "in the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist church is to be weighed." (8T:247) Even at the present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
To Be Continued
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FALLACIOUS REASONING
A friend very much concerned about the fallacious reasoning used in an
article printed in OFF, Vol. 7, # 8, sent me a copy. In it - "The End-Time Church" - Dr. Colin
Standish wrote:
Some feel free to declare that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is no longer God's church. If that were true, then probation would have already closed for the Seventh- day Adventist Church. How can humans be confident of this? When probation does close, no one will know. This decision is God's, not man's. Even in abject apostasy, God did not forsake Judah. (Then Jer. 51:5 is quoted) (p. 24)
This paragraph is so loaded with deceptive concepts that one hardly knows which end of the paragraph to begin with first. Jeremiah is quoted out of context of the time frame being discussed. When one makes a comparison of the close of probation for the Church as a corporate body relative to Israel, the time frame is A.D. 31-34, not Jeremiah's day. God granted to them following their captivity 490 years of grace. (Daniel 9:24) In other words, God did make known the time for the close of probation for the Jewish State/Church.
Are we dealing with a different God today? Through His "messenger to the remnant" he has defined the high calling of the Seventh-day
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Adventist Church. Ellen G. White wrote:
In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light-bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world...They have been given a work of the most solemn import, - the proclamation of the [three] angels' messages. There is no other work of so great importance. ...
The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world...God's people are to be true to the trust committed to them. (9T:19)
God has also stated unequivocally that the Church to whom He has entrusted so much is "to be weighed" in "the balances of the sanctuary;" and if she has not proved true to "the work entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced the sentence, 'Found wanting."' (8T:247) And the God who gave warning to the Jewish Church, will not give warning to the Seventh-day Adventist Church? How blind can we become in our Laodicean state?
Further, the "messenger" stated positively in 1896 that her mind "was carried into the future, when the signal will be given, 'Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. '" (R&H,
Feb. 11, 1896) What do these words mean - "Go ye out to meet Him"? A separation, yes; moreover a "signal" will be given! No one will know, or see this signal? Come now, Dr. Standish, let us not continue to deceive God's people. You have played that game long enough. But how long will God's concerned people continue to let these "voices" lull them into a fatal sense of security with their fallacious reasoning?
We have been told that the Laodicean state "is represented by the foolish virgins," on whom the door is shut. (R&H, Aug. 19, 1890) In other words, the signal to be given would mark the close of probation for corporate Laodicea. Now Standish' s agnosticism comes through, "no one will know"! Many of God's concerned people are still in the blindness of Laodicea, but they do not need to continue to follow blind leaders. The heavenly eyesalve of fulfilled prophecy can awaken those who are willing to have their eyes opened.
LET'S TALK IT OVER
In the mail a letter from a friend included some "Steps to Life News Notes" on the Ordination conducted at their recent Campmeeting, and "A Call to Action." This call to action notified the reader that Trefz was disfellowshipped by the Rapid City Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Dakota. The ordination sermon given by Dr. Ralph Larson at Steps to Life indicated that "a home church in South Dakota" had requested the ordination of Trefz. Trefz ' address is Hermosa, by map, about 20 miles from Rapid City. It is evident, therefore, that Trefz has been serving an independent group, and not meeting with the Church where he held membership. It is a wonder that they had not taken action prior to now. If a person does not want to be a part of a church, and separates from that church setting up a separate organization, then why all the hue and cry when that church acts within its authority? If Trefz believes the local church has not acted in good faith, or properly, there is provided a means of appeal from the decision rendered.
But no, the "Call to Action" indicates that the Troy Seventh-day Adventist Church in Montana has accepted Trefz into membership on confession of faith. Now the possibility is that the Troy Church will be removed from the sisterhood of Montana churches, and the readers of the appeal are urged to write to the Conference, Union, Division, and General Conference Presidents in protest. This
whole thing is ludicrous, and only contributes to compounding the confusion of mind which marks the "voices" emanating from "Steps to Life." Consider, Trefz was taken in on profession of faith by the Troy Church - what faith? The Church of which Troy is a part states that faith to be the 27 Fundamentals as voted at Dallas in 1980. If those who are members at Troy no longer adhere to these 27 Statements, then why do they want to stay a part of that body which so believes?
It comes down to the same question again. Is the Seventh-day Adventist Church
in apostasy, or is there only apostasy in the Church? If only apostasy in the
Church, and this is what Larson avers as he lists various issues on his tithe
tract - "The Tithe Problem." He lists, NLP, Kingly Power, Celebration,
Ecumenism, New Theology, and Law Suits. But in the same breath, he declares the
Church to be God's only true church. If so, that Church has authority and
discipline, and the failure to recognize that fact is plain and simple
rebellion. The "Call to Action" is not a call to truth, but a call for God's
concerned people to join in a rebellion because the leaders of that rebellion
have become self-deceived. One wonders if Grosboll is really self-deceived, or
has a "hidden agenda" and is seeking to deceive honest people to accomplish that
"agenda." One doesn't have to be a Jesuit to use Jesuitical methods. Why don't
Larson and Grosboll, Spear and Standish simply admit that in the actions taken
at Dallas, and reflected in Seventh-day Adventists Believe...are a negation of "historic" Adventism, and they in turn are sponsoring a new Historic Seventh-day Adventist Church organization. Do they not know the law that two objects cannot occupy the same place at the same time? But Larson now says, he is no longer a "historic" Adventist, but a "new theology" Adventist. God have mercy on His people, scattered on
the "hills of Israel" by the confused "voices" coming from California, Virginia, Washington and Kansas. See Ezekiel 34.
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