Progressive Adventists

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Progressive Adventists are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who consider themselves to be theologically progressive relative to the denomination's mainstream. They typically question one or more of the church's more peculiar, or "distinctive" beliefs.

Although the terms "liberal" or "left-wing" are also used, "progressive" is a preferred designation as most progressive Adventists still identify more with conservative Christianity than with liberal Christianity. Progressive Adventists may be contrasted with "historic Adventists", who lie at the other end of the Adventist theological spectrum, and mainstream (or "moderate") Adventists who lie somewhere in between.

A similar, possibly equivalent group have been referred to as cultural Adventists by Ervin Taylor in an interview with Clifford Goldstein^[1]. These individuals feel an attachment towards the Adventist church for cultural reasons rather than strict theological conformity.

Despite some diversity of theological opinion, the Adventist church considers itself to be remarkably unified given its worldwide geographical extent. A significant number of scholars would be considered "progressive".

1 Beliefs
2 Periodicals
3 Notable progressive Adventists
- 3.1 Reaction against theological restrictions
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Beliefs

There is no formal organization or specified set of beliefs held by progressive Adventists. However, a common factor shared by all progressive Adventists seems to be some degree of discomfort with the church's official, or traditional doctrinal positions. An article called Progressive and Traditional Adventists Examined^[2] identifies four typical areas of progressive belief:

Investigative judgment. A different view of the investigative judgment, or a denial of its biblical basis.
Remnant. An inclusion of other Christians in the term remnant.
Ellen White. A less rigid view of the prophetic ministry of Ellen White, or perhaps even denying the validity of her prophetic gift.
Sabbath. An emphasis on the benefits of the Sabbath, but a denial that it is the "seal of God" or that Sunday keeping will ever become the mark of the beast.

Young earth creationism. Other traditional teachings may also be challenged, such as young earth creationism. The 1994 Adventist Today article Science Faculty Vary in Views on Creationism documents a survey of North American Division science educators. 60% responded, of which 83½% held doctoral degrees. Just 43% of the respondents affirmed the statement "God created live organisms during 6 days less than 10,000 years ago."

Bible. The same survey showed close agreement on the nature of the Bible, with 92.6% affirming the moderate statement "Bible is God's word with human thought forms and perspectives." Only a minority affirmed the competing statements, "Bible is the actual word of God, to be taken literally word for word" or "Bible is ancient book of myths, history, and moral precepts." Progressive Adventists may be open to a small use of the historical-critical method of Bible scholarship, as well as the historical-grammatical method employed by all Adventists.

Speaking in tongues. The Seventh-day Adventist church does not have an official position on the nature of speaking in tongues, apart from a belief in the continuation of the "charismatic" spiritual gifts. However the majority position is that tongues speaking refers to earthly languages, and not to a "personal prayer language" of charismatic and Pentecostal Christians. However some Adventists are open to the charismatic form of the practice. The 1991 National Church Life Survey in Australia found that approximately 5% of Australian Adventists approve of and/or speak in tongues, whereas 11% have no opinion and approximately 85% disapprove.^[3] This was the highest disapproval rating amongst all denominations surveyed. The approval rating today is presumably higher due to the increasing influence of the charismatic and Pentecostal movements.

[edit] Periodicals

A number of Adventist periodicals would be considered progressive:

Spectrum, the journal of the Association of Adventist Forums. At its founding,

"Spectrum’s objectives were to print differing viewpoints about church-related issues not always discussed openly and to encourage communication among those willing to explore such issues. The founders hoped that by working toward these goals they would strengthen the Church."[1]

Adventist Today. According to its website, it

"advances the best in Adventist culture, thought, and ministry and serves the needs of the 21st Century Adventist church by offering inspiration, analysis, reviews, commentary, and narratives rooted in and relevant to the contemporary Adventist community."[2]

See the the last section "XI. Alternate Publications" of the article The Future of Adventism: Where's The Church Headed? by Alden Thompson for a useful comparison of Adventist periodicals across the spectrum.

[edit] Notable progressive Adventists

These may hold to many of the views listed above, or simply be known for one belief considered progressive by many Adventists.

Steve Daily, author of Adventism for a New Generation. He boldly argues for changes in Adventism for it to remain relevant.
A. Graham Maxwell, Ph.D., emeritus professor of New Testament, Faculty of Religion, Loma Linda University, supports the moral influence theory of the atonement^[4]^[5]^[6] which is considered liberal by many Adventists. Many other Adventists believe that the Bible uses different metaphors to describe the atonement, all of which have a place and contribute to the overall picture.
Richard Rice, an Adventist theologian who published with the Association of Adventist Forums. He is well known for the 2002 book Believing, Behaving, Belonging: Finding New Love for the Church.

Although no longer in church employment, perhaps former Adventist pastor and lecturer Desmond Ford could be considered a progressive Adventist. He still retains many Adventist beliefs, such as the Sabbath and the validity of Ellen White's prophetic gift, but rejects the 1844 investigative judgment, the day-year principle, the remnant doctrine and others.

There are also many others not yet listed above, including a significant proportion of Adventist theologians. Samuel Koranteng-Pipim's book Receiving the Word,^[7] particularly the section "Liberals are not bad people" on pages 198-200, displays a strong concern about progressive Adventist scholars. According to Alden Thompson, "The footnotes label some 66 Adventist scholars, authors, administrators as being on the wrong side of the divide."^[8]

Many contributors to Spectrum and Adventist Today would consider themselves progressive, although articles are contributed by authors across the theological spectrum.

[edit] Reaction against theological restrictions

One illustration of such is the outcry regarding former General Conference president Robert S. Folkenberg's "Total Commitment to God" initiative, which was voted by the Annual Council in Costa Rica in 1996. In 1998 a church action to establish a Board of Ministerial and Theological Education to oversee the church's theological seminaries "has evoked significant criticism in some areas, including North America, and awaits implementation."[3] There was concern over the document International Coordination and Supervision of Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial and Theological Education.GC (General Conference) Sets Standards for Ministerial and Theologic Education See a response Toward Spiritual Assessment in Seventh-day Adventist Colleges and Universities by Duane C. McBride, which appeared in the April/May 1998 issue of Adventist Education.