Raymond Cottrell

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"R. F. Cottrell" redirects here. Other Adventist leaders include Roswell F. Cottrell (1814–1892) and Roy F. Cottrell (1878–1970).

Raymond Forrest Cottrell (April 21, 1911, Los Angeles, California – January 12, 2003, Calimesa, California) was a Seventh-day Adventist theologian, missionary, teacher, writer and editor. He was an associate editor of both the Adventist Review (the main newsmagazine of the church) and the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. He also served in an editorial role for the magazine Adventist Today, was a consulting editor to Spectrum magazine. He was a prolific author, although he chose not to publish much of this material. His beliefs could be considered "progressive".

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[edit] Biography

Raymond Cottrell was born on April 21, 1911 in Los Angeles,[1] into a family which already had a long history within the Adventist church. His great-grandfather Roswell Cottrell was a Seventh Day Baptist who first listened to William Miller before 1844 and the Great Disappointment, yet did not become a follower. He became a Seventh-day Adventist in 1851.[2]

Cottrell was married to Elizabeth (who was born May 20, 1912 in Phoenix, Arizona).[3] From 1930 to 1934 Cottrell worked as a church pastor in the Pacific Union.[1] From 1934 to 1941 he served in the China Division (which dissolved in 1952,[4] now the Chinese Union Mission[1]) of the church as an administrator and educator, assisted in missionary work by his wife.[1] They left early because of the hostilities with Japan during World War II,[1] returning to America.

Cottrell taught biblical exegesis[citation needed] at Pacific Union College for 10[1] or 11 years, while Elizabeth worked in the business office for several years.[3]

Following this appointment, Francis D. Nichol called him to the Review and Herald Publishing Association to commence work on the new Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary.[5] The pair arrived in Takoma Park, Maryland in late September 1952, and Cottrell began work on the Commentary on October 1. (Elizabeth worked in the Review Book Billing Department until her retirement in 1977.[3] the third largest number of manuscript pages of any author.[6] Yet including his editorial work he probably had more input than any other writer into the Commentary.

Articles written by Cottrell for the commentary included "The Role of Israel in Old Testament Prophecy" and others. In this article he wrote that the original subject of the Old Testament predictive prophecies was the nation of Israel, their fulfillment being conditional on the response of the Jewish people to the covenant and on accepting the Messiah.[7] However due to the "overriding pastoral concern" of Nichol, the editor-in-chief overruled the consensus of the other editors – one of only two or three occasions when he did so.[8] He also wrote numerous articles for the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary and Encyclopedia on topics in Bible and theology.[9]

Cottrell's critiques of the manuscript of Questions on Doctrine (ultimately published in 1957), were "mostly unheeded" by its authors and "might have prevented much of the upheaval that followed the publication of the book", according to Julius Nam.[10]

In 1957 Nichol invited him to be an associate editor of the Adventist Review,[11] a position he held for 7 years.[1] He worked for another 7 years as a book editor.[1] Cottrell also served as a member of the Biblical Research Committee (now the Biblical Research Institute).[12]

He retired in 1977, to Calimesa, California. There he served at Loma Linda University as an adjunct faculty member of the religion department.[1] He also worked for the General Conference and for the Southeastern California Conference on various commissions and projects.[1]

Cottrell was a founder of Adventist Today,[9] a liberal/progressive Adventist magazine first published in 1993. He and others at Loma Linda had conceived of the idea for a new magazine in the Autumn of the previous year.[13] As well as contributing articles, he was editor and had the title of editor emeritus for the remainder of his life.[9]

On February 6, 2002, Cottrell's paper "The 'Sanctuary Doctrine' – Asset or Liability?" was presented by Larry Christoffel at the San Diego, California Adventist Forum in the Tierrasanta Adventist church.[14] Christoffel responded in his own paper.

His wife Elizabeth died on August 2, 2002 in Calimesa.[3] Raymond died the following year on January 12, 2003, also in Calimesa.[1] He was survived by two children – Richard E. Cottrell and Peggy J. Cottrell Tomat, his brother Leland Horton Cottrell, three grandsons, and eight great-grandchildren.[1]

[edit] Theology

Cottrell could be labeled a "progressive Adventist", as he disagreed with certain traditional positions of the church, including the investigative judgment.[15]

He described the theological climate of the church as open, favourable and honest during the 1950s when the Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia was published.[16] "Nearly all" of Cottrell's papers in his Manuscript Collection were unpublished, "meaning they were designed for limited circulation."[17] He said of his "significant work" Eschatology of Daniel which was never formally published, "the manuscript awaits a climate of openness and objectivity in the church, which is essential to a fair examination of the facts."[17]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "COTTRELL, Raymond Forrest". Obituary in "At Rest" section of the Adventist Review March 13, 2003, p. 30 (414)
  2. ^ The Sabbath: A Precious Treasure | Adventist Today
  3. ^ a b c d "COTTRELL, Elizabeth" obituary in the "At Rest" section. Adventist Review October 24, 2002, p. 30 (1598)
  4. ^ "CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF" in Historical Dictionary of Seventh-day Adventists by Gary Land, p.58
  5. ^ "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary" by Raymond Cottrell in Spectrum 16:3 (August 1985), p. 35–51
  6. ^ Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary"
  7. ^ Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary", 42
  8. ^ Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary", 42
  9. ^ a b c "Raymond Cottrell", an obituary in "Newsbreak" section. Adventist Review February 13, 2003, p. 21 (261)
  10. ^ Julius Nam (2007). The Questions on Doctrine Saga: Contours and Lessons. Paper presented to QOD 50th anniversary conference.
  11. ^ Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary", 37
  12. ^ Cottrell, Raymond (May 1999). "Whither, Robert D. Brinsmead?". Adventist Today 7 (3). Loma Linda, CA: Adventist Today Foundation. ISSN 1079-5499. 
  13. ^ http://www.atoday.com/about/history.php
  14. ^ "Raymond Cottrell on The Sanctuary Question After 150 years" by James Stirling
  15. ^ The "Sanctuary Doctrine" – Asset or Liability? by Raymond Cottrell
  16. ^ Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary"
  17. ^ a b Manuscript Collection of Raymond Cottrell

[edit] External links

Articles by Cottrell. He was a prolific author, although he chose not to publish many of his articles:

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Tributes: