Embarassed and offended by what this anonymous Adventist wrote, I called Zola Levitt Ministries (25 Nov. '07) and left a message for Dr. Seif apologizing for what this guy wrote. Not satisfied with only a phone message, I decided to write Dr. Seif an apology email responding to the comments of the letter.
I am including both the letter and Dr. Seif's response below, and then I am following with the email I sent Dr. Seif. I have made minor editorical changes.
Adventists Are Now God’s Chosen People!?
Dear Jeffrey,
God has rejected the Jews because they rejected Him. I am a Seventh Day Adventist and our prophet Ellen G. White was told by God that the Jews would never be a Nation again and that Old Jerusalem would never be rebuilt. The Adventists are now God’s chosen people, “Spiritual Israel.” The Jews can come to Jesus by becoming Adventists.
You seem to be afraid of the Muslims, but it’s the Catholics you need to worry about. The Pope is the antiChrist and Sunday is the “Mark of the Beast”! The Muslims are nearest to the Adventist faith because they have a prophet, don’t eat pork, and go to church on Friday like we do. The Adventist Church in Europe turned all of their Jewish converts over to Hitler and most died in the ovens. God said they would—read Lev. 26. I’m afraid to put my name to this for fear the Jews may try to kill me.
Dear Whatever-Your-Name-Is—
I believe that your letter is loaded with an inordinate amount of fantasy. Saying that the Jews may try to kill you is absolutely absurd, as are other statements, like “Sunday is the ‘Mark of the Beast.’” I don’t want to sound cold. Honestly, however, I think your thought process leaps beyond the pale of reason. I would strongly encourage you to invest your energies in realworld pursuits; as a theologian, you are out of this world.— Jeffrey Seif
The Levitt Letter, December 2007, page 23.
http://www.levitt.com/newsletters/2007-12.pdf
From: bakupulu@hotmail.com
To: staff@levitt.com
CC: bakupulu@hotmail.com
Subject: Please Forward to Dr. Jeffrey Seif
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:48:40 -0800
Dear Dr. Seif:
At the outset, I want to apologize for the outrageous and reprehensible comments made by the Seventh-day Adventist who wrote the anonymous letter printed in your December 2007 newletter. To state or imply (and the author certainly did imply it), much less believe, that the mass murder of millions of Jews by the Nazi's is anything but an evil event in history, is shameful and unacceptable.
As an Adventist layman I am grieved and shocked to have read such comments made by someone ostensibly from my denomination. Such beliefs and comments do not come from the heart of a Christian (Matt. 12:35,-37; James 3:10).
The author's comments proceeded from being grossly and crudely stated, to comments that are flat out wrong, to those comments that are evil. I want to address some of these indiviually as they occur in the letter (below).
Adventists Are Now God’s Chosen People!?
Dear Jeffrey,
God has rejected the Jews because they rejected Him. I am a Seventh Day Adventist and our prophet Ellen G. White
The latter comment is a true but misleading and crudely stated comment. The official Adventist position is that, while we believe Ellen White had the gift of prophecy like that manifested in the New Testament church like Paul mentioned in Corinthians, Ellen White does not have normative authority. Her own writings, and the denominations statements, make it clear that "the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested." (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html)
Yes, it is true that there are those who have (unfortunately) treated her work as though it is equal to Scripture, but that is a problem within the denomination, not the position or desire of the denomination. An important and recent discussion on this topic can be found in Dr. Graeme Brandfor's new book More Than a Prophet: How We Lost and Found Again the Real Ellen White. I was one of the editor's for the published book and the entire book can be read online at http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/books/bradford/index.htm.
was told by God that the Jews would never be a Nation again and that Old Jerusalem would never be rebuilt.In short, Ellen White was not speaking of whether or not it would be rebuilt in the sense of a political solution to a political problem. She was responding to those who thought they were forcing prophecy to be fulfilled in the 1850s by speeding up Jesus' return (in the 1850s) by rebulding Jerusalem. (http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/faq-unus.html#unusual-section-d2)
The Adventists are now God’s chosen people, “Spiritual Israel.”
The official Adventist position, and mainstream teaching, is that salvation is not through denominational affiliation (including ours) and the majority of true Christians exist outside the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Our official 27 Fundamental Beliefs state that "The church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour" and "The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ ..." (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html). Official Adventist teaching does state we are the "remnant," but not in the sense that "we are the saved" or that "we are the true Spiritual Israel," or that we are better than other denominations, but merely that we have a special job to do, namely:
"The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent." (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html).
The Jews can come to Jesus by becoming Adventists.
Wrong. You come to Jesus by coming to Jesus, not to any denomination. However, any and all are welcome to our denomination. We are willing to accept all the help we can get.
You seem to be afraid of the Muslims, but it’s the Catholics you need to worry about. The Pope is the antiChrist and Sunday is the “Mark of the Beast”! The Muslims are nearest to the Adventist faith because they have a prophet, don’t eat pork, and go to church on Friday like we do.I have respect for all Muslims who behave decently. I am willing to live in civic and neighborly harmony with them. However, strictly speaking, those who are closest to Adventists are those whose beliefs are closest to our 27 Fundamental Beliefs (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html).
I am not saying those who are closest to Adventists (because they hold views similar to our 27 Fundamental Beliefs) are by definition somehow closest to Jesus. Those who are closest to Jesus are those who have the closest personal, living relationship with Jesus Christ of the Bible, not those who automatically adhere to the tenants of any church.
The Adventist Church in Europe turned all of their Jewish converts over to Hitler and most died in the ovens.Like many churches in Europe at that time, much of the European Adventist Church did not live up to its Christian calling by resisting the Nazis and helping Jews. While this was not the position of the mainline SDA Church, nor something that the denomination as a whole wanted, much of this did occur. It was cowardly and evil. While words are not enough, it has been acknowleged and apologized for (http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=92).
God said they would—read Lev. 26. I’m afraid to put my name to this for fear the Jews may try to kill me.Like I said at the outset, the author's comments and the implications that they contain are unacceptable. In my opinion and experience, this guy is a nut and does not represent the typical Adventist, much less the official Adventist Church position. Frankly, I hope this guy is not really an Adventist at all, and is someone who is playing a sick practical joke.
Further information can be found at the official Adventist Church website (http://www.adventist.org/) and the Adventist Biblical Research website (http://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/). Respected and representative scholars are Dr. Jon Paulien (http://revelation-armageddon.com/ and http://www.thebattleofarmageddon.com/) and Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi (http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/).
2 comments:
I believe it was a little naive to believe that the letter to Jeffrey Seif was actually from a Seventh-day Adventist. First clue is that it was ANONYMOUS! Secondly, the remarks appear to be intentionally inflamatory (intended to get a negative reaction towards Adventists). Thirdly, the content of the remarks do not reflect what the Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches. Put it all together, I would be probably more correct in accessing that it was written by a bitter person who may had some association with Adventists in the past or an enemy of the Adventist church whose intent is malicious.
J. Trade:
Oh, I agree with you. I am not convinced that is was written by an actual SDA. I have seen this kind of deceptive behavior before by evangelical "Christians."
Regardless of whether one disagrees (even virulently so) with the doctrines of a particular religion, someone who knowingly lies about, or engages in deception regarding, that religion is not exhibiting the spirit of Christ.
However, despite my suspicions, I had to write the response assuming the author of the letter was an SDA. Why?
You do not judge a group by whether or not they have bad members. Every group has bad members in it. You judge a group by how they respond to their own bad members. It is the responsibility to publically denounce bad members.
That was what I was doing when I responded, assuming the author in question really was an SDA.
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