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E n g l i s h • F r e n c h • P o r t u g u e s e • S p a n i s h

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Authentic spiritualityEnlightenment and the Christian worldviewWhy should Christians practice environmental stewardship?Marriage: Surviving in an age of rampant divorce

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REGIONAL REpRESENTATIVES

Authentic spiritualityBeing spiritually authentic means to be truly controlled by the Holy Spirit and willing to be used by God in faithful service to Him, with the Word of God as the sure foundation for everything we do.by Ted N.C. Wilson

Enlightenment and the Christian worldview: One’s perspective makes all the differenceMany theological pitfalls in the Christian community might be avoided if we understood the worldview in which they are rooted.by Aleksandar S. Santrac

Why should Christians practice environmental stewardship if the world will be destroyed?To uplift God faithfully so that all are drawn to Him, is to proclaim and cherish the preciousness of His creation, the grace of His redemption, the constancy of His ongoing care, and the joy of His consummation.by Arthur N. Patrick

Lamech, the ninth from Adamby John Wesley Taylor V & John Wesley Taylor VI

Marriage: Surviving in an age of rampant divorceA survey of critical issues during dating and courtship helps couples maintain a steady marriage and form a joyful relationship that will stand the test of time.by Darren George

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CONTENTS

DEpARTMENTS

EDITORIALIntroducing the new director for campus ministry, Jiwan S. Moonby Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy

pROFILEKeto MshigeniInterview by Fylvia Folwer Kline

BOOkSLa música que agrada a Dios: Criterios y orientaciones para el Ministerio de la Música by Daniel Oscar PlencReviewed by Carlos A. Steger

Worldviews and Christian Education: Appreciating the Cultural Outlook of Asia-Pacific People

Edited by Warren A. Shipton, Elainie Coetezee, and Rajdeep TakeuchiReviewed by Stephen Guptill

Entrusted: Christians and Environmental Care Edited by Stephen Dunbar, James Gibson and Humberto Rasi Reviewed by Daniel Buor

LOGOSStewards of hopeby Peter Bath

VIEWpOINTSocial media: Promises and perilsby Rebekah Wang-Cheng

ACTION REpORTItalian Adventist students hold annual fellowshipby Debora Prati and Roberto Iannò

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On behalf of Dialogue, it is my pleasure to welcome and introduce Dr. Jiwan Stefan Moon as the newest member of Adventist Ministry to College and University Students (AMiCUS) and an advisor to Dialogue. Dr. Moon was recently appointed at the Spring Council of the General Conference as associate youth director for public campus ministries. The position is long overdue. He will direct his energy to full-time ministry for Seventh-day Adventist stu-dents on Adventist and public campuses.

Why this particular emphasis on public cam-puses? For one thing, there are more Seventh-day Adventist students on public campuses than there are in the church’s 113 universities and colleges around the world. For another, these men and women are vital to the mission and future of the Adventist church. The opportunities they have for work and witness call for creativity and authenticity. God has a special work for them that no one else can do. Empowered by the Holy Spirit and supported by the church, there are no limits to the good they can accomplish. To help in this ministry is Dr. Moon’s special assignment.

Dr. Moon is an ordained minister and a third-generation Adventist. His father was the first missionary sent to the Philippines by the Korean Union of Seventh-day Adventists. He grew up in the mission field; speaks Korean, English, and Tagalog; and brings with him 20 years of research and experience working with youth and young adults. Most recently, he pastored a multicultural congregation in Canada. His doctoral degree from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University focused on the importance of mentoring and discipleship. “Dr. J,” as he is affectionately known, and his wife, Jessica (a school teacher who speaks English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish), have three lovely little Moons in their orbit: Hannah, Rebecca Anna (or Becca), and Isabella Jinah (or Bella).

Dr. Moon will provide vision and strategic planning for ministry to and support for Seventh-day Adventists who attend public colleges and universi-ties around the world. His responsibilities include planning, promoting, and supporting initiatives for discipleship – particularly in the areas of spirituality, evangelism, intellectual challenges of a secular campus, and the social integra-tion of Adventist students on public campuses worldwide. He has already started to assemble and distribute a current list of associations of Seventh-day Adventist students on public campuses. In collaboration with Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries, he will minister to students through these associations and oversee the training of those who are involved in campus chaplaincy leadership. Along with others, he will oversee the preparation of promotional and resource materi-als and conduct periodic assessments of needs and programs that support public campus ministries.

“If we treat our Adventist university and college students as mission fields,” says Moon, “they will continue being mission fields. Remember, we are not

EDITORIALThis international journal of faith, thought, and action is published two to three times a year in four parallel editions (English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish) by the Committee on Adventist Ministry to College and University Students (AMiCUS) of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Volume 26, Number 1Copyright © 2014 by the AMiCUSCommittee. All rights reserved.

Dialogue affirms the fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and supports its mission. The views published in this journal, however, are the independent thoughts of the authors.

Editorial BoardEditor-in-Chief Lisa M. Beardsley-HardyEditors John M. Fowler, John W. Taylor VManaging Editor Susana SchulzInternational Editions Susana SchulzInternational Copy Editors Monique Lemay (French) Henrianne Barbosa (Portuguese) Susana Schulz (Spanish)Designer Glen Milam

Editorial CorrespondenceDialogue12501 Old Columbia PikeSilver Spring, MD 20904-6600 U.S.A.Telephone 301-680-5073Fax 301-622-9627E-mail schulzs@gc.adventist.org

AMiCuS CommitteeChair Geoffrey Mbwana Vice Chairs Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, Gary R. Councell, Gilbert CangySecretary Jiwan S. MoonMembers Mario Ceballos, Lyndelle Chiomenti, Gary Councell, John M. Fowler, Linda Koh, Kathleen Kuntaraf, Dionne Rowe, Roy Ryan

Circulation Inquiries should be addressed to the regional representative located in the area where the reader resides. See names and addresses on page 2.

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Web site http://dialogue.adventist.org Dialogue has received correspondence from readers in 120 countries around the world.

Introducing the new director for campus ministry

4 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Write to us!We welcome your comments, reactions and questions, but please limit your letters to 200 words. Write to: Dialogue Letters 12501 Old Columbia PikeSilver Spring, MD 20904-6600 U.S.A.

Fax 301-622-9627E-mail schulzs@gc.adventist.org

Letters selected for publication may be edited for clarity and/or space.

mentoring and discipling them to be passive with their own Christian iden-tity. We want them to be active and proactive with their Christian identity in selfless service. They are called to be missionaries, rather than mission fields! One young adult whom I have been mentoring for the past seven years once said, ‘We have too many entertainers, appeasers, and self-serv-ing leaders, but not enough role mod-els, mentors, and servant leaders!’”

Dr. Moon speaks from experience. Doubts about God multiplied dur-ing his college years. His concerned parents signed him up for a short-term missionary experience. During orien-tation, he was surrounded by attendees who were even younger than himself and thought “How can they be mis-sionaries? Many of them have just graduated from high school.” The next three months convinced him to “never underestimate the power of God.”1

Share your ideas for campus ministry with “Dr. J” on Facebook (iFollow – Adventist Public Campus Ministries), Twitter (Jiwan4ever), or email (moonj@gc.adventist.org). We also invite you to share reports and pictures of what you are doing with Dialogue readers in Campus Reports. We look forward to hearing from you!

—Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy, Editor-in-Chief

Lisa M. Beardsley-Hardy (Ph.D., University of Hawai’i at Manoa) is director of education, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. E-mail: beardsleyl@gc.adventist.org.

REFERENCES 1. Jiwan Moon, “Baptized by Fire,” Adventist

Review (World edition), Dec. 11, 1997, 8-11.

REFERENCES 1. In the preparation of this article, I am thank-

ful to John Fowler from the Dialogue editorial board for his valuable assistance in the editing process; Denis Fortin, professor of theology at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, for his helpful comments; and Zane Yi, assistant professor of philosophy at Loma Linda School of Religion, Loma Linda, California, for his reading and editing assistance.

2. In this article, the term Enlightenment will be used exclusively as a time period or a world-view with specific characteristics, even though the term is used in different contexts today, such as religious awareness, intellectual aware-ness, awakening to our true inner self, etc.

3. Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason (Charlottesville, Virginia: World Union of Deists, 1794), 3. (E-edition: http://www.deism.com/images/theageofreason1794.pdf). The quote in its entirety reads: “I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church” (Ibid. 3).

4. Ibid. 141. 5. Ian Davidson, Voltaire (London: Profile

Books Ltd., 2010), xvi-xvii. 6. A later author invented the phrase as an

epitome of his attitude. It appeared in Evelyn Beatrice Hall, The Friends of Voltaire (United Kingdom: Ulan Press, 2012 [1906]) written under a pseudonym.

7. “What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature” (Voltaire, “Tolerance,” The Philosophical Dictionary, Translated by H.I. Woolf [New York: Knopf, 1924], 1).

8. Ibid. 1. 9. “The only sect that has not persecuted are

the Quakers; and the only reason that can be given for it is, that they are rather Deists than Christians. They do not believe much about Jesus Christ, and they call the scriptures a

Enlightenment...From page 11

dead letter. Had they called them by a worse name, they had been nearer the truth” (Paine, 138).

10. Ibid. 1-2. 11. Ibid. 12. Ernst Cassirer, The Philosophy of the

Enlightenment (Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 1951), vi. This follows Kant’s definition of Enlightenment as: “Mankind’s final coming of age, the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of ignorance and error” (Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment? [Was ist Aufklärung?], translated by Mary C. Smith, E-edition http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/CCREAD/etscc/kant.html#note1).

13. E-edition: (http://livedtheology.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/the-enlightenment-attack-on-christianity/).

14. A good example of this relationship is Isaiah 43.

15. Paine believed that these three should be totally suspended from true religion: “Those three means are Mystery, Miracle, and Prophecy. The two first are incompatible with true religion, and the third ought always to be suspected” (Paine, 45).

16. Aleksandar S. Santrac, “Influence of Postmodernism/Postmodernity on the Development of Adventist Theology, Education and Mission,” paper presented at the 1st Symposium on Postmodern Studies, Revisiting Postmodernism: The Relevance of Adventist Mission in the 21st century, October 18-20, 2012, Andrews University, Michigan. Published as a chapter in the book on the proceedings of the conference by the Center for Secular and Postmodern Studies, General Conference, 2013.

17. This is Scottish philosophical commonsense realism, which became the foundation for the Department of Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in the USA. See Mark C. Noll, ed. The Princeton Theology 1812-1921: Scripture, Science, and Theological Method from Archibald Alexander to Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academics, 2001).

5DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Authentic spirituality

For as long as he could remember, Martin wanted to be an explorer. While staying with a relative in London, young Martin spent much of his time visiting with many sail-ors who sailed in and out of the city. From them he learned about naviga-tion and exploration, and by the time he was 18, he was on a ship explor-ing Africa’s northwest coast, close to Guinea, which is known for its rich deposits of iron ore, diamonds, and gold.

When he was 20, the young explorer was back in London, being commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I as a “privateer”– that is, a lawful pirate – who was authorized by the English crown to plunder enemy nations’ trea-sure ships. The young pirate gained quite a reputation for preying on French trading vessels in the waters off Guinea.

Some years later, growing tired of the pirate’s life, Martin exchanged pillaging for prospecting. His original aim was to discover the Northwest Passage – a sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the north coast of Canada.

After raising enough funds to pur-chase three ships, Martin Frobisher set sail on June 7, 1576. Crossing the Atlantic in just over seven weeks, Frobisher sighted the coast of what is now Labrador, Canada, and sailed through the bay that now bears his

by Ted N.C. Wilson Being spiritually authentic means to be truly controlled by the Holy Spirit and willing to be used by God in faithful service to Him, with the Word of God as the sure foundation for everything we do.

name. Because of windy and icy con-ditions, the explorer couldn’t continue to sail north, so he sailed west instead and reached Baffin Island – way up in the northern part of Canada – on August 18.

While on this detour, Frobisher was certain that he had discovered treasure – it appeared that Baffin Island was full of gold! He set sail back to England and took with him a piece of black stone that he believed to contain gold. Frobisher’s reports of possible gold mines convinced Queen Elizabeth and other investors to fund a second and a third voyage.

Setting out to sea again, Frobisher no longer cared about finding the Northwest Passage; all he could see was the glitter of what he thought to be gold.

After returning to Frobisher Bay, the former pirate turned prospector and his crew spent several weeks col-lecting ore – 200 tons of what they believed to be gold ore. With all 200 tons of ore onboard, Frobisher and his ships sailed back to England, where, to their dismay, they learned that the ore was not gold at all; it was pyrite – otherwise known as “fool’s gold.”

Encyclopedia Britannica makes this pointed observation about Frobisher: his “single-minded pursuit of mineral treasure limited the exploratory value of his voyages, and when the ores he brought back … proved to contain

neither silver nor gold, his financing collapsed. … Frobisher was undoubt-edly one of the ablest seamen of his time, but as an explorer he lacked the capacity for patient factual investiga-tion.”1

Frobisher got sidetracked from his original mission. What he thought to be real treasure turned out to be false. He thought he had found authentic gold, but because he wasn’t patient enough to investigate the facts, he was fooled.

Looking for authenticityIsn’t authenticity what we are look-

ing for today? In a world that is often more virtual than real, isn’t it refresh-ing to discover someone or something that is genuinely authentic?

No doubt the most important area for genuine authenticity is in the spiri-tual realm – those things that have to do with our relationship with God and His Word, and how it affects who we are … our character.

No one who has ever lived on earth was more spiritually authentic than Jesus Christ. He was, and is, the One He claims to be: the Son of God. It is in Him we “live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).2 He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). As we consider His earthly life, we see consistency – His words and actions always matched. He is authentic.

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The authentic WordHe is also the Word, the authentic

Word of God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). And it is through His words that we learn who Jesus really is.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus told doubting Thomas, who was looking for direction (John 14:6). In His prayer to His Father later that night, Jesus pled not only for His disciples, but for us, who would believe on Him because of their testi-mony: “I have given them Your word; […] Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth […] I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You (John 17:14, 17, 20-21).

God’s Word is authentic and authoritative

God’s Word is absolutely important

and is our greatest treasure. Jesus tells us that His Word is Truth. He indi-cates that it is through God’s Word – His Word – that we are sanctified. He also prayed for us – those who would believe in Him through the word of the apostles ... their writings as pre-served in the Bible.

After healing the man at the pool of Bethesda on a Sabbath, Jesus was con-fronted by angry religious leaders, who were upset because He had healed on the Sabbath and because He claimed to be the Son of God. In answer-ing them, Jesus went to God’s Word for authority. He said: “The Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me […] But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. … Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father;

there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:37, 39-40, 45-47).

Here, Jesus is authenticat-ing the Pentateuch – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These writings of Moses, Jesus says, testify of Him. They reveal God’s divine purposes and plans, and explain how sin entered the world. They also reveal God’s response to sin and His rela-tionship with human beings, and they give insight into the character and nature of God. Furthermore, if a person does not believe these writ-ings, he or she will not believe Christ either. Jesus is showing here how the Scriptures authenticate each other, and that if we don’t believe the one we are not going to believe the other. Thus, if we don’t believe the Old Testament, we will not believe the New.

You can be sure that the Bible is God’s Word – authentic, true, trust-worthy.

“The Bible is the most comprehen-sive and the most instructive history which men possess,” writes Ellen White. “It came fresh from the foun-tain of eternal truth, and a divine hand has preserved its purity through all the ages. Its bright rays shine into the far distant past, where human research seeks vainly to penetrate. In God’s word alone we find an account of creation. Here we behold the power that laid the foundation of the earth, and that stretched out the heavens. Here, only, can we find a history of our race, unsullied by human preju-dice or human pride.”3

The Bible, like Jesus, rises above culture, prejudice, and pride. It reveals to us the truth about ourselves, our world, and beyond. It is the authentic sourcebook in guiding us into authen-tic spirituality – teaching us how to have a genuine relationship with God

7DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

and with each other, and giving us powerful promises so that we may live a consistent, authentic spiritual life. The Bible tells us where we’ve come from and where we are headed. It offers reliable counsel and timeless teachings.

Let’s allow the Bible to interpret itself – verse upon verse and precept upon precept – using the historical-biblical approach to understanding Scripture, rather than the historical-critical method, which places the individual above the Bible in choosing what is truth. Says Ellen White: “A great work can be done by presenting to the people the Bible just as it reads. Carry the Word of God to every man’s door, urge its plain statements upon every man’s conscience, repeat to all the Saviour’s command, ‘Search the Scriptures.’ Admonish them to take the Bible as it is, to implore divine enlightenment, and then, when the light shines, to gladly accept each precious ray, and fearlessly abide the consequences.”4

Gold standardIf you wish to know if the Bible is

really God’s authentic, relevant word for us today, use the gold standard of prophecy! Study the prophecies found in Daniel and Revelation and see how they accurately trace human history. Read the prophecies of the Messiah found in the Old Testament and be convinced that Jesus is the One. After studying Bible prophecies, many athe-ists have come to accept the Bible as reliable and authoritative!

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed,” wrote the apostle Peter, “which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any pri-vate interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19-21). This text does not suggest God dictat-

ed every word to these men, but that He worked through the Holy Spirit to guide them.

A spiritually-authentic churchA spiritually-authentic church is one

whose teachings and people follow the “Faithful and True Witness” of Revelation (3:14) – that is, Jesus Christ.

Have you ever wondered why the Seventh-day Adventist Church exists? After all, 150 years ago there were already many other denominations in existence. What would be the purpose of one more?

The purpose is to fulfill Bible prophecy and to stand up, speak out, and share with the world the message that God has for every person on this planet. We have a three-fold mandate from heaven to:

• preachtheeverlastinggospelandChrist’s righteousness;

• boldlyproclaimthefallofBabylon’s apostate religion; and

• warntheworldnottoreceivethemark of the beast but instead be sealed with the seal of God’s ever-lasting mark of authority – the seventh-day Sabbath.

This is the biblical message of Revelation 14. The giving of the three angels’ messages is the reason God raised up the Adventist Church. Everything is centered in Christ and His righteousness.

Is this authentic? Is this real? It is as authentic and real as the Bible itself. It comes from “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” Himself, who “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).

We have the great privilege of belonging to something much larger than just another denomination or community of faith; we belong to the heaven-born Advent movement – we belong to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, God’s remnant church. A church God has raised up at the end of time for a unique purpose. A church that has gone through chal-lenging times and will go through even greater challenging times ahead,

according to Bible prophecy and the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy. A church that does not rely on tradi-tions or human reasoning but on the written Word as its sole foundation and the Living Word, Jesus Christ. A church that does not derive its power from itself but accepts fully the admo-nition of the Lord: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Are we authentic?Are we, the Seventh-day Adventist

Church, spiritually authentic? Are we who we say we are? Do we really believe that Jesus is coming soon? Or do we sometimes secretly hope that He will delay His coming so that we can carry out whatever plans we have in mind before He comes?

Let’s ask the question: are we truly the remnant church? Does God even have a remnant church? Revelation 12:17 tells us that Satan, “the dragon, was angry with the woman [that is, the church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” And the “testimony of Jesus,” we are told in Revelation 19:10, “is the Spirit of Prophecy.”

What about this remnant idea? Doesn’t God love everyone? Of course He does. And He wants us to love everyone, too, including people of other faiths and those who have no faith at all.

Does this mean we are better than everyone else? No! “The remnant” is not some exclusive club that is open only to a select few. It is open to everyone who loves Jesus, accepts Him as Lord of his or her life, and takes the Bible, including all Ten Commandments, as their guide for life. And because we love people as Jesus does, we want to minister to their needs – physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually – and invite them to join us and become a part of God’s remnant church.

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Authentic vs. counterfeitRemember Martin Frobisher and his

200 tons of fool’s gold? He was fooled into thinking it was real gold because he “lacked the capacity for patient fac-tual investigation.”

It’s important for us to remember that for every good gift that God gives, Satan has a counterfeit offer. Often the counterfeit appears to shine like gold. Satan may try to lure us away from the truth by promising an easier, more comfortable way to obtain the prize. We must be careful, because no matter how beautiful the offer may appear, in the end Satan’s authentic counterfeit – kind of like saying a “guaranteed fake” – will “bite like a serpent, and sting like a viper” (Proverbs 23:32).

We must take the time to develop the patience needed for factual inves-tigation. God’s word gives us the criteria for determining if something, or someone, is spiritually authentic or not. “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

And again: “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, what-ever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

An invitationI invite you to follow Jesus Christ

in living a life of spiritual authenticity, of genuine submission to God’s will through strong, regular study of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, and an intense prayer life that will propel you into sharing with others your tes-timony about your relationship with God, and in inviting them to enjoy His fellowship too.

Being spiritually authentic means to be truly controlled by the Holy Spirit and willing to be used by God in faithful service to Him, with the

Word of God as the sure foundation for everything we do.

Ellen White counsels us: “The sub-ject of Christ’s teaching and preach-ing was the word of God. He met questioners with a plain, ‘It is written.’ ‘What saith the Scriptures?’ ‘How readest thou?’ At every opportunity, when an interest was awakened by either friend or foe, He sowed the seed of the word. He who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Himself the liv-ing Word, points to the Scriptures, saying, ‘They are they which testify of Me.’ And ‘beginning at Moses and all the prophets,’ He opened to His dis-ciples ‘in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.’ John 5:39; Luke 24:27 [KJV].

“Christ’s servants are to do the same work. In our day, as of old, the vital truths of God’s word are set aside for human theories and specula-tions. Many professed ministers of the gospel do not accept the whole Bible as the inspired word. One wise man rejects one portion; another questions another part. They set up their judg-ment as superior to the word; and the Scripture which they do teach rests upon their own authority. Its divine authenticity is destroyed. Thus the seeds of infidelity are sown broad-cast; for the people become confused and know not what to believe. There are many beliefs that the mind has no right to entertain. In the days of Christ the rabbis put a forced, mysti-cal construction upon many portions of Scripture. Because the plain teach-ing of God’s word condemned their practices, they tried to destroy its force. The same thing is done today. The word of God is made to appear mysterious and obscure in order to excuse transgression of His law. Christ rebuked these practices in His day. He taught that the word of God was to be understood by all. He pointed to the Scriptures as of unquestionable authority, and we should do the same. The Bible is to be presented as the word of the infinite God, as the end

of all controversy and the foundation of all faith.”5

As we come closer and closer to Christ’s soon coming, the choice is ours. Do we base our life of spiri-tual authenticity on the gold of the sure Word of God? Christ tells us, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich” (Revelation 3:18). As His rem-nant church in a Laodicean condition, should we not listen to His counsel that we may be revived and reformed through the power of the Holy Spirit? Only then can we experience spiritual authenticity.

Ted N.C. Wilson (Ph.D., New York University) is the world president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

REFERENCES 1. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. “Sir Martin

Frobisher.” Accessed April 17, 2013. www. Britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/220573/Sir-Martin-Frobisher.

2. Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture refer-ences are from the New King James Version.

3. Ellen G. White, Christian Education (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1952), 37.

4. -----, Christian Service (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1947), 144.

5. -----, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1941), 38-40.

9DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Enlightenment and the Christian worldview: One’s perspective makes all the difference

Many theological pitfalls in the Christian community might be avoided if we understood the worldview in which they are rooted.

by Aleksandar S. Santrac

Everyone has a worldview. Be it a philosopher or a scientist, a preacher or a teacher, a politician or a bureau-crat, each of us works in a certain frame of mind, defined by whatever preoccupation we may have with worldviews that vary according to differing perceptions. While one may consider a worldview that appeals to him or her, one cannot choose conflicting worldviews as a basis of thought and operation without experi-encing confusion and chaos.

The world today has multiple worldviews competing for the atten-tion of people everywhere – religious ones appealing to people of numerous persuasions; agnostic or atheistic ones having nothing to do with religion; a scientific worldview rooted in matter and how that matter functions; politi-cal worldviews that cunningly devise ways to control the life and economy of society; and philosophic world-views, from Socrates’ “Know yourself,” to Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am,” to Marx’s “Workers of the world, unite.”

In spite of these multiple systems of worldviews, this article will attempt to look at two views that have domi-nated human civilization for centuries: one is about three to four centuries old, and the other traces its origin from Genesis itself. By studying and

comparing the two, it is expected that readers will find a firm ground to stand on that will provide intellec-tual ability, spiritual authenticity, and social veracity.

This paper1 will deal with three parts. The first part will look at the rationalistic and humanistic world-view, as reflected in Enlightenment.2 The second part will review the oldest worldview available to humans, gov-erning life and history from biblical creation. The third part will draw some conclusions.

The worldview of EnlightenmentEnlightenment is a powerful intel-

lectual, philosophic movement of the 17th and 18th centuries, emphasizing reason and individualism and reject-ing religion and tradition. Among the thought leaders who influenced the movement were Descartes (1596-1650), Voltaire (1689-1777), Rousseau (1712-1778), Paine (1737-1809), and others of great stature.

Enlightenment resulted in several distinctive intellectual and sociological features, one of which was rationalism, which was responsible for making rea-son the basic tool of scientific investi-gation of nature and human striving for truth. This critical evaluation of all claims by standards of rationality replaced the authoritative promul-

gations of the ancien régime in the realms of science, social organization, and the Catholic church’s doctrine

During the French revolt of 1793, the Goddess of Reason was crowned, with a new religion that proclaimed freedom from institutionalized reli-gion. Around the same time (1794), the American philosopher Thomas Paine (1737-1809) wrote The Age of Reason. The book became “the Bible” of the new religion and the Enlightenment movement, which called for the removal of all super-natural elements from Scripture and promulgated the new era of reason, reflecting Paine’s cry: “My own mind is my own church.”3

This attitude also informed deism, which became the dominant philo-sophical-religious worldview. Paine explains:“The only religion that has not been invented, and that has in it every evidence of divine originality, is pure and simple deism. It must have been the first and will probably be the last that man believes.”4 Deistic philosophy describes God as the grand architect of the universe, but one who is not involved in history. Thus super-natural, revealed religion was pushed aside, making room for the religion of reason and humanism, already in vogue since the time of Voltaire, who died some 20 years before the French

10 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Revolution. When Voltaire left the European scene, already his major ideas of tolerance – based on egalitar-ian feelings (égalité) and total freedom (liberté) from the established forms of religion and social structures – had taken root. The idea of tolerance, consequently, paved the way for the development of diverse ideological constructs founded on the freedom of rational thinking.

Voltaire was persecuted by the French royal authorities for his insis-tence on tolerance and freedom of speech.5 He boldly stated: “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”6 This motto of Enlightenment has become the foundational prin-ciple of liberal democracy today. Voltaire’s standard of tolerance was based on the recognition of the frailty of human nature.7 Speaking about Christian faith, Voltaire contends: “Of all religions, the Christian is without doubt the one which should inspire tolerance most, although up to now the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men.”8 Historical Christianity badly failed to exercise the value of tolerance.

Paine believed likewise.9 In the spirit of Voltaire, he claimed: “I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he pre-cludes himself the right of changing it.”10 Ultimately, the French notion of tolerance was redefined and trans-formed into the American idea of reli-gious tolerance (the right to believe something and the right to change one’s beliefs).

The practical outcome of these egalitarian and libertine views of Enlightenment were liberty, equality, and fraternity – concepts that formed the core of the French Revolution (1789-99) and transformed the history of human thought. These and other

emerging political, ideological, and sociological movements and cultural developments gave birth to a new worldview that has affected human history and thought ever since. One concept of that worldview is brother-hood (fraternité), an initiative that later played a pivotal role in the aboli-tionist movement led by deists in the United States. This thesis of brother-hood, buttressed by social calls such as Paine’s (“Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself”),11 turned into a cry for free-dom and deliverance from the hierar-chical social structures of the ancien régime (France’s old order).

Enlightenment, with its principles of reason, tolerance, and brother-hood, initiated the process by which the spirit/reason “achieves clarity and depth in its understanding of its own nature and destiny, and of its own fundamental character and mission.”12 Every democratic society today, in one way or another, tends to incorporate this lofty ideal into its social or ideo-logical structure. However, by exalting human reason and minimizing the role of faith and God, Enlightenment tends to diminish the theocentric dimension of human life.

No one can deny that Enlightenment introduced certain positive values: the emphasis on tolerance (includ-ing religious tolerance), respect for varying opinions through freedom of speech and open-mindedness, an egalitarian vision of society, etc. The church ought to be a proponent of these ideals. Indeed, some serious and constructive efforts were made at find-ing ways to reconcile the thoughts of Enlightenment with Christian revelation.13 However, early in its life, this rational movement came to clash with the basic axiom of under-standing revelation as the ground of Christian understanding of reality. Therefore, it becomes necessary that whatever assessment we make of the Enlightenment worldview ought to be guided by a biblical worldview.

The biblical worldview: PrioritiesFirst, Scripture does not prioritize

human reason / human wisdom apart from God’s revelation (1 Corinthians 2). Reason (Romans 12:2) is one of the basic tools for understanding God and His creation. However, it is a tool that is marred by sin and can-not therefore fully or comprehensively grasp the reality of God’s revelation, particularly the “foolishness of the Cross” with all its implications (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). The God of Scripture is the God of the super-natural: of creation, providence, and redemption.14 If interventions by God (mystery, miracles, and prophecy)15 are dismissed, then Christian theol-ogy becomes humanism. Salvific faith prevents reason from being employed without restrictions and limitations, as is the case in naturalistic deism.

Second, tolerance as a modern Enlightenment ideal has undergone some transformations in the postmod-ern world.16 In ancient biblical times, tolerance in this sense was unknown. There was only one God, one faith, one baptism, one church. Tolerance, for that reason, always included the way of the cross. What does this mean? After all, isn’t it possible to believe in the absolute revealed truth of the gospel and still remain tolerant and open-minded?

Christ has demonstrated this. In front of Pilate, confessing His identity as the embodiment of absolute truth (John 18:37, 38), He still respected the authority of an “intolerant” Roman system. Through suffering on the cross, He became Man par excellence. He proved it is possible to affirm the unconditional truth and accept the consequences for that avow-al from an intolerant environment.

Eventually, of course, God is the absolute Judge, and there is no ulti-mate universal tolerance. But for the church as His body today, Christ’s sacrifice at the cross shows the way of accepting moral absolutes while permitting people to opt for their own

11DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

cherished values and views. The bibli-cal view of tolerance and love does not preclude us from believing in absolute truth revealed in Christ. Therefore, we need not and should not sacrifice our faith in the ultimate truthfulness of God’s revelation, without of course yielding to modern (Enlightenment) or postmodern notions of tolerance that anything goes.

Finally, the biblical idea of broth-erhood differs substantially from that of secular, humanistic, and Enlightenment concepts of brother-hood, rooted in deism. While deism presents an optimistic view of human nature, capable in itself of transcend-ing any limitations described by bibli-cal anthropology, the Word of God insists that human nature is hopelessly bent toward itself and that self-interest is at the core of its being and relation-ships. Therefore, human beings by themselves cannot practice genuine brotherhood (openness in love toward another) without the transforming connection with God the Father and our elder Brother, Lord Jesus (John 20:17; Hebrews 2:10, 11).

Thus, interpretations of religion and religious experience from the standpoint of rationalism/deism differ from that of Christian revelation. But the ques-tion is: what does this mean to us as Christians in our everyday personal and communal Christian commitments?

Practical implications for the life of the church

The Enlightenment worldview can-not grasp the idea of living faith in Scripture and religious experience, because that faith claims to transcend human sense and reason. That faith is a requisite for our understanding of God, His creation, and His redemp-tion and righteousness. Consequently, theology is not a scientific/rational endeavor but a divine art and a result of faith understanding itself. In the church, it seems commonsense theol-ogy,17 constructed under the influence of Enlightenment, has become knowl-

edge of doctrines. In fact, theology is a creative, artistic, and spiritual type of knowledge of the revealed mystery of God that can never be fully grasped by reason. In the church today, there is a desperate need for faith in the transcendent God based on the ancient Word of God, but speaking in time, including ours. Already-existing reasonable concepts of divine person and activity, allegedly grasped by our theological reason or tradition, are inadequate and incomplete. We should call for the Spirit’s mystery, miracles, and prophecy in order to combat both humanistic/rationalistic and spiritual-istic trends in the contemporary com-munity of faith.

Regarding tolerance, at the cross-roads of the 150th anniversary of the Advent movement, we are faced with various alternatives: fundamentalist ultra-conservative, conservative, legal-istic, mainstream, liberal, cultural, progressive, or unnamed Christians. The sheer diversity of these interpre-tative theologies and practices cre-ates confusion, disillusionment, and spiritual apathy among the members of the church. Which way is best? Enlightenment’s concept of falsely-grounded tolerance and the postmod-ern ideal of tolerance are unhelpful because they work without the foun-dational, normative, and historical revelation of God. This type of revela-tion is derived from the scriptural real-ity of the mystery of Christ (Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9; 3:4; Colossians 1:27; 2:2; 4:3) and everything that leads to Christ (the Word of the Old Testament) or is a reflection of the reality of Christ (the Word of the New Testament). False or unhinged teachings contrary to this open revela-tion in Scripture eventually cannot be affirmed, since they are destruc-tive to the unity of the people of God and love in Christ, as the Bible clearly teaches (2 Peter 2:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:3-4; 2 Timothy 2:15-19; 3:6-8; Jude 3).

Even if I defend to the death some-one’s right to say what he/she wants

to say, I have no right, on the basis of the humanistic idea of tolerance, to consider every possible theological construct as free-speech expression of so-called Christian faith – unless, by creating false optimism for an open-minded church, I wish to avoid the “foolishness of the cross.”

In the end, brotherhood in the church should be lived in a Christ-like context, rather than in social, cultural, ideological/theological, or egalitar-ian ones. Social units in this world have no spiritual underpinning. They are based only on mutual agreement of their constituents to live/survive together. Members should know that the biblical concept of brotherhood, however, is based on the revealed and revealing mystery of Christ as the Head/Brother of all. Many pitfalls in the Christian community might be avoided if we took hold of this mys-tery of the counter-humanistic broth-erhood in the Spirit.

To sum up: the ancien régime of “deistic Christianity,” prejudiced by the false conceptualization of reason, tolerance, and brotherhood, will soon be replaced by a new regime of the Lordship of Christ and the genuine latter rain of the Spirit of God, who will bring a renewed understanding of the role of holy rationality, forbearance of the cross, and brotherly love to all.

Alexandar S. Santrac, D.Phil. (University of Belgrade, Serbia), Ph.D. (North-West University, South Africa) is professor of religion, ethics, and philosophy in the School of Religion and Theology at the University of the Southern Caribbean, Trinidad, and extraordinary [adjunct research] professor of dogmatics, North-West University, South Africa. E-mail: aleksandarsantrac@yahoo.com.

Continued on page 4

12 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

the Advent people as those who were literally “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:14, KJV).5

What is eschatology? The word comes from the Greek eschatos, (last) and logos, (word, reason, or discourse): focus on “last things.” Eschatology may “refer either to the fate of indi-viduals (death, resurrection, judgment and afterlife) or to events surround-ing the end of the world.”

6 The latter meaning carries most significance for this study. The Millerites were Advent believers par excellence, so their Sabbatarian descendants devel-oped their new Seventh-day Adventist movement with minds crowded by vivid biblical passages that included descriptors like “flaming fire” and “fervent heat.”7

“When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking ven-geance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be pun-ished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints” (2 Thess. 1:7-10).

“But the day of the Lord will come

as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10).

Adventists reapplied the Old Testament prophecies about “the day of Lord” to the consummation of this earth’s history, Christ’s return, and the creation of “new [atmospheric] heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). They fed avidly upon the apocalyptic portions of both the Old Testament and the New, especially the Book of Daniel, Christ’s Olivet sermon (Matt. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21), 2 Thessalonians, and the Book of Revelation. The Millerites had empha-sized the cleansing of Earth by the fires of the last day; the Adventists could find no way of being faithful to Scripture that did not include an apocalyptic end for the planet and all the finally impenitent.

8 However, in their teaching and preaching they highlighted the theme of hope that climaxed in the restored Eden of Revelation 21 and 22.9

The experience of 1844 and its aftermath posed the crucial question for Adventists: what does it really mean to believe in the Second Advent?

Christian theology broadly agrees with the Adventist affirmation that “the emergency plan to save the human family should they sin” meant that “the active Creator, – God the Son – would become humanity’s Saviour.”1 However, since not all believers adopt the same theologi-cal emphases as Adventists do, some Christians can escape the creative tension Adventists experience between First Things and Last Things – specif-ically, between the Christ of Creation and the Christ of Consummation.2

Eschatology and the Christ of Consummation

The message proclaimed by William Miller (1782-1849) and perhaps fif-teen hundred clergy and public lectur-ers3 initiated a millenarian movement that spread widely in North America before the seismic shock of its Great Disappointment in 1844, when their proclamation of Christ’s Second Coming did not come to pass. While Millerism was related to revivalism, restorationism, and other impulses that were its contemporaries, its dis-tinctive pre-millennialist emphasis sought to ready the planet for an imminent Second Coming.

4 The key texts of the eschatological movement were many, and one such described

Why should Christians practice environmental stewardship if the world will be destroyed?by Arthur N. Patrick To uplift God faithfully so that all are

drawn to Him, is to proclaim and cherish the preciousness of His creation, the grace of His redemption, the constancy of His ongoing care, and the joy of His consummation.

13DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

dential when they were able to spur Adventists to explore the biblical sig-nificance of the seventh day. As soon as Adventists linked the concept of a Saturday Sabbath with biblical proph-ecy, the idea gained momentum. The emphasis on the fourth command-ment gave Adventism one of its most distinctive doctrines: “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work” (Ex. 20:9, 10).

Once they began seriously seek-ing to understand Creation – and the Sabbath as its memorial – Adventists were exposed to a plethora of bibli-cal concerns. What was the ideal diet for humans in the original Eden? How might Scripture facilitate a wise selection from the numerous and con-founding claims made by the health reform movement? In what ways might they prepare for Eden restored by making their lifestyles compat-ible with the principles of the first Eden? What might the answers to these questions say about related mat-ters – even including the placement of Adventist homes in a “country” atmo-sphere?14

It took Adventists a hundred years to add, to their initial emphasis on Saturday as the day of worship, a broadly-based theology on the way of worship. Under the impetus of younger members who were earn-ing doctorates in biblical studies and theology, this process seemed natural, even inevitable. Little by little, the Adventist teaching about the Christ of Creation matured in similar ways, as did their understanding of Christ and the Eschaton. And, as the wider soci-ety began to realize more acutely the finiteness of the earth’s resources and the problems posed for the environ-ment by human activity, Adventists began more effectively to apply their convictions about First Things and Last Things as they contemplated the “dominion” God gave the first humans (Gen. 1:26).15

“All things were made by Him,” yet “All these things shall be dissolved”

For Adventists, Creation is the gift of a loving God who “formed [the earth] to be inhabited” (Isa. 45:18). In the beginning, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). In the teach-ings of Jesus, the fowls of the air are fed by the same heavenly Father who cares for human beings. God values the beauty of lilies and the grass of the field (Matt. 6:25-34). Not only were “all things made” by the Word who is divine, but also “all things consist” in the “dear Son” by whom all things were created (John 1:3; Col. 1:13-18).

Therefore, to deal recklessly with Creation is to unite deliberately with the anti-God forces “which destroy the earth” (Rev. 11:18). It is to work at variance with the creating, giv-ing, sustaining God whose glory is declared in His handiwork and who entrusts the works of His hands to humans (Ps.19:8). Whereas God “sowed good seed in his field,” “his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat” (Matt.13 :24, 25). In this vale of sin and suffering, “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain,” and “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adop-tion, to wit the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:22, 23). Until this mortal puts on immortality (1 Cor. 15:51-53), we are co-workers with God in the work of redemption, shar-ing His values and goals as Christ did when He was incarnate on Earth.

Hence, it is not a deliberate action of a vindictive God that destroys His handiwork; rather, it is the final, divine act in a salvific process that consummates the restoration of a rebellious planet. The “strange work” of executive judgment precedes and facilitates the making new of all things (Isa. 28:21). The God of Scripture is a God of fresh beginnings: after the Flood; after the Babylonian captivity; when He sent His Son; and

Within half a century, a major debate in the developing movement posed a parallel question: What does it really mean to believe in the First Advent?

10 Adventists slowly came to

grips with the pervasive concept that all Scripture orbits the two comings of Christ. “In every page, whether history, or precept, or prophecy, the Old Testament Scriptures are irradi-ated with the glory of the Son of God,” Ellen White, one of the pri-mary founders of Adventism, wrote in 1898.11 If this is true of the first major portion of the Bible, it is even more evident in the New Testament further promise that He will consum-mate the plan of salvation with “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:20, 21). Therefore, by the time of Ellen White’s death (1915), Adventists were aware that her challenge to “be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world”

12 was indeed substan-tive, embracing as it did the Christ who saves from sin (soteriology), the Christ who makes all things new (eschatology), and more.

Cosmology and the Christ of Creation

One of the formative thinkers in Millerism who laid a foundation for Adventism wrote, on 25 January 1844, about his newly-acquired hope that “we shall have a clean universe.”

13 That Adventists came to speak much of Eden restored implied the impor-tance of the original Eden, the one that was lost. The more explicitly they settled on Revelation 14:6-12 as their unique commission from Heaven to deliver “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (v. 6), the more they were confronted by the lan-guage of verse 7 – them to “worship him that made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters.” At the time Seventh Day Baptists were praying earnestly that God would enable them to be more effective in sharing their conviction about a Saturday Sabbath, it seemed provi-

14 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

ultimately in the “new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (Gen. 6-9; Isa. 40; Gal. 4:4; 2 Pet. 3:13).

To articulate this scenario is to separate Adventism from universal-ism. God extends mercy; His grace is abundant, but His justice requires that the guilty be held accountable. To fail to nurture the environment because we know “all these things shall be dissolved” and even “the ele-ments will melt with fervent heat” is to be as irresponsible as a medical doctor who is able to sustain viable life but chooses instead to wilfully destroy it. Assuredly, “the living know that they shall die,” but it is not for God’s people to disregard the divine gift of life because they know that “in Adam all die” (Eccl. 9:5; 1 Cor.15:22). Nor are they at liberty to act carelessly because “the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10).

“Occupy till I come”Jesus enjoins His followers, in His

graphic parable of the pounds, to “occupy” until their Master’s return (Luke 19:12-28). The world in which Adventism was birthed abounded in reforms regarding slavery, health, education, and more. For a time, the expectation of Christ’s immediate return swallowed up most other con-cerns, but gradually Adventists began to engage in a succession of reforms that enhanced their waiting for, and their witness about, the Lord’s return. Respect for nature can be traced far back in Christian history, at least to the stances of Irenaeus (130-200 AD), Augustine of Hippo (354-430), and Saint Francis of Assisi in medieval Italy. However, the modern form of Christian environmentalism is largely a product of changed circumstances of the twentieth century. Historian Geoffrey Blainey aptly contextualizes the impact of such publishing mile-stones as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) and Professor Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb (1968).

16 We

shall now observe representative ways that, knowing this world will be destroyed, Adventists enjoin environ-mental stewardship.

Geographer Howard J. Fisher, in his post-doctoral lecturing, has character-istically emphasized the link between the doctrine of creation and envi-ronmental responsibility. Fisher has underscored three interlocking ideas: humans are created in the image of God; therefore they should develop economic systems that reflect respon-sible care for creation, and an eschatol-ogy that embraces a consummation of creation.

In a 2004 article, Fisher wrestled with two issues: finding motiva-tion for practical concern about the natural world in the face of an expectation of an imminent and fiery termination of life on the planet,17 and the discontinuity produced by that cataclysm between the present apparently-doomed natural world and the new creation that includes recon-ciliation to God of all created things through Jesus Christ (Col. 1:15-20). He suggested that some Seventh-day Adventists may view environmental care as a test of stewardship, in line with Christ’s injunction to “occupy” until He comes; some may make a connection between environmental health and personal health – an issue much-emphasized by Adventists; and for others, a lessening sense of imme-diacy relating to the Second Advent may offer another reason to care for the natural environment.

18 Fisher is apt to remark that if we fail to look after this world, we shouldn’t expect God to give us a new one.

Warren Trenchard, in a landmark article, offers a “theology of ecology,” observing: “About 1970, Seventh-day authors began to address the issue of Christian responsibility for the con-servation and renewal of the earth. Their writings include discussions of the growing ecologic crisis, efforts at developing an environmental con-science among Adventists, and insights

into the relationship between theology and ecology.”19

The lectures and writings of Fisher and Trenchard are merely two illustra-tions of the way in which, increasingly in the recent past, Adventist thinkers have addressed the issue of environ-mental stewardship.20 But it is impor-tant to note that Adventism is a world-wide denomination with over seven-teen million baptized adult adherents, many of whom live in developing nations where the struggle to survive is a daily priority. Many influences need to coalesce in a sterling attempt to move a sometimes indifferent, reluctant, or otherwise-engaged mem-bership to better appreciate such issues and invest their energies more respon-sibly. The Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index conveniently indexes articles in Adventist Review, Ministry, Dialogue, Message, Journal of Adventist Education and regional magazines that give clarity and substance to this endeavor.

21 Clearly, the ongoing “dia-logue and dialectic” that is often vig-orous in Adventism must include the difficult but essential matter of how Christian stewardship mandates the effective care of the physical earth.22

In essence: It is all about Christ and God

It is a source of surprise to non-Adventist and Adventist authors that Adventism as a millennialist move-ment is increasingly concerned with the quality of life on earth.

23 However, from a theological standpoint, this concern is readily explicable. In the creative work of Christ, the Trinity gifted humanity a pristine earth. In Christ’s saving work, all that was lost by the Fall will be gifted again to the redeemed. There can be no eternal co-existence of good and evil; all things will be restored to their original beauty. Hence, the Adventist is drawn by four compelling truths about Jesus: He is at once Creator, Savior, Sustainer, and Consummator. To uplift Him faithfully so that all are

15DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

drawn to Him (John 12:32) is to pro-claim and cherish the preciousness of His creation, the grace of His redemp-tion, the constancy of His ongoing care, and the joy of His consumma-tion.

Arthur N. Patrick (Ph.D., University of Newcastle, Australia) is an honorary senior research fellow at Avondale College of Higher Education in Australia. He has served in New Zealand and the United States. His writings have focused on Adventist studies.

REFERENCES 1. Frank Holbrook, “The Great Controversy,” in

Raoul Dederen, ed., Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald, 2000), 972.

2. However, Adventists have much to learn from other Christians as they struggle with the issues of environmental stewardship. See, for instance, Douglas Moo, “Nature in the New Creation: New Testament Eschatology and the Environment,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 49 (2006):449-488.

3. The Midnight Cry (24 March 1844), 282, suggested from 1,500 to 2,000 lecturers were “proclaiming the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

4. For a reliable introduction to Millerism, see R. Numbers and J. Butler, The Disappointed: Millerism and Millenarianism in the Nineteenth Century (Indianapolis, Indiana: University Press, 1987). A recent, substan-tive account of Miller is that by David Rowe, God’s Strange Work: William Miller and the End of the World (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2008).

5. Since this chapter engages with the historical development of Adventism, it cites only the King James Version – the common Bible of Adventists until the middle of the twentieth century – except where otherwise stated.

6. See T.W. Weber, “Eschatology,” in D. Reid, ed., Dictionary of Christianity in America (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1990), 397-401.

7. Observe the stark contrast between premi-llennialism and postmillennialism. The former envisions a world in which “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse” (2 Tim. 3:13) prior to a cataclysmic end that introduces a thousand years of “justice, peace and righteousness on earth.” The latter maintains that Christ’s coming will climax a thousand years of increasing “peace, pros-perity and righteousness.” See R. Clouse, “Premillennialism” and “Postmillennialism,” in Reid, ed., Dictionary of Christianity in America, 919, 929. But note the distinctive

stance of Adventists well described by K. Newport, “The Heavenly Millennium of Seventh -day Adventism,” in S. Hunt, ed., Christian Millenarianism: From the Early Church to Waco (London: Hurst, 2001), 131-148.

8. See Richard Lehmann, “The Second Coming of Jesus,” in Dederen, ed., Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, 893-926.

9. For a longitudinal view of the way Adventist millennialism has been attenuated and transformed over time, see D. Morgan, Adventism and the American Republic: The Public Involvement of a Major Apocalyptic Movement (Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 2001). For an overview of the rapidly-growing discipline of Adventist studies, see A. Patrick, A Brief, Annotated Introduction to the Field of Adventist Studies for Higher Degree Students (Cooranbong, Australia: Avondale College, 2009); also available on the Avondale College website, www.avondale.edu.au/research.

10. Cf. the fuller expression of similar ideas in G. Knight, A Search for Identity: The Development of Seventh-day Adventist Beliefs (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald, 2000).

11. Ellen White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press, 1898), 211.

12. Ellen White, Gospel Workers (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1946), I 56.

13. Charles Fitch to “Dear Brother [George] Storrs,” 25 January 1844, cited in Knight, compiler and editor, 1844 and the Rise of Sabbatarian Adventism (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald, 1994), 163, 164.

14. Ellen White, Country Living: An Aid to Moral and Social Security (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1946).

15. Michael Pearson, Millennial Dreams and Moral Dilemmas: Seventh-day Adventism and Contemporary Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), acknowledged the need to address environmental concerns, but they were not part of his otherwise illuminat-ing study of ethics.

16. “The green movement, barely discernible in 1930, was highly influential half a century later.” G. Blainey, A Short History of the 20th Century (New York: Penguin, 2005), 503, 409-415.

17. Hebry Zuill, in the paper “Christians and the Environment: A Biblical Perspective,” presented at the 3rd Symposium on the Bible and Adventist Scholarship, Akumal, Riviera Maya, Estado Quintana Roo, Mexico, March 19-25, 2006, noted: “Since 1980, the church has made four official statements regarding environmentalism,” available on http://www.Adventist.org/beliefs/statements/index.html. In his paper, Zuill argues: “Why then should we look after a doomed creation? We do it because God made it and told us to keep it. It is His; He created it.” See the entire paper with its extensive footnotes at http://fae.adventist.org/essays/34B_Zuill_H.pdf.

18. Howard Fisher, “The Fate of Nature,” Christian Spirituality and Science 4 (2004), 5-16. See also Fisher’s article, “Green Light: The Christian response to environmental con-

cerns,” Adventist Professional 6, no. I (1994), 11-13.

19. Warren Trenchard, “For the Beauty of the Earth: An Adventist Theology of Ecology,” Spectrum 31, no. 3 (Summer 2003), 34-45.

20. Note, for instance, how David Trim, now the General Conference archivist, argues “The Biblical Basis for Civic and Ecological Activism among Adventist Christians” in his article “Proclaim Liberty or Submit to Authority?” Spectrum 37, no. 3 (Summer 2009) 10-15, 64.

21. See also such websites as http://www.sdaenvi-ronmentalism.wordpress.com/.

22. For intimations of the dialogic process, its challenges and possibilities, see A. Patrick, “Contextualising Recent Tensions in Seventh-day Adventism: ‘A Constant Process of Struggle and Rebirth’?” Journal of Religious History 34. no. 3 (September 2010), 272-288.

23. For instance: “The SDA church therefore pro-vides the rare example of a sect that is mille-narian in orientation, but one which also con-cerns itself with improving the world as it is.” S. Hunt, Alternative Religions: A Sociological Investigation (Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate, 2003), 53.

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16 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Lamech, the ninth from Adam

by John Wesley Taylor V & John Wesley Taylor VI

Yes, I am Lamech, son of Methuselah. I was told that you wished to speak with me, and now is a good time, as the family reunion of the 10 generations of Adam will not start for a while.

From what I was told, you, who lived as a witness of earth’s last hour, would like to know more about what happened between the creation and the flood. That is a tall order – more than 1,650 years of the world’s history!

AdamI remember when I was a young

man, 56 years old, Adam died. It was a shock for all of us. It’s true that other people had already died – some by violence, others through accidents, and some of the Cainites of natural causes. But to have the man whom God Himself had formed, who had been in Eden and eaten of the fruit and leaves of the tree of life, who was robust and had never been sick, who had lived for 930 years, suddenly cease to live, was a difficult blow. During those 56 years, however, I had ample opportunity to spend time with Adam.

He was impressive – twice the height of men at the end of earth’s history, strong and vigorous, with a ruddy countenance and bright, pen-etrating eyes. What vast knowledge he had! You could ask him about anything, and he could give you an answer. It wasn’t that he had a vast library of books. We didn’t have any, because they weren’t needed. We never forgot anything.

What I remember most were the experiences that Adam would relate. Eden was a piece of heaven. Everything was peaceful and beauti-ful. Adam and Eve conversed with the angels and cared for the garden. In the center of Eden was the tree of life,

with fruit that looked like apples of gold, speckled with silver.

One day, though, everything changed. Adam and Eve knew about the test of the tree. They knew about Lucifer and the great battle in heaven. They knew that they should not become separated. But Eve was not satisfied and began to doubt what God had told them. The serpent, colored like polished gold, was eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve was curious, intrigued, fascinated. She took the fruit and ate it. She then took some to Adam, as the serpent suggested.

Adam understood immediately what had happened and was convinced what the consequences would be. He told Eve that he was quite sure that she had been talking with the enemy. But he did not want to lose Eve, that beautiful woman, so he impulsively decided to share her fate. He seized the fruit and ate it.

They had to leave EdenI remember as a lad having looked

in on Eden from the entrance of the garden. If you haven’t yet done so, you will have to take a walk and see it. It is not far from the Holy City.

Outside of the garden, the effects of sin began to be felt. The climate became unpredictable. Thorns appeared on some of the most beauti-ful plants. Adam told me that when they saw the first leaf fall from one of the trees, they wept as if they had lost a cherished friend.

Cain and AbelAfter a number of years, Adam’s

first son was born. Adam and Eve were quite surprised – the little per-son at first did not have teeth, and could neither walk nor talk. They named him Cain. They thought that

he would be the Messiah. After a time, another son was born, and they named him Abel.

As Cain was growing up, he began to complain bitterly that he could not enter Eden. He especially felt rebel-lious when the family would come before the cherubim at the entrance to the garden to offer sacrifices. Abel, however, maintained that God was merciful in allowing their parents to continue to live, even after their dis-obedience.

The words and the life of Abel irritated Cain, and one day, in a fit of rage, he silenced him. How sad that Cain, the first new life upon the earth, should be the first to take life from the earth. Adam and Eve lost both of their sons that day. Cain fled to the east, where he lived in the land of Nod near the river Euphrates. It was a less fertile land. In Nod, he built a fortified city, which he called Enoch.

The descendants of Cain began to multiply. Many, like Irad, his grand-son, lived clumped together in the city, while other parts of the earth were nearly desolate. One of Cain’s descendants, Tubal-Cain, became an expert in metals, and began, after a time, to manufacture implements of warfare from bronze and iron. Another, Jubal, invented various types of musical instruments, although he did not use them for holy purposes.

The Cainites tried to forget about God. They constructed magnificent buildings – palaces, temples, formal gardens, and broad avenues shaded with fruit trees. They made idols and planted groves of trees, which they dedicated to their idols. The Cainites also lost their reverence for the Sabbath.

Continually, they tried to exceed one another in decorating themselves and their dwellings, utilizing gold,

17DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

silver, and precious stones. The result of this intense rivalry was violence and bloodshed.

SethAdam was 130 years old when his

third son was born. They called him Seth, “the Substitute.” He was of a more noble stature than either Cain or Abel, and he resembled Adam more than any of his sons. Through him began the lineage of the patriarchs to which I belong.

Seth was 105 years old when his son Enos was born; in the days of Enos, those descendants of Seth that loved God began to be known as the “sons of God.” For centuries, they would meet at the entrance to Eden to wor-ship God and to offer sacrifices.

The son of Enos was Cainan, and the son of Cainan was Mahalaleel, the first of the patriarchs to die before reaching the age of 900. The son of Mahalaleel was Jared, and Jared was the father of my grandfather Enoch.

Sons of God and of menIn those years, the descendants of

Cain began to spread out from the land of Nod. They invaded the plains and valleys where we, the descendants of Seth, were living.

Cain’s descendants were called the “sons of men.” Due to their lifestyle, the Cainites had begun to lose vitality, nobility, and stature. And as they lost the divine likeness, they began to die at an earlier age. Many were polyga-mists. Lamech, the Cainite, for exam-ple, had two wives – “Ornament” and “Jingle,” Ada and Zilla. The multiplic-ity of wives, however, brought much unhappiness and perversion, and was one of the great sins that brought the wrath of God upon our world.

The descendants of Seth, however, were loyal to God’s principles and conserved their strength and stature from generation to generation. Thus, the descendants of Seth, the “sons of God,” came to be viewed as giants by the Cainites.

When the Cainites invaded our land, they entered with violence, car-rying armaments of war; many of the Sethites, a peace-loving people, had to flee to the mountains. After a time, however, some of the Sethites ventured down again to the plains and began to associate with the Cainites. They saw that the daughters of the Cainites were beautiful, and many of the Sethites took wives from among the daughters of men. They chose them, not because of virtue, but based solely upon sen-sual attraction.

The sons originating from these unions were also of great stature and strength, like their fathers. But no one instructed these children in the way of the Lord. They grew up undisciplined, rebellious, steeped in vices, and with-out moral principles. The result was a great apostasy.

EnochWhen my grandfather Enoch was

born, the seventh generation, Adam was 622 years old. Enoch was thus able to learn from Adam the sad story of the fall of man and of the pre-cious promise that God’s Son would save our fallen race. Adam, who had conversed with God in Eden, also instructed him in the law of God.

My grandfather was an exceedingly wise man, with a brilliant, cultivated mind. Yet he was meek and humble, courteous and compassionate.

Enoch also possessed moral courage. He separated himself from among the descendants of Cain, and went to live in the mountains. He wanted to place his family in as pure an environment as possible. He did not wish to mingle daily with the wicked, who would openly boast of their transgression of the law of God. He feared that he might be affected by their infidelity and lose his reverence for God.

Up in the mountains, Enoch spent much time alone, in meditation and prayer. He prayed that he might know the will of God and fulfill it perfectly.

Enoch was 65 years old when his

son Methuselah was born. Although during those first years Enoch had loved God and had honored His com-mandments, after the birth of his first son, he reached a higher experience. As he began to understand the depth of a father’s love and of the complete confidence of a helpless infant, he began to comprehend more clearly the love of God and his relationship toward his Creator. That was the beginning of his walk with God.

You must understand that Enoch’s walk with God was not that they would wander together. Nor was it a trance or vision. Enoch, in fact, never saw God face to face.

Rather, his walk with God was in all that he did. In the concerns of his daily life, he would always ask, “Is this the way of the Lord? Is this accept-able to God?” To be like God was the great desire that filled his heart. Truly, he came to have the mind of Christ.

One thing, though, concerned Enoch. The Cainites would often boast, “There is no recompense for the just nor punishment for the wicked.” And the sons of God would ask, “Of what gain is it that we have feared the Lord and kept His commandments, since death is the end of us all?” Even Enoch himself wondered, “What real-ly happens to a person who dies?” He prayed to God about this dilemma, and God responded.

In vision, Enoch saw Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. He saw the second coming, the end of the world, and the resurrection of the righteous. He saw the Holy City and how we would once again be allowed to live in Eden. He saw the resurrection of the wicked after the millennium and their destruction by fire. Angels also visited him and informed him that God would soon be sending a flood to destroy the wicked. That is how Enoch came to be the first prophet.

When Enoch returned from these communions with God, his counte-nance would be illuminated with a supernatural light. This caused a deep

18 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

reverence to fall upon all who saw him; even the wicked and the scoffers were awestruck. He was truly a light shining in the darkness.

Enoch, however, was not a hermit. He believed that he had a work to do for God. Although he did not live in the cities, he would frequently travel there, seeking the salvation of their inhabitants. He did not only work among the Sethites, but would even journey to the land of Nod, where Cain had tried to flee from the pres-ence of God.

I can still hear him: “God is com-ing with thousands of His holy angels. He will save the righteous and destroy the wicked. O, repent and turn from your evil ways. God loves you, and He wants to save you.”

After remaining for a time among men, he would depart again to spend time alone with God. Sometimes he would take with him a few who had accepted the message. Other persons would seek him in his secluded places of communion with God, where he would instruct them and pray for them. But finally he had to set aside certain periods and not permit anyone to find him, to interrupt his commu-nion with God. After these intervals, he would then go forth and meet with the righteous and the wicked at appointed times and places.

In essence, Enoch walked with God for 300 years. Then one day, when I was 113 years old and my grandfather Enoch was 365, God sent His angels to take my grandfather to heaven. In the presence of the righteous and also of the wicked, the heavens opened and he was taken away.

You must understand that Enoch was taken to heaven not simply as the reward for a holy life, but to demon-strate the certainty of God’s promise and of His power to save us from sin and death. Maybe soon you will have an opportunity to talk with Enoch. He is now over 5,000 years old, the first of the human race to enter through the gates of the Holy City.

Our familyMy father, Methuselah, was born

when Adam was 687 years old. Of all that my grandfather Enoch told him, what impressed him the most was the news that a flood was coming.

When I was born, the ninth genera-tion from Adam, Adam was 874 years old. What I remember most about those first years was how hard we had to work in order to cultivate the earth.

We were living in the mountains of Havilah. The Cainites and apos-tate Sethites had saturated the fertile plain of the river Pison. They had also coveted that land because there was much gold and precious stones. In the mountains, it was simply more difficult to work the land, and I had no one to help me for 182 years, until my son was born. When he arrived, I remember exclaiming, “Now, at last, we have someone who can help us farm this land!” And I named him “Peaceful Rest.” That’s right, you know him as Noah.

The antediluvian worldNoah was the 10th generation since

Adam; although he never had the opportunity to talk with either Adam or Enoch, Noah also walked with God.

A number of times, Noah asked me if the flood would come during his lifetime. You see, the human race had multiplied rapidly, until there was a vast population upon the earth, and the world was filled with crime and violence. War, theft, and murder were the order of the day. If one desired the goods or the wife of his neighbor, and could prevail over him and kill him, he would do it and then boast of his violent exploits.

Justice was trampled to the ground. The strong not only violated the rights of those who were weak, but forced them to commit acts of violence and crime. They also exulted in destroying the lives of the animals. They would then devour them, and this served to foster the violence and inhumanity of

their nature, and caused them to look upon the lives of human beings with astonishing indifference.

If there was one sin above any other, however, that brought about the destruction of the human race by the flood, it was the perverse inter-mingling of beasts one with another, and with men. It brought in confu-sion everywhere and disfigured the image of God in humanity. From this genetic engineering, strange beasts resulted, creatures that God had not created and that did not have names given them by Adam. When the flood came, God preserved in the ark only those species that He had created.

The scientific and technological advances of the antediluvian world were incredible. You thought that your world was sophisticated? You should have lived before the flood. More great inventions of science, art, and technol-ogy perished in the flood than the world afterward ever knew. We gained that knowledge by carefully studying the form and habits of the different animals, how they used their bodies, and how they defended themselves. Besides, we had lives of nearly a thou-sand years to gather knowledge, and we never forgot what we learned.

As the climax to all their sins, the Cainites and the apostate descendants of Seth decided to take the Garden of Eden and the tree of life by force. They armed themselves and trained. But on that day, Eden ceased to exist upon earth. God, in His mercy, took it to heaven so that the Cainites would not perish before they had one final opportunity to hear the message of salvation. God also desired to preserve a sample of His creation without the blight of sin, and to return it to those who would be faithful.

The arkNoah was 500 years old when his

first son was born. He had three sons, and they found young women who loved God – which was not easy – and married.

19DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Meanwhile, God spoke to Noah about a coming worldwide flood. He said that it would be a judgment on the wickedness of the earth’s inhab-itants. The entire world would be destroyed, except for those who would repent and come back to His ways. God also mentioned an ark.

Noah was surprised when he heard about the ark, and he was even more astonished when he realized that he was the one chosen to build it! You see, my son had no prior experience in building boats or in navigation.

Noah was not wealthy, but from the time that God spoke to him, he invested everything he had in the con-struction of the ark. It was built with wood from the acacia trees – trees nearly 400 feet tall, with a very fine grain, hard as stone. It took much time and effort to work the acacia, even for our race before the flood. We would then cover the wood of the ark with a coating of resin without and within, filling every crack.

The ark looked like a boat below and an enormous building above. It contained three levels, with a skylight that ran the length of the entire struc-ture, illuminating each of the levels.

The ark became a great attraction. People would come from far and near to see the sight. Noah, along with my father Methuselah and others, began to preach about the flood. It was the same message that my grandfather Enoch had announced.

At first, a great multitude of the descendants of Cain believed the message. Some, however, continued in their vices, and after a time joined the ranks of the scoffers. Others were dissuaded by the descendants of Seth who had joined with the Cainites. In fact, it was these apostate Sethites who were the leaders in rejecting Noah’s message. Some of the workmen that Noah contracted, however, faithfully believed the message, but died before the flood.

Although the opposition to Noah’s message was not universal, as the

years passed, it became intense. “Look for how many years Noah has been preaching. And still nothing happens. Each day is the same. The sun always shines. The sky is always blue.” “Men of science know what they are talking about. It is impossible for water to cover the earth. There is simply not that much water.” “Water falling from the sky! What an absurd idea! The sky cannot contain water! Even if it were to rain, it wouldn’t cover those moun-tains. That is where I would escape.”

And so they ridiculed, caricatured, and criticized Noah. They called him a crazy fanatic, an alarmist. They scoffed at the sincerity and intense emotion with which he warned them of the coming judgment.

They celebrated a great carnival, with Noah and the ark as the central attraction. It seemed that the whole world had come together.

Scientists stood up and spoke of the laws that controlled nature: “Ladies and gentlemen, the laws of nature are fixed and immutable; even God himself will not and, in fact, cannot change them.”

The theologians announced: “Beloved people, you simply must understand that it would not be in harmony with the character of God to destroy beings that He himself has created and only save Noah and his family from a flood.”

The philosophers came forward and suggested that the construction of this immense ship upon dry land was but a parable, that Noah was speaking figu-ratively, in metaphors and symbols.

And everyone continued on as always – eating and drinking, marry-ing and giving in marriage.

ConclusionEach day, except for the Sabbath,

we worked together, my father Methuselah, my son Noah, and I, building the ark… .

And that is all that I remember. At 777 years old, I was the first

patriarch to die before his father. After

the resurrection, I found that my father Methuselah lived for a few more years, dying in the very year of the flood at 969 years of age.

Except for Noah’s family, all of my close relatives and dearest friends perished in the flood. If only they had believed Noah’s message and had accepted God’s plan of salvation, they could have been saved… .

Oh, here comes Enoch. He has arrived from the Holy City where he resides. See, he carries a palm branch in his right hand. On each leaf is writ-ten the word “Victory.” On his head, there is a shining wreath with white leaves. In the middle of each leaf is the word “Purity.” Set in the wreath are precious stones of myriad colors that reflect and magnify the words. The wreath is held in place with a ribbon upon which is written the word “Holiness.” Above the laurel, his crown shines brighter than the sun.

It seems that the family reunion of the 10 generations of Adam is about to begin, and I must bid you farewell. But we really must spend more time together. You must tell me about the final events of earth’s history, and about your experience living in those momentous times, those final hours.

“As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the com-ing of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37)

John Wesley Taylor V (Ph.D., Andrews University; Ed.D, University of Virginia) serves as associate director of education at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He is also an editor of Dialogue. E-mail: taylorjw@gc.adventist.rg. John Wesley Taylor VI is a college student at Southern Adventist University.

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doing things that lawyers do.If a person tried to become a lawyer

based on the comments and questions mentioned in the first paragraph, what are the chances that he or she would actually become one? All these surging emotions and frantic activities could occur without that individual enroll-ing in the first required class! The path to becoming a lawyer is simple but challenging. If one spends eight years going through that process, will one’s emotions fluctuate from time to time? Of course they will, but those surging emotions are not what makes a lawyer. What makes one a lawyer is completing steps one to five, regard-less of one’s emotions.

The readers who asked the questions raised in the first paragraph seem to live in a swirling fog of confusion. Is it possible that successful relationships can at least approximate the clarity of becoming a lawyer – difficult, but straightforward?

To some extent, yes. There are some useful parallels and some differences. But you don’t expect any analogy to fit perfectly. As C.S. Lewis put it so aptly: “When Jesus said be like doves He did not mean that we should live in trees and lay eggs.”

Here are areas of potential paral-lel. First, just like someone preparing to be a lawyer, a successful relation-ship takes time, effort, and education to learn the fundamental principles. Second, the person needs to apply in

his/her own life the principles learned. Thirdly, recognize the difficulties involved. Even excellent relationships face serious challenges. Finally, an extraordinary relationship is not based solely on emotions. While agreement and general approval may be forth-coming for the first three statements here, the fourth one may raise some reservations. You may ask, “What do you mean when you say that an extraordinary relationship is not based on emotions?”

In our world, intense emotions typi-cally follow extensive effort. Think of the joy of an athlete who wins a championship. Then consider that the joy was preceded by thousands of hours of intense effort. The same prin-ciple applies to an actor winning an Oscar, the pianist completing a suc-cessful concert, the medical student graduating from medical school.

But how do we do it in relation-ships? We “fall” in love. We launch ourselves “head over heels” about our special someone. Often these emotions are almost instantaneous. Where is the work that is necessary for success in just about every other human endeav-or? Is it possible that marriage – the most complicated of all human rela-tionships – can be successful because of our intense feelings? Is it possible that a marriage can thrive without the hard work so necessary in every other human endeavor?

Alas, people’s experience, divorce

Marriage: Surviving in an age of rampant divorce

A survey of critical issues during dating and courtship helps couples maintain a steady marriage and form a joyful relationship that will stand the test of time.

by Darren George

A local “Ask the Expert” newspa-per column invited readers to send in questions about the status of their marriage relationships. Most of the questions sent in revealed troubled relationships. Questions and com-ments included the following: “I fell head over heels for him.” “I never thought I could love someone so much.” “I’ve done practically every-thing I can to get her to love me.” “She said love should come from the heart.” “He told me that he truly believes I am the one.” “Should I stick around and hope things work out?” “How do I react, how do I deal with this?” “I’ve been dating a guy (recently divorced) for four months; everything was great until we slept together.” “I want him to apologize and beg me to come back.” “I want to feel like I did when we first hung out.”

Why does such confusion reign in romantic relationships? Why do feel-ings so quickly change from the time of romance to the time when marital reality settles in?

Life should be a lot simpler, as in other areas. For instance, you want to be a lawyer. The path may be dif-ficult, but it is straightforward in most countries: 1) complete an undergradu-ate degree in a related field; 2) join an accredited law school; 3) complete the coursework and graduate with a law degree; 4) pass the bar exam; 5) get hired by a law firm, or form your own firm, and, poof! You are a lawyer

21DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

statistics, and research findings say “no.” Most romantic relationships start out with intense emotions. Many of these intensely-emotional relationships turn into marriage. Fifty percent of these marriages end up in divorce. And an additional 30 percent continue but are dysfunctional and unhappy. The start-with-emotions model leaves you with a 20 percent chance of a suc-cessful marriage.

Does being a Christian or a Seventh-day Adventist make a dif-ference? Alas, no. The divorce rate for various Christian denominations ranges from 39 percent to 61 percent, and Adventists are right in the middle of that mix. “How can this be?” asks many a troubled Christian. “Shouldn’t being a Christian ensure successful relationships?” The question requires a closer look.

If I pray several hours a day, will this enable me to run a 2.20 mara-thon? No, running a 2.20 marathon requires excellent talent plus thou-sands of hours of intense training under expert guidance. If I am a fer-vent Christian, does this enable me to play Rachmaninoff ’s third piano con-certo? No, playing the Rach-3 requires talent and training, plus thousands of hours of intense practice under expert guidance. The same line could be repeated for accomplishment in a thousand different arenas. Likewise, successful relationships don’t “just happen” because you are a Christian or pray a lot.

So whether or not you are Christian, if you want a successful marriage (or successful relationships in general) you will need to actually take the time to learn the principles of successful rela-tionships and apply those principles.

That is the purpose of this article: to begin to acquaint you with these success principles. Thus far we have looked at the importance of principle number one: if you want better than a 20 percent chance of success in your marriage, you will need to educate yourself. Attend the classes, read the

books, sign up for seminars, watch instructional videos, become marriage ready yourself, and apply the material you learn. Next, we explore three dif-ferent broad areas in the remainder of this article: the look inward, the look outward, and the look together.

The look inwardIdentifying personal qualities.

The first step of the look inward is to take inventory of yourself and the array of characteristics you possess that may have an influence on who will make a wonderful life partner. Take a sheet of paper and begin list-ing the characteristics that define you. When finished, you may have as many as 100 items. List these charac-teristics under positive qualities (I’m warm, nurturing, intelligent), neutral qualities (I’m Hispanic, 5’10” tall, 32 years old), and negative qualities (I’m a loner, don’t communicate very well, tend to be critical, and procrastinate).

The items you put on the list are characteristics that may influence your choice of a partner. The fact that you are an excellent pianist will certainly influence your choice; your hair color, probably not. You may want to run your list past a trusted friend to gain greater objectivity. Once completed, you can nurture the areas of strength, begin to overcome areas of weakness, and simply be aware of the others. Through this process, we are doing what Socrates once suggested: “Know yourself.”

Becoming marriage ready. So many singles are looking for the “right one.” The lesson of Socrates is that before we look for the right one, we must make the effort to be the right one. Most people possess some negative qualities that will challenge their relationships and diminish their chances of success. It is important for such people, if they want to ensure a successful marriage, to work to improve in those areas. Others in the dating market are what we call “walk-ing disasters.” They possess so many

personal flaws that they could not suc-cessfully marry anyone. If they find the “perfect” other, their own demons will destroy or severely compromise that relationship. Someone with an uncontrolled temper, manipulative tendencies, deep-seated hostility or bitterness, the obsessive need to con-trol, selfishness, rigidness, criticality, or an array of other negative qualities has no chance of having a successful marriage.

If you possess such qualities, what can you do about it? The answer is simple but, in many cases, agonizingly difficult. Before you start looking for someone else, you will need at look at yourself. Make the active choice to overcome personal challenges. In some cases, you may need to read a book and apply its principles to assist in the battle. Some may need to see a quali-fied therapist to resolve really chal-lenging issues. The contrast between those who make the courageous choice to make those changes and those who don’t is stark. The former have the potential for a rewarding life and deeply satisfying relationships. The latter will live a miserable life until they die. And, if they marry, they will probably make their partner as miser-able as they are.

Understanding your essence qual-ities. From your personal-qualities list, identify characteristics that are abso-lutely central to your identity. Without any one of these qualities, you would not really be you. Think of a choco-late-chip cookie. A typical chocolate-chip cookie may have 10 different ingredients. Cooks may play with the other nine (oatmeal instead of flour, for instance), but if you leave out the chocolate chips you no longer have a chocolate-chip cookie. Shift the anal-ogy: if you are an outstanding pianist, music is one of your essence qualities. Without music, you wouldn’t be you. Likewise, for the deeply-committed Christian, life without Christ-as-center is unthinkable. To the young lady whose life revolves around family and

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family events, she could not imagine a life without them. Seek to identify different areas that are definingly you. Typically, an individual would rarely have more than eight or 10 essence qualities. If you come up with more than that, you are probably describ-ing interests – things that change over time – rather than essences. We shall return to the issue of essence qualities in our third section when addressing “the look together.”

As we look at the three components of the look inward, you can sense that knowledge of these areas will assist in your search for someone with whom you can successfully spend a lifetime.

The look outwardThe ideal other. Anyone who

desires to marry has already thought of the sort of person they hope for – the mythical princess or knight in shining armor. In our seminars, we extend this process to look with greater depth at the personal qualities of that special someone that would generate an exciting, romantic, pur-poseful, and satisfying relationship – that can actually last a lifetime. During seminars, we have individuals complete a list of desirable qualities for the “ideal other” in 11 different areas, such as social, family, spiritual, personal habits, interests/passions, and several others. Now, if you look for someone who fits all 50 or 60 of the characteristics you may have writ-ten down, you will die single. No one will match. The critical component of the process is to rate the level of importance of each of the 50 or so items. Four different levels of desir-ability are proposed: 1 = required; 2 = highly desirable; 3 = desirable; and 4 = prefered. The 1s and 2s are the qualities that will guide your search. The 3s and 4s may be nice but are not required. If you extend the required items to more than eight, your likeli-hood of finding someone who matches diminishes. Use the list as a flexible guide, have fun with it, scratch things

out and insert new ones, but be keenly aware of the 1s. They are foundational to your quest.

Disqualifiers. The concept of dis-qualifiers operates in every area of life. If you are a vegetarian and see lard on a food’s ingredient list, that is a dis-qualifier – you don’t buy it. You see a hot pair of shoes that you love, but it says size 6 on the inside, and you wear size 8: disqualifier – you don’t buy them. If you are shopping for a van for your family of six and see a sizzling 1957 Thunderbird: disqualifier – the ’57 Thunderbird seats only two. The lettuce is wilted: disqualifier – I will not buy it.

Disqualifiers operate just as defini-tively in the world of relationships. If you are aware of your list of dis-qualifiers before you begin dating, you are much less likely to get yourself into an impossible relationship. For instance, you may know that you will not marry someone who smokes, uses drugs, is non-Christian, is lazy, bitter, dishonest, or manipulative. And your list may be longer. If that list is writ-ten down and kept clearly in mind, a disqualifier may reveal itself on a first date, and the romantic prospect ceases after that one date. This is smart. If you don’t have such a list, you may be a year into the relationship before you realize that it cannot work. Then starts the agonizing (and invariably futile) process of trying to change the other person. Avoid the torment and be clear on what you won’t accept. Then you can be friends with many who may possess such qualities, but are smart enough not to pursue a romance.

Lure of the sirens. Humans are biased. Few of us see things clearly because we see our world through our own interpretive filters. Those filters (and everyone has them) distort our perceptions due to past experi-ences. Many of these biases operate in areas where there are no negative consequences. I may think Lindsey Lohan is a disaster, or that Robert

Downey Jr. is a terrific actor. Even if I am wrong, my opinions do not affect Lohan, Downey, or myself. But if these biases occur in the arena of important decisions, then disaster can be the result. Take the event of the proposal. Young women dream about the day when that event occurs; young men think up creative ways to make it memorable and compelling. So men proposes to woman. The woman is so excited that, in the moment, she forgets that he is manipulative, criti-cal, disagreeable, controlling, lazy, and alcoholic, and she says, “Yes! Oh yes!” That, my friends, is bias. Our emo-tions are so strong that reason fails, and we trap ourselves in an impossible relationship.

There are two type of destructive bias. One is intense emotions (illus-trated by the proposal example above), and the other is erroneous informa-tion or perception. The latter occurs when we are simply wrong about our perceptions: she thought he was gener-ous, but he was actually selfish. He thought she was romantic, but it was just a tool to get his attention. Finally, there are conditions when biases are most likely to occur: the urge for closeness, or the experience of loneli-ness, fear, or sexual urgency. Such situations provide a fertile ground for serious errors of judgment. Dealing with these biases in the context of relationships is a serious challenge. Fortunately, good material is available to help you successfully navigate these dangerous waters.

The look togetherMatching essence qualities. We

spoke of essence qualities in the look-inward section. In the look-together section, we return to the topic of essence qualities. If a couple fills out their eight or nine essence qualities independent of each other, the chances are less than one in 10,000 that their lists will be identical. We deal with the reality that even well-matched couples are different and are passion-

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ate about different things. Let’s say, for the point of discussion, that each of you has nine essence qualities listed. It would be pretty important for you to have solid matches on at least three of them. For instance, you are both deep-ly spiritual, academic, and enthused about fitness. For the other six, there may be varying levels of concord. For instance, “love of children” may be an essence for one, but not for the other. The other enjoys children, but it is simply not an essence. The critical thing to be aware of when it comes to unshared essences is this: you must be supportive of your partner’s essences; to do otherwise would make them less of a person than they are.

Red flags. When it comes to savor-ing your similarities or negotiating your differences, red flags are per-sonal qualities or characteristics that have the potential to cause stress in the relationship. Don’t set out on the impossible task of finding someone with whom you have no red flags. All couples have a fair number of these challenges. When negotiated effectively, red flags may be rendered harmless. Take an introvert married to an extrovert. This may be a serious red flag. It is quite common for an intro-vert-extrovert date to be successful. She (the extrovert) chatters continu-ously, and he (the introvert) pays close attention and makes happy noises. Both are happy. But three years after they marry, he wonders whether she will ever shut up, and she wonders if he will ever say anything. She tries to get him out to a party. He resists. The entire relationship turns into a nag-resist relationship, and then it dies.

My wife, Elizabeth, and I have han-dled the issue differently. She is the extrovert, while I am the introvert. We further know that an extrovert tends to gain energy in a social setting, whereas the introvert wears down and eventually seeks to escape the noise and confusion. We were aware of this before we married, and we dealt with it thoughtfully. Today, when a social

event occurs, we drive two cars to the event. Prior to the event, we identify the socially-acceptable time for me to make my exit. I attend and interact with all the enthusiasm an introvert can muster. Several hours later, I make my exit. Our friends chuckle as they observe the introvert return-ing to his cave, and other introverts attending are green with envy because they have another three hours to go! Elizabeth stays as long as she wishes. We never have conflict over it. When she wants me to go to some social event, I go, and she is careful not to schedule them too often. We have cre-ated a win-win situation in which our friends share in the joke. Similar types of negotiation are part of the process for any number of other potential red flags.

Shared passions. When we explore history’s extraordinary marriages, they all seem to have at least one thing in common: a shared passionate goal. Consider some of the legendary marriages and their shared passions: Billy and Ruth Graham, evange-lism; Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning – poetry; Robert and Clara Schuman – music; C.S. and Joy Gresham Lewis – writing Christian books; Pierre and Marie Currie – physics and chemistry. The passionate goals shared by a couple assist them in weathering many an issue that may be a serious challenge for a couple who just want to “have a great time.” We need to think bigger than our personal fulfillment if we want our marriage to thrive. Elizabeth and I, when going through a tough patch, may say to each other, “Do you think anyone else has ever experienced this challenge?” The answer is always, “Of course they have, millions of times.” Because we share a passionate goal of helping peo-ple craft more successful marriages, we are motivated to resolve the issue. If we are able to come to resolution ourselves, we are then better equipped to help others who are facing the same problem.

What we have described in this article is simply an outline of the critical issues to consider during the dating and courtship period. Please take the time in the coming days, weeks, months, and years to read the books, attend the seminars, watch the instructional videos, and make the applications that will allow you, first, to become marriage ready yourself, and then form a relationship that will stand the test of time and bring you all the joy that marriage is designed to offer.

Darren George (Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles) is professor of psychology at Canadian University College, Alberta, Canada. E-mail: dgeorge@cauc.ca.

24 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

PROFILE

keto MshigeniDialogue with an Adventist marine biologist, vice-chancellor of Hubert Kairuki Memorial University, Tanzania, and the board chair of Tanzania Atomic Agency CommissionInterview by Fylvia Fowler Kline

How does a little boy growing up in the tall mountains of Tanzania, who never saw the ocean until adulthood, become a marine biologist? How does such an unlikely, unimaginable career path become destined? It can only happen when that life is charted by the hand of an omniscient God.

From a prize in the fourth grade for memorizing 147 Bible verses to many awards and distinctions from around the world, Professor Keto Mshigeni has been a studious person focused on excellence. However, he does not credit his success to his perseverance or his degrees or his career. He testi-fies that he is where he is for the sole purpose of giving God the glory.

An active member and supporter of his local church, Keto Mshigeni currently serves as vice-chancellor at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University. Additionally, as an appointee of the president of the United Republic of Tanzania, he serves as chair of the board of the Tanzania Atomic Agency Commission.

His first trip to explore marine life took him and his wife, Grace, to the warm islands of Hawaii as a newly-married couple. The trip awakened Mshigeni’s curiosity about life, both on the island and in the sea. The melt-ing pot of cultural diversity around him and the infinite ocean mysteries at his disposal gave birth to an insa-

tiable desire to explore and travel. Even today, nothing brings Professor Mshigeni more joy than traveling with Grace to a new part of the world to share his research while learning about more about people and about plant life.

n How did Adventist faith and Christian concerns influence you to make progress in your education?

Very early in childhood, my Adventist faith exposed me to the discipline of memorizing Scripture. Every week, there was one more verse to memorize and recite. The first eight years of my education were under Adventist teachers, who continued to instill in me a love of reading, under-standing, and memorizing Scripture. I think it was this early childhood prac-tice of learning things with thorough-ness that enabled me to do well in all my studies.

n Why did you decide to pursue marine botany?

Raised a Seventh-day Adventist, I missed all my Saturday classes and examinations in high school and at the University College in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. But I was always blessed to have understanding and accommodating teachers, who made arrangements for me to make up my absences on Sunday, particularly the

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practicals. On one such Sunday, I was finishing my missed practicals in the botany laboratory when I saw Dr. Erik Jaasund sorting some very strange-looking plants. I had never seen such interesting specimens – all different colors, shapes, and sizes! Dr. Jaasund told me they were marine algae, com-monly known as seaweed. He took me to the sea, where I saw these won-derful plants in their natural habitat, and I was amazed at their beauty and diversity. I learned about species such as Martensia elegans, which is known for its graceful fronds, and Vanvoorstia spectabilis, which has a distinc-tive and intricate architecture when viewed under a microscope. From Dr. Jaasund, I learned that many of these plants were edible and valuable for their medicinal and industrial uses. Ice creams, various types of cosmetics (including toothpaste, shaving creams, body creams), medicinal syrups, tex-tile-printing pastes, and more contain ingredients extracted from seaweed.

n Wow! I think many of our readers will be surprised to learn how they might use seaweed in their everyday lives.

I think so too. It’s also surprising that a person with my background would become a marine botanist. Mpinji, Mamba, where I grew up, is on the southeastern slopes of the Pare Mountains in Tanzania. That’s nearly a mile above sea level! I was 20 years old before I even saw the ocean for the first time. So it may seem as though my career was somewhat of an accident.

n Looking back on your life and career, do you think it was an “accident”?

Definitely not. I know with cer-tainty that God’s hand guided me through my education and profes-sional life. I know I’m where He wants me to be. He paved the way for me to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii under a Rockefeller Foundation Scholarship. And two decades later, he brought me to Namibia just when they needed a

scientist with my expertise and experi-ence. That’s not an accident; that’s providence!

n Besides marine botany, are there any other scientific fields that interest you?

Yes. I’ve had a longstanding interest in ornithology. My fascination with science was sparked when I observed a flock of birds flying by my high school in Tanzania. Four of those birds were yellowish-brown, but one had distinctive black and orange-red plumage. I was intrigued by what I thought were two species flying together. I reported my observation to my biology teacher, who told me that I had seen the polygamous Bishop bird. The black-and-red Bishop was the male, flying with his four female part-ners. My curiosity was piqued by this phenomenon. My teacher encouraged me to further research the species. I examined and documented 40 Bishop nests in the course of my study, and won the Swynnerton-Burtt prize and the Commonwealth Development Corporation prize. Although I did not continue with ornithology in my career, I am forever grateful to that teacher, John Reynolds, who fostered in me a sense of curiosity and wonder for the natural world.

n It sounds like your biology teacher was instrumental in your choice of career. Do you credit the influence of any other teachers?

Yes, many! In fact, I think my story is an illustration of the remarkable impact that inspiring and encouraging teachers can have on their students. I remember several outstanding teachers from primary and secondary school, such as Mwalimu Mishael Muze and Elinihaki Tuvako, as well as Roger Lewis, who shared blessings with all his students and inspired us to use our own spiritual gifts. And of course, Dr. Erik Jaasund, who introduced me to the field of marine botany. I am also grateful to Professor Shuting Chang, who piqued my interest in mushroom

biology when I was already a full pro-fessor myself. I am truly a believer in lifelong learning!

n Has there ever been a time when you doubted yourself or your career path?

I wouldn’t say that I ever doubted my career path; my love of nature and science was inspired by great teachers at an early age. And even today, I pro-foundly enjoy teaching. But, as most people do, I felt discouraged when it seemed as though pursuing marine botany was an upward climb.

I was attending the University of Hawaii for my postgraduate research under Dr. Maxwell Doty, a leading authority on a type of seaweed that was of particular interest to me. I had with me 400 beautiful specimens of seaweed, some of which were common to Tanzania and found nowhere else in the world. I had hoped to spend my postgraduate research studying the Tanzanian Eucheuma, eventually returning to Tanzania to apply my work toward developing experimental farming procedures of selected spe-cies. To my disappointment, Dr. Doty did not think my work demonstrated sufficient originality to merit a Ph.D. award and was concerned that I did not meet the foreign language require-ments. For the language requirements, he advised that I take German and French, and for research, he counseled me to stay in Hawaii longer to investi-gate native seaweed species rather than return to Tanzania as I had planned.

Such criticism was difficult to hear, and I felt it somewhat unfair – espe-cially after my hard work compiling the 400 specimens of Eucheuma and considering my proficiency in English and Swahili! But I remembered a Swahili proverb illustrating the wis-dom of flexibility in a difficult situa-tion: “Ukitaka cha uvunguni, sharti uiname,” which means “If you want to secure something hidden low, low down, you must be prepared to bend down to the floor, and to stoop.” So I complied with my teacher’s advice,

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somewhat reluctantly, and persevered to accomplish my dream of returning to Tanzania with my research.

n It sounds like you were up against some difficult requirements – and learn-ing two new languages! How did you cope with the situation?

I worked hard – very hard – but, through it all, I was energized by the message in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” (NKJV). I suc-cessfully completed all the graduate courses recommended by Dr. Doty, and chose Hypnea, a Hawaiian sea-weed species, as my new research topic. As for the German and French class requirements, I completed them within the first 15 months at the University of Hawaii. And with God’s grace, I passed comprehensive oral examinations for both languages with-in three more months. I successfully defended my dissertation, and my research on Hypnea resulted in break-throughs regarding its potential for cultivation, which I was able to apply later to seaweed farms in Tanzania.

n How did you discover the potential for seaweed farms in Tanzania?

As with my academic career, in this too I felt God’s guiding hand. In 1969, Dr. Jaasund helped me secure a NORAD Research Fellowship, which for two years allowed me to undertake detailed studies of seaweed found along the Tanzanian shoreline. Tanzania’s seaweed has a rich bio-diversity, and is used locally to bait fish, dress wounds, and treat skin conditions. One particularly valu-able seaweed species is Eucheuma, which, since the 1940s, has been col-lected, dried, and sold by Tanzanian fisherman for export. I observed that Eucheuma were often torn off from their original habitats and moved by ocean currents to rock pools, where they began to regrow and regener-ate. Noticing this, it occurred to me that the valuable Eucheuma could

be farmed to create a more efficient resource to benefit local economies!

It was a blessing that I communi-cated these observations and ideas to Dr. Doty at the right time. He invited me to test my ideas in experiments on seaweed farming in the Philippines, and it was then I realized that farming Eucheuma in Tanzania was an achiev-able dream. Surely here, too, God’s hand was involved.

n I am curious. You are a biologist. How did the President of Tanzania come to appoint you chair of the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission, a nuclear science post?

I think it was God’s will manifested through my diligent studies and con-tributions to science. When the gov-ernment of Tanzania became aware of my work, honors, and awards – both nationally and internationally – it was felt that my expertise would assist them in the application of nuclear sci-ence in biology, agriculture, human health care, etc.

n Being a scientist, and being an Adventist and believing in the creation story, do you find difficulties? How do you reconcile the so-called contradictions?

The knowledge we have in every field of science today is but a tiny fraction of things yet to be discov-ered. Being an Adventist scientist, I am humbled by God’s wonders of creation. The deeper I go into sci-ence, the fewer are the contradictions. When I study the skeleton of dino-saurs and fossilized logs of petrified forests, I am only further convinced of the power of God as expressed in Psalm 92:5: “O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep” (NKJV). In all my life activi-ties, I am strengthened by the mes-sage of Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (NKJV). By faith, I am an Adventist Christian. That context does not disturb or con-tradict my vocation as a scientist.

n Are you involved in local church activities?

I support my church as much as I can. In my local church, I contribute to the needs, be it new furniture or the choir’s outreach ministry. In my community, I support our Adventist university as a member of the council.

n How do you find time to support the church?

One cannot find time to do every-thing one would like to do. But developing good time management and organization skills has helped me accomplish most everything I want to do. One of my favorite quotes is from Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the founding father of Tanzania: “To plan is to choose.” I choose to do things I do and therefore choose to find the time to do them.

n As a person of notable accomplish-ment, what would your counsel be to Adventist students studying on non-Adventist campuses? What are the chal-lenges, and how does one meet them?

Be open-minded. Your mind is like a parachute; it functions best when fully open. Always remember that we are all very different from one another. Strive to understand others and adapt yourself to live and work in harmony with others. Read different perspec-tives, be a team player, and trust in God implicitly.

Fylvia Fowler Kline (M.A., Pune University, India) is a prolific author and is currently serving as the marketing manager of Hope Channel at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Maryland, U.S.A. E-mail: klinef@gc.adventist.org.

K. Mshigeni e-mail: ketomshigeni@gmail.com.

See page 35 for photos.

27DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Music in worship often engenders numerous dilemmas and tensions in many congregations. Opinions range on such a wide scale that they easily become almost unbridge-able. The debate frequently extends to worship style, another hot topic in churches today. The close relationship between the former and the latter makes the discussion about music more complex, even though music itself is a difficult topic to tackle.

Against this context, it is encouraging that a theologian with musical sensitivity and experience has come up with biblical and theological foundations that can help guide the musical practice of churches. With a long career in both music and theology, Daniel Plenc wrote his doctoral dis-sertation on the theology of worship, and later published a book titled El culto que agrada a Dios: criterios revelados acerca de la adoración [The Worship that Pleases God: Revealed Criteria on Worship]. As a follow-up comes La música que agrada a Dios: Criterios y orientaciones para el Ministerio de la Música [The Music that Pleases God: Criteria and Guidelines for the Music Ministry].

The book is divided into four major sections. The first one focuses on what the Bible says about music, showing that it mentions this art form more often than any other and dominates Genesis to Revelation. The section describes every one of the musical instruments named in the Bible and discusses the instruments used in the sanctuary/temple in Israel. It also explains the purposes of music during bib-lical times, analyzing the role of music in the relationship of God with His people, specifically as part of worship. The author makes clear that a biblical approach to music has to be essentially God-centered.

The second section discusses Adventism and music. Here Plenc summarizes Ellen G. White’s contributions to an understanding of music as God’s gift, to be used primarily in worship (even though other spheres and other purposes are mentioned). Then he describes the main hymnals published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in both English and Spanish, ending by going through the official statements on music, made by the Seventh-day Adventist Church where criteria for its use are put forth.

The third section deals with the relationship between music, worship, and theology. Here Plenc includes a sys-tematic essay that searches for the theological basis of reli-gious music and its relationship to ecclesiology, or the doc-trine of the church. Music is a gift from God, and human beings should use this gift from the Creator wisely. This, however, can only be fully accomplished within a com-munity – that is to say, in the church. The existence of the church shows two key elements: first, the objective (God’s call); and second, the subjective (the positive answer to that call). These two aspects are important if we want to come up with a theology of music in worship, since music can be the means God uses to call us, and the means by which we as believers might answer that call. Religious music is not an end in itself; its purpose is established by the purpose of worship, and ultimately, the mission of the church.

Music, then, should assist the church in fulfilling its mission, which can be summarized in terms of worship, proclamation, witnessing, teaching, service, and fellowship. Besides music itself, this makes us more attentive to the lyrics of the songs. On the other hand, music is not sup-posed to be the center of worship, since it would end up taking a place that belongs only to God. On the contrary, music is meant to be a carrier for expressing the fundamen-tal principles of the gospel and the distinctive doctrines of Adventism.

The third section also includes a chapter devoted to the songs of the angels. Based on the songs of the angels in Isaiah’s vision, in Bethlehem, and in Revelation, Plenc con-cludes that angelical voices praise God for His attributes and actions, in a clearly God-centered and Christ-centered type of worship. Angels sing out of admiration and respect, joy and excitement, in a united and incessant way.

Finally, the fourth section sets forth a general outline for music ministry in the church, including specific guidelines for the work of everyone involved in it.

Summarizing, based on the bible and history, theology and pastoral experience, this book looks for criteria to guide the use of music in the church. Its style is entertain-ing and easy to follow. It combines personal reflections with the input of other authors on the topic, as can be seen in the extensive endnotes and final bibliography.

The author should be commended for venturing into a sensitive topic, and for tackling it with an objective and positive approach. Instead of criticizing other people’s opin-ions, as is usually the case when discussing this topic, he just presents the contributions of Revelation, which allow us to come up with a sound foundation for a theology and practice of music in church.

On the other hand, the book could have elaborated more on the use of religious music throughout the his-tory of Christianity – specifically, during the Protestant Reformation. Even though Plenc quotes Martin Luther and

BOOKSLa música que agrada a Dios: Criterios y orientaciones para el Ministerio de la Música Daniel Oscar Plenc (Buenos Aires: Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana, 2013, 175 pages, paperback)

Reviewed by Carlos A. Steger

28 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

No person is an island, said John Donne. Human beings, while prizing individuality, are also able to affirm their communality to live within the context of others. Corporality thus complements particularity in the comple-tion of a human being. This corporality manifests itself in terms of familial, religious, geographical, racial, lin-guistic, political, economic, and other such delineations. Expressions of, fulfillment within, and dialogue in between the corporate structure of human existence demand the articulation of a worldview.

Worldview is a construct about the makeup of life as it struggles with the questions of reality, truth, ethics, his-tory, and destiny. It is a construct that provides a point of departure, a sense of direction, a locus of destination, and a strategy of unity for human thought, life, and action. It is a paradigm that answers life’s great questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? What is my role in life? What are my obligations to society? How do I fulfill those obliga-tions? What is good and beautiful? What are the varying

Worldviews and Christian Education: Appreciating the Cultural Outlook of Asia-pacific peopleedited by Warren A. Shipton, Elainie Coetezee, and Rajdeep Takeuchi (Singapore: Trafford Pub., 2013, Partridge, 2014, 690 pages, paperback)

Reviewed by Stephen Guptill

contexts in which I live and to which I should communi-cate my own thoughts and purposes? What is my destiny?

Adventist students and teachers have long sought a reli-able source where answers to such questions can be found. At least a partial answer is now available through the publi-cation of World views and Christian Education: Appreciating the Cultural Outlook of Asia-Pacific People. Warren Shipton, a prolific author, a scientist, and a former president of Asia-Pacific International University in Muak Lek, Thailand, has taken the initiative in compiling and editing this volume to which some 43 Adventist authors from differ-ent parts of the world have contributed. Coeditors of this volume are two Adventist educators: Elainie Coetezee and Rajdeep Takeuchi. The book is divided into five major sections: Introduction, Worldview Highlights, Contextualization for Different Learners, Basic Concepts Regarding Integration of Faith and Learning, and Further Insights and Applications. The selected authors represent a variety of disciplines, including religion, philosophy, educa-tion, biology, science, missions, and culture. Although the book carries the subtitle Appreciating the Cultural Outlook of Asia-Pacific People, its orientation and approach are not limited to the Asia-Pacific region. Indeed, the book covers the notion of worldview from a broad perspective, begin-ning with the biblical and Christian understanding, and then proceeding to philosophic positions of Buddhism, Hinduism, animism, Confucianism, Islam, and Marxism. Appropriate applications of worldview theories to the field of religion, science and technology, and service learning are included. For Adventist teachers, the section on integration of faith and learning from a Christian perspective will be most helpful.

The Introduction section discusses issues of evange-listic outreach in cross-cultural settings. In the section Worldview Highlights, various worldviews are compared and contrasted with the Adventist view in areas such as contemporary culture, health, Southeast Asian and Thai perspectives, Chinese philosophy, evolutionary views, postmodernism, and moral understanding. The section Contextualizing for Different Learners presents approaches to reaching the various Asia-Pacific cultural groups with the Christian/Adventist message through culturally-sensi-tive methods.

While the entire compilation has implications for edu-cation, the section Basic Concepts Regarding Integration of Faith and Learning has the most direct relation to the Adventist pursuit of learning and teaching. Among the engaging subjects covered are the role of the teacher, the Bible as the philosophical basis of education, teaching faith at the graduate level, and addressing faith issues in teach-ing science. The section Further Insights and Applications addresses more Christian apologetic approaches to various cultural groups and situations.

other reformers more than once, a review of their major contributions within their historical context might have been useful for the goals of this work.

Every Christian with a heart for religious music will undoubtedly benefit by reading this book. However, the book is not meant to answer every question or solve every contemporary quandary related to music in church. More than just a recipe, Plenc’s book is meant to delve into the biblical and theological principles that point to the path we are supposed to follow. How to apply these principles in practice, specifically in our worship experience, will still depend on every one of us, as we strive to perform (or at least to listen to) the music that pleases God.

Carlos A. Steger (Ph.D., Andrews University) is the dean of the School of Theology of River Plate Adventist University in Argentina. He also has a degree in music. E-mail: decanoteologia@uap.edu.ar.

29DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

fields, be it theology, science, ecology, biodiversity, con-servation, or education. As such, students from all areas who are interested in the biblical roots of ecology and the sociological care and scientific approach to environmental stewardship will find both the approach and the respective research useful.

The book argues that non-human members of the cre-ated order – with all its contents and elements, nature, and animals – deserve the same care as human beings. In entrusting the stewardship of the environment to humans, God has placed on us a responsibility that can be neglected not only at the peril of the present but also of the future, including human eschatological future: “destroying those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18, NRSV). With this end-time point of view, the book proposes that even though the world is earmarked for destruction prior to its purification and the restoration of the new earth in rela-tion to Jesus’ second coming, we are not freed from our obligation of stewardship. Is that not part of the reason for the whole philosophy of the Sabbath, including the annual and jubilee Sabbaths? Indeed, Adventists ought to be ever conscious that in keeping the weekly Sabbath we ought to be extending the obligation of rest, care, love, and steward-ship to our home at large – that is, the environment, both human and non-human.

Out of this highly-biblical and restorative focus on stew-ardship, the book also extends a powerful argument for the original plant-based human diet. While conceding that there may be circumstances where there are no alternatives to animal food, the book argues for compassionate care of animals, and avoidance of cruelty to creatures that were also placed under our stewardship.

The book does not fail to discuss sources of environmen-tal deterioration, such as genetic manipulation, loss of flora through infrastructural development, alteration of freshwa-ter ecosystems (through the building of dams, agricultural irrigation, fish ponds, etc.), effects of natural disasters (such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions), pollu-tion of water, air, and soil by wastes from urbanization, and carbon emissions in transport systems.

In addition, the book is a warning about the extinction of species through the clearing of land for agriculture, introduction of alien species, overexploitation of biotic resources, pollution, spread of diseases (“pathogen pollu-tion”), climate change, and anthropogenic global warming. In all such activities that cause environmental degradation, human greed plays a major role, and humanity will be held responsible by the Creator for the choices that contribute to such destructive disarray.

And yet, what should Christians who believe in a Creator-God do? The authors recommend that Christians

Entrusted: Christians and Environmental Care edited by Stephen Dunbar, James Gibson, Humberto Rasi (Loma Linda, California: Adventus, International University Publishers, 2013, 286 pages, paperback)

Reviewed by Daniel Buor

Whereas environmental scientists have extensively dis-cussed the complex problems of the environment and its care from a scientific perspective, the contributors to this volume approach the subject not only because it is a scientific necessity but also because it is a Christian duty placed upon all those who subscribe to biblical creation as the source of environmental stewardship. As such, the book is a bold attempt to elucidate the role of Christians in addressing the predicament of environmental decay. The book’s focus is on stewardship from a biblical perspective. The original status of the planet Earth, in all its purity and richness, was to be preserved by human beings, in whose hands God entrusted the stewardship of all His creation (Genesis 1:26, 31; 2:5).

The book consists of 23 chapters organized in five sections: Christians and the Environment, Animal and Environmental Ethics, Human Health and the Environment, Biodiversity and Conservation Strategies, and Environmental Education. The chapters approach the issues within accepted parameters of their respective

The strength of the volume lies in the selection of renowned Adventist authors from different cultures. One cannot read this volume without having to face the immense challenge Adventist teachers, evangelists, and administrators confront in communicating the gospel to the far-flung cultural and religious variants of this world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

To cross a barrier, one must know where one stands. In that twin task, the book has done exceedingly well. Adventists with a worldview and world mission, wherever they live and work, can well benefit from this book.

Stephen Guptill (Ed.D., La Sierra University), a long-time missionary educator to the Southern Asia-Pacific Division, is currently the president of Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies, Silang, Cavite, Philippines. E-mail: sguptill@aiias.edu.

Continued on page 34

30 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

LOGOS

Fear, hope, love, hate. Each short word is able to evoke a personal response; each is present in life … sometimes concurrently.

It would be so much neater if the good words and bad words were more easily distinguished. However, such is not the case in the current Western world, nor is it so in much of the rest of the world. Instead, much of current-culture talk centers on the “good news” of fear and the disparag-ing naiveté of hope. The call to arms echoes as humanity’s lack of prepared-ness for the coming “crisis” – whatever it may be – destines it to be handled with lead, not love.

There is worry in the land. Not just here but everywhere, because every thinking person realizes that what others are struggling with could easily become his or her experience.

How then shall we live as a steward of hope in a world that is fascinated and motivated by fear? How shall we live as a steward of love in a world that so quickly alienates and isolates the “stranger that is within thy gates”?

Hope and fearStewards of hope in a culture of

fear… . What is it that gives us the ability to look at fear and have hope?

What is it that allows that “peace that passes understanding,” that calm that makes no sense, to be present in my countenance when others despair?

How do you find peace when the phone rings and disrupts your world? That unexpected phone call resulting in bewilderment, as in, “Is this really real?” How does one respond to bad news? This is where faith helps us transform surprise and sorrow into hope and confidence.

Listen to what the apostle Paul tells the bewildered people of his day: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:37-39).

It is only in the context of a faith-view of this world that we can find perspective and peace. The wells from which the waters of peace and hope flow are: believing that God is good and desires our best; knowing that He is our shepherd who leads us by still waters; and knowing that we can trust Him.

How then shall a commissioned steward of hope live?

Stewards of hopeby Peter Bath Hope is the power to face our fears and,

through Christ, overcome them, and to live as a people redeemed not only from sin, but also from fear, anxiety, doubt, and isolation.

Is hope something one distributes, like food or water, in time of need? Is it something one can donate to be laid up for times of need? Is hope some-thing that one can gain outside of a relationship?

Living with confidence in these times of uncertainty is the hallmark of a “steward of hope,” of one for whom the “peace that passes understanding” is a present experience, not simply a desired future state. “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

Living with hope in the present requires that we frankly acknowledge and address those things that cause fear in ourselves and in others. To merely dismiss fear is to make hope simplistic.

Levels of hope, levels of fearThere are three levels of hope, and,

I would suggest, three levels of fear as their corollary.

Superficial: I hope/fear that I will/won’t have a good day! I hope/fear it doesn’t rain on the picnic. This kind of hope/fear is most common but means little, as the consequences of it being a bad or rainy day are not very significant.

31DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Relational: I hope/fear she/he likes me! I hope/fear that she/he will/won’t go out with me again. I hope/fear she/he will/won’t work on our marriage. There is a much more significant con-sequence for that which is relational, personal, and typically painful. But with time you rise, work through it, and live another day. Both hope and fear have significantly more at stake at this level.

Existential: I hope/fear that I will/won’t recover from this cancer. This level of hope/fear – expressed in life-threatening situations – is about the very ability to continue to live.

It is at the second and third lev-els where most people are seeking – knowingly or unknowingly – for some form of hope. They are more than likely going to turn to those they know and trust in their time of need for help and hope.

To be stewards of hope, we must be integrated into the community. We must be there with them “incarnation-ally” and not just show up with the “van” during a crisis, as important as that can be.

To be with people, mingling among them, seeking to fulfill their needs … this is the Master’s way (Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, p. 143).

Fear and hope are both agents of grace, as portrayed so well in the song Amazing Grace: “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.”

Grace – unmerited favor with God – first taught us that our place in the heavenly scheme of things is that we are truly a people in need of restoration and forgiveness — a people who are under the death penalty and subject to the attacks of evil. But the same grace that shows us our desti-tute state also takes those fears away, through our relationship with Christ, and our hope in His salvation and His soon return. Grace relieves our fears through the hope we have in Christ, allowing us to face our reality and find assurance.

Hope does that. It is the power to face our fears and, through Christ, overcome them, and to live as a people redeemed not only from sin, but from fear, anxiety, doubt, and isolation as well. Hope empowers us to rise above fear and live a life of confidence in these uncertain times.

My youngest sister is a remarkable woman. She lived with the Haida Indians off the coast of Alaska, work-ing to help provide education and learning to understand their native spirituality. She also lived for two years with the Inuit people above the Arctic Circle. She has been chased by polar bears and attacked by a shark, yet lives a quiet life.

On one occasion, while living in the Arctic, she and her dog, Chico, went camping. They hiked 12 miles from the village and set up a tent on a flat plateau the size of half a football field. Chico, normally a calm yet strong dog, became increasingly worried and restless. Judy looked to where he was casting anxious glances and saw at the plateau’s edge, 100 feet away, 18 big ears – peaked and pointed her way. Eighteen ears that belonged to nine big wolves!

Judy did not carry a gun, only her snow knife. What was she to do? Fear looked her straight in the eyes. What could she do? Deny the wolves’ exis-tence? Wish them away as we did as kids? Sing happy songs to feel better? Jump in the tent and close the zipper?

With what she describes as a deep sense of calm, she clipped Chico on his leash, picked up her snow knife, and, not knowing what might happen, walked toward her fear. Step by step, as she moved closer, the wolves came up the rise, massive paws resting on the edge of the ridge. She talked to the wolves, quietly telling them that she wouldn’t taste very good! With her arms raised, she walked peacefully and boldly toward them, facing the greatest fear she had ever encountered. When she got within 50 feet, they broke rank and ran away, looking back

at this being who confronted them.Judy watched in silence. She slept

well that night; she knew that the wolves would not be back. Hope had risen in her heart, and she had faced her fear. Where is our hope when fear comes knocking at our door? Where is our community’s hope when fear comes knocking at their door? Above all, the hope of true faith and love should embody the quiet transforming confidence that allows the reality of fear, present danger, even hatred, to be transformed into, and triumphed by, the confidence of hope.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Rom. 15:13).

Peter Bath (D.Min., Lancaster Theological Seminary) is vice president for mission and human resources at the 478-bed Florida Hospital in Tampa, Florida, in the United States. Dr. Bath has served more than 33 years in a variety of roles in Seventh-day Adventist health care, educational institutions, and church congregations.

This article originally appeared in Dynamic Steward, published by the Department of Stewardship, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Used by permission.

32 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

VIEWPOINT

Social media: promises and perilsby Rebekah Wang-Cheng

With instant worldwide communication at your fingertips, sharing information through social media demands thoughtfulness and care.

You are Gen Y, part of the millen-nial generation. Born in the digital age between 1980 and 2000, you prob-ably don’t remember a time when you weren’t able to use Google or Yahoo to help you with homework, to look up a definition, or check the weather so you could decide what to wear. Your generation has become so dependent on technology that on an average you send and receive 88 texts daily.1 But it’s not just your generation; many people of all ages feel “naked” without their cell phone.

The second decade of the 21st cen-tury, with its meteoric rise of new technology – such as Kindles, iPads, Fitbits, and smartphones – has also fostered the growth of many social media. In addition to Facebook, newer sites that feature photos and blogs – such as Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter – are growing in popular-ity. Most of these sites have been start-ed by young creative entrepreneurs.2

Applications are multiplying by the thousands for use in education, health care, banking, government, entertain-ment, retail, and the home. YouTube has superb educational videos, along with all kinds of personal videos. Prestigious universities offer online classes that enable students across the

globe to access great professors and topics at little or no cost.

This article reviews both sides of social media (SM): the benefits of use, as well as the inherent dangers. Improper use can cause your grades to tank before you even realize what has happened, or destroy your reputation because someone has posted a video or picture of you.

Nothing is ever truly privateTo begin with, sharing informa-

tion through social media demands thoughtfulness and care. Go back 20 years. A news item involving a student or a faculty member on your campus breaks out. Generally, such news is kept private long enough for adminis-tration to review the issue and deter-mine an action plan. But today, some-one posts the news on the Internet, and it immediately gets commented on, dissected, and disseminated on websites before an investigation has barely begun. Sadly, the real facts may never surface, and meanwhile peoples’ reputations have been permanently harmed.

It can happen to anyone of us. With the advent of smartphones, no one can assume that a conversation in a private home among friends and colleagues is

truly private. When news can spread almost instantly, before administra-tion or faculty have the opportunity to investigate or respond to allegations, various versions of events – with dis-tortions and inaccuracies – can seri-ously damage someone’s reputation or livelihood.

Our lives are not lived in a vacuum. Someone is always listening, watching, and possibly recording. So one needs to exercise caution in actions and words, because you never know who might post something on the web.

Benefits of social mediaSocial media, with their speedy and

efficient communication, have much good to offer the world of education. Here are a few of the potential ben-efits.

Fundraising for worthy projects. In 2010, Kohls, the large national department store chain, ran a Kohls Cares contest on Facebook for pri-vate schools. Mt. Ellis Academy, an Adventist school in Montana with only 70 students, entered the con-test and, against all odds, won the $500,000 offered to each of the top 20 schools. They finished fourth in the top 10, with 144,006 votes. The school applied the money to repair its

33DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

50-year-old sewage system. For a few weeks, thousands around the world were united in showing support for one small academy and celebrated the joyous outcome with the students and faculty.3

Online education. Major universi-ties such as Harvard and MIT4 are offering free noncredit classes, and learners from around the world are participating in these massive open online courses (MOOC). At a board meeting of Andrews University in March 2013, President Niels Erik Andreasen discussed MOOCs and presented thoughts on how these new trends are forcing us to rethink the concept of students being enrolled in a single university in one geographic locale. At the March 2013 meeting of the Association of Adventist Colleges and Universities, the presidents and academic deans discussed ways to col-laborate so students can avail them-selves of online offerings available at sister institutions in order to supple-ment their education.

Rapid notification of students. On small and large campuses, instant and simultaneous notification of what is happening on the campus or alerts that should be issued to the school’s family have become more and more a necessity. In many of the recent shooting incidents on campuses, tex-ting served to alert where the crisis was taking place, thus saving lives. For less-urgent situations such as last-minute class cancellations or weather closings, blast e-mailing or texting is convenient for reaching large groups of people instantly.

Building connectivity among people of similar interests. Keeping in touch with others who share similar concerns and interests not only constructs a friend-ship network but also creates a profes-sional sharing forum. David Albrecht, professor of accounting in the Zapara School of Business at La Sierra University, believes that LinkedIn has the power to enhance careers, through networking and establishing your

professional profile. He suggests that “people who use social media will be in business and employed in five years and those who don’t, won’t.”5

Dangers in using social mediaSome time ago, YouTube streamed a

video of Harlem Shake performances by students from some Adventist col-leges. Although most of the students were masked so as to be unrecogniz-able, the consequences of participa-tion extended beyond the walls of the institutions concerned. Upon learning about the videos, administrators han-dled the situation with students in dif-ferent ways, and responded to phone calls and e-mails from concerned par-ents and other constituents who found the videos objectionable and not reflective of Christian behavior. But damage has been done to the name of the institutions and to the church as well. Thoughtful students will think twice before joining club or hall mates in engaging in a “crazy fun thing to do with your buddies,” and worse, in sharing a video of such activities on social media.

Warren Buffet once said that “it takes 20 years to build a reputation but only five minutes to ruin it.” Students need to be cognizant that their reputation is at stake when oth-ers can take pictures of them in social situations without their knowledge or consent and post them on vari-ous social media sites. Students who are immature or whose judgment is impaired under the influence of alcohol or drugs may be unaware of how a single poor choice can become a public record that can follow them throughout their lives. Once some-thing is posted on a website, you must assume that anyone and everyone can see it, and even if deleted, it can always be found.

Recent data reflect that even pre-professional students in medical schools are not using good judg-ment in their online postings. Of the responses received from 78 of the

130 U.S. medical schools surveyed, K. Chretien found that 60 percent of them reported “incidents of students posting unprofessional online con-tent.” The conduct ranges from use of profanity (52 percent) to depiction of intoxication (39 percent). Of the 45 schools that reported an incident, 30 gave informal warnings, and three reported dismissal of students. Of 73 deans who responded to queries about formal policies, only 38 percent had policies currently in place regarding student-posted online content, but 11 percent were actively developing a policy.6

Need for online professionalismIt is not uncommon for undergradu-

ates, medical students, and young resident physicians to change their Facebook name and privacy settings so that when they are applying for medical school, residencies, or fel-lowships, the program directors can’t find them. They don’t necessarily have anything in particular to hide, but they recognize the importance of separating the personal from the professional. As technologies evolve, students are quickly learning – along with the rest of the country – how to guard their cyber-identities. They look to faculty to model appropriate social media behavior and teach the impor-tance of boundaries.

Social @ Edu – a website for “exploring strategies for social media in higher education” – reports that there are new sites like BrandYourself, Reppler, and Qnary that “offer indi-viduals suggestions or help in creating a professional online presence.”7

Social media are here to stay. To increase professionalism in the use of social media, it is good to remind our-selves of the following:

• Socialmediaareanintegralpartof our lives, and our generation is creating the boundaries.

• Wearebeingwatchedasmen-tors and role models in the use of social media.

34 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

• Professionalconferencesencour-age the use of social media (e.g. hashtag designations such as #ihi24forum).

• Socialmediaflattenhierarchiesand give students a voice, as well as access to people and organiza-tions.

ConclusionYour university experience can be

one of the best times of your life, as you expand your knowledge in so many ways and have the opportunity to make new friends and interact with your professors and classmates. Although you may be in a secular university, you can take the oppor-tunity to exert a positive, Christian influence on your fellow students in the way you use social media for posi-tive, life-affirming purposes. You may never see some of these people again, while a select few may become lifelong friends. It is therefore important to choose your friends carefully, so that you don’t get pulled into compromis-ing situations. Find a church family that will support you and provide social opportunities – on Sabbath, especially, and during your free time.

Social media can be a boon to your education or a time-waster. It may allow you to stay in touch with your long-distance family or child-hood friends or allow you to escape into a virtual world instead of stay-ing grounded in real life. Guard your

reputation at all times, in public or private, off-line and online, and your college years will be some of your best memories.

Rebekah Wang-Cheng (M.D., Loma Linda University) is medical director for clinical quality, Kettering Medical Center, and clinical professor of internal medicine, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Ohio. E-mail: Rebekah.Wang-Cheng@khnetwork.org.

REFERENCES 1. Joel Stein, “The new greatest generation: Why

millennials will save us all,” Time (May 20, 2013): 28-34.

2. Ibid. 3. Jared Wright, “VICTORY! Mt. Ellis

Academy wins with 144,000 votes,” Spectrum magazine blog, (September 4, 2010), accessed May 19, 2013. http://spectrummagazine.org/node/2635.

4. Steve Kolovich, “Massive Courses, Massive Data,” Inside Higher Ed blog, (May 3, 2013), accessed June 4, 2013. http://www.inside-highered.com/news/2012/05/03/harvard-joins-mit-platform-offer-massive-online-courses#sthash.OdMYIQ4u.dpbs.

5. Marilyn Thomsen, “A Social Revolution,” La Sierra University Magazine, (Fall 2013): 18-21.

6. K. Chretien, et. al., “Online posting of unprofessional content by medical students,” Journal of American Medical Association 302 (2009): 1309-14.

7. Social @ Edu, “A year’s worth of social media in higher education” (May 12, 2013), accessed May 19, 2013. http://socialatedu.com/2013/05/12/a-years-worth-of-social-media-in-higher-education/.

must demonstrate their belief in God’s creatorship and their role as stewards by getting actively involved as indi-viduals, families, and communities in recycling and reusing, avoiding over-exploitation of ecological resources, and donating time and money to environment-friendly organizations to help advance their work. Eternity alone can provide commendation for such services (Mathew 25:34-40).

Although the book is an outstand-ing Adventist contribution to the study of the environment, some con-cerns for a possible future edition may be mentioned. Foremost is a need to inform the reader further on the com-ponents of the environment – atmo-sphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere – and the operation of the ecological cycle, in order to be able to appreciate the human role in its resto-ration.

The book provides grounds and information for a healthy intellec-tual discourse within the Christian framework. It outlines an efficient mechanism and strategy for a posi-tive change in attitudes toward the environment. As a must-read in the classroom, it will enrich the discussion of ecology concerns, and will certainly make us conscious of our responsibil-ity as Christian stewards of the Earth.

Daniel Buor (Ph.D., medical geography, University of Ghana; Ph.D., health care studies, Maastricht University, Netherlands) is the vice chancellor of Valley View University, Accra, Ghana. E-mail: drdbuor@gmail.com.

Entrusted...From page 29

35DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

ACTION REPORT

Italian Adventist students hold annual fellowshipby Debora Prati and Roberto Iannò

Under the joint sponsorship of the education and youth departments of the Italian Union of Seventh-day Adventists, more than 50 Adventist students from various universities in Italy held their annual asso-ciation meeting from October 31 to November 3, 2013. The primary host of the meetings was Italian Adventist University, and the convention was organized in the midst of nature’s great beauty, which dominates the city of Florence.

Convention activities – devotionals, presentations, and discussions – were planned around the theme “Diritto e Rovescio” (“Rights and Reverse”). The theme focused on the two faces of human rights: a definition of what

they are, and what to do when they are denied or absent.

The rights issue was presented both from the legal point of view and from the humanitarian one. We have tried to understand its importance, its origin, and the need not to deny it. In addition to human rights, we also talked about the flip side, which is what happens when these rights are lacking, and how people react when some rights are denied them. The speakers were both university profes-sors and people directly involved in the issue of human rights. We also had some focus on the theme of resilience, a useful psychological construct to be implemented in situations where rights are lacking or even denied.

Right: Dr. Mshigeni woking in the "farm."Above: Bishop bird mentioned in the article.

Dr. MshigeniContinued from page 25

An intervention we particularly enjoyed was a satire presented by a professional evangelical, Carlos Martinez, who presented human rights through mime – see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpEq KdG86N0.

The convention also consid-ered a proposal by the Education Department to publish Dialogue in Italian. Members expressed overwhelming support, and with the encouragement of the General Conference Education Department, the Italian edition of Dialogue is expected to be launched during 2014, and will be a great blessing to the increasing number of Adventist stu-dents in Italian colleges and universi-ties. Praise God for this project.

AUDA-AMiCUS Website: http://auda.chiesaavventista.it

Debora Prati is a Sociology student.

Roberto Iannò is the education director at the Italian Union in Rome. E-mail: educazione@avventisti.it.

36 DIALOGUE 26 • 1 2014

Some things never change — such as Dialogue’s

mission and focus. Other things, though, are updated

and enhanced — such as new ways in which you can

access Dialogue. We want you to know that Dialogue

is now available online, in addition to the regular

printed format. At the Dialogue site, you will have the

opportunity to read all of the articles, from the very

beginning of Dialogue to the present. Additionally,

you can read the articles in any of the four languages

in which Dialogue is published.

So spread the good news to your friends and

colleagues, so they can be a part of Dialogue.

We want to Dialogue with everyone, everywhere!

dialogue.adventist.org

E n g l i s h • F r e n c h • P o r t u g u e s e • S p a n i s h