2011 Ellen White and Current Issues Symposium: "Gift of Prophecy and the Church/ A Biblical Perspective (Summary of a Paper by Ranko Stefanovic) (original) (raw)
Related papers
2011
shared a paper about the characteristics and major roles of prophets in the Old Testament and whether these roles/tasks can be found in the ministry of Ellen G. White.* Testimony. Dr. Moskala started with a personal testimony on how he had gone from a fearful picture of God to the picture a loving, a "smiling" God, who wants the best for everyone and who delights in His children. He found forgiveness, a new picture of God, joy of salvation and assurance of salvation in Christ. In this context, he found God as a loving savior also in Ellen White's writings, for example in Steps to Christ: "If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your personal Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God as just as if you had not sinned." (p.62) Actually, her writings had a big influence on Moskala's spiritual growth. * Please note that this and other articles on the presentations held are condensed summaries in which some lines of argumentation have been abbreviated. All papers/presentations will be published in a revised form in the Journal Ellen White and Current Issues Symposium, vol. 7, 2011, at the next Symposium, i.e. March or April 2012. Orders can be made to the Center for Adventist Research.
The Spirit of Prophecy. The Great Controversy (1870) Vol. I.
Osca, man walked with God in Eden. With open face he beheld the glory of the Lord, and talked with God, and Christ, and angels, in Paradise, without a dimming vail between. Man fell from his moral rectitude and innocency, and was driven from the garden, from the tree of life, and from the visible presence of the Lord and his holy angels. Moral darkness, like the pall of death, has since cast its shadows everywhere, and everywhere the blight and mildew of sin has been seen. And amid the general gloom and moral wretchedness, man has wandered from the gates of Paradise for nearly six thousand years, subject to sickness, pain, sorrow, tears, and death. Be has also been subject to the temptations and wiles of the devil, so much so that it is the sad history of man, throughout the entire period of his fallen state, that Satan has reigned with almost universal sway. When all was lost in Adam, and the shades of night darkened the moral heavens, there soon appeared the star of hope in Christ, and with it there was established a means of communication between God and man. In his fallen state, man could not converse face to face with God, and with Christ, and with angels, as when in his Eden purity. But through the ministration of holy angels could the great Ood speak to him in dreams and in visions. "If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream." Num. 12 : 6. The manifestation of the spirit of prophecy was designed for all dispensations. The Sacred Record nowhere restricts it to any particular period of time, from the fall to the final restitution. The Bible recognizes its manifestation alike in THE SPIRIT OP PROPHECY. the patriarchal age, in the Jewish age, and in the Christian age. Through this medium God communed with holy men of old. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied; and so extensive was the range of his prophetic vision, and so minute, that he could look down over long ages, and describe the coming of the Lord, and the execution of the last Judgment upon the ungodly. Jude, verses 14, 15. God spake to his prophets in the Jewish dispensation in visions and in dreams, and opened before them the great things of the future, especially those connected with the first advent of Christ to suffer for sinners, and his second appearing in glory to destroy his enemies, and complete the redemption of his people. If the spirit of prophecy nearly disappeared from the Jewish church for a few centuries toward the close of that dispensation, on account of the corruptions in that church, it reappeared at its close to usher in the Messiah. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist., "was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied." Simeon, a just and devout man, who was "waiting for the consolation of Israel," came by the Spirit into the temple, and prophesied of Jesus as "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel." And Anna, a prophetess, " spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." And there was no greater prophet than John, who was chosen of God to introduce to Israel "the Lamb of 'God that taketh away the sin of the world." The Christian age commenced with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the manifestation of various spiritual gifts. Among these was the gift of prophecy. After commissioning his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel, Jesus says to them, "And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast. out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they THE SPIRIT OP PROPHECY. 9 shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark 16: 17, 18. On the day of pentecost, when the Christian dispensation was fully opened, some of these gifts were manifested in a wonderful manner. Acts 2 : 1-11. Luke, in giving account of his travels with Paul and others, when a quarter of a century of the Christian age had already passed, after speaking of entering into the house of Philip, the evangelist, says: "And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus." Acts 21: 9, 10. Again, still later, we see the beloved John, in the Isle of Patmos, imbued with the spirit of prophecy in all its fullness. The wonderful Revelation was given unto him when more than half a century of the Christian age had passed. And here the New-Testament record leaves us without a single intimation that the gifts of the Spirit should cease from the church till the day of glory should be ushered in by the second appearing of Jesus Christ. Since the great apostasy, these gifts have rarely been manifested; and for this reason, professed Christians generally suppose that they were designed to be limited to the period of the primitive church. But from the time of the, primitive Christians to the present there have been manifestations among the most devoted followers of Jesus, which have been recognised by nearly all of the leading denominations as the gifts of the Holy.Spirit. Then should not the errors and the unbelief of the church be assigned as reasons why these manifestations have been so seldom, rather than that God has taken these blessings from the church? When the people of God attain to primitive faith and practice, as they most certainly will under the last message, the latter rain will be poured out, and all the gifts will be revived. The former rain was given at the commencement of the Chris
Towards a Definition of New Testament Prophecy
Themelios, 2019
Despite a number of recent proposals, scholars have yet to reach a consensus regarding what the New Testament prophets were actually doing when they prophesied. In this essay, I attempt to make a contribution to New Testament studies by working towards a definition of New Testament prophecy. I proceed in three steps. First, I survey five different views on the nature of New Testament prophecy. Second, I analyze relevant texts from the New Testament to answer the question: what kind of an activity was New Testament prophecy? Third, I evaluate the arguments made for both limited prophetic authority and full prophetic authority. On the basis of the study, I conclude that prophetic activity in the New testament (1) is a human act of intelligible communication that (2) is rooted in spontaneous, divine revelation and (3) is empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that prophecy (4) consists in human speech or writing that can be attributed to the members of the Godhead and (5) that always carries complete divine authority.
FORMAT The present course represents a unique collaboration between two theological seminaries, incorporating multiple professors, in order to address one of the most pressing theological concerns facing the Lord’s Church. This cooperative, modular format utilizes cutting edge educational models exposing the student to instructors whose varied interests, vocational, and academic specialties uniquely enhance the classroom/educational experience. See Schedule below, for details. RATIONALE and DESCRIPTION The contemporary NT minister serves in an era where there is unprecedented need to understand, teach, and defend the historic orthodox view of the doctrine of Scripture. This is especially true within the context of the local church. The present course will begin equipping the minister to address these needs by providing an overview of the entire doctrine of revelation. Specifically, the contents of this course include an overview of the entire doctrine of revelation beginning with revelation in general, proceeding to redemptive revelation, and concluding with a treatment of the doctrine of Scripture, especially as it has been developed within the Reformed tradition. The course will address the major attributes of Scripture, including the necessity, identity (canon), authority, adequacy, availability, finality, and reliability of Scripture. The course will conclude with an examination of the debate over the cessation of special revelation.
Ministry, December 2014, 16-19.
The “daily” controversy was another Adventist example for the intensity of theological debates. While on the surface Adventists debated over the question whether the tāmîd in Dan 8 refers to Roman paganism or Christ’s heavenly ministration, the real struggle was over the issue of the final authority in biblical or theological matters—whether the issue should be settled by the Bible or the writings of Ellen White. Although Ellen White had previously spoken to several theological matters, she basically remained silent on the issue of the tāmîd chiding both parties for using her writings in support of their argumentation. It was the mutual study of the Word that was to settle the exegetical issue, yet since both parties were unwilling to listen and unable to come to an agreement, she advised to cease from the debate. Every additional argument in the public would only intensify the conflict and make matters worse. Instead of focusing on the issue, they were to focus on true heart conversion, teaching people in the simple Bible truths, training people in reaching out to non-Adventists, and being concerned with mission work. In Ellen White’s opinion the basic problem was a spiritual one—the issue could be solved only if people had an open, loving, and spiritual attitude. While the advice of letting the matter rest is hardly a help in solving urgent practical issues, Ellen White’s advice in the context of the “daily” controversy may provide insights as to underlying issues, contingent repercussions, and possible solutions.