We got mail…

Thank You For the Content

I have been watching/listening to the Podcast series on Galatians. Even after 17 years out of Adventism I am still learning so much. You cannot imagine how much these podcasts and the learning of biblical truth means to all of us. Thank you so much for this content; it uplifts me on a daily basis.

God bless you all.

—VIA EMAIL

 

Response: Thank you. Your encouragement means so much to us!

 

I Need The Proof

Madame, can you please provide me again with the answers to this important subject: why do Christians go to church on Sunday? Please give the scriptural support. I very much need this information because I want to reflect on it as I study and watch the YouTube videos regarding the topic. 

—VIA EMAIL

 

Response: First, I will attach a link to an article about the Revelation reference to the word “commandments”:

Second, Jesus went to the synagogue on Sabbath because He was a Jew. That was His custom. He did not go because He was obligated to the Sabbath. On the contrary, He gave the commandments. He is OVER the Sabbath.

The issue of Sabbath is unpacked when we study the covenants. The Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant (Ex. 31). Jesus fulfilled the law—all of it. He is our new Authority—the author of the Law is the One to whom we answer. He gave a new law in the New Testament as He revealed in Matthew 5 when he said, “You have heard it said…but I say unto  you…”

I will attach some links below:

Articles

Videos

 

Home Run With Daniel 11

You two hit a home run in this week’s podcast [on Daniel 11:1–35)! I have long wondered about this chapter and what it was referring to. Thank you for laying out the events so clearly!

You know, what I remember from my Adventist days was how adamant Adventist preachers and theologians were that this chapter could not be about Antiochus Epiphanies. What I don’t remember is why they were so against this. Maybe you could say something about this on the next podcast.

—VIA EMAIL

 

Response: We can’t remember ever having Adventist teachers or preachers teach Daniel 11 to us. Richard agrees that he doesn’t remember being taught this chapter (and he was steeped in historic Adventism). We do remember that Adventists argued hotly that the little horn of Daniel 8 could not be Antiochus Epiphanes. For their unique worldview to stay intact, they had to make the little horn of Daniel 8 the same little horn as that on the nondescript beast of Daniel 7—the antichrist AKA the pope. This interpretation is central to Adventism’s scenario establishing Daniel 8:14 as the central passage supporting the beginning of the investigative judgment when Jesus supposedly went from the Holy to the Most Holy Place in heaven and began reviewing the books to see which professed believers had actually confessed all their sins.

I can’t speak to why the preachers you heard refused to admit that Daniel 11 described Antiochus Epiphanes except to surmise that, if they admitted his vicious attacks on the Jews were described in Daniel 11, they would have a hard time insisting concurrently that the little horn of Daniel 8 was not Antiochus Epiphanes as well. Since the second half of Daniel 8 explains the division of the Greek empire into four “sections”, seeing Antiochus in that chapter is unavoidable if one takes the words at face value. If Adventists actually taught the historical fulfillments of Daniel 11:1–35, ending with Antiochus Epiphanes, they would have to see that Daniel 8 is clearly describing the same powers and people. 

I suspect that the historical accuracy of Daniel 11 would destroy the Adventists’ invented explanation of Daniel 8. Instead of harmonizing the two chapters, they hold onto their unique “great controversy” explanation of Daniel 8 and ignore Daniel 11. The resulting confusion keeps the members thinking that these chapters are “too hard to understand”, that “brighter minds” than theirs have figured it out, so they’ll just take it “by faith” that their leaders know more than they do and thus refuse to think about it.

It is this sort of inconsistency and confusion that causes Adventists to both avoid and fear the book of Daniel. 

It has been amazing to me to see that this book actually makes sense. The details are accessible, and the revelation of our sovereign Lord dissolves the old Adventist fear. 

 

Shocked By Ingrained Doctrine

I have been listening to your podcasts, and they have been blessing me immensely. I am so grateful for the true gospel you share. It has been hard this last year, leaving our church and questioning everything I thought I understood to be true. I am so thankful I was able to find resources like your podcast when I began questioning Adventism. I am still shocked by how ingrained the doctrine was in my life and how it affected my relationship with Jesus. I am eternally grateful.

—VIA EMAIL

Colleen Tinker
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