One day in Greek class, Dr. Fred Veltman14 gave us a translation assignment which included Ephesians 2:8, 9. I could see that the correct translation was “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” I went to him and said, “This cannot be right because it does not fit Adventist theology.” I had often read where Ellen White said we should never say we are saved.15 Further, we can never know we are saved until the second coming of Christ because we do not know if we will be overcomers and remain faithful. How could one say he is saved if his name had not yet come up in judgment? I asked Dr. Veltman if there might not be some manuscript that might have a variance in reading to support Adventist teaching. I am so thankful for his answer. He said, “Dale, we are not to try to make the Bible say what we think theology with it.”16 I had thought that perhaps one purpose of Greek class was to find Greek manuscripts that would most nearly harmonize with Adventist teaching.17 He assured me that was not the way to study. Instead, the Greek text should be made from a comparison of the manuscripts, using sound principles of textual criticism, without personal bias. Later I took a class from Dr. Veltman called “Seminar in Biblical Languages,” where we learned how linguistic scholars prepared the Greek text for the Bible from the ancient manuscripts. This strengthened my faith in the Bible and gave me a profound respect for those who worked on the meticulous preparation of the Greek and Hebrew texts from which our English Bibles are translated. Translating portions of Ephesians from the Greek, with the security of salvation so evident in this letter of Paul, was the first time I had any evidence that Ellen G. White might be a little bit off in her interpretation of the gospel. However, I was so steeped in Adventism that I hardly gave it a second thought.
I enjoyed my theological studies at PUC and was excited about potential ministry in the Adventist church. I very much liked my pastoral training class taught by Carl Coffman, and I looked up to him as a friend and mentor. The Coffmans had been our neighbors when he was pastor of the Napa church, and I was in the trucking business. In his class, we prepared a series of Bible studies on the Adventist message. In doing so, we were to prepare one on 1844 and the judgment, leading to the Sabbath doctrine. While I had studied this at Monterey Bay Academy, I had not really done independent study, but rather had just taken Alban Millard’s, our Bible doctrines teacher, word for it and memorized the key texts, putting them together in the right order without much thought. However, now I was a theology student preparing for ministry, and I knew the fallacy of haphazardly linking texts of Scripture together to prove my ideas. I needed a good reason to link “proof texts.”
I studied Daniel 8 in context and had a hard time trying to make Daniel 8:14 say what Adventists have tried to make it say.18 It was difficult for me to understand how Rome could be represented as part of the Greek beast. I could not find a good, convenient connection between Daniel 8:14 and Leviticus 16, needed to support the Adventist interpretation. I recognized that Daniel 8:14 had a context, and that context did not fit the Adventist doctrine. It was clear to me that Daniel 8:14 was the answer to the question asked in Daniel 8:13. I knew the 2300 day prophecy chart by heart, and in trying to make it fit the context of Daniel 8, I wondered what was “trampled” in 457 BC that was “untrampled” in 1844. I asked several of my teachers and did not get a good answer. I asked several other theology students, and they did not have one either. Thinking the problem was my lack of understanding, I went to Dr. Leslie Harding, from whom I was taking the “Spirit of Prophecy” class. I had faith in him because he, like me, was a strong believer in Ellen White. I will never forget the day I asked him my question: “Dr. Harding,” I said, “What was ‘trampled’ in 457 BC that was ‘untrampled’ in 1844?” Suddenly his demeanor changed. He peered at me with a cold, penetrating, lengthy stare, with an expression I had never seen from him before. After a long, uncomfortable silence, he said, “Dale, aren’t you studying for the ministry? You should not be asking questions like that!” The tone and manner in which he answered caused me to wonder what awful thing I had broached by my question. Afterward, I pondered this experience. Had I, by my lack of understanding, shown my ignorance to such an extent that I should be ashamed? Or, had I asked a question that was “off- limits”? If so, why was it off-limits? Dr. Harding was one of my favorite teachers. I got A’s in his class and had, previous to this encounter, felt that I was one of his favorite students. Why this sudden change in attitude?
I never asked Dr. Harding questions about the subject again. However, I did ask Dr. Fred Veltman, my Greek teacher. He told me, “Dale, the investigative judgment is not a biblical doctrine.” I was shocked and secretly thought he, too, was a heretic. Yet at the same time, I knew Dr. Veltman was a brilliant man, a careful biblical scholar, a deeply honest Christian, and loyal to the SDA church.
This issue of 1844, the little horn of Daniel 8, and the investigative judgment created a lot of buzz among the theology students. It was announced that one of the teachers would make a presentation showing that it indeed was a biblical doctrine. There were not many theology students present when the presentation was made, but I was there, and I remember there were many “holes” in the logic, and texts were taken out of context and given a meaning foreign to their context. Still, however, I felt the problem must be with my understanding.
In my senior year at PUC, I was fortunate enough to get the assignment to be an “Associate Pastor” —the title seemed to give me clout—at a little SDA church in Calistoga, about twenty miles from the college. Here I preached once or twice a month and conducted the Wednesday Bible study and prayer meetings. I fell in love with the congregation and looked forward to the day I could do full-time ministry.
At the end of my senior year, I was scheduled to take the final comprehensive examinations. There was to be both a written and oral test given to the theology students. I received the highest score on the written exam, and because of this achievement, I was exempted from the orals.
I knew God had called me to ministry and decided that I would do nothing to get a “call.” Most of the theology students were making resumes and mailing out dozens of letters to conference presidents around the country. I felt that if God had called me, He would know where to find me. I prayed and had told the Lord I would accept the first official call I received, no matter where it was. I remembered my commitment to God to do His will, not mine. I also remembered that I told Him I was not too good at discerning His will and felt this was a reasonable way to discover it. I did, however, decide I should visit with every conference president who came to interview the theology students. Elder Helmouth Retzer, from the Southern California Conference, was the first to come. I met with him and told him that I did not want to go to the seminary. I had been working so hard trying to support the family and studying at the same time, I felt I needed a break from school and wanted to get out into the work of ministry. Also, I told Elder Retzer that I did not want to go to the big, bad city of Los Angeles. He told me that all the men he called would go to the seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan. I felt certain after what I had said he would not call me. However, the next day I received a phone call from Elder Retzer. He stated he was officially asking me to serve in the Southern California Conference, and he wanted to sponsor me to the seminary. I was the first of my class to get a “call” and felt God was leading. So as soon as graduation was over, we were off to Berrien Springs.
The old ’55 Chevy had given out on us. We now had an old Rambler. The only thing good about that car was that the seats reclined. We arrived in Berrien Springs late one night, nearly broke and tired from the long trip. We did not have money for a motel, so we slept in the car—a difficult thing to do for four people. The next day we moved into Garland Apartments, F-4.
At that time, the seminary was trying to pack three years of graduate work into two. They had “presessions”—a short class before the fall quarter, “intersessions”—a class between quarters and “post sessions”—classes after the spring quarter and then summer school. I was told I should not plan to work more than five hours per week. However, even though Carolyn had a part-time job, our budget still had a shortfall. After the presession, I was hired to clean the halls of our sixteen unit apartment building, empty the trash, keep salt in the huge softener, and wax the floors. However, this job did not provide enough money for the family. I have always been resourceful when it comes to finding a job. I got a night job answering the phone at the YMCA in Benton Harbor. I noticed that the cleaning crew did not do a good job, and it seemed the employees did not last long. There was some new person almost every week. The manager was not happy with the firm, so I proposed that I contract the cleaning. I figured I could find some other hungry seminary students to help me. If I worked the cleaning areas and schedules right, I figured I could clean close to the phone, and in this way, get paid for doing two jobs at the same time.
I was approached by another seminary student with the opportunity to teach modern math for parents—a govern- ment sponsored project—in Benton Harbor in the evening. I loved math and accepted that job too. There was a period of time when I would go to school all day, come home in the late afternoon, clean the apartments, study a little, drive to Benton Harbor and teach modern math until 9:00 p.m. I would then go to the YMCA and answer the phone until about 10:00 p.m. I would sleep there on one of the benches, get up at 2:00 in the morning, clean the lobby near the phone, and try to study until 7:30. I would then drive back to Berrien Springs and go to class. I kept this pace up for some time. One day after class, I almost lost it. I could not remember driving from Benton Harbor and had no idea where I had parked the car. There were several large parking lots that were filled differently on different days because of changing class schedules, so I did not have a regular place to park. After class, I went out and just started walking through those large parking lots trying to find my car. It was then I realized that I had to cut back on the work.
I loved my classes at the seminary, all but two: pastoral counseling and Hebrew. I thought I had done well on the pastoral counseling final, but I did not get an “A” on it. I went to the teacher and asked to see my final test. However, he said he had destroyed all tests immediately after they were graded. I took Hebrew during the time I was working so hard. Because I did not have sufficient time to study, I did not learn it as well as I should have. It was announced that our final test would be translations taken from several chapters of Genesis. Therefore, I read and re-read this section in the English Bible until I practically had it memorized. I could then pick up the Hebrew words I knew and intelligently guess at the ones I did not know. I told the Lord that I would never trust my theology to my knowledge of Hebrew, and I have kept that promise.
My favorite classes at the seminary were “Theology of the Sabbath” and “Eschatology,” taught by Dr. Hans LaRondelle. Both of these were filled with material from Ellen White as well as biblical study. I enjoyed Dr. Raoul Dederen’s class, “Christology.” But the one that was to have the most influence in my life was a class taught by Dr. Wilber Alexander entitled, “Righteousness by Faith.” He was an inductive teacher. Many of the other teachers would lecture, and we would take notes. To pass the test, all we had to do was to regurgitate what the teacher had given to us. Little creative thought was required. Dr. Alexander, however, asked a lot of questions, rather than lecturing, and did not give answers. He made us think. I recall one question he asked repeatedly over a period of several days. It was, “When God justifies us, are we really righteous?” Different people in the class had different answers. There was no consensus. I don’t think Dr. Alexander ever did give the answer. I recall some of the older men in the class became angry because they had to come up with the answers themselves. While Dr. Alexander did not give us the answers, he did give us some suggested reading assignments where we could find the answers. These included several chapters from Romans and selections from the writings of Ellen White, including Selected Messages, Book 2, which has the best material on this topic. Whoever combed the writings of Ellen White to pull out the quotations for this section did a good job. After much study, it was my conclu- sion that when a man is justified, he is not intrinsically righteous, but only accounted as if he were righteous. He was, to put in into the terms of the reformers, “same time righteous, same time sinner.”19 When it came time to fill up the little blue test booklet, I must have made a good case for this view because I got an “A” in the class and a few good words from Dr. Alexander.
One disappointment, however, was the class entitled, “Atonement,” also taught by Dr. Alexander. Not that the class was not good, but near the end of the printed outline for the class was a section dealing with 1844 and the investigative judgment. Adventists do not believe in a finished Atonement at the cross but believe in a “final Atonement” made in the heavenly sanctuary when God blots out the record of sins from the books of heaven.20 This is said to happen just before He places the sins of the righteous upon Satan, who must suffer for them in the lake of fire.21 This is part of the 1844 investigative judgment theology, and as such, found its place in this class. Having had difficulty understanding this in college, I looked forward with anticipation to find the answers from those whom I was sure knew them. For some reason, we fell behind schedule, and the part on 1844 was left out. I did not suspect any ulterior reason at the time. Now I do.
The last summer of seminary work included a “Field School” where I was to help with a series of evangelistic meetings in Columbus, Ohio. I enjoyed this assignment and had no problems with the traditional Adventist message, delivered in the traditional Adventist evangelistic style. Little did I know what lay ahead.
NEXT WEEK: “GOSPEL CLARITY”
Endnotes
14 Now deceased.
15 Ellen G. White, The Kress Collection, p. 120; Review and Herald, 1890-06-17; Medical Ministry, p. 123. See also, Ratzlaff, The Cultic Doctrine of Seventh-day Adventists: An Evangelical Resource, An Appeal to SDA Leadership, (LAM Publications, LLC, Glendale, Arizona) p. 318–341, for a complete discussion of this problem.
16 I put this in quotes, however, it may not be the exact words he used, but they are certainly close.
17 Looking back from my current perspective, I now realize what a cultic mentality I had.
18 Cultic Doctrine is dedicated to an in-depth study of this problem, and I only give it here as part of my journey in a historical sense.
19 This wording, however, was never used in my seminary classes. I think it was purposely avoided as it does not fit Adventist theology.
20 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 486, See also Ellen. G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 266.
21 The Great Controversy, p. 422. See also Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 266.
Truth Led Me Out. Copyright © 2008 by Dale Ratzlaff. Second printing 2015, E-mail version 2020. All Scripture quotations—except where otherwise noted—are from The New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1994 by the Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Texts credited to Clear Word are from The Clear Word, copyright © 1994, 2000, 2003, 2004 by Review and Herald Publishing Association. All rights reserved. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.
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