Day: March 27, 2017

According to its constitution, “The centrist focus of the Society places it against all forms of theological extremism, avoiding theological liberalism and legalistic or literalistic interpretations of the Scriptures.”

To denigrate the “literalistic interpretation of the Scriptures” is to denigrate the Scriptures themselves, and of course the Holy Spirit who gave those Scriptures.

The inspired writers did not testify to falsehoods, fearing that the pages of Sacred History would be clouded by the record of human frailties and faults. The scribes of God wrote as they were dictated by the Holy Spirit, having no control of the work themselves. They penned the literal truth, and stern, forbidding facts are revealed for reasons that our finite minds cannot fully comprehend.

By Ellen White in Testimony for the Church, Number 26.
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I saw it was a small thing to speak against the instrument, but it was dangerous to slight the words of God.

By Ellen White in Broadside #2.

“Dr. Ganoune Diop is Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. Before his election in July 2015 at the 60th General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas, he served as the church’s liaison to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and as its representative within the international community of civic and political leaders.

Dr. Diop’s passion for God has led him to extensive theological, philosophical, and literary studies. Dr. Diop has a Masters in Exégèses and Theology from Collonges, France, a Masters degree in Philiology from the University of Paris, and a PhD in Old Testament Studies from Andrews University. He is currently a PhD candidate in New Testament Studies. Most recently he was honored with a Doctorate Honoris Causa, granted for his contributions to developing a global culture of human rights and respect for human dignity.”

Well, that doesn’t sound too bad on the surface, but on the Southern Adventist University website, it says of him:

“Ganoune Diop—Ph.D., Professor of Religion, Oakwood College B.A. and M.A., Saleve University; Diploma, Maitrise en Philologie et Histoire de L’Orient Ancien, Institut Catholique De Paris; Ph.D., Andrews University.”

http://southern.catalog.acalog.com/content.php?catoid=2&navoid=14

That is very problematic for me for 2 reasons:
1. Someone is not telling the truth. The “University of Paris”, and “Catholic University of Paris” are 2 separate institutions. The University of Paris is famous for training many popes over the centuries, and, well, the other one speaks for itself.

2. We are directly told by the Spirit of Prophecy for our SDA pastors and workers to not get their training from worldly institutions. But here we have them being promoted to the top ranks of the SDA Church! Why are we so blind? And the field of Philology: “includes the study of texts and their history. It includes elements of textual criticism”. Granted, what Br. Diop studied may not have been this particular type of Philology. But it is very, very worrying, as we are told directly that all “higher criticism” is working against God.