Submitted by: Morrissey | View Member Profile | View Other Posts
Created: 1/21/2010
Editor's Note: We allow our members to post articles expressing their beliefs and opinions.The views expressed in articles on this website may, or may not be, shared by us. -- The management.
Continued from Part One...
The “Free Use of” Discovery
Related to the last point is counsel concerning the “free use of” certain food articles. Over and over again, the Spirit of Prophecy counsels against the free use of milk and similar food items. The literalists jump on the few statements that are more specific (usually ones dealing with the Time of Trouble—“a time will come when. . . .”,) and then use these few which they have already misapplied as the guideline, to modify all the others that are in fact speaking about the free use of milk and eggs and/or about where we get them from (such as unhealthy animals, or farmers who sinfully mistreat their animals and thereby cause their animals to groan under the weight of such sin and thus become diseased). (Note: Years ago, my mother found that MOST of the “time will come…” statements say “the time will come when we MAY…”, indicating the relative availability of good milk and eggs etc., and how some people will have to not use them if they can’t get them from well-cared-for animals, whereas others can keep right on using them if getting them from good sources. My mother also came upon the correlation of “the time will come when …” being the Time of Trouble in the few instances where there is no “may” in the sentence or paragraph. More recently, she found that it is very revealing to note the dates when such statements were written and to then compare those dates to when Sister White says Jesus was going to come – and therefore the Time of Trouble would have taken place – but didn’t take place due to Jesus having to delay His coming to a later time. All these points – and others - make a HUGE difference in how one reads and understands the SOP on the matter of dairy and eggs. [Also note that my mother and I used to be vegans – very strict vegans – and almost died as a result. For the last 20 years we have studied the subject of vegan diet all throughout the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, history, and science, and perhaps someday we can write a good-sized book on all the research. But needless to say, that will not be now. Just know what is stated here is just the tip of the ice berg from much careful research over many, many years.])
It even seems that clean meats are not such a problem if not used freely. Over and over again when speaking about the evils of meat eating, she says something like “the free use of flesh foods…” This was a revelation to us. It explains why people who are temperate, generally follow the eight laws of health, and eat only a little meat as part of a balanced diet, can live very healthy lives well into their 90s. However, it is clear from the Bible itself that eating dead flesh is not God's ideal, and as such it is not best to eat meat—even though it is not necessarily wrong to eat it temperately, and doing so will not necessarily keep people out of heaven. But since the Biblical ideal is no flesh, then that is what we still choose to do. (Interestingly, the Bible says nothing negative about milk or eggs, but rather many positive things. This should be a clue that God does not frown on milk and eggs at all when eaten temperately…which by the way, “temperate” for one is not the same as “temperate” for another in such things – it is a relative term that varies by people’s body’s needs.)
Chocolate
Mother and I began to suspect that the Adventist avoidance of chocolate may be based on myth, so we researched it. We looked up chocolate and cocoa on the new Ellen G. White CD-ROM. Nothing. We even called the E.G. White Estate to ask if they could find anything on it. Nothing. We began to wonder if it was even around in Sister White's day. To find out, we looked it up in the official cookbook of the late 1890's, The Fanny Farmer Cookbook of the Boston Cooking School (of which I have a copy). It did indeed have lots of chocolate and cocoa recipes, and a section stating that chocolate and cocoa did not have any caffeine, but rather theobromine.
We did some more research online, and found much disagreement as to whether chocolate/cocoa has caffeine or not, and if so how much. I went to some medical resources, and learned that theobromine is a blood vessel dilator, while caffeine is a blood vessel constrictor. I also noticed that there seemed to be agreement in most sources that whatever the actual amounts are in chocolate/cocoa, the ratio of theobromine to caffeine is about 7:1. This means there is always far more theobromine than caffeine, and since theobromine is the one that relaxes blood vessels, then the net effect would be that chocolate and cocoa are relaxant and not stimulant at all, because the theobromine cancels out whatever effect the caffeine has. This would explain why Sister White is silent on chocolate, while saying so many negative things about tea and coffee. We now eat dark chocolate as a legitimate dessert—not as a snack (which snacking, by the way, is where chocolate and desserts really become evil, while even rich desserts are not necessarily bad at all when eaten temperately at the end of a meal).
Drama, Acting, Stories, etc.
For years when Mother and I would read Sister White's counsels on acting, drama, theaters, plays, skits, fantasy, novels, and so on, we always assumed she was talking about what is the standard for everyone no matter what age. Recently it has been sinking in that most of this type of counsel applies primarily to children and teenagers, and not as much to adults. Why have we come to this conclusion? It is because of how Jesus and the Bible (and even what Sister White advocates for adults) includes things that are made up, abstract, allegorical, symbolism, etc. (e.g., Daniel and Revelation, Ezekiel, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, etc.), whereas anything of this nature is not only very confusing to children, but can negatively affect their learning of what is true and what is not. They cannot distinguish between what is merely an illustration and what is accurate in real life. [Editor’s note: This would explain her condemnation of Aesop's fables! I mean, when have you ever heard of a scorpion talking to a frog?—but this illustration has been used even by conservative SDA's in sermons to illustrate the verse about the leopard not being able to change his spots.] But adults know without thinking what is a mere illustration and what is real.
Therefore, we have had to reassess what are the guidelines for adults, and we are finding that it is quite different from the guidelines for children and even teenagers. There have been so many things that we can see were barred from our home incorrectly. One example would be Dr. Seuss's allegorical animated cartoon programs/movies. They are delightful and so full of good lessons, but since the cartoon characters are so obviously not real animals or people, then it is not a problem that they are made up things with made up story lines, etc. It's sort of like Pilgrim's Progress in a way, but more abstract. I can see how they would be too confusing for children, though. We can also see that some made-up programs/movies and some based-on-true-story programs/movies can be acceptable for adults also, with very careful selection. Of course, some principles still apply to adults with respect to what they watch or read, such as making sure to be temperate in all things, whether it be reading good stories (even true ones) or watching good programs.
Other Statements
Statements that say things like how we must continually strain every muscle and sacrifice all things in order to overcome and do all that we should for others, etc, if taken on face value, give a very wrong impression of what God requires. What they really mean becomes clear from other places, and the Bible primarily, of course. That is, constant surrender requires this kind of effort. Having to say No to our flesh over and over is taxing. It requires a sacrifice of the whole heart, and it can be a strain until full victory is gained. These statements are not designed to make us push, push, push, cram, cram, cram, be intemperate in order to do the work, etc., but rather to teach us to hold nothing back from God and to be in total subjection to His will in every moment of life.
Oh, what freedom comes from not taking the Spirit of Prophecy like it seems to say on the surface, but rather being patient to find the real meaning in the light of Scripture and the rest of the Spirit of Prophecy. I am so glad this is not the same as totally or partially casting aside the Spirit of Prophecy like so many liberals do, since what I have been writing about here actually harmonizes the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy beautifully without throwing out either.
The Narrow Road
Here is another aspect of the freedom that we have as Christians. The Narrow Road is really a lot broader than many think. Also, it is not a two-lane road like I have heard in sermons at times. It is not true that if you get in the middle you will get run over! The Narrow Road is a one lane road, and those wanting to go back fall off on either side!
I wrote this paragraph for a church business meeting a year ago:
Does it please God for us to be as plain as possible, or is it that we are to be as Christlike as possible? Are we to see just how simple and plain we can be—as much as we can stand—or are we to seek to conform to the character and likeness of God Himself in everything? Indeed, it is the latter – that we are to seek to conform to the character and likeness of God in everything. In contemplating the vastness and depth of the Infinite – especially as He is revealed in Nature, AND in the majesty and grandeur of His presence and the things of Heaven as revealed through Inspiration, it becomes evident that we must seek to imitate the depth and breadth and width and height of God in all we do – we must be partakers of Him Who is the embodiment of the vastness of Eternity! It may come as a shock to some to realize that the Narrow Way (as well as the path shown to Sister White in vision with the ropes let down, etc.) is an illustration—a figurative one at that—and only applying to two aspects: the numbers of humans that will choose the path of truth being few compared to the majority, and the fact that God's way excludes sin which so many embrace. But in all other regards, the Way of Truth is far, far more broad and vast than that of sin and Satan! God's ways encompass all eternity, and the depth and breadth of His love and His knowledge and His joy of which we will learn throughout all eternity! In other words, God and the Truth—the Way, Jesus Himself and the Narrow Way being the same thing—is in fact so much bigger and broader and more free and wonderful than any way of sin or this world, that the “Broad Way” of sin pales in comparison. It is Satan who wants to make us think the Narrow Way is indeed literally narrow—because it is not! God is not narrow! God is as broad and high and deep and wide as eternity, and we must be also. We get no merit or favor with God for seeing just how narrow we can be, and also how many restrictions we can make. In fact we get no favor or blessing from seeing how far we can stay away from anything that hints of error. It is the very essence of Pharisaism to avoid anything that hints of defilement; Jesus reproved such nonsense over and over again, and they hated Him for it! We must be sure we do not do as the Pharisees did in being so insecure as to run from that which is good for fear of possibly getting too close to the line of evil. Jesus did not do that, and neither should we. The Bible tells us over and over to “turn not to the left or to the right” and the context always shows that the left and the right are something to be shunned and in some places they are called evil. We are not to go so far away from the left ditch that we fall head-long into the right ditch. Indeed – as Inspiration says – the path of truth lies CLOSE by the path of error, so if we stay far away from error we will be missing some of the truth in the process. No, God doesn’t want scardy-cats for His sheep; we are to know where the line is and to not cross that line, but also not to be scared of it to where we fall into the other ditch and/or make the Narrow Way far more narrow than God ever wants us to do.
How we praise God for what He has shown us—the freedom He has given, and the light to our path. Now to walk therein!
Summary
Conservatism and list religion tend to go hand in hand, along with failure to put love and mercy on a higher plane than all the other facets of the faith. While people like my mother have never fallen for such failure to put love and mercy first, she and others like her nonetheless DID fall for extremes which were represented by Conservatives as being moral duties when these duties in fact were not things God requires at all and therefore He would not and did not grant power to live them, thus causing her and those like her to draw off of one’s health and/or soul to do these things…which either brings spiritual death eventually, or physical sickness, which latter effect she and I both have suffered due to these errors (and I almost suffered the former as well!). However, I would have been many times better off than I have been in my mind and heart IF I had paid more attention to her perceptions of true religion rather than the perceptions of those who SEEMED to back them up with studies, but which studies were flawed anyway due to ignoring God’s order/priorities, and advocating and teaching the work for others being above our own duty to God in the heart and the home. I am just so thankful God got my attention and got all this through to me! I’m also so thankful that now it is clearly obvious from this story, that God did not agree with all those trying to get me to ignore and leave my mother and my home with my parents, but rather God saw that my staying home doing what He has for me here is indeed just what God wants at this time, and that those who would advocate that being a waste or lack of faith, are very wrong. Indeed, with people who tend to be Pharisaical, what they think and what God thinks can be very much opposite, as my story shows. I’m glad God has vindicated my dear mother in all this, and has set us free from the bondage of list religion and Pharisaism! May all who read this take this very seriously, and ask God to deliver them from any such traps as well. May we all press onward to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, as HE defines that, not as humans might!
___________________________________________________________________________
Postscript Note: From the time I finished writing the original version of this (late March 2009) till present (mid May 2009), I have read Brother Jim Hohnberger’s book “Men of Power” and I cannot thank God enough for that book! Especially in Western culture, the true role of men has been so unattained and therefore so lost sight of, that it has incorrectly shaped the role of women by default, AND carried over into how parishioners are taught to regard church authority, and even how they are taught to look upon God Himself! This book serves to straighten all this out by setting forth in the clearest lines, what God has in mind for real men. This book has helped me SO MUCH, that I cannot say enough good about it. Especially in Conservative circles, both men and women should read this book; the women need it too, because most Conservative women tend to take on a man’s brain to some degree (and all the more so those like me who were born with a man’s brain to start with!), and the need to understand God’s real plan for real men and women is so needed, and this book makes it so clear!
Also, I cannot understate the life-changing potential of the ENTIRE article at http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/herm-pri.html (quoted from earlier)! The last half is particularly powerful, but the first part is too when read as part of the whole article. IT IS WELL WORTH THE TIME TO READ IT ALL!!!
