A recent online article in a theologically liberal Adventist magazine purports the need for a “critique” of the classic Adventist perspective regarding three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 [1]. The article claims this feature of Adventist belief has “devolved into a denominational truism that has assumed sacred cow status” [2].
The article focuses primarily on the three angels’ messages as addressed in a recent Sabbath School Lesson Quarterly [##3|Mark Finley, Three Cosmic Messages (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists: Sabbath School Department, April-May-June 2023).##], whose author (Mark Finley)—if he read the article in question—likely found the critiquing author’s tone amusing when he spoke of Finley being betwixt “the proverbial rock and a hard place” [4], supposedly forced to navigate “between the denomination’s progressives, who advocate a near-complete reimagination of this seminal ‘message,’ and the ultra-conservatives who want more of the same 19th-century-type approach” [5].
The author in question then writes:
Many, like me, wonder why our pioneers settled on such disturbing biblical imagery as definitional Adventism. It may be for the same reason that some in our community today point to The Great Controversy as the one book (of the many Ellen White wrote) to use as our evangelistic tool, despite its substantial baggage. If we must use an Ellen White book to point others to Jesus, why not Steps to Christ? One is left wondering if there is something in our Adventist DNA that gravitates toward horrific images. Our interpretation of the third angel’s message, as outlined in The Great Controversy, is steeped in dogmatic anti-Catholic stereotypes.
This might have resonated in the 1800s, the temporal and cultural world of our origins. But times have changed, and we are better informed today than our founders were. Therefore it shouldn’t be too soon in our development to begin reassessing our identity in a twenty-first century context, instead of our reflexive habit of remaining in the nineteenth century [6].
Timeworn Allegations
The article in question contains any number of timeworn theologically liberal jibes at the classic Adventist worldview, such as the desire of doctrinal and moral certainty, dismissal of the “remnant” identity, and others. At one point the author accuses Adventists of “flashing images of a god who delights to ‘torture in burning sulfur before the holy angels’ (Rev. 14:10)” [7], and later alleges that “we embody an eschatology that predicts a near-impossibility: the alliance of all world governmental and ecclesiastical powers under the umbrella of the beast’s image, against us” [8].
It seems this author has well-nigh forgotten the near-universal global alliance forged in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, not stopping to consider how quickly all the elements he views as irreconcilable—“Baptists, Catholics, Hindus, Muslims etc. with America, China, Iran, Russia etc” [9]—could come together in the same fashion when faced not only with multiplying natural and man-made calamities, but also with ubiquitous miracles and supernatural signs urging such unity (Rev. 13:13-14; 16:14).
The Protestant Summons Still Relevant
We could explore many of the different angles of reasoning employed by the article in question, but the present article will focus specifically on the claim of twenty-first century “irrelevance,” in particular the warning drawn by Adventists from the messages of Revelation 14 against the teachings and quest for political power on the part of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Protestant Reformers warned against such unscriptural Catholic dogmas as the supplanting of the inspired Word by human tradition, mediation by human priests between God and humanity, the sale of indulgences for sins committed, and the use of civil power as a means of enforcing the will of the church. What follows are very recent Roman Catholic statements, all within the past four decades, which make abundantly clear the continuing relevance in our day of historic Protestant and classic Adventist denunciations of papal teachings.
In December of 1984, the Los Angeles Times carried the headline, “No Forgiveness ‘Directly from God,’ Pope Says” [##10|Don Schanche, “No Forgiveness ‘Directly from God,’ PopeSays,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12, 1984, p. A12.##]. The article reported:
Rebutting a belief widely shared by Protestants and a growing number of Roman Catholics, Pope John Paul II on Tuesday dismissed the 'widespread idea that one can obtain forgiveness directly from God,' and exhorted Catholics to confess more often to their priests [##11|Schanche, “No Forgiveness ‘Directly from Giod,’ Pope Says,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12, 1984, p. A12.##].
Pope Francis agrees, in a recent statement giving priests (in addition to bishops) the right to determine contriteness—never telling how—on the part of women who have had abortions, and thus granting them pardon:
The pontiff said he will allow priests ‘discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it’ during the special year, beginning December 8 [2015] [##12|Alistair Jamieson and Claudio Lavanga, “Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion If Women Are Contrite,” NBC News online, Sept. 1, 2015.##].
The Bible declares of God, “Thou, even Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men” (I Kings 8:39), thus underscoring why He alone is able to forgive sins, as only He knows when sin has not only been confessed (I John 1:9), but forsaken as well (II Chron. 7:14; Prov. 28:13; Isa. 55:7).
The late Pope John Paul II openly claimed to disagree with Christ Himself, in the following statement:
Have no fear when people call me the Vicar of Christ, when they say to me 'Holy Father' or "Your Holiness,' or use terms similar to these, which seem even inimical to the gospel. Christ Himself declared, 'Call no one on earth your father; you have but one father in heaven. Do not be called Master; you have but one Master the Messiah' (Matt. 23:9-10). These expressions, nevertheless, have evolved out of a long tradition, becoming part of common usage. One must not be afraid of these words either [##13|Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), p. 6.##].
The words of Christ quickly come to mind: “Thus have ye made the commandments of God of none effect by your tradition. . . But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:6,9).
Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger warned in 1997 that the use of Scripture to evaluate Church teaching “was one of the most dangerous currents to flow out of Vatican II” [##14|Quoted by Jay Tolson, “Defender of the Faith,” U.S. News & World Report, May 2, 2005, p. 38.##].
On Sunday sacredness, and the Church’s alleged right to transfer the solemnity from the original Sabbath to another day, very recent Catholic statements confirm the continuance of this unscriptural claim:
For the Christian, the observance of the Sabbath is transferred to Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from the dead. God, through the Church, obliges us to make Sunday holy by participating in the Eucharist and by our being prayerfully reflective as far as possible. Sunday observance fulfills the interior law inscribed in the human heart to render to God visible and public worship as a sign of radical dependence upon God and as gratitude for all the blessings we have received [##15|United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (Washington, D.C: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2007), p. 364.##].
The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship ‘as a sign of his universal beneficence to all [##16|Catechism of the Catholic Church (Washington, D.C: United States Catholic Conference, 2013), p. 525.##].
Notice how this obligation comes “through the Church,” not the Bible. Again the words of Jesus come to mind: “In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Notice also how Sunday observance is identified above as a “sign.” The Bible, by contrast, speaks of the seventh-day Sabbath as a sign of loyalty and sanctification:
Moreover also I gave them My sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them (Eze. 20:12).
Like his two predecessors [##17|Alessandra Stanley, “Pope invites Catholics in 2000 to earn indulgences,” San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 28, 1998, pp.A1,A12; Francis D’Emilio, “Vatican releases new manual on how to gain indulgences,” Associated Press, Sept. 17, 1998; Paul Vitello, “For Catholics, a Door to Absolution is Reopened,” New York Times, Feb. 10, 2009.##], Pope Francis has promoted the sale of indulgences—the very practice against which the Reformers lodged so strong a protest five hundred years ago. In 2013 Time magazine reported:
Tech-savvy Catholics will spend less time in purgatory—or so says Pope Francis. The Pontiff has decreed that people who follow the events of World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro via the Vatican’s Twitter feed can get indulgences, which Catholics believe reduce time spent atoning for sins in the afterlife [##18|”Trending @ Pontifex,” Time, Aug. 5, 2013, p. 48.##].
In August 2018 Francis again offered indulgences, this time to those attending the World Meeting of Families in Ireland [19]. In typical medieval fashion, the pope offered indulgences for such acts as climbing “holy” mountains, visiting basilicas and other ecclesiastical shrines, attending papal events, and praying for the dead [20].
In the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church, the papacy reiterated its former hostility to religious liberty, unless such liberty is defined by the Church Itself. In the Catechism’s words:
The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error [##21|Catechism of the Catholic Church (Librerio Eiditorice Vaticano, Citta del Vaticano, 1994), p. 511.##].
And following the encyclical “Dies Domini” by Pope John Paul II, exalting the importance of Sunday and the desirability of civil enforcement of Sunday observance [22], it was reported in the Detroit News that according to the pope, one who violates the sanctity of Sunday should be “punished as a heretic” [##23|Detroit News, July 6, 1998, p. A1.##].
Conclusion
In light of the above, and much more that could be shared, how can one sensibly dismiss classic Adventism’s understanding of the three angels’ messages, in particular their call to eschew the errors of Babylon in general and the papacy in particular, as somehow “irrelevant” to the present day? Such conclusions make no more sense than the incredulous claim by a recent author on the same website that “streets paved with gold would not make for comfortable walking and would quickly show wear” [24]. (As if heaven’s gold were identical to the kind found on earth!)
Like so many similar calls to doctrinal revisionism by liberal Adventists during the past several decades, the article in question gives no compelling reason as to why a new understanding of these messages is needful. Its effort to relegate the classic Adventist understanding of Revelation 14 to the nineteenth century, presumably irrelevant to the present day, offers further evidence as to the silos of isolation which non-conservative Adventists so frequently inhabit, and how their critique of their church’s distinctive tenets is driven less by Biblical exegesis or changing world circumstances than by spiritual grievances of a subcultural and personal nature.
The article in question asks, “After 180 years of warning against Babylon, when does it begin to sound like we’re crying wolf?” [25]. In light of both the Biblical evidence for Adventist and classic Protestant objections to Catholicism, together with the continuing evidence from Catholic sources as to their church’s adherence to the very teachings against which the Reformers and Adventists have protested, it would appear the proverbial “wolf” is very real and the cry of warning most necessary.
REFERENCES
1. Matthew Quartey, “The Three Angels’ Messages: A Critique,” Spectrum, Sept. 21, 2023 https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2023/three-angels-messages-critique
2. Ibid.
3. Mark Finley, Three Cosmic Messages (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists: Sabbath School Department, April-May-June 2023).
4. Quartey, “The Three Angels’ Messages: A Critique,” Spectrum, Sept. 21, 2023 https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2023/three-angels-messages-critique
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Don Schanche, “No Forgiveness ‘Directly from God,’ Pope Says,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12, 1984, p. A12.
11. Ibid.
12. Alastair Jamieson and Claudio Lavanga, “Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion If Women Are Contrite,” NBC News online, Sept. 1, 2015.
13. Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), p. 6.
14. Quoted by Jay Tolson, “Defender of the Faith,” U.S. News & World Report, May 2, 2005, p. 38.
15. United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (Washington, D.C: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2007), p. 364.
16. Catechism of the Catholic Church (Washington, D.C: United States Catholic Conference, 2013), p. 525.
17. Alessandra Stanley, “Pope invites Catholics in 2000 to earn indulgences,” San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 28, 1998, pp. Al,A12; Francis D’Emilio, “Vatican releases new manual on how to gain indulgences,” Associated Press, Sept. 17, 1999; Paul Vitello, “For Catholics, a Door to Absolution is Reopened,” New York Times, Feb. 10, 2009.
18. “Trending @ Pontifex,” Time, Aug. 5, 2013, p. 48.
20. Mark McCleary, “Pope Francis grants indulgences for Dublin participants,” BBC News, June 3, 2018 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44294906
21. Catechism of the Catholic Church (Librerio Eiditorice Vaticano, Citta del Vaticano, 1994), p. 511.
22. Pope John Paul II, “Dies Domini: Apostolic Letter of the Holy Father John Paul II to the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Catholic Church on Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy,” May 31, 1998, Part 18 https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini.html
23. Detroit News, July 6, 1998, p. A1.
24. Donald McAdams, “Toward a Factual Concept of Inspiration,” Spectrum, Sept. 25, 2023 https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2023/toward-factual-concept-inspiration
25. Quartey, “The Three Angels’ Messages: A Critique,” Spectrum, Sept. 21, 2023 https://spectrummagazine.org/views/2023/three-angels-messages-critique
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan