Adventist Delegates in St. Louis, Missouri, Debate Bible Statement at General Conference Session

The 61st General Conference Session of Seventh-day Adventists ended on Sabbath, June 11, 2022, in St Louis, Missouri. Among the most debated items were two official statements of belief, one on the Holy Scriptures and one on the writings of Ellen G White. The Thursday afternoon business meeting on June 9 took more than three hours and involved procedural questions that the source says some found difficult to follow.

General Conference vice president Artur Stele opened the discussion by explaining the purpose of the Resolution on the Holy Bible. He said a statement on the Holy Scriptures is made at every General Conference Session, and that it is not intended to cover everything the Church believes about the Bible. Instead, each session emphasizes one or two aspects. Stele also said the proposed statements had been presented at every year-end meeting of every Division for suggestions and changes, and that the Executive Committee approved the final version before it went to delegates. The source notes that official statements from 2010 and 2015 are available at Adventist.org.

Biblical Research Institute director Elias Brasil De Souza read the Resolution on the Holy Scriptures to delegates. In it, the Church expresses its conviction that the Bible is the inspired and revealed Word of God and that the whole Bible must be understood as a whole. The text states that the Bible’s record of creation in six literal days, the fall of humanity, a global flood, and the life, death and resurrection of Christ are trustworthy reports of God’s acts in history. It also affirms the Bible as the norm for religious experience and expresses hope in the promised second coming of Christ.

Delegates then spoke at the microphones about whether the statement should be accepted as written or referred back to the General Conference Administrative Committee for changes. South Pacific Division director for Adventist Mission Wayne Krause spoke against the statement. He said a quotation from 2 Timothy had been taken out of context and that the Sabbath was not mentioned. He also questioned the priority given to the statements, asking whether a statement on Jesus Christ would have been more fitting.

Other delegates raised concerns about how the statement describes creation. Reinhard Gallos of the Northern Rhenish-Westfalian Conference, part of the Trans-European Division, suggested removing the phrase “literal days,” which he said does not appear in the Bible itself. Sven Östring, director of Ministry and Strategy for the South Pacific Division, proposed adding the word “consecutive” before “literal” to distinguish Adventist teaching from “progressive creationism,” which he described as the belief that millions of years separate each literal day of creation. Gallos and Östring both suggested that the statement be referred back to the General Conference Administrative Committee before a vote.

Some delegates urged the opposite course. Qedumusa Mathonsi of the Southern African-Indian Ocean Division said he “passionately” supported the motion to vote on the text as it stood. He said that in the present age the statement serves as a reminder of holding to the basics of the inspired Word of God.

Source: Read the original report