wfn.org | Adventist World Synod Votes to Affirm Bible

[Christian B. Schäffler (APD Schweiz)]

July 8, 2005

Adventist Press Service (APD)

Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief APD

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APD@stanet.ch

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CH-4003 Basel, Schweiz

 

 

Adventist World Synod Votes to Affirm Bible

 

St. Louis, Missouri/USA, 01.07.2005/ANN/APD	"The Scriptures 
constitute our supreme rule of faith and practice and the standard 
by which all teaching and experience is to be tested," according to 
a resolution on the Holy Bible voted by delegates to the 58th 
General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 

 

The Bible resolution came from an earlier measure that was adopted 
by the Adventist business session in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 2000. 
 At that time, Jurrien Den Hollander, an Adventist pastor from the 
Netherlands, reminded delegates of the primacy of the Bible in 
Adventist belief, and asked if a resolution affirming that could be 
presented. 

 

The Reformation principle of sola scriptura (the Bible alone) lies at the 
heart of the Adventist church, as the final norm of truth.

 

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The Bible resolution reads: 

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"As delegates to the 2005 General Conference Session in St Louis, 
Missouri, we reaffirm the centrality of the Scriptures in the message 
and life of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In them the beauty, 
love, and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are revealed and offered 
to us as a gift of salvation through faith in His atoning sacrifice. 
Through them God reveals Himself to us, conveying an authentic 
expression of His character, a true conception of the nature of 
reality, a reliable record of His acts, a revelation of His purpose 
and an expression of His loving will for us. The Scriptures 
constitute our supreme rule of faith and practice and the standard 
by which all teaching and experience is to be tested. Their divine 
origin invests them with an authority and a message that is relevant 
to and transcends all cultures and can satisfy our deepest needs. 

 

"Given the unique nature and importance of the Scriptures and the 
manifold benefits their systematic study brings to the Church, we the 
delegates of the General Conference in Session appeal to all 
Seventh-day Adventist believers around the world to make intentional 
provision in their daily routine for regular, prayerful reading of the 
Scriptures. Moreover, because biblical truths are for the benefit of 
all, especially those who will come to Christ, we urge every believer 
to actively seek ways to share the message of the Scriptures with 
others in order to prepare the world for the soon coming of our Lord." 

 

The resolution was passed on a show of voting cards among the 
delegates present. [Editor: Mark A. Kellner and Christian B. 
Schaeffler for ANN/APD]