Editorial by Pr. Larry Kirkpatrick published on GreatControversy.org December 4, 2003

QOD 2003 Annotated Edition Series

Questions on Doctrine Authors Attempted to Explicitely Introduce Original Sin Doctrine

Pre-publication Draft of Questions on Doctrine Includes multiple explicit references to the doctrine of “Original Sin.”

In a revelation that may shock some while not even causing others to bat an eyelash, it has been discovered that the three primary authors of Questions on Doctrine incorporated the doctrine of original sin into a prebuplication draft of the QOD manuscript. Had this section of content survived the final gauntlet, the last group of editors intervening between the draft sent into the field for reaction and the draft at last put to the press, QOD would have gone into print as a representative book on Seventh-day Adventists doctrine teaching that Seventh-day Adventists hold to the teaching of original sin!

Those readers who have a copy of QOD can turn to what became pages 406-408 and compare the published version with the prepublication version. Here is the prepublication version:¹

III. The Judgment—Inevitable Conclusion of Arminian Concept

Our teaching on the subject of the Judgment is, we feel, entirely Scriptural, and is the logical and inevitable conclusion of the Arminian concept. Holding this view, we are persuaded that as individuals we each are held accountable to God. The apostle Paul says: ‘We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God’ (Rom. 14:10-12).

Adam's sin involved the whole human race. ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,’ declares the apostle Paul (Rom. 5:12). The expression ‘death by sin’ shows clearly that he is referring, not to actual individual sins, but rather to original sin [emphasis in original]—the sinful nature which we have all inherited from Adam. Even innocent little children die, for ‘in Adam all die’ (1 Cor. 15:21). By that original sin ‘death passedupon all men’ (Rom. 5:12). Luther (Commentary on Romans, p. 81), states the position well when he says:

Original sin is by Adam's transgression. This sin we bear as his children and we are guilty on account of it, for with his nature Adam also transfers his sin to all. As he himself became sinful and evil through that sin, so he begets only sinners and evildoers, namely, such as are inclined to all evil and resist that which is good.

It was to meet man in his need, and to save the race from eternal death, that God became incarnate in His Son. Christ lived as a man among men, then died in man's stead. The substitutionary death of our Lord is the very heart of the gospel. His death becomes our death—‘If one died for all, then were all dead’ (2 Cor. 5:14). The Scriptures reveal that just as far-reaching as was the effect of original sin, just so far-reaching is the effect of free grace.

And so on, for a couple more paragraphs. However, the designs of the QOD authors survived the editors only in part. Here is how these paragraphs come out in the finished product:

Our teaching on the subject of the Judgment is, we feel, entirely Scriptural, and is the logical and inevitable conclusion of the Arminianour free-will concept. Holding this view, w We are persuaded that as individuals we each are held accountable to God. The apostle Paul says: ‘We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God’ (Rom. 14:10-12).

III. The Judgment—Inevitable Conclusion of Arminian ConceptHuman Race Lost Through Adam's Sin

Adam's sin involved the whole human race. ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,’ declares the apostle Paul (Rom. 5:12). The expression ‘ death by sin’ shows clearly that he is referring, not to actual individual sins, but rather to original sin [emphasis in original]—the sinful nature whichthat we have all inherited from Adam. Even innocent little children die, for ‘I In Adam all die’ (1 Cor. 15:212). By that original Because of Adam's sin ‘death passed upon all men’ (Rom. 5:12). Luther (Commentary on Romans, p. 81), states the position well when he says:

Original sin is by Adam's transgression. This sin we bear as his children and we are guilty on account of it, for with his nature Adam also transfers his sin to all. As he himself became sinful and evil through that sin, so he begets only sinners and evildoers, namely, such as are inclined to all evil and resist that which is good.

It was to meet man in his need, and to save the race from eternal death, that God the Eternal Word became incarnate in His Son. Christ lived as a man among men, then died in man's stead. The substitutionary death of our Lord is the very heart of the gospel. When by faith we receive Him, then His death becomes our death—‘If one died for all, then were all dead’ (2 Cor. 5:14). The Scriptures reveal that just as far-reaching as was the effect of original Adam's sin, just so far-reaching is the effect of free grace.

One may only wonder what would have happened had QOD been originally published including the text Froom, Anderson, and Read proposed. The book's tumultuous reception doubtless would may have been seismic rather than only tumultuous! Doubtless the theological trend of the book would have been even more readily discerned and the work of removing the error could have been accomplished by the church much more quickly than historically it has.

Remember, the authors of QOD insisted they were bringing no new doctrines to the church. It is true that the published version of QOD had the phrase “original sin” cut-out by the editors, even as it is evident that this erroneous doctrine already had spread throughout the book like a mastisizing cancer, where it manifest itself in the crucial internal organs of Adventism—the nature of Christ and the atonement. The far-reaching impact of QOD is still being discovered today, even as the subterfuge and appallingly secret behind-the-scenes revising of our faith comes more readily to light.

The new annotated edition of Questions on Doctrine reveals none of these things.

Endnotes

1. Source: Loma Linda Ellen G. White Estate Document File 3773.01, “Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine” (Pre-Publication Manuscript Copy), “This We Believe,” Replies to a Group of Questions Concerning the Faith of Seventh-day Adventists, Part II, Question 42, “The Judgment in the Setting of the Arminian Concept,” pp. 3, 4.

Pastor Larry Kirkpatrick is an ordained minister of the gospel. Since 1994 he has served in the American Southwest as pastor to several churches. He received his BA in Religion from Southern Adventist University in 1994 and a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in 1999 with a specialization in Adventist Studies. While in Michigan he was employed by the General Conference at the White Estate Berrien Springs branch office. More important than his scholastic preparation has been his immersion in the biblical and Spirit of Prophecy materials. He is author of the 2003 book Real Grace for Real People. Presently he serves as Pastor of the Mentone Church of Seventh-day Adventists, located near Loma Linda, California. Larry is married to Pamela. The couple presently live in Highland, California along with their two children, Etienne and Melinda.