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2005 GreatControversy.org Publishing Project:
The Opportunity of a Century
Announced April 8, 2005
Dear friends of GreatControversy.org,
With the republishing of the book Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine in 2003 by Andrews University Press, more than ever before, the backstory to that volume needs to be understood. Rightly called “the most divisive book in the history of Seventh-day Adventism,” there is more to the story than what has commonly been understood. Herbert E. Douglass has prepared and consented to publish through GCO a manuscript detailing some of these previously indisclosed matters. You see, Elder Douglass worked with the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary project, and was intimately familiar with the editorial preparations for the book.
Here is an excerpt from the first pages of our manuscript…
Part of the drama of the middle 1950s was happening backstage. Those watching from the sidelines determined that we would not reveal certain pertinent facts for various reasons, the chief of which was that we never dreamed that the book would be so heavily advertised, with so many gratis copies. We thought it better to let the whole matter die for lack of attention. Were we wrong!
The associate editors of the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary had the privilege of watching QOD being processed, edited, rewritten, and rewritten again. Our Commentary office was on the same floor with Merwin Thurber, the seasoned Review and Herald Publishing Association Book Editor. Whenever he had a theological problem of whatever nature, he would come to our office for counsel. Week after week for months this would be the routine as Thurber tried to delete much of the QOD manuscript and edit appropriately the rest. Finally, Froom dug in and said, ‘No more editing. We’re going with what we have.’ At that point, the manuscript was about one-half of what they originally wanted. We had hoped to save the denomination from even worse embarrassment and trouble, but it was not meant to be.
I remember the day as if it were yesterday when one of the associate editors of the Commentary left the room and returned with a towel over his left arm and a basin of water in the other. We all took turns washing our hands, formally absolving ourselves of any connection to the gestating manuscript. We recognize with the authors that ‘no statement of Seventh-day Adventist belief can be considered official unless it is adopted by the General Conference in quadrennial session.’ But perception often overrules. You can imagine our astonishment when we began to see the galleys of the forthcoming book with its self-congratulatory comments, such as on the title page: ‘Prepared by a Representative Group of Seventh-day Adventist Leaders, Bible Teachers, and Editors.’ On pages 8, 9: ‘The replies were prepared by a group of recognized leaders, in close counsel with Bible teachers, editors, and administrators…. These answers represent the position of our denomination in the area of church doctrine and prophetic interpretation…. Hence this volume can be viewed as truly representative of the faith and beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.’ These statements did not represent the reality surrounding the production of QOD. Many were troubled by the direction of the book and told the authors so. And many more who are listed among the 250 “readers” never returned their comments. Still, many thought that the book would not amount to much because of its weakness in lucidly setting forth certain doctrines. They chose to remain respectful. They knew that the authors had to work with a vocabulary with which hard-core Calvinists could at least be comfortable. They believed that QOD would die a quick death because most of our teachers and ministers had been taught differently on at least two core subjects that were painfully stitched together.
But, and unfortunately for all concerned, Milian L. Andreasen, ‘the denomination’s most influential theologian and theological writer in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, had been left out of the process in both the formulation of the answers and the critiquing of them, even though he had been generally viewed as an authority on several of the disputed points.’7
This omission was not apparent until QOD was published. We were dumbfounded that such an intended oversight could have happened. The writers of QOD, specialists in their respective fields, were not equipped to play in the same theological league as Andreasen. Further, Knight was totally correct in ruminating, ‘Looking back, one can only speculate on the different course of Adventist history if Andreasen had been consulted regarding the working of the Adventist position on the atonement, if Froom and his colleagues hadn’t been so divisive in their handling of issues related to the human nature of Christ, if both Froom and Andreasen would have had softer personalities.’8
In 1957, I had reason to discuss certain biblical subjects with Arthur White, the director of the Ellen G. White Estate. QOD was fresh on his mind, only weeks off the printing press. He said, ‘Herb, I thought I would die trying to make my views known to Froom and Anderson.’ We still felt that QOD would die a quick death and the less we all said about it the better.
What we did not expect was the crescendo of Ministry editorials and articles that joined with a remarkably orchestrated PR program in workers meetings throughout North America from 1957 on. The new president of the General Conference, R. R. Figuhr, recently from South America, was captivated by what appeared to be a magnificent achievement—heading off Walter Martin from again including Adventists in his next book on cults in America. Many felt sure that if Elder Branson, General Conference President, 1950-1954, had not become ill, thus removing his name from the nominating committee at the General Conference of 1954, Questions on Doctrine may never have seen the light of day.
A similar but different manuscript was published by Elder Douglass last year in Ministry magazine. That was a far more condensed treatment. We will publish a longer treatment with considerably more detail. We want to publish this manuscript in booklet form, rather like the Amazing Facts Library of Sermons booklets written by Pastors Joe Crews and Doug Batchelor. The status of our project is that the final text is complete. We have only to prepare the cover and raise the money for the print run. We must print 3000 copies to bring the cost per booklet under $1.00. Therefore, we need $3000 total for this project. We also need to complete our previous project, the 1973-1974 Annual Council Appeals.
If you, as we do, feel that such information needs to be made available to God’s people today, then consider whether you might be able to assist in providing a portion of the funding necessary to publish. Our goal is to have the finished material off the press in 2005 if possible. The Third Angel’s Message is still alive. More than this, it is thriving. But we need to feed it with proper food. With your help we can do this.
Send any checks to donate to this special project to:
GreatControversy.org
PO Box 1228
Highland, CA 92346-1228
Please make your checks payable to GreatControversy.org. Please indicate “Special Publishing Project Fund,” or, more specifically, “The Opportunity of a Century” booklet. Thank you for considering this special project among your giving options. GCO