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 God's True Church
on Earth
byNic Samojluk
The link for the story listed below was sent to me by Roger Seheult, and it generated a lively exchange of E-mail between several members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The Only True Church?
LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.
Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.
On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II. Full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19692094/ [The link for this story was sent by Roger Seheult, and it triggered the following exchange of E-mails listed below:]
Is Dialogue Possible with the Pope?
Here's another news clip (this time from msnbc) that is right from Great Controversy.
Notice how the Catholic Church wants to dialogue with other churches in an "open way" but they also want to tell them that they are the "one true church." The end result is that the open "open dialogue" turns into an acceptance of supremacy of the Catholic Church.
How can we "talk" to such a church in an open way when the ground rules state from the outright that they are the "one true church." Such a dialogue is in error from the Seventh-day Adventist point of view and shoulod not be entered upon.
Read the whole article.
Roger S.
Not much time left.
A similar Claim by the Adventist Church
Adventist Protestant Christians may wish to note with sadness what they might view as a historically retrogressive statement on the part of the current Pope. Labeling your own religious denomination as “the only true Christian Church” not only places roadblocks in the way of constructive interdenominational dialogue but also raises all kinds of other questions about the personality and goals of the present occupant of the papal chair
However, before certain Adventist Christians rush to criticize the current head of the Roman Catholic Church, let’s make sure that, as a corporate body of Christians, our historic statements about our view of our own organizational status does not make very similar claims. Perhaps the theology and Biblical texts we use are different than our Catholic brothers and sisters, but does not the corporate, institutional, visible Seventh-day Adventist Church officially claim to the one and only “Remnant Church?” Does not the wording in SDA Fundamental Belief numbers 18 clearly talk about our denomination as “the remnant [Christian] church?” A little humility here might have said that the contemporary SDA denomination is “a” Christian church that seeks to highlight certain Christian teachings not emphasized by other Christian bodies. But this is not what is stated. There appears to be the clear intention to insist that the SDA denomination as a corporate, visible entity is to be equate
d with “The Remnant Church” of the Book of Revelation.
Perhaps Mr. Seheult can explain to us how the SDA claim to be the one and only “Remnant Church” is, in any important respect, different from the claim of the present Pope that his church is “the only true Christian Church.”
Ervin Taylor
A Profound Difference in Claims!
I'm not Mr. Seheult, but I do see a significant difference. Remnant says nothing about US and our goodness or perfection and the impossibility for anyone outside of "the remnant" to be saved. The SDA church acknowledges that it is Christ that saves not one's religion. YES we believe that the SDA doctrines are correct (by default rendering differing doctrines incorrect in our point of view) but that's not what the Pope is saying about himself and his church. He's actually saying nobody can be saved OUTSIDE of his church.
Adina [Tapu]
A True Church Can't be Coercive!
Roger,
I asked my neighbor if she thought her church (Trinitarian) was the “true” church. She said she believes her church is the true church. At the common level of the community of believers almost everyone believes the church they belong to is the true church. On another level a great many people believe that there can be no “true” church encompassing every doctrine God would approve and only doctrines God would approve.
The concern for people raised in Western cultures and especially Americans is whether a church espouses, as a doctrine, “freedom of religion”. Does a church, as a policy, believe in coercion or persuasion? In this regard the Catholic Church has a poor record. However the Fundamental Beliefs of the SDA church does not include “Freedom of Religion” (I could be wrong about this since I don’t have a list of the Fundamental Beliefs readily at hand). Maybe American churches don’t list “Freedom of Religion” as a doctrinal belief because they have taken the position that “it’s obvious”.
If the Pope does not intend to be coercive about his position, then I’m not especially concerned about his statement.
Lynn
The Seventh-day Adventist is not Coercive!
I am pleased to see some of the responses to Dr. Taylor response to my original message.
I will echo some of them in my own response:
First of all, like Dr. Taylor, I am a scientist and therefore believe that there is one truth. In short - I am not a relativist. Therefore, I believe that on earth, there is one church that has more truth than any other church on the planet. Of course, I would hope that everyone in his own church would believe that the one that they belonged to was, in fact, the only "one true church". The fact that Dr. Taylor, is able to find some fundamental beliefs in the SDA church that seem to show that we also believe that we are the "only true church" is a mis-representation and irrelevant at best because of this. My major concern over the issue and indeed, Ellen G. White's concern, and the reason why I decided to email such an article to you is because the Catholic Church wants to impose and enforce its beliefs. See below:
I just got back from a European Vacation. In France, which is perhaps the most atheistic country in the World, everything is closed on Sunday and celebrated as the "Master's Day" (which master???). The same thing is evident across Europe. It is only a matter of time before it becomes politically expedient for those pushing this type of legislation here in America to do so.
So, the bottom line is. The Seventh-day Adventist church isn't trying to enforce it's views on the rest of the world using civil legislation like the Catholic church is. Dr. Taylor's point is "distorted and unrelated." This latest document is a wake-up call against the general backdrop of Catholic saber-rattling that has been occurring in the past decade and should give us pause for concern but deepen our faith.
Roger Seheult
The Adventist Position Differs from that of Rome!
Erv—
I find it hard to believe that someone who has been in the SDA church all his life could so twist our position and create a straw man argument. There’s a qualitative difference between our position and Rome’s, no matter easily one could twist the facts and make it appear otherwise.
Certainly you can do better than that, can’t you?
Cliff [Goldstein]
No Real Difference in Our Claims & that of Rome!
Adventist Protestant Christians may wish to note with sadness what they might view as a historically retrogressive statement on the part of the current Pope. Labeling your own religious denomination as "the only true Christian Church" not only places roadblocks in the way of constructive interdenominational dialogue but also raises all kinds of other questions about the personality and goals of the present occupant of the papal chair
However, before certain Adventist Christians rush to criticize the current head of the Roman Catholic Church, let's make sure that, as a corporate body of Christians, our historic statements about our view of our own organizational status does not make very similar claims.
Perhaps the theology and Biblical texts we use are different than our Catholic brothers and sisters, but does not the corporate, institutional, visible Seventh-day Adventist Church officially claim to the one and only "Remnant Church?" Does not the wording in SDA Fundamental Belief numbers 18 clearly talk about our denomination as "the remnant [Christian] church?" A little humility here might have said that the contemporary SDA denomination is "a" Christian church that seeks to highlight certain Christian teachings not emphasized by other Christian bodies. But this is not what is stated. There appears to be the clear intention to insist that the SDA denomination as a corporate, visible entity is to be! equated with "The Remnant Church" of the Book of Revelation.
Perhaps Mr. Seheult can explain to us how the SDA claim to be the one and only "Remnant Church" is, in any important respect, different from the claim of the present Pope that his church is "the only true Christian Church."
Ervin Taylor
Adventists Never Claimed to be the Only True Church!
Irv,
I am sorry but you seriously misunderstand SDA beliefs on this topic. We believe that we have a better understanding of certain biblical topics than other denominations, but we also understand that our denomination has no dominating political or governing role in Christiandom. A remnant church, as we understand our role, is comparable to the role of a prophet. A prophet was clearly not loved by God more than other people, and was not the only person of his time to be saved.
Prophets also did not control the lives and beliefs of others (just check the biblical record of how prophets were treated!). A prophet is someone with a message to share - a God-given task to perform. That is the sense in which SDA is the remnant church. I am not aware that the SDA denomination has ever claimed to be the "one true church" in the controlling sense that the catholic hierarchy has claimed for their organization.
Leonard Brand
Catholic Attempt at Limiting Evangelism
Here comes the Catholic church again trying to limit evangelism amoung "Christians". with words like "Thinking Together"
I am surprised the media isn't giving them a harder time. This is incredible!
Roger [Seheult]
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