Ralph Larson Abandona Su Posicion

8/9/2019 Ralph Larson Abandona Su Posicion

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LARSON ABANDONS

HIS POSITION

PREVIOUSLY HELD ON INC RN TION

LET S TALK IT OVER

recent Campmeeting, and

A

to Action." This call to action notified the

at Trefz was disfellowshiped by the

e c h u r c h i n S o u t h D a k o t a h a d r e q u es te d t h e

, about 20 miles from Rapid City. It is

embership. It is a

setting

rch acts within its

od faith, or properly, there is

ided a means of appeal from the decision

ntana churches and the readers

o the

Presidents in protest.

his whole

To page 6. col. 2

I n 1 9 86, D r . Ralph L arso n released a mo nument

w o r k - T h e W o r d W a s M a d e F l e sh - w h ic h t r a c e

one hundred years of Seventh-day Adventi

Christology regarding the nature that Chri

assumed in the incarnation. The cover desig

even depicted it as "light from the throne o

God." From the many quotations contained

the book on the Incarnation from the pen o

Ellen G. White Dr. Larson selected one which i

his judgment best summarized his findings an

placed it on introductory page V. This statemen

reads:

The nature of God, whose law had been transgressed, a

the nature of Adam, the transgressor, meet in Jesus, t

Son of God, and the Son of man. Ms. 141, 1901)

In recent months Dr. Larson has been embroil

in a controversy over his misuse of the Writin

in an article on Tithing as printed in OF

(Sept., 1991). Instead of simply acknowledgin

that he did distort his quotes from Testimoni

for the Church, Vol. 7, pp. 176-177, he has no

produced a tract on tithing which compounds h

error and signals a change of his position on t

I n c a r n a t i o n f r o m w h a t

he wrote in 1986 H

stated in two different places as follows:

My theology is precisely and specifically the theolo

set forth in the book

Seventh-day Adventists Belie

sic) p. 3)

We pause to point out that the true doctrine of t

nature of hrist is set forth in the book

Seven

day Adventists Believe sic), pp. 37-56. p. 32)

The bo o k, Sev enth-day Adv entists Bel iev e. . ., no

gives a third alternative for Seventh-d

Adventists in regard to the nature that Chri

assumed in taking humanity. This was plain

stated by Dr. Roger Coon in the

Tithe pamph


2/7

2

. 7, 1991), and to which Larson directs

Part 2 of his Tithe tract. Note

b e f o r e Adam's fall; (2)

certain respects was like

but

in other respects was like

ventist Believe... endorses. In the section,

Christ's humanity was not the Adamic humanity, that

respect the humanity of Adam

fall. It was not the Adamic because it had

but without sin. (p. 47)

his statement is noted as coming from the

glican divine, Henry Melvill, who defined,

ocent infirmities" as hunger, pain, sorrow,

view which Dr. Larson states is my

.precisely and specifically. In his

In his Tithe tract, Dr. Larson resorts to the

f i r s t

by Enright of the Roman Catholic

frequently by Adventist

that no-

H a s

a reward c ommittee been set

the 1,000 deposited, so that evidence can be

challenge for the offer? If not, it is just

much east wind . (See Hosea

12:1)

in two separate offers,

to Dr.

Devnich, President of the

Canadian

rence of Seventh-day Adventists (p. 2). But

FERRELL COMES

UNGLUED

In the issues of Wa rks Numbers 411 and 41

Ferrell seeks to is diabolical perversio

of truth which he had written in PG 124, pag

14-16. He begins his essay with a lie declarin

- "In a recent tralated newsletter." The issue

WWN is clearly dated. Right above the wor

"Truth" in the title - "Diabolical Perversion

Truth" - is the date - 7(92). interestingly, whe

he quoted from WWN, he was able to docume

it as Vol. XXV, No. 7. Then he proceeded

date the incident of Brother Stump's and m

visit to Pilgrim's Rest as "approximately a ye

ago." The date was Sunday, April 10, 1988, w

over a year ago. Brother Stump has bee

serving as pastor of the Smyrna Gospel Ministri

in West Virginia since the Fall of 1988. In fa

within the year, Ferrell has corresponded w

Stump at his West Virginia address. He simp

came unglued, and what followed is th

fabrication of a confused mind.

Brother Stump has talked to Ferrell on th

telephone regarding his prevarications noting th

he in no wise said what Ferrell placed in dire

quotes in column 2. To assume that eith

Brother Stump or I would be overwhelmed

Ferrell's assertion that the pitter-patter of alie

feet walking the streets of Jerusalem wou

indicate that the city of Jerusalem was st

trodden down of the Gentiles is simply ludicro

in the extreme. It is

one

thing to seek

answer another's position with what o

perceives, even if it is only his opinion, but

stoop to outright lying, echoes a fatherhood w

One who abode not in the truth. The wor

"diabolical" was

well chosen in the title of t

article in WWN, 7(92).

After Ferrell's lying report reached the field

w ll

intentioned brother sincerely wrote

Ferrell suggesting a compromised position on

text - Luke 21:24. I received a copy of t

letter. o this letter, I responded, and t

response summarizes the issue.

ere is

letter, dated August 16, 1992. (A copy was E

sent to Ferrell)

Your endeavor to suggest a compromise, or a harmoniz

between what Vance Ferrell has written on Luke 21:24,

the manuscripts we have published on the subject, tho

sincerely done, cannot succeed any more than an att

to harmonize truth with error. I write this for

To page 7, col


3/7

3

Part One

een

of corporate repentance. This was due

further consideration

is a God of mercy, He is also a

there

all Sacred Writ where He granted

es very re l spect of corpor te

keep before us a clear

corporate. This word

m the Latin - corpus - meaning, body.

is compared

s provis ion f or corporations is a fund amental

choose what that church shall be. Then, wha

are my responsibilities by so choosing? What is

my accountability because of that choice? Wha

choices does one have, once he becomes a par

of s uch a corpus ?

There is and always has been tension between

individual responsibility and corporate account

ability. Man was created in the image of God,

and with this image came certain power - power

to think and to do. It has been stated thus:

Every human being created in the image of God is

endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator -

individuality power to think and to do.... It is the

work of true education to develop this power; to trai

youth to be thinkers, and not mere reflectors of othe

men s thoughts. (Education, p. 17)

Since "in the highest sense, the work o

education and the work of redemption are one"

(ibid., p. 30), the Church, though a corpus, to b

true to its trust, must seek the development in

the individuals composing the body, tha

restoration of the image of God, which give

them the power to think and to act. It is th

object of this study to explore what God has t

say about corporate accountability, so that w

may know how to relate as individuals to th

crisis of corporate identity at this present time

God created the first corporation. Its formatio

is described in these words:

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam

and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed u

the flesh thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God ha

taken from man made He a woman and brought her unt

the

man. And Adam said This is

ow

bone of my banes

and flesh of

y

flesh: she shall be called Woman, becaus

she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man lea

his father and his mother and shall cleave unto h

wife: for they shall be one flesh. (Gen. 2: 21-24)

Here we have two individuals, with individua

responsibility, yet declared to be one in

corporate identity.

The next picture presented in the Scriptur

record is the seduction of Eve by the serpent

partake of that which God had forbidden. B

the question comes - Did Adam have to si

because he was

o n with Eve? No He ha

been created in the image of God with th

power to think and to do as an individual. Ho

God would have met the situation had Adam n

chosen to eat of the fruit offered to him by Ev

is a moot question. However, the

Scripture

do

not state that by Eve sin entered the world, b

4 4 4


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- 4 -

one man. (Rom. 5:17)

y his deliberate

am not only surrendered his

ng death to the human race. As in Adam

(I Cor. 15:22a) Since a corporation has

an because of their identity in that first

oration. Paul stated it this way -

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the

all men, for that all have sinned. (Rom.

pus of Adam; there is the corpus of

As in Adam all die, even so in Christ

be made alive. ( I Cor. 15:22)

en unto justification of life. (Rom. 5:18)

nce I by natural birth am involved in the

any as receive the Word made flesh, to

v n

to them that believe on His

(John 1:12-13) With the coming of God

manity - God was manifest in the flesh

s the corpus of Adam. This new corpus

ht about by God, as was the first

o that new corpus Christi, Jesus

nd clearly

THE ORPUS HRISTI

s declared - I am the way, the truth and

(John 14:6) The only access back to the

and to life - for in Adam all die - is

Christ. When alone with His

iples had heard various

comments as they mingled with the multitude

who came to listen and to be healed. Then

Jesus asked them directly - But whom say y

that I am?

(Matt.

16:15) To this question

Peter responded - Thou art the Christ, the Son

of the living God. This perception of reality in

contradiction to what He appeared to be - th

Son of man - came only through revelation. I

could not be comprehended through the insigh

available to flesh and blood but came from th

Father which is in heaven. Upon thi

revelation of truth - divine in origin, solid as

rock - Jesus declared He would build His Church

(Matt. 16:17-18) He, the very embodiment o

Truth, became the head of that body - th

Corpus Christi.

Paul perceived this nature of the Corpus Christ

when he wrote to Timothy, stating:

These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto

th

shortly: but if I tarry long, that thoumayestknow how tho

oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which i

the church of the living God, the pillar and the stay o

the truth. I Tim. 3:14-15, margin)

The Corpus Christi is to be the pillar, the sta

the visible means through which truth is to b

revealed to man. And only as it adheres to trut

can it truly be the Church of the living God.

It is most informative, and also very revealin

how the Apostolic Church viewed themselves an

how they were viewed by the Jewish Church

which they were or had been a part dependin

upon their spiritual progression. When Pau

sought to apprehend heretics, dissidents, o

whatever name they might have been called

the synagogues of Damascus, his letters o

authority described these people as followers o

the way. (Acts 9:1-2, Gr.) Luke tells of a

incident on Paul's third missionary journey whic

occurred at Ephesus and what he did about

The record reads:

And he [Paul] went into the synagogue, and spake bold

for the space of three months, disputing and persuadi

the things concerning the kingdom of God But wh

divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil

the way [Greek] before the multitude, he departed fr

them, and separated the disciples,... Acts 19:8-9)

After this decision by the Apostle Paul, the wor

of God grew mightily and prevailed so th

there was no small stir about

the way. (19:2

Or) This concept of The Way was again use

by Paul as he addressed the riotous Jewish mo

from the stairs of the Tower of Antonia

Speaking in the Hebrew tongue, he told of h

education and training in Jerusalem at the fe

0 4


5/7

5 -

Gamaliel, his zeal toward God, and how he

this way unto death. (Acts 22:4) It

the book of Acts, that while the

of Christ were first called Christians

en is that he abode not in the truth.

the Prince of life. (Acts 3:15) He came to

that had the power of death. (Heb.

e, the Word made flesh, was full of

and truth. (John 1:14)

hrough the

plishment of Christ, and the provision thus

for man, is spoken of as the way out, or

exodus. Luke, in telling of the coming of

oses and Elijah to Jesus at the time of the

n, states that they spoke of His

e which He should accomplish at

(Luke 9:31) The word translated in

KJV as decease is the Greek,

exodos,

or

way out. Thus those who proclaimed Him

only way to the Father as the sole

Jewish religious leaders as Followers of the

And to the Hebrew Christians, Paul could

that new and living way, which He

say His flesh. (Heb. 10:20)

be truth, is vividly contrasted in the

l and the lawyer for

x. When permitted to speak in his

I

confess unto thee,

the way

which they call heresy, so

. (Acts 24:14) His basis of belief was

e that it always had been - he still

of God. He still

hers. To Paul, he

truth which the

ord had revealed - the revelation of the

was he viewed by the

erusalem? Tertullus, advocate for

religious leaders, declared him to be a

pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition amon

all the Jews throughout the world and

ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. (Act

24:5) What really was Paul's crime? He could

no longer support the hierarchy, nor the program

they projected for the people. To him, th

leadership of Israel had rejected the Truth; the

had betrayed the Trust committed to them. H

with Stephen believed they had resisted the Ho

Spirit to their damnation, and though they ha

received the law by the disposition of angels

they had not kept it. (Acts 7:51, 53)

These convictions form the basis for Paul

teachings as found in the book of Romans: The

which are the children of the flesh [th

succession upon which the corpus of Israel wa

based], these are not the children of God: bu

the children of the promise [succession base

upon the Word God - truth] are counted for th

seed. (Rom. 9:8) Therefore, hath God cast awa

His people? To this Paul answers - Go

forbid. What then is the answer? Noting th

history of Israel in the days of Elijah, Pau

concludes - Even so then at the present tim

also there is a remnant according to the electio

of grace. (Rom. 11:1-5) To Paul, this remnan

is the Israel of God. (Gal. 6:16)

What did Paul want those to see - those sti

attached to the succession of the flesh? If y

be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, an

heirs according to the promise. (Gal. 3:29) Th

inheritance would not come through the corpora

structure of Israel, but by following The Way

truth that leads to life. To remain attached

the earthly Jerusalem was not the answer. Pa

declared that church controlled by the hierarch

to be in bondage with her children. But th

Jerusalem which is above is free, which is th

mother of us all. (Gal. 4:25-26) He wrote

the Hebrews that they had come unto Moun

Zion, and to the city of the living God, th

heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerab

company of angels [who still abode in the truth

to the general assembly and church of th

firstborn, which are written in heaven, and

God the judge of all. (Heb. 12:22-23) And th

on y

way - The Way - to that God with Who

we have to do, is by Jesus Christ, the way, th

truth and the life. The succession which Go

recognizes is not the way of organization, b

the way of truth. Organization thoug

necessary, is only a vehicle, a means by whic

truth is carried. Loyalty is not to a vehicle, bu

to truth itself. Those who are thus loyal

truth constitute the Corpus Christi.


6/7

6

t

us consider Paul's question - Hath God cast

God forbid How can He deny that

ovement and the Seventh-day Adventist

enth-day Adventist church is to be

To Be Continued

XTime Church - Dr. Colin Standish wrote:

n g e r G o d s c h u r c h . I f t h a t w e r e t r u e ,

rch. H o w ca n h u ma n s b e c o n f i d e n t o f

, n o o n e will kn ow. This

s. E v e n i n a b j e c t a p o s t a s y,

4

with deceptive

the

quoted

he time frame being

comparison of the

them

captivity 490 years of grace.

To page 7, cal. 1

Let s Talk It Over - from page 1, col. 1

thing is ludicrous, and only contributes to

compounding the confusion of mind which m ark

the "voices" emanating from "Steps to Life."

Consider, Trefz was taken in on profession o

faith by the Troy Church - what faith? The

Church of which Troy is a part states that faith

to be the 27 Fundamentals as voted at Dallas in

1980. If those who are members at Troy no

longer adhere to these 27 Statements, then why

do they want to stay a part of that body which

so believes?

It comes down to the same question again. I

the Seventh-day Adventist Chu rch in apostasy, o

is there only apostasy in the Church? If only

apostasy in the Church, and this is what Larson

avers as he lists various issues on his tithe trac

- "The Tithe Problem." He lists, NLP, Kingly

Power, Celebration, Ecumenism, New Theology

and Law Suits. But in the same breath, h

declares the Church to be God's only tru

church. If so, that Church has authority an

discipline, and the failure to recognize that fac

is plain and simple rebellion. The "Cali to

Action" is not a call to truth, but a call fo

God's concerned people to join in a rebellion

because the leaders of that rebellion hav

become self-deceived. One wonders if Grosbol

is really self -deceived, or has a hidden agenda

and is seeking to deceive honest people to

accomplish that "agenda." One doesn't have t

be a Jesuit to use Jesuitical methods. Why don'

Larson and Grosboll, Spear and Standish simpl

admit that in the actions taken at Dallas, an

reflected in Seventh-day Adventists Believe.

are a negation of "historic" Adventism, and the

in turn are sponsoring a new Historic Seventh

day Adventist Church organization. Do they no

know the law that two objects cannot occupy th

same place at the same time. But Larson now

says, he is no longer a historic Adventist, but

"new theology" Adventist. God have mercy o

His people, scattered on the "hills of Israel" b

the confused "voices" coming from California

Virginia, Washington and Kan sas.

ee

Ezeki

34.

wh

REVEL TION SEMIN R T PES

8 Tapes

Documentation

In USA - $20.00 Postpaid

Canada - USS20.00

verseas Air - US 25

(First tape blurred in spots due to equipment problems.


7/7

did not say, when ye shall see the temple

unt surrounded, then know ye that the destruction is

would have been too late for them Just

who buy his heresy.

to the discourse,

temple, You house is left unto you

(Matt. 23:38) Ferrell is merely following

interpreta-

Ferrell is making the date, 1967, the key date thus

e does not even

moved its government

the action of the

esset declared on July 30, 1980 - "Jerusalem united in

period covered by the Greek idiom

1:24 - achri hou. A series of three successive

icance began with the welcoming of the

John Paul II, to the White House. This was

and then the action of

It needs to be kept in mind that Jesus was talking

duals. The probation of the corporate bodies of

d

White wrote:

d as watchmen and light-bearers. To them has

erishing world...

hey have been given a work of the most solemn import, -

hree] angels' messages. There

o the trust committed to them. (91:19)

God has also stated unequivocally that th

Church to whom He has entrusted so much is "t

be weighed" in "the balances of the sanctuary;

and if she has not proved true to "the wor

entrusted to her, on her will be pronounced th

sentence, 'Found wanting." (8T:247) And th

God who gave warning to the Jewish Church, wi

not give warning to the Seventh-day Adventi

Church How blind can we become in ou

Laodicean state?

Further, the "messenger" stated positively

1896 that her mind "was carried into the future

when the signal will be given, 'Behold th

Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.

(R&H, Feb. 11, 1896) What do these words mea

a

ye out to meet Him"? A separation, yes

moreover a "signal" will be given No one w

know, or see this signal? Come now, D

Standish, let us not continue to deceive God

people. You have played that game long enoug

But how long will God's concerned peop

continue to let these "voices" lull them into

fatal sense of security with their fallaciou

reasoning?

We have been told that the Laodicean state "

represented by the foolish virgins." on whom th

door is shut. (R&H, Aug. 19, 1890) In othe

words, the signal to be given would mark th

close of probation for corporate Laodicea. No

Standish's agnosticism comes through, "no on

will know" Many of God's concerned people a

still in the blindness of Laodicea, but they d

not need to continue to follow blind leader

The heavenly eyesalve of fulfilled prophecy ca

awaken those who are willing to have their ey

opened. Write for the tract - "Jerusalem

Bible Prophecy."

rile

W a t c h m a n ,

What

of the Night?" is published monthly b

the Adventist Laymen's Foundation of Mississippi, Inc.

P. O. Box 69, Ozone, AR 72854-0069, USA.

In Canada, wri te - The Adventist Laymen's Foundation o

Canada, P. O. Box 117, Thorne, ON POH 2J0.

Editor

lder Wm. H. Grothee

Assistant Editor

. W. Oliver, Jr

Any portion of this Thought Paper may be reproduce

without further permission by adding the credit line

"Reprinted from

"Watchman, What of the Night?"

- Ozone

A r k a n s a s , U S A .

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Ralph Larson Abandona Su Posicion