Adventist Hermeneutics

Herme
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST HERMENEUTICS
SETAI - Jorge
Torreblanca
Introduction
• Seventh-day Adventism is a prophetic movement,

committed to exalting the authority of Scripture.
• To this end, he developed and perfected a
hermeneutic system since the movement's origins in the
1840s.
Millerite hermeneutical legacy
In the late 18th and 19th centuries, there
was a worldwide revival of interest in
the analysis of end-time prophecies, - A382 1193450
2252.. 8552320
aEE52
and many interpreters made
chronological calculations, believing
that Christ would come in his own
time.
original prottical sheet by Carlos Filch It was the first of a long list of illustrations of all the closta
currently used in the evangelical.
William Miller (1782-1849), a Baptist,

offered “elaborate and perfected”
calculations of the prophecies, showing
imminent fulfillment.
Miller decided to study the

Bible by yourself.
It started in 1816
study “verse by verse,” believing that “
Scripture must be
explain to herself.”
If
Your tools:
the Bible (KJV) and a concordance (Cruden).
SHI)rVNMEIlos-
1. t
The o
method
2. Protestant
Reformation.
1.r
The historic-pre-Protestant school . M. .
p
3. millennialist of prophetic interpretation.

* Hr: g ■ I g I _ KI
The day-by-year principle, following the traditional
hermeneutic idea
Protestant.
Definition period
hermeneutics (1844-1863)
Sabbatarian Adventists inherited Millerite hermeneutical
foundations.
As they studied their Bibles more after the disappointment of 1844,

they discovered more biblical teachings
Definition period
They adjusted the day-by-year principle to apply only to apocalyptic

prophetic periods, thanks to the principle of “miniature
symbolization” (both time and events are described
by such symbolic representation).
Definition period
They expanded the Millerite system of

interpretation to a doctrinal system that maintained
eschatological interest, but added historical
doctrines of Scripture that had been ignored and
neglected by most of the Christian church, but that
would be restored in the time of the end.
Peri definitions
They applied the hermeneutical principles of
analogy and typology of Scripture.
By the time they organized the General Conference (May 1863), their
hermeneutical platform and distinctive doctrinal components
were better established.
Definition period
Doctrinal development was controlled by seven “general

hermeneutical principles”:
1. Sola Scriptura .
2. The unity of Scripture.
3. Scripture explains Scripture.
4. The words of the Bible must be given their own meaning.

Definition period
5. Pay attention to the context and historical background.

6. The Bible is to be interpreted according to its clear, obvious, and
literal meaning, unless a symbol is being used.
7. The typological principle.

Consolidation period
In 1888, some 200 Bible studies that had
appeared in a magazine:
BibleReadings for the Home Circle
were published as a book. In Spanish,
The beautiful teachings of the Bible.
In 1881 Uriah Smith published the
revised version of Daniel and
Revelation , with significant concepts
on the interpretation of biblical
prophecy.
period
Daniel T. Bourdeau published a series of 38

articles in the Review between 1888 and 1889,
where he called attention to “be careful not to
abuse the doctrine of types… we should avoid
saying that a type teaches what it does not teach.”
Period of hermeneutical
consolidation (1863-1915)
In 1888 a revival in the evangelical emphasis on
salvation by grace through faith emerged with the
preaching of AlonzoT. Jones and Ellet J. Wagoner
at the General Conference session in Minneapolis.
From 1880 until her death in 1915, Elena G.
White produced his most developed
expositions of salvation history.
His writings helped shape, confirming the

thinking
denominational.
Improvement period
hermeneutic ( 1915-1970)
In 1919, the Biblical Conference and Council of
Delegates to Bible Conference, Washington, D. C., July, 1919

Improvement period
hermeneutics ( 1915-1970)
…debated non-essential issues such as details about the identification
of the “daily one,” the interpretation of the “seven trumpets,”
and the identification of the “king of the north.”
There was not much hermeneutical agreement between the

Adventists.
Improvement period
hermeneutic
Yo ( 1915-1970)
In ; 1952 Bible conference focused on the basic components of the

Adventist faith. Unity was sought in preaching. A council report
is published on OurFirm Foundation.
Questionson Doctrine also appears, which made
the explanations of the Adventist faith more
evangelical and less legalistic.
Edwin R.
Thiele
THE
Improvement period
MYSTERIOUS
NUMBERS OF
THE HEBREW
hermeneutic (1915-1970)
KINGS
In 1943, Edwin Thiele defended his

doctoral thesis, in which he made
a proposal that harmonized the
chronology of the kings of Israel
and Judah.
To this day this chronology is
Improvement period
respected.
hermeneutic ( 1915-1970)
The most significant of the period was the seven-volume Adventist
Bible Commentary (1953-1957), which had 37 contributors, the
first exposition of the entire Bible since
an Adventist perspective.
Period of challenges and
refinements
hermeneutics (1970- )
Since 1970, the church has faced at least four major hermeneutical
crises.
Perhaps the most important has been the acceptance of the historical-
critical method by Adventist scholars, who were divided into
three groups:
Who: (1) accept the method with their budget sitions. (2) they use the
method without its assumptions tions. (3) those who find it
unacceptable .
refinements
Another crisis arose with the publication of Daniel in
1978 by DesmondFord. There he presented the
apotelesmatic principle, which he later expanded on
in his Daniel 8:14, the Day of Atonement, and the
Investigative Judgment (1980).
Use the apotelesmatic principle to

justify his preterist position.
hermeneutics (1970-
refinements )
cholarly responses to your position
were provided by (a) a review committee in 1980,
(b) by the Daniel and Revelation Committee series
(Wallenkampf, Lesher, Shea, Holbrook) and (c)
several doctoral theses (Rodríguez, Ferch,
Davidson, Treiyer, Núñez , Pfandl, Owusu-
Antwi).
refinements
A third major crisis has arisen over futuristic
SAMUEL NÚÑEZ
prophetic interpretations, which attempt to
extend prophetic periods beyond 1844.
A Mexican, Samuel Núñez, was among them,

with his comment to Daniel.
The truth about the future of humanity

refinements
A fourth challenge to the church is
coming from some postmodernist positions,
with their consideration of the Scriptures as
“reader-oriented.” Representatives: Jack
Provonsha, Thomas Steiniger.
refinements
Among the hermeneutical milestones of
period include the Bible Conferences that
began in 1974, sponsored by the General
SYMPOSIUM
Conference and the BiblicalResearch ON BIBLICAL
HERMENEUTIC
Institute, and the publication of A Sympo Edited by
Gordon
sium on M,
hyde
BiblicalHerm eneu
refinements
Crucial for any discussion of the use of the historical-
critical method has been its official rejection, through
the document “Methods of Studying the Bible”, voted
at the council.
) Annual General Assembly of 1986, in Rio de Janeiro,

Brazil.
refinements
hermeneutics
hermeneutics (1970-
(1970- ))
The new refinements that were added to Adventist
hermeneutics through the research of its theologians
can also be highlighted.
One can quote Gerhard Hasel,

William Shea, Kenneth Strand, Richard Davidson, AngelManuel
Rodríguez, Gerhard Pfandl, Hans K. LaRondelle, and
several others.
Gerhard Hasel, from the Adventist
refinements
Theological Seminary at Andrews GERHARD HASEL
< egt aideal rtd MI Mi
University, published the fourth edition of

OLD TESTAMENT
his book in 1991, which achieved THEOLOGY:
BASIC ISSUES IN
recognition outside the Adventist THE CURRENT
environment. DEBATE
REVISED AND EXPANDED
FOURTH EDITION
(srhiid-iiratmrmit
refinements
He proposes a ltiplex
hermeneutics (1970-
do biblical theology of the OT.
)
1) The TAT will be discussed within the
context of the
AT canon in its final form.
2) The task of the TAT is to penetrate the different theologies of each

book and to systematize the theology of each book, of groups of
books, that allow the themes, motifs and concepts to emerge, and
reveal their relationship to each other.
refinements
A TAT should be thematic and not dominated by a supposed center.
hermeneutics (1970-
Several topics and not just one center.
)
3) The TAT structure must follow a multiple approach, avoiding
cutting
transversal and the dogmatic method. The topics
They must come from the same text. Emphasis on
richness and theological diversity in each book and throughout
TAT.
refinements
4) The sequence of the TAT, which reflects individual theologies or
groups of books, should not follow the order of the books in the
canon, but rather would follow the historical sequence of the books.
5) The presentation of the longitudinal themes of the OT as they

emerge from the different theologies of the books, not tied to a
unilinear but multitrack theme.
refinements
6) The ultimate goal of the multiple canonical approach to the TAT
is to penetrate the various theologies of the books and see how they
intertwine or relate to each other.
7) TAT is part of something bigger. It is one with the NT. Discover
the interrelationships.
refinements
hermeneutics
Hasel (1970-in August 1994.
died in an accident ) The
manuscript I was reviewing was published in 1996.
He proposed a “canonical biblical theology.”
1. It is a theology of the Bible, rooted in, based on, and

delimited by the 66-book Protestant biblical canon.
2. It is a theological-historical task and is not a purely
historical or descriptive enterprise.
challenges and refinements
ermeneutics (1970- )
3. It requires an approach that takes seriously into

account God's self-revelation as presented in
Scripture with all its dimensions of reality.
4. It is in content a theology of the Bible and not a
theology that is rooted in the Bible or that takes the
Bible as its starting point.
refinements
5. It has the dual task of (1) providing a summary of
interpretations of the final form of individual
biblical documents or groups of writings, and (2)
presenting longitudinal themes, motifs, and
concepts that emerge from the biblical materials.
refinements
hermeneutics (1970-)
6. It must be able to include the multiform materials of
the Bible without forcing them into a mold foreign
to the respective materials and contents. It should
reveal the dynamic interrelationship of the various
parts of Scripture.
Biblical theology presents the deepest challenge and

greatest hope for the biblical scholar in the latter part
of the twentieth century.
Period
Period of challenges and inations
refinements hermeneutics (1970- )
In 1995 Pastor Lee J. Gugliotto published a 462-page A guide to understanding,
teaching, and preaching the
Word of God
work, HandbookonBibleStudy , which earned a

Gold Medal from the Evangelical Publishers
Association. Strand called it “the best work of
biblical interpretation I have ever seen.”
LEE J.GUGLIOTTO
In the Latin American world,
Understanding the Word was published
in 2000.
Adventist Hermeneutics for the New
Century , which included 21
presentations from the Second South
American Biblical-Theological
Symposium held the previous year.
Period of challenges I and
refinementsrefinements
hermeneuticshermeneutics
(1970- )
(1970-)
B- - /
Finally, in 2005, the BRI published
Understanding Scripture , the church's
latest contribution to the
hermeneutical topic worldwide.
The Spanish version already exists

at APIA.
The system of interpretation
that Adventists have
practiced until now is
reaffirmed.
George W. Reid
EDITOR
Conclusion
The main line of Adventists has always
INTERPRETATION OF THE
maintained both the grammatical-
historical method of interpretation
SCRIPTURE
of the Bible and the historicist
school of prophetic interpretation.
In order to maintain the identity of their
message, Adventists must remain
faithful to the hermeneutical principles
that generated and sustained this
message to this day.

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Herme

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST HERMENEUTICS

• Seventh-day Adventism is a prophetic movement,

William Miller (1782-1849), a Baptist,

Miller decided to study the

3. millennialist of prophetic interpretation.

As they studied their Bibles more after the disappointment of 1844,

They adjusted the day-by-year principle to apply only to apocalyptic

They expanded the Millerite system of

Doctrinal development was controlled by seven “general

2. The unity of Scripture.

3. Scripture explains Scripture.

4. The words of the Bible must be given their own meaning.

5. Pay attention to the context and historical background.

7. The typological principle.

Daniel T. Bourdeau published a series of 38

His writings helped shape, confirming the

Delegates to Bible Conference, Washington, D. C., July, 1919

There was not much hermeneutical agreement between the

In ; 1952 Bible conference focused on the basic components of the

In 1943, Edwin Thiele defended his

Use the apotelesmatic principle to

A Mexican, Samuel Núñez, was among them,

The truth about the future of humanity

) Annual General Assembly of 1986, in Rio de Janeiro,

One can quote Gerhard Hasel,

University, published the fourth edition of

2) The task of the TAT is to penetrate the different theologies of each

5) The presentation of the longitudinal themes of the OT as they

1. It is a theology of the Bible, rooted in, based on, and

3. It requires an approach that takes seriously into

Biblical theology presents the deepest challenge and

work, HandbookonBibleStudy , which earned a

The Spanish version already exists

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