Lessons from Pioneers

There are some lessons that could be learned from the experience of our pioneers. As we consider those, we will get a more balanced view, which hopefully will help us to arrive to a more accurate understanding of the eschatological scene of Dan 11 - the one that would be in principle hermeneutically acceptable by both Uriah Smith and James White.

The recent tendency in Adventist scholarship, as we have seen, had been to distance prophetic interpretation from tangible historical events. I believe that while we should not necessarily agree with our pioneers on all their conclusions, we'll certainly benefit as we consider both sides of the prophecy: the hermeneutical and the historical ones. Though the early Adventists would mostly dwell on the historical side, the modern Adventist scholarship dwells on its hermeneutical side. While not undermining and questioning the hermeneutical emphasis (in fact, it was largely due to the lack of this emphasis, that our pioneers failed to find unity), and without making an appeal to the "traditional Adventism', I would like to embark on the search for the balance.

Consistent Historicism

First positive lesson that I learn as I contemplate on the early Adventist debates on Dan 11, is that our pioneers, being consistent historicists, considered current political events from the prophetic perspective. Even James White, who seems to be more cautious than others in associating kings with contemporary Egypt and Turkey, wrote numerous articles reflecting on his acute interest in current geopolitics. For him, as well as other Adventist pioneers, the Great Controversy was more than vague and uncertain scholarly perspective on the spiritual war between God and Satan, but rather a tangible struggle with the real earthly nations involved.

While we should certainly learn from the mistakes of our pioneers and to be more meticulous in our Bible study, the pioneers' boldness and uncompromising determination are called to teach the Seventh-day Adventist Church today some valuable lessons.