Desmond Ford and Church Reconciliation
An open letter from Richard M. Davidson
To Whom It May Concern-Readers of the Document "Mapping the Past and Sketching the Future":
Recently I received a copy of the March 1, 2002, edited version of a report by the Membership and Relational Issues Committee of the Avondale College Church entitled "Mapping the Past and Sketching the Future." I was very surprised to see my name appearing in the document, along with allusions to my NNSW Camp Meeting presentations made in October 2001, and further allusions to the Adventist Theological Society. Especially disturbing to me was the carefully crafted language leaving the impression that Des Ford's views and mine are not that far apart. The report states "that several aspects of doctrine which Dr. Ford's critics classified as aberrations in the late 1970's/early 1980's were proclaimed with great acceptance at a recent camp meeting by a respected past-president of the Adventist Theological Society." (A later statement in the document specifically identifies me by name as the one making these presentations.) While acknowledging that "such observations do not imply concurrence in all matters," the remainder of the paragraph (and later portions of the document) nonetheless suggests both explicitly and in the general tenor of expression that my camp meeting presentations actually lend support to the move to reinstate Des Ford as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
With this letter, I wish to strongly object to what I feel is a flagrant misuse of my name, misrepresentation of my theology, and the misconstruing of my camp meeting presentations to the exact opposite of what I intended. I want to make it clear that in my understanding Des Ford and I are light years apart on the most crucial issues of present truth within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I do not support the move to reinstate Des Ford to church membership while he continues in his present belief system.
It is true that I believe in and enthusiastically preach the biblical doctrines of justification by faith and assurance of salvation. The Church has always had enlightened guidance on these subjects in the writings of Ellen White. I, along with others, have embraced these precious truths through earnest Bible study and prayer. Among the many sources which have contributed to my experiential understanding of the Gospel are included some of Des Ford's sermons from the early 1970's. But because both Des Ford and I believe in justification by faith (though with some significantly differing end results-see my attached document "The Good News of Yom Kippur"), this does not imply that the Seventh-day Adventist Church should now throw open its arms to Des for membership any more than we should throw open the Church for membership to Lutherans or Seventh-day Baptists or other evangelicals who teach this doctrine. Those who accept justification by faith, or even the Sabbath, do not thereby qualify for SDA membership. Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Gospel has an end-time setting of "present truth" concentrated in the Three Angels' Message of Revelation 14. At the heart of that present truth is our "reason for existence" centered in the sanctuary message: "The hour of His judgment has come." What makes this movement distinctive is the belief that since 1844 we are now living in the pre-Advent investigative judgment of professed believers conducted in the heavenly sanctuary, as indicated by Dan 8:14 and many kindred biblical passages. Ellen White indicated that this "correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary" constitutes "the foundation of our faith" (Ev 221 = Letter 208, 1906). This central pillar of Adventist identity and message to the world, Des Ford has rejected, and continues to reject. The concept of an investigative judgment of believers, the year-day principle, the exegesis of Dan 8:14 leading to the date 1844 and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the historicist view of prophecy, the validity of arguing from the Old Testament sanctuary types to Christ's antitypical heavenly sanctuary ministry, the evidence from the books of Hebrews and Revelation for an end-time pre-Advent investigative judgment of God's professed people-these and many more foundational points in the Adventist sanctuary doctrine are denied by Des as unbiblical. Other aspects of Adventist doctrine are also rejected by Ford, but I will not go into these in this letter.
I have testified publicly of my former doubts regarding the sanctuary message, in the wake of reading Des Ford's 991-page Glacier View Manuscript in 1980. I was ready to leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church if this distinctive message was not biblical. I determined that if the Adventist sanctuary message could not stand the test of the closest investigation, if it was not solidly founded upon Scripture alone, I could not stay an Adventist. I thank God that my wrestling with the biblical data in the months and years following 1980 convinced me beyond question that the sanctuary doctrine was indeed biblical, and not only biblical, but Gospel! I've written up my personal experience with regard to the sanctuary doctrine in several articles, two of which I am attaching for your perusal ("In Confirmation of the Sanctuary Message" and "The Good News of Yom Kippur") if you wish to read more detail of my own pilgrimage and of the powerful biblical evidence for the truthfulness and relevance and gospel orientation of our sanctuary message.
Since I began teaching the Doctrine of the Sanctuary class at the SDA Theological Seminary here at Andrews University (now over 15 years), I regularly conduct a special prayer session in my class when we begin to deal with issues that surrounded Glacier View and Ford's manuscript and continued teaching. We kneel in a special intercessory prayer especially for Des, that God may yet reclaim him for the Adventist Church, to once again preach the Gospel in its end-time "present truth" setting of the sanctuary message. I have longed for, agonized in prayer for, reconciliation between Des Ford and the Adventist Church. I desire with all my heart to see him back as a member "in good and regular standing." BUT I AM CONVINCED THAT THE WAY OF RECONCILIATION IS NOT FOR US TO COMPROMISE THE CORE DISTINCTIVE OF ADVENTIST DOCTRINE! The way of reconciliation, in my opinion, is not to claim, as does the Report from Avondale College Church, that the situation "is not so much a doctrinal issue as a relational one." I cannot speak to the relational issues, since I was not present at Glacier View nor in Australia in its aftermath. But I can speak to the doctrinal issue-and I find this to be foundational. At heart is the question of what it means to be an Adventist. Look at all the other Fundamental Beliefs of SDA's-these are shared with other Christian denominations, including the Great Controversy (see the new book by Gregory Boyd), Sabbath, state of the dead, gift of prophecy, footwashing, tithing, etc. But Fundamental Belief #23 "Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary," involving the work of investigative judgment which began in 1844, is the one distinctive doctrine which sets us apart from all other churches, and constitutes the special Gospel-centered "present truth" entrusted to our Movement to preach. It is also one of the "old landmarks" which Ellen White was shown to be central and non-negotiable, to Adventism (see 1SM 160-162 = Letter 329, 1905).
In my October 2001 camp meeting presentations, I sought to uphold the Gospel, and show the beauty and joy of the sanctuary message, but my overall goal was to show that the sanctuary message as affirmed by Seventh-day Adventists is in harmony with the Gospel, and is solidly supported in Scripture. Those who listen to my presentations will hear my personal testimony, and the setting forth of biblical evidence upon evidence that the points regarding the SDA sanctuary message denied by Des Ford are fully grounded in Scripture. True, I did not mention Des Ford by name, inasmuch as I wished the presentations to be Bible-centered and issue-centered, not personality-centered. But none who have followed the debate since 1980 can miss the underlying thread in my entire series, seeking to show the truthfulness and continued relevance of the SDA sanctuary message as opposed to those who have rejected it as unbiblical.
I still pray often that Des Ford and the SDA Church can be reconciled. I challenge SDA leaders and lay members in Australia and beyond to join me even more earnestly and agonizingly in that prayer. What might happen if a whole continent, yea a whole denomination, were interceding the Almighty for the reclaiming of Des! But let not that reconciliation be achieved by ignoring or minimizing the deep doctrinal divide that now separates us. Let us rather pray for heavenly eye salve to anoint Des's eyes, for humbleness of heart and a teachable spirit that he may be willing to see and accept the biblical evidence on the sanctuary, prophecy, and other kindred aspects of "present truth" without prejudice. Let us also pray for the spirit of Daniel (in his prayer of Daniel 9) in all of us that we may identify and empathize with those in error even though we may not have been personally at fault. Let us pray for repentance if there are any wrongs to confess on the part of the Church in dealing with Des (I wasn't there and don't know if such repentance is needed or not). Let us pray for the power of the sanctuary message-seen in its gospel beauty-to revitalize a whole continent and our whole Church as never before.
The Adventist Theological Society, also mentioned in the Avondale Report, has as its primary goal to uplift such neglected and maligned biblical truths as the sanctuary doctrine. As a past-president of ATS, I can attest to the centrist stance of the Society, and its supportive mission within the Church to present and foster solid, balanced Bible-based scholarship that upholds and deepens our appreciation of the 27 Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I'm confident that the local chapter of ATS will continue to be constructive in providing support for the SDA Church in Australia and for the doctrinal beliefs of our Church. Our new (as of next month) President of ATS International, Jiri Moskala, has recently fulfilled Conference-initiated speaking appointments in the Australian Union, and has a strong desire to maintain and even enhance the supportive role of the Society in harmony with church leadership in the South Pacific Division.
I trust that this letter serves to set straight any confusion caused by the use of my name, my NNSW Camp Meeting presentations, and the Adventist Theological Society, in the Avondale College Church Report. I do not wish to intrude upon the internal procedures of the local Avondale College Church, nor of the wider Adventist community, in their dealing with Des Ford. But I feel it is imperative that readers of the Report are not misled by references to me, my camp meeting series, and ATS, to think that I or ATS support a move to reinstate Des Ford into membership in the SDA Church while he continues to reject central distinctive Adventist doctrine. Such a move I do not support. I would only support Des Ford's reinstatement into SDA Church membership if he once again embraces the "present truth" that distinguishes this Church from other denominations. And for that change of heart on the part of my brother Des, I earnestly pray! I also pray for the SDA community in Australia and beyond, that we continue to reach out to Des, loving him, interceding for him, laying hold of the Arm of Omnipotence on his behalf, calling him back to the old landmarks that stand more solid than ever!
I request that this letter in its entirety be made available to those who have received the document "Mapping the Past and Sketching the Future," that they might have an accurate understanding of my position and that of ATS, in light of the references in the Report. I will be happy to provide any additional information that may be requested to clarify other points involving myself, my camp meeting presentations, or the positions of ATS, in the ongoing process outlined in the Avondale College Church Report. May God's hand guide this process and may His will be done.
Cordially in Christ,
Richard M. Davidson
Professor of Old Testament Interpretation and Chair,
Old Testament Department, SDA Theological Seminary
Andrews University
