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  Personal judgment in the Psalms

  (Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies, 1991-03) Livingstone, Eric M. (Eric Murray)

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  It was seen that the psalmist viewed Yahweh's judicial scrutiny upon themselves, as individuals, in a positive manner. This apprehension is considered anomalous to the thought of many today. Consequently, it was suggested that the Psalter may inform believers today of a forgotten but profitable experiential dimension. While no studies were found which directly addressed personal judgement in the Psalms, there have been a number of alliedd themes developed. Particularly helpful were the insights of Brueggemann and Westermann, highlighthing relational dynamics and the three-dimensional nature of man. The psalmists were members of a covenant community. This community was a creation of Yaweh which he led and regulated through Torah. Therefore the life-world of the psalmists promised order, peace, security, and meaningful socialization. This positive perspective of meaning, order, and harmonious fellowship was often challenged in the real life of Israel, however. The Psalter particularly names false accusation as the threatening element. False accusation functions as a separating agent. The "enemy" or accuser effectively stands between the victim and significant others, cutting offf most of all human support. Actively, slander breed suspicion and alienates. While such malicious accusation was essentially a social phenomenon, reflecting upon the faithful's societal standing, it had repercussions upon the psalmist's whole being. His relation to God was questioned, his community relations were largely poisoned and his respect was jeopardized. These relations--to God, others, and self-- were reciprocal because of their interrelatedness within an integrated three-dimensional person. Therefore there was a compounding effect as the total relational anture of the psalmist's holistic being was confronted through false accusation. The reaction of the psalmists was not to deny the existence of the unjust situation or to merely seek refuge in the knowledge of a God-person relationship. The psalmist sought relational restoration through another social event, the occasion of judgement. He pled for Yaweh to "examine," to investigate his case. This searching, judicial scrutiny by an omniscent being would lead to the vindication of the innocent. Significant others would see the "honor" of the faithful and the "shame" of the false accuser. Judgement would lead to a re-ordering of the covenant community with a restoration of relationships. The Protestants of Innocence (e.g., Ps 7, 17, 26, 35), with their judicial language and pleas, particularly reflect the psalmists' desire of a hering. It was suggested that the "sacred trial" was a literal reality in Israel. However, the reference to it by the psalmist could have been either literal or figurative. Nonetheless, behind either literal or figurative notions there was eschatological anticipation, for the sacral trial prefigured the final judgement. There are many instances in the Psalter where the thought of the psalmist shows an easy transition between individual and universal judgements. This correlation between the personal and the universal judgements suggests, therefore, that what is found on one level may be found on the other level. The psalmist's quest for personal judicial investigation before Yahweh at least illustrates the assurance modern believers shoud have about personal judgement. More pertinently, it shows the positive effects for the believer in the face of this or her judgement by God. It is an occasion to clear one's name before significant but misled others. Judgement is an event to restore relationships, and a time to have the great God of the universe declare valid one's personal relation to him.

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  An Analysis of nineteenth-century Seventh-day Adventist creationism age of the earth in Genesis 1:1-3

  (Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies, 1991-05) Emerson, Ranjitkumar Edwin Arjuna

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  This study analyzes the Seventh-day Adventist view of the inorganic gap theory of the nineteenth century. Ronald Numbers maintained that the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in the nineteenth century, attempted to compromise Genesis creation with the geological ages by proposing a time gap between verses 1 and 3 of Genesis 1. And this compromise was seen in articles published in the Review and Herald and the Signs of the Times in the late 1890s. To test the truth of the Ronald Numbers' affirmation, a page by page search was implemented on the nineteenth-century Review and Herald and Signs of the Times. The main purpose was to determine whether a shift occurred or not. If a shift did occur, a further purpose was to find out why and when this shift took place. Some Seventh-day Adventist writers of the nineteenth century postulated an inorganic gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. The inorganic gap theory states that God created the earth in the beginning, at a time earlier than the six days of creation. God created this earth "in the beginning" only in its elementary substances and in a chaotic condition. After a period of time or gap, God brooded over the chaotic elementary substances, and the earth assumed its present globular form. Then God brought order and life to the world in six literal days. Some proponents of the gap theory suggest that God has not revealed the length of this gap and, therefore, it is idle to conjecture. But some others suggest that the inorganic gap might have been ages in length, extending far into the past, to a time beyond the grasp of the human mind. Some of their supporting arguments are the usage of the Hebrew words bara and asah, and bereshith. The other arguments are that Lucifer was a morning star when God laid the foundation in the beginning, but later was known as a tempter when Adam and Eve were created; the angels were in existence; the first day begins in Genesis 1:3; and Kellogg's idea of numerous unfinished worlds such as Mars existing in the universe. Even though the inorganic gap position appeared from time to time in the 1860s and 1870s, a shift from the traditional position to the inorganic gap position became visible in the second half of the 1880's. This shift could be seen explicitly in the Review and Herald and Signs of the Times. This shift appeared to be an attempt to accommodate the Genesis creation with the long geological ages of the geologists. But this was not so. The majority of the writers viewed this position as another way of interpreting Genesis 1:1-3

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