Last Generation Theology as Taught by the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy

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Dear Reader,

 

On October 24-27, 2007, the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University, discussed the book entitled Answers to Questions on Doctrine (Questions on Doctrines for short) that was first published by a small group of SDA leaders in 1957. That book is still considered the greatest cause of division in the SDA church.

 

There were 21 presentations at the Conference and the papers on those presentations will be out in January of 2008. We will be discussing those papers when they are made public.

 

The recent October conference discussed what is referred to as Last Generation Theology or LGT. By most of the leaders involved, it was maintained that the late SDA Professor M.L. Andreasen and his followers teach heresy in teaching Last Generation Theology. The problem with that is that Last Generation Theology is taught by the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. So in their indictment of Andreasen and those who have followed in his footsteps, they are actually indicting God and the Spirit of Prophecy. The purpose of this document is to prove that fact beyond any stretch of a doubt.

 

No stone has been unturned in an effort to discredit M.L. Andreasen.  He was the first to blow the whistle on gross errors he identified in the book Question on Doctrines. In the numerous books published by Andreasen, he taught Last Generation Theology. One of the most vicious attacks against him involves his teaching of that truth which is fully supported by the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.

 

What is Last Generation Theology?

Last Generation Theology involves what God’s people could and should have done for themselves and the world by way of character reformation and the giving of the three angel’s message commission to the world.

 

Here are some of the Google references to the SDA 50th Anniversary Conference held October 24-27, 2007.

 

Home :: Questions on Doctrine

50th Anniversary Conference October 24–27, 2007 SDA Theological Seminary ... Adventist Church as Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine. ...
qod.andrews.edu/ - 4k - Cached - Similar pages

Presenters :: Questions on Doctrine

50th Anniversary Conference October 24–27, 2007 SDA Theological Seminary ... In 2003, he edited the annotated re-publication of Questions on Doctrine ...
qod.andrews.edu/presenters.html - 15k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from qod.andrews.edu ]

Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference: Comments and ...

The chapel of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus ..... [3] Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference: A Personal Reaction ...
www.atoday.com/node/3068 - 41k - Cached - Similar pages

ADVENTIST NEWS Round up | Adventist Today

Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference: Comments and Commentaries ... The chapel of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus ...
www.atoday.com/news/atnewsbreak/2007/11/02/adventist-news-round - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
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Questions on Doctrine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference website, October 24–27, ... to Seventh-day Adventist Evangelical Conferences and Questions on Doctrine, ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questions_on_Doctrine - 46k - Cached - Similar pages

Seventh-day Adventist theology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church largely resembles that of ...... Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference, Andrews University, ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_theology - 152k - Cached - Similar pages
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Questions on Doctrine Conference :: Andrews University

Many of the participants of the Questions on Doctrine 50th Anniversary Conference had been part of that contentious debate. "I think it is safe to say that ...
www.andrews.edu/news/2007/11/qod_conference.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

Revelation - Armageddon

This last week a major conference occurred in my old bailiwick at Andrews ... the 50th Anniversary of the publication of the book Questions on Doctrine. ...
revelation-armageddon.com/2007/10/30/im-back-with-questions-on-doctrine.aspx - 38k - Cached - Similar pages

Ponder Anew 2!: The "Questions on Doctrine" Conference: Heading to ...

The "Questions on Doctrine" Conference: Heading to Andrews University ... a three-day conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the book Questions on ...
ponderanew.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/the-questions-o.html - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

www.GreatControversy.org—A Positive Place

 

Last Generation Theology as Taught By the Bible and Ellen G. White—Christ Could Have Come in 1844!

 

You might imagine the embarrassment and pressure it puts on SDA leaders and laity to have Ellen White on record as saying had it not been for their laxity, Christ could have come in 1844, and again in 1888. In a blatant effort to alleviate that embarrassment, both leaders and laity are trying to deny Last Generation Theology. But that becomes a most difficult task considering what the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy clearly say regarding LGT.

 

Chap. 53 - Why Christ Delays His Coming

 

But this I do say, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. 1 Cor. 7:29, Goodspeed.

 

     The angels of God in their messages to men represent time as very short. Thus it has always been presented to me. It is true that time has continued longer than we expected in the early days of this message. Our Saviour did not appear as soon as we hoped. But has the word of the Lord failed? Never! It should be remembered that the promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional. {Mar 61.1}

 

     God had committed to His people a work to be accomplished on earth. The third angel's message was to be given, the minds of believers were to be directed to the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ had entered to make atonement for His people. The Sabbath reform was to be carried forward. The breach in the law of God must be made up. The message must be proclaimed with a loud voice, that all the inhabitants of earth might receive the warning. The people of God must purify their souls through obedience to the truth, and be prepared to stand without fault before Him at His coming. {Mar 61.2}

 

     Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith, and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, . . .the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward. {Mar 61.3}

 

     But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. . . . Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. . . . {Mar 61.4}

 

     For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years. {Mar 61.5}

 

Christ Could Have Come Soon After the 1888 Message of Righteousness by Faith

 

Notice the dates at the end of the following statements by Ellen White:

 

 The Work Might Have Been Done.--Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come to the earth, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God.-- Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 450. (1900) {Ev 694.3}

 

     I know that if the people of God had preserved a living connection with Him, if they had obeyed His Word, they would today be in the heavenly Canaan. --General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903. {Ev 694.4}

 

     Satan Has Stolen a March on Us.--If every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. While men have slept, Satan has stolen a march upon us.--Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 29. (1909)  {Ev 694.5 695}

 

     No Failure of God's Promises.--The angels of God in their messages to men represent time as very short. Thus it has always been presented to me. It is true that time has continued longer than we expected in the early days of this message. Our Saviour did not appear as soon as we hoped. But has the Word of the Lord failed? Never! It should be remembered that the promises and the threatenings of God are alike conditional. {Ev 695.1}

 

     God had committed to His people a work to be accomplished on earth. The third angel's message was to be given, the minds of believers were to be directed to the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ had entered to make atonement for His people. The Sabbath reform was to be carried forward. The breach in the law of God must be made up. The message must be proclaimed with a loud voice, that all the inhabitants of earth might receive the warning. The people of God must purify their souls through obedience to the truth, and be prepared to stand without fault before Him at His coming. {Ev 695.2}

 

     Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward. But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. . . . Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of

                                                                            696

God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history! {Ev 695.3}

 

    "If God's people had the love of Christ in the heart; if every church member were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of self-sacrifice; if all manifested a thorough earnestness, there would be no lack of funds for home and foreign missions; our resources would be multiplied; a thousand doors of usefulness would be opened, and we would be invited to enter. Had the purpose of God been carried out by his people in giving the message of mercy to the world, Christ would have come to the earth, and the saints would,

                                                                            48

ere this, have received their welcome into the city of God." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 2}

 

     "If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning."--"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. IX, p. 29. {PH120 30.2}

 

  The Spirit of God To Be Withdrawn
              from the Earth


     "The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. . . . The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. {PH120 10.1}

 

     "The agencies of evil are combining their forces, and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones."--Id., Vol. IX, p. 11. {PH120 10.2}

 

Friend of mine, is it not good logic and reasonable to conclude that since the Spirit of the Lord is gradually being withdrawn from the earth and the agencies of evil are strengthening for the last great crisis, that we need more character than ever before in order to withstand the greatest time of trouble ever to visit planet earth? Is it not good common sense to conclude that since Satan has had centuries to refine and perfect his evil arts, we will need a greater degree of character development to withstand greater evils? I will tell you forthrightly, most SDA leaders of the apostate New Movement answer a resounding NO to these questions and lambaste Andreasen for teaching the truth concerning LGT.

 

The Bible on the Final Generation

 

Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

 

Friends, if there is going to be great tribulation such as there has never been or ever shall be, would that not require more character development than Job or any other faithful person prior to such a time? SDA New Movement leaders are saying NO! That is the voice of Satan, and “God being removed,” (1SM 205), we know who is in charge.

 

Mat 24:21       For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

 

 Do not the Scriptures call for a more pure and holy work than we have yet seen?"--" General Conference Bulletin," May 19, 1913. {PH120 13.2}

 

We know that there were a few faithful in past ages such as Enoch, Moses and Elijah and faithful persons in every generation, but God is going to have 144,000 made ready as His bride in the final generation. They are without fault before the throne:

 

Rev 14:1 ¶ And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

 

 Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

 

 Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

 

If no man could learn that song but the end-time 144,000, that ALONE distinguishes them as different from any other generation! But SDA New Movement leaders say NO!

 

 Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

 

Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

 

What other generation in history has been translated without seeing death and without fault before the throne of God? None that I know of. Yet, SDA New Movement leaders are saying that there is no difference in the last generation of the faithful. That is blasphemy against the Word of God. Karl Wagner, a bible teacher in an SDA church in Arizona, says that Last Generation Theology is heresy!

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Karl" <KarlWagner@cox.net

To: <SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 1:10 PM

Subject: Re: Fw: [SDAIssues] Froom Versus Andreasen

 

Ron, Brian, Confidential et'al
I do not accede that Christ came in the flesh of Adam "before" the fall.  He came in the flesh of Adam after the fall, but without our propensity to sin, without our sinful condition. Spiritually minded, he was like Adam before the fall, physical with it's liabilities, he came as Adam after the fall.  I do not subscribe to Andreasen's (Jones/Waggoner post 1888) Last Generation theology. It puts man at the center of the atonement and the great controversy.  The main reason time has been so long, aside from unbelief and God's longsuffering is that sin has to reach it's ultimate conclusion to show the world/cosmos what the natural result of rebellion is. It is not based on waiting for a perfect people to show the universe man can keep the law. Man already did in the person of Jesus and we also have the righteous heavenly humans of Elijah, Moses and Enoch who are in heaven right now. Enoch and Elijah never died.
LGT is heresy.  Karl

 

Ron responds: Karl slipped and mentioned something we are responsible for—UNBELIEF! Karl is blaming Andreasen and Jones and Wagonner for Last Generation Theology. They have been made the scapegoat for what the Bible and Ellen White teach. It is easier to brand LGT as heresy if you blame it on someone other than God or Ellen White!

 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Karl" <KarlWagner@cox.net

To: <SDAIssues@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 6:58 PM

Subject: Re: Fw: [SDAIssues] Froom Versus Andreasen

 

Ron,
You write, "Obedience is obedience is obedience! How does obedience, being a CONDITION for salvation, in addition to the RESULT of salvation, make humans the center of the Atonement?"

 

Its not that humans make an atonement, but rather LGT puts us in the middle of it, in that the result of the atonement, if God wins or not, is based on the level of perfection the LG reaches in order to justify God. As you already noted, here and elsewhere, we cannot effect the atonement one way or the other. That makes the last generation theology mute. Karl

 

Ron responds: Atonement means AT-ONE-MENT with God. Jesus died that we might be regenerated into His Image, and thus once again be AT ONE with Him. That is “affecting” the Atonement that He “effected” for us. The Atonement was twofold in purpose:

 

  • Regeneration into the image of God achieved by overcoming by the empowerment of His Divine Nature Holy Spirit.
  • Pardon for sin. His obedience is imputed to us for sins confessed.

 

To say that we have no part in the atonement or that Last Generation Theology makes humans the CENTER of the Atonement is not true in either case. Christ is the center, but we are to become AT-ONE-MENT with Him. That is having a part in the Atonement and thus fulfilling the express purpose(s) for the Atonement. But to a person who focuses on forensic justification ALONE as the only condition for salvation, as you do Karl, he/she would be forced to deny the regeneration element and its role as the “greatest good, crowning gift” (purpose)[1] of the Atonement, in order to be consistent. And that you do!

 

It makes perfect logic to maintain that if the sacrifice of Christ on the cross would have been to no avail without the “greatest good, crowing gift” that heaven could bestow (the gift of the Holy Spirit for regenerating man, the cure for sin, then man plays a part in the purpose for the Atonement, but is not the CENTER of it as far as effecting its provisions. Man is affected and effected by its provisions, But that does not make him the CENTER of the Atonement.

 

There is much more concerning our personal responsibility regarding Last Generation Theology at the following link:

https://omega77.tripod.com/christiswaitingfor.htm

 

God bless all,

 

rb

 

 



[1]  "Christ declared that after his ascension, he would send to his church, as his crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take his place. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit,--the soul of his life, the efficacy of his church, the light and life of the world. With his Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin.

In the gift of the Spirit, Jesus gave to man the highest good that heaven could bestow....

The Spirit was given as a regenerating agency, and without this the sacrifice of Christ [on the cross] would have been of no avail....

It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress his own character upon the church." E.G. White, Review and Herald Articles, May 19, 1904, vol. 5, p. 42.