On Thursday, October 28, students gathered for an assembly on Women’s Ordination. During the in-person assembly, Dr. Jiri Moskala (Seminary Dean) and Professor Richard Davidson presented the pro WO viewpoint. There was no alternative viewpoint representing the world wide Seventh-day Adventist Church.
According to Andrews Seminary Facebook (FB) page, these two individuals:
“provided an exegetical and systematic biblical defense of the issue. The room was packed with students who gladly sacrificed their lunch break for this time of inspiration, encouragement and instruction.”
The FB page further said:
“The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary is committed to supporting all of its students in preparation for God's call on their lives for ministry and service. We will continue advocating for them.”
Observations
As already stated, there was no male leadership position presented, neither at this assembly or in Seminary dogma—even though it is the only position the Bible knows. The reasons for the omission are likely twofold. 1) The NAD recommends or requires an M.Div from the Seminary (more money for them) and the Seminary gets to indoctrinate the student with their theology, aligning the potential student with the NAD. The Seminary and the NAD are in cahoots.
There was a time when Richard Davidson was undecided on WO (think 1990-ish). By the early 2000’s he was all for it. ATS (Adventist Theological Society) of which Davidson was President from 1996—1998, was purposely ambivalent on WO, as some of the founders were in favor of it and some were not, and some were undecided. Over time, ATS became fully supportive of WO, as the older stalwarts died off and more and more members drank the water of our Universities. It isn’t cool to oppose WO at Andrews.
Most professors at the Seminary have limited awareness of our culture and its dangers, thus they issue very few warnings about feminism, cultural paganism, critical race theory, and the LGBTQ tsunami. They are dumb dogs that will not bark (Isaiah 56:10).
Many of the professors at Andrews see themselves as the final word on theological matters. Like ancient Bibles chained to monastery walls, and explained to the common people by a priest, they will tell you what it means, if you need to know.
Consider the words of Tyndale: “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives a plough to know more of the Scriptures than you do.” ― William Tyndale. This is true today, there are well-learned farm boys who know every bit as much of God’s Word as the self-important well-educated ‘intellectual.’
Andrews professes (pardon the pun) to be the flagship Seminary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is true that many people still see them that way. However, if they fail to support the decision of the world church to not ordain women as shepherds of the flock, they are just as much in rebellion as defiant unions and conferences. For that rebellion, they should be disqualified as our Seminary, and another more faithful school rise up to take their place. Or better yet, the church should divest itself of its infatuation with degrees, and select capable men who have—like the first seven deacons—shown themselves to be of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3).
The new religion of the NAD is social justice, and the Andrews Seminary has also bought into that worldview; seeing WO as a subtext of social justice.
Lastly, the Seminary stated it will “continue supporting all of its students in preparation for God's call on their lives for ministry and service.” Here is our response to that:
"I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, rather she is to remain quiet" (1 Timothy 2:12). The Bible says so. And that's it.
The other thing is, what if a person feels like they have gifts to teach and preach? No one gets to do everything that they feel like they are gifted at. No one does. What if a man has several wives and he feels like he is gifted to be a pastor? Will Andrews support them one day? The Bible says he must be the "husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6).
Just because you feel like you are gifted to do something, that doesn't give you the right to overthrow biblical qualifications. And it doesn’t give the seminary the authority to overthrow biblical qualifications either. There is absolutely no room for women to be in that office or to exercise authority over a man.
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“If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives a plough to know more of the Scriptures than you do.” ― William Tyndale.