A Theory of History for Adventist Theology and Historiography: Working from Past Attempts and Present Gaps Toward a Future Consensus
Location
Seminary Room N310
Start Date
10-2-2017 11:00 AM
End Date
10-2-2017 11:30 AM
Description
For Adventists, history has been closely related to prophetic fulfillment, one of the movement’s central themes. Adventist theologians have also embraced the historical context of the Bible as a hermeneutical pillar in the historical-grammatical method. Yet a survey of Adventist doctrinal and theological expositions finds the concept of history not featured as a topic in itself—to be explained as a category of its own—but rather implied as an assumption undergirding theological claims. Adventist historians have reflected theologically and philosophically on history within their own discipline, largely centering recent discussions on analytical rather than substantive questions. However, even where historians have discussed theological import of history substantively, Adventist theologians do not seem to have engaged their work. In “History and Prophecy” (Education), E. G. White set an agenda for analytic and substantive interpretations of history by situating the divine and human agents in a cosmic-conflict metanarrative. A close reading of this chapter yields the constructive conclusion that, for Ellen White, history is the medium through which the character of historical agents is revealed. Further research into the scriptural, philosophical, and historical foundations and implications of this view could promote an Adventist consensus around a theory of history that can inform both historical and theological projects.
A Theory of History for Adventist Theology and Historiography: Working from Past Attempts and Present Gaps Toward a Future Consensus
Seminary Room N310
For Adventists, history has been closely related to prophetic fulfillment, one of the movement’s central themes. Adventist theologians have also embraced the historical context of the Bible as a hermeneutical pillar in the historical-grammatical method. Yet a survey of Adventist doctrinal and theological expositions finds the concept of history not featured as a topic in itself—to be explained as a category of its own—but rather implied as an assumption undergirding theological claims. Adventist historians have reflected theologically and philosophically on history within their own discipline, largely centering recent discussions on analytical rather than substantive questions. However, even where historians have discussed theological import of history substantively, Adventist theologians do not seem to have engaged their work. In “History and Prophecy” (Education), E. G. White set an agenda for analytic and substantive interpretations of history by situating the divine and human agents in a cosmic-conflict metanarrative. A close reading of this chapter yields the constructive conclusion that, for Ellen White, history is the medium through which the character of historical agents is revealed. Further research into the scriptural, philosophical, and historical foundations and implications of this view could promote an Adventist consensus around a theory of history that can inform both historical and theological projects.