its sad how earnest, sincere young people can go in to a theological seminary and come out not sure what they believe anymore;only retaining a vague feel good ,dont rock the boat religion

Yes Pepperwood, sad but true.

Same happens in many fields - medicine, law, engineering, politics. The universities are designed to foster independence from God; a human wisdom and selfish consumption.

The seminaries inflict the greatest harm because professing the noblest aim. Thus the minds are open to receive. Or as Romans 1 describes the system "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."

The 'vague feel good' is ecumenical in nature, so leads to Mars' hill where the once promising youth worship "THE UNKNOWN GOD" and teach others likewise.

Jesus never attended seminary, so He could rock the boat. His mind stayed pure. Rock on Jesus.
_________

Thank you, pepperwood: yes, we do our seminary students a disservice...

Welcome to the Maritime forum! I haven't been chipping in much this year, but I see you're from NZ: How has it been for you there, where it has been reported to me as mostly just as you say but with pockets of certainty about our beliefs? I've heard of and visited the Waitara church in Sydney, which holds up the SDA standard powerfully, while the popular approach is celebration style revivals.

The pastor also told me that Sydney is becoming like London, here, in ethnic terms, also, but he didn't elaborate on that

The seminaries are unequipped to teach the Word in Truth because they do not possess the greatest principle, which is Love.

God is Love. Love is the fulfilling of the Law.

Vain hope to send our children to school and expect them to learn Love, which is the basis of salvation.

Often instead they will learn to love money. How long will we sacrifice our children to idols?
________

Not only simple faith is born out of absolutes. Its sibling is fundamentalism which is a curse on anyone who catches it...

I guess this is one way of writing it, if one wishes to play the demagogue. It could also be read to understand that "ignorance is not bliss after all". It could be a reminder of how this church once was founded by people who made an effort to create a worldwide education network for the express purpose of not leaving people ignorant of these important things. It could be that understanding how the path from A to B isnt always as straightforward as the sabbath school lesson would suggest. Or it could as you say be a devilish plot to turn the church into the hands of the devil himself. hmm...Those who first put these "narrow, uneducated" beliefs didn't scorn education as you do here.

Which is better, a faith that stands naive and untested but ernest and truly sincere or a faith which is tested in the crucibles of life and comes out victorious and shining as of gold? (ref Zecharaiah) How can God test and purify a child of His who refuses to stop drinking milk and start eating solid food? (ref 1 Corinthians and Hebrews)

When my parents took me to Southern in 1979, the Librarian took my parents aside and told them that if I was not well grounded in the Spirit of Prophecy, to think twice about leaving me, as her child who just graduated from Southern (SMC at the time)was not an athiest... Very sad... and that was back in 1979...No doubt it is much worse today.

How very true. Not 'rocking the boat' means .... don't knock people over the head and condemn them. Do as Jesus would do and win them with Love not Rebuke. Try to meet their needs. Make a friend. Allow the HS to draw them to ask questions as their conditions grows in Christ.

I've heard the same from current SDA parents of a Newbold graduate: he left an atheist.