G E Fifield, SDA pioneer who understood the character of God.

Posted By: APL

G E Fifield, SDA pioneer who understood the character of God. - 05/13/19 04:21 AM

"Thus every attribute of God is simply the attribute of love. And love includes the all in all of our Father. His laws are simply the laws of a kind Father, intended to promote the happiness of his children. They are not arbitrary. It is not that God, sitting up on some high throne, said to mankind, You do thus and so, and I will let you live; but you do otherwise, and I will kill you. God does not kill. He is the Fountain of life. His laws are not so simply because he said so, but even so because they were so. In infinite wisdom he foreknew the underlying principles of happiness and life, and in infinite love he foretold these principles, saying, This way, my child; here is the joy and peace and life forevermore. Don't go that way. That way is misery and death. Every precept of the decalogue, which is the epitome of his law, directly speaks from this principle. He sought to lift man into the worship of one God and Father, that he might unite him into one loving family of brothers and sisters." {GCDB February 19, 1897, p. 90.1}
Posted By: James Peterson

Re: G E Fifield, SDA pioneer who understood the character of God. - 05/13/19 07:01 AM

Originally Posted By: APL
"Thus every attribute of God is simply the attribute of love. And love includes the all in all of our Father. His laws are simply the laws of a kind Father, intended to promote the happiness of his children. They are not arbitrary. It is not that God, sitting up on some high throne, said to mankind, You do thus and so, and I will let you live; but you do otherwise, and I will kill you. God does not kill. He is the Fountain of life. His laws are not so simply because he said so, but even so because they were so. In infinite wisdom he foreknew the underlying principles of happiness and life, and in infinite love he foretold these principles, saying, This way, my child; here is the joy and peace and life forevermore. Don't go that way. That way is misery and death. Every precept of the decalogue, which is the epitome of his law, directly speaks from this principle. He sought to lift man into the worship of one God and Father, that he might unite him into one loving family of brothers and sisters." {GCDB February 19, 1897, p. 90.1}


Let's not forget the parable of the blind men and the elephant. According to Wikipedia:

"The parable of the blind men and an elephant originated in the ancient Indian subcontinent, from where it has been widely diffused. However the meaning of the popular proverb differs in other countries. It is a story of a group of blind men, who have never come across an elephant before and who learn and conceptualize what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant's body, but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then describe the elephant based on their limited experience and their descriptions of the elephant are different from each other. In some versions, they come to suspect that the other person is dishonest and they come to blows. The moral of the parable is that humans have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on their limited, subjective experience as they ignore other people's limited, subjective experiences which may be equally true."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

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The elephant is the Bible; and the blind men are various SDA elders, some orthodox, some unorthodox, some mainline, others of the Shepherd's Rod fold. They each stridently say that the passages that touch them are surely the ones that matter. Then they wear them like horses wear blinders racing to the end; and some fall in the ditch.

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Posted By: APL

Re: G E Fifield, SDA pioneer who understood the character of God. - 05/13/19 07:18 AM

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL OF CHRIST: for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Mark 1:14-15 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the GOSPEL.
Posted By: kland

Re: G E Fifield, SDA pioneer who understood the character of God. - 05/13/19 06:11 PM

Originally Posted By: James Peterson

The elephant is the Bible; and the blind men are various SDA elders, some orthodox, some unorthodox, some mainline, others of the Shepherd's Rod fold. They each stridently say that the passages that touch them are surely the ones that matter. Then they wear them like horses wear blinders racing to the end; and some fall in the ditch.
But not all fall? Which ones don't?
Which do YOU choose to believe?
Or should we try to find a composite picture that includes everything so that each part does fit with the whole, with no blatant contradictions?
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