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Adventist Church Member Beliefs About Creation, Care, and Divine Revelation
No full texthe Seventh-day Adventist Church holds a belief (Adventist Fundamental Belief #6) in a “recent six-day creation” during which God created the world. This belief explicitly includes the expectation of creation care. While we have limited data on what Adventist church members around the world believe about creation care, we do have consistent data on how creation beliefs intersect with other beliefs about careand the Bible. Creation care is inseparable from care for self and other people (Duong & Pensini, 2023; Schultz, 2001). Indeed, relating to nature is a basic human psychological need (Baxter & Pelletier, 2019), along with wholehearted action, competence, and belonging. Thus, we should expect that strong belief increation parallels strong beliefs in prosocial action and care for the self. Likewise, because belief in 11 creation is tied to belief in God’s revelation through the Bible (Whitney, 2020), we might also expect beliefs about Biblical revelation to be associated with beliefs about creation. The data in this report comes from three waves of the Global Church Member Survey (2013-2023; GCMS)commissioned by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to study the beliefs, behaviors, and experiences of Adventist church members. Over 24,000 cases were included in Wave I, over 65,000 in Wave II, and over 149,000 in Wave III. In the three waves of the GCMS and a recent study of North American Millennial Adventists (Jacobs et al., 2019; N = 1153), at least four-fifths of each sample stronglyagreed with a broad belief in creation (e.g. “God created the world”) and at least 95% agreed overall. However, in all four samples, fewer respondents strongly agreed with a more specific statement that paralleled the Adventist Fundamental Belief (“…in six days of 24 hours/six literal days/exactly 24-hour days in the relatively recent past”). The decline in strong agreement ranged from 15% to 19% in the GCMSwaves and approached 30% among Adventist Millennials (Jacobs, 2019). Overall agreement also fell below 90
Exploring resilience as a mediator between social disruption due to COVID-19 post-traumatic stress symptoms during a global pandemic
No full textObjective: The COVID-19 pandemic poses a potential traumatic threat to psychological well-being which includes the challenges associated with prolonged social disruption (i.e., social distancing, confinement, job loss, and financial insecurity). Our study examined the prevalence of probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and endorsed associated Criterion B (intrusive symptoms), Criterion C (persistent avoidance of trauma- related stimuli), Criterion D (negative alterations in cognition and mood), and Criterion E (alterations in arousal and reactivity) symptoms among subjects affected by the pandemic, and whether resilience mediates the negative effect of social disruption due to COVID-19 on PTSD and its criterion symptoms. Method: Trauma-exposed participants (N = 306) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk completed measures on resilience, social disruption due to COVID-19, and PTSD seven months after the pandemic was declared a national emergency in the U.S. Results: Approximately 87% met the probable diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Distressing memories, avoiding external reminders, detachment or estrangement, and sleep disturbance were the most frequently endorsed Criterion B, C, D, and E symptoms, respectively. Resilience was found to mediate the relationship between social disruption due to COVID-19 and endorsed PTSD Criterion C and D symptoms and not for probable PTSD and endorsed Criterion B and E symptoms. Conclusions: Results provide preliminary evidence on the peritraumatic impact of COVID-19 due to social disruption and the mediating role of resilience on avoidance behaviors, distressing thoughts, and negative mood states associated with the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved
The real \u27green deal
No full textTaking Scripture as a complete system of truth, this paper will present a “creation care” position as an alternate to current often-political policies presently on the mainstream media. Scripture opens with a major “theology of life”. The Creator’s pleasure is mentioned several times with “God saw that it was good.” The tasks assigned to the new humans at that time were to “serve” and to “protect” the earth,implying that human activity includes creation care. And the “creation care” mandate has never been rescinded. The Scripture record closes in the book of Revelation with the created order being again honored by being divinely restored. Bible writers in both testaments have a very “worldly attitude,” recognizing that service and worship of God includes extolling His affection for this place! Jesus often referred to creation, and fully enjoyed it Himself. No wonder the prophets record divine laments over thedegradation of His “real estate”—for human sinfulness has affected all creation. Even humans resent borrowed books or loaned possessions returned broken. A survey of Scripture from the first book of Genesis to the concluding chapters of the final book ofRevelation provides impressive instruction concerning the created world—including the animals and the land itself—with a reverence for all life. Biblical creation care instruction is not a political issue, but instead a grander motivation to care for this “nest” we’ve been divinely entrusted with. Moreover, since we are created in God’s image, our stewardship might be expected to involve some sort of correspondencewith that of the Creator’s—rejoicing in and protecting this divinely created world
Biblical and Theological Principles for a Chaplaincy Ministry
No full textThe term chaplaincy does not directly appear in the Bible. However, the principles of chaplaincy are very much present in the Scriptures. Jesus, the greatest chaplain, was present in the Garden of Eden. Later, he incarnated as a human to this fallen world to be with humanity, to go through what human beings go through. A chaplain primarily is present with the people; therefore, a ministry of presence, empathy, giving wise counsel, and many other qualities describe what a chaplain is. This article looks at biblical and theological principles to guide a chaplaincy ministry from Scripture as well as from other Christian literature. Robert Crick outlines a few core theological principles of chaplaincy. Chaplains “are motivated by the core belief that God is the creator of all things; therefore, all things belong to Him, even the secular” (2012:23)
Biblical and Theological Principles for Ministry to the Deaf and Other Isolated Groups
No full textDeaf people are one of the largest unreached groups in the world (Lowenstein 2019, para. 2). To reach this group with the gospel, it is vital to build a solid biblical foundation for ministry to deaf individuals. The knowledge of God and the importance of faith, hope, and trust in God are often limited among deaf communities despite technological advancements (Broesterhuizen 2005:307). It is essential to show the different groups of deaf communities scattered around the world that Jesus loves them and that “the Bible is at heart a text that is positive for all marginalized people, whether poor, or female, or black, or disabled or deaf” (Lewis 2007:108).
This article focuses on a biblical and theological foundation for ministry to the deaf and other isolated groups. This article also plays a role in developing and implementing project-related strategies. I will first establish a foundation of ministry to the deaf and other isolated groups as found in the Old Testament. Then, I look at passages of ministry to deaf people in the New Testament, followed by a section that reviews Ellen White’s statements on ministry to deaf people. I also look at other Adventist literature and draw theological implications from their statements. In the last section of this chapter, I have mentioned principles for ministry to deaf communities from Adventist literature, especially Adventist Possibilities Ministries of the General Conference, and other Christian literature