Boldly going where no Protestant has gone before

... or a former SDA, for that matter!

Last Sunday morning I went out shopping for a new cell phone. On the way back home, out of curiosity, I stopped by the Saint Benedict's Monastery church located at the Saint Benedict Plaza in Sao Paulo city. It is a centuries-old Catholic church maintained by the monks of the Saint Benedict Order. I had heard about their Gregorian choir and the tube organ located inside the cathedral and longed for the chance of hearing the tube being played.

It was the first time that I entered a Catholic building willing to stay for some time. When I entered it, my heart instantly felt at peace. I looked around contemplating the iconic figures of the saints of old, champions of Christendom. A sense of awe, wonder and respect came over me, and I felt like "wow, this is more than simply a symbol!".

Meanwhile at the altar the priest recitated Mass, his Gregorian-like voice echoing along the hallways, proclaiming the saving power of Christ's blood, the people responding in unison. Then the Gregorian choir chanted, and I felt God's presence flooding into me.

When the sermon was over, people turned to each other to bid "Good day", and one lady firmly grasped my hand. It was one of the rarest and sincere handshakes that I have ever got.

I took the subway back home, outrageously feeling more Protestant than ever!

Seventh-Day Adventism: Modern-day Ascetism?

The deep meaning of the Health and Dress Reform outlined by EGW leads one to conclude that if you purify the body, it helps to purify the soul. The soul by itself can't be purified if your body is impure. First you purify the body, then the soul can be purified.

That is one of the pillars of Ascetism, a spiritual discipline adopted by Roman Catholic Church in pre-medieval times and which caused the rise of monastic orders.

Ascetism also calls the follower to withdraw from the world, so he or she can properly achieve a state of perfection.

The important aspect of this philosophy is the restrictions placed upon what it is considered "worldly pleasures" such as eating certain types of food (actually most of them), wearing certain types of dress (restricting colors and fabric), and avoiding any sexual activity (even within a sanctioned marriage).

There are also restrictions placed upon possessions: the follower must abandon all his or her worldly possessions, givem them to the poor, or to the organization.


One thing is to make such claim, another thing is to claim that this is God's approved way of attaining justification.

Ascetism is a false way of attaining justification.

Back when I was a church member, I had seen it all.

Pastors when preaching at the pulpit would read from EGW's selected quotes, saying that God's message for today would require people to abandon the cities and move to the countryside, where it would be easier to escape when Persecution (yes, with capital P) arrived. They also reasoned that a quiet life in the farm fields would be free from the sins and temptations of the big cities.

Christ commanded us to GO OUT INTO the world, not to GO OUT FROM the world. So when a Christian says "Withdraw from the world", that is not what Christ wants.

I don't even need to quote again EGW's texts on the God's mandated sexual intercourse. She portrayed it as something to avoid and placed the duty upon the wife to restrain and discipline the "animal urges" of her husband. If she was unable to, she shouldn't allow herself to feel any pleasure from such sinful act.

Well there is that Bible passage where God commands the young man to enjoy the life with his wife. Oh, and there is the Song of Songs, where the woman actually gets actively engaged in such playful deeds.

So I guess that Ascetism's condemnation of sexual intercourse is not what Christ wants.

Let's talk about eating food and drinking.

Do I really need to? There are plenty of Bible passages where God actually commands "Man, eat and drink from your labor, eat your cattle, drink your vineyard". He wants us to live our lifes and get some good pleasure out of it, because, you know, we get older, and grouchy.

God doesn't prohibits us from eating, and drinking, and doing our marital duties as long as we do them with TEMPERANCE. The issue is when we misbehavior due to intemperance. And intemperance is triggered by something within. Christ said that which goes outside our mouth (coming from the inside of our hearts) is what contaminates us, not what goes inside the mouth (like eating or drinking certain types of food).

In other words: eat, but be not a glutton. Drink, but be not a drunkard. Also, mind your mouth, since the word is the deed, and the deed is the word.

So I guess that's another point missed by the Ascetics (and their modern followers, the SDAs).

My personal experience:

I had been a vegetarian until some time ago. I started to eat meat, and I find it tasteful. Sometimes I eat only meat (when it's barbecue time with friends), sometimes it doesn't see my table for several days. Some would think that a vegetarian would lose his self-control upon tasting meat (Yeah, IT IS good) but actually I really don't plan on how to do it. My mind and body doesn't crave for meat and I know that such is true for all other Christians. Well I do have a craving for "Rucula" (scientific name Eruca sativa) but you can't say that for an innocent bush!


What I am trying to say is... When Christ dwells in your soul, your harmonized actions are a mirror of His influence, it's not you trying to get into harmony with Him. And it happens naturally (from God's viewpoint). Blessed is the Lord!

On the Nature of Hurt and the Ideology Behind the Individual Action

I think that is particular to SDA reasoning the disregard they offer for the suffering of individuals due to the enforcement of EGW's writings.

To them, one is hurt because the fanatics misuse or misinterpret her writings. Hurting is merely an action without any ideology or motives.

Philosophically speaking, an action is an extension of thought. Thought is triggered by our ideologies, desires, systems, etc. embedded in our mind. Christ said that the thought of the sin is the same as doing it.

Then, how can one think of enforcing EGW without an idea (hers) behind it? When you reach at the motives level (the why) for one's action, there is a whole chain of elements behind it, particularly the specific idea which becomes thought, and then, action. You can't separate action from thought, my friends, and not from ideology, because doing so, you could put any motives behind the actions. And that would be intelectual dishonesty, wouldn't be?

God's Word, on the other hand, doesn't bring suffering or unhappiness to the saved. On the contrary. It brings joy, happiness, and it prevents them from knowing evil.

From the official statements from SDA and Reform Movement, it is clear that EGW's writings demand enforcement. She is God's prophetess, her writings are His will. Ipso facto, its enforcement should result in general happiness for all church members, because we are all saved and God's Word only bring us joy and happiness, also removes suffering because as closer we are to God, less suffering we feel.

But that, my friends, is not true because countless thousands of people have withdrawn from SDA due to the unbearable suffering from enforcing EGW doctrines.

That is my testimony. I affirm it. Several others do the same.

Don't we respect and value a testimony from a fellow Christian? Why then the SDAs are not taking this issue seriously? Because there is a clear connection between those hurt people and a system of oppression. Can't they see it?

If several thousand people come out from SDA and say "Hey, I was hurt", and also say "I was hurt due to EGW's enforcement", there is no way you can deny it, or disregard it as "bad human experience", or perhaps, "the work of Satan"...