Few modern SDAs know that all the big hub-bub about creationism vs. evolution was started by an Adventist. Fewer still have read his books.

This was written by an non Adventist:

"During the first two thirds of the twentieth century, during which most Christian fundamentalists accepted the existence of long geological ages, the leading voice arguing for the recent creation of life on earth in six literal days was George McCready Price (1870-1963), a scientifically self-taught creationist and teacher. Born and reared in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, Price as a youth joined the Seventh-day Adventists, a small religious group founded and still led by a prophetess named Ellen G. White, whom Adventists regarded as being divinely inspired. Following one of her trance-like "visions" White claimed actually to have witnessed the Creation, which occurred in a literal week. She also taught that Noah’s flood had sculpted the surface of the earth, burying the plants and animals found in the fossil record, and that the Christian Sabbath should be celebrated on Saturday rather than Sunday, as a memorial of a six-day creation.

Shortly after the turn of the century Price dedicated his life to a scientific defense of White’s version of earth history: the creation of all life on earth no more than about 6,000 years ago and a global deluge over 2,000 years before the birth of Christ that had deposited most of the fossil-bearing rocks. Convinced that theories of organic evolution rested primarily on the notion of geological ages, Price aimed his strongest artillery at the geological foundation rather than at the biological superstructure. For a decade and a half Price’s writings circulated mainly among his coreligionists, but by the late 1910s he was increasingly reaching non-Adventist audiences. In 1926, at the height of the antievolution crusade, the journal Science described Price as "the principal scientific authority of the Fundamentalists. That he was, but with a twist. Although virtually all of the leading antievolutionists of the day, including William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes trial, lauded Price’s critique of evolution, none of them saw any biblical reason to abandon belief in the antiquity of life on earth for what Price called "flood geology." Not until the 1970s did Price’s views, rechristened "creation science," become fundamentalist orthodoxy."

[ May 16, 2005, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: Phil N. D'blanc ]

Wait a second. If I read this right, the whole debate, and the truth that is acknowledged by all that God created the world in 6 literal days was catapulted by a Seventh-Day Adventist?! I think that is FANTASTIC if I understand correctly. This is actually great!!
God Bless,
Will

Well, considering an Adventist was responsible for bringing to the forefront the truth about creation, an article in the latest Ministry becomes even more sad than it did when I first saw it. I was relieved and thankful to see the "Conclusion" at the end of the article supported the literal seven day creation. But what is being taught in some of our colleges, considering the stand some are taking on this?

Will Yep; it's quite real. Price was quite a man. All the famous Sunday-keeping creationists credit him as the foundation of their ministry, but often either not mention his Adventism or put a "however he was a member of ..."
What is sad is that we had the spotlight when other churchs were floundering and waffling over racism and their love affairs with "higher learning" (meaning Dewey inspired evolution)

Jan What Ministry magizine article?

Price still bothers "scientists" almost 80 years later as this lame (but a bit technical) attempt at snobbery confirms:

http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003AM/finalprogram/abstract_61513.htm

Notice, no proof is given against Price's ideas, only a slur because he called fellow geolgists "librarians" with fixed geological ideas, thumbing through the layers of rocks like so many "index cards"!

Consider the thrust of this lecturer's attack: "Price's lack of field work..."

Now, really? How much field work has the darling of evolutionists, the wheelchair-bound Steven J.Hawkings, have??

Ah, the ego of the grant-hungry scientist!

[ May 16, 2005, 10:09 PM: Message edited by: Phil N. D'blanc ]

I too have heard that some of our colleges are questioning the literal 7 day creation. How sad that we have allowed Satan to find a backdoor way of attacking the Sabbath within our own church. When we allow creation to be questioned then so many other beliefs also crumble. Either the Bible is correct on the creation story or the whole Bible is in error.

Redfog

Phil, the article is in the June 2005 issue of Ministry, and is titled "In the beginning God..." It describes the changes in thinking in some Adventist circles regarding creationism. Theistic evolution seems to be very popular right now, being considered "new light." The conclusion sums it all up well:

quote:

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The last few years have shown that there are a number of views on creation within the Adventist Church. Not all of them can be right. Should theistic evolution become more and more acceptable, we will be in danger of losing the biblical foundation for the Sabbath and our understanding of salvation.

Without the creation week the Sabbath becomes a Jewish institution, and if death existed long before the appearance of man, there was no Fall in Eden and therefore there is no need for salvation. Then Paul was in error when he wrote: "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." (Rom. 5:12).

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We send our children to Adventist schools and colleges to avoid the error taught in public schools, but I think many would be alarmed at the ideas running around in our institutions.

Jan Yes I have heard that our schools have greatly degraded from a pioneering creationism format, but that is what we must expect when so many non-SDA teachers/admin. are hired, and state regulations are required as to what to teach.
I think we failed long ago (1920's) when we opted to seek the world's accreditation.

If we had only listened to Sister White, and stayed private and seperate....

Thomas:Hawking or any other wellpaid "Cosmologist" (according to his official website he explains the "basic laws that govern the universe"...without God), cannot do any actual field work on blackholes, wormholes and imaginary numbers. Hawking is actually a Darwinian mathmatician, as a visit to his site will explain:

http://www.hawking.org.uk/home/hindex.html

That's my point: evolutions scream when they don't like a creation scientist's field work, yet their major pundits theories are untestable by fieldwork.
How do you fieldwork a wormhole??

Darwin's fieldwork would have had him tossed out of today's high schools.

[ May 18, 2005, 11:12 PM: Message edited by: Phil N. D'blanc ]

My researching in old Adventist books has led me to see a divine pattern, especially in the writings of our most keen-mined leaders of the past. Elder Price was certainly a man at the cutting edge of true science in his day.

While battling evolutionists, the subject of the rise and fall of civilizations had to come up; he lived through both World Wars and saw the dawn of the nuclear threat. The thought of the death of life on earth was very much on his mind, as well as everyone’s.

But also he appeared to understand more than science and the Flood’s record: he understood God’s character.

I just found this while reading one of his works; I was mildly surprised:

“The highly artificial life of every sophisticated civilization seems to produce conditions where it is extremely difficult for the Creator to get the attention and obedience of the individual soul. Hence, when in His wisdom He sees that his truth is being suppressed or smothered out He removes His protecting hand, and the great destroyer is allowed to wipe out that civilization. Then God can initiate another, with entirely different conditions of life, out of which, after several more centuries, a new way of living may give a promise of better results.”
George McCready Price, “The Man from Mars” p.116, printed 1950

I couldn’t agree with him more, and so does the Spirit of Prophecy:

“God cannot bless those who refuse to be faithful stewards. All [He] can do is to permit Satan to do his destroying work. We see calamities of every shape and in every degree coming upon the earth, and why,--The Lord's restraining power is not exercised. The world has disregarded the word of God. They live as though there were no God. Like the inhabitants of the Noachic world, they refuse to have any thought of God. Wickedness prevails to an alarming extent, and the earth is ripe for the harvest.” {Banner, March 1, 1905 par.5}