| Author | Message | ||
| Chris Registered user Username: Chris Post Number: 1604 Registered: 7-2003  |
There are a lot of things that I like about Christianity Today Magazine, but one thing has concerned me for awhile. What is arguably the leading evangelical Christian magazine (founded by Billy Graham) is now led by an Editor In Chief who seems to have significant leanings towards Adventism. My understanding is that David Neff is technically a "former" Adventist and yet in the last few years has accepted a speaking engagement at Andrews University, has written articles which appear to me to be sympathetic to beliefs associated with Adventism (one that comes to mind dealing with the recent death of his SDA dad is perhaps understandable), and has never publicly renounced Adventism. If "formers" like Neff don't get the danger of the SDA belief system and the need to truly separate from it, why would we think that the evangelicals he informs and speaks for will? Here's the latest article by Neff which concerns me. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/september/criminalizingcircumcision.html?start=1 I've attempted to e-mail Neff before with no response. So Mr. Neff, if you should chance to see my critique in this public forum, please know that I would be more than happy to dialogue with you in private or otherwise about these concerns. | ||
| Mjcmcook Registered user Username: Mjcmcook Post Number: 120 Registered: 2-2011 |
~HI~Chris~ After reading the above article in its entirety I was curious to see if I could find out what David Neff's status with the adventist church is~ from the testimony I read he and his wife~Lynn(Pease)Neff have been confirmed members of an Episcopal church for a long time~ ~*~mj~*~ To find the link to this information Google~David Neff Seventh day-Adventist?~ the link is just too long for me to put here! | ||
| Cloudwatcher Registered user Username: Cloudwatcher Post Number: 554 Registered: 5-2009  |
Here's the link to their testimony published in a book (Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail). http://bit.ly/oNBrd3 | ||
| Cloudwatcher Registered user Username: Cloudwatcher Post Number: 555 Registered: 5-2009 |
You're not supposed to judge other people's testimonies, right? | ||
| Cloudwatcher Registered user Username: Cloudwatcher Post Number: 556 Registered: 5-2009 |
I think his story tells a lot about how he processed out of Adventism, which sheds light on why he might still be sympathetic to Adventist beliefs (maybe even unknowingly). It's frightening to think that this is seeping into Christianity Today. *sigh* | ||
| Mjcmcook Registered user Username: Mjcmcook Post Number: 123 Registered: 2-2011 |
~HI~Cloudwatcher~ You are such a 'Sweetie' to know how to find the abbreviated 'link' for the 'Testimony' of David & Lynn(Pease) Neff! Thank-you so much! I pray fervently that David is not slinking back, even ever so slightly(if there is such a thing) to his adventist 'Roots'! Yes, I did intend to say~"slinking"! When you leave adventism you really do have to pull all of it out by it's "ROOTS"~ or it will sprout again in some fashion when you least expect it~ ~mj~ | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 12903 Registered: 12-2003  |
I've been deeply disturbed by Neff's editorship of CT for quite a long time. He used to be the pastor at Walla Walla College (now university) Church. As I read the story you linked, Delina, I'm convinced that Neff's "worldview" is decidedly on the "liberal" side. Episcopalians in general have a liberal view of Scripture (not endorsing inerrancy) and seeing room to ordain gay clergy, etc. While their creed may sustain orthodox understandings, in practice they are not evangelical. Christianity Today ran adds for The Clear Word a couple of years ago. I wrote to several of the editorial staff and from a few received "thank-you-we'll-check-it-out" responses... Phil Bubar, senior pastor of The Chapel in St. Joseph MI wrote to CT a couple of years ago also for running ads for an Adventist conference. He spoke about it in his video clip at the FAF weekend. You can watch his clip here:http://www.formeradventist.com/weekends/faf2010friday1.html I am completely convinced that Neff has not processed his Adventism, and he isn't processing it because he may not be settled on the belief that Scripture describes absolute truth. It sounds as if his wife had more "truth issues" about Adventism than he had. I just have to wonder if Neff really understands the black-and-white reality of being transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved Son. I'm not saying I have answers, but his opinions reflected in his article you linked, Chris, and his story as well as in other articles of his I've seen in the past just leave me thinking it's all quite a rational process for him. Neff's views really do upset me when it comes to his influence on Christianity. Although I know that many Evangelicals have become quite disillusioned with CT over the past several years... Colleen | ||
| Cloudwatcher Registered user Username: Cloudwatcher Post Number: 559 Registered: 5-2009 |
He and his wife write a blog where they review books. (I am certain, now, that they will see this thread, because they will see links coming from these pages.) Here is his review of a book that came out last year about Sabbath (not an SDA book...in fact, the author is agnostic). http://neffreview.blogspot.com/2010/04/second-best-book-on-sabbath.html | ||
| Cloudwatcher Registered user Username: Cloudwatcher Post Number: 560 Registered: 5-2009 |
correction. She wrote that review. | ||
| Cloudwatcher Registered user Username: Cloudwatcher Post Number: 562 Registered: 5-2009 |
I'd read that piece about his father's death before, and I re-read it today with new eyes. *sigh* | ||
| Chris Registered user Username: Chris Post Number: 1608 Registered: 7-2003 |
I hesitate to say anything at all critical about a piece written upon the passing of one's father. I think you kind of get a pass on being a little sentimental in those very sad circumstances. It's just that it always bothers me a little, in this forum or elsewhere, when I see people inferring something like "Adventism isn't really for me and I disagree with some things, but I know it's really worked for my friends and family and there are really a lot of good things in it too that we can learn from". While it's certainly true that Adventism has some good things in it, to act as if Adventism is similar to any Christian denomination with some really good stuff and some debatable non-essentials is to really miss the spiritual reality. No amount of "good stuff" mitigates for promulgating a false gospel that is no gospel at all. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 12912 Registered: 12-2003 |
Amen, Chris!! The past 12 years have convinced me that when people say Adventism doesn't work for them but they know lots of good stuff about it and many people for whom it works...I know I'm hearing a person who hasn't really processed his or her Adventism. When a person really processes it and knows what it teaches and why they left, they cannot give it a pass. People who leave but give it a pass are still not willing or able to admit what actually "happened" to them. It's humiliating and angering to finally realize one was deceived by a false religion, and all their Bible knowledge was really misinformation. I think the cognitive rationalization becomes a form of idol that is one of the last icons to go among many of us who prided ourselves on our well-formulated Adventism. Colleen | ||
| Cloudwatcher Registered user Username: Cloudwatcher Post Number: 566 Registered: 5-2009 |
I agree with you that it's harsh to judge his piece about his father. I just wonder if the same piece would have been written and approved if the father had been Mormon or JW. Or at the very least, would the religious group have been mentioned in the article if it was a known cult? | ||
| Butterfly_poette Registered user Username: Butterfly_poette Post Number: 71 Registered: 5-2011 |
I remember the Neffs wrote some children's books that were sold at the Adventist Book Center. I read about Packy the elephant, Sally the ape, and a bear that was a runaway. They were such great books. I did see them at Andrews University years ago. That was in 2001 or so. I was surprised to see them there. I did hear they weren't SDAs anymore and yet they were there to do some speaking and such. |
