ROY ADAMS

hy do we want people to explain the 2300 days before they can become Seventh-day Adventists?"

If I had a dollar for each time I've heard those sentiments, I'd be sitting on decent cash today. And even though no responsible person in the church has ever come even close to suggesting such a thing, the charge persists, usually ending with the statement: "What people need to have preached to them is Christ, not doctrines."

But each time I hear that, I say to myself: Here's someone who obviously has not taken the trouble to think things through. For no one can make a single statement about Jesus--positive or negative--without drawing upon some aspect of doctrine. If I say "Jesus is Lord," I've made a doctrinal statement. And however simple, it anchors deep in a large and complex body of materials we call the New Testament, a document pregnant with doctrine from start to finish.

These thoughts impressed themselves on me again as I read through the book of Acts recently. Take Pentecost. The theme of Peter's message that magnificent day was Jesus--no question. But he didn't just keep repeating that one name like a stuck record. No, he had something to say about this Person. There was content to his message. And, says the text, the multitude who believed "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:42, NKJV).

As the message of Jesus spread through the Roman world, with multiplied thousands embracing the Christian faith, misunderstandings arose--about Christ, about salvation, about the appropriate practical response to this marvelous gift of grace. "Some men came down from Judea to Antioch," to cite one example, "and were teaching the brothers: 'Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved'" (Acts 15:1, NIV).

It was a doctrinal claim fraught with all kinds of cultural, theological, and emotional connotations--impossible to counter with the simple notion that all they needed to hear about was Christ. Facing the crisis head-on, Paul and Barnabas entered into "sharp dispute and debate" with these Judaizers, as they later came to be known (verse 2, NIV). But making no headway, they appealed the matter to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

The outcome of the resulting Jerusalem Council, "after much discussion" (verse 7), was a brief but carefully worded doctrinal statement (see verses 22-29). It was a pattern to be repeated throughout the history of the Christian church: A theological conflict arises, it grabs the attention of the church, its leaders and theologians grapple with it, and a doctrinal statement emerges. Just about all the letters of Paul--indeed, most of the New Testament--came into existence this way, as efforts to clarify aspects of the faith through doctrinal elaboration. We see it in the early and middle centuries of the Christian Era. And when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg, it was all about doctrine--indeed, essentially the same basic issue tackled by the Jerusalem Council: How we get right with God.

Doctrine Makes a Difference
Each time we hear a criticism--whether directed personally at us or generally at the church--we need to examine it for any possible validity it might have. And the grain of truth I find in the anti-doctrine attitude we're discussing here comes from the fact that some Adventists, no doubt unwittingly, have given doctrine a bad name. Some of their materials come across my desk--the pamphlets, the broadsides, the densely packed letters, the huge e-mails. It all leaves a sinking feeling in the chest.

But doctrine simply means "teaching." It's because of doctrine that I'm a Seventh-day Adventist, and not still an Anglican. It's because of doctrine that I'm an Adventist and not a Baptist or a Roman Catholic or a Mormon. Each of these groups professes faith in Jesus Christ. However, my understanding of doctrine determines which group I join.

Doctrine should not turn us into bigots and sourpusses. After all, it was the same Paul who, after composing that sublime poem on love in 1 Corinthians 13, turned in chapter 15 to the most extensive doctrinal exposition on the Resurrection in Scripture.

Essentially, the prophecy of the 2300 days is about Christ. You may not be able to explain it, but by all means don't knock it. It's hugely important for the self-identity of the Adventist Church.

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Roy Adams is an associate editor of the Adventist Review.