Tag: Alden Thompson

The Early Earth

• Lesson 3 for the week of October 14 to October 21

Read: Genesis 2 The second chapter in Genesis points to several key concepts which continue to shape Christian thinking. Discussion Themes and Questions: Sabbath. Genesis 2 opens with account of how God blessed the Sabbath....

Continue reading →

“In the Beginning…”

• Lesson 2 for the week of October 7 to October 14

Read: Genesis 1 Those of us who look forward to a restored world, look back to Genesis 1 as the foundation of our hope. Discussion themes and questions: Clarities. Though there are many issues about...

Continue reading →

Foundations

• Lesson 1 for the week of September 30 to October 7

Read: Matt. 19:3-8; Luke 17:26-30; Acts 7:1-15; Heb. 11:1-22 One of the key features which distinguishes the Judeo-Christian perspective from other “natural” perspectives is that history has a goal. You can chart the key events...

Continue reading →

The Meaning of the Judgment Today

• Lesson 14 for the week of September 23 to September 30

One of the interesting results of the 1844 experience has been a persistent and developing interest in questions of “theodicy” in Adventism. Classically, “theodicy” has focused on the question of the vindication or justification of...

Continue reading →

The Gospel and Judgment

• Lesson 13 for the week of September 16 to September 23

Potentially, this lesson week’s lesson is the most crucial one for God’s people today, for it highlights the two great questions confronting deeply religious people: How can we be good? And how can we be...

Continue reading →

Pre-Advent Judgment

• Lesson 12 for the week of September 9 to September 16

Since many aspects of this lesson have already been considered in Lesson #2 (Judgment Must Begin) and Lesson #4 (Daniel 7), it might be helpful here to explore some of the reasons why the question...

Continue reading →

The Sanctuary and the Little Horn

• Lesson 11 for the week of September 2 to September 9

In the two chapters where the little horn appears, Daniel 8 and 9, it is helpful to see how Daniel himself relates to the evil beasts and to the evil little horn power. If we...

Continue reading →

Rome and Antiochus

• Lesson 10 for the week of August 26 to September 2

Through the centuries, God’s people have faced many enemies, some of them symbolized by a person, some by a nation. The most notable enemy superpowers included Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Rome. Some of Israel’s...

Continue reading →

Day-Year Principle

• Lesson 9 for the week of August 19 to August 26

The day-year principle as a means of interpreting prophecy is unique to historicism. The challenge for Adventism is to know how to work in a world where they alone defend the historicist method. From the...

Continue reading →

1844 Made Simple

• Lesson 8 for the week of August 12 to August 19

For those living in 1844, calculation of the date was both simple and believable. Now, only those who are sympathetic with the Disappointment experience would interpret Daniel and Revelation in the way Adventists have interpreted...

Continue reading →

70 Weeks

• Lesson 7 for the week of August 5 to August 12

The seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 not only played a key role in the birth of the 1844 movement, it has also been seen as an important prophecy of the first coming of Jesus....

Continue reading →

Daniel 9

• Lesson 6 for the week of July 29 to August 5

Since Lesson 6 focuses on Daniel 9 as a whole and Lesson 7 on the 70 weeks prophecy which is part of Daniel 9, the potential for overlap is considerable. It might be advisable for...

Continue reading →

Daniel 8

• Lesson 5 for the week of July 22 to July 29

Read: Daniel 8 Again, a good procedure for understanding and applying the prophecy of Daniel 8 is to take off the names of the kingdoms and ask “What?” instead of “Who?”. The chapter is central...

Continue reading →

Daniel 7

• Lesson 4 for the week of July 15 to July 22

Read: Daniel 7 As with Daniel 2, it can be productive to approach the chapter as if reading it for the first time, perhaps in another culture and without any knowledge of history. Questions for...

Continue reading →