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What are the key experiences that have defined the traditional Seventh-day Adventist approach to hermeneutics? Veteran Seventh-day Adventist theologian and philosopher Edward W. H. Vick provides a brief answer to this question in this short book, with only 64 pages of text. Tracing the way interpretation was done starting with the Millerite movement in the 1840s, and working through the influence of Ellen G. White and others, Vick suggests that the hermeneutic used was self-confirming. Each apparent problem solved resulted in further faith in the method. As a result, among traditional Adventists, hermeneutics has taken a particular shape which locks in this set of doctrines, and the doctrines, in turn, uphold the hermeneutic. This book will be especially helpful to Seventh-day Adventists who want to communicate with biblical scholars and theologians outside of their community. It will be of help to those who are not Adventists in understanding the nature and tenacity of SDA hermeneutics.

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A basic Christian claim is that God is active in human history to accomplish his purpose, which he will do in the end. This book considers some of the implications of this far-reaching claim. Christian faith is bound up with our personal history but beyond that stretches far into the past. Faith is not identical with historical knowledge, for example with knowledge of the facts about Jesus, facts which must be established historically. That involves using the historian's methods of investigation. What does 'God reveals himself in history' mean? Christians claim to find an ultimate meaning in history. But how can that be? How is it possible to find an overall meaning in history, theistic or otherwise? Since Christians appeal to the New Testament in making the claim that God revealed himself in Jesus, we must go beyond that book to the Christian community which existed before there was a New Testament and out of whose midst its writings came. To understand those books we must interpret. So where do our principles of interpretation come from, and how valid are they? This is the question of tradition. This small book is an introduction to these interesting topics. Hopefully it will help to clarify important issues and lead the reader to investigate such central matters further.

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In this first volume of the Participatory Study Series to deal with a doctrine rather than with a book of the Bible, Dr. Edward W. H. Vick tackles the very difficult subject of eschatology, or last things. This is not your usual outline of someone's idea of what will happen at the end of the world. Instead, this study guide will lead readers through a systematic study of how one comes to understand this topic systematically and thoroughly from a biblical and theological perspective. Dr. Vick also interacts with Christian history and with major doctrinal statements of various confessions as well as the quest for the historical Jesus. How is one to understand prophecy and apocalyptic? What does it mean when Jesus says that 'this generation will not pass'? These questions receive a thorough treatment, not to provide you with all the answers, but instead to provide you with the tools to discover how you can find these answers. Church small groups, classes, and individuals can all benefit from following this study.

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The question of what happens after death has fascinated human beings for as long as we’ve had any sense of spirituality. There have been popular books, stories of speculative fiction, reports of visions, and serious Bible studies attempted to explain to us what happens at death and beyond. In Death, Immortality, and Resurrection, Dr. Edward Vick explores this question from the viewpoint of a philosopher and theologian. In this book, he examines scriptural sources along with a variety of philosophers over the millennia, and looks at such questions as what happens to the body, what we mean be identity and survival, whether we are innately immortal, and what is the meaning of resurrection. This is a serious work, but comprehensible to the student willing to take the time to study these issues. The reader is invited to give consideration to those issues that have challenged philosophers and scholars through the ages. The book is suitable for study groups.

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Christian discussions of creation or origins typically start with one of the standard positions on this contentious doctrine and then presents the arguments in favor of that position. In this book, Edward W. H. Vick looks at creation as a matter of systematic theology. What does it mean for a doctrine to be called «Christian»? How does one derive and express a doctrine of creation that is truly Christian in content? He starts by distinguishing biblical theology, the topic of companion volume Creation in Scripture by Herold Weiss, from the systematic theology approach used in this book. This book is divided into three parts. Each has its own style and function. The first presents an introductory statement about how we approach a doctrinal explanation of the theme of Creation. Then we give a theological account of the meaning of the assertion that God is Creator. The second presents statements by representative respected theologians, as they expound the theme and argue for a separation of theology from science. It presents some quite basic positions. The third is in the form of a conversation-an effective way of introducing differing points of view pro and con. Finally, the book includes a series of questions for each chapter, making it useful as a basis for group study and discussion.

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Can faith and science work together? How? Science and religion have done most to shape our lives in the modern West. At first it might seem there is little relationship between them and none that could ever be close. In Religion and Science: An Exploration, the author indicates in a sensible and uncomplicated manner that there is a working relationship but that it is something that must be searched for if it is to be achieved. The result is a book that deals with a most importat issue with impartiality. This book is primarily aimed at those who want to integrate their understanding of science with their understanding of faith.

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In debates about the authority of the Bible, people commonly argue that the Bible is inspired, even inerrant, and therefore that it has authority. Is this argument valid? Dr. Edward W. H. Vick argues that it is not, that authority does not derive from inspiration, and that terms like «inspiration» and «inerrancy» do not contribute to a belief in, or the authority of the Scriptures at all. Using the example of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and debates over the inspiration and authority of the Bible and then of Ellen G. White, he outlines and illustrates the pitfalls of arguing directly from an idea of inspiration to a view of authority. In short, he maintains that a doctrine of inspiration cannot serve to establish the authority of a writing. Writings have authority as they are accepted by and used in the community. As a philosopher with years of teaching experience in biblical studies and theology, Dr. Vick examines the way in which Christians speak about these issues and then asks whether what we say is contributing to what we do, or where we wish to go. Seventh-day Adventists especially owe it to themselves to read this compact yet powerful book as they think about their use of E. G. White's writings and their relationship with Scripture. Other Christians can benefit, however, as the arguments are similar whether one is talking about the Bible itself, an authoritative figure in your religious tradition, or a source of interpretation and application you view as authoritative. It is especially relevant in a pluralistic world. How is it that you decide what is authoritative?

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For a serious book of philosophy, where better to begin to canvass various philosophical concepts and arguments than in relation to what is so familiar to every one of us – the fact that we all have many and varied beliefs. The book is an introduction of philosophy, indeed intended as an introductory textbook. The author, as he wrote it, had both the teacher and the student in mind. He hopes it will prove a worthy contribution in the college, seminary and university classroom, both interesting and serious. \ As well as thirteen clearly written chapters introducing the various topics, it is also provided with helpful summaries, tutorials, and work sheets. In considering belief we raise raises many of the central problems philosophers have discussed: knowledge, truth, justification, rationality, meaning, explanation, self deception, interpretation, reality, cause and effect, personal identity, theories, laws, hypotheses, the self, survival, God. Since belief is a universal phenomenon, it has unfortunately become common to understand the unqualified term ‘believer’ of the religious person. It seems strange to ask the question, ‘Are you a believer?’ outside the religious context. But we do when we are thinking of a particular theory or ideology or political attitude. We sometimes want to know whether she is ‘one of us!’ The author sometimes finds it convenient to illustrate his exposition by referring to religious beliefs. One does not have to be a religious believer to see that it is relevant and indeed interesting to do so. The history of philosophy provides many classical examples of such discussion. The book is of wide general interest. As well as doing service in the classroom, it will also prove its worth within other contexts. It will serve the aims of serious discussion groups, as well as providing a basis for regular and earnest individual study. We hope also that it will find a place with inquiring people of religious faith.

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The way in which we read the Bible grows out of what we believe the Bible to be. Thus it is impossible to discuss methods of interpretation without considering our view of inspiration, the gathering of the canon, and even the reception of the Bible by the community of faith. And so, Edward W. H. Vick starts this comprehensive discussion of hermeneutics—the interpretation of Scripture—by looking at what the Bible is, and what empowers its authority. He brings a lifetime of experience, teaching and writing to the task. In this examination, he takes up such diverse topics as inspiration, canonization, authority, infallibility, inerrancy, verbal inspiration, sola scriptura, tradition, myth, and many related topics. Dr. Vick always relates these elements to the overarching questions: How shall we read Scripture? How shall we understand it? How does it impact the way we live and act? There are many books on how to read the Bible, but there are few that will offer this comprehensive and systematic study. If you apply the principles you find here to your own study, you will find the scriptures opening up in new ways. Dr. Vick will help you move beyond the assumptions that often stand in the way of our personal Bible study and see the remarkable variety and power that is mediated through this book we call the Bible.

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