Oldsailor, Did you get your book at Amazon.com? I think I will get one.

As far as I can tell, I did not have one sale on Amazon from this.. we generally get 4-6% commission, which helps to pay our expenses..

Here is the link

Published by Teach
'Genuine New Light from Revelation and Daniel'

I don't think he's claiming new light oldsailor, but like you've mentioned in your post, just seeing things from a different view.

pk

I don't remember where I got it.

Well, here is my review or whatever anyone wants to call it. I am sorry I cannot recommend Ron's book. I'm sure he is a very nice fellow whom we will meet in Heaven someday.

Notes about “Genuine New Light from Revelation and Daniel.”

1. Pg. 5 – Valid new light that the wealth of Laodiceans is spiritual as opposed to material.
2. Pg 7 – False statement. That all Bible prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus needs to be defined very narrowly, as that which Jesus taught during His ministry as God in the flesh here on Earth.
3. Pg 8 – Ron reveals he does not understand what is meant by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus. Of course, he thinks all Bible prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. This would cause misunderstanding of what study would constitute eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus. Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus means studying the teachings of Jesus when He was here on earth as God in the flesh.
4. Pg 9 – Ron reflects a lack of differentiation between the Bible alone being the rule of our faith, and the most sure way of Bible interpretation. Also skips right over the new light affirmation of Jesus as the greater light, of whom was the ministry of all prophets. He misses a great opportunity here to point out this gem of new light. And finally, seeing EGWs writings as superceding the Bible does not violate the first commandment, as Ron has stated. The Bible is not God. I don’t see how someone who believes the Bible is God can see any new light, but I read on because I want to get to the new light which is promised concerning righteousness by faith.
5. Pg 11 – Anyone who writes about prophecies being fulfilled should be aware that all prophecy is conditional, and all prophecies can be fulfilled as often as conditions occur. Also the number 7 is a symbolic number which means completeness. Therefore the seven trumpets does not literally mean only seven, nor does the seven plagues literally mean only seven. Trumpet after trumpet will blow, and when they all have blown, the number of trumpets is complete, represented by the symbolic number seven. You may call this new light if you haven’t heard it before.
6. Pg 12 – I hardly think it is appropriate to label people as hypocrites because they do not understand the proper use of prophecies. Holding any interpretation of the Bible as supreme authority and totally disregarding EGW is not wisdom.
7. Pg – 13 No one who closely follows the teachings of EGW will be lost, so forget about warning people to repent before the close of probation.

Thus ends chapter one, and I’m afraid I have done a disservice by my comments. However, I am still looking forward to some new light on righteousness by faith, so I continue.

8. Pg 20 – Jesus does not give any value to our faith and works. We are saved totally by His grace. Our works of righteousness are as filthy rags period. There is no added value to them. If this were true, it would not be new light, because it has been presented for consideration many times before.

I’m sure I must stop right here, because any new light based upon the foundation of our righteousness being of some soteriological value is flawed from the start. Before anyone can receive new light on righteousness by faith, one must first understand the basic concept. I am sorry, I cannot agree with your teachings.

Oldsailor, Thank you for that candid review. Maybe I won't buy the book after all.



I don't know if I would call that new light, I've heard it before, but it is the truth. I believe Laodiceans are wealthy in both, instead of just one or the other.



I have a question here: I know that prophecy came through the Holy Spirit 2Pet 1:21 but didn't Jesus speak through the HS? Would not prophecy be the words of Jesus?

Oldsailor, since an angel gave everything to John to write in Revelation, are you saying that all of Revelation is not from God? And don't we find the same thing happened with Daniel?

Laodiceans THINK they are wealthy with spiritual wealth and they are in need of nothing more because the have a woman prophet and the words of the writer of Romans. I mean, what more do they think they need?

If you sincerely believe there is no value in deeds (works) then what do you do with Revelation?

And are you saying that I should believe EGW's words that 6 of the 7 trumpets have been blown already and therefore 2 billion people have been killed by a war faught with an army of over 200 million? (See Rev. 9) (and page 433 of the GC) Are you saying that if I believe this lie that Revelation 21:8 and 22:15 are then lies since "on one who follows EGW closely will be lost?

And oldsailor, where do you get that ALL prophecy is conditional?

Dr. Rich - I seriously doubt that WE find the same thing happening anywhere in the Bible. We disagree on the basic understanding of the nature of inspiration, and we disagree on the value of EGWs messages, and we disagree on God's basis for blessings and curses which are a part of all His covenants. And probably of utmost importance, we disagree on the nature of God and his methods of operation. The only thing I have found in common for us is the belief that we should follow Jesus and His teachings during his ministry here on Earth, but you have cut His testimony in half and His time of ministry here on Earth down to one year. So there actually isn't really a lot of similarity there either. I do not know why you promote so much unconventionality, but frankly, I don't intend to support or even get within spitting distance of any of it. However, any prophecy you want to mention, go right ahead, and I will site the conditions necessary for it to happen. All prophecy is conditional, is a given, and anyone can point out the conditions, but don't try to waste a lot of time on this.

Oldsailor29, thank you for giving some specific responses to my book. The first chapter, since it is addressed primarily to Seventh-day Adventists and takes them to task for the way they often misuse the writings of Ellen G. White, is bound to rile some people who want to believe their assurance of salvation can be reduced to something as simple and superficial as blindly following everything Ellen G. White ever wrote about anything.

Let me respond to the items you criticized.


I maintain that my reasoning here is sound. All Bible prophecy does come from Jesus. It comes from God, and He is God. It is only your personal opinion that “the testimony of Jesus needs to be defined very narrowly….”


You are presenting a personal interpretation here that most SDAs would not agree with. Just studying passages of Scripture is not enough. Satan can do that. We must partake of the Christ of Scripture by receiving His Spirit into our hearts, and committing ourselves to Him to trust wholly in His merits, and to do His will in faith. Why you draw the conclusion you do here is rather mystifying to me, since it does not seem to proceed logically from anything that I said in my book.


If you at all consent to what Ellen G. White herself emphatically stated, that the Bible alone is to be the rule of our faith, then what room is there for any confusion? The “most sure way of Bible interpretation” is not to let Ellen G. White interpret the Bible for us. That would necessarily place her above the Bible. You seem to be resisting this point. I also have disagreed with you before about Jesus Christ being the “greater light” in those statements Ellen G. White made about the purpose of her writings being to serve as “as lesser light” to lead us back “to the greater light.” It is clear to virtually everyone else that she was saying the Bible is the greater light. Context makes this abundantly clear.

I never said the Bible is God. But I do maintain that placing Ellen G. White’s writings above the Bible is a violation of the first commandment, because the Bible is God’s Word, and you cannot make Ellen White’s writings be greater than the Word of God without making Ellen G. White herself greater than the God of the Bible, by implication. Someone may object that Ellen G. White was also inspired by God. Yes, but not for the same purpose. Her inspired testimony was that the Bible alone is to be the basis for our faith. Disobeying what she said about this while at the same time professing to be faithful to the Spirit of Prophecy manifested in her writings, amounts to betraying the Spirit of Prophecy with a kiss.


Of course divine prophecy is conditional. The book of Jonah clearly illustrates that. But it does not logically follow that prophecies can be re-fulfilled over and over again. That would place our subjective human judgment above the Bible. The Bible tells us when prophecies are to be applied. Yes, there are some prophecies in the Bible that have more than one application—such as some of Jesus’ predictions in Matthew 24 (because He was answering a dual question, about the destruction of the temple and the end of the world). And it appears that the “time, times, and half of time” of Daniel 7:25 has a corresponding similar length of time in the time of the end, in Daniel 12:7, though the former is prophetic time and the latter is literal time. But we know that because the additional time prophecy is given in Daniel 12:7. The time prophecy in Daniel 7:25 is NOT reapplied! God apparently uses similar-seeming lengths of time to call our attention to the parallel between what happens in the end time and what has happened in past history. But HE is the one who draws the parallel and says conditions are the same, not us.

Of course, everyone knows that the number seven symbolizes completion or the entirety of something. This is probably derived from the fact that there were seven days in Creation Week. But how you get from this to claiming that seven trumpets and seven plagues may not mean seven of them, is an unwarranted jump I cannot agree is logical. Not only are the trumpets seven in number, so also are the prophetic events presented as unfolding when each of the trumpets sound. Same for the seven last plagues.


I put these together because they seem to arise from the same thought. For one thing, I never advocated “totally disregarding EGW.” But I do say we should go by the Bible, and not allow what Ellen G. White wrote to have the final say in what the Bible means, because that would place her above the Bible, and she did not want her writings to be used that way. She rebuked the brethren at the 1901 General Conference for doing this kind of thing. Here is what she said, as quoted in the Spaulding and Magan Collection, p. 167, par. 2: (The double negative is the way she originally said it; the statement also appears in some other places with the grammar corrected. But I think that the way she originally said it conveys more of her indignation.)

The second statement, that no one who closely follows the teachings of EGW will be lost, betrays a serious lack of understanding of the gospel. Ellen G. White’s writings are not what saves us. People most certainly will be lost if they relate to her writings in such a way that they come between them and the Lord she wrote about and urged us to follow.


Here you completely misunderstood my point. Even though our works do not in any way contribute to our salvation, God does nonetheless judge our faith and our works to determine our rewards, as the Bible explicitly states—but it is Jesus who IN HIMSELF gives both our faith and our works validity and value, for He presents them as His faith, and His works. He stands IN OUR PLACE in Judgment, not just by our sides as an Advocate. Notice these passages of Scripture:
Perhaps you are making the same mistake as did those leading brethren in 1888 who resisted the light on Justification by Faith, because they thought it made the good news of the gospel seem “too good.”

oldsailor--great 'dance' around my questions!