If I Were the Devil: Seeing Through the Enemy's Smokescreen: Contemporary Challenges Facing Adventism

In this collection of essays, George Knight implores the leadership and laity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (particularly those in North America) to reevaluate the church's current modus operandi. "Change," writes Knight, "is to be expected in living bodies. Only the dead do not change." Knight gives brief but well annotated histories on the evolution of Adventist ideas and the reasoning behind the current church structure. Despite what some would claim, there is no evidence to support the belief that the church's organizational framework is a divinely ordained model; rather it came about gradually and out of necessity. Knight offers some compelling evidence that the Adventist church is on the brink of a crisis. For too long, the church has mistaken motion for progress, and its basic mission--preaching Christ--has been strangled by red tape and the desire to keep the status quo. If the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to survive, it must change. Knight refrains from drawing a detailed plan for church re-structuring, but he does offer a few basic suggestions. Above all, he urges that the church become viable and relevant in a modern world, but without compromising the eternal basic truths found in God's word. Given my overall negative experience with Adventism, I was surprised that the church would publish such a "radical" work. I found the book both informative and thought provoking. I would like to think that it would prompt at least a meaningful dialog within the church, but the sad truth is that most people won't read it, and half of those that do will dismiss it as heresy. Personally, I have long felt the Adventist church is top heavy in both structure and doctrine (the latest edition of "Seventh-day Adventists Believe" weighs in at a whopping 448 pages). Hopefully, the church will one day begin to simplify in both of these areas.