Some 2,000 years ago the apostle Paul wondered about the creation of the universe and where it all came from. In Hebrews 11 we read these words: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (verse 3, NIV). It took another two millennia before Albert Einstein established his formula, E=mc2, expressing his idea that the reality we can see and measure is simply another form of energy. When we think of God as all-powerful and the source of everything that made us, gave us life, and keeps us alive, this new understanding will only reinforce our faith in God.
In the early part of the twentieth century, astronomer Edwin Hubble recognized that the universe was expanding. This brought him, along with the Russian Alexander Friedmann and the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître, to the conviction that, contrary to Einstein’s thought, the known universe had a very definite beginning.
By the time Arno Allen Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson, in the late 1970s, discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation, which was the first proof of the earth’s early days, the idea of a definite beginning of the universe started to become accepted by more and more.
By the end of the twentieth century the world’s scientists dealing with cosmic origins found common ground and expressed it, in the form of the “standard model.” This is nothing but an overwhelming endorsement of the Creation story.
The articles in the November 2022 issue of the Adventist Review lay the groundwork for reassessing the church’s position on questions of the age of this planet. It will revitalize the church’s message; it will give new strength and vigor to the educational process. It will have a positive influence on the church’s mission.
Roland Fleck
I just finished reading Mr. Burton’s online essay concerning the position taken by Adventist pioneers on slavery and racism in nineteenth-century America. What an outstanding report and witness for Christ I have found it to be! This was a subject I knew nothing about, and I want to thank you for educating me and others through timely articles such as this. May our heavenly Father continue to bless all of your endeavors to teach the truth in love, and may your efforts produce a fruit that helps heal current race relations both here and abroad.
John Mattithyah
Thank you, Jill Morikone, for putting into print my life. Case in point referencing a September Adventist Review in November. I am always feeling as though I might be missing a poignant moment with our children or my husband or a client. When you divide your time up with a commission-based income, it’s easy for the day to be filled with blank checkmark boxes to optimize time. And truth be told, those boxes sometimes only mark the must-do’s today or the start of a project or the nurturing of a current and new business relationship that might turn into a remunerable success. So thank you for the reminder to breathe in the moments of possible wheel spinning.
Karissa Moore
Phillipston, Massachusetts
There is salvation in praising God. We like to sing it!
Emily Garcia Cecil
Every campus should have a disc golf course!
Beverly Helm
This reminds me of the Sabbath School lesson that discussed Lachish.
Danwel Dejolde
To God be the praise and thanksgiving for the Irish Mission.
Monika Simmons
Spiritual truths should not change with age or social trends. New discovered truths will still line up with the old. It does not change but sheds more light on a topic. What she wrote in leading people to a closer relationship and understanding is still viable today and till the Second Coming. We can see the health message she gave in the 1900s and science and world history’s proving it true in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Science today is just coming into line with what she wrote.
Richard Ramey
Thank you for sharing! Proud of our music scholars and the opportunities that allow us to share the gospel message in unique and life-changing ways.
Jonathan Wall
In the excerpt from Walton Brown’s book cited in Leo Ranzolin, Sr.’s letter (December 2022 issue) the author is imagining our experience in heaven. What appears as a direct quotation by Ellen White is the author’s paraphrase of various thoughts in her writings. In Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, for example, she refers to “unnumbered worlds that are obedient to His laws” (p. 66).
—Editors.
In the past I did not work in a pediatric ICU, but in other units. It would require much compassion and spiritual strength!
Dorothy Mckinney
We welcome your letters, noting, as always, that inclusion of a letter in this section does not imply that the ideas expressed are endorsed by either the editors of the Adventist Review or the General Conference. Short, specific, timely letters have the best chance at being published (please include your complete address and phone number—even with e-mail messages). Letters will be edited for space and clarity only. Send correspondence to Letters to the Editor, Adventist Review, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600; Internet: [email protected].
