The Silent Church: Human Rights and Adventist Social Ethics (Seventh-Day Adventism, Human Rights and Modern Adventist Soc)

The relationship between the Adventist church and society at large has always been ambiguous. One reason for this has been the church's inarticulate social ethics. While the church upheld the concept of human dignity, promoted religious liberty and sided with the poor, nationalism and racism developed among its members. Women in the church were also unfairly treated. Zdravko Plantak confronts this problem head-on. He begins by looking at the church's history, theology and ethics in order to discover reasons for the inconsistencies in its approach to human rights, and then moves on to propose a more comprehensive approach to its social ethics. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-8 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 Adventist Attitudes to Human Rights: An Historical Perspective....Pages 11-37 Emergence of Concern for Human Rights in Adventism....Pages 38-50 Front Matter....Pages 51-51 Wealth Divide: The Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Poor....Pages 53-73 Racial Divide: Discrimination and Adventism — Theological and Hermeneutical Considerations....Pages 74-91 Gender Divide: The Role of Women in the Seventh-day Adventist Church....Pages 92-121 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 Reasons for Social Concern in Modern Adventism....Pages 125-136 Adventism’s ‘New Theology’....Pages 137-150 Front Matter....Pages 151-151 Philosophical Basis for Human Rights....Pages 153-162 A Common Theological Basis for Human Rights....Pages 163-186 Adventist Basis for Human Rights....Pages 187-207 Conclusion....Pages 208-213 Back Matter....Pages 214-271 Plantak, a Pastor in London and Kent, and an international speaker on Adventist issues, begins by examining Seventh Day Adventist history, theology, and ethics in order to discover reasons for certain inconsistencies in the church's approach to human rights. He then focuses on Adventist responses to poverty, race relations, and the role of women; the question of social theology in Adventism; and Adventist, Christian, and philosophical contributions to ethics. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or. Zdravko Plantak ; Foreword By Sakae Kubo. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 255-268) And Index.