Loading...
Larger font
Smaller font
Copy
Print
Contents
  • Results
  • Related
  • Featured
No results found for: "".
  • Weighted Relevancy
  • Content Sequence
  • Relevancy
  • Earliest First
  • Latest First
    Larger font
    Smaller font
    Copy
    Print
    Contents

    C. Hermeneutic No. 3

    At the risk of oversimplification, we can say that all prophets, when giving counsel and instruction, are doing one of two things: they are either (1) declaring a principle (an unchanging rule of human conduct that applies to everyone in all ages and all places), or (2) applying a principle to an immediate situation. This application could be called a policy.HIPSA 14.5

    Principles never change; but policies may (and, indeed, do), as the circumstances may change. This brings us to our third rule of hermeneutics:HIPSA 14.6

    Attempt to determine whether the prophet’s counsel is a statement of principle or of policy.HIPSA 14.7

    Once you have separated the two, you have a further responsibility. If the counsel is a policy, you must seek to identify the principle on which it is grounded. That principle will have a contemporary application, though it may well be quite different from the earlier one made by the prophet.HIPSA 15.1

    Let us study some specific cases to see how this rule works:HIPSA 15.2

    Every girl trained to harness/drive a horse? In 1903 Ellen White’s book Education was published. This book is required reading in Principles of Christian Education classes in Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities around the world. It contains many valuable principles and concepts.HIPSA 15.3

    Because of this it is valued by even non-Adventist educators as a resource and reference work. Dr. Florence Stratemeyer, for many years professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, explained several decades ago why she kept this work in her own personal library:HIPSA 15.4

    Written at the turn of the century, this volume was more than fifty years ahead of its times.... I was surprised to learn that it was written by a woman with but three years of [formal] schooling.

    The breadth and depth of its philosophy amazed me. Its concept of balanced education, harmonious development, and of thinking and acting on principle are advanced educational concepts [in 1959, when this statement was made by Dr. Stratemeyer].

    The objective of restoring in man the image of God, parental responsibility, and the emphasis on self-control in the child are ideals the world desperately needs. 56The Review and Herald, August 6, 1959, p. 13; cited in Francis D. Nichol, Why I Believe in Mrs. E. G. White (Washington: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1964), p. 62.

    But Education not only contains these (and other) principles, which never change; it also contains policies that may (and do) change as the circumstances alter.HIPSA 15.5

    One such is found in this statement: “If girls...could learn to harness and drive a horse, and to use the saw and hammer, as well as the rake and the hoe, they would be better fitted to meet the emergencies of life.” 57Ellen G. White. Education, 216, 217 (Mountain View: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1903).HIPSA 15.6

    In all of my worldwide travel I have never found an Adventist school that teaches girls (or boys, for that matter!) to harness and drive a horse. None of our schools, today, follows this educational counsel of Ellen White.HIPSA 15.7

    Does this mean that we have “abandoned the ‘blueprint,’” as some critics are quick to allege? Not at all.HIPSA 15.8

    First of all, Ellen White never gave us a “blueprint” for operating an educational, medical, or any other kind of institution. (We have no record of her ever having even used the word blueprint. She certainly would have disclaimed the concept, 58For an extended discussion of the myth of the educational “blueprint,” see George R. Knight, Myths in Adventism (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1985), especially chapters 4 and 5. for the word—as used today—implies a set of detailed drawings covering every part of a proposed building. It describes the structure as viewed from all angles and includes a detailed list of specifications indicating the quantity of each item of building material required for the project. Ellen White never gave any such specifications for Adventist education.)HIPSA 15.9

    Ellen White did present some timeless, changeless principles, as well as some applications of those principles in the context of her times.HIPSA 15.10

    The policy here was: teach girls to harness and drive horses. The principle upon which it was based is: education, for girls as well as boys, should be practical. (This would better fit the child “to meet the emergencies in life.”)HIPSA 15.11

    In 1903 most Seventh-day Adventist church members in North America lived on farms, far from large cities or towns. Rural electrification, and even telephone service, were still decades into the future for most farmers. If the husband and father became ill, emergency medical attention might be required. A daughter might be the only one able to go. Furthermore, knowing how to harness and drive a horse would enable a young woman to contribute to the operation of a farm or family business.HIPSA 15.12

    Today we still believe in the principle of practical education espoused by Mrs. White, even if we adapt and modify some of her policies to meet the realities of life in our day.HIPSA 15.13

    While I was teaching at Pacific Union College Walter Cox, chairman of the industrial-arts department, and his colleagues discussed the principles of practical education. They tried to find ways to adapt Mrs. White’s counsel to meet contemporary needs.HIPSA 16.1

    They came up with a course that is still offered: “Powder-puff Mechanics.” Enrollment is limited to girls. The class teaches basic facts about automobiles. (For example, there are three openings in a motor vehicle—one for water, one for gasoline, and one for oil, and don’t ever mistake one for another!) Before the girls complete the course they can change a tire and even do a minor engine tune-up.HIPSA 16.2

    Ellen White’s counsel (policy) on harnessing/driving horses, as found in Education, is, quite frankly, ignored in that school (and in Seventh-day Adventist schools around the world). However, the principle undergirding it is being implemented in very creative ways on many of our campuses.HIPSA 16.3

    Larger font
    Smaller font
    Copy
    Print
    Contents