XXXV - 5(02)

“Watchman,

what of the night?”

"The hour has come, the hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the end!"          Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)

The Call of the Pope

&

WHO Responded

Editor's Preface

This issue will be primarily devoted to two items: 1) the Papal call to prayer for peace at Assisi in January, and 2) the appointing of B. B. Beach as an Adventist "Statesman" by Roy Adams, an associate editor of the Adventist Review. In as much as Adams introduced Beach as a "Statesman" because of his response to a witness by come dedicated young men at the Seventh Assembly of the WCC in Canberra, capitol of Australia in 1991, and since we covered the incident in the issues of WWN at that time, we review certain high points of this data in this issue. It was Australian Adventism's finest hour of witness, yet a witness which both Beach and Adams deplored at the time. The young men were derided as a part of the "lunatic fringe" of Adventism, instead of being honored by the Church for their daring proclamation of a truth the Church was raised up to proclaim.

The report that was given in the Australian Record noted a factor that has been largely ignored - the conditions which surrounded the witness which revealed the working of the Holy Spirit. In retrospect, no one who is honest, can give accolades to Dr. B. B. Beach when his conduct and condemnation of the young men before the WCC Assembly reveals conduct which does despite to the Holy Spirit of God (Heb. 10:29). This peerless witness by the young men was considered "crude" by both Adams and Beach. Did not the religious leadership of Jerusalem so consider the birth of Jesus? He was cradled in a cattle feeding trough, yet He was the truth and grace of God in flesh appearing. There is no question but what the sign said, which was floated over the WCC Assembly, was once believed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was also true that that belief had been abrogated two years prior in a legal brief approved by the leadership of the Church.

The question remains. On that hot summer day in Canberra, with whom was the Spirit of God revealing himself to be, the young men or the so called Adventist "Statesman"? This factor dare not be overlooked. If the young men, then who the other?

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"When they Shall Say, Peace"

Before reciting the Angelus on Sunday, January 20, this year, Pope John Paul II explained his call for a Day of Prayer for Peace on Thursday, January 24 at Assisi. He observed, "after the tragic attack last 11 September that we never forget, and with the threat of new conflicts, believers feel the urgency to intensify their prayer, for peace, because it is above all the gift of God." Then he stated:

This is the spirit in which, the Day of Fasting was observed last 14 December, with great consensus, and in the same spirit, the Day of Prayer for Peace will be held in Assisi this coming 24 January. Representatives of the different Christian denominations and of other religions will take part. Thus we will repeat the experience of 27 October 1986 when, for the first time, within the wall of the city of St. Francis, the representatives of all the world religious gathered together to raise to Heaven a fervent plea for peace. (L'Osservatore Romano, 23 January 2002)

The pope noted that since that first encounter of "the representatives of all the world religions" in Assisi, "a new spirit - often called 'the spirit of Assisi' - has guided interreligious dialogue and links it indissolubly to the commitment to justice, the protection of creation and to peace," Will this come to mean that any one who refuses to dialogue with any power or entity he believes to be teaching contrary to the Word of God, will be categorized as a part of the network of terrorism? Under a cloak of peace, will the persecutions of the past, be revived?

In this brief message, the Pope, was quick to follow with the assurance that The Day of Prayer for Peace does not in any way indulge in "religious syncretism." "In fact," he adds "each religious group will pray in a different place in accord with its own faith, its own language, its own tradition, and with full respect for the others." The factor that bound together the participants at Assisi on January 24 was "the certainty that peace is a gift of God," and that each believer is called to be a peacemaker (ibid.) There is no question but that "peace" is a gift of God, and we are to be "peacemakers." Where is the line to be drawn? "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). A new word has been invoked into the ecumenical picture. After citing the organizational plans to be used at Assisi, the Pope declared:

On this basis, not only men and women of different affiliations can collaborate, but indeed must engage in defending and promoting effectively the recognition of human rights, an indispensable condition for authentic and lasting peace (ibid. Emphasis his; underscoring mine.)

There is given in Micah a "last day" prophecy involving "peace" under the guidance of religion with the comment that "all people will walk everyone in the name of his god" (4:1-2, 5). Did we see a beginning fulfilment of this ancient prophecy in the development of "the spirit of Assisi"? It was plainly obvious that the ones who gathered on January 24 did not worship the same god! Among the "participants" were: Sikhs, Buddhists, Shintoists, Jainists, Zoroastrians, a Confucian as well a representative of a traditional African religion. Beside these were Muslims, adherents of Judaism, various Orthodox Patriarchs, including the ancient churches of the Near East, and Churches, Ecclesial Communities, Federations, Alliances, Organizations of the Western World as well as an array of Roman prelates.

In the issue of L'Osservatore Romano which followed the Day of Prayer for Peace at Assisi were pictures of the assembly. One thing that stood out was that the Pope alone occupied center stage. While the major participants of the world's religions were seated as "wings" to the Papal chair, the spacing, however, was such that the uniqueness of the Pope's position spoke loud and clear. The arrangement was in the form of an "arrow" and at the tip of the arrow, the Pope sat. The "deadly wound" has not only been healed, but the Vatican outreach and influence is the greatest it has been in all papal history.

The headline of this issue of L'Osservatore Romano read - "Assisi a Milestone toward Civilization of Love." The key item of the day was the afternoon's session at which the 10 sectioned "'Commitment to Peace" was read paragraph by paragraph by various representatives of the world's religions, the first paragraph being read

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by Dr. Conrad Raiser of the WCC, and the Pope concluding the commitment with these words:

Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism never again! In the name of God, may every religion bring upon earth Justice and Peace, Forgiveness and Life, Love! (30 January 2002, pp. 1-2)

The next day, the Pope invited the 200 plus religious leaders who participated at Assisi to have lunch with him at the Vatican which he termed "my own home." He declared, "the door of this house is open to all people, and you come to this table not as strangers but as friends." A "strictly vegetarian meal without alcohol" was served so as "to respect everyone's traditions." The religious leaders sat at ten tables while the Pope, surrounded by the 12 patriarchs and the heads of the delegations, sat at the central table. It appears as reported in the official organ of the Vatican that every aspect including the lunch in the Papal residence was arranged to project the Pope, not as "first among equals," but as first.

In the call to pray for peace at Assisi by the head of the Papacy, not only is the prophecy of Revelation 13:3 clothed with greater significance, but also a statement becomes pregnant with renewed meaning. It reads simply:

When religious teachers are pointing forward to long ages of peace and prosperity, ... then it is that sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape. (PP, p. 104; compare with 1 Thess. 5:1-3)

We might ask, "Does the 'pointing' indicate an accomplished fact, or is the 'pointing' to an objective desired as at Assisi - a 'Civilization of Love'?" If to the latter meaning, then we are much nearer the "sudden destruction" than we would like to be. Well might the call of Amos be heeded, "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel" (4:12).

The call to prayer at Assisi by the Pope will not be the last call to inaugurate a "'Civilization of Love." While the religious representatives were sharing a meal the following day with the Pope at the Vatican, the Italian press made an assessment of the previous Day of Prayer. La Stampa of Turin indicated that the Pope wanted "the meeting at Assisi 'to demonstrate the risks facing humanity and the need to form a united front to promote dialogue and prayer.'" La Republica of Rome expressed the hope "that the next inter-religious summit would take place in Jerusalem." (ENI Bulletin, Number 02, Feb. 6, 2002, p. 7)

Adventist "Statesman" Responds to Papal Call

In the January 30, issue of L'Osservatore Romano, there was listed the names of the "Two Hundred Religious Leaders" who joined "the Holy Father in Assisi to Condemn Terrorism." One name that appeared (p. 4) was Dr. Bert B. Beach, but not as representing the Adventist Church, but as the "General Secretary of the Conference of Secretaries of the Christian World Communions" (CWC). However, with the Seventh-day Adventist Church "being actively represented at the annual meetings" of the CWC, and with one of its own ministers serving as Secretary of this quasi-organization, the Church was indirectly represented at the Assisi gathering with the Pope. Some members of the CWC, such as the World Baptist Alliance, and World Methodist Council, sent representatives direct.

This quasi-organization was formerly known as the World Confessional Families, and it was through this organization, that B. B. Beach, as its Secretary, presented the gold medallion, as a symbol of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to the then reigning pontiff, Paul VI, in 1977.

An article in the Adventist Review, written by an Associate Editor, presenting B. B. Beach as a peerless Adventist Statesman, appeared two months prior to the Assisi meeting. A number of these events from three decades past were reviewed in the article. One is led to wonder if the article was purposefully planned to condition the impact of Beach's attendance at Assisi at the call of the Pope. God didn't call him there; another power is pictured in Revelation as calling ecumenical gatherings. We shall note some of the details of the "Cover Story" by Roy Adams in the Adventist Review, November 8, 2001.

The Beginnings

Beach marks as "the big event in his life," the

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invitation of F. D. Nichol, then editor of the Review, to attend the second session of Vatican Council II. He was at the time serving as education director of the Northern Europe-West Africa Division of the Church. In Rome, Beach established contact "with prominent Catholic leaders as well as leaders of the WCC." Two officials of the WCC Visser't Hooft, General Secretary, and Lukas Vischer head of the Faith and Order Commission, were observers at the Council. Vischer became a good friend to the extent that he and Beach co-authored a book published originally by the WCC, So Much In Common. No one can truly say he is informed on ecumenical trends which have taken place both within and without the Church since then, which involved the Church, unless he has given it careful reading. Major changes which occurred in the Church's Statement of Beliefs as voted at Dallas, Texas, in 1980, find their source there.

The final chapters of the book discuss officially sanctioned conversations between the WCC, and the SDA Church. One section, "Results Obtained" lists among other things, the following:

1)  In 1967, a Seventh-day Adventist theologian was appointed by the Central Committee of the WCC to sit on the Faith and Order Commission. The Committee's selection, Dr. Earle Hilgert, was approved by the SDA General Conference Committee. Hilgert at the time was serving as professor of New Testament Studies at Andrews University.

2)  "Since the conversations got under way [1965], it has been accepted procedure for the SDA Church to be represented at various WCC meetings, including the Assembly, by observers. These observers have not just been present pro forma, but have taken an active interest in the meetings they attended. An additional step was taken when the General Conference, as a world confessional body or church, was represented by an advisor in Canterbury at the 1969 meeting of the WCC Central Committee" (p. 101).

3) "Since 1968 the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has been actively represented at the annual meeting of 'Secretaries of the World Confessional Families'" (p. 100). [In the Review article by Adams, the quasi-organization is noted as CWC.]

The CWC

Just what is the Christian World Communions? This is the first question asked in a letter dated October 11, 1977, to Elder M. S. Nigri, then a vice president of the General Conference, by Azenilto G. Brito, Editor of 0 Atalaia published by the Church's Brazil Publishing House. When the Portuguese edition of L'Osservatore reporting B. B. Beach's visit to the Pope reached Brazil, the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement made capital of it. Brito's letter to Nigri was to get the facts. Nigri in turn sent the letter to Beach for an answer. Beach replied (Letter dated Nov. 15, 1977) to the six questions asked by Brito in a three page letter. He wrote in regard to the first question - "This conference is not an organization. There is no constitution and there are no dues to be paid. It is simply an informal and unstructured forum which gives representatives of the various World Confessional Families the opportunity for consultation and the exchange of useful information." Beach then lists some of the "families" (World Communions): Lutheran World Federation, Baptist World Alliance, World Methodist Council, World Reformed Alliance, Roman Catholic Church, Salvation Army, and Anglican Consultative Council. Beach himself represents the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and serves as secretary of the CWC.

Beach mentions to Brito that as secretary he is responsible "for preparing the agenda and handling the minutes or report of the conference" but suggests to Brito, "there is no usefulness in giving any publicity to this fact." In a letter dated April 1, 1975, from the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC, it was stated that the Commission "relates to that conference in a consultative manner." Does one counsel a non-entity? Are minutes and an agenda prepared for just a yearly "chit-chat"? CWC is best described as a quasi-organization, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a part of that organization and represented by Dr. Bert B. Beach, its secretary.

The Gold Medallion

Dr. Beach told Elder Brito that most of the annual meetings of the CWC take place in Geneva, where the WCC offices are located, but in 1977, the annual meeting was scheduled for Rome. He anticipated seeing Pope Paul VI, and planned to present

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him with a gold medallion, which is also given by the General Conference to some of the public dignitaries who visit the headquarters of the Church.

The idea for this medallion was conceived by the Director of the Department of Communications of the General Conference so as to be a part of a series of medallions being prepared by the Presidential Art Medals, Inc., of Vandalia, Ohio, symbolizing the "Great Religions of the World." The medallion was designed and sculptured by Ralph J. Menconi. Mr. Menconi came to Washington and visited with the committee set up by the department to discuss what the medallion might incorporate.

There is no question but that the committee envisioned a medallion expressing the basic teachings of the Church. The obverse or front side seeks to depict the Second Coming of Christ, but does not reflect the Biblical picture of a conquering Christ leading the armies of Heavens, but rather a risen Lord receiving the veneration of angels. One cannot be sure whether Christ's feet are resting on the earth behind some clouds, or not, a key factor in the Biblical description of the Second Coming. The reverse or back side of the medallion seeks to set forth the Sabbath as well as the Cross of redemption and the Bible as the basis of doctrine. While the other commandments are listed by number only, the Fourth Commandment has inscribed below it "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." The Roman Catholic Church - noting it as the Third Commandment - admonishes: "Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day" (The Convert's Catechism of Christian Doctrine, page 49). No difference, except in numbering. The core of Adventist teaching regarding the Fourth Commandment is that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God." That is absent.

The real issue is what the Medallion is perceived to be, and to whom it was given. In the Review of August 11, 1977 (p. 23), W. Duncan Eva, a vice president of the General Conference, reported on the presentation of the medallion to the Pope. He wrote, "the medallion was a gold-covered symbol of the Seventh-day Adventist Church." Eva was serving as president of the Northern European Division when the first contacts had been made by Beach with the WCC and gave his full blessing and administrative support to what was taking place.

To give the medallion to various foreign political leaders who visit the General Conference offices is one thing, but to take the medallion and place it as "a symbol" of the Church in the hands of one designated in the Scriptures as "that man of sin. . . the mystery of iniquity" (II Thess 2:21, 7) is something significantly different. This is no light matter that can be passed off as simply a "missionary" witness. The witness to cardinal concepts of the Church on the medallion is blurred by Catholic sculpturing. Beach's participation in the CWC is open to question if the Church is what it professes to be, the spiritual Israel of God. Israel was "to dwell alone" and "not to be reckoned among the nations" (Numbers 23:9).

Two years prior to the giving of the medallion, the Church in a court case before the Federal judiciary acknowledged a change of belief which served to justify Beach's presentation. In a legal brief submitted in the case, EEOC vs. PPPA, the Church affirmed:

Although it is true that there was a period in the life of the Seventh-day Adventist Church when the denomination took a distinctly anti-Roman Catholic viewpoint, and the term "hierarchy" was used in a pejorative sense to refer to the papal form of church governance, that the attitude on the Church's part was nothing more than the manifestation of widespread anti-popery among conservative protestant denominations in the early part of this century and the latter part of the last, and which has now been consigned to the historical trash heap so far as the Seventh-day Adventist Church is concerned. (Excerpts Legal Documents, p. 41; emphasis supplied)

A Peerless Witness

Roy Adams prefaced his eulogy of Beach with an incident which occurred at the Seventh Assembly of the WCC in Canberra, Australia in 1991. It was there that Adams claimed he perceived of B. B. Beach as "an Adventist statesman," It was a hot afternoon, and the Assembly was in plenary session. The side doors of the auditorium were opened to permit as much air as possible to pass through the building. Taking advantage of this

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opportunity, some young men entered the assembly with a large banner which read, "Seventh Day Adventists believe THIS PROPHESIED ROMEWARD UNITY IS THE SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST." To this banner were attached helium balloons which carried it to the upper reaches of the auditorium. When first reporting this incident in the Adventist Review (May 2, 1991, p. 10), as a reporter in attendance at the WCC Seventh Assembly, Adams had written that he had found himself "deeply embarrassed and sickened by this crude and unethical tactic." Let Adams bear in mind that he could not have been as sick as some have become in reading certain of his editorials in the Adventist Review. Adams' problem is that he has been so long drunk on the wine of error, that a taste of truth causes him to become nauseated. There was more to this incident than merely a "public relations" incident. The facts as they unfolded dare not be overlooked.

The Australian Record, the official organ of the South Pacific Division, gave some very interesting data concerning this incident. With Beach and Adams at the Assembly was Elder Ray Coombe, the Director of the South Pacific Division's Communication Department. He reported the events in the March 23, 1991 issue of the Record. The Assembly was discussing at the time a report on the Vatican-WCC Joint Working Group (JWG). The reaction to the banner was mixed according to Coombe. Some were amused, and some were angered but "other observers generally agreed that the demonstration had been cleverly carried out." Then Coombe made this telling comment:

It could not have been more perfectly timed. Even delegates within the plenary session could not have predicted the time when the report of the JWG would be considered. There is no way the demonstrators could have known that the closer links between the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church were being discussed at the very moment that they released their banner (p. 10).

This should tell any honest soul something. If no man knew, and the timing was perfect, Who knew? Who directed by His Spirit, and ordered events of nature so that doors were wide open at the moment so that the finest hour in Australian Adventist witness might be made? Neither Beach nor Adams sensed the Spirit's working. Beach in his reaction before the WCC Assembly sought to disassociate himself from the young men who planned and executed the witness by stating - "Like other churches, we have our dissidents and people who use their liberty in inappropriate though somewhat comical ways." Men who were "sickened" by and who publicly deplored what they considered to be "crude," though evidence points to the working of the Holy Spirit, are still functioning in high places in the Church.

A reader in New South Wales responded to Coombe's report in the Australian Record. Questions were asked:

Was the hand at Belshazzar's feast "moral and ethical"? Was John the Baptist following ethical practices when he called the leaders of the church "vipers and hypocrites"? Jesus Himself referred to them as "whited sepulchres." Was this polite? When was the invitation extended to Elijah to present his case through "proper channels"? (May 4, 1991, p. 3).

A decade has passed, and to my knowledge neither Beach, nor Adams have given an answer to these questions. Now Adams reviews the events of that day and the response given by Beach to the Seventh Assembly of the WCC in Canberra, writing:

His articulation of the Adventist Church's position and how we viewed the rude interruption of the council's legitimate business truly did us proud. And as the international delegation broke out into sustained applause when he finished, in my mind I said: There goes an Adventist statesman. (Adventist Review, November 8, 2001, p. 8; emphasis his).

This cover story has a subtitle - "Sometimes a group does not recognize they have a treasure in their midst." Would it not have been more accurate to have reported, that it was a sad day when representatives of the Church failed to recognize the working of the Spirit of God and sought to blunt its intrusion. Instead of exalting a man, a confession of guilt in rejection of the Spirit would have been more apropos.

Adams further blurs the facts by writing that Beach "secured permission to address the delegates, a rare privilege for someone in his special observer category" (ibid.). Whether this is a statement based in ignorance, or an intended cover up we are unable to discern. In the listing of "Who's Who" at the WCC Seventh Assembly,

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the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is listed as being represented by Dr. Bert Beach as a "Delegated Representative." In a letter dated "5 June 1991" from the General Secretariat, Seventh Assembly office the status "delegated representatives" is defined:

"Delegated representatives" are persons representing organizations with which the WCC maintains relationship, such as associate councils of churches, certain world ecumenical organizations, etc. They have a right to speak in plenary but not to vote. (emphasis supplied)

In a second letter dated "15 July 1991,"the same office stated - "The churches which send a delegated representative to the assembly are associate member churches of the WCC." It was not Beach's "statesmanship" that secured for him the opportunity to speak, but a recognized right inasmuch as the SDA Church is an associate member of the World Council of Churches.

On that memorable day in 1991, the Spirit of God was not only sending a message of what "the spirit of antichrist" was to the Seventh Assembly, but also a warning of where associate membership in the WCC had taken the SDA Church. It went unheeded and was even defied by the "Adventist Statesman." Now at the call of the Pope to come to Assisi, this "Statesman" - this "treasure" of the Church - responded!

#

AVAILABLE (Link to Order Page-Prices Subject to Change):

So Much in Common. Co-authored by Dr. Lukas Viscera of the WIC and B. B. Beach. First printing by WIC. Post-paid - US$6.00.

Steps to Rome - Documentary of the SDA Church's approach to Rome via B. B. Beach. Post-paid - US$4.00.

EEOC vs. PPPA - Documentary of Legal Briefs and Affidavits in Federal Court case #74-2025 CBR. Post-paid US$5.00. (Limited quantity available)

All three - US post-paid - $15.00; Canada post-paid - US$17.50.

One Issue Only -- In the great controversy between Christ and Satan, there is but one issue, and that is truth. Jesus declared that the devil "abode not in the truth," and he is the Father of all who do likewise (John 8:44). The deceptive power of the mystery of iniquity overwhelms because "the love of the truth" is not the motivating factor in the life (II Thess. 2:10). If we are not born of the Spirit of truth, His workings often embarrass us. We consider them crude and inappropriate.

At the heart of genuine Christianity is the cross, on which was crucified Him who declared of Himself, "I am the truth" (John 14:6). In so doing, the Jewish hierarchy sealed the fate of the Jewish nation. Is there any difference between what the Jewish leaders did, and what is done when the Church alters or abridges the truth entrusted to it?

Think on These Things -- "The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times ... Shall this power, whose record for a thousand years is written in the blood of saints, be now acknowledged as a part of the church of Christ?" -- Great Controversy. p. 571

"It is the rejection of Bible truth which makes men approach to infidelity. It is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the papacy." -- Signs, Feb. 19, 1894

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