Introduction

The Seventh-day Adventists have historically placed a high value on the biblical truth supported by the writings of Ellen White, which have proved their authenticity concerning the universal challenges and the last day developments. The biblical knowledge of God and His will for humanity are to be shared with every human being. That is the reason why Ellen White repeatedly speaks about Adventist education, which imparts and fosters a balanced development of the whole person spiritually, intellectually, physically and socially in a faith-and-learning environment.

Taking in notice the eschatological context of the great controversy between good and evil, truth and counterfeit, creation Sabbath and spurious day of worship, Ellen White calls the church to be educated in “the working out of God’s purpose in the history of nations and in the revelation of things to come,” because there are “lessons to be learned, the work to be done, the transformation of character to be effected.”¹ That is why this paper will try to clarify, in the light of the Spirit of Prophecy in regards to Adventist education, the nature and function of those challenges that every parent, teacher, pastor, and church member must face, recognize and overcome in order to be ready for rapidly approaching final eschatological events.

Adventist Education

Seventh-day Adventist education has been built on two historical pillars that bring together the past, the present and the future. It has its own unique history of about 145 years since the beginning of Ellen White’s contribution to it and the establishment of the first Adventist school in 1872.² However, to find the beginning of the extended history, one must go back throughout the ages of humanity. The educational pattern established by God in the Garden of Eden was characterized by close association and direct inter-communicational relationship of human with the Divine,³ when perfectly created human beings were given physical and mental lessons to learn in and from nature. The first couple had to carry with them these wholistic lessons even after they were displaced from their original home.

Thus the principles of Christ-centered educational methodology—to touch the human heart with knowledge of eternal values—were first introduced in Eden, repeated by Jesus and then reinforced in the 19th century. These principles have not been altered with the passing of time or change of a geographical location. From the writings of Ellen White they are seen as redemption, wholeness and permanence.⁴

Redemption

God’s messenger devotes numerous pages to the topic of Christ’s redemptive acts of love on behalf of the fallen human beings. Such books as The Desire of Ages, Christ’s Object Lessons, Steps to Christ, The Ministry of Healing, etc. speak volumes on behalf of Christ’s sacrifice. However, in the book of Education, Ellen White vividly presents and then describes education as a work of redemption. She confirms this by stating that “in the highest sense the work of education and the work of redemption are one.”⁵ Moreover, the aim of this unity is to help the student to start an intimate relationship with Christ that would become his/her “controlling power in the life.”⁶ Without this transformation, education becomes “more harmful than beneficial.”⁷

In addition to this, White adds that “the science of redemption is the science of all sciences.”⁸ This is the training that can be compared to the course of restoration, because it is the “process by which the soul is trained for heaven.”⁹ The notion that this science engages the human attention of our Lord and Savior, the Creator of the universe, elevates the students to such a degree that it gives them a privilege of being engaged in the most high educational exercise ever known to human beings, that will even be the subject of study throughout the unending ages of eternity.¹⁰

Wholeness

Wholeness is another fundamental principle of true education, as seen in Ellen White writings. It stands for “the preparation of the physical, mental, and moral powers for the performance of every duty; it is the training of body, mind, and soul for divine service.”¹¹ This calls for a wholesome approach to life in general and education in particular whether at home, church or school, and to avoid a one-sided development of a human being, it brings into perspective the curricula that is “equally developed.”¹²

Thus, Adventist education presents a balanced perspective that incorporates not only academic aspect of the students’ development, which is highly important and is implemented to its highest degree in almost all Adventist educational institutions, but also stresses the equal value of physical exercises through manual work that may even bring in a financial assistance.¹³ When youth is correctly physically trained through a productive work, this helps them to elevate their mind to spiritual realities and develop the character;¹⁴ and this is the quality that can endure the eternity because the life of such persons measures with the life of God.¹⁵

At the same time, physical labor is not a free passport to heaven, because the whole process of character development is not meritorious, for “our works in and of themselves have no merit.”¹⁶ It is only through the grace of God that the soul of the students is developed to reach forward “to the perfection of Christian character, striving continually for conformity to the will of God.”¹⁷ Hence, balanced wholistic development of the person plays a distinguishing role in true education from all other educational approaches and standards.

Permanence

The third principle of Adventist education stands for its continuity throughout the “whole period of existence possible to man.”¹⁸ Ellen White describes in detail a perspective of continuous learning processes before the birth, during one’s developmental stages, adolescence, matured period of life, and in throughout eternity if the person stays faithful to God. Thus, much of her writings is dedicated to a person’s development before one reaches adulthood,¹⁹ starting with the education of the embryo through the mothers’ attitude and dispositions.²⁰ The value of such education is often ignored or misunderstood by the majority of human beings. However, God values even unborn children and He has a plan for each one of them (Jer 1:5).

White is not silent about the value of home education where both parents should play an important role of being not only teachers to their children, but also standing in place of God to their young ones while they learn to comprehend His greatness and awesomeness.²¹ To her, a Christian home should be “a symbol of the home in heaven,”²² where true education is combined with love, and discipline molds and fashions the young.

At the same time, she is a great advocate for church schools²³ that have to be established not only in rural areas, where this is possible, for the benefit of children’s wholistic development, but also be mission-oriented stations so that the students would learn the value of service to others. For this reason, the teachers’ qualities of character should be considered higher than their intellectual development. “The teacher’s spiritual growth is sustained by the interaction between two imperatives —religious beliefs and religious practices.”²⁴

In addition to church schools, Ellen White stresses the importance and value of the church where education continues for all ages.²⁵ She urges that “there should be no delay in this well-planned effort to educate the church members”²⁶ so that they would grow in Christian graces and unbelievers around them “may be charmed by the faith that produces such results.”²⁷ Thus God’s people of all ages and ranks can grow in graces through the wholistic education, because “the works of salvation and redemption are available to all who would avail themselves of the opportunity through Christ.”²⁸ There are no exclusions to the continual educational process, except one’s personal rejection of it, because “In the school of Christ students never graduate. Among the pupils are both the old and the young.”²⁹

As a culmination of a non-stoppable educational journey, White prophetically elaborates on it with the heavenly scenes in mind: “All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God's children. With unutterable delight we shall enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings.”³⁰ That is why she continually calls her readers to pursue the true education on this earth as much as possible, so that hereafter God’s people will not only live with Him throughout eternity, but the education gained here “will be perfected in heaven” where they “will only just enter a higher grade.”³¹

Education and Eschatology

The ideal of Adventist education, as presented in Ellen White writings, includes in itself a larger picture of the biblical perspective, that is, the full restoration of Edenic perfection that the church in all its subdivisions and structures must grasp and utilize; and this restoration process is missiologically oriented. God’s plan of salvation is not complete without the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20) and the spreading of the Three Angels’ message (Rev 14:6-12) around the world. This calls for the uniqueness of Church’s spiritual identity with a purpose of revealing God’s will and His plans to every people’s group and nation as the day of Christ’s second coming is speedily approaching this earth.

Final biblical eschatological events are visiting the contemporary world with an intensely accelerating speed and devastating force. Unprecedented catastrophes are increasing human sufferings, losses, displacements, and deaths around the world. While this may sound alarming to a person without biblical knowledge, these events had been predicted in the Bible and repeatedly referred to in the writings of Ellen White. In this context, the challenge that the present-day Adventist church faces today, is not so much the lack of knowledge about these eschatological events, as a slow awakening to the realization and utilization of the shortness of time and God-given opportunities for witness. For this reason, it is crucially important to maintain the church’s spiritual distinctiveness and mission orientation in all her educational locations and levels—at home, school and at a local church—by incorporating the redemptive, wholistic and permanent aspects of Adventist education if the church wants to stay faithful to her prophetic distinctiveness and Christ’s commission.

However, in spite of the high calling, the spiritual identity of the Adventist church has been marginalized in many areas.³² Spiritual decline and worldliness speedily penetrate local churches and institutions. A clear line between Adventism and mainline Protestantism has become blurry, as theological standards and lifestyle issues have been interpreted as non-relevant and relative. A sad reality of lukewarmness in the church (Rev 3:15-18) is not a positive indicator, but it vividly depicts the spiritual condition of God’s people.³³ No wonder, that Ellen White calls for “A revival of true godliness” that should become “the greatest and most urgent of all our needs.”³⁴ In another places she pens down that “As the lovers of the world make religion subservient to the world, God requires His worshipers to subordinate the world to religion.”³⁵ Holmes continues on the same note by saying that in order to recover her identity, the church is to restudy and revive “the biblical message that made this movement such a powerful spiritual force in the world.”³⁶ It all comes back to a deeper level of understanding and utilization of true Adventist education under the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit, which is given “in answer to prayer.”³⁷ This dynamic spiritual truth can find its realization only in a proper faith-and-learning environment: in a family circle, at school and in a local church.

Continuous Home Education

There is an old saying that states that education is what you have left with when you have forgotten everything you have learned. This cannot be more true than education received at home, in spite of the age of a teacher and student. When speaking about family and home education, it usually comes to mind a homeschooling approach of teaching children at home as an alternative of sending them to a school. However, this notion has a much deeper and richer perspective and implications than only a mere consideration of receiving certain scholastic knowledge under the parental instructions.

Starting with full consecration of the children to God before and after their birth,³⁸ the parents, especially the mother, should dedicate themselves to God for the purpose of being co-workers with Him and to raise up the new citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom. No wonder that White puts strong emphases on the function and purpose of the home as a mission field. She says, “In His wisdom the Lord has decreed that the family shall be the greatest of all educational agencies. It is in the home that the education of the child is to begin. Here is his first school.”³⁹

Moses in his last sermon called God’s people to continuously educate their children—when they sit, walk, lay down, or rise up—in order to impart to them the moral values of life (Deut 6:7). These standards of a proper training of a child among Israelites have not been diminished with time. No wonder, that Ellen White called the parents to establish Christ-like atmosphere in their own families by identifying the Christian home in the following way:

Fathers and mothers who make God first in their households, who teach their children that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, glorify God before angels and before men by presenting to the world a well-ordered, well-disciplined family—a family that love and obey God instead of rebelling against Him. Christ is not a stranger in their homes; His name is a household name, revered and glorified. Angels delight in a home where God reigns supreme and the children are taught to reverence religion, the Bible, and their Creator. Such families can claim the promise, “Them that honour Me I will honour.”⁴⁰

This message invites contemporary parents to re-consider “a natural outgrowth of a productive, working, satisfying, everyday life”⁴¹ developments and activities, where each child experiences love, forgiveness, and reconciliation as a foretaste of heaven at the feet of the affectionate and God-fearing parents.⁴² This type of home education engages in its multifaceted learning environment both children and parents of all ages, and prepares them to meet the challenges of daily life and upcoming events of the soon approaching eschaton with full trust in the Divine power. Thus both parents and children live in the world but are not of the world (John 15:19; 17:16).

It is interesting to note that some people assume that there is a general intellectual decline during the later stage of adult life,⁴³ and what was taught and developed in childhood remains for the rest of a person’s life. However, this understanding is far from its reality, as it has been revealed in recent studies and is supported by the Bible and Ellen White’s writings. While motor skills of adults after thirty years of age slow down, their mental capacity and creative capabilities do not decline. Instead, upper limits of adult learning abilities go even into the mid-eighties,⁴⁴ because “the adults continue to learn and grow throughout all of life.”⁴⁵ This proofs what God’s prophetess wrote more than 135 years ago: “Those who give heed to the instructions of the divine Teacher constantly advance in wisdom, refinement, and nobility of soul.”⁴⁶ While this conceptual and intellectual education of adults includes the spiritual formation received in the church, school, workplace, etc., the home life with its continual physical, moral and intellectual developments should not be ignored, because this is the place where most time is spent. For this reason, the home education that starts before the birth and continues throughout the lifespan, plays a fundamental role in the character formation, assimilation and incorporation of learned skills into the practicality of a daily life and preparation for life eternal.

Adventist Schools with Eternity in View

While continuous home education is crucially important, the other side of the picture should not be forgotten. Hence, the focus is on Adventist schools that are to play a crucial role in the further development of true identity in the minds and hearts of young ones, while preparing them to become active participants in God’s missiological plan on this earth. This is a combination of two traditional approaches that need to be reunited together. On one hand, there is a need to preserve the identity of the church by protecting and nurturing the church’s youth. On the other hand, the missiological element and the way of living are critical aspects. If the church wants to faithfully fulfill the Great Commission in the view of Christ’s soon coming these two dimensions are to be combined.⁴⁷ However, in its essence, while the second aspect has been strongly emphasized by God’s messenger more than 100 years ago, it had not yet been fully utilized in the Adventist educational system.

White envisioned young people being in the very front of God’s work and ardently leading its missionary work to the world. To her, they “will with their ardent zeal stir up the sluggish energies of God's people, and so increase the power of the church in the world.”⁴⁸ In her classical book Education she proclaims:

With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin! How soon, in place of a possession here, with its blight of sin and pain, our children might receive their inheritance where “the righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever;” where “the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick,” and “the voice of weeping shall be no more heard.” Psalm 37:29; Isaiah 33:24; 65:19.⁴⁹

This calls for Adventist educational institutions to seriously reconsider not only the re-emphasis on the preservation of the true Adventist identity, but also its missiological purpose in order to advance God’s kingdom. At the same time, these institutions would not be able to achieve this work by themselves. They need support from both, the parents, as it was emphasized above, and the local church.

The Equipping Church

Forming deep-seated spiritual disciplines in the lives of young people could be compared to showing them mirrors they can trust. In other words, they need role models of adults, who love them unconditionally while showing them the reality about themselves, people around them, and God as their Maker and Redeemer.⁵⁰ To this group of adults belong not only teachers at school and parents at home, but also the local church members with their pastor and his/her team of lay ministers. Their influential role in education is crucial, and it should not be minimized because they are in the business of developing citizens for the Kingdom of God.

Esmond, elaborating on the same note, calls for churches to practically reveal the transformational discipleship instead of behavior modification among young ones.⁵¹ The first one requires not just a one-time discipline, but the establishment of a lasting friendship with a positive role model. He explains that in order to help children and youth “make the leap from mere belief in God to owning their walk with Him, and by extension His counsels to them, churches must create opportunities for them to be mentored by caring, mature followers of Christ.”⁵² By extension, the underlining point here is to educate the church concerning her responsibility of being ‘spiritual parents’ to every child and young adult in the local church and church school.

The responsibility that lays upon the church is great. No wonder, that the prophetic voice calls for the inclusion of ministerial laborers and the pastor in every school, so that the churches through them would become more involved in the thorough and far-reaching education of their young ones.⁵³ White points out that “the church has a special work to do in educating and training its children.”⁵⁴ Even more, she elaborates this concept by pointing out that God has assigned the church to be “a watchman, to have a jealous care over the youth and children, and as a sentinel to see the approach of the enemy and give warning of danger.”⁵⁵ She further warns of the dangers of negligence of one’s spiritual responsibility, and encourages a training of the children to become workers for God.⁵⁶

Similarly, Ella Simmons goes deeper and stresses the pastoral responsibilities in the schooling process. She argues that a contemporary reality of the pastor’s role in education of young people has been overlooked because of various reasons. She mentions several of them, such as: 1) the church school becomes one additional responsibility in the busy pastoral schedule; 2) the lack of personal experience with Adventist education; 3) the absence of clear directions from the church’s higher organization; and 4) other ministerial priorities.⁵⁷ Further in her article, she provides ten critically important and practically applicable points for indispensable pastoral support for local church schools.58 Her arguments reveal and uncover the very essence of the educational system, as it has been known today. In agreement with Simmons, it is important to note that unless there is established an actively engaged support of visionary pastors-equippers, this sustenance system of church-school-home support “will not likely survive”⁵⁹ for a long time. Therefore, while pastors are busy evangelizing others, their role in the formation of strong in faith and doctrine young Adventist missionaries needs to take its proper prioritizing place.

Thus, eschatological aspects in Adventist education can be fully realized, when a combination of continuous home education, Adventist schools, and the equipping church with her pastor in the front lines are actively involved in God’s mission. This collaboration of the above-mentioned entities will not only motivate young people, but also arm them with an understanding and insights concerning final eschatological events so that they will be ready to dedicate their talents, energy and lives to the great cause of eternity.⁶⁰

Sabbath, Education and Eschatology

The philosophical value of Adventist education and its proper implementation in the lives of God’s people in the context of the final eschatological events are inseparable concepts. For the sake of an illustration, an aspect of this theological-educational cluster is presented below. Education and the Sabbath go hand in hand in the biblical accounts. God Himself instructed and educated His messengers throughout ages concerning the holiness and true observance of the Sabbath day. There has always been a pressing need to call God’s people to repentance, as they had become careless and irreverent concerning its nature and function. While this was also true concerning the days of Ellen White and church pioneers, the questions remain today – What about contemporary church members and their children? Have they been properly educated and equipped concerning Sabbath observance and its eschatological interrelated significance? In other words, how can theoretical knowledge gained through Adventist education be blended with practical challenges of the believer’s life in the setting of eschatological fulfillment of the Sabbath-Sunday prophetical controversy?

One cannot emphasize too strongly and too much that God’s ideal is “an education that is as high as heaven and as broad as the universe.”⁶¹ The Sabbath education is about the plan of redemption and salvation, which is a part of the Adventist education. The Sabbath comes from the sinless world and points to the sinless world. It connects the past, the present and the future. It is about the Sabbath Giver, the Lord of the Sabbath, and the Lord of the Calvary. The Sabbath day speaks about “an education that cannot be completed in this life, but that will be continued in the life to come; an education that secures to the successful student his passport from the preparatory school of earth to the higher grade, the school above.”⁶²

Adventists are standing on the threshold of unheard and unseen eschatological events, and the Sabbath observance is one of those great questions, which will decide the destiny of every believer. One of the greatest dangers is the lack of true education and that is why people try to interpret the Sabbath doctrine according to their own inclinations and imagination. They desire to establish their own rules on keeping the Sabbath as they want to be accepted and find support from both this world and church members.

Ellen White makes a statement, which should motivate every Adventist to become serious concerning the quality of one’s spiritual life and teach the same to others: “The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God.”⁶³ The Seventh-day Sabbath and the final eschatological events are inseparable. That will be a final collision between the laws of men and the precepts of Yahweh, between the clear commandments of the Bible and the counterfeit religion and human tradition.⁶⁴ That is why every believer, whether young or old, has to be educated and established in Christ in order to withstand in the final battle because the true Adventist education, that includes redemption, wholeness and permanence, is to prepare people to meet the Lord in glory.

In her early years of ministry, White saw in one of her visions the final developments and the concluding Great Controversy scenes in their eschatological context, just prior to Christ’s second coming. She saw the faithful believers who “were filled with the Holy Ghost,” as they “went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.”⁶⁵ The importance of the Sabbath keeping in eschatological perspective was presented to her many times, and that is one reason why she faithfully explained and reemphasized this doctrine throughout her ministry and writings. It seems like there is an urgent need to educate God’s people, as never before, about the meaning and holiness of biblical Sabbath.

The ones who will be faithful to keeping the whole law are to “make the observance of the Sabbath so prominent that the world cannot fail to recognize them as the Seventh-day Adventists.”⁶⁶ And this recognition will be based not merely on the outward Sabbath observance, but on their character development—one of the main objectives of Adventist education.⁶⁷ Their ultimate love for God and faith in Him will bear fruit of obedience in their all-inclusive loyalty to Christ.⁶⁸ Without respect of age, this group of people will “have the seal of God in their foreheads”⁶⁹ according to Revelation 7:1-4.

On the contrary, there will be another group of people who will have the mark of the beast (Rev 14:9-12). They will be the ones who will observe the first day of the week or the papal Sabbath⁷⁰ “enforced by human law.”⁷¹ However, it is important to note here White’s explanatory remark that “No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has not yet come.”⁷² Contemporary Adventist are to apprehend that there is still freedom to choose the side of God or the side of His enemy. The ones who in their ignorance observe the Sunday as God’s day are not yet under the mark of the beast “and will not be until the decree goes forth causing men to worship this idol Sabbath.”⁷³ “But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit Sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast.”⁷⁴

The church of God is to be educated and warned on all levels that she is rapidly approaching the time when the first day of the week shall be worshiped, when the whole Protestant world shall impose the counterfeit Sabbath on the people as genuine. All the efforts will be put forth to make the Sabbath instituted by God void of any spiritual meaning as the subject of contempt.⁷⁵ Various religious and political human agencies, using their authority, means, influence, and power “will make the observance of the seventh day a sign of disloyalty to the authorities of earth.”⁷⁶ Ellen White was shown that “Human laws shall be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. For fear of wanting food and clothing, they will join with the world in transgressing God’s law.”⁷⁷

At this eschatological point of history there will be only two sides. There will be only two groups of people, those who follow the Lucifer or the counterfeit Christ and those who follow the authentic Christ; those who keep the biblical Sabbath and those who defend enforced Sunday. Ellen White is very clear that “The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part.”⁷⁸

In the context of the final scenes of the Great Controversy when this crisis overtakes many, what will the response of the Seventh-day Adventists be? Ellen White gives a shocking reply, “The great proportion of those who now appear to be genuine and true will prove to be base metal.”⁷⁹ In other words, many Adventists, who may have ignored or taken lightly the educational process in the school of Christ, whether at home, school or church, will bend in under pressure, and compromise the truth. It will seem like the church is about to fall, “but it does not fall. It remains while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place.”⁸⁰ Thus, during final eschatological events authenticity of everyone’s faith will be tested by the Sabbath commandment. A theory will become practice, and only those who are adequately educated, prepared and hidden in Jesus will be able to withstand the trial.

Concluding Remarks

The contemporary Seventh-day Adventist church is to reemphasize the importance of Adventist education by all her means and on all her levels in order to be able to stay faithful in the face of the rapidly-approaching eschatological events. One must remember that true education given in the Bible and recapped in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy will stand the test of time and continue through eternity. In her writings, White immensely contributed to this cause. She called the believers to get personally acquainted with Christ and His will, and to teach the same to their children at home, school and church. They “need courage, firmness, and a knowledge of God and His Word” so that “the light of a godlike character” in their lives would “shine the brightest”⁸¹ and they become the winners on God’s side. Therefore, one of the greatest challenges facing all parents, teachers, pastors and church members is to support Adventist education with all the available means, because “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3).