The Confessing Seventh-day Adventist

I've heard an evangelistic sermon series, which was taped live before a large Adventist audience at Andrews University. The fundamental point of the whole series was that the crucifixion of Jesus was only a demonstration and that God was making it clear in the meaning of the crucifixion that He didn't want us to be afraid of the final judgment. But this is exactly what channeled spirits have said, according to the New Age book, A Course In Miracles, Vol. 1, pp. 84-85, all documented at my website. How do the Adventists here explain this agreement?

Ellen G. White wrote:Satan and his angels will appear on this earth as men, and will mingle with those of whom God's word declares, "Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." The world is full of men and women whom Satan uses as his agencies. Christ has bought them with a price, —even His life-blood. But they have given themselves into Satan's control. They are blind, and have forgotten that they were purged from their sins. {PH058 2.3}

Satan will use every opportunity to seduce men from their allegiance to God. He and the angels who fell with him will appear on the earth as men, seeking to deceive. God's angels, also, will appear as men, and will use every means in their power to defeat the purposes of the enemy. We, too, have a part to act. We shall surely be overcome unless we fight manfully the battles of the Lord. —8MR 399.

Shouldn't Adventist leaders be frightened by heretical doctrines being warmly embraced at Adventist universities from channeled spirits? Where are the loyal angels—or even informed believers—to resist the work and hypnotic spell of A. Graham Maxwell?

Eugene, I thank the Lord for how your ministry has opened the door of hope for me. I came across your website a couple of weeks ago, and since then I have read and reread your articles and the postings on your forum. It has revitalized me and brought me out of a lethargy that kept me down and depressed for several years.

In 1985, an Adventist "brother" who constantly harped that we must all love one another, backstabbed and betrayed me to the point that I almost lost my faith. He had been lured into the so-called "deliverance and message" deception and I tried my best to warn him that it was of the devil, but he refused my every effort to throw him a lifeline. That brother was my best friend, and his cold rudeness and betrayal of our friendship hit me like a ton of bricks. It almost completely knocked the spiritual breath out of me.

Since then I have been mostly inactive in the SDA Church, although I have attended church on a sporadic basis; but my enthusiasm was gone. I warmed the church pews for many years, but dared not get close to anyone for fear to being slammed into the ground again. A few years ago the Lord finally gave me peace and forgiveness for that person through a dream.

I will be sixty in October and do not have the level of energy I had in my youth; but after I got over my years of anger and disenchantment with "loving" Adventists, I wanted to get back into some sort of service or ministry to the Lord. So I set up an Internet tape ministry three years ago where I share several brilliant sermons and a book by the late J. W. (Bill) Lehman. But for Bill Lehman's ability to inspire hope in hopeless sinners, I would have given up on God long ago. Two years ago I had one of Lehman's sermon series titled "Christ Our Righteousness" published in a book with the same title, and have marveled at how I keep getting orders for tapes and books from all parts of the world.

Somehow during my years of brooding and inactivity, I never noticed the controversy within the church that you so well outline in your forum--that of Maxwell and his "God does not kill" theory and that his teachings constitute the basis of the "omega" apostasy. I have read this information carefully and find that it all makes sense. You have clearly and with great logic presented your case that Maxwell's teachings are indeed the omega of apostasy that Ellen White predicted. Eugene, who else is sounding the alarm? There has GOT to be someone else out there!!!

Two weeks prior to my first visit to your website, I was doing an Internet search for articles on the Trinity. I found the website of an SDA church in Dawsonville, Georgia where the pastor has posted not only his ideas on the Trinity but a series of articles (which he plans to turn into a Bible study series) on the so-called "Healing and Legal Models" of salvation. A brief email interchange resulted in the pastor sending me a CD with the studies and a request that I review them and comment. The studies started out innocently, but then I began to discern a line of false reasoning that led to several statements such as these: "God is not like us, His ways are higher than ours. We must realize our way of doing things is not usually the best. If God punishes His rebellious children after the judgment, aware that they are proved hardened in their sinful life style and will not change, what purpose could it serve other than saying to the rest of the universe 'If you reject and disobey Me this is what will happen to you!' Then the motive for obeying and loving God is the fear of what He will do to us if we don’t."

I began to see that he was laying the foundation for the idea that God does not kill. The errors in the Bible studies grew until he blatantly declared that "The teaching that God demands the life of the sinner as the punishment for disobedience, but He is willing to accept the death of His own son in the place of the transgressor is making God like the ancient gods of the pagans who demanded child sacrifice in order that their wrath may be appeased." Several times in the studies, the idea that "Jesus died to pay for our sins" is said to have been conceived in the mind of Satan. The point came when I could read no further; and I emailed this well-meaning, but sadly deceived pastor that he has fallen for a cleverly devised fable.

Once I stumbled upon your forum, I was hooked and spent many hours over many days reading the postings in the forum and the articles on your main website. After I learned from your forum that the "moral influence theory" was entrenched in places like Andrews and Loma Linda, I began to wonder how widespread this false theology has spread throughout Adventism. And now I learn that it has reached the small, hick town of Dawsonville, Georgia. God help His people!

From your articles and forum postings, I have come to understand something that I would NEVER have discerned on my own--that Maxwell's teachings are the basis of what Ellen White called the omega apostasy. Your articles such as "The Adventist Semi-Socinian M.I.T.H" and "The Spiritualism of Adventism" should be read by every Adventist who has not already been caught in the enemy's snare.

I am particularly swayed by the logic of your thesis that Maxwell's theory of death is the perfect complement of Kellogg's theory of life. If it is true (as Kellogg asserted) that God's presence is in all life, then death (as Maxwell asserts) is merely the removal of God's presence. How subtle! But how dangerous, for it is a direct attack of the authority of the living God, and places natural consequences and nature above God and His sovereign power and authority. I loved the illustration you used where Kellogg's theory is like one side of a picture of a face, and Maxwell's theory, being the reciprocal of Kellogg's, forms a mirror image of Kellogg's side of the face, thus bringing into focus the entire image of the face. I think you have presented your arguments in a most logical and persuasive way.

You wrote that back in Ellen White's day, "Almost no one had the discernment to recognize Kelloggs's pantheism." Finally Ellen White had to openly declare that Kellogg's theories were "akin to pantheism." I am thankful that God has given you the discernment to see Maxwell's theories as having pantheistic overtones. I truly believe that the Lord is leading you in exposing this dangerous doctrine.

Pantheism is but a veiled form of spiritualism, and spiritualism is Satan's enchanted ground. I live in Utah and have witnessed the inability of Mormons to grasp the simple truths of the Bible, preferring instead to place the Book of Mormon above the Bible and testifying to their faith that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. The simple fact is that Joseph Smith was heavily involved in various forms of spiritualism and other manifestations of the occult long before God supposedly chose him to be a modern day prophet. Mormanism smacks of spiritualism, and when people willing open their minds to the teachings of Joseph Smith, they become the legal prey of the devil, on whose enchanted ground they have ventured with their eyes wide open. Well-meaning Adventists who post on your forum that they don't see the pantheism in Maxwell's teachings do actually become "a marvelous proof of the supernatural" ability of Satan to confuse the mind when it comes to discerning truth.

By the way, somewhere in your forum you refer your readers to Bill Shea at the Biblical Research Institute for a copy of "The Serpent Speaks." I tried to contact Bill Shea but got an email back that he is no longer there.

As I watch the news, I see that this world has gone insane, and it grieves me to see so much confusion and heresy in the church. In my youth I went on a search for any "absolutes" that may exist in the world. I never found any until I read that "The righteousness of God is absolute." 1SM 198. Men may betray us, and we must marvel at the spiritual blindness of so many Adventists, but we can cling to His righteousness as the only absolute in the universe.

I think that the way you were treated by the Richardson church and the Texas Conference was mind-boggling and worthy of rebuke, and is an example of blatant "popery" within the organized church. All of our leaders are not like that, but there are enough to make it difficult to be proud to be a Seventh-day Adventist.

Thank you for your willingness to "cry aloud and spare not"; and I am happy that you have remained true to the writings of Ellen White and the core teachings of the Adventist Church in spite of the unjust treatment you have experienced from unconverted men. Your energy, brilliant logic, and fearlessness to speak out against heresy has brought hope back to my soul. It has aroused me to pursue spiritual truth again, and I can't thank you enough.

My goal now is to keep the subject of justification by faith alive. In the 80s it was the main topic of conversation, but there were dozens of versions circulating within the church. Today it has been swept under the rug, which is why I set up my tape ministry. I believe that God gave Bill Lehman a special gift for teaching that subject.

Keep trucking, my friend, and don't let the man get you down.

Dear twin,

We have much in common. I too was backstabbed and betrayed by a close Adventist friend. As best as I can figure out, my betrayer was trying to teach me a lesson, much like Judas was trying to teach Jesus a lesson about his own superior but unappreciated gifts. My betrayal was about ten years ago. That former friend has been pestering me ever since through sporadic, insulting and antagonistic emails. The most recent insult I received from him was his usual profession of innocence along with a revelation of all the time I wasted in trying to reason with a hopeless alcoholic for the last ten years. He says he wants my friendship now. He doesn't understand what friendship means to me. I have a minimal standard for friendship, a standard he doesn't meet. My friends should believe the gospel and strongly desire its proclamation. He wants reconciliation desperately but I can't forgive him unless God forgives him. How can I accept a former Christian brother when all indications are that he has been given over to Satan and only wants to escape God's ongoing punishment of him so he can continue living as a lukewarm Laodicean?

Looking Upward wrote:You have clearly and with great logic presented your case that Maxwell's teachings are indeed the omega of apostasy that Ellen White predicted. Eugene, who else is sounding the alarm? There has GOT to be someone else out there!!!

That's a very good question and I think it's possible to give a reasonable estimate. To find the answer, I googled for "Graham Maxwell" + omega to see who else understands Ellen White's omega prophecy in the light of Kellogg's pantheism and Maxwell's heresy. My conclusion is that only you and I understand the Maxwell-Kellogg parallel.

I'll try to secure a copy of "The Serpent Speaks" for you. Thanks for your many kind words.

Eugene Shubert wrote:9/24/2006. Good news. I found a copy of The Serpent Speaks.

Looking Upward,

I sent you a copy of The Serpent Speaks yesterday. From looking at the transcript copy that goes with it, it looks like about half the tape is from one tape on the Moral Influence theory. The rest is from the Andrews University series, which, if I remember correctly, was about 4 or 5 tapes. I recall only using about 2 tapes from that series in the Serpent Speaks compilation.

You will hear many clicks where I started and stopped the tape so you'll know what the whole quotes are and you will probably have an easy time guessing where I've inserted the many ellipses and what is an isolated, separate statement.

Hearing the tape recently makes me think that I made one major editing mistake. I started the compilation with Maxwell saying that he is going to state a half-hour summary of why Jesus died. That was a good beginning point. But I placed the majority of that quick summary at the end of the tape.

Hearing this Maxwell tape again reminds me of my college days at UCSD when I chatted at lunch one day with a student who told me that he was once heavily involved in spiritualism. I don't recall the exact words he used. He said how deeply he believed that spirits communicate through mediums but from the many times he participated in these events, the spirits communicated almost nothing that was meaningful so he turned away from it in disgust.

I find Maxwell so shallow and empty that I too am disgusted by the fact that he can talk and talk for days without end but just leaves one guessing at how he might answer pointed questions. He does expose himself fairly well in the Moral Influence theory section of the tape but only because he was provoked and reacting to me circulating my first draft of The Denial of Justice and The Man of Lawlessness a few weeks earlier in his Sabbath School class in Loma Linda. As a result, I was threatened at the Loma Linda University church by two of Maxwell's cronies who said they could have me arrested for trespassing because I was unwelcome on church property. I said go ahead. It was obvious that they didn't like me sharing and contributing to the Sabbath School class with an intelligent Adventist challenge to Maxwell's m.i.th.

I recently saw a program on a religious network on spiritualism. The big claim of spiritualism is enlightenment. Just follow our particular philosophy and you'll be enlightened. It hit me that the very essence of what Maxwell is saying is, "My teachings will bring you greater enlightenment about the plan of salvation." There is always to be new light, but no light from God contradicts and undermines the truth that has gone before.

The promise of spiritualism in any age is enlightenment. Satan’s offer to Eve was that if she ate of the forbidden fruit, she would be as a god. Never mind what God told her. If she would follow Satan’s suggestions, she would be enlightened.

Today it works the same way. Never mind what the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy say about the law, the atonement, the blood of Christ, the final destruction of the wicked, etc. Just listen to the sophistries of Dr. Maxwell and you will more become enlightened on these matters. The fact that his theories contradict the Scriptures and many clear statements of Ellen White over and over again is rarely discerned by the unsuspecting. Maxwell’s followers brush those contradictions aside and try to spin lies into the truth.

Without coming right out and saying it, Maxwell's claim is that his theories will lead us to a higher level of understanding of the gospel and the plan of salvation. They will enlighten us. He expects us to believe that the Bible writers, and even a modern-day prophet, didn’t have it quite right. Maxwell would have us believe that we can become more enlightened by keeping the requirements of the law and legal terminology out of our dissertations on salvation. It is more enlightening to avoid “dark speech" such as found in the classic hymn which declares that “there is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb.”

The really sad thing about it all is that almost no one is speaking out against Maxwell's spiritualism. Church leaders seem paralyzed and fearful of dealing with heresy. They will have to answer to God for standing by mute while the enemy is working his will within our ranks.

Looking Upward,

It is widely believed that the drawing power of Maxwell's spiritualistic philosophy is secret knowledge. Richard Fredericks compared Maxwell's moral influence theory with Gnosticism in his article, The moral influence theory—its attraction and inadequacy: The distorted attraction of one popular theory of the atonement, published in Ministry Magazine (March, 1992 pp. 6-10).

What the church doesn't understand is the hypnotic, soul-destroying effect of Maxwell's sophistry on unsuspecting minds and the sinful cowardice of allowing dangerous heresy to be promoted through official church channels. The devil isn't too upset when we talk about the great boast of spiritualism. It is better for us reformers to expose the ultimate goal of spiritualism. I will illustrate my point with great excerpts from chapter 40 of the Great Controversy, which you cited in your lengthy article: Beware of Spiritualistic Theories:

Ellen G. White wrote:The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before Him, and every mountain and island is moved out of its place. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people." Psalm 50:3,4.

To the rejecters of His grace no other [voice] could be so full of condemnation, so burdened with denunciation, as that voice which has so long pleaded: "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" Ezekiel 33:11. Oh, that it were to them the voice of a stranger! Says Jesus: "I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof." Proverbs 1:24, 25. That voice awakens memories which they would fain blot out--warnings despised, invitations refused, privileges slighted.

And now there rises a cry of mortal agony...They seek to flee from the presence of the King of kings. In the deep caverns of the earth, rent asunder by the warring of the elements, they vainly attempt to hide...The derisive jests have ceased. Lying lips are hushed into silence. The clash of arms, the tumult of battle, 'with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood' (Isaiah 9:5), is stilled. Nought now is heard but the voice of prayer and the sound of weeping and lamentation. The cry bursts forth from lips so lately scoffing: 'The great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?' The wicked pray to be buried beneath the rocks of the mountains rather than meet the face of Him whom they have despised and rejected."

Those who a little before were so reckless, so boastful and defiant, so exultant in their cruelty to God's commandment-keeping people, are now overwhelmed with consternation and shuddering in fear. Their wails are heard above the sound of the elements. Demons acknowledge the deity of Christ and tremble before His power, while men are supplicating for mercy and groveling in abject terror.

It is impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who have trampled upon God's holy requirements.

The contrast between this truth and Maxwell's error should be clear to everyone. When has Maxwell ever talked like that?

According to the spirits, the ultimate goal of spiritualism is to prevent people from thinking about the awesome reality of God's judgment on sinners. That's why the dupes of Satan work so hard at keeping "God's justice, His denunciations of sin, and the requirements of His holy law out of sight."

I think it's important to point out that demons teach that sinners don't need to fear the final judgment, which is precisely the theology of A. Graham Maxwell:

One channeler of the spirits wrote:No one is punished for sins, and the Sons of God are not sinners.

Is each one to be judged in the end? Indeed, yes! No one can escape God’s final judgment. Who could flee forever from the truth? But the final judgment will not come until it is no longer associated with fear. One day each one will welcome it, and on that very day it will be given him. He will hear his sinlessness proclaimed around and around the world. —A Course In Miracles.

The great harmony between the spirits and A. Graham Maxwell is now painfully obvious. Maxwell spends all his time telling people that they shouldn't fear God and would never dare to give anyone the impression that abject sinners need to be afraid of their persistent, willful sin against God.

Eugene, this morning I read the article in Ministry Magazine by Richard Fredericks. My spirits were somewhat lifted to know that moral influence theology has been put down by at least one legitimate Adventist publication. But look at the date of the article...almost 15 years ago! Since then, where are the voices speaking out against what I am beginning to call Maxwellian spiritualism?

Richard Fredericks presents a logical counterattack on moral influence-type theories. He does not mention names; but I am of the belief that it is time to stop coddling and protecting the enemy. Maxwell and others are doing untold damage and need to be exposed by name. In the article, Fredericks also never made a connection between these growingly popular theories and spiritualism. I believe that you have pioneered the way across a hostile no man's land to link moral influence theories to last-day, Spirit-of-Prophecy-predicted omega spiritualism. You have paid a high personal price for your courage.

I will make an effort to locate and communicate with Richard Fredericks on the subject of A. Graham Maxwell. Perhaps he has not yet made the connection between Maxwell and modern day spiritualism as identified by Ellen White.