By Cherry Brandstater "Prayerchild"
Adventism is a complex and perplexing subject for Christians to parse out. In the current age of tolerance and emergent attitudes no one wants to be seen as the thrower of poison darts. Sometimes, however, it becomes necessary to take apart the elements of a church's anatomy to understand the impact of its beliefs and culture. In "The Naked Truth," Hazel Holland dissects some little known facts about the inner workings of an organization that is not what it appears to be on the surface.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is known world-wide for its philanthropy and state-of-the-art medical institutions. The people themselves are upwardly mobile, well-educated and intellectually inclined - in a word, outstanding. There is a strong sense of community among its members built around commonly held beliefs, shared social consciousness and unique practices. There is much to commend the Adventist life-style.
Over the past several decades there have been a number of exposés revealing the not-so-Christian foundational pillars of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Various methods have been used to secret these unsavory facts from the Christian world at large. Even the well-known cult-buster, Walter Martin, was deceived into giving the Adventists a provisional nod as fellow believers.
Ms. Holland's book comes at this knotty problem from a new perspective in that she delves into the human wreckage caused by untiring efforts to hide the family's dirty laundry from outsiders. In doing so, she also gives permission for its victims to name the confusing dysfunction they've come to see as normative and turn toward the process of integration. Her vision of the incestuous family system provides a working model that becomes a starting point for the journey toward wholeness. Chapter Four is a particularly apt insight into the psychological and spiritual dynamics of a church system gone awry.
If you know Seventh-day Adventism from a distance, this book will read like a case history of a dysfunctional family. If you have been a part of that family it may uncover some of the roots for behaviors and attitudes that have puzzled you and thwarted your attempts toward healthy intimacy with God.
Cherry Brandstater
Editor, GentlyBroken.com
See: Other Amazon Reviews
Adventism is a complex and perplexing subject for Christians to parse out. In the current age of tolerance and emergent attitudes no one wants to be seen as the thrower of poison darts. Sometimes, however, it becomes necessary to take apart the elements of a church's anatomy to understand the impact of its beliefs and culture. In "The Naked Truth," Hazel Holland dissects some little known facts about the inner workings of an organization that is not what it appears to be on the surface.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is known world-wide for its philanthropy and state-of-the-art medical institutions. The people themselves are upwardly mobile, well-educated and intellectually inclined - in a word, outstanding. There is a strong sense of community among its members built around commonly held beliefs, shared social consciousness and unique practices. There is much to commend the Adventist life-style.
Over the past several decades there have been a number of exposés revealing the not-so-Christian foundational pillars of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Various methods have been used to secret these unsavory facts from the Christian world at large. Even the well-known cult-buster, Walter Martin, was deceived into giving the Adventists a provisional nod as fellow believers.
Ms. Holland's book comes at this knotty problem from a new perspective in that she delves into the human wreckage caused by untiring efforts to hide the family's dirty laundry from outsiders. In doing so, she also gives permission for its victims to name the confusing dysfunction they've come to see as normative and turn toward the process of integration. Her vision of the incestuous family system provides a working model that becomes a starting point for the journey toward wholeness. Chapter Four is a particularly apt insight into the psychological and spiritual dynamics of a church system gone awry.
If you know Seventh-day Adventism from a distance, this book will read like a case history of a dysfunctional family. If you have been a part of that family it may uncover some of the roots for behaviors and attitudes that have puzzled you and thwarted your attempts toward healthy intimacy with God.
Cherry Brandstater
Editor, GentlyBroken.com
See: Other Amazon Reviews
