Conrad Vine spoke at the State Line Church mini Camp Meeting in Alabama last weekend. In a building designed for 110 people, 350 people showed up to hear him. One of his messages is titled The Three Paths. Here is the video.
In 2015, the GC ADCOM voted the Immunization Official Statement. It is important to note the following key points about this Statement: First, the Statement removes any theological basis for objections to vaccinations or mandates for Adventists worldwide. Having removed any theological reasons for objections to vaccinations or mandates, the Statement leaves the members only with an individual conscience-based rationale to object to vaccinations or mandates.
Prior to 2015, the SDA Church had no formal statement or doctrine on vaccination. Vaccination was left to the individual member to decide upon, based on their personal understanding of God’s will for them, upon the convictions of their own conscience, and within the requirements of their local legal framework.
The ADCOM Terms of Reference gives it authority to deal with administrative matters pertaining to the internal working of the GC and GC employees, not with theological matters impacting all members worldwide. It has no institutional authority in its TOR to issue such a statement. Whether or not Elder Wilson and the GC leaders believe vaccines are effective and safe is immaterial. The key question is this: does ADCOM have the delegated authority to make theological statements that affect every Adventist worldwide from now to the 2nd Coming? The answer is a resounding no!
Third, the Statement states the Adventist health emphasis is based on the Bible, the SOP and PRSL (peer-reviewed scientific literature). The SDA Church and the SOP have always spoken of the “health message,” i.e. a divinely-revealed message in the SOP and Scripture from God to His people. It has 2 purposes: to foster physical, emotional and spiritual health among God’s people, enhancing their ability to perceive heavenly truth; and to be used in evangelism, to minister to the lost in a wholistic manner, and to demonstrate the love of God in practical ways.
PRSL is based on the scientific method. The scientific method is rooted in secular humanism, and does not allow for the existence or action of God in human affairs. The scientific method at the foundation of PRSL does not allow for any revelation from God. At most, PRSL can corroborate what is revealed in the Bible and the SOP, but the SDA health message has never been based on PRSL, in whole or in part.
The inclusion of “peer-reviewed scientific literature” is not consistent with the 28 Fundamental Beliefs. It contradicts the preamble to our Fundamental Beliefs. It states that our beliefs are supported by the Bible alone, in keeping with the Protestant principle of sola scriptura. The very nature of scientific research means there is never absolute truth. PRSL thus often contradicts itself, is constantly changing, and is influenced not so much by truth as by the goals of those who fund the PRSL. 100% of scientists agree with whoever is funding them. PRSL advocates for error, e.g. evolution instead of creation, the use of wine, gender dysphoria, abortion, and the use of mind-altering substances.
In 2021, the GC assumed the right to override the convictions of the consciences of all members worldwide and to deny the promptings of the Holy Spirit in favor of government mandates. In October 2021, the GC issued the “Reaffirming the Adventist Church Response to COVID-19” Statement. It was prepared by the GC Administration, PARL, Office of Legal Counsel, Loma Linda University Health, and the Health Ministries Department.
On page 1, the GC leaders expressed their support for vaccination being a matter of individual liberty of conscience. However, on page 2, one paragraph referred to the specific COVID context and the mandates spreading worldwide. This paragraph assumed the right to override the consciences of members. A paragraph that unilaterally denied Adventists worldwide before their governments and employers the possibility of claiming a religious liberty / Liberty of Conscience based exemption.
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church, in consultation with the Health Ministries and Public Affairs and Religious Liberty departments of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, is convinced that the vaccination programs that are generally being carried out are important for the safety and health of our members and the larger community. Therefore, claims of religious liberty are not used appropriately in objecting to government mandates or employer programs designed to protect the health and safety of their communities.”
The Jan-Feb 2025 edition of the Atlantic Union Gleaner published an article by the Union Associate PARL Director, John Ashmeade, took matters one step further.
The net effect of this article is that the SDA Church will never oppose vaccine mandates, and the best way for an Adventist Church member in the USA to receive a vaccine exemption request based on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be to demonstrate that they have a history of avoiding any vaccination, and that they are not in fact a member of the SDA Church but are applying for an exemption based on personal, deeply held spiritual beliefs. Members outside of the USA not protected by the Civil Rights Act will have no protection against vaccine mandates from SDA Church leadership based on this reasoning. When mandates come, it is better to NOT be a member of the SDA Church as the SDA Church will support the mandates over your conscience.
The Right Path
· So, what is the right path? We have to be honest about the challenges we are facing as a worldwide movement, and have the courage to take the necessary steps. Here is what I believe our next GC leadership team needs to implement:
· Regarding COVID, the path towards reconciliation involves the following steps: Recognize the trauma the GC Statements have caused the members; Retract the 2015 Immunization and the 2021 Reaffirmation Statements immediately; show Remorse for the pain caused; Reassure the membership that such Statements will not be issued in the future; Restore the damage caused by the Statements by setting aside a sum of $10 million from general GC reserves, and establishing an independent commission comprised of laity to establish a form of Truth and Reconciliation Commission with limited financial payouts in recognition of the harm caused; Replace every leader still in office who voted for the October 2021 Reaffirmation Statement; and Reconcile with the members so our world church can move forward.
· Remove and retract all the official Statements on the GC website. Our GC leaders need to focus on leading the proclamation of the 3AM among the lost rather than putting out mood-music statements that are politically correct and end up, as in the case of the October 2021 Reaffirmation Statement, having a catastrophic impact on the lives of innocent members worldwide.
· With immediate effect, cancel all financial honoraria paid to church officials who, by virtue of their positions, are required to sit in an ex-officio capacity on the boards of large SDA institutions. These honoraria and travel payments can be in the multiple tens of thousands every year, and represent a huge financial conflict of interest for our leaders who must balance upholding liberty of conscience or lining their own pockets. No leader should be put into this position, so the practice of honoraria should be limited to under $600 / year / institution / leader, which fits within IRS contractor limits without needing a 1099 Form.
· By December 2025, the GC and ADRA should withdraw from their consultative status as NGOs at the UN.
· By January 2026, withdraw from active participation in the ecumenical movement, and maintain wherever possible merely an observer status. We cannot dance with the devil, or sit in committees with the Papacy, which is the Antichrist of prophecy, and expect that we will not come away spiritually compromised and less willing to proclaim the 2nd and 3rd Angels’ messages. If we cannot be observers, then we should not participate at all.
· Over the 2025-2030 quinquennial period, to sell off our ownership interest in the NAD healthcare system. Our hospitals have very little to do with the Adventist health message, and the dependence on Federal funding will cause us to trample on conscience in future pandemics, as during COVID.
· Over the 2025-2030 quinquennial period, ADRA should wind down all its current programming from national and institutional donors that forbids the active sharing of our faith by our SDA personnel. During the same period, we members can experience the joy of donating sacrificially so ADRA minister as Christ ministered among suffering humanity, not only mingling among people and meeting their needs, but also inviting precious souls to accept Christ as Lord and Savior.
Conclusions
· Our leaders are on the wrong path with regards to supporting mandates over the consciences of our members. Our leaders, for many years, have taken the rash path of confederating with unbelievers, which is compromising our beliefs, causing us to trample upon conscience, and caused us to enter into collaborative partnerships with the very entities who will impose the MOB, i.e. the US Federal government and the UN.
· If not corrected, the wrong path will lead to an underground SDA house-church movement, if not outright schism. The rash path will lead once again to persecution of faithful Adventists, just as the SDA system persecuted innocent members through the COVID pandemic (the promotion of social exclusion, terminations from employment and denunciations in the official SDA media of the unvaccinated).
· The right path however will lead to reconciliation and better prepare us to stand as a people in earth’s crisis. May we all have the courage as members and leaders, to choose the right path. May our delegates at the 2025 GC Session be led by the Holy Spirit to choose leaders who will not continue in the wrong or the rash paths, but choose the right path for God’s end-time movement.
Dr. Conrad Vine
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“O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge[KJV uses Science]” (1 Timothy 6:20).
“The doctrine that God has committed to the church the right to control the conscience, and to define and punish heresy, is one of the most deeply rooted of papal errors.” (EGW, Great Controversy, p. 293)
