The early Adventists were troublemakers — holy ones.
They didn’t settle for inherited answers. They studied, debated, camped out in barns, and wrestled with Scripture until their candles burned low. They tore apart traditions that didn’t make sense and weren’t afraid to admit when they were wrong. That’s how we got here — not through silence, but through questions.
But somewhere along the line, the movement that celebrated “new light” started flinching at it. Today, asking honest questions can get you labeled “unsafe,” “liberal,” or “not truly Adventist.” In some spaces, curiosity is treated as rebellion, and doubt as disloyalty.
What happened?
If truth is really truth, it can handle examination. If our faith is alive, it should be growing. “Present truth” was never meant to fossilize. It was meant to breathe, stretch, and surprise us.
Maybe the most Adventist thing we can do in this moment is to question again — bravely, humbly, faithfully. To risk being misunderstood for the sake of a deeper honesty with God.
Because if the pioneers taught us anything, it’s that faith without questions isn’t faith at all. It’s fear dressed up in doctrine.
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