Desmond Ford Lecture
3:00 pm, 06 September 2008, Campus Hill Church

My whole family was excited to hear the news that Desmond Ford, renowned teacher, scholar, and maybe the single most controversial figure in Adventism in the past 30 years, would be speaking in Loma Linda. My parents, my wife and I all made the trek to Campus Hill to hear Dr. Ford. I had heard a lot about Ford, but this would be my first personal contact with the man. Needless to say, I was pretty pumped.

Preliminaries:

Our party arrives at 2:15, thinking that there might be a mob of people already there. I envision a similar situation to the hordes of video game nerds camping outside of Best Buy for a shot at a PS3 or Wii on the launch dates. Plenty of spots in the parking lot indicates that our prophecies are false. I guess all the SDAs are still out at Soup Plantation. Outside doors to the church aren't even open. A few people join us in milling about. After five minutes a nice man opens the doors to let us in. There are a dozen or so people already in the church--I guess the side doors were open. My wife and I appear to be the youngest people in the church by a generation. People start arriving in bunches around 2:30.

Dr. Kendra Haloviak's family arrives around 2:40. She sees us and leans over some people in our row to give my wife a hug. I ask her if she's ready to have a go at Dr. Ford. She responds with something to the effect of "I'm just here to further the conversation!" My wife says that people are going to be all jealous because Dr. Haloviak came over and hugged her. We're both all giddy and star-struck that Dr. Haloviak came over to talk to us.

The event proper starts late, around 3:10. Pastor Larry Christoffel gives an introduction. I'm not good enough at eyeballing crowds to give even a rough estimate on attendance, but the whole bottom section of the church is full with a few in the balcony. Pastor Christoffel calls this an "historic and important event" and Ford a "great champion of the gospel." A palpable sense of expectation and eagerness can be felt. They've got these big boom cameras swinging around to record the proceedings. My wife tells me not to smile too much lest GC bigwigs see footage of the lecture.

Ford's Talk:

FORD HAS AN HONEST TO GOODNESS AUSSIE ACCENT! My wife is in heaven after two years of listening to American preachers.

At the beginning of his talk, Ford says that he wants everyone to know the assurance of the gospel since life is uncertain and death often comes unexpectedly. He wishes that everyone would join him around the throne. Sounds like a sermon!

Justification, according to Ford, is "The biggest word in church history besides Jesus." He gives a sort of theological history lesson with "justification" as the theme. Justification does not mean "made righteous"--rather, "declared righteous." God declares us righteous because of the Cross.

Riffing on the idea of justification. God shows mercy even to the ungrateful and the evil. Examples: Barabbas, for whom Jesus died in his place. The repentant thief on the cross received Paradise--so Paradise is assured for all who believe. To the woman taken in adultery, Jesus declared, "Neither do I condemn you," and by his stripes she--and we--are healed. What is our part? Looking to the Faithful One.

"God is better than we hoped--and we are worse than we suspected."

Parade of texts dealing with justification. 2 Corinthians 5, Mark 14, Galatians 1, Romans 1. Ford declares that "one must understand Gethsemane before one can understand the gospel." The Holy Spirit moves through the gospel message, empowering the church as seen through history.

Ford talks some smack about the moral influence theory--it gives believers good feelings, but there is no legal declaration or assurance. He says that Romans is "the most important letter"--it's the biggest and the only systematic explanation of the atonement. "You're not ready for the 2nd Advent unless you understand the first!"

"The great hymn writers (Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts) understood justification." Ford quotes three verses from "And Can It Be?" Kind of fumbles the ending to the first verse, but the words are moving nonetheless. Ford's talk reinforced my belief that while I'm a young'un, and I dig the rock n' roll music, I still declare that KIDS NEED TO LEARN OLD HYMNS!

Ford's message closes with another statement of the greatness of the gospel and a desire that all could know the assurance of salvation. Lots of "Amens" and voicings of support throughout the whole talk. Some people were moved to tears--I'm far too much of a mensch to cry , but I did feel all gooey inside on several occasions and may have even "gotten something in me eye" once or twice. It really did feel like a sermon. Ford's absolute IMMERSION in the love and grace of God was palpable. Powerful stuff.

Panel discussion/Q & A time:

There were a lot of really interesting questions and discussions, and a run-down of all of them would make this long, unwieldy, and the opposite of fun to read. "But this already IS long, unwieldy, and un-fun to read," you probably will say. Well, then, some highlights:

Jon Paulien has a great story about being uneasy with Romans and Galatians as a young'un--he felt that if those two books were left out of the Bible, traditional understandings of Adventism could be better defended! (Ouch!)

In typical style, Fritz Guy suggests that Ford's thesis was clear and obvious "to anyone who was awake." Guy talks about the limitations of all metaphors and asks Ford about the roles for other metaphors besides forensic substitution. Ford acknowledges that "the atonement defies perfect critical analysis" but suggests that "the numbers speak for themselves," going into this amazing recitation--no notes--of how many times "justification" occurs in the New Testament compared to "ransom" or "adoption." The guy's mind is like a bear trap. I don't even remember the numbers he gave, and I'm like 50 years younger than him. I am ashamed.

Kendra Haloviak asks whether some might use Ford's views to argue that Sabbathkeeping is a form of legalism--salvation by something other than the cross. Ford says that he never joined the breakaway groups advocating such a position post-Glacier View, and that it's always possible to take a good thing and misuse it. The fact that some use "the gospel" to justify anti-biblical interpretations does not diminsh the power of the gospel.

Larry Christoffel asks Ford for a simple, clear statement about his understanding of the nature of Christ, something Ford did not touch on in his talk. Ford says that Christ had no sin in him. Christ took the likeness of sinful flesh, the infirmities and effects of thousands of years of sin, but had no sin in himself.

A gracious, but somewhat impassioned discussion ensues between Guy and Ford. Guy questions Ford's understanding on some points, such as "God may declare me not guilty--but really, I am," and "Does God kill/get angry?" Ford's responses revolved around the need to understand terms metaphorically and the enormous gulf separating God's experience of anger from our human experience of anger. Watching these two sparring with each other, I felt like one of the stormtroopers on the Death Star who flocked over to watch Darth Vader duel Ben Kenobi in "A New Hope," making me both a theology nerd AND a Star Wars nerd. Yes, y'all SHOULD feel sorry for my wife!

An audience member asks whether Ford ever got an apology for what went down at Glacier View. His answer was pretty hilarious and pretty tragic--he said that the Catholics had issued several hundred apologies for their excesses committed over the years, but Adventists don't apologize. Sad but true!

Someone from the audience wrote in something to the effect of "this was the first time I've heard the gospel preached in an SDA church." I felt quite happy that in my experience, this was absolutely not the case. At least in the Loma Linda area, there are plenty of opportunities to hear this gospel preached every weekend from the likes of Dan Smith (but not anymore--d'oh!), Randy Roberts, John Brunt and others. For those in other parts of the country/world--your mileage may vary. But I was pleased that while Ford's gospel presentation was exceptionally profound and beautiful, it was hardly the first time I'd heard it as an Adventist.

Another audience question asked about Ford's view on the Heavenly Sanctuary, drawing audible "ooh"s from the congregation. Quick n' dirty recap: The Sanctuary *is* heaven (Heb. 9.) Day of Atonement was Calvary. Cleansing of the sanctuary was God dealing with sin at Calvary. In the car on the way home, our family thought that despite the universal appeal of Ford's lecture/sermon, that thing about the sanctuary would still make him something of a persona non grata among mainstream SDA leadership. Is it worth it? I suppose that's for people far smarter and better than me to decide. I will say this: If, by some sadistic twist of fate I were to become President of the GC, the first thing I'd do (just before resigning) would be to publicly and privately apologize to Desmond Ford.


Saucy Aussie-isms that made my wife feel at home:
"Des, you're a rotter."
"Curiosity killed the cat...what did the cat want to know?"
On Martin Luther: "God didn't use an idiot to start the Reformation."
On what metaphor to use for the Atonement: "God is a safe model."

Overall, I was most impressed by Dr. Ford, as well as the panel participants and even the audience questions. Ford's emphasis on the substitutionary atonement was full of grace and appreciation for the love of God. The metaphor is not perfect--and to some, the WRATH OF GOD~! might still be ghastly in spite of all the grace/love language--but Ford's talk left us all full of assurance and gratitude for God's grace. My family thought it was a shame that such a great mind and Spirit-filled heart would be defrocked (and never given an apology) by the church--a feeling somewhat mitigated by the realization that ironically, much of Ford's message has become mainstream within Adventism. (At least, within some sectors of Adventism.) The lecture further provided much fodder for family discussion and bonding time after we got home. A good time was had by all. Thanks, Dr. Ford!