Adventism is a world-wide church that is surprisingly monolithic in its implementation. Reading this book and also being a thoroughly acculturated Adventist, I was struck with how inflexibly at times an American-rooted church has tried to plant itself into such non-American soil. We find Unions, Conferences, churches and companies.

Thanks, Rich, for calling our attention to this remarkable, in-depth research into Adventism by a social anthropologist. Your review has been very insightful as well. The stress on daily Bible Study using the Sabbath School Lesson quarterly in many Adventist homes around the world, reinforced by our coming together each week for a group review/discussion of the same preceding the 'second service' of worship, underscores its significance. It's nothing less than a 'first service' that cannot be neglected. Lesson Study is the heart of the Sabbath School we've been told.

Just one comment regarding your reference to our monolithic church structure of Unions, Conferences, etc. From the perspective of most North American constituents, the Divisions of the General Conference may seem as if they're merely natural extensions, linking the Unions to the General Conference. However, connecting the world church to the central 'oval' office in Silver Spring is of more significance than meets the eye. I won't press the issue since this requires the insight of a professional historian or a social scientist, like Keller, which I am not.

Rich,

Keller states, "Nobody ever asked me whether I perhaps did not accept as true what I had learnt." (p. 120)

While one can obviously learn from "sciences" that originate from "general revelation", it should never seem strange that those coming from a entirely different worldview would reject perhaps the simplest tenants of a "Biblical Worldview."(don't confuse world view with various Christian distinctives...i.e SDA's which may have been what Keller did not accept.)

The starting point of a non Christian (don't know Keller's profession) rejects scripture as the "inspired" Word of God as the starting point for developing a scriptural "worldview."

Why then would one while maintaining an alternate WV see the validity of any of Christianity's true redemptive purpose?

"Bible study is aimed at understanding biblical truth through reflection and dialogue, rather than encouraging the consumption of ready-made doctrine. … In every context I was able to observe, Bible study was of a dialogical, discursive and participatory nature, and involved much intellectual engagement and critical thinking for those taking part. And indeed, it seems to be the very activity of studying and learning, which fascinates and interests local church members, and which gives them pleasure, perhaps even more so than the answers they get from studying."

They are light-years ahead of the centralized and one-size-fits-all approach to Bible study endorsed and promoted by the quarterly SS studies. When a local community, wherever it may be, chooses the topics with no answers supplied, it can only lead to vigorous study and debate in the time-honored Socratic dialogue.

Pat:

You quote Eva Keller: "Nobody ever asked me whether I perhaps did not accept as true what I had learnt."

and comment: "it should never seem strange that those coming from a entirely different worldview would reject perhaps the simplest tenants of a 'Biblical Worldview.'"

But first-world people do move from unbelief to belief. And Keller is very clear in the book as to the warm relationships she had with the people she was interacting with. So why no conversion?

The Malagasy Adventists accepted the literal truth of the Bible a-priori. Keller doesn't. And neither do many of us.

I suggested in the review that their world-view was inadequate to convert her. So the generic question might be what is a more adequate (and hence more universal) world-view and process?

"What"....The miracle of the HS at work in the presenter (scripture/person) and the "receiver."

The "worldview" I suggest relates to One's view of God, Metaphysics, Epistemology,Ethics,and Anthropology. The first 5 books of scripture offer one concept of a worldview.

Thanks for your review of this important book. I, too, was excited by what I read, because it told of people enthusiastic about Bible study and the search for truth. In the forward Maurice Bloch says, "But what the Malagasy Adventists are saying is that what they see lacking in the mainstream churches is precisely that these are not scientific enough and that what they like about Adventism is that it is a religion that is clear about what it claims the world to be like. . . . they don't just want to know science, they want to be like true scientists. . . . The search for the truth about the world is for them what religion is."

To be in a Sabbath School class where that adventurous spirit lives, is to know the best of Adventism. To help create that spirit where you are is to answer the question that Chuck Scriven has asked about "Who will reinvent Adventism?"

There's a level playing field when Adventists gather in groups for Bible study. Age, gender, social class, years of formal education matter not. Even as a pastor, educated in a well-regarded mission college back home, it was a blessing for me to be able to sit alongside other members of a Sabbath School class, being taught and led in a review/discussion of the current lesson by laypeople whose day jobs are as diverse as the general demographic composition of the various congregations I've visited. I submit that the Sabbath School is a sure sign of congregational health.

Needless to say, our global society requires more proof than a contextual, inductive study of Old and New Testaments. In my experience, and this has been documented in a research completed by an expat education professor at our Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies, thriving congregations in my part of the world usually have at least one congregational leader with a post-secondary school education. IMO, denominational leaders who've acquired a generous dose of education in the liberal arts, besides theology, are in a better position to serve as guides; that is, if our aim is to reach out to those who find our traditional evangelistic approach unconvincing and unattractive.

Isn't that a paradox to say that it's a a level playing field and that formal education doesn't matter, then to say that a leader should have a "generous dose of education in the liberal art, besides theology"?

Classes where there is too great a disparity in educational level, like secular classrooms, must teach to the lowest common denominator: either those with less education cannot understand what others are saying, are those with liberal education become bored as they would in kindergarten.

It is difficult to teach or be a student in such a mixed class; which is why not only are diligent students of the Bible better prepared, but those with knowledge of history and literature have a much broader context in which to view the Bible. We all have an opportunity to learn from each other.

Isn't it true that in matters of Bible doctrine everyone seems to have an opinion? (My wife says the same about music.) In my case, I learned more by listening to simple folks in order to understand the local congregational culture once I stepped out of our mission college.

It was a liberal arts education I received. This may be the reason for my own bias. When I went back to my alma mater to teach, I was shocked to find most of the required subjects for ministerial students were already being offered in the religion department. For example, instead of Speech by the English teacher, it was more homiletics units by the religion faculty! So with most history subjects, counseling, administration/management... all by the same religion teachers?!!!

Just to note that Keller published an earlier article based on her research (an obviously shorter version) that may be available to those without access to the book:
Keller, Eva. "Towards Complete Clarity: Bible Study among Seventh-day Adventists in Madagascar." Ethnos 69, no. 1 (2004): 89-112.

Have we not given scant attention to the study of the social sciences, such as sociology and anthropology, in our Adventist educational system? Consequently, while the Adventist church is reputedly one of the most widespread Christian missionary movements in the world, our contribution to knowledge about the different cultures that have been impacted by our brand of gospel proclamation has been largely confined to 'mythical' miracle mission stories, linked to evangelistic success and numerical growth. Thanks again for calling our attention to this important study by a non-Adventist about us.

Jeff: thanks for the pointer to her article, although I suspect it is less available than the book (to pull an electronic copy cost $28, where I looked. The book is cheaper than that). Anyway, the abstract to the article states:

• "The article discusses daily religious practice among Seventh-day Adventists in Madagascar in- and outside the formal context of church services. Two points, which make a contribution to the ongoing discussions concerned with the nature of religious belief, are stressed. The first is that Adventist practice is of a distinctly intellectual nature, in particular through its use of a Socratic type of Bible study. The second, related to the first, is that church members view religious knowledge as, above all, providing clarity about empirical truth concerning the universe. This implies the lack of a distinction between the world one knows through one's senses and another, transcendental world one believes in. Given that framework, knowledge is more meaningful than faith."

Keller concluded that "Bible study is perceived by the local Adventists to be the road to clarity" (p. 179). I liked the implicit conclusion that Bible study related to the Sabbath School lesson was so important for those churches in Madagaskar. No wonder their Sabbath School attendance is higher than church membewrship! No wonder that the same happens in other parts of the world where they have a dynamic, intercative Sabbath School program! In contrast, it is so sad the boring lecture that many churches receive in America during the SS lesson is not attracting outsiders and so few members come early to the Sabbath School program. What am I saying? Too many churches don't even have a SS program and start with the SS lesson!

I was in Madagaskar for almost three weeks, including three Sabbaths. What I observed there was similar to what I saw in Central Anerica, Kenya, or the Philippines. They have lively discussions during the Sabbath School lesson. Maybe one of the reasons for a lack of enthusiasm and conviction was stated in one of the postings: "The Malagasy Adventists accepted the literal truth of the Bible a-priori. Keller doesn't. And neither do many of us."

But the question I would raise is: why might an educated, westernized Adventist find a book like this to be sufficiently interesting to actually read it? It is likely that most of us would have, at best, only a passing interest in anthropology. And even less interest in Madagascar. Yes, it is a book concerned with Adventism, but in a context few of us are likely to confront. So what might we gain by spending time reading it?

Rich, thanks for your review.

I’ve read this book some months ago (living in Europe) and I was deeply impressed by it.
Why spending time for such a lecture?
1. Travelling a lot for business I felt it was always an important experience to visit SDA Churches in other countries and other cultures. I felt in most cases being part of a worldwide family – so it was interesting from this perspective. By the way; one day my spouse and I have been visiting a SDA church in Mauritius – which is not too far from Madagascar.
2. I have been deeply impressed by the description of the faith and the eagerness to study the Gospel by people not as well educated as most of us are. It remembered me the lifestyle of my grandparents (or their generation).
3. The narration of the daily problems to cope with the demands coming from the gospel and on the other side from the family (like the whole topic of exhumination etc.) and how people found individual answers was very interesting too.
I can strongly recommend this piece of literature and I found some of the places vie Google Earth – even with photographs embedded – very interesting!

Eva Keller has done the SDA Church a favour in pointing the finger at one of the undemocratic rules within Adventism: ONE BOOK FOR ALL, be it the Sabbatschool Lesson Book or the Church Manual. The favour however will not be received with gratitude by everyone. In the 1970's, as the editor of the SS Study Guide, I rewrote the manuscript for the Netherlands and replaced most of the quotations from foreign books by those of Dutch or European origin. This brought the subject closer to the readers as most of them would recognize the names and the publications of the authors, not all of them SDA's of course, but known respected scholars. Some members informed the next higher level of administration, but although the Dutch version was throughly checked, no comments were made. My suggestion is that the Church should allow the Union Sabbath School Departments to publish an adapted editon for their territories, even in English, the language of the original manuscript.

Should not a Bible Study Guide be what the name implies? A springboard for further discussion?

However, I see your point about "quotations from foreign books" in the quarterly, mostly by Anglo-North American authors, instead of what you and I can relate to depending on our respective background, European or Asian. Won't it be nice if, around the world, we're all sometimes given a Dutch/European edition of the Study Guide, reflecting their perspective (translated into our own languages of course)? There's so much we can learn from the different cultures that constitute our Adventist tradition as well as from those that are different from our own.

It's not easy to become and remain an Adventist no matter how one looks at it, speaking from my experience as a pastor-evangelist. Contrary to what some people may think, conversion to Adventism in the the two-thirds world is not less an intellectual matter, demanding less than the most thoughtful reflection.

Here's one more description of Keller's groundbreaking research:

The book offers a fascinating inquiry into the nature of long-term commitment to Adventism among rural people in Madagascar. Eva Keller argues that the key attraction of the church lies in the excitement of study, argument, and intellectual exploration. This is a novel approach which challenges utilitarian and cultural particularist explanations of the success of this kind of Christianity.

While working and traveling widely in Africa in the 1980s I have been a witness to the efficasy of the Sabbath School in that part of the world. In Europe there are more Church members than Sabbath School members most likely. Many do not attend Sabbath School as the study guide does not often offer contemporary insights in traditional dogmas and standards of living. Also the 'must' format of thirteen lessons may boringly stretch a theme more than necessary. But what I wanted to say is this: It is true that in Africa people love 'the excitement of study, argument and intellectual exploration.' It is often the only opportunity they have to take part in some sort of programmed studies which teach them the basics of human communication and the essence of the Christian faith. The knowledge they gather and the fellowship they experience helps them also in their missionary activities. Church growth in Africa is based on the outreach of the Sabbath School membership.

My previous comment was mentioned posted anonymous, that was my mistake.

Like it or not, aren't European universities still a favored destination for students from all over the world including those from North America? The intellectual/spiritual atmosphere in Europe is obviously vastly different than in Africa or Asia. Multiple opportunities for growth in those departments as well as in other areas of social life are easily available outside of the churches.

That said, the function of the Sabbath School in Africa, and from what I've seen in my own part of the world, as Brother Smit described, is so true especially since conversions to Adventism are still mostly among those with less than a college/university education. Bible study seems to provide a welcome stimulus for intellectual development, expanding (as well as limiting) one's spiritual horizon within the fellowship of the church.