The Development of a Church-Based Seminar on the Impact of Historicist Eschatology upon Seventh-day Adventist Marital Life

<p><em>Problem.</em> The reading of Eph 5:25-27 shows that Christ will marry the church in a state of holiness and blamelessness. Family life on earth must follow the model of the love of Jesus for the church. But there are no guides, seminars, or studies that combine marital life and preparation for Christ's second coming.</p> <p><em>Method.</em> This dissertation developed a seminar that emphasized the belief in the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as accepted by the Apostolic Church. Such belief affects all aspects of the Christian life and particularly the family lifestyle. The seminar tied together eschatology and family life in a way that shows that Christ can return at any time to marry the church, His bride, in a state of holiness and blamelessness. Each church and family member must be in that perfect state in order to go to heaven with Christ in that day. A questionnaire was also developed to test the effect of the seminar. The Philadelphia Haitian Seventh-day Adventist Church of Boston formed one group to which were applied a pretest and a posttest.</p> <p><em>Results. </em>On the basis of fifty-three respondents who filled out the questionnaires and the final evaluation form, it was found that the idea of an eschatological family was well appreciated. In the beginning it seemed awkward to want to tie eschatology and family life together, but at the end of the seminar it made sense to participants. The love of Jesus and the need to prepare for His second coming or for the eschatological wedding served as the basic motivation for the Adventist family member. The respondents appreciated the brotherly love of the church although it needs to be developed even more. The felt need of the church is prayer and fasting to consolidate family ties and prepare for Christ's second coming.<em> </em></p> <p><em>Conclusion. </em>The respondents recognized that seminars like this one are needed not only for the Philadelphia Church but also for all churches and on a regular basis, probably once a quarter. This seminar can be repeated in different countries and among different ethnic groups to establish its generalizability. It can also be enhanced by using slides or other visual aids in addition to the transparencies.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Religious Education, PhD

Year

1997

Author dc:creator

• Obas, Etzer

Contributors dc:contributor

• John B. Youngberg
• Millie U. Youngberg
• Nancy J. Carbonell

• Ethics in Religion
• Family, Life Course, and Society

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/608

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.andrews.edu:dissertations-1607