The Reformation and the Remnant: The Reformers Speak to Today's Church

by Nicholas P. Miller

In The Reformation and the Remnant, author Nicholas Miller examines crucial issues and questions facing the Adventist Church today through the lenses provided by the thoughts and ideas of various Protestant reformers. Miller discusses such topics as biblical authority and inspiration, the great controversy theme, religious liberty and public morality, last day events and Sunday laws, and righteousness by faith and perfection, as he reveals why the ideas that shaped the Christian church still matter.

144 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2016

Reviews

[Timothy Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the book I expected it to be and it was not one I enjoyed. My problems start with the very title. The Reformation gets very short shift here. This may sound nitpicky but he spends most of his time with post-Reformation figures, especially around the Great Awakening, than with the time period on the cover. Don't get me wrong, these figures are important and we should know about them but I expected a book that compared and contrasted Adventism with its Reformation roots and looked back to them look forward. Instead we get an essay on the history of the Moral Government of God and an attempt to shove Modern American Evangelical belief into Adventism.

That's my first complaint, not my main one. I expect better from a purported PHD than his chapter on homosexuality. Personally I think the historical context around the "anti-gay" verses require nuance in their interpretation. Others may disagree, and there is room for that. If he had stuck to just the strictest reading of the Bible I'd stay quiet. But he has to go and drag Ellen White into it. He uses two quotes from her to prove his point from a compilation of her work. He is right about the heading that the compilation puts those quotes under, but it is either sloppy scholarship or outright misleading. You can find the original source of her phrase "Sodomitish sins" with a quick search on her CD or the White Estate website. One place she is discussing women and men flirting with each other in church offices. The other is referring to a case of incest between a father and daughter. How the author then twists this to blame gay people is beyond me. Then he sites a handful of reports by conservatives to say that gay people don't raise children well as he handwaves the majority of reports saying otherwise.

He then goes on to partially support women's ordination, but he does it by applying a different standard of proof for ordination than being gay. If you only use the harshest interpretations for one, if you want to be intellectually honest, you must for the other.

Then there is his chapter on ecumenical relations where he seems to wish for a way to keep Sabbath and participate in Sunday to strengthen ties to Evangelicals. This is part of the over-arching problem. He seems to really want to align with Evangelicals to make changes to the government and I have a fundamental problem with that. He doesn't seem to just want to use moral philosophy as a way to engage with the secular world, but to use it with Evangelicals as an end-run around the separation of church and state.

So yeah, not my favorite book, but maybe important to see where some might try directing the church in America.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title is slightly misleading. One expects a history of the links between Adventism and the Reformation. That’s not what you’re getting here. Rather, it is an argument for moderate, faithful Adventism based on Reformation principles. It’s worth the read and it is definitely timely and relevant for the church today.

[Jay Brand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas Miller, JD & PhD, provides compelling reasons from the Bible, history and the challenges facing the contemporary Christian church, that the principles and priorities of the Reformation in the 16th century remain relevant for the body of Christ, His remnant church, today.