EDIT ORIAL


We Love Our History—But We Aren’t Trapped in It By Loren Seibold


Several familiar aphorisms revolve around the idea that history is a cyclical affair. Most oſten cited is one by Spanish philosopher George Santayana, who in 1905 wrote: “Tose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Events can be similar, but they’re never identical.


No one nowadays believes the ancient doctrine of eternal return: that the universe is like an 8-track tape, cycling through the very same tunes without end. But because there is a sameness to human behavior, both individually and corporately, patterns recur. Mark Twain altered Santayana’s original when he famously said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it oſten rhymes.” We humans are pattern-recognizing creatures,


and thoughtful observers have made some very particular observations about historical patterns. Civilizations and nations, they say, seem to go through an arc: from founding, to growth, to success, to plateau, to conflict, to decline, until they at last weaken and fall. Businesses start with verve and energy but eventually grind to a stop, sometimes from the friction of their own corporate machinery.


Churches and Sects Religious movements, too, have a historical arc. German writer Ernst Troeltsch called it the sect- church typology.1 A sect comes into being when a few motivated folks hunger aſter a “truer truth” or a more intense spiritual experience than they can get in an established religion. Sects are driven by reform and revival. Like new businesses, they start with innovators and visionaries. Tey are nimble, and they take risks. But in time the flexible, informal structure


no longer works. Te group requires policies, employees, payrolls, property, and formal statements of beliefs. Tey don’t like to think


they’ve changed, and they’ll protest that they still believe the same things they started out with, but change has snuck up on them. Growth means they operate in a different way than they used to. With so much at risk, stability and continuity


become more important than flexibility and innovation. While sects don’t care whether they fit into society, churches do. Tere wasn’t much at stake at first, but with so many assets now, it becomes important to make a good impression. In short, they want to be liked. Yet, the more their leaders try to please


everyone, the more problems arise. Te precious original beliefs clash with the real world. Wanting to be “respectable” clashes with the founders’ counterculturalism. And to our point here: many churches have


difficulty making changes, even when it would appear obvious that they should. Some try to defend every scintilla of what they once received, no matter how indefensible. Tey are like a man straddling two boats that are driſting apart: one foot on the gunwale of that precious history, the other in the modern world.


History Isn’t Forever I like our Adventist history. It’s curious and charming in its own way. I just don’t think we have to be locked into it. I have some friends who inherited an old house


from their grandparents. It was where the extended family had oſten met for holidays and summer picnics. What to do with it? It had an antique charm, but it was no longer attractive or practical. Still, it spoke of a past that they wanted their


family to continue. A lovely porch to sit on while they talk. A nice yard, with proximity to parks and a beach. Views from the front window. A great school and church within walking distance. Neighbors,


WWW .A T OD A Y . OR G 3


The Adventist identity is crippled by the ugliness of being told we are trapped here by antique beliefs, including abusive judgmentalism and terrifying narratives.


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