During November I will be sharing a series of video presentations, rather than papers. (Please note: the video does not show up in the preview image on the main page. Click the title above to see the video.) This one was presented on 19 October 2019 at the Roy Branson Legacy Sabbath School class in…… Continue reading Adventism in Animist Societies
Category: Adventism and Church-Sect Theory
Comparing the Geographic Distribution, Growth and Statistical Reliability of Mormons, Adventists and Witnesses
During November I will be sharing a series of video presentations, rather than papers. (Please note: the video does not show up in the preview image on the main page. Click the title above to see the video.) This one was presented on 12 October 2019 at the Roy Branson Legacy Sabbath School class in…… Continue reading Comparing the Geographic Distribution, Growth and Statistical Reliability of Mormons, Adventists and Witnesses
A Changing Church: Adventism in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s and 1990s
Although Adventism experienced an astonishing rate of upward mobility in the New Guinea Highlands, especially the Southern Highlands, during this period, much of the rest of PNG Adventism, especially in the villages, remained poor in income, lifestyle, and level of education. When these saw the difference between their goods and those of the missionaries and…… Continue reading A Changing Church: Adventism in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s and 1990s
From Political Subservience to Political Power and Influence: Seventh-day Adventists in Papua-New Guinea
Seventh-day Adventists have never had the numbers in their home base – the USA – to have electoral influence. Because of the mind-set created by this situation and their expectation that before the return of Christ, which they expect “soon”, they will face persecution, they have typically been subservient to governments everywhere, arguing that they…… Continue reading From Political Subservience to Political Power and Influence: Seventh-day Adventists in Papua-New Guinea
Adventists: Cult, Sect or Denomination?
This piece considers the ways in which the terms ‘cult’, ‘sect’ and ‘denomination’ are used in everyday language, within Christian circles and in sociology, and tests the applicability of these senses of the terms to Seventh-day Adventism. Presentation developed for a service of the Metro New York Adventist Forum Click here for a PDF version…… Continue reading Adventists: Cult, Sect or Denomination?
Ronald L. Lawson Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Queens College, CUNY 