1981 edition |
2006 edition |
Non-Fiction
The Edges of Seventh-day Adventism (1981, 2006) |
Galilee Publications, 250p, paperback
The sub-title explains it best, The Edges of Seventh-day Adventism – a
study of separatist groups emerging from the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1844-1980).
I tracked down 141 of such groups, including the Branch-Davidians, the Worldwide
Church of God, the Shepherd’s Rod and the Voice of the Turtle.
This book has been well-received by many universities, especially in America.
People who will enjoy it: Those with an interest in church-sect theory (happening
before their eyes!), those with an interest in Seventh-day Adventism and its
off-shoots, and people with an interest in the theological controversies of
the 1970s with Seventh-day Adventism.
Available from:
• Edges was purchased by many American universities, especially institutions
run by the Worldwide Church of God as well as Adventist institutions – all
of whom will have it on loan.
• The Edges of Seventh-day Adventism is not available in print. The CD-ROM is
available from me (reluctantly) - for $60.00AUD inc postage. Send to: P.O. Box 758 Katoomba, NSW, 2780, Australia.
I say ‘reluctantly’ because this copy was scanned by the Walla
Walla College Library (USA) some three years ago, and I have never checked
it. Furthermore, although I never intend to bring Edges ‘up to date’ at
some point I have always intended to re-edit the manuscript. Until I do so,
I can only circulate the manuscript with a measure of reluctance.
Raving on:
By nature, I have always been attracted to heretics, fanatics and trouble-makers.
As my parents were Seventh-day Adventists, I was always interested in the ‘alternative’ history
of the church. For example, who are these Shepherd’s Rod people (as depicted
by Bob Ellis in his evocative film The Nostradamus Kid)? They would hand us
their tracks, church elders would want to beat them up, yet nobody could tell
me why they were there or how they came to be. And once I started looking into
their crazy history, I was hooked.
For example, the Rod spawned the Branch Davidians whose leader, Ben Roden,
was the literal King David who would never die. After his death, his wife – David
Koresh’s friend – reckoned the word Branch was a spelling mistake.
Bran-SHE was correct, thus pointing to the female Holy Spirit god. The Branch-Davidians
were blown up by the FBI shortly afterwards.
I spent seven years writing this book. I wrote it before any of the other
books in this section. In the finish, it took so long that I had only one of
two choices: (1) self-publish, or (2) throw away seven years of my life.
However, the original Edges manuscript had neither an introduction nor a ‘theory’.
It was simply a disjointed series of historical accounts. At this time Robert
Wolfgramm was studying and lecturing in Sociology, and he suggested that I
unify the book somehow. He also suggested I read Max Weber just for starters.
Then the owner of The Small Business Letter, Phil Ward suggested that I write
the information in an ‘easy-to-read’ format rather than in academic
form. This explains why the style of the Introduction is unlike anything else
in the book. Then I lost interest in small religious groups in favour of small
business groups. Around this time, I cleared out all the taped interviews relating
to Edges (listed at the close of each chapter) and I gave all the cassettes
to the Avondale College Archives. I have no idea whether they still exist.
By this time, Robert was completing his MA in Sociology while I was concentrating
on business writing. He explained to me many things about the sociology of
religion – for example: the change from charismatic to traditional to
bureaucratic leaderships. Many of these concepts equally apply to the sociology
of business.
The 70s marked the culmination of a trend towards ‘Protestant legitimacy’ which
started in the church in 1956. It was fascinating to watch Seventh-day Adventism
in the 70s, taking its unconscious steps away from ‘sect’ and into ‘church’.
It only took 120 years, running through 5-6 theological models - and who knows
how many sub-cultural variants?
Small business does the same thing, but faster. The speed of all-round change
doesn’t allow decades to tick over. Like sects, the small business is
born of a charismatic leader with a welcoming niche market. A successful business
literally explodes onto the market within – say, two years - by which
time is has centralised its lunacies and systemised its formulae, and is now
ready to franchise, grow into a corporation (like the Seventh-day Adventist
Corporation, with projections of 50 million customers within 20 years) or go
bust.
This book needs a new publisher and a decent edit.
Although many people have suggested an ‘up-date’, I don’t
think so because I have taken Seventh-day Adventism to the brink, which was
1981, after which is has taken on a new identity, a non-sectarian Protestant
face.
This has spawned a fourth category of splinter group, which requires a section
of its own. Believe me, these groups have nothing in common with – say – the ‘Reform’ movements
of Section II.
Furthermore, there are zillions of these splinter groups – many of which
are not entirely separatist, and none of which looks capable of challenging
the bureaucratic juggernaut any more than Tocumwal Cordials can hope to take
on Coca-Cola. The Ford controversy proved that point.
The 2006 edition has been lightly, with a new introduction – this does not replace the former introduction, but is a second intro. It is not available in print, but in CD-ROM format only with a new cover, as depicted. If you want it, send $60 (Aussie dollars) to Lowell Tarling & Associates, P.O. Box 758 Katoomba, NSW, 2780, Australia. Price includes p&p.
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