Two other blogs have taken up the topic of Samuele Bacchiocchi's credentials and the allegations that they are not what he says they are.  Gregorian University apparently denies that he got his PhD summa cum laude, that he received any medals, that his book was given an imprimatur, and that they printed it.

So, in total, there are now 5 blogs that are covering this topic.  Including the blog belonging to Spectrum Magazine, which is a well-known publication in Adventist circles.

The blog postings I've found so far are:

• Bacchiocchi's "Gregorian Controversy" [on the XCG blog]
• Bacchiocchi's thesis - the Gregorian Controversy [on my Sabbath Keepers blog]
• Bacchiocchi's Sabbath to Sunday [on the Hobbes' Place blog]
• Is Bacchiocchi Misrepresenting Himself? [on the Spectrum Magazine blog]
• National Enquirer: Adventist Edition [on Trevan Osborn's Divergence blog]
• Allegations regarding Bacchiocchi's dissertation [on my Sabbath Keepers blog]

I don't usually leave blog posts open for comment, as I don't have the time to keep watching for them, or continuing discussion.  For this topic, for now at least, I'll be leaving it open for comments in case people want to make any.

Adventists are true Protestants in the sense that they protest whatever is Catholic.  Catholics believe that the mother of Jesus, Mary, had no other children apart from Jesus.  Some Adventists, therefore, make it an article of faith, a doctrine, that Mary did indeed have other children.

Nowhere does the Bible state that she had other children.  Nowhere does the Bible state that she had sex with Joseph - ever.

The Adventist Review has an article by Angel Manuel Rodriguez from the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference entitled Jesus' Family Ties, which asks the question Were the brothers of Jesus mentioned in the Bible sons of Joseph and Mary?

The answer is a well-balanced look at the facts, and says that this is, for Adventists, a historical issue, not a theological one.

The problem is that Adventists have turned it into a theological one in order to dispute Catholic teaching.  Catholicism influences Adventism more than one would think.

One important criticism of the article is that it states "we are told that Joseph knew Mary, that is to say, had sexual intercourse with her, after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:25)."

Matt 1:25 reads as follows in the King James Version:

And he knew her not till she brought forth her first born son: and he called his name Jesus.

So the article is not accurate there - it is not reporting what the Bible tells us, but rather it is interpreting the Bible according to the author's own tradition.  The Bible does not tell us that Joseph had sex with Mary after Jesus' birth.  It says that he did not have sex with her before his birth.  The specific use of the term "until" here does not imply what most of us understand by the term "until" when we commonly use it in our everyday English speech.  I say "I will wait here until I get fetched" and imply that after I have been fetched, I will no longer be waiting there.

But we can also use the word "until" this way: "They won't repossess my car until I stop making payments."  Nothing tells us that they (the bank, etc.) will repossess the car after I stop making payments.  I could stop making payments because I have paid everything, and I own the car fully.

The Bible often uses the word "until" in the same way.

(Gen 24:19 KJV)  And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

After they are done drinking, obviously she would stop drawing water for them.

(Act 23:1 KJV)  And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

I doubt Paul intended doing otherwise after that day, so it's an open-ended until.  Nothing changed when the time specified by "until" ended.

(Jdg 4:24 KJV)  And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Did they stop prevailing against him after they killed him?  To say no would be a strange answer.

The same goes for Mary.  "Until" doesn't necessarily mean that things changed after the specified time.

Another question worth thinking about: When Gabriel told Mary she would have a child, she knew she would shortly get married, and so the obvious conclusion would be that she would have a child after she got married.  So why her response?  She said "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" (Luke 1:34, KJV.)  It makes sense only if her intent was to not know man, now or ever.  If she had not yet known man, but would once she was married - and clearly marriage was the intent at the time - there would have been no such confusion.

Why a bishop may not drink grape juice

Note to Adventist clergy: do you abstain from drinking grape juice?

The Seventh-day Adventist church teaches that the wine referred to in the Bible as permissible is unfermented grape juice.  They claim that the Bible condemns the use of fermented grape juice, and only permits the use of unfermented grape juice.  Many Adventists - pastors and laity alike - have questioned this, and gone to the Bible and discovered that this teaching is not found there.  Instead, the Bible permits drinking of alcoholic beverages in moderation.  But many Adventists, as well as other groups such as certain Baptists, continue this teaching.

From the Bible:

+ (Rom 14:6 KJV) He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
+ (Rom 14:21 KJV) It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

Clearly, Paul is telling is that we should not engage in activities that cause our brother to fall.  But just as eating meat was permitted by God in the Old Testament, and practised by Jesus in the New Testament, so it is with alcoholic wine.

If we accept the Adventist teaching on alcohol, we are left with a peculiar conclusion when we read certain biblical texts.

+ (1Ti 3:2-3 KJV) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
+ (Tit 1:7 KJV) For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

Paul is explaining how a bishop must be of good moral character.  I ask Adventists: why can a bishop not drink grape juice?  How does this make him of a lesser moral character, less able to lead his flock?

+ (1Ti 3:8 KJV) Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

Paul is explaining how a deacon must likewise be of good moral character.  But here he says that the deacon must not drink MUCH wine - obviously an amount that is not "much wine" is permitted.  So, if we are Adventists, this must be grape juice, because it is permitted.  But why can a deacon not drink a lot of grape juice?

+ (Tit 2:3 KJV) The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

Women who drank alcohol wine were quite scandalous in that time.  But a little is allowed - it is excess that is prohibited.  Adventists would have you believe that women who drank grape juice were causing scandals, and they were only permitted to drink a little grape juice.

+ (1Pe 4:3 KJV) For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

Peter criticises the excess of wine.  Is he referring to grape juice?  I doubt it.  But he never condemns moderate alcohol use.

+ (Lev 23:13 KJV) And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

God even commanded that wine be offered as a sacrifice!

+ (Num 6:20 KJV) And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine.

They MAY drink wine - they have permission to!

This word for wine from Strong's Concordance:

H3196
yayin
yah'-yin
From an unused root meaning to effervesce; wine (as fermented); by implication intoxication: - banqueting, wine, wine [-bibber].

+ (Num 28:7 KJV) And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of a hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering.

This word for strong wine from Strong's Concordance:

H7941
she^ka^r
shay-kawr'
From H7937; an intoxicant, that is, intensely alcoholic liquor: - strong drink, + drunkard, strong wine.

+ (Deu 14:26 KJV) And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

God explicitly permits the drinking of "strong drink" - I have yet to see an Adventist answer this text.

+ (Pro 31:6-7 KJV) Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Once again, strong drink is permitted - and the context shows that this is alcoholic strong drink, not concentrated grape juice, because it allows him to forget his poverty and misery.

+ (Jdg 9:13 KJV) And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

Adventists such as Prof Bacchiocchi argue that grape juice cheers one up. How many of you have ever had that experience?

+ (1Sa 1:14-15 KJV) And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

Here BOTH words are used!  Eli says Hannah is drunk, and she denies this, saying she has not drunk wine or strong drink - obviously both are capable of making one drunk.

+ (Lev 10:9 KJV) Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations:

Finally, the condemnation of alcoholic beverages is limited to two instances - excessive use, and use in the ministry in cases where such use would make a mockery of God.

Let's follow the Bible's advice, and not Ellen White.

Adventism has historically condemned the use of wine as a beverage.  It has not allowed it - period.

There is a lot of biblical evidence that this is an extreme stance, and that wine is acceptable.  The biblical prohibition is not against wine, but against the excessive use of wine.

Is Adventism changing?  In the Adventist Review, there is an article entitled The search for a "Thou shalt not" - by Angel Manuel Rodriguez of the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference.

He admits that the Bible is not entirely clear on the subject, and admits that there are verses that are problematic for the Adventist view.  He still endorses the Adventist view that wine is harmful, and that abstinence is a better way.  Few will deny that there is potential harm, and there is nothing wrong with abstinence.  And yes, the Bible does use strong language against the abuse of wine.  But the Bible does allow for its use.