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The ''Seventh-day Adventist Commentary Reference Series'' is a set of volumes produced primarily by
Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
scholars, and designed for both scholarly and popular level use. It includes the seven-volume ''Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary'', the two-volume ''Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia'', as well as the single volumes ''Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary'', ''Seventh-day Adventist Bible Students' Source Book'' and ''Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology''. The series is published by the church-owned
Review and Herald Publishing Association The Review and Herald Publishing Association was the oldest of two Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses in North America. The organization published books, magazines, study guides, CDs, videos and games for Adventist churches, schools and ind ...
. The project began with the ''Bible Commentary'', which was first published from 1953 to 1957. Francis D. Nichol served as the editor-in-chief, and oversaw 37 contributors which included associate editors
Raymond Cottrell Raymond Forrest Cottrell (April 21, 1911, Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California – January 12, 2003, Calimesa, California, Calimesa, California) was an Seventh-day Adventist Church, Adventist Christian theology, theologian, missionar ...
and Don Neufeld, and assistant editor Julia Neuffer. It was revised in 1980. The seventh (last) volume also contains various indexes. The ''Bible Dictionary'' was published in 1960 and revised in 1979. The ''Bible Students' Source Book'' was published in 1962. The ''Encyclopedia'' was published in 1966, with a "Revised Edition" in 1976 and a "Second Revised Edition" in 1996. The ''Handbook'' was published in 2000. It was the first systematic expository of the entire Bible made by the Adventist church, the first such to be consistently based on the original languages of the Bible, and the first to consistently incorporate cutting edge
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
research to provide a historical context for interpretation.


Volumes

The volumes include commentary (1–9) and other materials: #
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
to
Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
#
Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
to 2 Kings # 1
Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed * '' The Idh ...
to Song of Solomon #
Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
to
Malachi Malachi (; ) is the traditional author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Tanakh. According to the 1897 ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'', it is possible that Malachi is not a proper name, as it simply mean ...
#
Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...
to
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
#
Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
to
Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to Paul the Apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as Deutero-Pauline, that is, pseudepigrapha written in Pau ...
# Philippians to
Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
# ''Bible Dictionary'' # ''Bible Students' Source Book'' # ''Encyclopedia: A–L'' # ''Encyclopedia: M–Z'' # ''Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology''


Point of view

In his instructions to the contributors, Nichol explained the commentary was not "to crystallize once and for all a dogmatic interpretation". Where there were several notable interpretations, each major view was presented in a fair manner, but a consensus opinion of the editors was also given. It did not attempt to finalize doctrinal positions nor take stands on debatable points, but to assist readers in making their own conclusions. Cottrell said, Nichol also required that no statement in the commentary should contradict the writings of Ellen White. However the editors discovered that White sometimes interprets Scripture differently from what the original context implies, and this was for a homiletical (preaching, and/or to convince or persuade) rather than
exegetical Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...
(strict interpretation) use.


History

The idea for the commentary originated with J. D. Snider, book department manager of the
Review and Herald Publishing Association The Review and Herald Publishing Association was the oldest of two Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses in North America. The organization published books, magazines, study guides, CDs, videos and games for Adventist churches, schools and ind ...
, in response to a demand for an Adventist commentary like the classical commentaries of Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Albert Barnes, or
Adam Clarke Adam Clarke (176226 August 1832) was a British Methodist theologian who served three times as President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference (1806–07, 1814–15 and 1822–23). A biblical scholar, he published an influential Bible commentary ...
. Snider and the Review and Herald board nominated Francis D. Nichol, who was editor-in-chief of the church's flagship publication, the ''Review and Herald'' (now the ''
Adventist Review The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and oversees the church in directing its various divisions and ...
''). After consulting with lecturers at the
Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary (SDATS) is the seminary located at Andrews University in Michigan, the Seventh-day Adventist Church's flagship university. Since 1970 the SDATS has been accredited by the Association of Theological Sc ...
and others, Nichol assembled a team of individuals to work on the commentary. Nichol stated that the Commentary would not have been possible without the theologically open climate in the church during the 1950s and 60s.


Contributors

The full-time members of the team included editor-in-chief Francis Nichol, associate editors Don F. Neufeld and Raymond F. Cottrell, and assistant editor Julia Neuffer. In addition there were six part-time editors – Leona Running and Earle Hilgert, who were teachers at the Seminary; and Alger Johns,
Herbert Douglass Herbert Edgar Douglass Jr. (May 16, 1927 – December 15, 2014) was a Seventh-day Adventist theologian. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, US, the oldest of five children (all sons) to Herbert Edgar Douglass Sr (1904–1983) and Mil ...
, Bernard Seton and James Cox, who were graduate students recommended by the Seminary. Although not officially a member of the commentary team, leading archaeologist
Siegfried Horn Siegfried Herbert Horn (March 17, 1908 – November 28, 1993) was a Seventh-day Adventist archaeologist and Bible scholar. He is best known for his excavations at Heshbon in Jordan and Shechem in the West Bank. He was Professor of History of An ...
provided his expertise at all stages of the project, and also contributed the most manuscript pages of any author. According to Cottrell, Most of the contributors were Bible scholars who taught at Adventist colleges. The full list of authors was included in each volume of the commentary, however it was not specified which authors wrote which articles. Nichol decided on this approach for the privacy of the contributors, and also because substantial editing was often required in order to produce a consistent style, so that the responsibility of the content ultimately rested on the editors. Cottrell later published a full list of articles and corresponding contributors, when he felt that such protection was unnecessary. Nichol estimated that the editorial process alone consisted of more than 77,000 hours of work.


See also

*
Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
*
History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church had its roots in the Millerite movement of the 1830s to the 1840s, during the period of the Second Great Awakening, and was officially founded in 1863. Prominent figures in the early church included Hiram Edson, ...
*
28 fundamental beliefs The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and i ...
* ''
Questions on Doctrine ''Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine'' (generally known by the shortened title ''Questions on Doctrine'', abbreviated ''QOD'') is a book published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1957 to help explain Adventism to conserva ...
'' *
Biblical Research Institute The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland and oversees the church in directing its various divisions and ...
*
Ellen G. White Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she wa ...
* Teachings of Ellen White#End times *
Inspiration of Ellen White Most Seventh-day Adventists believe church co-founder Ellen G. White (1827–1915) was inspired by God as a prophet, today understood as a manifestation of the New Testament " gift of prophecy," as described in the official beliefs of the church ...
*
Ellen G. White bibliography Ellen G. White (November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915), one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is identified as author of about 155 books, about 5,000 periodical articles, and 200 pamphlets. Books The books that identify White as ...
*
List of Ellen White writings Ellen G. White Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband Ja ...
* ''
Conflict of the Ages (book series) The ''Conflict of the Ages'' is a book series written by American religious author Ellen G. White (1827-1915). The books follow the Biblical history of the world, with special focus on the conflict between Christ and Satan. The series starts w ...
'' *
Ellen G. White Estate Ellen Gould White ( née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American woman author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she ...
*
Prophecy in the Seventh-day Adventist Church Seventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen G. White, one of the church's co-founders, was a prophetess, understood today as an expression of the New Testament spiritual gift of prophecy. Seventh-day Adventist believe that White had the spiritual g ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist eschatology The Seventh-day Adventist Church holds a unique system of eschatology, eschatological (or Eschatology, end-times) beliefs. Adventist eschatology, which is based on a historicism (Christianity), historicist interpretation of prophecy, is characteri ...
* Francis D. Nichol *
Raymond Cottrell Raymond Forrest Cottrell (April 21, 1911, Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California – January 12, 2003, Calimesa, California, Calimesa, California) was an Seventh-day Adventist Church, Adventist Christian theology, theologian, missionar ...
*
1952 Bible Conference The 1952 Bible Conference was a Seventh-day Adventist conference in the Sligo Church in Takoma Park, Maryland from September 1–13, 1952. There were 498 people listed as attending this meeting with worldwide representation (with at least 3 peopl ...
*
Seventh-day Adventist theology The theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church resembles that of Protestant Christianity, combining elements from Lutheran, Wesleyan-Arminian, and Anabaptist branches of Protestantism. Adventists believe in the infallibility of Scripture and tea ...


References

See also the ''Preface'' for most of the volumes in the series, which contains some historical background, particularly of the ''Encyclopedia''.


Bibliography

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External links

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PDF version
(large file). * . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Seventh-Day Adventist Commentary Reference Series Books about Christianity Commentary Reference Series Commentary Reference Series