An Evangelical Statement of Beliefs

"The hour has come, the hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the end!" Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)

It was our intent when we began considering the contents of this issue of WWN to discuss two related subjects: one, the Evangelical Statement on the Gospel; and two, the Joint Declaration on Justification to be signed Oct.31 between the Lutheran World Federation and the Papacy. There is a brief comment on page 7, but a full discussion will have to wait till the next issue. There can be no question, the evidence is too clear; the Evangelical Document focuses on the objections taken to certain positions in the accord. "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" initiated by Neuhaus and Colson.

This Evangelical document, as well as the issue now raised by the accord between Lutherans and the Papacy, brings us down to the very heart of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and how it is to be received - or is it to be attained? The very text (Rom. 3:24) where this statement is found prefaces this redemption with the passive participle, "Being justified" (acted upon) and gives the source of the action - "Freely by His grace," and the basis for it, "through ... Christ Jesus." Where then does this leave a man? Even as the Prodigal of the parable, and the Publican who "would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13). We have included a statement on page 7 from the 1888 period, October 12, 1896 to be exact, which defines justification and our worthlessness, except in the light of that redemption in Christ Jesus. These definitions we would do well to ponder.

There is another aspect to this redemption. Not only Jesus' earthly life and death are a part of that redemption, but also His mediatorial ministry in the Sanctuary above as "a Surety of a better covenant" is of equal importance and dare not be overlooked. One lesson which the "gospel in type" teaches is that unless the blood of the sacrifice was mediated it accomplished nothing. The law of sacrifice reads: "And the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him" (Lev. 4:31). Not only was there a daily atonement, but there was also the "Day of Atonements" (Lev. 23:27. Heb.).

In March 1994, a document was released that became known as ECT - "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium." This was the brainchild of Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship, and Richard John Neuhaus, a Roman Catholic priest and editor of First Things, and produced by a working core of "seven Roman Catholics and eight evangelicals" - theologians, evangelists, missiologists, and directors of Christian missions. The intensity of the discussion and controversy which followed the release of this document was not expected. Finally a book was published in 1995 edited by Colson and Neuhaus which contained essays by key participants in the preparation of the document as well as by two evangelicals who endorsed the document.

Various evangelicals voiced strong opposition to the contents of ECT. They perceived it as a betrayal of the gospel. "Last year, two evangelical theologians had a bright idea. Wouldn't it he wonderful, they said, if evangelicals could achieve a broad consensus on the gospel and join in a common statement?" (Christianity Today [CT], June 14, 1999, p. 49). The report continues:

These theologians felt the pinch of recent tense discussions over how to define the doctrine of justification, a key element of the gospel. They saw the need for a reference document for those engaged in interchurch dialogue, for theological students, for pastors, for parachurch ministries, for itinerant evangelists, and for the rest of us. Those two theologians recruited some top Christian leaders and scholars (along with two representatives of Christianity Today). Now, almost a year later, the fruits of their passion appear. (ibid.)

This document is called - "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration." The Statement is divided into four sections: a "Preamble," "The Gospel," "Unity in the Gospel," and a series of eighteen "Affirmations and Denials," and closes with a "Commitment."

In a preface to the release of this document, the Executive Editor of CT, David Neff, one of the members of the drafting committee, gives some additional insights as to the background and objectives envisioned for the Document. Alluding to what initiated ECT, Neff writes:

Today, classic theological liberalism is no longer the church's main threat. As we enter a post Christian world, one driven by consumer culture and the entertainment industry, we face more basic challenges, such as the radical devaluation of human life. In this context, we find ourselves standing with Catholic and Orthodox believers on key social issues. Indeed, through collaboration with Catholic and Orthodox activists in the prolife movement, many evangelicals have discovered a genuine appreciation for and developed friendships with them. This deeper friendship has required that Protestants know their Protestantism and that Catholics know their Catholicism and the Orthodox, their Orthodoxy. (ibid.)

Because of these contacts and the need for Evangelicals to know their Protestant background, the men behind this new Statement believe it is time "to revisit, reaffirm and recapture the gospel." They also recognized another factor, that today "evangelicals choose their churches based on music style or specialized ministries rather than doctrine or biblical content." (p. 50) Neff suggested that if some parts of the document "sound like a reprise of themes from the sixteenth century, it is because these themes have grown faint for many." The drafting committee believed that as Evangelicals go into the next millennium, this Statement captures "the synthesis of the Reformation's recovery of biblical truth and "that this truth is the key to [their] Christian identity," as well as their witness.

These Evangelicals are planning a public celebration of the gospel next year - the year 2000 - at the Christian Bookseller's Association meeting in New Orleans. One of the Sunday services on July 9 will he devoted to this gospel focus. Not only is it planned to give maximum exposure to this Document, but also a book length treatment of the Document will he unveiled at the New Orleans meeting. It is obvious in each planned step that the objective is to present a counter emphasis to the ECT statement and the book release on that statement.

At this point, before considering various pronouncements contained in this Evangelical Statement of Beliefs, a comment or two is in order. While the Evangelical theologians in drawing up this Statement emphasized the "biblical truth recovered by the Reformation, this month, October 31, there will be signed in Augsburg, Germany, a joint declaration between Lutherans and Roman Catholics in which the condemnation of each other's teaching on justification will be annulled. This joint declaration states that "a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics" (ENI, June 16, 1999, p. 3).

This Evangelical Statement of Beliefs is formulated around one theme - the Gospel. With no reflection on the clarity achieved by the ordering of the Statements of Belief as has been done in the various statements from 1872 to 1980 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, nevertheless is not "the everlasting gospel" at the heart and core of the Three Angels'

Messages of Revelation 14? One can only wonder what kind of a Statement would have been produced had the Church at some point in the formulations of its various Statements chosen to do what the Evangelicals have done, build a whole Statement on just the one theme - the Everlasting Gospel.

As noted above, the Evangelical theologians "felt the pinch" as "how to define the doctrine of justification, a key element of the gospel." Is this not also an issue in the Community of Adventism? Isn't this what 1888 is all about? As the Evangelical Statement is analyzed, the individual Adventist must determine whether there is a distinction between the 1888 Message and what the Evangelicals stated on this basic point. If there is no distinction, wherein then is the uniqueness of 1888, and the uniqueness of Adventism as well?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is news, good news: the best and most important news that any human being ever hears.

This Gospel declares the only way to know God in peace, love, and joy is through the reconciling death of Jesus Christ the risen Lord.

This Gospel is the central message of the Holy Scriptures, and is the true key to understanding them. (CT, op.cit., p. 51)

The next paragraph also begins with "This Gospel" but defines it in the terms of "the Holy Trinity." One does not sense at this point in the Statement the Nicene Creed, but rather a close parallel of thought to the 1931 Statement of the Adventist Church in its wording. In a later section of the Statement, the wording of the Creed surfaces. This first notation of the Trinity reads:

This Gospel identifies Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, as the Son of God and God the Son, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, whose incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension fulfilled the Father's saving will. ... He is now giving the Holy Spirit from the Father to all those who are truly his. The three Persons of the Trinity thus combine In the work of saving sinners.

The last sentence reflects the same idea expressed in the Writings, except Ellen White substituted, "the Heavenly Trio" for "three Persons of the Trinity." There is a difference, and this difference we have discussed in previous issues of WWN.

The "Preamble" emphasizes that there is only one Gospel, and is "the true bond of Christian unity." It states that this Gospel "requires of all believers worship, which means constant praise and giving thanks to God, submission to all that he has revealed in his written word, prayerful dependence on him, and vigilance lest his truth be even inadvertently compromised or obscured" (p. 52). One wonders what this will mean when the "chips" are down, and the full social program of the "religious right" is implemented?

The second section is captioned, "The Gospel." The positions taken in this section are detailed in the eighteen "Affirmations and Denials." So as to avoid duplications, we shall note certain key statements in the section on "The Gospel," and discuss some of the most important affirmations and denials.

Quoting Peter's declaration in Acts 4:12, and Jesus' affirmation in John 14:6, the framers of this Evangelical Statement declare - "It is through his one and only Son that God's one and only plan of salvation is implemented." They perceive this salvation as based on two things, "the sinless life and vicarious death of his beloved Son." One paragraph focusing on the extent of the gospel as centered in Jesus Christ reads in part:

This Gospel further proclaims the bodily resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Jesus as evidence of the efficacy of his once-for-all sacrifice for us, of the reality of his present personal ministry to us, and of the certainty of his future return to glorify us.

The noting of "his present personal ministry to us" is the total of what is said in this Statement regarding the High Priestly work of Jesus as the Surety of a better covenant based on better promises. On this point we shall comment at the close of this analysis.

Justification is defined as "a decisive transition, here and now, from a state of condemnation and wrath" because of sin, "to one of acceptance and favor by virtue of Jesus' flawless obedience culminating in his voluntary sin-bearing death." It is further reiterated:

As our sins were reckoned to Christ, so Christ's righteousness is reckoned to us. This is justification by the imputation of Christ's righteousness. All we bring to the transaction is our need of it. Our faith in the God who bestows it, ... is itself the fruit of God's grace. Faith links us savingly to Jesus, but inasmuch as it involves an acknowledgement that we have no merit of our own, it Is confessedly not a meritorious work. (p. 53)

The moment we truly believe In Christ, the Father declares us righteous in him and begins conforming us to his likeness. Genuine faith acknowledges and depends upon Jesus as Lord and shows itself in growing obedience to the divine commands, though this contributes nothing to our justification.

As perceived by the framers of this Statement, "Salvation in its full sense is from the guilt of sin in the past, the power of sin in the present, and the presence of sin in the future." Inasmuch as all have sinned, "so all who do not receive Christ will be judged according to their just deserts as measured by God's holy law, and face eternal retributive punishment."

Before setting forth the Affirmations and Denials, a small section is inserted on "Unity in the Gospel." Two positions are worth noting because they relate to current trends in Adventism:

1) The Statement declares that "as trustees of God's revealed truth," they cannot "embrace any form of doctrinal ... pluralism by which God's truth is sacrificed for a false peace." [This "pluralism" is reflected in the present position of the SDA Church on the major doctrine of the Incarnation. You have a choice of any one of three concepts]

2) "Doctrinal disagreements call for debate. Dialogue for mutual understanding and, if possible, narrowing of the differences is valuable, doubly so when the avowed goal is unity in primary things, with liberty in secondary things, and charity in all things." [This concept is echoed by the break-away liberal SDA churches that have adopted congregationalism as their governance mode].

The Document sets forth eighteen "Affirmations and Denials." In this brief "Thought Paper" it is impossible to comment on each, and so we will note a few of these which in our judgment are key issues.

The first affirmation is that the Gospel is God's Gospel revealed to us "in and by his Word. Its authority and truth rest on him alone." They deny "that the truth or authority of any part of the Gospel rests on the authority of any particular church or human institution."

They affirm that "Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, the only mediator between God and humanity." The denial enforces this position. It reads - "We deny that anyone is saved in any other way than by Jesus Christ and his Gospel. The Bible offers no hope that sincere worshipers of other religions will be saved without personal faith in Jesus Christ."

Affirmation #6 with its denial involves what is also a current contention in Adventism. It reads:

We affirm that faith in Jesus Christ as the divine Word (or Logos, John 1:1), the second Person of the Trinity, co-eternal and co-essential with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is foundational to faith in the Gospel.

We deny any view of Jesus Christ which reduces or rejects his full deity is Gospel faith or will avail to salvation.

While the affirmation contains certain questionable aspects such as "the Trinity," it also sets forth a vital truth -"the co-eternal" relationship of Jesus Christ with the Father. The denial contains an essential position which strikes at the false contention of the neo-antiTrinitarians in the Adventist Community which seeks to "reduce" the full deityship of Jesus Christ.

As in the section on "The Gospel," so in the affirmations is the position taken that "Christ's saving work included both his life and death on our behalf." They emphatically deny that "salvation was achieved merely or exclusively by the death of Christ without reference to his life of perfect righteousness." (#9) This is a bit difficult to understand as to the precise meaning the framers had in mind. Knowing that many evangelicals hold a "once saved, always saved" concept, is this saying that Jesus' life of obedience is appropriated to us even as His death is substituted for the penalty of our sins? However, in the Statement, as has been noted, is the concept that acceptance of Jesus as the only Savior and Lord reveals "itself in growing obedience to the divine commands" by which Jesus lived. Is this, therefore, saying the same thing as is written in the 1980 Dallas Statement (#10) that "we exercise faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, as Substitute and Example"?

Affirmation #11, though emphasized throughout the document, is concisely stated again: "We affirm that the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone is essential to the Gospel." The emphasis is on the word, "alone." It is over this point that strong objection was made to the ECT statement fathered by Colson and Neuhaus. That statement read: "We affirm that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ." This new Statement denies that "any person can believe the biblical Gospel and at the same time reject the apostolic teaching of justification by faith alone in Christ alone." The denial continues: "We also deny that there is more than one true Gospel."' In simple language the Evangelical Document is declaring that there is the Biblical Gospel, and there is the papal version.

In the book, Evangelicals & Catholics Together, edited by Neuhaus and Colson, Neuhaus calls attention to the absence of the word, "only" (alone) from ECT Statement as quoted in the above paragraph. He plainly writes - "The solas (Latin for "only," or "alone") are conspicuous by their absence, and it is not by accident that they are absent" (p. 200). With the lines drawn so precisely in the newly released Statement, it will require a large amount of rationalization to be signatories of both ECT and "An Evangelical Celebration." Yet Colson and others who signed the ECT Statement have signed on to the new declaration!

Affirmations and Denials #12-15 are a unit of thought which needs to be read together. While not stated in so many words, they strike at the false papal gospel, and could be equally applied to the modified Tridentine form which one hears proclaimed by some of the dissident "voices" on the periphery of Adventism. These affirmations and denials read:

12. We affirm that the doctrine of the imputation (reckoning or counting) both of our sins to Christ and his righteousness to us, whereby our sins are fully forgiven and we are fully accepted, is essential to the biblical Gospel.

We deny that we are justified by the righteousness of Christ infused into us or by any righteousness that is thought to inhere, within us.

13. We affirm that the righteousness of Christ by which we are justified is properly his own, which he achieved apart from us, in and by his perfect obedience. This righteousness is counted, reckoned, or imputed to us by the forensic (that is, legal) declaration of God, as the sole ground of our justification.

We deny that any works we perform at any stage of our existence add to the merit of Christ or earn for us any merit that contributes in any way to the ground of our justification.

14. We affirm that, while all believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and are in the process of being made holy and conformed to the image of Christ, these consequences of justification are not its ground. God declares us just, remits our sins, and adopts us as his children, by his grace alone, and through faith alone, because of Christ alone, while we are still sinners (Rom. 4:5).

We deny that believers must be inherently righteous by virtue of their co-operation with God's life-transforming grace before God will declare them justified in Christ. We are justified while we are still sinners.

15. We affirm that saving faith results in sanctification, the transformation of life in growing conformity to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification means ongoing repentance, a life of turning from sin to serve Jesus Christ in grateful reliance on him as one's Lord and Master.

We reject any view of justification which divorces it from our sanctifying union with Christ and our increasing conformity to his image through prayer, repentance, cross-bearing, and life in the Spirit.

There are those in the Community of Adventism who have problems over sanctification, and who will take issue with justification as set forth in this document on "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: an Evangelical Celebration." These "voices" proclaim a modified Tridentine gospel which includes "works." To all such, I would call their attention to two statements of Jesus; one an answer to a question asked of Him, and the second a parable He spoke.

On one occasion Jesus was asked - "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" To this question, Jesus replied: "This is the work (singular) of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:28-29)

The parable of Jesus relating to the question is recorded in Luke 17:7-10. He told of a servant coming in from a day of labor in the field who was instructed to prepare first the evening meal for his master before eating himself. Jesus asked the question - "Doth (the master) thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded him?" The answer was - No! Then Jesus commented:

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Sanctification is merely the enabling by the Holy Spirit to do the things we should have done, but because we are sinners, we have not done. No merit accrues, nor can accrue by doing that which is one's duty to do, not even a "Thank you."

An article in The Signs of the Times (May 30, 1895) captioned, "Christ Our Complete Salvation" has some corresponding thoughts which closely parallel the Evangelical document. Here are some excerpts from the article (emphasis supplied):

The character of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be reproduced in those who believe in Him as their personal Saviour. ... Our acceptance with God is not upon the ground of our good works, ...

Apart from Christ, without union with Him, we can do nothing. ... The law requires us to present to God a holy character. It demands of men today just what it demanded of Adam in Eden, - perfect obedience ... As the law requires that which no man of himself can render, the human family are found guilty before the great moral standard ... and finding ourselves condemned because of transgression, we may well cry out, What shall we do to be saved?

There is but one way of escape for the sinner. He must accept the propitiation that has been made by the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world. ...

It will avail nothing for us to do penance, to afflict the body for the sin of the soul, or to flatter ourselves that by our good works we shall merit or purchase an inheritance among the saints. ... We are not to do something in order to purchase our entrance into heaven, for the Lord gives us heaven through the merit of Jesus Christ, and not through any merit of our own. ...

The glory of God was revealed in the rich mercy that He poured out upon a race of rebels, who through repentance and faith might be pardoned through the merits of Christ, for God will by no means clear the guilty who refuse to acknowledge the merit of the crucified and risen Saviour. It is only through faith in Christ that sinners may have the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and that they may be "made the righteousness of God in Him." Our sins were laid on Christ, punished in Christ, put away by Christ, in order that His righteousness might be imputed to us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Although sin was charged to His account on our behalf, yet He remained perfectly siniess.

Since the Evangelical Statement reflects the Reformation revival of the Gospel of God's grace that through faith alone in the merits of Christ only, can man find hope from the guilt of sin and its power now, and ultimately its presence in the future, which hope is clearly stated in the one and only Gospel given to Paul by Jesus Christ, the Community of Adventism is faced with some basic questions.

1) For what purpose was "the everlasting Gospel," the heart and core of the Three Angels' Messages, committed in sacred trust to the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

2) What was the purpose of what happened in 1888? Wherein is the difference in the message of justification by faith as set forth in the Evangelical document, and that which was given through Jones and Waggoner?

It is also obvious that the message of justification as set forth in "An Evangelical Celebration" is also declared in the article from The Signs of the Times from the pen of Ellen G. White - it rests solely on the merits of Jesus Christ, and received by faith alone, not of works. In both, it is affirmed that our "good works" do not contribute in any way to the "ground" of our salvation or acceptance with God. So how do we answer the above questions?

A cliche' which was used frequently during past years concerning the Three Angels' Messages still has merit. The Message of Revelation 14:6-14 is God's last Gospel message to a dying world. There is none other. Exegelically this is true. The Three Angels Messages end in the return of Jesus Christ. But what is that saying? It is declaring that the Gospel in its final emphasis will meet the need of those who will be translated without seeing death. One may respond - What is the difference in the salvational act of God whether one is resurrected from the grave, or translated? The answer is that the Scriptures clearly makes a distinction between the two groups.

To the Church of the Thessalonians, Paul wrote that the "Dead in Christ shall first arise," and "then we which are alive and remain shall he caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (I Thes. 4:16-17). In his great resurrection treatise, Paul defines different results for these two categories of the redeemed. One who experiences corruption "must put on incorruption (αφθαρσιαυ) and this mortal [one who remains alive] must put on immortality (ἀθανασίαν)" (I Cor. 15:53). This latter Greek word is used only by Paul, three times: twice in this Corinthian text, and once in I Tim. 6:16. The former word is likewise used only by Paul eight different places in his Epistles.

Two categories of the redeemed are also suggested by the final decree just before the return of Jesus (Revelation 22:11-12). One is defined as "he that is righteous ('ὁ δίκαιος), and the other as "he that is holy" (ὁ ἅγιος). If the sequence as used by Paul holds true in Revelation, then the "righteous" refers to the "dead in Christ" while "holy" denotes the ones translated. This second group have reached the ultimate objective of "sanctification." The text in Revelation 22:11 reads - "he that is holy let him be holy (ἁγιασθήτω) still." Every other place this word is used in the NT, it is translated, "sanctify," "sanctified," or "hallowed." The word ὁ ἅγιος (holy) is never translated by these words. It is, however, translated, "saints" - "holy ones." In this, is to be found an analogy with Rev. 14:12 where the objective of the Everlasting Gospel is declared to be "saints" who are keeping "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." If keeping the commandments of God, then it means simply, they have ceased sinning; and this before the return of Jesus (14:14).

Sanctification, doing those things which we ought to do, does this result in holiness? In other words, can we attain the objective of the "Everlasting Gospel" through a works

oriented program? The Scripture gives a decided answer in the negative. In each instance of the two categories of the redeemed as decreed in Revelation 22:11 the "righteous" and the "holy," the verb is passive in the Textus Receptus. [The Greek Text in the United Bible Societies version destroys the obvious parallelism intended] What does the fact that the verb is in the passive signify? The subject is acted upon rather than acting. I can no more justify myself, declare myself righteous, than I can make myself holy. It must be through Jesus alone as the "surety of the better covenant" (Heb. 7:22).

This introduces the Heavenly ministry of Jesus as High Priest after the Order of Melchizedec. This is only alluded to, but not defined in the Evangelical Statement, which reads - "The Gospel further proclaims... the reality of his present personal ministry to us." It was for those to whom was committed "the Everlasting Gospel to develop and define the ministry of Jesus Christ in the Heavenly reality of which the Mosaic type prefigured not only the atonement at the Altar, but also the Final Atonement wherein all Israel were ceremonially cleansed from their defilement. Only as this is kept central in the thinking of those who would proclaim the everlasting gospel, can the uniqueness of Adventism be preserved, and a people readied to receive that final act by which and through which it can he said -"Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." On these will the decree be rendered "He that is holy, let him be holy still."

What is justification by faith? - It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his own power to do for himself. When men see their own nothingness, they are prepared to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. When they begin to praise and exalt God all day long, then by beholding they are becoming changed into the same image. What is regeneration? - It is revealing to man what is his own real nature, that in himself he is worthless. (Special Testimonies to Ministers and Workers, #9, p. 62)

This was the caption on an article in The Lutheran, (July 1999, p. 52) We made brief comment in the above article (p. 2, col. 2) on this event to take place, October 31. The article in The Lutheran gives the key sentence of this declaration. The two Churches - Lutheran and Roman Catholic - confess together, "By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works." It should be obvious that the issue is coming down to what is called the three "solas." These the Evangelicals addressed in their "Call to Evangelical Unity." The mitigation of these were the basis for the negative reaction among Evangelicals to the accord, "Evangelicals & Catholics Together," drawn up by Colson and Neuhaus. In the next issue of WWN, we hope to discuss this further.

Originally published by Adventist Laymen's Foundation of Mississippi/Arkansas

Wm. H. Grotheer, Editor

Adventist Laymen's Foundation was chartered in 1971 by Elder Wm. H. Grotheer, then 29 years in the Seventh-day Adventist ministry, and associates, for the benefit of Seventh-day Adventists who were deeply concerned about the compromises of fundamental doctrines by the Church leaders in conference with those who had no right to influence them. Elder Grotheer began to publish the monthly "Thought Paper," Watchman, What of the Night? (WWN) in January, 1968, and continued the publication as Editor until the end of 2006. Elder Grotheer died on May 2, 2009.