One Sunday in April about 6:30 P.M., there gathered in the large assembly room of a well-appointed Christian church a group of eager young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty. They had come, upon their own initiative, to their own church to hear about the doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists. Two ministerial students of Union College were on hand. Each presented a brief on the beliefs of the remnant church while these serious young people listened.
The briefs had been prepared from the viewpoint of showing what we have as a prize possession. It was the studied purpose to present Adventism as a culminating end result, an embodiment of the cream of Protestant beliefs—the full tenets of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This proved sufficient to obtain results, as will be seen.
The two briefs in logical, consecutive order contained the following subjects : (I) background of the name "Seventh-day Adventist"; (2) the authority for our belief, using such texts as i Corinthians 3:11; (3) the gospel of Jesus Christ—plus the medical arm; (4) the law in the New Testament and the validity of the Old Testament; (5) the prophecies; (6) the seventh-day Sabbath; (7) the message of Revelation 14; (8) the gift of prophecy ; (9) tithe and baptism; and (io) a summary of the history of the remnant church.
This Christian Church Youth Society had sent a representative to the office of A. J. Wearner, head of the Department of Religion, at Union College, requesting the presentation. Professor Wearner turned the request over to members of his advanced Bible doctrines class.
The presentation seemed to grip the minds of these youth, and they desired to possess this faith also. After the meeting closed, a group of the young people remained for another half hour asking questions. Here are some of the things they asked:
"Do you believe that the six days of creation may have been millenniums?"
"Why do you abstain from smoking?"
"I should like to know more about the proohecies."
"How large did you say is your membership?"
"Do you believe in divine healing?"
"Do you permit dancing?"
"What is your attitude toward politics?"
'You don't believe in setting a date for the 'second coming' do you?"
"Please explain your military service attitude and medical cadet training."
"I would like to see statements by the writers of the Catholic Church in which they claim to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday."
"Why don't you drink coffee?"
"Do you engage in organized athletics?"
"Do you eat meat?"
"Do you eat pork?"
We felt this to be a wonderful opportunity to present the Bible facts as we understand them. Thus the seed was sown, and literature was left as reference material, to water the seed.
