Profile of a Religious Man

Confessions of a Religion Addict

Edwin Zackrison

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781532699047
  9781532699054
• eBook ISBN:
  9781532699061
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Biographies

This book is a "journey book." Sitting down at a computer and producing the story has been a grand trek. I have learned that there is a principle in nature that some things need to mellow, calm down, and soak in. The refusal of winemakers to take a wine before its time is a notion I am coming to understand. It works with writers as well. Like a fetus signaling its mother that it is time to head for the hospital, a literary work stays in the mind until its time. In my education, I have read of the battles of great Church leaders who were eventually thrown out of their churches. In my denominational education, I was largely led to see them as heretics, rebels, eccentrics, revolutionaries, apostates, and as generally representing a lower form of spirituality. Church education often asked me to surrender my biases in favor of accepting a new set of assumptions--my denominational ones. We were to be critical of everything except our organization. I submit that there is danger in that. This book will cover incidents from the first forty years of my life as a religious addict. You may find something here that you can identify with.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Religious Heritage
• Chapter 2: Life in an Adventist Home
• Chapter 3: In the Protective Custody of the Church
• Chapter 4: The Culture of Adventism
• Chapter 5: Identity Formation and Dad’s Compassion
• Chapter 6: Major Life Decisions
• Chapter 7: College Years Set Life’s Agenda
• Chapter 8: Searching for Salvation
• Chapter 9: Managing Change
• Chapter 10: Reframing Life
• Chapter 11: Necessary Professional Developments
• Chapter 12: Moon River
• Chapter 13: Polishing the Dream
• Chapter 14: Seminary Days
• Chapter 15: Theological Excitement
• Chapter 16: The Controversy Widens
• Chapter 17: Encounter with Life
• Chapter 18: Elder Walter T. Rea (1922–2014)
• Chapter 19: A Bump in The Road
• Chapter 20: Life in the Parish
• Chapter 21: Understanding Organized Religion
• Chapter 22: A Search for Meaningful Ministry
• Chapter 23: A New Direction
• Chapter 24: A Step into A New Direction
• Chapter 25: Entering Educational Ministry
• Chapter 26: Mining the Depths of Knowledge
• Chapter 27: A Tapestry of Subtle Shifts
• Chapter 28: We’ve Got Problems
• Chapter 29: We’ve Become the Problem
• Chapter 30: An Anatomy of Betrayal
• Chapter 31: Background of the Collegedale Purge
• Chapter 32: The Collegedale Purge Begins
• Chapter 33: Crisis at the College
• Chapter 34: The Wind Down
• Chapter 35: Resolution
• Chapter 36: The Final Pleas for Support
• Chapter 37: Settlement
• Chapter 38: Closure
• The Educational Philosophy Behind the Methods Used in This Course1
• The Collegedale Story
• Some Historical Observations on the Present Theology “Crisis”8
• Remarks at the SMC Faculty Colloquium42
• The Atlanta Affirmation44
• A Response to the Atlanta Affirmation45
• Edward Heppenstall Support Letter47
• Remarks Before the Southern College Board of Trustees49
• The Image Problem51
• Bibliography