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Bill Ferguson's name will be well known to many long time readers of Otagosh and its predecessors, Ambassador Watch and The Missing Dimension. It was largely thanks to Bill's advocacy that the work of Australian theologian Robert D. Brinsmead rose to prominence in that specific community of refugees from the Sabbatarian sect that transitioned from the imperious leadership of Herbert W. Armstrong into the inept hands of Joe ("Honey, I Shrunk the Church!") Tkach. It has been a while since Bill had a serious online presence to match his earlier and much appreciated work on Ekklesia and the JBAS board, but now he's launched a new forum - initially drawing on the remnants of JBAS - A Nui Anani, a composite of Hawaian, Māori and Taino terms. In fact, it's just hit the web in the last few hours. According to Bill, "The discussion has moved on to more issues of consciousness and Near
Death Experiences but we still cover a bit of religion [and] other topics."
I confess to once being a huge fan of Ekklesia, and was for as time a regular on the JBAS board. While I'm at it, I'd better confess to being indebted in a big way to the work of Bob Brinsmead, former editor of The Present Truth, and later Verdict, a thorn in the side of the Seventh-day Adventist church for many years, and a voice of challenge and influence to kindred movements. For those happy to take a time trip, below is a 30 minute sample of Bob speaking way back in 1985... Although Bob's thinking has moved on somewhat (as indeed has mine) I still want to call out a heartfelt 'Amen' now and then!
1. The Spirit of Jesus and the Bible. By Robert D. Brinsmead from Greatest-1-Command.com on Vimeo.
Thanks for this. I've never seen him in action before; his speaking performance is just as amazing as his scholarship and writing.
ReplyDeleteAnd this captures him at a critical point in his swiftly moving philosophical evolution.
In this lecture, with its innovation and iconoclasm, it occurred to me that he is as close to a modern Paul as we're likely to see: an intellectual activist bent on remodeling failing contemporary religion.