Bull’s and Lockhart’s Challenge to Adventist Progressives

Authors of Seeking a Sanctuary argue that a theology with clear boundaries holds the Adventist Church together.

Seeking a Sanctuary, a highly detailed sociological study of American Adventism by Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart, was the focus of the Adventist Forums Conference, held Sept. 28-30 in Santa Rosa, California.

Seeking a Sanctuary sustains a consistent thesis throughout 500 pages of impeccable research, arguing that Seventh-day Adventism, by withdrawing from American culture and opposing American values, paradoxically fulfills the American dream. Most controversially, its authors maintain that Adventism has not really made the transition from sect to denomination. While not Adventists themselves, Bull and Lockhart demonstrated a clear affection for the church they have chosen to study.

Lockhart started the conversation by describing what he sees as the “Golden Age” of Seventh-day Adventism, the fundamentalist era of the 1920s-1950s. He argues that the books published, institutions formed, and media outlets started in this era have . . .

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