Trojan Horse
TimeWatch Editorial
May 17, 2016
Enoch Oliveira was born in 1924. The Ellen White Estate bio on Dr. Oliveira says that he was brought up in a Seventh-day Adventist home in Brazil, where his father was the first national to be a literature evangelist. In 1945 Enoch graduated from Brazil College. He then attended Andrews University, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in 1959, a Master of Divinity degree in 1967, and a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1975. He began his ministry in the Paraná Conference in the South Brazil Union, and was ordained in Curitiba, Paraná, in 1952. He served as Ministerial Association secretary of the South American Division from 1959 to 1970, secretary of the division from 1970 to 1975, and was the first national elected as president of the division, in which position he served until 1980.
The Adventist Affirm Website, where Dr. Oliveira’s speech entitled “A Trojan Horse within the Church” was published, further describes him as serving as a General Conference vice president during a period (1980–1990) that saw major theological turmoil in the church. One of his lasting contributions to the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church was his great courage in contending for the Word against the inroads of theological liberalism. Dr. Oliveira delivered the speech at the International Convention of the Adventist Theological Society held in Indianapolis, June 28– 30, 1990, just prior to the General Conference session.
Dr. Oliveira begins his speech with a reference to Homer’s description of the “clever device the Greeks employed to conquer the city of Troy during the Trojan War. He compares the historic battle to the ongoing struggle between truth and error in God’s church.
“For many years the Seventh-day Adventist Church succeeded in bravely and tenaciously resisting the fearful assaults of the enemy. The walls of the “holy city” remained impregnable. But in his determination to conquer and destroy God’s church, the prince of this world has undertaken to employ clever and deadly secret weapons.
“There is nothing that the great deceiver fears so much,” wrote Ellen G. White, “as that we shall become acquainted with his devices” (The Great Controversy, p. 516).
After many attempts to conquer the “city of God” by applying the same kind of deceitful action employed by the Greeks, the great adversary has been able to obtain his ends by surreptitiously introducing the Trojan horse of liberalism within the walls of Zion.” Dr. Enoch Oliveira, “A Trojan Horse within the Church”.
Dr. Oliveira states emphatically that the assault of liberalism has indeed set the stage for the absorption of ideas and practices that have changed the function and attitude of the remnant church.
“Now that liberalism has become operative within our church, we perceive how vulnerable we can be to the assaults of Satan. As a church we have been inclined to believe that our greatest danger of being defeated by the powers of evil would come from without. While we may be able to perceive clearly from the walls of Zion what Satan is doing to conquer and destroy the church, we do not seem able to do much about standing firmly against the evils that are developing insidiously within our midst. Ellen White warns: “We have more to fear from within than from without” (Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 122).” Dr. Enoch Oliveira, “A Trojan Horse within the Church”
Dr. Oliveira describes the attitudinal shift introduced by the liberal Trojan horse. Those who have, for one reason or another, seem to have never spent the time to study the development of this church, or, having studied it, reject as unnecessary the unique pillars of our faith.
“Although accepting some aspects of our distinctiveness, such as the Sabbath and our health principles, they believe that the time has come for revision in our theological system. In fostering such a revision, some feel uncomfortable with the “remnant” concept as understood by the founders of our message. They believe that all “sectarian mentality” should be rejected as presumptuous and arrogant. Other liberals, in their endeavor to make our theology more “relevant,” question the integrity of the sanctuary doctrine and unite their voices with those of our opponents in this matter. They explain the two-phase ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary as a face-saving device created by Edson, Crosier, and others to bail our pioneers out of the Millerite failure.” Dr. Enoch Oliveira, “A Trojan Horse within the Church”.
Remember now, this is 26 years ago that Dr. Oliveira is describing. This has already been established. What has been missing all this time has been the awareness of the shift that has taken place. But did this really begin 26 years ago? If not, when? Listen to where Dr. Oliveira puts it.
“According to the February 5, 1990 issue of Christianity Today, the obsession for change in the Seventh-day Adventist ranks had its beginnings in the 1950s and 1960s, when our students in much larger numbers than before began to attend non-Adventist seminaries and universities seeking advanced degrees. Some of these students, in spite of unfavorable circumstances, were able to preserve their religious experience and came forth strengthened in their convictions. Others, influenced by modern Biblical criticism and liberal theology, reshaped their beliefs.” Dr. Enoch Oliveira, “A Trojan Horse within the Church”.
Dr. Oliveira’s article shows the fruit of this Trojan invasion. This liberalism produced apostasy. Quoting the Australasian Record, October 28, 1989, he says the following.
“During the early 1980s, an unprecedented number of ministers and lay people left the church in Australia and New Zealand. During the 1970s our church in those two countries lost one believer for every three who came in. In 1981, after a particularly notable attempt to effect a liberal change, the percentage of loss rose to 46 percent. It peaked at 63 per cent in 1982 and then settled down at approximately 50 percent—a loss of one member for every two believers.” Dr. Enoch Oliveira, “A Trojan Horse within the Church”.
The question must therefore be, if the challenge of the Trojan horse found as much success as it did, as far back as it did, what steps must we take today to guard against its continued destruction? Perhaps the counsel given regarding the choosing of teachers is counsel that should be applied across the board.
“The instruction given youth and children should not be of a superficial character. The teachers should do all in their power, as those standing in defense of the truth, to raise the standard high. There cannot be a worse thing done for your Sabbath school than to place as workers young men and young women who have shown great defects in their religious experience. . . . Do not lower the standard in your Sabbath schools. Your children must have as their teachers those whose example and influence will be a blessing rather than a curse.” {Counsel on Sabbath School Work 89.2}
Cameron A. Bowen
