Two Minutes: An Appeal to the GC Delegates

hello my name is Dr Conrad Vine and Iwant to uh share some thoughts with youtoday entitled two minutes we are nowdays from the 2022 General Conferencesession when the global Adventist familywill meet to discuss to pray and to makedecisions among the delegates will beapproximately 30 delegates at large whoare appointed by the GC Adcom thedelegates at large are specificindividuals who bring a global perspectperspective and for many years the AFMpresident such as myself has served as adelegate at large due to the globalperspective that an AFM president bringsto the GC decision-making process Iserved as a delegate at large in SanAntonio in 2015 and was subsequentlyappointed by the GC Adcom as a delegateat large in 2019 for the 2020 sessionhowever due to the covid pandemic the2020 session has been delayed until thisyear2022 earlier this month earlier in May2022 I was informed by the GCSecretariat that I would no longer beserving as a delegate at large and thatthe AFM board chair had been asked toserve in my place essentially I am acancelled delegate normally whendelegates rise to speak from the floorof the General Conference sessionthey're allowed up to 2 minutes to speakso I'm going to share with you what Godhas laid upon on my heart in the twominutes available to me and I'm going tospeak along three General themescancellation coercion and condemnationso I'm speaking today as a cancelleddelegate when it comes tocancellation uh cancellation um existsin totalitarian societies around theworld it exists to destroy anyindividual who does not bow to thedominant narrative within a givenSociety in the era of papal Supremacy anera of both soft and hardtotalitarianism voices of consciencewere silenced through being banned frompreaching or teaching denounced asHeretics excluded from the pulpit placedunder papal condemnationexcommunicated exiled tortured or simplyexecuted for instance by being burnt atthe stake in the Soviet Union which wasa hard totalitarian Society if you weremerely suspected of questioning thedominant socialist ideology you weresent off to the gulags you were executedyou were cancelled once and for all andin the west today with softtotalitarianism in the ascendancy ourCouncil culture in the west seeks todestroy any person professionallyfinancially and socially who refuses tobow to the spiritually atheist andpolitically Marxist God rejectingideologies of the woke Revolution thatis now overwhelming Western Civilizationcancer cultures totalitarianism is alsogrowing within Western adventism if youhave the temerity to preach and upholdour 28 fundamental beliefs for instanceif as a preacher you choose to defendbiblical marriage versus samesexmarriage or biblical anthropology versuscritical gender Theory vigorous attemptswill be made to cancel you for fear ofoffending the postbiblical woke agendaon our college campuses College UCouncil culture does exist at thehighest levels of the Adventist Churchtoday now in 2022 15th of January Ipreached a sermon entitled an appeal tothe Adventist nobility it was deliveredon the NAD designated religious libertySabbath for 20122 and I delivered it inmy capacity as the chair of the localVillage 7th Adventist Church religiouslibertycommittee after that sermon Iimmediately connected with the generalconference and I requested of them theopportunity to meet and to discuss thematters that have been raised however Iwas informed that they were focused onpreparing for the 2022 session andsimply did not have the time to meetwith me shortly thereafter a seniorrepresentative from the generalconference um intervened at Heartlandcollege and I was cancelled fromspeaking at the winter Convocation atHeartland college at the end of January20122 and 26th of January 22 recognizingthat the appeal sermon was tapping intoa deep vein of anger and betrayal amongAdventists worldwide at the generalconference leadership support formandates over the consciences of ourmembers and seeing that that sermon wasbeing spontaneously translated intoalmost 10 languages worldwide thegeneral conference leadership saw fit toissue a global condemnation of me viaAdventist News Network in a statemententitled concerns regarding covid-19Church governance and Liberty ofconscience and you can see the web linkon your screen there among other sinsthe the appeal sermon would undermineChurch Authority and I'm quoting here itwould undermine Church Authority createconfusion and lead tofragmentation furthermore it was allegedthat it would lead to quote a lack oftrust in God's last day Church it willundermine the legitimacy and authorityof the General Conference each of itsworld's divisions the unions the localconferences and even the local churchthe potential impact is an erosion ofconfidence that could result in peopleleaving the church organizing a movementof independent worship groups orcreating offshoot movements that wouldview the church as being anapostasy apparently speaking the truthis no longer acceptable within the 7thAdventist Church finally just recentlynear the beginning of May 2022 thegeneral conference leadership saw fit tocancel my status as a delegate at largeto the 2020 2 General Conference sessionthereby ensuring that my voice whichrepresents multitudes of Adventistsworldwide would not be heard at the 2022GC session so today I'm speaking in myofficial capacity as a cancelleddelegate and also as a condemnedpreacher from October 2021 some of thehistory here I had repeatedly connectedwith the general conference leadershipto no avail to express my concerns andthose of multi of Adventists with thereaffirmation statement issued inOctober2021 however the general conferenceleadership simply refus to listen to mylegitimate concerns about their supportfor mandates over the consciences ofmembers after the appeal sermon onceagain they simply refused to meet oreven talk but instead embarked on aprogram of systematic personalcancellation the illegitimate GCvaccination statements of 2015 and theillegitimate 21 reaffirmation statementshave caused Untold damage and harm andpain to multitudes of Adventistsworldwide yet there is neither amechanism nor any tolerance for anhonest redress of grievance for thosemembers innocent members who even todayare being hurt by those illegitimatestatements when an individual such asmyself does speak up for those hurtingmembers that individual is not listenedto but that individual is systematicallycancelled from beneath a public V veneerof piety as in the era of papalSupremacy ecclesiastical cancellation isalive and well under the current GeneralConference leadership which brings us tothe question ofcoercion now the general conference'sownn condemnation of me that isAdventist News Network that condemnationrecognizes the role of conscience in thejourney that each individual membermakes to come to their own decisionsabout the mandates and I quote is clearon the rights of everyone to makedecisions based on their conscientiousconvictions Guided by the Holy Spiritend quote thus the general conferencecondemnation of me via Ann in January 22actually recognizes that an individual'smember's response to the mandates is amatter of conscience Guided by the HolySpirit furthermore the the primary taskof the public affairs and religiousliberty department or Pal is defined inthe General Conference working policyand you see it on the screen this is theprimary purpose of the pal Departmentquote pal one of the original choristDepartments of the church was initiallyestablished to promote and maintainreligious liberty with particularemphasis upon the most intimate ofFreedom individual liberty of consciencethe department works for the religiousLiberties of individual church membersend quote and in the past two memberstwo pile directors within the NorthAmerican Division have both written tome and confirmed in writing theirrecognition that for many Adventists themandates are a matter of personalconscience to be guided by the holyspirit yet the reaffirmation statementof October 21 issued by the generalconference Administration the biblicalResearch Institute General Conferencehealth ministries and pile departmentslone Belinda university health and theGC office of general counsel concludesuh with this astonishing and stunningparagraph the 7th Adventist Church inconsultation with the health ministriespublic affairs and religious libertyDepartments of the General Conference of7th Adventists is convinced that thevaccination programs that are generallybeing carried out are important for thesafety and health of our members and thelarger Community therefore claims ofreligious liberty are not usedappropriately in objecting to governmentmandates or employer programs designedto protect the health and safety oftheir communities my apologies for myvoice I've been battling acute case oflaryngitis for the last 3 weeks so thisis our conundrum the reaffirmationstatement of October 21 the a&ncondemnation of me in January 22 andindividual North American Divisionpublic affairs and religious libertydirectors have all recognized that thevaccine mandates are a matter ofconscience where the members are Guidedby the Holy Spirit the purpose of thepile department is actually very clearit is to promotethe individual liberty of conscience thedepartment works for the religiousLiberties of individual church membersyet paradoxically the general conferenceand NAD public affairs and religiousliberty leaders co-wrote um with theother departments the reaffirmationstatement which in its key paragraphwhich we've just discussedinstitutionally removes quote claims ofreligious liberty end quote that isconscientious obje objections of membersto the employer or the governmentmandates so the reaffirmation statementwas issued online not just todenominational entities or yearbookentities within the Adventistinstitutional structure but is availableto every employer and every governmentand every University and every schooland college worldwide and it was used incountries worldwide to deny religiouswaiver requests from regular Adventistmembers thus our general conference onpublic affairs and religious libertyleaders institu Ally and inexplicablyabandoned every member worldwide who hasa conscience-based reason to reject themandates so why then you may ask was thereaffirmation statement issued and whydid it come out when it came out let'sjust examine the timeline for a momenthere President Biden issued histhree-fold mandates in early September2021 the healthcare worker component forCalifornia where Linder is based was dueto be implemented by mid November 21Federal funding was on the line not justfor lomol Linda but for every AdventistHospital in the United States so thereaffirmation statement was quickly puttogether by the general conferenceAdministration health leaders publicaffairs and religious liberty leadersand lalinda University leadership inmid- October 21 exactly halfway betweenwhen the mandates were issued when theyhad to come into effect in order toimpose mandates on reluctant Adventiststaff inder University and therebysecure Federal funding ongoing Federalfunding for our hospitals unlocking atotal of approximately 21 billion US doa year in healthcare income across theUnited States to Adventist Healthcareinstitutions and social Applause fromthe woke on Twitter were thus gained atthe expense of the consciences thebodies the incomes the marriages thelivelihoods and the economic livelihoodsand and educational opport unities ofAdventists all around the world hencethere is a legitimate sense of deepbetrayal by Adventists worldwide towardsour general conference and publicaffairs and religious liberty leaders itmatters not that any individual publicaffairs and religious liberty leaderhelped to write a personal letter ofobjection to a mandate for a member whenthose self-same public affairs andreligious liberty leaders hadinstitutionally removed religiousliberty as an objection for Adventiststo the mandates it matters not if youhelped at an individual level when youhad already denied the possibility ofreligious liberty being used as adefenseinstitutionally the reaffirmationstatement support for mandates over thedivinely guided conscience of ourmembers was open-ended the generalconference leadership effectively gavethe green light to every employer everygovernment every College everyUniversity every hospital system in theworld to inflict whatever pain theymight choose to upon innocent Adventistsworldwide yet in astonishing hypocrisythe general conference leadership didnever never imposed a mandate on theAdcom members themselves at the generalconferenceheadquarters the reaffirmation statementdirectly impacted every Adventistworldwide many of them in profoundly andlife-altering negative ways yet not asingle lay person voted for thatreaffirmation statement thus thestatement has no Democratic legitimacyin our system of Representativegovernments nor did it have anyinstitutionallegitimacy uh in the general conferencesattack on mean via the a&n statementthey quoted from the terms of referencefor the general conference Adcom andthere is one clause in particular thatthey believe gave them the authority tomake such a statement you see thatClause now on the screen it is uhsection e General administrative itemsand it says this the general conferenceAdcom has the right to quote considerother routine administrative issues asthey arrive arise and give generalcounsel to World Church entities asrequested end quote so that is theclause in the general conference Adcomterms of reference which allegedly givesthem the right to make such statementsso let's just break down this statementand look at it in a bit more detailshall we firstly um the first part ofthe phrase is to consider otherroutine now the legitimateinterpretation you see this the text onthe screen routine um in AdventistAdministration relates to questions ofinterpretation of the application of theGeneral Conference working policy as itapplies to specific situations relatingto denominational employees orinstitutions that is the routine kind ofadministrative inquiry that passes backand forth between Church administratorsI used to serve as the secretarytreasurer of the Middle East Union Iknow exactly what a routineadministrative inquiry looks like likehowever as you can see on the screenthere's a new and illegitimateinterpretation um was dreamed up by theGC ADC common leadership in order to saythat within this phrase um within thisClause of the terms of reference theyhave the right to make a statements suchas the reaffirmation statement and yousee on the screen there it says this isum the new interpretation of the termsof reference now they're arguing thatthe covid pandemic once in a lifetimeevent impacting every person worldwidenot just nomination employees orinstitutions a scenario for which the GCworking policy makes absolutely noprovision is now considered a routineevent so that it falls within delegateddecision-making authority of the Adcom Iwould simply have to say that such aninterpretation isillegitimate then we come to the nextpart of the the Clause um they mayconsider quote administrative issues asthey arise now what is an administrativeissue within the 7th Adventist Churchwill you see it on the screen therechurch members within a state forinstance like Michigan they coales intocongregations and they gather in turn toestablish a conference and they pulltheir financial resources that is tithesand offerings their properties and theirinstitutions and the the tithes andofferings the properties and theinstitutions and the employees areentrusted to the administrativeoversight of delegated and electedadministrators who are who are assignedadminist of authority over those tithesand offerings denominational employeesinstitutions and properties to beadministered in such a way that meetsthe goals of the members of theconference thus Administration oradministrative oversight in theAdventist World refers only to theoversight that elected leaders have overdenominational employees over the tithesand offerings and financial resourcesthat have been entrusted to the churchover um the institutions and theproperties of the corporationbut the the administrators have noauthority over any of the members withinthe constituency over their bodies overtheir finances or over their privateEnterprises this is a crucial point theconference president cannot tell youwhat medication to take nor can theconference executive committee nor canthe conference Adcom your personalmedical decisions or where you live orwhere you bank or what you wear are yourdecisions and the Gen and the conferenceleadership at a conference Uniondivision or GC leadership has noauthority over any of these matters butas you see on the screen under the uhpandemic the GC leadership dreamt up anew and illegitimate interpretation ofthe terms of reference under the newillegitimate interpretation we find thatthe reaffirmation statement assumes theright of denominational leaders tooverride the good conscience decisionsof members worldwide relating to theirbodies and personal medical treatmentnever before four in Adventist historyhas any general conference sessionexecutive committee Adcom orsubcommittee of the Adcom ever assumedor being delegated the right to makedecisions that override the personalgood conscience decisions of members inprivate medical matters as the GC Adcomhas no such Authority it cannot delegatesuch authority to any subcommittee likethe group of departments that voted thereaffirmation statement hence thegeneral conference's interpretation ofthe that the the rights that they haveunder the GC terms of reference fortheir Adcom is essentially illegitimatethen finally we come to the final partof that phrase which is that the generalconference Adcom can give General counilto World Church entities as requestedyou see it in the leftand column therenow what does that mean in normalpractice you see it in the middle columnthere this means that GC administratorsthey respond to specific queries fromdivision or attached field or otheryearbook entity administrators that areowned by the general conference such asAdra or Andrew's University they respondwith specific guidance to specificsituations such guidance is notapplicable to members or to non-membersalike and very importantly the generalconference Bears corporate legalresponsibility for any counsel that itgives to the yearbook entities who aremaking these requests for advice butunder the new and illegitimateinterpretation of the General ConferenceAdcom we see that GC administrators canissue a statement that directly impactsevery member and every potentialAdventist worldwide with neither theinput the discussion nor the votedconsent of the membership even if theoutcome or the impact is profoundlynegative for multitudes of Adventistsworldwide including destroying theirlivelihoods and their educationalcareers the GC administrators bear noresponsibility liability oraccountability for any harm caused bytheir statement and I will say to youtoday that the general conference'sinterpretation of this clause in thegeneral conference Adcom terms ofreference is entirely illegitimate theydo not have the authority to makestatements like they did with thereaffirmation statement and the netresult of this is that multitudes ofAdventists worldwide have paid andcontinue to pay a terrible price in thefifth century we get um first theconcept of coercion Within inChristianity we find that from thewritings of Augustine of Hippo uh one ofthe earliest and greatest of theCatholic theologians and he commented onthe parable of the banquet in Luke 14uh: 16- 24 where after the guestsdeclined their invitations the mastersent his servants out in the streets toquote compel them to attend now theGreek verb used in that Parable is anazowhich can either mean to compel or topersuade and we Adventists interpretthis Parable as to saying that we are topersuade people to enter the kingdom ofGod but Augustine said no this verbmeans that you can compel people toenter the kingdom of God he argued thatHeretics should be compelled by tortureif necessary for to enter the churchwhere they would find true freedom andthey would find Salvation thisinterpretation opened the way for theRoman Catholic Inquisition and theburning of Heretics at the stake therebywe would save your soul because yourwere coming under the authority of theChurch of Rome now the ProtestantReformation goes much deeper than um byscripture alone or by faith alone we seeon the screen there Luther's very famouswords the diet of vams in 1521 and hesaid there this he said unless I amconvinced by scripture and pl plainreason I do not accept the authority ofpopes and councils because they havecontradicted each other my conscience iscaptive to the word of God I cannot andwill not recant anything for to goagainst conscience is neither right norsafe so help me God it's a very veryfamous statement by Martin Luther andwhat he gets to here is the essence ofthe Protestant Reformation goes beyondrighteousness by faith or the scripturealone as opposed to the Apocrypha or thecouncils of the church the essence ofthe Protestant Reformation is this thata man can come before God in confessionand repentance and receive the gift ofSalvation by Faith from God and theinfilling of the Holy Spirit without theneed for an ecclesiastical hierarchy tomediate or to interpret or to determineGod's will for the individual so man cancome before God without the need of anecclesiastical hierarchy to determinewhat God wants to say to the individualbut as in the era of papal Supremacy theAssumption of the right by a remoteecclesiastical hierarchy to override theconvictions of the Holy Spirit uponindividual members is alive and wellunder the current General Conferenceleadership which brings us to thequestion of condemnation so we'vecovered um the question of cancellationwe've covered the question of coercionof conscience and now we're going totalk about the question of condemnationof church members now in adventism as inCorporate America when an organizationis started the structure is designed toenable the founders to deliver theirstrategies and meet their goals Overtime however as an organization maturesthe structure becomes dominant and thestrategies and goals are designed tomeet the survival needs of the structureeventually in stagnant organizations thesurvival of the structure becomes thepredominant concern of those employed inthe structure for the structure umprovides the jobs and salaries of thoseworking for the structure and Soeventually within a stagnantorganization the survival needs of thestructure override the individual needsof members or of customers and in thegeneral conference's response to thepandemic we saw the survival needs of amature structure dominating and in orderto to secure the financial structure inthe United States of America includingall of our gleaming officers travelsalary and benefits package for thefunctionaries in our structure acrossNorth America the structures leadershipwas only too willing to sacrifice thelivelihoods the indiv the individual andeducational careers the personalphysical and spiritual health and theconscience of members around the entireworld to justify the sacrifice of themembers we have since witnessed a streamof condemnation from current and formerdenominational religious liberty leadersin official denominational Publicationsin print and online towards regularmembers who chose to honor their body PTemple and so we have seen a stream ofcondemnation of regular membersdemonization of those members becausethey didn't bow to the man dates here isan example this was by ProfessorNicholas Miller on August 14th 2022 hewrote an article intitled the pandemicfreedom of conscience and the priesthoodof all believers it was Post in the LakeUnion Herald an official denominationalmagazine it was then posted in theAdventist review online the Adventistreview is the official um uh officialspokes piece for the global AdventistChurch and so um what he said there wasquote I'm not arguing for mandatoryvaccination but I am saying that yourchoice not to be vaccinated willappropriately come with limitations oncommunity participation work and travelend quote so in this statement here areligious liberty director at the timefor the Lake Union territory in MidAmerica Union in Mid America territoriesthe Lake Union um was quite happy to seemembers appropriately excluded fromparticipation in their community in workand in travel because of their goodconscience decisions related to themandates even though as a religiousliberty director it is hisresponsibility to uphold those membersconsciences as a religious liberty issuewe see clearly that Nicholas Miller hasabandoned the members here and thinksthey should face appropriate exclusionor limitation from Communityparticipation work and travel then wesaw um again Professor Nicholas MillerFebruary 16 2022 wrote an articleentitled the pandemic vaccination andthe crisis of Adventist Liberty and hewhat he said there was this and I quoteand the most important and most tragiccomparison is undeniable the anti-idvaccination movement has contributed tothe needless deaths of more Adventiststhan David coresh ever did and so inthis article here um Nicholas Millanmakes a link between those who stand upfor freedom of conscience and themurderous and adulterous leader of thebranch of devidians David Kesh whoperished in the conflation with many ofhis followersat Waco it is a most unfortunate andunfair comparison to make and then wesee just recently April 22 an article inthe Adventist review uh by James DStanish a former General Conferencereligious liberty leader uh this is inthe Adventist review of the officialJournal of the worldwide 7th AdventistChurch that the article was called virallies spotting a lie can save your lifeand this is uh one of the his quotes hesaid and if we choose to believe thelies and spread them he's talking thereabout the um anti-id vaccinationmovement or uh many of the pro Libertyof conscience Adventists go on let us goon he says someone we love may very wellbe the next Adventist to die a horriblelonely completely unnecessary Death endquote once again the message is clear ifyou stand for conscience you are goingto be responsible for the deaths ofthose around you thus in order to selfjustify the condemnation and the denialof conscience by General Conference andreligious liberty leaders in thereaffirmation statement regular memberswho choose to act in harmony with theirconsciences are being demonized inofficial denominational Publications andthis demonization extends Beyond currentAdventists but also to the 50% of planetEarth who have yet to accept uh thesevaccinations so the reaffirmationstatement directly blunts our Globalevangelism my uncle lives in Irelandhe's been studying with local man formany years and I spoke with him just acouple of weeks ago um he believes whatthe Adventist Church teaches um um butwhen he read the reaffirmation statementhe said I want to be baptized into thebody of Christ but not into the SeventhAdventist Church because he said Irecognize when an institution isoverriding the conscience of its membershe'd seen it in the atrocitiesperpetrated by the Roman Catholichierarchy in Ireland over the last 40 to50 years and he says as somebody comingfrom a Roman Catholic background who'slived with the condemnation and thecoercion of of conscience that isendemic to the Roman Catholic system Irecognize the same spirit being manifestby the general conference leadership inthe reaffirmation statement therefore hesaid I'd like to be baptized in the bodyof Christ but I'll never become aseventhly Adventist as long as thesestatements exist and so from a pastoralperspective I want to imagine a man whoroutinely mocks and belittles his wifeall day longbut then demands conjugal relations atnight we would rightly affirm that thisis an abusive relationship likewise whenvitriolic condemnations of individualchurch members are posted on officialChurch um uh websites and on magazinesand the church leaders are um condemningthose members who choose to stand forconscience while our church leaderssimultaneously preach that tithes andofferings must be returned by thosedemonized members to the storehouse weare witnessing an abusive relationshipnow I'm not teaching people not toreturn their tithes and offerings I willremain a faithful returner of my tiesand offerings to the Lord's Storehouseuntil Jesus comes again but I am callingon our general conference on publicaffairs and religious liberty leaders toimmediately turn back from this abusiverelationship that you're perpetrating onour members and by withdrawing suchcondemnations of faithful members fromall denominational platforms toapologize for the harm done and topledge to never demean or condemn ourmembers again in such an un Christlikemanner you cannot claim to be thestorehouse when you are demonizing halfof the members simultaneously in yourofficial magazines and Publications soas in the era of papal Supremacy theAssumption of the right of a remoteecclesiastical hierarchy to publiclydenounce demean and denigrate anymembers who disagree with the currentDogma is alive and well under thecurrent GC leadership so what do we sayin conclusion today well as Adventistswe're very familiar with the seventhchurches of Revelation and in particularwe focus on the last Church before Jesuscomes again it is the Church ofleoda and in the Church of leoda themessage to that church this is whatJesus says in Revelation 3 and: 20 yousee the words on the screen it sayslisten or behold I'm standing at thedoor knocking if you hear my voice andopen the door I will come into you andeat with you and you with me now asAdventists when we talk about the leodanchurch we focus on the spiritualblindness the material wealth thespiritual self-sufficiency and thelukewarm nature of the leodan church butwe tend to overlook the fact that thedoor is closed and it is because thedoor is closed that it is hard for thoseon the inside to hear the voice of Jesusspeaking to them this indicates in thelean church that the voice of conscienceis being stifled now how would thathappen who keeps the door shut how wouldthe voice of conscience be stifled ordenied within a worldwide church thiscan only happen when those withleadership responsibilities for theworldwide church that is ourdenominational leaders assume the rightto close the door so the voice of Jesusvia our conscience is stifled or closeddown or denied or overwritten for thosewithin the leodan church the leodan theleodan condition happens precis Lbecause senior church leaders assume theright to override and deny theconsciences and con conscientiousconvictions of the members so my twominutes at the microphone as a delegateare almost up and in my official roleand status as a condemned preacher andas a cancel delegate let me end with anappeal to those delegates who havesurvived the cancellation process numberone I would appeal to you as a body toresend the 2015 Adcom vaccination andthe 2021 re information statement numbertwo I'd appeal to you to establish afund to compensate Adventists whosuffered immense personal loss due tothe illegitimate statements voted by ourcurrent General Conference leadershipnumber three I'd invite you to affirmthe biblical right of all members to bevaccinated or not according to theirconscience number four I'd employ you tonever negatively entreat your colleaguesin Ministry who choose against thedominant narrative ative of the secondbeast of Revelation 13 and finally Iimplore you to only elect leaders forour general conference for our worldwidechurch and our divisions around theworld men and women who will bechampions ofconscience so I come back again toMartin Luther's famous words Les I'mconvicted by scripture and plain reasonI do not accept the authority of popesand councils because they havecontradicted each other my conscience iscaptive to the word of God I cannot andwill not recant anything for to goagainst conscience is neither right norsafe so help me God this is a veryfamous statement by Martin Luther andagain I would paraphrase it and say thisto the delegates who survived thecancellation process I'm a Protestant7th Adventist Christian to go againstconscience is neither right nor safe myconscience is captive to the word of Godand it is not subject to any Adcom orany illegitimate statements by the Adcomor the any ad hoc committee thereofrevoke the statements and affirm thatall of our consciences are captive onlyto the word of God set us free that ismy plea to my fellow delegates in thename of Jesus Christ amen