A House on Fire: How Adventist Faith Responds to Race and Racism

In recent years, there has been renewed focus on the justice issues of race and racism, the subject of worldwide protests in 2020 and ongoing social, political, and cultural debate. This volume collects chapters from 20 Adventist academics, pastors, and writers from diverse cultural backgrounds in response to the question of what Adventist Christian faith can offer to the vital and urgent work of antiracism. These authors draw on the Bible—including the Hebrew prophets and Adventist understanding of New Testament prophecy, Jesus, and the gospel—as well as Adventist history, and sound the call to respond to these contemporary issues faithfully, thoughtfully, practically, pastorally, and politically.\nContributors: Janice De-Whyte, Olive Hemmings, John Skrzypaszek, Claudia Allen, Kayle de Waal, Angela Li, Yi-Shen Ma, Andy Lampkin, Matthew Korpman, Michael Campbell, Kendra Haloviak Valentine, Mark Carr, Herma Percy, Marlene Ferreras, Greg Hoenes, Siroj Sorajjakool and Hans Gutierrez, with an afterword by John Webster.\n“I believe our faith, hope, and love are valuable resources for meaningful and thoughtful responses to the burning issues of race and racism in our world. Although we might not all agree on our approaches to this discussion, I believe this book can aid in our continuing dialogue on how we can better understand each other and promote the idea that, in Christ, we are all equal at the foot of the cross. May this be reflected as readers respond with the best of our thinking, speaking, and acting in our churches and cultures, neighborhoods and nations.”
—Dr G Alexander Bryant, President, North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church\n“A House on Fire seeks to address our silence on the sin of racism and achieves the goal through shared thoughts of a group of writers who boldly and clearly address the biblical issue of social justice. I believe it is a must-read for everyone who desires to be informed and move toward a critical evaluation of themselves and the denomination—and to make a corrective adjustment both personally and corporately.”
—Dr Ricardo Graham, former President of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists\n“I hope this book spreads far and wide. Seventh-day Adventists need it: the sins of racism and casteism in their various manifestations are pervasive among us. Thank God for this collection of honest, hard-hitting essays.”
—Dr William Johnsson, author and retired editor, Adventist Review\nMaury D Jackson is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at La Sierra University in Riverside, California.
Nathan Brown is Book Editor at Signs Publishing Company, near Melbourne, Australia.