Southwestern Adventist University Professor Authors New Resource for Discovering All Things Adventist

“Happy Sabbath” is a familiar refrain for many Adventists on Saturday morning but may not be as familiar for someone who is new to the Seventh-day Adventist faith. Author and Southwestern Adventist University religion professor, Michael W. Campbell has created a new resource entitled The Pocket Dictionary for Understanding Adventist Theology & Lifestyle for those who are either curious or new to the Adventist faith to be used as a tool to learn about and better understand what it means to be a Seventh-day Adventist.

The book has two parts: first is a collection of several brief essays which introduce the reader to some of the basics of Adventism, such as how Adventist beliefs and various lifestyle practices came about and how to interpret a tithe envelope; and the second part contains 570 dictionary entries covering a myriad array of topics.

“This is an ideal book for the curious, the questioning, and the committed,” states Loma Linda University Church senior pastor Randy Roberts. “The curious who wonder about different aspects of Adventism can find their questions answered herein. The questioning--"What do the phrases and words I hear when I visit an Adventist Church mean?"--will discover many answers in this slim volume. And the committed--those of us who grew up in Adventism, as did I--will find it very interesting to peruse the pages, look up varied entries, and appreciatively discover better ways to explain the unique elements of our faith. I highly recommend it!”

 “This volume may be designed and labeled as a Pocket Dictionary, but it’s a library of important information which should be placed in the hands of every member, especially new believers,” notes Andrews Seminary professor Hyveth Williams. “It’s like a fountain flowing with insights and helpful hints to deepen understanding of our faith community. I can’t wait to introduce it to my students as an important companion text to augment great preaching from Adventist pulpits.”

“I wrote this book as a follow-up companion to the Ellen White Pocket Dictionary that I co-authored with my friend Jud Lake,” notes Professor Campbell. “What you believe matters, and so it is vital that Adventists understand some of the most basic aspects of Adventism. A good example of this is all of the misunderstandings about why Adventists believe in the Trinity, which often has more to do with simple misunderstandings about church history and basic theological terms that with a little bit of research can be easily explained.”

“A core part of Southwestern Adventist University’s mission is accomplished through our religion department to train and equip future pastors, as well as to inspire a better knowledge and understanding about what it means to be an Adventist,” says Southwestern Adventist University president Dr. Ken Shaw. “I commend Dr. Campbell for creating this new resource for the world church.”