3. The Reality of the Heavenly Sanctuary: Why would it Matter for Adventism?

La realidad del santuario celestial: ¿por qué le importaría al adventismo?

ADVENT; THEOLOGY; ANCIENT philosophy; GOD in Christianity; ONTOLOGY

La doctrina del santuario es una de las creencias fundamentales más específicas de la Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día. Sin embargo, aparte de su singularidad y especificidad, esta doctrina puede haber sido vista como algo irrelevante para la teología cristiana en general. En este artículo, intentaré demostrar que esta creencia provee una base sólida para entender cómo el adventismo bíblico se construye a sí mismo de manera sistemática y coherente. De hecho, veremos que esta doctrina no solo ayuda a entender cómo el adventismo ve la naturaleza de las realidades terrenales (o sea, los seres humanos) y las celestiales (o sea, Dios), sino también cómo estas realidades se relacionan mutua y correspondientemente. No obstante, como escribo en un contexto adventista francés, de alguna manera esta doctrina parece haber perdido su importancia. Esto se podría explicar por el hecho de que el adventismo puede haber mezclado inconscientemente la filosofía griega clásica (ontología) con la bíblica. De hecho, como veremos, esto puede entorpecer la congruencia de la visión adventista, su identidad y su papel, ya sea en la cristiandad o más allá de sus confines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The doctrine of the sanctuary is one of the most specific fundamental beliefs of the Seventh- day Adventist church. However, besides its uniqueness and specificity, this doctrine may have been seen as something irrelevant for Christian theology in general. In this article, I will attempt to show that this belief provides a solid basis for understanding how biblical Adventism builds itself in a systematical and consistent manner. Indeed, we shall see that not only does this doctrine help understand how Adventism sees both the nature of earthly realities (i.e., human beings) and the heavenly ones (i.e., God), but also how these realities relate to each other accordingly. Nevertheless, as I write within a French adventist context, this doctrine, somehow, seems to have lost its significance. This may be explained by the fact that Adventism may have unconsciously blended classical Greek philosophy (ontology) with the biblical one. As a matter of fact, this, as we shall see, may hinder the consistency of the adventist vision, its identity and its role, whether in Christendom or beyond its borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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