Chapter 11. The Principal

Ninth and tenth grade in the Adventist school in Memphis were not that different from seventh and eighth grade. One teacher for all the classes. In addition, our teacher also served as principal, which meant he frequently was out of the classroom to handle administrative responsibilities. At least the subjects were more interesting. Algebra, biology, history.

In tenth grade, our old class was back together which did not bode well for our teacher. That summer the school had expanded a small room that had previously served as a library. The new addition was our classroom. One unfortunate feature of the room was the heating. Even though construction had added square feet, it had not added any heating capacity. On really cold days, the radiators did not keep up and it was uncomfortably cold.

One morning Mt. Williams stepped into the room just as the bell rang. We were all sitting on the window sill with our feet on the heater registers which were barely warm. He ordered us to our seats. Said he would be just a few more minutes in his office, directed us to get our Bible textbooks out, then stepped back into his office.

We didn't sit.

When he came in again, he got really huffy and demanded that we get to our seats immediately. “Mr. Williams,” I said. “It’s too cold to sit in our seats. We are on strike. We’re going to stay by the heaters until we have more heat.”

Mr. Williams stared at us, speechless. He had ordered us to our seats–twice. He threatened us. We said nothing. We didn’t move. His face turned red. He had this funny thing that happened in his throat when he got upset. Suddenly, he turned and stalked back into his office. We finally tired of sitting on the window sill and returned to our seats. Eventually, he came back to classroom. He said nothing. We said nothing. But class was never quite the same again. He was no longer the undisputed boss.

Then came the great Bible class debate. Based on his interpretation of a passage in the most famous book by the Adventist prophet, Ellen White, he told us that Jesus would return to earth precisely at midnight. I raised my hand.

“Mr. Williams, how can you say that when Jesus himself said, ‘No man knows the day or the hour of his return’”?

“Well Johnny, it’s like this. In Jesus’ day, no one knew. But God has revealed it to us, here in these last days. Notice the words of the prophet, ‘It is at midnight that God acts for the deliverance of His people.’ You can’t get any clearer than that.”

“But the deliverance she is talking about doesn’t have to mean the second coming. It could refer to God saving people who are about to be executed. It could be an earthquake or an angel. There are all sorts of ways that God could act at midnight to save his people. Mrs. White’s words do not pinpoint the hour of Christ’s return.”

“Johnny, we are not to question the prophet. She says in this passage, which is about the end of time and the return of Jesus, that ‘It is at midnight that God acts for the deliverance of His people.’ That’s good enough for me. It should be good enough for all of us.”

At home that night Jeannie and I consulted Mother. Mother always supported our teachers. She never took our side, at least that’s the way we felt. But this time she agreed to help us find evidence to rebut Mr. Williams’ midnight second coming theory.

The next day in Bible class we resumed the debate. I brought out my quotations.

“No one knows the day or hour. . .
“No one should say they know the day or hour . . .
“Time is not a test. . .

Mr. Williams sputtered arguments in response, but he wasn’t prepared for the battle. Eventually, he conceded. I was another step away from trust in the competence of church authority.