Raymond Cottrell

Raymond Forrest Cottrell (April 21, 1911, Los Angeles, California – January 12, 2003, Calimesa, California) was a Seventh-day Adventist theologian, missionary, teacher, writer and editor. He was an associate editor of both the "Adventist Review" (the main newsmagazine of the church) and the "Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary". He also served in an editorial role for the magazine "Adventist Today", was a consulting editor to "Spectrum" magazine. He was a prolific author, although he chose not to publish much of this material. His beliefs could be considered "progressive".

Biography

Raymond Cottrell was born on April 21, 1911 in Los Angeles,"COTTRELL, Raymond Forrest". Obituary in "At Rest" section of the "Adventist Review" March 13, 2003, p. 30 (414)] into a family which already had a long history within the Adventist church. His great-grandfather Roswell Cottrell was a Seventh Day Baptist who first listened to William Miller before 1844 and the Great Disappointment, yet did not become a follower. He became a Seventh-day Adventist in 1851. [ [http://www.atoday.com/magazine/1996/07/sabbath-precious-treasure-0 The Sabbath: A Precious Treasure | Adventist Today ] ]

Cottrell was married to Elizabeth (who was born May 20, 1912 in Phoenix, Arizona)."COTTRELL, Elizabeth" obituary in the "At Rest" section. "Adventist Review" October 24, 2002, p. 30 (1598)] From 1930 to 1934 Cottrell worked as a church pastor in the Pacific Union. From 1934 to 1941 he served in the China Division (which dissolved in 1952, ["CHINA, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF" in "Historical Dictionary of Seventh-day Adventists" by Gary Land, p.58] now the Chinese Union Mission [http://www.chumsda.org/chi/index.php] ) of the church as an administrator and educator, assisted in missionary work by his wife. They left early because of the hostilities with Japan during World War II, returning to America.

Cottrell taught biblical exegesisFact|date=November 2007 at Pacific Union College for 10 or 11 years, while Elizabeth worked in the business office for several years.

Following this appointment, Francis D. Nichol called him to the Review and Herald Publishing Association to commence work on the new "Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary"." [http://spectrummagazine.org/spectrum/archive16-20/16-3cottrell.pdf The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary] " by Raymond Cottrell in "Spectrum" 16:3 (August 1985), p. 35–51] The pair arrived in Takoma Park, Maryland in late September 1952, and Cottrell began work on the Commentary on October 1. (Elizabeth worked in the Review Book Billing Department until her retirement in 1977.) During the next five years, Cottrell reported he spent over 15,000 hours studying the Bible, covering every verse. As well as holding the position of associate editor, Cottrell also contributed 2,000 pages to the series,"Raymond Cottrell", an obituary in "Newsbreak" section. "Adventist Review" February 13, 2003, p. 21 (261)] the third largest number of manuscript pages of any author.Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary"] Yet including his editorial work he probably had more input than any other writer into the "Commentary".

Articles written by Cottrell for the commentary included "The Role of Israel in Old Testament Prophecy" and others. In this article he wrote that the original subject of the Old Testament predictive prophecies was the nation of Israel, their fulfillment being conditional on the response of the Jewish people to the covenant and on accepting the Messiah.Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary", 42] However due to the "overriding pastoral concern" of Nichol, the editor-in-chief overruled the consensus of the other editors – one of only two or three occasions when he did so. He also wrote numerous articles for the "Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary" and "Encyclopedia" on topics in Bible and theology."Raymond Cottrell", an obituary in "Newsbreak" section. "Adventist Review" February 13, 2003, p. 21 (261)]

Cottrell's critiques of the manuscript of "Questions on Doctrine" (ultimately published in 1957), were "mostly unheeded" by its authors and "might have prevented much of the upheaval that followed the publication of the book", according to Julius Nam. [cite web
title=The Questions on Doctrine Saga: Contours and Lessons
author=Julius Nam
url=http://progressiveadventism.com/2007/11/02/the-questions-on-doctrine-saga-contours-and-lessons/
publisher=Paper presented to "QOD" 50th anniversary conference
date=2007]

In 1957 Nichol invited him to be an associate editor of the "Adventist Review", [Cottrell, "The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary", 37] a position he held for 7 years. He worked for another 7 years as a book editor. Cottrell also served as a member of the Biblical Research Committee (now the Biblical Research Institute).cite journal
last = Cottrell
first = Raymond
title = Whither, Robert D. Brinsmead?
journal = Adventist Today
volume = 7
issue = 3
pages =
publisher = Adventist Today Foundation
location = Loma Linda, CA
issn = 1079-5499
date = May 1999
url = http://www.atoday.com/magazine/1999/05/whither-robert-d-brinsmead-0
format =
doi =
id =
accessdate = 2007-11-04]

He retired in 1977, to Calimesa, California. There he served at Loma Linda University as an adjunct faculty member of the religion department. He also worked for the General Conference and for the Southeastern California Conference on various commissions and projects.

Cottrell was a founder of "Adventist Today", a liberal/progressive Adventist magazine first published in 1993. He and others at Loma Linda had conceived of the idea for a new magazine in the Autumn of the previous year. [http://www.atoday.com/about/history.php] As well as contributing articles, he was editor and had the title of editor emeritus for the remainder of his life.

On February 6, 2002, Cottrell's paper " [http://www.jesusinstituteforum.org/AssetOrLiability.html The 'Sanctuary Doctrine' – Asset or Liability?] " was presented by Larry Christoffel at the San Diego, California Adventist Forum in the Tierrasanta Adventist church. [" [http://www.atoday.com/magazine/2002/05/raymond-cottrell-sanctuary-question-after-150-years Raymond Cottrell on The Sanctuary Question After 150 years] " by James Stirling] Christoffel [http://www.jesusinstituteforum.org/LCresponds.html responded] in his own paper.

His wife Elizabeth died on August 2, 2002 in Calimesa. Raymond died the following year on January 12, 2003, also in Calimesa. He was survived by two children – Richard E. Cottrell and Peggy J. Cottrell Tomat, his brother Leland Horton Cottrell, three grandsons, and eight great-grandchildren.

Theology

Cottrell could be labeled a "progressive Adventist", as he disagreed with certain traditional positions of the church, including the investigative judgment. [ [http://www.jesusinstituteforum.org/AssetOrLiability.html The "Sanctuary Doctrine" – Asset or Liability?] by Raymond Cottrell]

He described the theological climate of the church as open, favourable and honest during the 1950s when the "Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia" was published. "Nearly all" of Cottrell's papers in his [http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/collection/C/Cottrell,%20Raymond%20F.pdf Manuscript Collection] were unpublished, "meaning they were designed for limited circulation." [http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/collection/C/Cottrell,%20Raymond%20F.pdf Manuscript Collection] of Raymond Cottrell] He said of his "significant work" "Eschatology of Daniel" which was never formally published, "the manuscript awaits a climate of openness and objectivity in the church, which is essential to a fair examination of the facts."

See also

* "Adventist Today"
* "Seventh-day Adventist Commentary Reference Series"
* Review and Herald Publishing Association
* Progressive Adventist

References

External links

Articles by Cottrell. He was a prolific author, although he chose not to publish many of his articles:
* [http://www.jesusinstituteforum.org/AssetOrLiability.html The "Sanctuary Doctrine" – Asset or Liability?] ( [http://www.atoday.com/1844commentaries/ Adventist Today version] )
* [http://www.atoday.com/ethos-adventism The Ethos of Adventism] in "Adventist Today" March/April 1999 extras
* " [http://spectrummagazine.org/spectrum/archive16-20/16-3cottrell.pdf The Untold Story of the Bible Commentary] " in "Spectrum" 16:3 (August 1985), p. 35–51
* [http://www.spectrummagazine.org/spectrum/archive11-15/11-2cottrell.htm The Sanctuary Review Committee and its New Consensus] Spectrum magazine, 11:2 (November 1980), p.2–26
* [http://www.goodnewsunlimited.org/library/exegesisofdaniel/index.cfm Exegesis of Daniel (chapters 22 and 23 about Desmond Ford and Glacier View)] , of the unpublished manuscript by Cottrell
* [http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/collection/C/Cottrell,%20Raymond%20F.pdf Raymond F. Cottrell Collection] , an index of published and unpublished papers from the [http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/index.html Center for Adventist Research] , also containing a brief biography
* [http://jewel.andrews.edu:82/search/a?Cottrell+Raymond Articles by Cottrell] in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI)

Tributes:
* [http://www.atoday.com/magazine/2003/01/raymond-cottrell-rip Raymond Cottrell, RIP] by Douglas Hackleman in "Adventist Today" January/February 200?
* [http://www.atoday.com/magazine/2003/01/raymond-f-cottrell-tribute Raymond F. Cottrell: A Tribute] by Jim Walters (in the same issue of "Adventist Today" as above)
* [http://www.jesusinstituteforum.org/RayCottrell.html The Legacy of a Rose] , opening remarks at the memorial service held for Dr. Raymond Cottrell at the Yucaipa Seventh-day Adventist Church, by Dr. C. Norman Farley