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| The '''Seventh-day Adventist Church''' is an ] ] ] which grew out of the prophetic ] movement in the ] during the middle part of the ]. Commencing with an exploration of the concept of an "investigative judgment", the movement soon developed some distinguishing features such as the belief that ] is the ] and a belief that ] is an unconscious state (i.e. the soul is not immortal), and that the global ] of Christ is imminent. The organization is also known for its teachings on diet and health along with the view that ] ] received ] ]. | |||
| '''A. Graham Maxwell''' is the best known and most beloved teacher on the meaning of Christ's atonement in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists the world over listen to Dr. Maxwell's weekly Sabbath School lessons on tape in the context of his version of "the great controversy." Maxwell's theology is an accepted teaching in the church. Seventh-day Adventists do admit that his message is controversial or heretical but messages within the organized church structure suggesting strong dissent or in any way expressing the danger of it, are not permitted. | |||
| ==Origins== | |||
| {{main|History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church}} | |||
| The Seventh-day Adventist Church was born out of the ] of the 1840s, which was one of the last waves of revivalism and is known as the Second Great Awakening. The Millerite movement is named after ], who, during his early adulthood, became a ]. After fighting in the ], Miller bought a farm in Low Hampton, New York, (now a historic site owned and operated by ), underwent Baptist conversion, and began attendeding a local Baptist church. Here he applied "common sense" reasoning, such as the year-for-a-day principle, to the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. His application of these techniques to the "2300-day prophecy" of Daniel 8:14 led him to conclude that the second coming of ] would occur "about the year 1843." The Millerite movement culminated with the "seventh month movement", which taught that the "priestly ministry of Christ" would culminate with the cleansing of the earth, pinpointing the second coming of Christ on or before October 22, 1844. When he did not come, this became known as "the ]." | |||
| A small number of Millerites believed that their calculations were correct, but that their understanding of the sanctuary being cleansed was wrong, and they began to teach that something else happened in 1844. Their ] study led them to the conviction that in that year Jesus had entered into the "Most Holy Place" of the heavenly sanctuary, and began an "investigative judgment" of the world: a process through which there is an examination of the heavenly records to "determine who, through repentance of sin and faith in ], are entitled to the benefits of atonement"¹ after which Jesus will return to earth. According to the church's teaching, the return of Christ may occur very soon, though they are determined to never set dates for His coming in accordance with the book of ] which says, "no one knows the day or the hour" (24:36). | |||
| At about the same time that the followers of the movement were studying the sanctuary, the question of the biblical day of rest and worship was raised. The foremost proponent of Sabbath-keeping among early Adventists was retired sea captain Joseph Bates. Bates was introduced to the ] doctrine by a tract written by a Millerite preacher named Thomas M. Preble who in turn had been influenced by a young ] lady by the name of ]. | |||
| This message was gradually accepted and formed the topic of the first edition of the church publication, ] which appeared in July 1849. While initially it was believed that the "sabbath" started at 6 pm, by 1855 it was generally accepted that the "sabbath" begins at sunset. | |||
| For about 20 years, the Adventist movement consisted of a loosely knit group of people who adhered to this message. Among its greatest supporters were ], ] and ]. After intense discussions a formally organized church called the ] was established in ], ], in May ], with a membership of 3,500. Through the ] efforts of its ministers and laity and the guidance of Ellen G. White, the church quickly grew and established a presence beyond ] during the late ]. In ], the denominational headquarters were moved from Battle Creek to temporary quarters in ] and soon thereafter established in nearby ], ]). In ], the headquarters was moved again, this time to ], Maryland. | |||
| ==Doctrine== | |||
| Seventh-day Adventist doctrine is based on the ] ] tradition. The Protestant doctrine of the "priesthood of all believers" is so central to the thinking of Seventh-day Adventists that members have always been encouraged to study the Bible to discover truth for themselves guided of the Holy Spirit. This may explain their reluctance to establish a creed. Adventist doctrine resembles mainstream orthodox ] ] theology, with some notable exceptions. | |||
| ===Sabbath=== | |||
| Seventh-day Adventists believe that Saturday, the seventh day of the week, is the Sabbath, based on the commandment found in ] 20:8-11 which reads, "the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God". They observe this as a 24-hour sunset-to-sunset Sabbath commencing Friday evening. Justification for this belief is garnered from the ] account in ] in which God rested on the seventh-day, an approach later immortalised in the ]. To the Adventist the Sabbath represents a communion between them, God and their fellow man. The Sabbath is a celebration of God's creation and gift of redemption. {{ref|SabbathFundamental}} | |||
| According to Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, Saturday worship is a crucial defining feature of the remnant church. Traditional Adventist eschatology describes a "time of trouble" which culminates in a mandatory worldwide Sunday law, including a ''death penalty'' for any who do not comply. Under such a threat, many will succumb and only the faithful remnant will continue to observe Saturday. | |||
| It should be noted, however, that although Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that they are saved by keeping Saturday as the Sabbath, they attach considerably greater significance to Saturday-Sabbath keeping than other denominations attach to worship on Sunday. | |||
| ===Hell and the state of the dead=== | |||
| Seventh-day Adventists believe that ] is as ] 9:5 states: the "dead know nothing." This view maintains that a person has no conscious form of existence until their ], which they believe is either at the second coming of Jesus (in the case of the righteous) or after the millennium of ] 20 (in the case of the wicked). This means that ] does not exist at the present time, and that the wicked will be permanently destroyed after the millennium of Revelation 20. (The theological term for this teaching is ].) | |||
| ===Baptism=== | |||
| Seventh-day Adventists practice ] by full immersion in a similar manner to the ]. It is argued that baptism requires knowing consent and moral responsibility and as such young children are only ], which is symbolic of the parents, the community and the church's gratefulness to God for the child, and their commitment to raising the child to love ]. Seventh-day Adventists believe that baptism is a public statement that you commit your life to Jesus and is a prerequisite for church membership. Baptism, which is only practised after the candidate is taught what the Bible says, shows that the person has repented of their ] and wishes to live a life in Christ.{{ref|SPDSpecial}} | |||
| ===Second Coming of Christ=== | |||
| Seventh-day Adventists believe in an imminent, universally visible ] of Christ which will be preceded by a time of trouble when the righteous will be persecuted and an ] will exhibit great power on the earth. The teaching that Christ will be visible by all is based on ] 1:7 which says "every eye shall see him." They believe that this is the time that the event of ] 4:16 where "the dead in Christ shall rise", along with the righteous living. It is believed that the unrighteous, or wicked, will be raised after the millennium. | |||
| ===Spirit of Prophecy=== | |||
| One of the more controversial teachings of the church is that the "Spirit of Prophecy" is an identifying mark of the remnant church, which they believe was manifested in the ministry of ]. Although this is a traditional perspective, this is not adhered to by all. It seems fair to say that the majority agree that her "writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction."(28 Fundamental Beliefs) | |||
| ===Creeds=== | |||
| Traditionally, Seventh-day Adventists have opposed the formulation of ] statements. For purposes of internal coherence, Seventh-day Adventists have formed a set of fundamental beliefs and prefer to view them as descriptors rather than prescriptors. However, divergence from the published position is not seen as acceptable by some communities within the organization. In 2005, during the General Conference Session, the church expanded its set of fundamental beliefs from 27 to 28. | |||
| ==Practices and customs== | |||
| ===Sabbath activities=== | |||
| A typical Seventh-day Adventist's ] routine will usually begin on Friday evening with sundown worship at home or in church. Saturday morning is greeted with Bible study and a prayer of thanksgiving for physical and spiritual rest and repose. Adventists believe "that we are called to grow into the likeness of His character, communing with Him daily in prayer, feeding on His Word,..." {{ref|FundamentalGrowing}} Similar to believers of other denominations, most Adventists like to dress neatly when they go to their church service , which in most countries will typically begin at 9:30am. ] or Bible School is a community-based Bible study time that may include singing, mission stories, prayers and studying the Bible that will run until around 10:45am. Different groups are formed in which biblical themes and practical questions can be freely discussed. Usually there are special meetings for children in different age groups provided during that time. After a small break, the community will join together again for a church service that follows a typical evangelical format which may differ in different churches but which will always have a sermon as a central feauture. Seventh-day Adventists practice ] four times a year, reflecting their ] roots. The communion is an open service (available to members and non-members), based on the Gospel account of John 13. The communion service includes a foot-washing ceremony and consumption of the ], which consists of unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice. In some parts of the world where grape juice is not available substitutes may be used instead. | |||
| In some churches members and friends will stay at the church for a ] lunch, for which everyone contributes a dish. Sabbath afternoon activities may vary widely depending on the cultural, ethnic and social background. | |||
| ===Outreach=== | |||
| Missionary outreach of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is aimed to both unbelievers and other Christian denominations. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Christ has called his believers to minister to the whole world. As such the church ministers in over 200 countries world wide. Adventists are cautious, however, to ensure that evangelism does not impede on the basic rights of the individual. Religious liberty is a stance that the Seventh Day Adventist church supports and promotes. Traditional Adventist evangelistic efforts consisted of street missions and the distribution of tracts such as ''The Present Truth'', which was published by James White as early as ]. | |||
| Adventists, as demonstrated in their expansive distribution of tracts, have for a long time, like their Millerite fathers, been proponents of media based ministries. Until ] was sent to ] in ], Adventist global efforts consisted entirely of the postage of tracts such as White's to various locations. The reading of such material was the primary reason that Andrews was eventually called to travel overseas. In the last century, these media based efforts have also made use of emerging media such as ] and ]. The first of these was ] radio show, '']'', which was initially broadcast in ] in ]. Since then Adventists have been on the forefront of media evangelism and one program, '']'', was the first religious program to air on colour television. Today, the church runs '']'', and an independent ministry runs the Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN), both of which operate internationally, broadcasting 24 hours a day on both cable and satellite networks and can be received on 36-inch satellite dishes in ] and other countries. | |||
| ===Health, diet and sexuality=== | |||
| Seventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends ] and expects abstinence from pork, shellfish, and other foods proscribed as "]" in ] 11 as well as from ] and ]. It should be noted however, that many Adventists abstain from these foods as a desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle, rather than from adherence to Leviticus. The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church had a lot to do with the common acceptance of breakfast cereals into the Western diet. ] of ] Cereal fame was one of the early founders of the Seventh-day Adventist work. | |||
| Seventh-day Adventists run a large number of ] and health related institutions. Their predominant school of medicine in North America is located in ]. In ], the church-owned ] is one of Australia's leading manufacturers of health and vegetarian-related products. | |||
| ''See also:'' ] | |||
| The cover story of the November 2005 issue of 'National Geographic Magazine' discusses the longevity of Adventists, four to ten years longer than non-Adventists. Adventists, along with natives of Okinawa and Sardinia, are the longest-lived people in the world, a trait which has been attributed to health practices as well as the weekly Sabbath as a stress reducer. | |||
| The official Seventh-day Adventist position on ] is that abortions for reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are not supported. At times, however, women may face exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. While the general tone toward abortion is negative, the individual Adventist may take any position on the political spectrum; as such, abortions are performed in Adventist hospitals. | |||
| According to an official statement from the General Conference , ] ] are the only Biblically ordained grounds for sexual ]. Seventh-day Adventists do not perform ] and gay men cannot be ordained. Furthermore, a same-sex ] is one of the sanctioned grounds for a ]. | |||
| ==Structure, polity and institutions== | |||
| ===Structure and polity=== | |||
| {{main|Structure and polity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church}} | |||
| The Seventh-day Adventist Church is run by a form of democratic representation which mixes ] (or ]) and ] elements. All church offices are elected from the grass-roots upwards and no positions are permanent. | |||
| The local church is the foundation level of organisational structure and is the public face of the church. Every baptised Adventist is a member of a local church and has voting powers within that church. A number of church offices exist within the local church, including the ordained positions of pastor, elder and deacon, as well as the largely book-keeping positions of clerk and treasurer. All of these positions, except that of pastor, are appointed by the vote of a local church business meeting or elected committees. | |||
| Directly above the local church in structure is the local conference, mission or field. The conference is an organisation of churches within a state, or part there of, which appoints ministers, owns church land and organises the distribution of tithes and payments to ministers. The conference is also responsible for the appointment and ordination of ministerial staff. | |||
| Above the local conference is the union conference which embodies a number of conferences within a particular area. | |||
| The highest level of governance within the church structure is the ] which consists of 13 divisions, each assigned to various geographic locations. The General Conference is the church authority and has the final say in matters of conjecture and administrative issues. The General Conference is headed by the office of President, which is currently (c. 2006) held by ]. The General Conference head office is in Silver Springs, Maryland, USA. | |||
| Each organization is governed by a general session which occurs at certain intervals. This is usually when general decisions are decided upon. The president of the General Conference, for instance, is elected at the General Conference Session every five years. Delegates to a session are appointed by organisations at a lower level. For example, each local church appoints delegates to a conference session. | |||
| The church manual gives provisions for each level of government to create educational, health-care, publishing, and other institutions that are seen within the call of the ]. | |||
| ===Other institutions=== | |||
| Seventh-day Adventists have had a long interest in ]. The Adventist church runs one of the largest unified Protestant education systems in the world. They operate some 5,700 pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges, universities, seminaries and medical schools in about 145 countries worldwide. This education system involves some 66,000 teachers and 1,257,000 students. The Adventist educational program is comprehensive encompassing "mental, physical, social, and spiritual health" with "intellectual growth and service to humanity" its goal. | |||
| ''See also:'' ] | |||
| The Youth Department of the Seventh-day Adventist church runs an organisation for 10-16 year old boys and girls called ]. | |||
| Pathfinders is similar to the ] (BSA), except that membership is open to both boys and girls. Pathfinders exposes young people to such activities as camping, community service, personal mentorship, skills based education and trains them for leadership. For younger children, Adventurer, Eager Beaver, and Little Lambs clubs are programs that are available that feed into the Pathfinder program. | |||
| The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been active for over 100 years advocating for freedom of religion. In 1893 its leaders founded the ], which is universal and non-sectarian. The Seventh-day Adventist Church State council serves to protect religious groups from legislation that may affect their religious practices. This is primarily achieved through advocacy. Recently the organisation has been fighting to pass legislation that will protect Seventh-day Adventist employees who wish to keep their Sabbath. | |||
| Dr. Maxwell has summarized the essence of his message in a taped evangelistic series at Andrews University. A condensed summary of it is presented here. Dr. Maxwell's answer to the question, "Why did Jesus die?" has been excerpted from a transcribed tape called ''The Serpent Speaks'' on file at the Biblical Research Institute, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. | |||
| For over 50 years the church has been active in humanitarian aid through the work of the ] (ADRA). ADRA works as a non-sectarian relief agency in over 120 countries world wide. ADRA has been granted General Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Committee. Worldwide ADRA employs over 4000 people to help both provide relief in crisis and development in situations of ]. | |||
| {{main|The Seventh-day Adventist Church}} | |||
| The church also has a number of extra-church organisations associated; these come under the umbrella of ]. | |||
| ==Membership== | |||
| == Why Did Jesus Die? == | |||
| The primary prerequisite for membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church is baptism by immersion. This, according to the church manual, should only occur after the candidate has undergone proper ] on what the church believes. | |||
| The Seventh-day Adventist Church, which baptises around 2000 members a day, is one of the world's fastest-growing organizations, primarily due to increases in membership in the ]. Depending on how the data was measured it is said that church membership reached 1 million between ] and ], and hit 5 million in ]. At the turn of the ] the church had 10,782,042 members which grew to 14,487,989 members at the end of 2004. It is believed that around 25 million worship in churches every Saturday and the church operates in 203 out of 228 countries recognised by the ]. | |||
| '''God doesn't want you to be afraid''' | |||
| ==Off-shoots and schismatics== | |||
| “I would like to talk to you tonight about what Jesus did on the cross has to do with our being His servants or His friends. It is the essence of the meaning of all 66 books, and I would like to summarize it in less than half an hour. | |||
| Throughout the history of the denomination, there have been a number of groups who have left the body and formed their own movement. The most well known of these off-shoots is the ] who were formed in ] after ] message to the church in his book ''"The Shepherds Rod"'' was rejected by the church as being ]. Another ex-Adventist ] (formerly Vernon Howell) led the group until he died in the ] at ], ] in ]. | |||
| Following ] a group known as the ] was formed as a result of the actions of certain ] church leaders during the war who decided that it was not acceptable for Adventists to take part in war. When attempts at reconciliation failed after the war, the group became organised as a separate church at a conference from July 14-20, ]. The movement became officially incorporated in ]. | |||
| “You remember that when Jesus answered questions, He often went back to the beginning, which always takes a little time. But you remember when they brought up the question of divorce, He said, Well, if you have the time, let Me go back to the beginning. In the beginning it was not so, and so on. And with this most serious of all questions, and the costly answer, that makes it possible for the universe, the whole vast universe, to be secure for eternity, we need to go back to the beginning always. In the beginning God spoke those terrible words, ‘In the day you eat thereof, you will die.’ Now, if Satan is right, if God has lied to us, that is the end of trust. But if God really meant it when He said, ‘You will die,’ how will we die? Will He kill us? In the day you eat thereof, I will kill you. Is that the way our Father runs His family? Obey Me, or I will kill you. | |||
| The most recent, large scale, schism within Adventism occurred in the Glacier View doctrinal crisis of 1980. This crisis centred around the 900 page research paper of ] entitled ''Daniel 8:14, the Investigative Judgment, and the Kingdom of God'' which questioned the church's position on the "investigative judgment". Following the meetings at Glacier View, which rejected Ford's proposals, Ford was removed from office, had his ministerial credentials removed and many Adventists left the church. In the 25 years since, Ford has worked through the ministry of ] and has appeared on radio, television and in many print publications. | |||
| “I thought God wanted love and friendship. Is it love Me, or I will kill you?” | |||
| Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals who are, or had been, practicing Seventh-day Adventists have formed a social network that is not officially associated to the church called SDA Kinship international . In ] the Seventh-day Adventist Church filed legal action in ] to prevent SDA Kinship from using the name "Seventh-day Adventist" and its abbreviation "SDA". In ] the ] ruled that no breaches on naming were made by SDA Kinship and that they may continue to use their existing name. | |||
| “If the soul is mortal, how long will the mortal soul live in the fierce final fires? You die quickly in fire. How is it that some will live longer in the fire, and you know the verses—Luke 12:47,48. Some have more stripes than others. Do you know what this means? If God is the executioner, He will have to perform a miracle to keep you from dying prematurely from shock or suffocation in the flames, and the message is, Love Me, accept Me, or I will torture you in the flames. And you will never get a friend that way. We will all turn into fearful, trembling servants. And He doesn’t want that. Do you know what torture is? In any dictionary? The worst kind of torture is inflicting exquisite pain before execution. Do you think our God will do that? I have read in books that even is the loving thing to do. | |||
| ==Outsider criticisms== | |||
| “Be my friend, or I will torture you to death, but I won’t torture you one minute longer than you deserve. Oh, I love that. | |||
| {{main|Criticism of the Seventh-day Adventist Church}} | |||
| A common argument in Evangelical circles is whether or not Seventh-day Adventist doctrines stray far enough from ] teaching to qualify as ]. Many evangelical Christians follow the advice of ] from the ] who wrote: | |||
| “So, I stand at the foot of the cross, and I say, Jesus, hanging there on the cross, what did You mean when You said, Love and obey Me or you will die? And Jesus could reply, I am showing you right now. What was He showing them? As you read on through the 66 books, there are so many references to God’s wrath and His anger, some day to be poured out without mixture on the rejecters of His love, especially in the third angel’s message. What is this wrath? Is it love and obey me, or in the fury of my wrath I will destroy you? | |||
| :...it is perfectly possible to be a Seventh-day Adventists and be a true follower of Jesus Christ despite heterodox concepts... | |||
| “I remember more than forty years ago I determined I had to work that out. I searched all through the Bible for the meaning, and most helpful was the book of Romans. In Romans 1:24, 26, 28, God’s wrath is clearly described as His turning away in loving disappointment from those who do not want Him anyway, thus leaving them and giving them up and handing them over to reap the awful consequences. | |||
| :''Walter Martin, Kingdom of the CultsOff-site Link (Bethany House, Minneapolis, Minnesota), Updated edition 1997, p.517.'' | |||
| However, there are still those, such as ], who assert that Adventism is cultic based on their ] from non-Christians and non-Adventists. Whitcomb cites the Adventist emphasis on an Adventist education as evidence of this, although many Christian denominations also have their own school system. It is also argued that the Adventist view on the Sabbath favors a works-based view of ]. | |||
| “And that wasn’t new with Paul. It’s all through Hosea, chapter 11. God says, My people are bent on leaving Me. I’ll have to let them go. But how can I give you up? How can I let you go? Many other places like that. | |||
| Adventism also has a long and unfortunate history of anti-Catholicism. Ellen White's works are unrelenting in their attacks on the Catholic Church. This reflects the common misconceptions and bigotry then current. Many Adventists still hold these positions. Some of their outreach organizations, such as Amazing Facts, continue to propagate anti-Catholic falsehoods. | |||
| “Now, was God’s wrath poured out on His Son? Well, let me ask you, Did He give Him up? Did He let Him go? Romans 4:25, I am sorry some versions say He was put to death for our transgressions. There is not a word in the Greek about being put to death. It is exactly the same word as in Romans 1:24, 26, 28. He was given up. He was handed over for our transgressions. Yes, the wrath of God was poured out on His Son, as it will be poured out on unsavable sinners at the end. | |||
| There is a large amount of criticism placed on the authority that ] is given and some of her teachings. It is believed that the authority White is given is contrary to the traditional Protestant ] view of the Bible as the sole inspired source of authority. Criticism is also made of some of the teachings of Ellen White such as a statement on ] found in a non-official book ''Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine'', and her view on the necessity of a belief in an "investigative judgment". | |||
| “What was Jesus' cry on the cross? Why are you torturing Me to death? No, Why have you given Me up? | |||
| It has been noted by several other Christian groups that in recent years the Adventist leadership has de-emphasised several of the uniquely Adventist doctrines, in favour of an emphasis on the basic Christian beliefs they share with other Christians, which renders the Adventist church less problematic on the whole from the perspective of other Christians. Some groups of traditionalist Seventh-day Adventists, however, are rather upset at the Adventist Church leadership for doing this, and a few have left the Adventist church to form splinter groups as a result. | |||
| “If you want to know how the sinner will die, go to the cross, watch Jesus die, and hear His sad cry, Why have you given Me up? Why have you let Me go? It would be better to come even earlier to Gethsemane, where Jesus began to experience the sinner’s separation from the Father. His unity with the Father breaking up. And Jesus fell dying to the ground. Did the Father kill His Son? He didn’t even touch Him. And the angels looking on got the costly answer to their questions. Does sin result in death? Indeed it does. But is it the result of God torturing us to death? He never touched His Son. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| “Now, that makes sense to me. God doesn’t say, Love Me, or I will kill you. He says what we even say to each other. Love Me, or what else can I do but let you go. But when God says, I will have to let you go, we will die. But God says, I won’t let you go easily. I’ll try everything first. I’ll thunder on Sinai to get your attention. I’ll send she-bears to inspire a little reverence, because if you don’t respect Me, you won’t listen, and I can’t help you. I’ll even come Myself and show you now terrible is the consequence of sin, and if that doesn’t win you, what else can I do but sadly give you up, and we mortals cannot live apart from God. Left to our rebellious selves, we will die. | |||
| # Ministerial Association General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. ''Seventh-day Adventists Believe''. ]. ISBN 1-57847-041-2 | |||
| # White, Ellen G. ''The Great Controversy'' (1911 edition). ]. p.422 ISBN 0816319235 | |||
| # 1957 edition. Review and Herald Publishing. ISBN 1571791841 | |||
| #{{note|SabbathFundamental}} , General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. (Accessed: December 7, 2005) | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| “The angels watched Gethsemane. But the three disciples chosen to witness that costly event slept through the whole meeting. So the angel strengthened Jesus to go out to Calvary and go through it all over again. Besides, there was another question to be answered. Why, dear God, is it so important that we understand all of this? You are the sovereign Creator. You have the right to govern your universe any way you wish. No one would dare question your right to give orders and expect submission to your every command. Nor would anyone dare to question your right to destroy those who are disobedient. And that is just the point. God has replied, I don’t want you just to be My servants. I want you to be My friends. I could easily have destroyed Satan when he rebelled, but then you would have served Me from fear—not friendship. Even if I had simply let him go, he would have died, just as Jesus has demonstrated. But the angels, never having seen death, would have assumed that the Lifegiver had killed him, and they would have served Him from fear, just the same. | |||
| <h3>Official Seventh-day Adventist websites<h3> | |||
| “And so I hear God saying, Oh, My children throughout the universe, I want you to understand that the obedience that springs from fear can produce the character of a rebel. Even as you fearfully obey Me, you will be turning against Me. Now, please go out to Calvary and see that demonstrated. And this is the one thing that is almost always left out of the explanation of why Jesus has had to die. And why it is a terrible mistake, as you may hear sometimes, to call this explanation the moral influence theory. This is an awesome explanation.” —A. Graham Maxwell. | |||
| * The official website | |||
| * The official Theological Research Center | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * The official Seventh-day Adventist Church newspaper | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * Promoting religious liberty in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah | |||
| * a 2005 evangelism program hosted by Pastor Doug Bachelor | |||
| * , a Seventh-day Adventist publisher | |||
| * Another Seventh-day Adventist publisher | |||
| * , official source of Seventh-day Adventist books | |||
| * , a Seventh-day Adventist publication | |||
| <h3>Parachurch entities closely related to the Seventh-day Adventist Church<h3> | |||
| '''Prayer and Praise Summary Statement For the Purpose of the Cross''' | |||
| * Adventist-Layman's Services and Industries | |||
| * Annual youth conference | |||
| * Donor-supported evangelism organization | |||
| <h3>Independent Seventh-day Adventist ministries<h3> | |||
| “Our Heavenly Father is unwilling to lose one of His children. He wants us to realize the terrible consequence of sin and take sin very seriously. And He wants us to see the falsity of Satan’s lies and accusations. Yes, we will die. But He has not said, Love Me, or I will kill you. It’s love Me, or I will let you go, and you will die. But it is not torture and execution at the hands of our gracious Father. For God does not want us to serve Him from fear. Or we will become His enemies. | |||
| * - Preventative Medicine since 1942 | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * - Independent Adventist evangelism ministry. | |||
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| I can hear God saying, I want more than anything else freedom in My family. I want peace and joy and love and freedom from fear. Children, I want you all to be My friends. And to tell this and to demonstrate all this costs everything. Truly, only our best friend would tell us. And Jesus went up to heaven, and He went in before the angels, and He asked them, did you get the message? And so after Jesus had heard them tell Him that they got the message, they got the meaning, He came back to this planet to see if the brethren had got it. And He couldn’t find them. They were all in deep depression. Well, they hadn’t even gone to the meetings to get the answers. The three chosen ones who went to Gethsemane slept through the whole evening, and only one went to the cross. And he is the one who later on shows how clearly he understood it. | |||
| <h3>Seventh-day Adventist divergent views<h3> | |||
| “You see, they were dears. And the Lord was going to use them to build our church, and I am glad He uses such people, because that means that He can use you and me, but they still were just servants, you see. They still didn’t really understand. So tonight, could you say to Jesus tonight, we get the message. We are your friends. Should we pray. | |||
| * A report on the hypocritical duplicity of Seventh-day Adventists. | |||
| * -The Seventh Day Adventist faith restored to doctrinal purity. | |||
| * - Diverges regarding the significance of the sanctuary. | |||
| <h3>Sites opposed to Seventh-day Adventism<h3> | |||
| “Our loving Father in heaven, hopefully, all of us here can join with the loyal angels in saying that we do get the message. What a price Thou hast paid to make it clear that Thou art our friend, and just want us to be friends. What an exalted position that seems to be. But how Thou hast humbled Thyself to come down and be like a human being among us, to make it clear Thou doest not want us to be afraid. And so we thank Thee for making this evidence so clear, and we thank Thee most of all for what it cost. We get the message. We want to be your friends. In Jesus name. Amen.” —A. Graham Maxwell. | |||
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| <h3>Sites addressing anti-Adventist claims or intra-Adventist issues<h3> | |||
| '''Maxwell’s Church-Sanctioned Spiritualistic Philosophy Replaces Repentance''' | |||
| * - rebuttal of SDA Outreach.org | |||
| * - Conservative issues-oriented site operated by SDA ministers and laypersons | |||
| * - A Critique of the ] Video: Seventh-day Adventism - The Spirit Behind the Church | |||
| <h3>Neutral reference<h3> | |||
| “But part of the freedom that comes with friendship, the friendship that is offered in John 15:15, is freedom from fear, and most of all, freedom from the fear of God. And the Bible recognizes that one of people’s greatest fears is the fear of dying. And the devil has made the most of it. Even the atheist knows, and I’ve talked to some. You know, around a medical center you see a lot of people who realize that if there is a god out there, they are about to meet him. And even the atheist knows, though he may have denied all his life that there is a God, that if there is one, he is about to come face to face with him. And he wonders what that powerful something or person will be like. It is very interesting to help such people die unafraid. Or would you think an atheist ought to die scared stiff? He deserves to. You know, even God’s enemies have no need to be afraid of Him.” —A. Graham Maxwell. | |||
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| '''Are You Now Ready to Face God Without Fear?''' | |||
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| “And last night we discussed one of the freedoms that comes with friendship, the freedom from being afraid of an unfriendly God. And hence, as Hebrews 2 says, losing one of the fears of dying. Because we know that if we should die, we would awaken the very next moment of consciousness, face to face with a very friendly God. Even if we are going to be lost.” —A. Graham Maxwell. | |||
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Revision as of 16:57, 27 February 2006
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an evangelical Christian denomination which grew out of the prophetic Millerite movement in the United States during the middle part of the 19th century. Commencing with an exploration of the concept of an "investigative judgment", the movement soon developed some distinguishing features such as the belief that Saturday is the Sabbath and a belief that death is an unconscious state (i.e. the soul is not immortal), and that the global Second Advent of Christ is imminent. The organization is also known for its teachings on diet and health along with the view that pioneer Ellen G. White received prophetic inspiration.
Origins
Main article: History of the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church was born out of the Millerite Movement of the 1840s, which was one of the last waves of revivalism and is known as the Second Great Awakening. The Millerite movement is named after William Miller, who, during his early adulthood, became a Deist. After fighting in the War of 1812, Miller bought a farm in Low Hampton, New York, (now a historic site owned and operated by Adventist Heritage Ministry), underwent Baptist conversion, and began attendeding a local Baptist church. Here he applied "common sense" reasoning, such as the year-for-a-day principle, to the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. His application of these techniques to the "2300-day prophecy" of Daniel 8:14 led him to conclude that the second coming of Christ would occur "about the year 1843." The Millerite movement culminated with the "seventh month movement", which taught that the "priestly ministry of Christ" would culminate with the cleansing of the earth, pinpointing the second coming of Christ on or before October 22, 1844. When he did not come, this became known as "the Great Disappointment."
A small number of Millerites believed that their calculations were correct, but that their understanding of the sanctuary being cleansed was wrong, and they began to teach that something else happened in 1844. Their Bible study led them to the conviction that in that year Jesus had entered into the "Most Holy Place" of the heavenly sanctuary, and began an "investigative judgment" of the world: a process through which there is an examination of the heavenly records to "determine who, through repentance of sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of atonement"¹ after which Jesus will return to earth. According to the church's teaching, the return of Christ may occur very soon, though they are determined to never set dates for His coming in accordance with the book of Matthew which says, "no one knows the day or the hour" (24:36).
At about the same time that the followers of the movement were studying the sanctuary, the question of the biblical day of rest and worship was raised. The foremost proponent of Sabbath-keeping among early Adventists was retired sea captain Joseph Bates. Bates was introduced to the Sabbath doctrine by a tract written by a Millerite preacher named Thomas M. Preble who in turn had been influenced by a young Seventh Day Baptist lady by the name of Rachel Oakes Preston.
This message was gradually accepted and formed the topic of the first edition of the church publication, The Present Truth which appeared in July 1849. While initially it was believed that the "sabbath" started at 6 pm, by 1855 it was generally accepted that the "sabbath" begins at sunset.
For about 20 years, the Adventist movement consisted of a loosely knit group of people who adhered to this message. Among its greatest supporters were James White, Ellen G. White and Joseph Bates. After intense discussions a formally organized church called the Seventh-day Adventist Church was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, in May 1863, with a membership of 3,500. Through the evangelistic efforts of its ministers and laity and the guidance of Ellen G. White, the church quickly grew and established a presence beyond North America during the late 1800s. In 1903, the denominational headquarters were moved from Battle Creek to temporary quarters in Washington D.C. and soon thereafter established in nearby Takoma Park, Maryland). In 1989, the headquarters was moved again, this time to Silver Spring, Maryland.
Doctrine
Seventh-day Adventist doctrine is based on the Anabaptist protestant tradition. The Protestant doctrine of the "priesthood of all believers" is so central to the thinking of Seventh-day Adventists that members have always been encouraged to study the Bible to discover truth for themselves guided of the Holy Spirit. This may explain their reluctance to establish a creed. Adventist doctrine resembles mainstream orthodox trinitarian Protestant theology, with some notable exceptions.
Sabbath
Seventh-day Adventists believe that Saturday, the seventh day of the week, is the Sabbath, based on the commandment found in Exodus 20:8-11 which reads, "the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God". They observe this as a 24-hour sunset-to-sunset Sabbath commencing Friday evening. Justification for this belief is garnered from the creation account in Genesis in which God rested on the seventh-day, an approach later immortalised in the Ten Commandments. To the Adventist the Sabbath represents a communion between them, God and their fellow man. The Sabbath is a celebration of God's creation and gift of redemption.
According to Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, Saturday worship is a crucial defining feature of the remnant church. Traditional Adventist eschatology describes a "time of trouble" which culminates in a mandatory worldwide Sunday law, including a death penalty for any who do not comply. Under such a threat, many will succumb and only the faithful remnant will continue to observe Saturday.
It should be noted, however, that although Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that they are saved by keeping Saturday as the Sabbath, they attach considerably greater significance to Saturday-Sabbath keeping than other denominations attach to worship on Sunday.
Hell and the state of the dead
Seventh-day Adventists believe that death is as Ecclesiastes 9:5 states: the "dead know nothing." This view maintains that a person has no conscious form of existence until their resurrection, which they believe is either at the second coming of Jesus (in the case of the righteous) or after the millennium of Revelation 20 (in the case of the wicked). This means that hell does not exist at the present time, and that the wicked will be permanently destroyed after the millennium of Revelation 20. (The theological term for this teaching is Annihilationism.)
Baptism
Seventh-day Adventists practice Believers baptism by full immersion in a similar manner to the Baptists. It is argued that baptism requires knowing consent and moral responsibility and as such young children are only dedicated, which is symbolic of the parents, the community and the church's gratefulness to God for the child, and their commitment to raising the child to love Jesus. Seventh-day Adventists believe that baptism is a public statement that you commit your life to Jesus and is a prerequisite for church membership. Baptism, which is only practised after the candidate is taught what the Bible says, shows that the person has repented of their sins and wishes to live a life in Christ.
Second Coming of Christ
Seventh-day Adventists believe in an imminent, universally visible Second Coming of Christ which will be preceded by a time of trouble when the righteous will be persecuted and an Antichrist will exhibit great power on the earth. The teaching that Christ will be visible by all is based on Revelation 1:7 which says "every eye shall see him." They believe that this is the time that the event of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 where "the dead in Christ shall rise", along with the righteous living. It is believed that the unrighteous, or wicked, will be raised after the millennium.
Spirit of Prophecy
One of the more controversial teachings of the church is that the "Spirit of Prophecy" is an identifying mark of the remnant church, which they believe was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. Although this is a traditional perspective, this is not adhered to by all. It seems fair to say that the majority agree that her "writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction."(28 Fundamental Beliefs)
Creeds
Traditionally, Seventh-day Adventists have opposed the formulation of credal statements. For purposes of internal coherence, Seventh-day Adventists have formed a set of fundamental beliefs and prefer to view them as descriptors rather than prescriptors. However, divergence from the published position is not seen as acceptable by some communities within the organization. In 2005, during the General Conference Session, the church expanded its set of fundamental beliefs from 27 to 28.
Practices and customs
Sabbath activities
A typical Seventh-day Adventist's Sabbath routine will usually begin on Friday evening with sundown worship at home or in church. Saturday morning is greeted with Bible study and a prayer of thanksgiving for physical and spiritual rest and repose. Adventists believe "that we are called to grow into the likeness of His character, communing with Him daily in prayer, feeding on His Word,..." Similar to believers of other denominations, most Adventists like to dress neatly when they go to their church service , which in most countries will typically begin at 9:30am. Sabbath School or Bible School is a community-based Bible study time that may include singing, mission stories, prayers and studying the Bible that will run until around 10:45am. Different groups are formed in which biblical themes and practical questions can be freely discussed. Usually there are special meetings for children in different age groups provided during that time. After a small break, the community will join together again for a church service that follows a typical evangelical format which may differ in different churches but which will always have a sermon as a central feauture. Seventh-day Adventists practice communion four times a year, reflecting their Methodist roots. The communion is an open service (available to members and non-members), based on the Gospel account of John 13. The communion service includes a foot-washing ceremony and consumption of the Lord's Supper, which consists of unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice. In some parts of the world where grape juice is not available substitutes may be used instead.
In some churches members and friends will stay at the church for a potluck lunch, for which everyone contributes a dish. Sabbath afternoon activities may vary widely depending on the cultural, ethnic and social background.
Outreach
Missionary outreach of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is aimed to both unbelievers and other Christian denominations. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Christ has called his believers to minister to the whole world. As such the church ministers in over 200 countries world wide. Adventists are cautious, however, to ensure that evangelism does not impede on the basic rights of the individual. Religious liberty is a stance that the Seventh Day Adventist church supports and promotes. Traditional Adventist evangelistic efforts consisted of street missions and the distribution of tracts such as The Present Truth, which was published by James White as early as 1849.
Adventists, as demonstrated in their expansive distribution of tracts, have for a long time, like their Millerite fathers, been proponents of media based ministries. Until J N Andrews was sent to Switzerland in 1874, Adventist global efforts consisted entirely of the postage of tracts such as White's to various locations. The reading of such material was the primary reason that Andrews was eventually called to travel overseas. In the last century, these media based efforts have also made use of emerging media such as radio and television. The first of these was H. M. S. Richard's radio show, Voice of Prophecy, which was initially broadcast in Los Angeles in 1929. Since then Adventists have been on the forefront of media evangelism and one program, It Is Written, was the first religious program to air on colour television. Today, the church runs The Hope Channel, and an independent ministry runs the Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN), both of which operate internationally, broadcasting 24 hours a day on both cable and satellite networks and can be received on 36-inch satellite dishes in North America and other countries.
Health, diet and sexuality
Seventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and expects abstinence from pork, shellfish, and other foods proscribed as "unclean" in Leviticus 11 as well as from alcohol and tobacco. It should be noted however, that many Adventists abstain from these foods as a desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle, rather than from adherence to Leviticus. The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church had a lot to do with the common acceptance of breakfast cereals into the Western diet. John Harvey Kellogg of Kellogg's Cereal fame was one of the early founders of the Seventh-day Adventist work.
Seventh-day Adventists run a large number of hospitals and health related institutions. Their predominant school of medicine in North America is located in Loma Linda, California. In Australia, the church-owned Sanitarium Health Food Company is one of Australia's leading manufacturers of health and vegetarian-related products.
See also: List of Seventh-day Adventist hospitals
The cover story of the November 2005 issue of 'National Geographic Magazine' discusses the longevity of Adventists, four to ten years longer than non-Adventists. Adventists, along with natives of Okinawa and Sardinia, are the longest-lived people in the world, a trait which has been attributed to health practices as well as the weekly Sabbath as a stress reducer.
The official Seventh-day Adventist position on abortion is that abortions for reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are not supported. At times, however, women may face exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. While the general tone toward abortion is negative, the individual Adventist may take any position on the political spectrum; as such, abortions are performed in Adventist hospitals.
According to an official statement from the General Conference , heterosexual marriages are the only Biblically ordained grounds for sexual intimacy. Seventh-day Adventists do not perform same-sex marriages and gay men cannot be ordained. Furthermore, a same-sex affair is one of the sanctioned grounds for a divorce.
Structure, polity and institutions
Structure and polity
Main article: Structure and polity of the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is run by a form of democratic representation which mixes hierarchical (or episcopal) and presbyterian elements. All church offices are elected from the grass-roots upwards and no positions are permanent.
The local church is the foundation level of organisational structure and is the public face of the church. Every baptised Adventist is a member of a local church and has voting powers within that church. A number of church offices exist within the local church, including the ordained positions of pastor, elder and deacon, as well as the largely book-keeping positions of clerk and treasurer. All of these positions, except that of pastor, are appointed by the vote of a local church business meeting or elected committees.
Directly above the local church in structure is the local conference, mission or field. The conference is an organisation of churches within a state, or part there of, which appoints ministers, owns church land and organises the distribution of tithes and payments to ministers. The conference is also responsible for the appointment and ordination of ministerial staff.
Above the local conference is the union conference which embodies a number of conferences within a particular area.
The highest level of governance within the church structure is the General Conference which consists of 13 divisions, each assigned to various geographic locations. The General Conference is the church authority and has the final say in matters of conjecture and administrative issues. The General Conference is headed by the office of President, which is currently (c. 2006) held by Jan Paulsen. The General Conference head office is in Silver Springs, Maryland, USA.
Each organization is governed by a general session which occurs at certain intervals. This is usually when general decisions are decided upon. The president of the General Conference, for instance, is elected at the General Conference Session every five years. Delegates to a session are appointed by organisations at a lower level. For example, each local church appoints delegates to a conference session.
The church manual gives provisions for each level of government to create educational, health-care, publishing, and other institutions that are seen within the call of the Great Commission.
Other institutions
Seventh-day Adventists have had a long interest in education. The Adventist church runs one of the largest unified Protestant education systems in the world. They operate some 5,700 pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges, universities, seminaries and medical schools in about 145 countries worldwide. This education system involves some 66,000 teachers and 1,257,000 students. The Adventist educational program is comprehensive encompassing "mental, physical, social, and spiritual health" with "intellectual growth and service to humanity" its goal.
See also: List of Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities
The Youth Department of the Seventh-day Adventist church runs an organisation for 10-16 year old boys and girls called Pathfinders. Pathfinders is similar to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), except that membership is open to both boys and girls. Pathfinders exposes young people to such activities as camping, community service, personal mentorship, skills based education and trains them for leadership. For younger children, Adventurer, Eager Beaver, and Little Lambs clubs are programs that are available that feed into the Pathfinder program.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been active for over 100 years advocating for freedom of religion. In 1893 its leaders founded the International Religious Liberty Association, which is universal and non-sectarian. The Seventh-day Adventist Church State council serves to protect religious groups from legislation that may affect their religious practices. This is primarily achieved through advocacy. Recently the organisation has been fighting to pass legislation that will protect Seventh-day Adventist employees who wish to keep their Sabbath.
For over 50 years the church has been active in humanitarian aid through the work of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). ADRA works as a non-sectarian relief agency in over 120 countries world wide. ADRA has been granted General Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Committee. Worldwide ADRA employs over 4000 people to help both provide relief in crisis and development in situations of poverty.
The church also has a number of extra-church organisations associated; these come under the umbrella of independent ministries.
Membership
The primary prerequisite for membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church is baptism by immersion. This, according to the church manual, should only occur after the candidate has undergone proper teaching on what the church believes.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church, which baptises around 2000 members a day, is one of the world's fastest-growing organizations, primarily due to increases in membership in the Third World. Depending on how the data was measured it is said that church membership reached 1 million between 1955 and 1961, and hit 5 million in 1986. At the turn of the 21st Century the church had 10,782,042 members which grew to 14,487,989 members at the end of 2004. It is believed that around 25 million worship in churches every Saturday and the church operates in 203 out of 228 countries recognised by the United Nations.
Off-shoots and schismatics
Throughout the history of the denomination, there have been a number of groups who have left the body and formed their own movement. The most well known of these off-shoots is the Branch Davidians who were formed in 1929 after Victor Houteff's message to the church in his book "The Shepherds Rod" was rejected by the church as being heretical. Another ex-Adventist David Koresh (formerly Vernon Howell) led the group until he died in the conflagration at Waco, Texas in 1993.
Following World War 1 a group known as the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement was formed as a result of the actions of certain European church leaders during the war who decided that it was not acceptable for Adventists to take part in war. When attempts at reconciliation failed after the war, the group became organised as a separate church at a conference from July 14-20, 1925. The movement became officially incorporated in 1949.
The most recent, large scale, schism within Adventism occurred in the Glacier View doctrinal crisis of 1980. This crisis centred around the 900 page research paper of Dr Desmond Ford entitled Daniel 8:14, the Investigative Judgment, and the Kingdom of God which questioned the church's position on the "investigative judgment". Following the meetings at Glacier View, which rejected Ford's proposals, Ford was removed from office, had his ministerial credentials removed and many Adventists left the church. In the 25 years since, Ford has worked through the ministry of Good News Unlimited and has appeared on radio, television and in many print publications.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals who are, or had been, practicing Seventh-day Adventists have formed a social network that is not officially associated to the church called SDA Kinship international . In 1987 the Seventh-day Adventist Church filed legal action in California to prevent SDA Kinship from using the name "Seventh-day Adventist" and its abbreviation "SDA". In 1991 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no breaches on naming were made by SDA Kinship and that they may continue to use their existing name.
Outsider criticisms
Main article: Criticism of the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchA common argument in Evangelical circles is whether or not Seventh-day Adventist doctrines stray far enough from orthodox teaching to qualify as cultic. Many evangelical Christians follow the advice of Walter Martin from the Christian Research Institute who wrote:
- ...it is perfectly possible to be a Seventh-day Adventists and be a true follower of Jesus Christ despite heterodox concepts...
- Walter Martin, Kingdom of the CultsOff-site Link (Bethany House, Minneapolis, Minnesota), Updated edition 1997, p.517.
However, there are still those, such as John C. Whitcomb, who assert that Adventism is cultic based on their insularism from non-Christians and non-Adventists. Whitcomb cites the Adventist emphasis on an Adventist education as evidence of this, although many Christian denominations also have their own school system. It is also argued that the Adventist view on the Sabbath favors a works-based view of salvation.
Adventism also has a long and unfortunate history of anti-Catholicism. Ellen White's works are unrelenting in their attacks on the Catholic Church. This reflects the common misconceptions and bigotry then current. Many Adventists still hold these positions. Some of their outreach organizations, such as Amazing Facts, continue to propagate anti-Catholic falsehoods.
There is a large amount of criticism placed on the authority that Ellen G. White is given and some of her teachings. It is believed that the authority White is given is contrary to the traditional Protestant sola scriptura view of the Bible as the sole inspired source of authority. Criticism is also made of some of the teachings of Ellen White such as a statement on Christology found in a non-official book Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine, and her view on the necessity of a belief in an "investigative judgment".
It has been noted by several other Christian groups that in recent years the Adventist leadership has de-emphasised several of the uniquely Adventist doctrines, in favour of an emphasis on the basic Christian beliefs they share with other Christians, which renders the Adventist church less problematic on the whole from the perspective of other Christians. Some groups of traditionalist Seventh-day Adventists, however, are rather upset at the Adventist Church leadership for doing this, and a few have left the Adventist church to form splinter groups as a result.
References
- Ministerial Association General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Seventh-day Adventists Believe. Pacific Press Publishing Association. ISBN 1-57847-041-2
- White, Ellen G. The Great Controversy (1911 edition). Pacific Press. p.422 GC chapter 23 ISBN 0816319235
- 1957 edition. Review and Herald Publishing. ISBN 1571791841
- Fundamental Beliefs, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. (Accessed: December 7, 2005)