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Does anyone know anything about the Seventh Day Adventist doctrines and beliefs?

Lord's blessings on all,

In Jesus Love,

Mischelle

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When we deal with the topic of denomintions, different churches or the different theological schools of thought the topic can easily turn into a hot topic, but hot topics should not be avoided. We simply need to stick to the topic without assassinating the character of the people we discuss the topic with. We should learn how to discuss hot topics in love.

David V.
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The History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church


broken light bulb

Modern Seventh Day Adventism traces its origins back to the early 1800's to Mr. William Miller (1782-1849) of Low Hampton, New York.  Mr. Miller had converted from deism to Christianity in 1816 and became a Baptist.  He was an avid reader, dedicated to God's word, and sought to reconcile apparent biblical difficulties raised by deists.  He relied heavily on the Cruden's Concordance in his studies and developed a focus on the imminent return of Jesus.  He began preaching at the age of 50.

The time was right.  America was hot with discussions on the return of Christ.  As a result, many thousands (called Millerites) accepted his idea that Jesus would return in the year covering 1843-1844.  He had arrived at this date based upon a study of Daniel 8:14 which says, "And he said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored."  He interpreted the 2300 evenings and mornings to be years and counted forward from 457 BC when the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem was given (Dan. 9:24-25).1 When his initial predictions failed, he adjusted his findings to conclude that Jesus would return on March 21, 1844 and then later on October 22, 1844.  After these too failed, Miller quit promoting his ideas on Jesus' return and the "Millerites" broke up.

On the morning following the "Great Disappointment" of October 22, 1844, a Mr. Hiram Edson claimed to have seen a vision.  He said that he saw Jesus standing at the altar of heaven and concluded that Miller had been right about the time, but wrong about the place.  In other words, Jesus' return was not to earth, but a move into the heavenly sanctuary as is referenced in Heb. 8:1-2.

Mr. Joseph Bates (1792-1872), a retired sea captain and a convert to "Millerism" then began to promote the idea of Jesus moving into the heavenly sanctuary.  He published a pamphlet which greatly influenced James (1821-1881) and Ellen White (1827-1915).  It is these three who were the driving force behind the SDA movement.

Numerous reports state that Ellen G. White (1827-1915) saw visions from an early age.  Such was the case shortly after the Great Disappointment.  Mrs. White claimed to see in a vision of a narrow path where an angel was guiding Adventists.  Subsequent visions resulted in interpretations of the three angels in Rev. 14:6-11 as being 1843-1844 as the hour of God's judgment; the fall of Babylon signified by Adventists leaving various churches, and admonitions against Sunday worship.

  • 1849 - First paper, the Present Truth, was printed in Middletown, Conn.
  • 1850 - First issue of the Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, printed in
    Paris, Maine.
  • 1860 - Name of Seventh-day Adventist adopted by the church.
  • 1863 - First General Conference and formation of the SDA church on May 21, 1863.
  • 1871 - First college opened which became Andrews University.
  • 1871 - J. N. Andrews sent to Switzerland as a missionary.
  • 1885 - Missionary work begun in Australia.
  • 1915 - Ellen G. White dies on July 16, at St. Helena, CA.
  • 1941 - Opening of Theological Seminary at Takoma Park.
  • 1942 - Voice of Prophecy radio show begins broadcasting coast to coast.
  • 1950 - Faith for Today TV show begins.
  • 1955 - SDA membership hits 1 million.
  • 1986 - SDA membership hits 5 million.2

Today, the SDA church is very evangelical with mission efforts world wide, numerous publications, and many educational facilities.  It claims over 8 million members world wide and is growing rapidly with its educational, TV, Radio, and publication based outreaches. 

Church structure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church


  • networkEach Church elects its own officers:  elders, deacons, deaconesses, clerks, treasurers, and department leaders.
  • The minister of a local church is appointed by the local conference.
  • The local conference consists of local churches in a designated area.
  • Officers of the local conference are elected every three years.
  • Union conferences are comprised of local conference in a designated area.
  • Union conference officers are elected every five years.
  • The division is comprised of two or more union conference with officers elected every five years.
  • General conference encompasses all divisions with officers elected every five years.

What does Seventh Day Adventism teach?


Affirmations

  1. The Bible is inspired and the word of God.
  2. Trinitarian: The Father, Son, Holy Spirit are all one God in three persons.
  3. Jesus is God and has always existed with the Father.
  4. The Holy Spirit is a person.
  5. Jesus' sacrifice was vicarious.
  6. Salvation is by grace, not works.
  7. Jesus rose from the dead physically in his glorified body.
  8. Jesus ascended bodily into heaven.
  9. Baptism is by immersion
  10. The literal, visible return of Jesus.
  11. Jesus will return to set up a millennial kingdom.  They are Premillennial.
  12. Literal six day creation, not long periods.

Denials

  1. Denies the doctrine of predestination
  2. Denies baptism by sprinkling
  3. Denies infant baptism.
  4. Denies the immortality of the soul.
  5. Denies the eternality of hell fire.
  6. Denies any use of alcohol (as a drink) or tobacco.

Aberrant

  1. Our sins will ultimately be placed on Satan.1
  2. Jesus is Michael the Archangel.
  3. Worship must be done on Saturday (the Sabbath).
  4. On October 22, 1844 Jesus entered the second and last phase of his atoning work.
  5. Investigative Judgment - the fate of all people will be decided based upon this event in the future.
  6. The dead do not exist anymore -- soul sleep.
  7. The wicked are annihilated.
  8. Ellen G. White, the "founder" of Seventh Day Adventism, was a messenger from God gifted with the spirit of prophecy.
  9. There is a sanctuary in heaven where Jesus carries out his mediatorial work.

Does the Bible allow Christians to worship on Sunday?


In the Old Testament, God stated, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you," (Exodus 20:8-10, NASB). It was the custom of the Jews to come together on the Sabbath, which is Saturday, cease work, and worship God. Jesus went to the synagogue on Saturday to teach (Matt. 12:9; John 18:20) as did the apostle Paul (Acts 17:2; 18:4). So, if in the Old Testament we are commanded to keep the Sabbath and in the New Testament we see Jews, Jesus, and the apostles doing the same thing, then why do we worship on Sunday?

First of all, of the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20:1-17, only 9 of them were restated in the New Testament. (Six in Matt. 19:18, murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, honor parents, and worshiping God; Rom. 13:9, coveting. Worshiping God properly covers the first three commandments) The one that was not reaffirmed was the one about the Sabbath. Instead, Jesus said that He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).

In creation, God rested on the seventh day. But, since God is all powerful, He doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t need to take a break and rest. So, why does it say that He rested? The reason is simple: Mark 2:27 says, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." In other words, God established the Sabbath as a rest for His people, not because He needed a break, but because we are mortal and need a time of rest, of focus on God. In this, our spirits and bodies are both renewed.

The OT system of Law required keeping the Sabbath as part of the overall moral, legal, and sacrificial system by which the Jewish people satisfied God’s requirements for behavior, government, and forgiveness of sins. The Sabbath was part of the Law in that sense. In order to "remain" in favor with God, you had to also keep the Sabbath. If it was not kept, then the person was in sin and would often be punished (Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23; Deut. 13:1-9; Num. 35:31; Lev. 20:2, etc.).

But with Jesus’ atonement, we no longer are required to keep the Law as a means for our justification. The requirements of the Law were fulfilled in Christ.  We now have rest from the Law.  We now have "Sabbath", continually.

Are we free to worship on Sunday?

Within the New Testament is ample evidence that the seventh day Sabbath is no longer a requirement.

"One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God," (Rom. 14:5-6).

The entire section of Rom. 14:1-12 is worth careful study.  The instructions here are that individuals must be convinced in their own minds about which day they observe for the Lord. If the seventh day Sabbath were a requirement, then the choice would not be mans’, but God’s.  To me, this verse is sufficient to answer the question beyond doubt.  Furthermore,

"Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col. 2:16-17).

Notice the time sequence mentioned in Col. 2:16-17 above.  A festival is yearly. A new moon is monthly. A Sabbath is weekly. No one is to judge in regard to this. The Sabbath is defined as a shadow, the reality is Jesus.  Jesus is our Sabbath.  So, if someone is judging you because you worship on the Sabbath, they are wrong.  Likewise, if you regard Sunday above Saturday (Rom. 14:5-6), all you need to do is be convinced in your own mind that that is alright.

Is there any evidence in the NT that Christians met on Sunday?

"And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight," (Acts 20:7).

The first day of the week is Sunday and this is the day the people gathered. This passage can easily be seen as the church meeting on Sunday, though it does not necessitate it. It has two important church functions within it: breaking bread (communion) and a message (preaching/teaching). Additionally, Luke included the Roman system as well as the Jewish system of counting days.  The Jewish system was sundown to sundown.  But Luke also used the Roman system: midnight to midnight (Luke 11:5; Acts 16:25; 20:7; 27:27). This is a subtle point that shows the Jewish Sabbath system was not exclusively used by Luke.

If the Sabbath was mandatory, why the use of the non-Jewish system?

"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come,"  (1 Cor. 16:1-2).

Notice here that Paul is directing the churches to meet on the first day of each week and put money aside. It would seem that this is tithing. So, the instructed time for the church to meet is Sunday, the first day of the week and it is that day the Galatians were to set money aside collections.  Is this an official worship day set up by the church? You decide.  Does this verse apply to Christians today?  It most certainly does.

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea," (Revelation 1:10-11).

The New Bible Dictionary says regarding the term, ‘The Lord’s Day’ in Rev. 1:10: "This is the first extant occurrence in Christian literature of "te kuriake hemera."  The adjectival construction suggests that it was a formal designation of the church’s worship day. As such it certainly appears early in the 2nd century" (Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, 1. 67).

In many churches today, the term "The Lord’s Day" is used to designate Sunday, the same as it was in the second century.

I hope this is evidence enough to show you that the Bible does not require that we worship on Saturday. If anything, we have the freedom (Rom. 14:1-12) to worship on the day that we believe we should. And, no one should judge us in regard to the day we keep. We are free in Christ and not under law, (Rom. 6:14).

Conclusion

The Seventh Day Adventists have every right to worship on the Sabbath and they should if they are convinced that is the right thing to do.  However, if any member of any church were to require a person to worship on the Sabbath as a sign of "true" Christianity or "true" redemption, then that is wrong.  According to Rom. 14:1-12, we are free.

Additionally, Sunday is the day that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead.  The Jewish people who had rejected Jesus continued to worship on Saturday, the Sabbath.  But it was the Christians who celebrated Jesus' resurrection and this was most probably the driving force to gather on the first day of the week.

Scriptures dealing with the first day of the week.


The Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that there is any scriptural support for worship on Sunday.  Though there is no explicit NT statement authenticating Sunday worship, there are plenty of verses dealing with Sunday, the first day of the week, as being special, a day of breaking bread, and of gathering collections.

  1. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1-7; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
  2. Jesus appeared to the disciples on the first day of the week (John 20:19).
  3. Jesus appeared inside the room to the eleven disciples eight days after the first day of the week.  The Jewish way of measuring days meant that it was again Sunday
    (John 20:26).
  4. The Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, the first day of the week (Lev. 23:16; Acts 2:1).
  5. The first sermon was preached by Peter on the first day of the week (Acts 2:14).
  6. Three thousand converts joined the church on the first day of the week (Acts 2:41).
  7. The three thousand were baptized on the first day of the week (Acts 2:41).
  8. The Christians assembled broke bread on the first day of the week.
  9. The Christians also heard a message from Paul on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).  Note:  the reference is until midnight which is not the Jewish method of measuring days, but the Roman system.
  10. Paul instructed the churches to put aside contributions on the first day of the week
    (1 Cor. 16:2).
  11. Jesus gave the apostle John the vision of Revelation on the first day of the week
    (Rev. 1:10).1

All of my posts above come from one of my favorite Apologetics Ministry called CARM. http://carm.org/seventh-day-adventism

 

Personally Mischell if you ask me if I re recommend attending the Seventh-day Adventist church, I would say the following? This is a difficult question since some of their churches are extremely healthy places while others hold on to too much legalism. Over all I believe there are too many problems within Seventh-day Adventistism to recommend it as a safe church, unless I myself visit and speak to the pastor and find out where he stands in some key issues, because some of them are within orthodoxy, but others are not.

 

Whenever we want to make a freedom or a gift of the Spirit a pillar of our faith we err in doctrine. We are free to worship on Saturday, but is neither a fundamental doctrine nor a pillar of the church.

Romans 14:1-12 speaks of our freedom in Christ, particularly our freedom to worship on any day we choose.

 

From the CARM website: CARM cannot recommend any church which would openly deny the biblical doctrine of predestination (in contradiction to Eph. 1:1-11), deny the doctrine of the immortality of the soul (in contradiction to Luke 16:19-31; Matt. 25:46), and deny eternal hellfire (in contradiction to Rev. 14:11).  Nor can we recommend a church that affirms that Jesus is Michael the Archangel,1 and that the wicked are annihilated (in contradiction to Luke 16:19-31; Matt. 25:46).

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