Seventh-day Adventist Church

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The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an evangelical Christian denomination which grew out of the 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

The 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. ^[1]

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 to commit ones 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.^[2]

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,..." ^[3] 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.

The cover story of the November 2005 issue of 'National Geographic Magazine'[qv] 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 [4], 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

The 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.

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 church and formed their own movements. The most well known of these off-shoots is the Branch Davidians who were formed in 1929. The group formed after Victor Houteff's message to the church in his book "The Shepherds Rod" was rejected as being heretical. Another ex-Adventist David Koresh (formerly Vernon Howell) led the group until he died in the conflagration in 1993 at the groups compound in Waco, Texas.

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 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 last large-scale schism within Adventism was 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. The paper questioned the church's position on the "investigative judgment". The meetings at Glacier View, rejected Ford's proposals. The schism resulting from this rejection resulted in Ford being removed from office and having his ministerial credentials removed. Many Adventists also left the church as a result. 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.

Presently, an influential faction in the church rejects the historic Christian belief that Christ died vicariously for our sins and accepts, instead, the controversial theology of A. Graham Maxwell. ^[5] ^[6] This has resulted in a great schism. In reference to Christ's atonement and the Division of Religion at Loma Linda University, David P. McMahon wrote, "In this department are those who repudiate the historic Christian doctrine of the substitutionary atonement in order to embrace 'the moral influence theory.' In fact, the moral influence theory has widely permeated West-Coast American Adventism. It has such a stranglehold on the church's principal financial base that the leaders of the church appear paralyzed and frightened to touch it." ^[7]

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 [8]. 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

A 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)
^ Weber, Martin. (1994) Who's Got the Truth, Making sense out of five different Adventist gospels, pp. 15-34.
^ Fredericks, Richard. (March, 1992) The moral influence theory—its attraction and inadequacy: The distorted attraction of one popular theory of the atonement. Ministry. pp. 6-10.
^ McMahon, David P., Ellet Joseph Waggoner: The Myth and the Man, p. last.

External links

Official Seventh-day Adventist websites