Seventh-day Adventist Church

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The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an evangelical Christian denomination that 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 a belief in Saturday as the Sabbath and a belief that death is like a "sleep" until an imminent, global Second Advent. The organisation is also known for its teachings on diet and health along with its view that pioneer Ellen G. White received prophetic inspiration.

Origins

Main article: History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

According to historians of the movement, this group gained its more recent name from the teaching that the expected return of Jesus on October 22, 1844 had been fulfilled in a way that had not previously been understood. This was termed "the Great Disappointment." Further Bible study led to the belief that Jesus in that year 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 His atonement"¹ after which Jesus will return to earth. According to the church's teaching, the return of Christ may occur very soon, though nobody knows the exact date of that event (Matthew 24:36).

For about 20 years, the Adventist movement consisted of a disorganized group of people who adhered to this message. Among its greatest supporters were James White, Ellen G. White and Joseph Bates. Later, a formally organized church called the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, in May 1863, with a membership of 3,500. Through the evangelism and inspiration 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 Washington D.C. (and the immediately neighboring community of 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. Adventist doctrine resembles mainstream orthodox trinitarian Protestant theology, with the exception of several areas.

• Saturday as Sabbath. Seventh-day Adventists observe 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. Seventh-day Adventists maintain that there is no biblical mandate for the change from the "true Sabbath" to Sunday observance, which is to say that Sunday-keeping is merely a "tradition of men."

• State of the Dead. Seventh-day Adventists believe that death is a sleep during which the "dead know nothing" (Ecclesiastes 9:5). This view maintains that the person has no conscious form of existence until the resurrection, 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). Because of this view, Seventh-day Adventists do not believe hell currently exists and believe further that the wicked will be destroyed at the end of time.

• Baptism. Seventh-day Adventists practice adult baptism by full immersion in a similar manner to the Baptists. Infants are dedicated rather than baptized, as it is argued that baptism requires knowing consent and moral responsibility.

• Belief in an imminent, universally visible second advent, preceded by a time of trouble when the righteous will be persecuted and a false second coming where Satan impersonates the Messiah.

• Teaching that the "Spirit of Prophecy," an identifying mark of the remnant church, was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White, whom Adventists recognize as the Lord's messenger. Her "writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction."(28 Fundamental Beliefs) They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teachings and experience must be tested.

• Avoidance of unclean meat such as pork, but it is encouraged to live a vegetarian lifestyle.

Seventh-day Adventists oppose the formulation of credal statements. Seventh-day Adventists prefer to view the fundamental beliefs as descriptors rather than prescriptors. However divergence from the published position is frowned upon in some communities within the organization. Recently, the church expanded its set of fundamental beliefs to 28, demonstrating its lack of formal creed and a more plastic approach to doctrinal formation. Missionary outreach of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is aimed on both unbelievers and other Christian Churches.

Practices and customs

Seventh-day Adventist religious practise consists primarily of weekly Sabbath School and Church. Church follows an evangelical format, with emphasis placed on the sermon. During the week prayer meetings may be conducted. Some churches run Friday night vesper programmes to bring in the Sabbath hours.

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 organisations, 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.

Media ministries

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has many affiliated broadcast ministries that are seen every day on radio and television.

The Hope Channel is the church's official TV channel. It started to operate in 2003 and can be watched via satellite on every inhabited continent.

The Voice Of Prophecy was founded in 1929 by H.M.S. Richards, Sr. on a single radio station in Los Angeles, but has since spread to stations throughout the nation and has recently begun television and video production. Richards' son, H.M.S. Richards, Jr., succeeded him in the late 1970s, and today is hosted by Pastor Lonnie Meleshenko and Connie Jeffery (daughter of It Is Written founder George Vandeman).

The Quiet Hour was founded in 1937 by J.L. Tucker as a radio program. Succeeding members of the Tucker family have run the ministry since then, and it too has expanded into television.

It Is Written was founded in 1956 by George Vandeman and was the first religious program to air in color, and the first to take advantage of satellite technology. Mark Finley succeeded Vandeman in 1992. He left the show in 2004 and was replaced by Shawn Boonstra.

Amazing Facts was founded in 1965 by Joe Crews in Baltimore, Maryland. Inspired by the success of the Voice Of Prophecy, Crews' original objective was to reach out to both Christian and non-Christian listeners via daily 15-minute programs by opening with a catchy historic fact, and how it applies to the overall Biblical messages. Later, the program offered accompanying home Bible study courses, as well as books written by Crews himself. In 1987, Amazing Facts initiated a television ministry. In 1993, after Joe Crews' passing, Doug Batchelor assumed the position as Director/Speaker, and has held that position ever since. Today, Amazing Facts broadcasts mainly out of Sacramento, California.

Breath Of Life is one of the most recent Adventist broadcast ministries to hit the airwaves. Although its main audience is African American, the message is similar to the other broadcast ministries.

Daniel Lubega is an Omaha Nebraska SDA pastor with radio show on KCRO and a tv show on Omaha Cox Channel 23

All the main Adventist broadcast ministries have engaged in worldwide outreach via numerous crusades and rallies. Worldwide outreach is also conducted by Adventist World Radio mostly via shortwave radio transmissions, but also via AM, FM, satellite, Internet, and direct-to-home satellite radio transmissions. Broadcasting is currently done from 10 transmitter sites in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Off-shoots and schismatics

Most notoriously, the Branch Davidians and David Koresh of the Waco, Texas conflagration are a schismatic off-shoot of the Seventh-day Adventist religious movement.

There is also a Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement. Another famous example is Dr Desmond Ford and his ministry Good News Unlimited.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals who are, or had been, practicing Seventh-day Adventists have formed a social network called SDA Kinship international [2]. SDA Kinship was the subject of a lawsuit by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in an attempt to protect the term "SDA" from use by SDA Kinship. The outcome of the ruling allowed the continued use of the term "SDA Kinship".

Outsider criticisms

Main article: Criticism of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

A common argument in Evangelical circles is whether or not Seventh-day Adventist doctrines are far enough from orthodox teaching to quantify as cultic. Many evangelical Christians follow the advice of Walter Martin from the Christian Research Institute who states:

...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 there insularism from non-Christians and non-Adventists. Whitcomb points to the Adventist emphasis on an Adventist education as evidence of this. It is also argued that the Adventist view on the Sabbath favors a works-based view of salvation.

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 in her book Questions on Doctrine, and her view on the necessity of a belief in "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 cross at the Adventist Church leadership for doing this, and a few have left the Adventist church to form splinter groups as a result.

References

1. General Conference Ministerial Association. 27 Fundamental Beliefs. Review and Herald Publishing. ISBN 0828004668
2. White, Ellen G. The Great Controversy (1911 edition). Pacific Press. p.422 GC chapter 23 ISBN 0816319235
3. 1957 edition. Review and Herald Publishing. ISBN 1571791841