What do Seventh-day Adventists Believe?
Here are the main tenets of the 7th Day Adventists, as listed on the website Learning Religions:
Baptism - Baptism requires repentance and a confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It symbolizes forgiveness of sins and reception of the Holy Spirit. Adventists baptize by immersion.
Bible - Adventists see Scripture as divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, the "infallible revelation" of God's will. The Bible contains the knowledge necessary for salvation.
Communion - The Adventist communion service includes foot washing as a symbol of humility, ongoing inner cleansing, and service to others. The Lord's Supper is open to all Christian believers.
Death - Unlike most other Christian denominations, Adventists hold that the dead do not go directly to heaven or hell but enter a period of "soul sleep," in which they are unconscious until their resurrection and final judgment.
Diet - As "temples of the Holy Spirit," Seventh-day Adventists are encouraged to eat the healthiest diet possible, and many members are vegetarians. They are also prohibited from drinking alcohol, using tobacco, or taking illegal drugs.
Equality - There is no racial discrimination in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Women cannot be ordained as pastors, although the debate continues in some circles. Homosexual behavior is condemned as sin.
Heaven / Hell - At the end of the Millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ with his saints in heaven between the first and second resurrections, Christ and the Holy City will descend from heaven to earth. The redeemed will live eternally on the New Earth, where God will dwell with his people. The condemned will be consumed by fire and annihilated.
Investigative Judgment - Beginning in 1844, a date originally named by an early Adventist as the Second Coming of Christ, Jesus began a process of judging which people will be saved and which will be destroyed. Adventists believe all departed souls are sleeping until that time of final judgment.
Jesus Christ - The eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ became man and was sacrificed on the cross in payment for sin, was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. Those who accept the atoning death of Christ are assured eternal life.
Prophecy - Prophecy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Seventh-day Adventists consider Ellen G. White (1827-1915), one of the church's founders, to be a prophetess. Her extensive writings are studied for guidance and instruction.
Sabbath - Seventh-day Adventist beliefs include worship on Saturday, in accordance with the Jewish custom of keeping the seventh day holy, based on the Fourth Commandment. They believe that the later Christian custom of moving the Sabbath to Sunday, to celebrate the day of Christ's resurrection, is unbiblical.
Trinity - Adventists believe in one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While God is beyond human understanding, He has revealed Himself through Scripture and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Upon looking over the main beliefs of this denomination, we find that they agree with the Christian theological viewpoint on most topics. The main tenets of Christendom are being followed. There are two groups of the 7th Day Adventist Church; one being considered Traditional & the other considered Evangelical. The Traditional seems to be more legalistic, while the Evangelicals look to line up pretty much with regular Evangelicals. There are a couple items that seem a little “different” should we say. Those “different” thoughts are in red above. They are referred to by some as “heterodox” or “unorthodox” beliefs; not in agreement with mainstream Christian doctrine. Having said that I don’t see these discrepancies as cultic. Neither does a large portion of Christendom.
Ellen G White, the founder of the denomination, was considered by its’ constituents to be a prophetess. She was considered to have the proper interpretation of Scripture; but they consider the Bible to be inerrant & superior to White’s writings. In her lifetime (1827-1915) she wrote 180 books. I’ve seen the warning that her writings should be compared to actual scripture from the Bible to verify their validity. Her book, The Great Controversy, one of her first, chronicles the history of sin from beginning to end. Her writings were considered supplemental to the Bible. A means of helping the members of the church understand the scriptures.
The general consensus of the majority of theologians is that while the 7th Day Adventists are not a full-fledged cult, they are neither an authorized Christian denomination. The “experts” seem to agree that they should be considered a “sect” [1] of the Evangelical Christian Church, yet not an official denomination because of the few doctrinal differences.
The latest statistics I found regarding the Traditional vs Evangelical churches of this “sect” shows that 80% of the people consider themselves to be part of the Evangelical branch of the Adventist church, while only 20% consider themselves to be part of the Traditional branch. The Evangelical branch is very close to the Protestant set of beliefs. There is of course always the possibility, as there is with any religious group, that an individual church body could stray from the main tenets of Christendom. However, this doesn’t make the entire overall group cultic. Perhaps just a church or two, but that all depends on the individual churches beliefs.
Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.
In His Name & for His Glory, RL Keller Bread of Life Ministries
Source: www.learningreligions.com
[1] (Christian Churches, other) a subdivision of a larger religious group (esp the Christian Church as a whole) the members of which have to some extent diverged from the rest by developing deviating beliefs, practices, etc. [sect. (n.d.) Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014. (1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014).]
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