What is Seventh-day Adventism?

Last updated on: November 6, 2015 at 11:16 pm by Richard Ostling

What is Seventh-day Adventism? 2015-11-06T23:16:21-05:00 Richard Ostling

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

RUSSELL’S QUESTION:

Since Donald Trump brought Ben Carson’s religion to the forefront, can you tell us more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:

Presidential candidate Trump contrasted his own “middle of the road” Presbyterian Church (USA) with Carson’s Seventh-day Adventist Church as a religion “I don’t know about.” That suggested the SDA denomination is not just lesser-known but on the cultural margins and possibly suspect.

This born-in-America faith is indeed distinctive. It’s also a notable success story (while Trump’s “mainline” church declines). SDA global membership reached a million in 1955, 92 years after the founding. Today the Maryland-based church boasts 18.7 million followers, 94 percent of them outside North America. It gains a million adherents a year through immersion baptisms of youths and adults. It operates 7,579 schools and colleges with 1.8 million students, and 627 healthcare institutions, among the largest such global networks. Members’ tithing is a major emphasis — and strength. The notably diverse U.S. contingent is 37 percent white.

Carson is, yes, loyally Adventist, though he regrets his church doesn’t ordain women. Trump’s taunt provoked an article by Utah newsman and adult convert Mark Kellner. Carson is a famed brain surgeon, Kellner noted, but SDA ranks have also included the first surgeon to implant a baboon heart in an infant, the originator of “Tommy John surgery,” and the inventors of proton therapy for breast cancer.

The faith’s 19th Century founders were disciples of self-taught Bible teacher William Miller who believed Jesus Christ’s Second coming would occur on October 22, 1844, a non-event called the “Great Disappointment.” The Adventist faction said Miller was correct that God restored his “sanctuary” in 1844, calculated from biblical Daniel 8:14 with “days” meaning “years.” But they decided Miller was mistaken that Daniel predicted an earthly event. Rather, 1844 marked Christ’s entry into a heavenly sanctuary to begin “investigative judgment” of humans to prepare his Second Coming, to occur soon at a date unknown.

Preacher’s wife Ellen G. White (1827-1915) experienced numerous visions regarded as messages from God and became the Adventists’ prime teacher. SDAs believe God provided her gift of prophecy as “an identifying mark of the remnant church” of the “last days” that will faithfully keep God’s commandments (see Revelation 12:17).

White emphasized that the Ten Commandments’ Sabbath must be observed on Saturday as in Old Testament times, rejecting Christianity’s Sunday worship. The church links this with insistence that God created the heavens and the earth “during six literal days” that adding the Sabbath are “the same unit of time that we call a week today.” SDA literalism rules out an ancient earth, Darwin’s theory, and “theistic evolution.”

The 1863 “health reform” vision meant White taught the simplest possible preparations of “grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator.” Therefore, many SDAs are ovo-lacto vegetarians. White also opposed condiments, spices, coffee, and tea, along with more customary Protestant hostility toward tobacco and alcohol. The Adventist Kellogg brothers invented corn flakes, and an associate’s rival Post company developed the coffee substitute Postum. Studies show that health-conscious SDAs on average live years longer than the general population.

The church advocates “nonviolence, peacemaking, conflict resolution, and reconciliation” among nations. Decisions on military service are up to the individual, but the church urges adherents never to bear arms. It differs from pacifist churches where conscientious objectors shun all military participation. Instead, SDA teaching says believers “accept the obligation of citizenship” that “requires them willingly to serve the state in any noncombatant capacity” that helps saves lives. SDAs typically seek service as unarmed medics. Adventist Desmond Doss, a heroic Army medical corpsman in World War Two, was the first noncombatant to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The church fervently advocates religious liberty and separation of church and state. A May 4 headquarters statement called it “crucial” that churches “remain a neutral space when it comes to elections” and urged “extreme care” to avoid association with any candidate, Carson included. However, the church often pronounces on public issues. Typical declarations:

1) Insist on freedom to express and practice opposition to same-sex behavior. 2) Urge women to limit abortions to “exceptional circumstances.” 3) Oppose “mercy killing,” assisted suicide, gambling, and pornography. 4) Ask strict controls on sale of automatic or semi-automatic assault weapons. 5) Advocate major carbon dioxide reduction to combat global warming. 6) Express concern about undue competitiveness in school exams and sports. 7) Oppose participation in labor unions if they practice “coercion.” 8) Allow condoms as a “last resort” to prevent the spread of AIDS and STDs.

Relationships with other Christians are complex. The denomination observes councils of churches without joining lest “entangling memberships” tend to “water down her distinct witness.” White sharply criticized Catholicism for persecution and fusion of church and state. A 1997 policy opposes religious prejudice and says SDAs “gladly acknowledge that sincere Christians may be found in other denominations, including Roman Catholicism.” But it warns that in the end times major churches will align with forces opposed to God and Sabbath observance, and revive oppression.

Some SDA founders rejected the central Christian teaching of the Trinity (the one God consisting of three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Early Adventists opposed creeds, and only in 1980 did the General Conference officially proclaim the SDA “Fundamental Beliefs” that uphold Christian tradition on God, Jesus Christ, and other matters.

Conservative Protestant Anthony Hoekema lumped SDAs with Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism in his 1963 tome “The Four Major Cults.” Today’s evangelicals avoid the “cult” label and mostly recognize Adventists as orthodox — if unusual — fellow Christians. Past evangelicals worried that “investigative judgment” undercut the finality of Jesus’ sacrifice for sin on the cross, or that White’s status challenged the Bible’s unique authority. Evangelicals continue to oppose SDA particulars on the end times and, for instance, belief in the annihilation of the lost rather than eternal hell.

Official church materials at www.adventist.org include “Who Are Seventh-day Adventists” under “press inquiries.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 10, 2015

What faiths practice cremation?

Next Post

November 14, 2015 Is Islam a "religion of peace"?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Moses was hidden in a basket among the reeds of the Nile River as a baby.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE