However, they differ on a number of other beliefs:
Writings of Ellen White: Ellen White is recognized by the
SDA church as having received the gift of prophecy. The written works by Ellen White "are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which
provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction."
1 This produced some conflict within the Church when research in the 1980's
suggested that she had borrowed heavily from contemporary writers. However,
in our opinion, "An Analysis of the Literary Dependency of Ellen White"
by David J. Conklin demonstrates that there is no proof of Ellen White's
plagiarism. 2
Immortality: They deny the concept of "innate immortality". They believe that a person is not
naturally immortal. When a person dies, they remain unconscious until they are
resurrected. Eternal life is a gift which God gives only to righteous
Christians; the rest will be ultimately annihilated and no longer exist in any
form. Thus, they do not believe that a person goes to
heaven for an eternal reward or to hell for never-ending torture immediately upon death.
Investigative Judgment: This refers to a process that started in
1844 CE and remains active in Heaven today. God the Father, Jesus, and Satan
are now determining who is saved and who is lost. Only those who have:
believed in Jesus,
kept God's commandments,
kept the faith of Jesus, and
have retained faith in Jesus
will be saved.
When Jesus returns to
Earth in the near future at the time of his second coming, everyone's
eternal fate will already have been determined. SDA members note that the
Bible states that God's pattern is to investigate before exercising
judgment. 3 Examples
are:
In Genesis 3, God visited Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to
determine first hand that they had ate the fruit from the tree of
knowledge of good and evil and thus caused the fall or rise of humanity.
(Interpretations of the impact of the fruit
differ.)
In Genesis 19, God came down from heaven to learn
first-hand what was
happening in Sodom and Gomorrah.
In Revelation 20:4-6, at the time of Jesus' second coming, Jesus
is described as having arrived on Earth to execute previously determined judgment on
humans, not perform investigations to determine what judgment is just
for each individual.
Jesus' return: The second coming of Christ is imminent. Believers should be ready at all times to be
removed from earth to be with God in heaven. Others will be destroyed by Christ
during what will be the most massive genocide in history. Righteous
Christians who had previously died will be resurrected at that time and taken to
heaven.
For the following 1000 years, only Satan and his angels will be living on earth. A second
resurrection will occur at the end of that period. The righteous will then return to a
cleansed earth, and establish the New Jerusalem. The unrighteous who died before the
Second Coming will be resurrected and be annihilated; they will be consumed by fire
from God, along with Satan and
his angels. The universe will then be free of sin and sinners. Hell exists as a lake of
fire where the unrighteous are "burned up, utterly destroyed, and cease forever to
exist". Hell does not exist as a place of eternal torment. The vast
majority of humans who have ever lived will be among the unrighteous. They
will simply cease to exist in any form.
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Practices:
The practice of Adventism varies greatly from congregation to
congregation. Some are more conservative; others more liberal. This is seen
in their degree of emphasis on the writings of Ellen White, their customary
clothing styles, their order of service, choice of music, etc.
Abortion: The SDA takes a position between the strict
pro-life and strict pro-choice alternatives. A set of "Guidelines on Abortion"
was approved by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Executive
Committee on 1992-OCT-12. It says in part:
"The Church does not serve as conscience for individuals; however, it should
provide moral guidance. Abortions for reasons of birth control, gender
selection, or convenience are not condoned by the Church. Women, at times
however, 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. The
final decision whether to terminate the pregnancy or not should be made by
the pregnant woman after appropriate consultation. She should be aided in
her decision by accurate information, biblical principles, and the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, these decisions are best made within the
context of healthy family relationships."
Baptism into the church is done by full immersion after the
age of accountability. It is preceded by instruction, a
personal acceptance of the Scriptures, repentance of sins, and confession of sins.
Diet: Members are expected to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and every
other "soul-defiling
habit".
They were once also expected to abstain from caffeinated drinks such as
coffee, tea, cola drinks etc. The church has since removed this from the
baptismal vows, although they still recommend that policy. They have interpreted the Old Testament dietary laws as prohibiting the
eating of some foods. The church recommends avoiding red meat. Many SDA member are vegetarians who supplement their
diet with eggs and milk.
Divorce: The Adventist World Session in 2000 modified the grounds under which
a divorce is permissible. They became: adultery/fornication,
abandonment by an unbelieving spouse, or physical violence.
Adultery/fornication includes incest, child sexual abuse, or
homosexual behavior. However, abandonment by a believing spouse would
not be grounds for divorce. (A believing spouse means a fellow SDA
member. Roman Catholics, other Protestants, etc. are considered
unbelievers.) 4 In practice, members who have terminated an unworkable marriage are not
shunned or harassed in any way.
Dress: Dress codes differ greatly among individual
congregations. Some churches expect members to dress simply; others have
no dress codes at all.
Education: Higher education is highly respected within the church. The rate of college graduates in
SDA membership is about twice the US national average.
Entertainment: Members are encouraged to watch uplifting entertainment.
Some conservative congregations suggest that members should
"shun all questionable worldly amusements such as the theater and dance".
However, most Adventists differ little from the typical American in this
area.
Evolution: The SDA church has been quite active in the promotion of Creation Science in opposition
to the theory of evolution. The Geoscience Research Institute
at Loma Linda University (a SDA institution) publishes a semi-annual periodical Origins
which promotes Creation Science
Inter-faith marriages are discouraged.
This includes marriage to non-SDA Christians.
Remarriage: Remarriage is only allowed if one's former spouse was guilty of
adultery/fornication.
Sabbath: Perhaps their most obvious practice which differentiates them from
most other Christian churches
is that they follow observe Saturday as their weekly Sabbath
(from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset). Their religious education classes
are called Sabbath Schools, not Sunday Schools. Some followers give a "Happy
Sabbath" greeting when they meet.
The SDA follows the practice of the earliest Christian movement:
the Jewish Christians who were located in Jerusalem under the leadership of
James, a brother of Jesus. They observed the Jewish
Saturday Sabbath because of very
clear instructions from God that were to stay in effect forever. One example
is Genesis 2:2-3. it describes how God rested on the seventh day,
Saturday, after having spent the previous six days creating the world, its life forms and
the rest of universe. God is recorded as blessing the day and making it
holy. It was apparently created as a day of rest for all mankind, forever.
This was changed by the Church Council of Laodicea circa 364 CE,
which ordered that future religious observances
were to be conducted on Sunday. The Seventh Day
Baptist church in the 17th century reverted to the practice of the
primitive Christian church and adopted Saturday for religious services.
The SDA followed suit.
Saturday worship has caused some employers to
discriminate against those SDA members who feel that they cannot work on Saturday. On the
other hand, other companies have found that an employee who is willing to work every Sunday can be an
asset.
Yoked unequally: 2 Corinthians 6:14 cautions believers to
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness?" Most Adventists interpret this as forbidding dating and marriage
outside of the SDA church. Even marriage to another conservative Protestant is
frowned upon.
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
