____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ February 3, 1991 ____________________________________________________ Seventh-Day Adventism by Tom Edwards Though the Lord's church began in Jerusalem approximately A.D. 33, the Seventh Day Adventist, like most denominations, did not begin until hundreds of years later. It sprang from the Advent Church that had been founded by William Miller, but who probably never even dreamed of the ``need'' for Sabbath observance, which had become a keystone and primary characteristic of the Seventh Day Adventist who, apparently, felt the need to emphasize this even in their name. Other peculiar beliefs also distinguished them from their former Advent group. William Miller was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1782. He farmed in Hampton, New York, and Poultney, Vermont, and fought in the War of 1812. Though a Baptist, he formulated his own views through his study of Bible prophecy over a period of approximately fifteen years that led to the start of a new group -- the Adventist. His teaching on the second coming of Christ became paramount to his doctrine, and it was more clearly defined than any other teaching on the Lord's return that was already current during 19th century America. He taught that Jesus would return between March 1843 and March 1844, and this advent would begin the millennium. After this prophecy ended in failure, Miller recalculated: the new date for this great advent of Jesus Christ was set for October 22, 1844. Eventually, the day came, but the Lord did not; and most of Miller's followers left the group in discouragement. A few, however, remained. After Miller died in Hampton on December 20, 1849, his group continued, but soon split due to doctrinal differences, which led to the formation of the Seventh Day Adventists and the Advent Christian Church. The phrase the ``great disappointment'' has been given to this time of Miller's last unfulfilled prophecy. Hiram Edson, a Millerite in New York, claimed he saw a vision on the day after this ``great disappointment'' in which Christ was standing at the altar in heaven. He then concluded that Miller's prophecy had been correct, according to the time, but Miller had been mistaken when it came to the place. Edson proposed that it was not to earth, but with reference to the ``heavenly sanctuary'' that Christ was to go. Ellen G. White (the wife of James White, a former elder for the Adventist Church) developed this doctrine further by expounding with elaborate detail from her ``visits'' to heaven. She taught that just as the earthly temple had a Holy Place and a Holy of Holies (or the Most Holy Place), the heavenly sanctuary was also made up of these two compartments, and it wasn't until 1844 that Jesus entered this Most Holy Place in order to begin His completion of His atonement for the sins of the people. Supposedly, Christ had been pleading in behalf of penitent sinners for nearly 18 centuries in the first compartment of the heavenly sanctuary -- ``Yet their sins remained upon the book of records.'' This was because ``Christ's atonement had remained unfinished,'' for there also needed to be ``the removal of sins from the sanctuary in heaven'' (The Chaos of the Cults, J. K. Van Baalen). For just as the High Priest entered once each year into the Most Holy place in order ``to complete, to add to the daily sacrifices for sin offered in the other part of the temple, so Christ began His work of completing His atonement for sin in the inner sanctuary of heaven in 1844. He thereby cleansed the sanctuary from sin'' (ibid.). This is a most unusual position the S.D.A. take on the propitiatory sacrifice of the Lord. From their writings, we are told: ``We dissent from the view that the atonement was made upon the cross, as is generally held...After his ascension, our Saviour was to begin his work as our high priest...The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement.'' In one of their tracts, What Do S. D. Adventists Believe?, the following statement is made: ``That by a life of perfect obedience and by His sacrificial death, He satisfied divine justice, and made provision for atonement for the sins of men...that in the final day of accounting He will formally blot out the sins of men, and they will be remembered no more for ever.'' Furthermore, the S.D.A. advocate that Christ's ``work as an atoning priest is not yet complete. He has yet to make the great atonement for sins. The formal blotting out of sins is still in the future. What delays him? What is he doing now? In 1844 he entered the heavenly sanctuary and presumably is still there. He will complete the atonement when he comes out of the sanctuary and lays the sins of his people on Satan, who, like ancient Azazel, bears them away forever'' (The Theology of the Major Sects, John H. Gerstner). This is an allusion to the ``scapegoat'' that was used during the Mosaical Age (Lev. 16:7-10, 20-22), and obviously a misapplication of the passage. It is Jesus who is attributed with bearing the sins and griefs of mankind (Isa. 53:4-6) and certainly not Satan. No individual needs to rely on the Devil to take care of his transgressions, but he must put his full trust in God's Son, Jesus Christ, and faithfully obey Him. This teaching of the Lord's incomplete atonement is contrary to Scripture. The Christian who has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus has all his sins washed away, and they are removed ``as far as the east is from the west.'' During the New Covenant, God not only can forgive the sinners, but He will also ``remember their sins no more'' (Heb. 8:12). This is because Christ's sacrifice was so sufficient to atone for the iniquities of mankind that it only had to be made one time for all time (Heb. 10:9-14). There is nothing more that God needs to do. He has gracefully done His part. Now it remains needful for the transgressors to do theirs in order to benefit from the soul-cleansing blood of Jesus Christ by complying with His righteous demands. Another peculiar belief of the Adventists is known as ``Conditional Immortality.'' Similar to the Jehovah Witnesses, the Adventists believe that man does not have an eternal soul, but while on earth he is a ``living soul.'' Immortality, therefore, will only be bestowed on those at the resurrection who have been saved for eternal life. All others will simply be totally annihilated -- they will not have to endure an eternity in hell. Spicer, a S.D.A., writes the following concerning this obliteration of the wicked: ``The positive teaching of Holy Scripture is that sin and sinners will be blotted out of existence. There will be a clean universe again when the great controversy between Christ and Satan is ended.'' Neighbor, this is not what the Bible teaches. Man was created in the image of God, and since God is spirit, it is the spirit or soul of man that is in His image. This is the true essence of the human being and that part which will endure forever -- whether in heaven or hell (Mat. 25:46; Rev. 14:8-11). Without question, it is Mrs. Ellen G. White who had become the ``authoritative'' spokesperson and cornerstone for the group. Her frequent ``visits'' to heaven were believed by her followers as authentic, and the message she spoke was accepted as being from God Himself. Consequently, to reject her council was to reject the council of the Lord. The following quote is from the S.D.A.: ``For her emphasis of Bible truth, for her application of specific doctrines, for her simplification of the deep things of God...the S.D.A. denomination and the world in general owe a great debt to Ellen G. White.'' From the publisher's preface of her book, The Great Controversy, the following statement is made: ``We believe she has been empowered by divine illumination to speak of past events which have been brought to her attention with a greater minuteness than is set forth in any existing records, and to read the future with more than human foresight.'' Hey, wait a minute here! What about the writings of the New Testament itself? Are they not ``existing records''? And is not their message much more reliable than Ellen G. White's? A debate has actually been held with the proposition that ``the visions of Mrs. E. G. White are the revelations of God.'' Erwin, the President of the General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, affirmed. Mrs. White claims to have seen the ark of the covenant in heaven, with its two tablets of stone that contained the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment that pertains to the Sabbath Day was surrounded by a ``halo of light.'' Her inference was that the ``Sabbath was not nailed to the cross'' and must continually be observed during this Gospel Age. She, therefore, also concluded that Sunday observance is ``the mark of the beast.'' One evangelist of this sect has even stated that one who refuses to observe Saturday has committed the ``unpardonable sin.'' Mrs. White makes the assertion that it was the pope who changed the Sabbath day worship to Sunday, but what does the New Testament record show? Did early Christians worship on a Sabbath or on the Lord's Day which was the first day of the week (Sunday)? Acts 20:7 shows that it was on Sunday when the disciples met together in order to observe the Lord's Supper. It was also on this day when the Christians were to give of their means as they had been prospered (1 Cor. 16:1-3). Obviously, the church had to meet on Sunday in order to observe these special items of worship. It was also on the first day of the week that Christ arose from the dead and appeared to His apostles; and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon these on this day, and the word went forth in Jerusalem which led to the conversion of 3,000 souls. As a result, this was the day in which God's church was established (Acts 2). The Law of Moses, which includes the regulations for the Sabbath observance, was annulled by the death of Christ (Eph. 2:13-16; Col. 2:14; Heb. 8:7-13); and a Christian would fall from grace by trying to be saved by it (Gal. 5:1-4). According to Arthur S. Maxwell, the editor of Signs of the Times, a leading Seventh-Day Adventist journal, the Sabbath observance was started by a small following in the former Miller group that restudied the prophecies after the Miller group melted away. He writes: ``Accepting the Sabbath truth from the Seventh-Day Baptists, they became the nucleus of the Seventh-day Adventist movement....'' Maxwell was also questioned as to whether the S.D.A. believe in a millennium or not. His reply: ``Yes. They believe that the followers of Christ who are raised, or translated, at His second coming will live and reign `with Christ a thousand years' (Rev. 20:4). However, they believe this reign will take place in heaven, not on earth, which will remain a desolated, depopulated wilderness throughout this period...At the close of the millennium, the earth will again become a scene of great activity, with the resurrection of the wicked, the return of the righteous from heaven, the setting up of the New Jerusalem on earth and the execution of final judgment upon the unrepentant (Revelation 20)...After that, Seventh-day Adventists believe, the earth will be purified by fire and re-created at the command of Christ into the eternal home of His redeemed...This will be `heaven on earth' at last....'' In refutation to this type of thought, Christ told the apostles that He was ``going away to prepare a place for them'' (John 14:1-3). Christ went back to heaven to do this, not to some geographical location on earth. This earth and all creation will be destroyed when Christ comes back (2 Pet. 3). S.D.A. also believe in a ``soul-sleep'' which pertains to the deceased and is defined as ``one of silence, inactivity and entire unconsciousness.'' This, however, is contrary to the Bible. The rich man was very much aware of his misfortune as he suffered in Tartarus (that temporary abode of the departed spirits of the wicked) and while Lazarus enjoyed the blessedness of Paradise (Luke 16:19-31). Obviously, the Hadean realm, where all departed spirits remain until the final judgment, is experienced by those dwelling there. Concerning some of her ``revelations,'' Biederwolf states in Seventh-Day Adventism, pp. 8f, ``In one of her visions her accompanying angels told her that the time of salvation for all sinners ended in 1844. She now claims the door of mercy is still open...In another vision she discovered that women should wear short dresses with pants and she and her sister followers dressed this way for eight years. But the ridiculous custom has now been abandoned....'' The following is a glimpse at some other peculiar teachings of Mrs. White which shows what she believed God to be instructing in matters of diet: ``You have used the fat of animals, which God in his word expressly forbids'' (Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 2, page 61). ``Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach'' (page 68). ``It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the Ten Commandments'' (page 70). ``The use of swine's flesh is contrary to his express commandments'' (page 96). Commenting on this, Foy E. Wallace, Jr. writes: ``Thus the prophetess of the Advent church says it is just as great a sin to eat a piece of pork or breakfast bacon as it is to commit adultery or to violate any of the Ten Commandments. If you eat bacon for breakfast you are guilty of as great a sin in the sight of God as if you had run off with another man's wife!'' I was just talking with a woman from the Seventh Day Adventist church who believes in the visions and the testimonies of Mrs. White, and who testified that probably more than 50% of all their members abstain from meat. She did say, however, that this was sometimes for health reasons, but some do so religiously. Nevertheless, Mrs. E.G. White's testimony strictly forbade the eating of pork and the fat of animals as a command of God. D. M. Canright, who had been a debater and preacher among the Seventh Day Adventist for years, writes in his book Seventh Day Adventism Renounced: ``After keeping it, the seventh day, twenty-eight years; after having persuaded more than a thousand others to keep it; after having read my Bible through, verse by verse, more than twenty times; after having scrutinized to the best of my ability every text, line and word in the whole Bible having the remotest bearing upon the sabbath question; after having looked up all these, both in the original and in many translations; after having searched in lexicons, concordances, commentaries and dictionaries; after having read armfuls of books on both sides of the question; after having read every line in all the early church fathers upon this point; after having written several works in favor of the seventh day, which were satisfactory to my brethren; after having debated the question more than a dozen times; after seeing the fruits of keeping it, and after weighing all the evidence in the fear of God, and of the judgment day, I am fully settled in my own mind and conscience that the evidence is against the keeping of the seventh day.'' Mrs. White has testified towards being taken to heaven quite frequently by an angel that transported and escorted her. There she saw Jesus who showed her the ``sanctuary.'' She also attests to having seen Enoch, some Advent people who were before the throne of the Lord, and God the Father. On another occasion, she watched the Father as he rode in a flaming chariot into the Holy of Holies where He then sat down. Prior to this occasion, she noticed that Jesus has white curly hair. She also affirms that her ``visits'' to heaven were easily made because after having left there during one of her visits an angel ``handed me a green cord coiled up closely. This he directed me to place next to my heart, and when I wished to see Jesus, take from my bosom and stretch it to the utmost. He cautioned me not to let it remain coiled for any length of time lest it should become knotted and difficult to straighten.'' Her description of Satan, after having asserted to seeing him, would have required a rather scrutinizing examination. In her own words: ``I was shown Satan as he once was -- a happy, exalted angel. Then I was shown him as he now is. He still bears a kingly form. His features are still noble, for he is an angel fallen. But the expression of his countenance is full of anxiety, care, unhappiness, malice, hate, mischief, deceit, and evil. That brow which was once so noble I particularly noticed. His forehead commenced from his eyes to recede. I saw that he had so long bent himself to evil that every good quality was debased, and every evil trait was developed. His eyes were cunning, sly, and showed great penetration. His frame was large, but the flesh hung loosely about his hands and face. As I beheld him, his chin was resting upon his left hand. He appeared to be in deep thought. A smile was upon his countenance which made me tremble; it was so full of evil and satanic slyness. This smile is the one he wears just before he makes sure of his victim; and as he fastens the victim in his snare, this smile grows horrible.'' Doesn't it seem strange to you that Mrs. Ellen G. White was allowed to speak so freely of her many ``visits'' to heaven and what she beheld there, when the apostle Paul who had been caught up to the third heaven and Paradise was not permitted to speak on anything which he had heard in these places? (2 Cor. 12:1-4). The following is a summation of some of the peculiar beliefs of the S.D.A. that we have considered: 1. Sabbath Day Observance -- It is highly necessary, and to worship on Sunday is ``the mark of the beast.'' 2. Incomplete Atonement -- The full atonement wasn't made on the cross of Calvary. The Lord did not begin completing this until 1844 in the Holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. 3. Sins Placed on Satan -- Transgressions will finally be completely blotted out when they are placed on the Devil. 4. Similar to the Jehovah Witnesses' belief, the Conditional Immortality -- Only those who will be saved at the resurrection will be given an immortal soul. While on earth, man doesn't have an eternal soul, he is merely a ``living soul.'' 5. ``Soul-sleep,'' which refers to the state of the dead as being ``one of silence, inactivity and entire unconsciousness.'' 6. Diet Regulations -- The eating of cheese, pork, and the fat of animals was a violation of God's command. 7. Also similar to the J.W. belief, the Total Annihilation of the sinner -- Since the sinner has no eternal soul, he will be totally obliterated and, therefore, will not experience an eternity in hell. 8. Also similar to the J.W. belief, the earth will be re-created to become an eternal home for the redeemed. Dear Reader, I have shared this information with you that you may better understand some of the false teachings of the Seventh Day Adventist and be concerned with using God's word to see how these doctrines stand or fall to the test of the Scriptures. It is God's word that I encourage you to investigate and embrace with all your heart --not the doctrines of men when it comes to spiritual matters, but the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. Only in this way can one learn the way of salvation, become a Christian, and head down that highway of righteousness that leads to eternal life. Let us not be deceived by the erroneous teachings of men, but allow the truth to enable us to discern between what is of God and what is not, for many false teachers have gone out into the world. As a result, the truthfulness of God's word will set us free from error and show us the infallible way of salvation. ___________________________________________ "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth" (1 Tim. 4:1-3). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________