Seventh Day Adventist

Psalm37v4

Hated and laughed at by the world but loved by God
What I mainly see the SDA as putting its members back under the Law of Moses. They are not alone; other churches today do the same thing, putting what we do at the forefront instead what Christ has done for us. See Galatians chapters 1 thru 3.
Yes, I think you might be thinking of the Hebrew roots movement? I used to attend a church where one of the associate pastors left to form a Hebrew roots church. Of course they teach that you have to obey the Torah because Jesus did, and that you will be closer to him in doing so. No thanks, I don’t want to be put back into bondage when Jesus came to set me free from it.
 

Set free 47

Well-Known Member
Yes, I think you might be thinking of the Hebrew roots movement? I used to attend a church where one of the associate pastors left to form a Hebrew roots church. Of course they teach that you have to obey the Torah because Jesus did, and that you will be closer to him in doing so. No thanks, I don’t want to be put back into bondage when Jesus came to set me free from it.
No, I am thinking of the SDA false teachings. It's not just Saturday Sabbath keeping, but also following dietary laws that are taught.
 

KenE@21B

Well-Known Member
Several years ago I wrote to some SDA leaders and asked them a question:
"Let's say you are crossing the ocean in an airplane, which develops engine trouble and crash lands near a deserted island. You wake up on the shore, alone, with a head wound and no idea how long you have been unconscious. How would you decide which is the correct day to assign as the Sabbath, and would God punish you if you got it wrong?"
I never received a response.
 

pythons

Member
LOL KenE@21B!

Your hypothetical situation shows the foolishness of attempting to apply the Jewish ceremonial law on a round earth long after Christ removed / annulled it.

SDA's don't realize how much of their Sabbath Devotion are actually innovations from Rabbinical tradition. Starting observance of the Sabbath on the evening prior to the 7th day is a Rabbinical innovation - not a Biblical directive.

The other thing to remember is that generally the SDA's DON'T believe in the same God as Christians who accept the Nicene Creed (AKA, the Trinity Doctrine), it's a radically different God, more akin to the Mormon understanding whereby "GOD" is understood to be the title for a highly functional committee comprised of two or more TANGIBLE Persons who are ONE only in the sense of unity or quality of Character.

SDA's 'Trinity' is:

Father God: a (tangible) hominid Being complete with every bone, member and organ a perfect man would have.

Michael Christ (aka God the Son): a (tangible) hominid Being complete with every bone, member and organ a perfect man would have.

Holy Spirit: Another Being but I'm unclear as to their beliefs on this part of their Trinity.

In Orthodox understanding God is ONE BEING with an indwelling of 3 separate Persons.
In SDA theology there are three independent "Beings" that are made out of the same Substance and they are only ONE in the sense that they agree with each other at all times and operate as a Board of Directors who always think / vote the same way so that there is never any difference.

Michael Christ is understood to be "PART OF GOD", so that it is said God has bodieS and indeed consists of "Parts". The exact opposite of Nicea and subsequent early Church councils.

Observe some creeds of well known Protestant Churches:

Methodist:
Article I — Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Lutheran:
Our Churches, with common consent, do teach that the decree of the Council of Nicaea concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence and concerning the Three Persons, is true and to be believed without any doubting; that is to say, there is one Divine Essence which is called and which is God: eternal, without body, without parts,

Baptist
The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withal most just and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty..........


The SDA's repudiate that the gods lack body and parts for this they say the Bible affirms loudly.

Look at the difference below when compared to the above creeds.

"Note the expression, “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.” He has His abode there, and He is there AS PART OF THE GODHEAD, as surely when on earth as when in heaven. The use of the present tense implies continued existence. It presents the same idea that is contained in the statement of Jesus to the Jews (John 8:58), “Before Abraham was, I am.” And this again shows His identity with the One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, who declares His name to be “I AM.” The Present Truth, vol. 11 — Ellen G. White Writings (egwwritings.org)


Sabbath Herald November 10, 1859
"We have read over and over again, passages that show that Christ has been sent of his Father; which certainly implies that the Godhead is not united with the humanity. Why speak of being sent from the Father, when it was the Father himself that came and dwelt with human flesh ? It either implies, as we have seen before, that God has sent the humanity, or else there are two distinct persons. We believe it is impossible for trinitarians to reconcile this matter. We find however, other expressions, that prove that they are not one person."

"
We might here add that the orthodox view of' God as expressed by them in several " Articles of Faith," is, that " God is without body, parts, passions, centre, circumference, or locality." It would be a very easy matter to prove that such a view is exceedingly skeptical, if not -atheistical in its nature. It certainly appears that such a God as this, must be entirely devoid of an existence."
Sabbath Herald, October 8, 1903
OF late the question has repeatedly come to me, Does it make any real difference whether we believe in the personality
of God, as long as we believe in God? My answer invariably is, It depends altogether upon the standpoint from which we view it. If from the Spiritualist's, -the Christian Scientist's, the Universalist's, or if from the standpoint of any other " ist" or " ism," it makes but little or no difference. But from the standpoint of Seventh-day Adventists it makes all the difference in the world. Second At the creation God said to Christ, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. ... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Gen. 1: 26, 27. Man bore the image of God both morally and physically; for -after man sinned, we 'read'that Adam "begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth." Gen. 5:3. Here is an explanation of the words " image " and "- likeness." As Seth bore both the physical and the moral nature of Adam, so Adam bore the physical and the moral likeness of God.Neither was this image of God which man bore a mere concept; for the Bible declares that the Lord has parts, the same as the human body. Therefore we repeat what we previously said, To deny the personality of God, is to deny the existence of the sanctuary in the heavens; for there God dwells. It is to deny the existence of the angels; for they are his throne

Sabbath Herald, Oct 8,1903
"The doctrine of the Personality of God IS the fundamental doctrine of the Scriptures..."
...""NEITHER was this image of God a mere concept; FOR the Bible declares that the Lord has PARTS, THE SAME AS the human body"."OUR EXISTENCE as a people is FOUNDED on a belief in the truths stated above".

This understanding of the SDA's has not changed - what they have done is redefine the Trinity Doctrine and claim that they believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity.

This understanding no doubt has some effect on other aspects of their theology.
 

paul289

Well-Known Member
"We might here add that the orthodox view of' God as expressed by them in several " Articles of Faith," is, that " God is without body, parts, passions, centre, circumference, or locality." It would be a very easy matter to prove that such a view is exceedingly skeptical, if not -atheistical in its nature. It certainly appears that such a God as this, must be entirely devoid of an existence."
Well that certainly is a strawman of the Trinitarian view of God. The Father is spirit (John 4:24), and so doesn't have a physical body, but a spiritual one. Jesus is the physical body of God. Ellen G. White has to lie about the Trinitarian view in order to make her point.
 

Carl

Well-Known Member
When I was at the Cancer Treatment Center in 2006 there was a SDA there. I think that he was supposed to a missionary at CTCA for the patients. He found out I was a Christian and then he started telling me how the Sothern Baptist missionarys in Africa used to live with the natives and work with them. Then he said we were their for a month and had saved the village. He sure gloated.
 

pythons

Member
The largest part of their Membership is in Africa from what I understand. Over the years I've got to know a retired SDA Pastor who I believe to be tremendous credit to humanity and the SDA Church, the guy retired as a Chaplain in the Military and oddly enough seems solidly Christian to include believing in the Trinity! From my experience this guy is an outlier in the organization as most SDA Pastors will articulate as other than Trinitarian.

Basically, a Seventh Day Adventist is a Jehovah's Witness who acccept Ellen G White as a Prophet.
Or
A Jehovah's Witness IS AN ADVENTIST, they are just not a Seventh Day "Adventist".
 
Back
Top