History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Significant developments such the reviews initiated by evangelicals Donald Barnhouse and Walter Martin, in the 20th century led to its recognition as a Christian denomination.

The spread of Bibles allowed many who had not had one to be able to purchase and study it themselves rather than just hear it preached, and led to the establishment of many reform movements designed to remedy the evils of society before the anticipated Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

An interest in prophecy was kindled among some Protestants groups following the arrest of Pope Pius VI in 1798 by the French General Louis Alexandre Berthier.

On October 22 many of the believers were up late into the night watching, waiting for Christ to return and found themselves bitterly disappointed when both sunset and midnight passed with their expectations unfulfilled.

As a result, he began studying the bible with two of the other believers in the area, O. R. L. Crosier and Franklin B. Hahn, who published their findings in a paper called Day-Dawn.

[10] George Knight wrote, "Although originally the smallest of the post-Millerite groups, it came to see itself as the true successor of the once-powerful Millerite movement.

[13] A young Seventh Day Baptist layperson named Rachel Oakes Preston living in New Hampshire was responsible for introducing Sabbath to the Millerite Adventists.

Due to her influence, Frederick Wheeler, a local Methodist-Adventist preacher, began keeping the seventh day as Sabbath, probably in the early spring of 1844.

These meetings were often seen as opportunities for leaders such as James White, Joseph Bates, Stephen Pierce and Hiram Edson to discuss and reach conclusions about doctrinal issues.

At the same time, her theology clearly developed over the decades and by the late 1890's and early 1900s she published that there are "three living persons of the heavenly trio" (Special Testimonies Series B07 pg 63).

There is a growing grass roots movement within Seventh-day Adventism that labels the doctrine of the Trinity as an assumption and seeks to return to a position that can be proven by the express words of the Bible.

SDA pro-trinitarian scholars, on the other hand, counter these claims by pointing out that these transcripts were in her possession and she could have modified them at any time had they reflected an inaccurate version of what she said, given the perceived doctrinal importance of the topic.

Had they gone on, and onward, till they had left the last vestige of Papacy behind, such as natural immortality, sprinkling, the trinity, and Sunday-keeping, the church would now be free from her scriptural errors.

This came about not by any internal conspiracy or meddling of third parties intent on diluting [the] distinctive [Adventist] message, but because the pen of Inspiration [of Ellen G. White] took action—and men...took heed.

"[19] Beginning with William Miller's teachings, Adventists have played a key role in introducing the Bible doctrine of premillennialism in the United States.

They believe the saints will be received or gathered by Christ into the Kingdom of God in heaven at the end of the Tribulation at the Second Coming before the Millennium.

That is they believed that Christ would come before the millennium...Certain authors of the time considered premillennarians to be peculiar... and dubbed as 'Adventist' all who held that view of eschatology.However the unique contribution of Seventh-day Adventists to this doctrine does not stop there.

James readily obeyed, writing from the aid "of a pocket Bible, Cruden's Condensed Concordance, and an abridged dictionary with one of its covers off."

Thanks to a generous offer by the printer to delay charges, the group of Advent believers had 1000 copies of the first publication printed.

Under White's guidance the denomination in the 1870s turned to missionary work and revivals, tripling its membership to 16,000 by 1880; rapid growth continued, with 75,000 members in 1901.

Adventists argued that just as the rest of the Ten Commandments had not been revised, so also the injunction to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" remained in full force.

Our publishing houses have printed 300,000 copies, free of cost, and these have been distributed to the different tract societies, to be sold by our people.

The Lord has made the sale of this book a means of teaching our people how to come in touch with those not of their faith, and how to impart to them a knowledge of the truth for this time.

[citation needed] Ellen G. White died in 1915, and Adventist leaders participated in a number of prophetic conferences during and soon after World War I.

It also had a polarizing influence on Adventist theology with leaders such as A. G. Daniells and W. W. Prescott questioning some of the traditional views held by others like Benjamin G. Wilkinson, J. S. Washburn, and Claude Holmes.

[41] Ford expressed questions on the Judgment and later requested that his membership with the Seventh-day Adventist Church be discontinued for other than doctrinal differences.

In 2015, at the General Conference Business Session in San Antonio, Texas, a majority of delegates voted down a proposal to allow divisions to ordain women.

These communications included video addresses from the then-president of the United States George W. Bush, and Hillary Clinton to Adventists.

[45] In the second decade of the 21st century, retired pastor Rick Howard brought what he considered the dangers of Spiritual Formation to the attention of the Adventist church.

[48] In his July 2010 keynote sermon, Ted N.C. Wilson, newly elected President of the Seventh-Day Adventist church counseled, “Stay away from non-biblical spiritual disciplines or methods of spiritual formation that are rooted in mysticism such as contemplative prayer, centering prayer, and the emerging church movement in which they are promoted.” Instead, he said, believers should "look within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to humble pastors, evangelists, Biblical scholars, leaders, and departmental directors who can provide evangelistic methods and programs that are based on solid Biblical principles and The Great Controversy theme."