Seventh-day Adventist Church pioneers

After the disappointment of October 22, 1844, which Miller and many of the leaders of the first movement accepted as the date, groups of Millerites formed what later became the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

[2] John Nevins Andrews (July 22, 1829 in Poland, Maine – October 21, 1883 in Basel, Switzerland), was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, missionary, writer, editor, and scholar.

In 1874 after his wife Angeline died from a stroke, John, along with his two surviving children, Charles and Mary, were sent as the first official Seventh-day Adventist missionaries to Europe.

In June 1807, Bates sailed as cabin boy on the new ship commanded by Elias Terry, called the Fanny to London via New York City.

In 1852 he was shown and believed the Sabbath truth, and immediately began sharing it with others, J. P. Kellogg and Cornell's father-in-law, Henry Lyon, being among the first persons he met.

He continued to be active in evangelism, working at various times with Hiram Case, James White, J. H. Waggoner, R. J. Lawrence, D. M. Canright, and J. O. Corliss.

He traveled from Maine to California and to several states in the South, defending Seventh-day Adventist views of scripture in public debate, holding evangelistic meetings, and writing articles and news items about his experiences for the Review and Herald.

Edson received an inspiration from God which explained that the Millerites’ error was not in the date, but in the event; that Jesus had begun His work as High Priest in the most holy place in Heaven.

When Ellen White read the second and expanded printing of the article published in the Day-Star Extra, of February 7, 1846, she immediately recommended it to the brethren as "true light."

After his return to America (1883), he traveled as a representative of the General Conference in the North Pacific region, visiting camp meetings and strengthening members who had become confused because of apostate movements.

His main contribution to Adventist theology was a commentary on the prophetic Biblical books of Daniel and the Revelation, but he also wrote extensively on conditional immortality and other topics.

He later played a major role in the development of the Adventist educational structure beginning in 1874 with the formation of Battle Creek College (which is now Andrews University).

"[18] The founders of the SDA church had a dynamic concept of what they called present truth, opposed to creedal rigidity, and had an openness to new theological understandings that built upon the landmark doctrines that had made them a people.

… Adventists are still pilgrims on a doctrinal journey who do not repudiate the way marks, but neither do they remain stopped at any of them.”[22] Ellen White wrote, These pillars, landmarks, way marks,[24] are the investigative judgment, the sanctuary that brings this judgment to light, the three angel's messages of Revelation, the law of God, the faith of Jesus, the Sabbath, the state of the dead, and the special gift of prophecy.

The state of the dead and the exposure of spiritualism The Investigative Judgment understanding came about from the application of the day-year principle of prophetic interpretation by William Miller and spread among his followers in the Millerite Adventist movement.

They understood the 2300 days to represent 2300 years (according to the day-year principle of prophetic interpretation), a time period stretching from the biblical era to the nineteenth century.

[27] When Jesus did not return as expected ( an event Adventists call the "Great Disappointment") several alternative interpretations of the prophecy were put forward.

The majority of Millerites abandoned the 1844 date, however some members [28] ( including Hiram Edson and O. R. L. Crosier) concluded the event predicted by Daniel 8:14 was not the second coming, but rather Christ's entrance into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary.

[29] Edson claimed to have a vision in a cornfield the day after the Great Disappointment, which resulted in a series of Bible studies with other Millerites to test the validity of his solution.

As Ellen White wrote later, "The scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and the central pillar of the advent faith, was the declaration, 'Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.'"

[32] Many of the Adventist Church pioneers came out of the Methodist or Wesleyan/Arminian branches of Protestantism which tended to have a view of emphasis on sanctification and the possibility of moral perfection in this life.

In addition to the message of righteousness by faith, A. T. Jones held that Christ was made "in all things" like unto us, or the fallen nature of mankind after Adam and yet overcame sin as our example and the perfection of character, is the Christian goal.

Here are the verses of the Three Angels messages: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

"And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

[citation needed] Ellen White expounded greatly on the subject of health and nutrition, as well as healthy eating and a balanced diet.

[42] As the group bowed in prayer at the beginning of Sabbath, Ellen White reportedly had a vision of the relation of physical health to spirituality, of the importance of following right principles in diet and in the care of the body, and of the benefits of nature's remedies—clean air, sunshine, exercise and pure water.

Previous to this vision, little thought or time had been given to health matters in the church, and several of the overtaxed ministers had been forced to become inactive because of sickness.

White's idea of health reform included vegetarianism in a day and age where "meat and two vegetables" was the standard meal for a typical North American.

It is also based on White's health principles that Kellogg differed from his brother's views on the sugar content of their Corn Flake breakfast cereal.

White championed a vegetarianism that was intended to be spiritually helpful and with regard to the moral issues of the cruel treatment of animals.