Seventh-day Adventist theology
Divisions The theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church resembles early Protestant Christianity, combining elements from Lutheran, Wesleyan-Arminian, and Anabaptist branches of Protestantism.
Furthermore, a traditionally historicist approach to prophecy has led Adventists to develop a unique system of eschatological beliefs which incorporates a commandment-keeping 'remnant', a universal end-time crisis revolving around the law of God, and the visible return of Jesus Christ prior to a millennial reign of believers in heaven.
It concludes that a proper understanding will avoid the two extremes of regarding her "writings as functioning on a canonical level identical with Scripture, or […] considering them as ordinary Christian literature.
However, in common with many restorationist groups, Adventists have traditionally taught that the majority of Protestant churches have failed to "complete" the Reformation by overturning the errors of Roman Catholicism (see also Great Apostasy) and "restoring" the beliefs and practices of the primitive church—including Sabbath keeping, adult baptism and conditional immortality.
These developments have been associated with significant events, such as the Great Disappointment, the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference and discussions with evangelicals in the middle of the 20th century which prompted the publication of Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine.
However, like many restorationist groups, Adventists have typically taught that the majority of Protestant churches have failed to "complete" the Reformation by "restoring" the beliefs and practices of the primitive church—including Sabbath keeping, adult baptism and conditional immortality.
Its freewill orientation (as opposed to the predestination perspective of the Puritan heritage) seemed to line up with the experience of a nation nurtured in a frontier mentality where anything could be accomplished if one willed it and worked at it.
Four topics were especially important in understanding that substructure; 1) Miller's use of the Bible, 2) his eschatology, 3) his perspective on the 1st and 2nd angel's messages of Revelation 14, and 4) the seventh-month movement that ended with the "Great Disappointment".
[38] By early 1848, the first primary and closely related doctrinal pillars were adopted by Adventists: 1) The Second Advent, 2) The Heavenly Sanctuary, 3) The seventh-day Sabbath, and 4) the state of the dead.
Conditions on earth are expected to steadily deteriorate until the "time of trouble"[44] (which is similar to the Great Tribulation of classic premillennialist teaching), when civil and religious authorities will combine to unleash intense persecution upon God's people, particularly those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath.
After extensive bible study, Hiram and several others concluded that: Adventists therefore believe that Christ's work of atonement encompasses both his death on the Cross and his ministration in the heavenly sanctuary.
The purpose of this judgment is to vindicate those who have accepted salvation in the eyes of the onlooking universe, to prepare them for Jesus' imminent Second Coming, and to exonerate God's righteous character from the Devil's false accusations in the minds of all created beings.
[54] SDAs believe that the Third Angel's Message is God's final appeal to mankind and the warning of a universal test, prompting the inhabitants of earth to make a choice.
Only two groups would be alive on earth in the end times-those who hav the mark of the beast and those who keep the commandments of God, including the seventh-day Sabbath.
[64] In a 1985 survey of North American Adventist lecturers, 45% described themselves as liberal compared to other church members, 40% as mainstream, 11% as conservative, and 4% gave no response to the question.
According to Edwin Hernández, the principal investigator of the AVANCE study into Latino Adventists in the North American Division, "There was a very high degree (95 percent) of fidelity to the orthodox teachings of the church.
The words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:17–20 are foundational to this conviction: Seventh-day Adventists believe that the seventh day of the week, Saturday, is the biblical Sabbath which God set "apart for the lofty purpose of enriching the divine-human relationship".
God has permitted Lucifer's rebellion to continue on Earth in order to demonstrate to angels and beings on other worlds that his Law is righteous and necessary, and that the breaking of the 10 commandments leads to moral catastrophe.
After his death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary as the great High Priest, "making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice" (Fundamental Belief no.
The purpose of this judgment is to vindicate the saints before the onlooking universe, to prepare them for Christ's imminent Second Coming, and to demonstrate God's righteous character in His dealings with humanity.
The church's 28 Fundamental Beliefs state: Two other official statements regarding the prophetic ministry of Ellen White have recently been voted at General Conference Sessions.
Adventists since 1950 believe that Jesus was made in the "likeness of sinful flesh," as He inherited the fallen human nature of Adam,[95] with its physical and mental weaknesses and was tempted on all points.
In all points He was tempted as we are, and because He successfully resisted temptation under every form, He gave man the perfect example, and through the ample provision Christ has made, we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust.
"[100] The controversy within Adventism over Christ's human nature is linked to the debate over whether it is possible for a "last generation" of Christian believers to achieve a state of sinless perfection.
[102] According to Woodrow W. Whidden II (himself a supporter of the "unfallen" position), proponents of the view that Christ possessed a "fallen" nature include M. L. Andreasen, Joe Crews, Herbert Douglass, Robert J. Wieland, Thomas Davis, C. Mervyn Maxwell, Dennis Priebe, Bobby Gordon and Ralph Larson.
Proponents of the view that Christ's nature was "unfallen" include Edward Heppenstall, Hans K. LaRondelle, Raoul Dederen, Norman Gulley, R. A. Anderson, Leroy E. Froom and W. E.
"[105]The early Adventists (such as George Storrs and Uriah Smith) wrote articles that de-emphasise the morally corrupt nature inherited from Adam, while stressing the importance of actual, personal sins committed by the individual.
Ted N. C. Wilson, President of the General Conference, appealed to the world church to accept the decision, and also stated that "the vote means we maintain the current policy" (commissioning women, ordaining men as pastors).
Adventist belief holds that all Earthly life originated during a six-day period some 6000 years ago, and a global flood destroyed all land based animals and humans except for those saved on Noah's Ark.
[156] About the time that The Genesis Flood was having a large impact in the evangelical world, a number of progressive Adventist scholars educated in secular universities began promoting Theistic Evolution.
