THE CREED OF THE EVANGELICAL ADVENTISTS.
The people known to the world by the general designation of Adventists are divided into several bodies with some very marked points of difference. If we refer to other Advent bodies as distinguished from our own people, the Seventh-day Adventists, we term them first-day Adventists. But the first-day Adventists, though all agreeing in Sunday observance, either as of moral obligation, or as a matter of expediency, do nevertheless widely differ in other doctrines. That body of Adventists who have adopted as their designation the title of “Evangelical Adventists,” differ from other first-day Adventists chiefly in the following points:- In holding to the conscious existence of man in death.
- In holding to the eternal suffering of the wicked.
- In holding to the doctrine of the trinity.
- In not fixing the time of the second advent.
These are the most prominent points in which they differ as a body from other bodies of first-day Adventists. In that they style themselves “Evangelical Adventists,” thereby implying that other Adventists are not “evangelical.” It may be that they claim a distinction from the others on the ground of believing in the operation of the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration, while others have less regard for this sacred work. Perhaps there are individuals calling themselves Adventists who do not even claim to know or care for anything pertaining to the work of the Spirit of God. But there are no people who insist more strongly than the Seventh-day Adventists upon the genuineness and completeness of the work of the Spirit of God in the conversion and sanctification of men. But the propriety of this title, “Evangelical Adventists,” is a question to be disputed, if at all, by other first-day Adventists. If it be used to designate this body as orthodox, in the common acceptation of the term, then the designation is quite proper and exact. The “Evangelical Adventists” have published a summary of their faith in fifteen propositions or articles. The readers of the REVIEW will be interested in a brief outline of this declaration of faith. Article first expresses their faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible, and that it is a “full revelation of God’s will to man, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.” To this the S. D. Adventists cordially assent, provided the very place and work assigned the Holy Spirit in such passages as 1 Cor. xii and Eph. iv, be not denied it under the plea that we need not the gifts of the Spirit which the Scriptures promise, provided we have the Scriptures themselves. The Bible assigns a place to the Spirit of God: it furnishes the proper tests for determining the genuineness of that which claims to be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are sufficient for the work they are designed to accomplish, but they do not shut out the operations of that Spirit by which they were inspired. The second article states the attributes of God. He is infinite in power, wisdom and holiness, etc. He is stated to be “everywhere present.” Probably this is not designed to inculcate the idea that God the Father is not personally present in the Heaven of heavens in altogether a different sense from that in which he is present in the earth.13 The third article states the pre-existence of Christ; his exalted nature; his work as creator; his sin offering; his office of mediator; and his glorious second advent. The fourth article states the attributes, office and work of the Holy Spirit. The fifth states man’s just condemnation by the law of God, and his only hope of pardon through “faith in the infinite atonement and merits of Christ.” Let it be understood that this is exactly the position of the Seventh-day Adventists. The sixth article is excellent in that it expresses with precision the doctrine of the S. D. Adventists. Thus it reads: “That in order to the subduing of the natural enmity of man TO GOD AND HIS LAW, and the restoration of the divine image lost by the disobedience of our first parents, it is essential that our affections be radically changed, and a new principle of love to our Creator be implanted in the heart. This transformation is, in the Scriptures, termed regeneration, and is the special work of the Holy Spirit, and follows repentance and faith.”
The “Evangelical Adventists” do therefore avow their faith in the fundamental doctrine of the S. D. Adventists. The law of God still exists. That law is exactly right. The trouble with fallen man is that he is in a state of enmity toward that law. His conversion transforms him into a new man, and takes all that enmity away. Our “evangelical” brethren here witness a good confession. Beyond all doubt the real work of conversion is to take away the carnal mind, and write the law in the heart. But the observance of the Creator’s rest-day is the grand duty enjoined in one of the ten precepts of the law of God. Now our “Evangelical Adventists” do not keep this precept. The work of conversion with them is therefore on their own showing only nine-tenths wrought. When they are wholly evangelical they will keep the fourth commandment, and when they do that they will be Seventh-day Adventists. In fact when they live up to their own creed they will of necessity, in principle, identify themselves with the S. D. Adventists. These two bodies do therefore agree in the statement that the law of God condemns all sinful men; that they cannot be justified by the law which they have transgressed; that they can only be justified by faith in the blood of Christ; and that faith does not make void the law, but establishes it. Article seventh states the great facts of the advent of Christ, the Judgment, and reward of men according to their deeds. Article eight affirms the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, and assigns the period of one thousand years as intervening between these two events. This was once the faith of all the Adventists. At the present time it appears to be cherished by no considerable portion of them except the S. D. Adventists and those called “evangelical.” The ninth article relates to the translation of the saints. The tenth sets forth the dissolution of the present heavens and earth by the fire of the last day; the removal of the curse; the creation of the new earth; the descent of the New Jerusalem; and the reign of Christ and the immortal saints in the glorious and eternal kingdom under the whole heaven. To all this the S. D. Adventists heartily subscribe. The time when the earth is to be melted is not defined in this article, whether at the beginning or end of the one thousand years. Our people hold that this conflagration is after the resurrection of the wicked at the end of the one thousand years. The eleventh article states the loss of man’s innocence, his ruined condition in consequence of this fall; the impossibility of the sinner’s justification by works; and the real ground of mercy to the penitent, the “free unmerited favor of God.” The twelfth article is to a Sabbath-keeper quite a curiosity. Here it is: “That as God ceased from multiplying the works of creation on the seventh day, and as by his authority the keeping of a Sabbath was placed among the ten commandments at Sinai, the observance of a seventh portion of time, as a season of sacred rest and worship, was made perpetual and universal, and has all the force of a moral obligation; that the time to be observed by the Christian church, is the day of the week on which our Lord arose from the dead, appropriately designated the Lord’s day; hence it should be recognized as a memorial institution, wherein God should be devoutly contemplated in his divine perfections, as displayed in the works of creation, and the Redeemer remembered by worship and praise, in the completion of the great work of atonement, and also as a prefigurative sign of that perfect rest which will be given to the people of God, when the six thousand years of the history and age of this world shall have terminated.”
It is very sad to see the law of God mangled as it is in this twelfth article. No doubt the writer thought he was doing God service when he deliberately changed the words of the fourth commandment. That precept commands us to observe “THE Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” But the writer substitutes for this, the term “a Sabbath.” Again the commandment plainly states that “THE seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” But the writer of this creed says that it required “the observance of a seventh portion of time.” So that what God makes definite he dares to make utterly indefinite. The fourth commandment tells us in substance that God rested on the seventh day, and that he blessed and hallowed that day because he had rested upon it. This rest day of the Lord it commands us to remember and keep holy. But this creed tells us that he only required “a seventh portion of time,” so that any one of the days on which the Creator wrought, would be just as much binding upon men as the day on which he rested. How could the writer dare to change the express language of the law of God? Was it not because that the enmity to the law of God spoken of in article six still remained in his heart? But we have a new argument given as the foundation of first-day observance. Sunday is a memorial of the completion of the atonement. How could a careful student of the Bible make such a statement? The atonement is made by the priest in the sanctuary with blood. So the whole typical system plainly indicates. See Lev. iv and xvi, chapters. Our Lord was not a priest till he ascended into the sanctuary in Heaven. Heb. viii, 1-4. The slaying of the victim preceded the atonement. Jesus was slain near the close of the week. He did not complete the atonement on the day of his resurrection. So far from this, he did not even properly enter upon it till after he ascended. To observe Sunday, therefore, in commemoration of the completion of the atonement on that day is to assign a reason utterly unfounded in fact. We respectfully ask our “evangelical” brethren to reconsider this article of their creed. That you may see in the plain light of the New Testament that the first day of the week is not the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, your attention is invited to Luke xxiii, 56; xxiv, 1. You will there learn that those who kept “the Sabbath day according to the commandment,” observed the day that preceded the first day of the week, and when the first day of the week arrived, they resumed their labor. We have done the “Evangelical Adventists” the favor to publish verbatim that article of their creed from which we particularly dissent. We have given some very palpable reasons for that dissent. It is due that we now offer them that article of our creed which relates to the same subject. If in good faith they will accept it we will recognize them as good Seventh-day-Advent brethren. Here is the article. It is a part of that law of fire which proceeded from the right hand of the Most High. Deut. xxxiii, 2; Ex. xx, 8-11. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
The chief difference, therefore, between ourselves and the “Evangelical Adventists” lies in that article of our respective creeds which relates to the Sabbath. We are thus able, in a friendly and Christian manner, to compare our creeds in the very point wherein the greatest practical difference exists. We can say of our creed, Thus saith the Lord, “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Can you say as much of yours? Can you say, Thus saith the Lord, “keep a Sabbath, even a seventh portion of time. And take heed that that seventh portion of time falls on the first day of the week, for the atonement was finished on that day.” Is it a light thing to thus corrupt the words of the Almighty? Will he hold us innocent if we dare to do it? Article thirteen relates to baptism. It would be improved by a more explicit statement of the nature of the act in question. It can hardly be determined with certainty from this article that burial in a watery grave is deemed essential to the observance of this sacred ordinance. Article fourteen defines the proper observance of the Lord’s supper, and marks the time of its expiration. The fifteenth and last article sets forth the fact that the exact time of the second advent is vailed in uncertainty; that it will be to the unbelieving world an unexpected event, like the flood in the days of Noah, but not such to the people of God, who, by observing the fulfillment of the prophecies will understand its swift approach. This article also affirms that we are even now upon the very eve of the advent of Christ, and that it is our duty to give the warning far and near. With these sentiments our people cordially agree. But if the Judgment be thus near at hand, would it not be advisable for our “evangelical” brethren to revise the twelfth article of their creed, that they be not found at the coming of Christ making void one of God’s commandments, to keep a tradition of the elders? The organ of the “Evangelical Adventists” is the Advent Herald, Boston, Mass.