Seventh-day Adventism

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 29, 1908

Seventh-day Adventism

By invitation of the Secular League of Washington, the editor of the REVIEW delivered an address Sunday afternoon, October 18, before the members of that organization, the subject being “Seventh-day Adventism.” The purpose of this address was to define the scope and meaning of this term, as representing the religious movement with which the editor is connected. An abstract of this address follows:—

In order to make reasonably clear the full meaning of the term Seventh-day Adventism, it will be necessary to take a brief survey of a system of doctrine and of a historical movement. The people who are known as Seventh-day Adventists maintain and disseminate a system of religious teaching so distinct from that which is held by other religious bodies as fully to warrant a separate organization. While heartily accepting some of those fundamental doctrines which are common to the so-called evangelical denominations, they also maintain certain distinctive positions which would preclude their union with any of the other Protestant bodies. Some of their fundamental tenets may be stated thus:—

1. The integrity and reliability of the Holy Scriptures as a divine revelation.

2. The knowledge of a personal God and the truths of the plan of salvation, as acquired through revelation rather than through research.

3. The principle of the interpretation of Scripture by comparing one portion with another, and that no creed formulated by human authority is of any force upon the conscience.

4. That the divine revelation has been progressive, but that in this development there is no contradiction of any previous revelation.

5. The deity, divinity, and pre-existence of Christ, and the efficacy of his atoning work on the cross and his present ministry as priest.

6. That there should be a complete separation between church and state, or between religion and the government; and that every man should have the fullest right to believe or not to believe, to worship or not to worship, provided that in the exercise of that right he does not interfere with the equal rights of others.

7. That the apostasy of the church, or of any branch of it, has resulted from the exaltation of man and of human authority in place of God and divine authority.

8. That according to the prophecies there should be in this generation a world-wide reform movement to restore the pure gospel as taught by Christ and his apostles.

In further developing the meaning of these propositions, the editor stated that the Seventh-day Adventists maintain the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, and believe that, as they were originally given, they are the word of God, spoken through human instrumentality.

That while nature gives abundant evidence of the power and wisdom of the Creator, there is still a necessity for a direct revelation, in order to furnish adequate knowledge of God as a personal being, and of his purpose concerning the world.

That the Scriptures are a sufficient guide to the individual believer, when studied under the enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit, and that the tendency of all human creeds has been to substitute the teachings of men for the revealed Word of God.

That while recognizing that there has been a gradual unfolding of the eternal purpose of God since the good news of man's restoration was first announced, yet Seventh-day Adventists maintain that the instruction given in the earlier times, and through the Old Testament writers, is just as authoritative as any messages which have come in later years, and that what has been once revealed in the olden time has not been set aside or supplanted by the fuller instruction imparted through Christ and his apostles.

That Christ is the eternal Son, equal with the Father, in whom and through whom there is forgiveness of sins, and who now ministers in the sanctuary in heaven in behalf of those who will accept him.

That one of the greatest gifts to man is freedom of choice, and what God has thus bestowed no human power has the authority to interfere with. That the Christian idea of religious liberty includes the privilege of not believing; and that when the state has protected every citizen in the exercise of the right to believe or not to believe, to worship or not to worship, according to his own choice, it has no further jurisdiction in matters of religion.

That any failure on the part of the Christian church at any time to reveal the ideals of Christianity has been due to a lapse from the divine plan, and the exaltation of the human in place of the divine. That the wrongs committed in the name of Christianity are an evidence of the perversity of human nature, and not a proof of the failure of Christianity.

That according to reliable prophecies, which the most astute scholarship has been unable to discredit, the end of the present order of things is near at hand; and the promise of a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness shall dwell, is about to be fulfilled. In preparation for this great transformation, and in fulfilment of prophetic utterances, a message of warning and a call for a return to the original gospel, must be proclaimed throughout the world in this generation; and that this is the work which Seventh-day Adventists have undertaken to accomplish.

The teachings of this body are diametrically opposed to all those views which, taken together, constitute what is termed the New Theology, as also to the application of the principle of evolution either in science or in theology.

As a practical result of the holding of these principles, the Seventh-day Adventists have undertaken to accomplish.

ventists observe the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, according to the plain reading of the commandment; believe that life and immortality are bestowed as a gift of God in Christ, and that man is not immortal by nature; practise the tithing system as the Scriptural method of raising money for all evangelistic work; place much stress in their work upon the advocacy of the Christian idea of religious liberty; practise strict temperance, including abstinence from the use of tea, coffee, and tobacco; maintain missions in nearly all parts of the world; and look for the second advent of Christ in the present generation, but do not set any date for that event.