Seventh-day Adventists

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Feb 16, 1905

Seventh-day Adventists

Statement of Teaching and Work of the Denomination

UNDER this heading there appeared in the Washington Post of Sunday, February 5, the day of our first meeting in the Lafayette Opera House in this city, the following letter, written by the editor of the REVIEW:—

EDITOR POST: In view of the interest which has been aroused in some of the peculiar doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists by the publication in the Post of their “Open Letter” to the Protestant ministers of this city upon the question of “Sabbath Observance,” and the correspondence which has grown out of it, it may be proper to publish a brief statement concerning the teaching and the work of this denomination.

The Seventh-day Adventists profess to stand upon the original Protestant platform that the Bible is a sufficient rule of faith and practise, and they claim to follow its teaching as interpreted by itself. They accordingly believe in the inspiration and infallible authority of the Holy Scriptures, in the divinity and the deity of Christ, and in his atoning work as the only ground of salvation; in justification by faith as the fundamental doctrine of the gospel; in the eternal and unchangeable nature of God’s law as the basis of the divine government; in conditional immortality as being in harmony with the statement that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord;” in the complete separation of church and state, according to the instruction of the Master, “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s;” in the personal, visible coming of Christ as the hope of the church, and that according to the prophecies this event may be expected in this generation; in the resurrection of the dead, and the translation of the righteous living at the coming of Christ. They believe in baptism by immersion, in church organization, and they observe all the ordinances of the Lord’s house. They advocate the tithing system as the Scriptural plan for the support of the gospel, and they have a regularly ordained ministry.

This denomination has arisen during the last sixty years, but it now numbers about seventy-five thousand, and has adherents in almost every country in the world. It has organized conferences in nearly every civilized country, and mission stations in many of the heathen lands and the islands of the sea. It heartily believes in the evangelization of the world in this generation.

The Seventh-day Adventists maintain that there is a special work to be done in this generation to prepare for the coming of Christ, and that this involves the restoration of the primitive Christianity of the early church. For this reason they emphasize in their teaching those doctrines which were set aside in the great apostasy when paganism superseded Christianity, and which were not fully restored by Luther and his associates in the great Reformation of the sixteenth century. They attach much importance to the restoration of the original seventh-day Sabbath as the true sign of the divinity of Jesus Christ and of his saving power. They are opposed to any religious legislation, in favor either of Sunday or of the true Sabbath, as being essentially un-Christian, and hold that in matters of faith every man should be left free to follow the dictates of his own conscience.

The Seventh-day Adventists announce three great meetings at the Lafayette Opera House on Sunday evenings, February 5, 12, and 19, at which the teaching of the Scripture concerning Sabbath observance and the significance of the remarkable development of occultism in its different phases will be considered. W. W. PRESCOTT.

In an advertisement inserted in another issue of the Post, announcing the meetings at the opera house, the following paragraphs were printed:—

The recent discussion of the Sabbath question in the public press has aroused an extraordinary interest in this subject, and has awakened a spirit of inquiry which has opened the way for a public presentation of God’s message to this generation concerning the real meaning of Sabbath observance.

The Sabbath issue is more than a disagreement between religious teachers about a day. To Festus the difference between Paul and the Jews seemed to be a trivial one,—a mere difference of opinion as to whether the Man Jesus of Nazareth was dead or alive,—but in this difference was involved the very life of the gospel.

In these closing years of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, Sabbath observance involves the vital issue of loyalty to God and his law as opposed to apostasy and rebellion. It brings again Elijah’s message: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.”

Thus by correspondence, by paid advertising, and by the report of the meeting reprinted in another part of this paper, an effort has been made to call the attention of the people of Washington to the Sabbath message, and to give the warning call, “Come out of her, my people.” We hope our people are making the work here a subject of special prayer.