History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Encyclopedia
The Seventh-day Adventist Church
had its roots in the Millerite movement of the 1830s and 1840s, during the period of the Second Great Awakening
, and was officially founded in 1863. Prominent figures in the early church included Hiram Edson
, James Springer White
and his wife Ellen G. White
, Joseph Bates
, and J. N. Andrews
. Over the ensuing decades the church expanded from its original base in New England
to become an international organization. Significant developments in the 20th century led to its recognition as a Christian denomination.
a revival movement in the United States
. Religious diversity was paramount and many minority movements were formed. Some of these movements held beliefs that would later be adopted by the Seventh-day Adventists.
An interest in prophecy
was kindled among some Protestants groups following the arrest of Pope Pius VI
in 1798 by the French
General
Louis Alexandre Berthier
. Forerunners of the Adventist movement believed that this event marked the end of the 1260 day prophecy from the Book of Daniel
. Certain individuals began to look at the 2300 day prophecy found in Daniel 8:14. Hans Wood, an Irish
layman
reached the same conclusions as Petri; however, due to a different commencement date his calculations pointed to 1880. Interest in prophecy also found its way into the Roman Catholic church when an exiled Jesuit priest by the name of Manuel de Lacunza published a manuscript calling for renewed interest in the Second Coming
of Christ. His publication created a stirring but was later condemned by Pope Leo XII
in 1824.
As a result of a pursuit for religious freedom, many revivalists had set foot in the United States, aiming to avoid persecution.
formed out of the movement known today as the Millerites. In 1831, a Baptist
convert, William Miller
(until then a Deist), was asked by a Baptist to preach in their church and began to preach that the Second Advent
of Jesus
would occur somewhere between 1843 and 1844, based on his interpretation of . A following gathered around Miller that included many from the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Christian Connection
churches. After a number of revisions, October 22 was considered the most probable date that the return would occur. By 1844, over 100,000 people were anticipating what Miller had dubbed as the "Blessed Hope". On October 22 many of the believers were up late into the night watching, waiting for Christ to return and found themselves bitterly disappointed when both sunset and midnight passed with their expectations unfulfilled. This event later became known as the Great Disappointment
.
(1806–1882) wrote "Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before. It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison. We wept, and wept, till the day dawn." However, a few remained in the church. These people gathered together and spent much time in devoted prayer
and study of the Bible
. On the morning of October 23, Edson, who lived in Port Gibson, New York was passing through his grain field with a friend where he claimed to have seen a vision
. Edson later recounted:
Edson shared what he believed he saw with many of the local Adventists who were greatly encouraged by his account. As a result Edson began studying the bible with two of the other believers in the area, O.R.L. Crosier and Franklin B. Hahn, who published their findings in a paper called Day-Dawn. This paper explored the biblical parable
of the Ten Virgins and attempted to explain why the bridegroom had tarried. The article also explored the concept of the day of atonement
and what the authors called "our chronology of events".
The findings published by Crosier, Hahn and Edson led to a new understanding about the sanctuary in heaven. Their paper explained how there was a sanctuary in heaven, that Christ, the High Priest
, was to cleanse. The believers understood this cleansing to be what the 2300 days in Daniel was referring to.
George Knight
wrote, "Although originally the smallest of the post-Millerite groups, it came to see itself as the true successor of the once-powerful Millerite movement." This view was endorsed by Ellen White. However, Seeking a Sanctuary
sees it more as an offshoot of the Millerite movement.
The "Sabbath and Shut Door" Adventists were disparate, but slowly emerged. Only Joseph Bates had had any prominence in the Millerite movement.
Adventists viewed themselves as heirs of earlier outcast believers such as the Waldenses, Protestant Reformers
including the Anabaptists, English and Scottish Puritan
s, evangelical
s of the 18th century including Methodists
, Seventh Day Baptists, and others who rejected established church traditions.
layperson named Rachel Oakes Preston
living in New Hampshire
was responsible for introducing Sabbath to the Millerite Adventists. Due to her influence Frederick Wheeler began keeping the seventh day as Sabbath, probably in the early spring of 1844. Several members of the Washington
, New Hampshire church he occasionally ministered to also followed his decision. These included William and Cyrus Farnsworth. T. M. Preble
soon accepted it either from Wheeler or directly from Oakes. These events were shortly followed by the Great Disappointment.
Preble promoted Sabbath through the February 28, 1845 issue of the Hope of Israel. In March he published his Sabbath views in tract form. Although he returned to observing Sunday in the next few years, his writing convinced Joseph Bates
and J. N. Andrews
. These men in turn convinced James
and Ellen White
, as well as Hiram Edson
and hundreds of others.
Bates proposed that a meeting should be organised between the believers in New Hampshire and Port Gibson. At this meeting, which occurred sometime in 1846 at Edson's farm, Edson and other Port Gibson believers readily accepted Sabbath and at the same time forged an alliance with Bates and two other folk from New Hampshire who later became very influential in the Adventist church, James
and Ellen G. White
. Between April, 1848, and December 1850 twenty-two "Sabbath conferences" were held in New York and New England
. These meetings were often seen as opportunities for leaders such as James White, Joseph Bates, Stephen Pierce and Hiram Edson to discuss and reach conclusions about doctrinal issues.
While initially it was believed that Sabbath started at 6pm, by 1855 it was generally accepted that Sabbath begins at Friday sunset.
The Present Truth (see below) was largely devoted to Sabbath at first. J. N. Andrews was the first Adventist to write a book-length defense of Sabbath, first published in 1861.
and held to that.(although Ellen G. White was not one of them). One study, however, sees early Adventism as well as Ellen White to espouse a materialist rather than an Arian theology.
In 1876, James White compared Seventh-day Adventist doctrine with Seventh Day Baptists. He observed: "The principal difference between the two bodies is the immortality question. The S. D. Adventists hold the divinity of Christ so nearly with the trinitarian, that we apprehend no trial here...
However the unique contribution of Seventh-day Adventists to this doctrine does not stop there. Seventh-day Adventists are pretribulation premillennialists who accept the Bible teaching on a literal 1000 years in Revelation 20 that immediately follows the literal second coming of Revelation 19 yet in contrast to almost all premillennialist groups they do not believe in a 1000 year kingdom on earth during the millennium. In Adventist eschatology Christ's promise to take the saints to His Father's house in John 14:1-3 is fulfilled at the 2nd coming where both the living and the dead saints are raptured up in the air to meet the Lord (see 1Thess 4:13-18 ) in what the Apostle John calls the "first resurrection" in Revelation 20:5-6. Instead of a Millennial Kingdom on earth, Adventists teach that there is only a desolated earth for 1000 years and during that time the saints are in heaven with Christ (See Jeremiah 4:23-29).
On November 18, 1848, Ellen White had a vision in which God told her that her husband should start a paper. In 1849, James, determined to publish this paper, went to find work as a farm-hand to raise sufficient funds. After Ellen had another one of her visions, she told James that he was to not worry about funds but to set to work on producing the paper to be printed. James readily obeyed, writing from the aid "of a pocket Bible, Cruden's Condensed Concordance
, and an abridged dictionary with one of its covers off." Thanks to a generous offer by the printer to delay charges, the group of Advent believers had 1000 copies of the first publication printed. They sent the publication, which was on the topic of Sabbath, to friends and colleagues they believe would find it of interest. In total 11 issues were published, in 1849 and 1850.
was formed and the movement became an official organization.
Ellen G. White
(1827–1915), while holding no official role, was a dominant personality. She, along with her husband, James White, and Joseph Bates, moved the denomination to a concentration on missionary and medical work. Mission and medical work continues to play a central role in the 21st century.
Under White's guidance the denomination in the 1870s turned to missionary work and revivals, tripling its membership to 16,000 by 1880; rapid growth continued, with 75,000 members in 1901. By this time operated two colleges, a medical school, a dozen academies, 27 hospitals, and 13 publishing houses.
By 1945, the church reported 226,000 members in the US and Canada, and 380,000 elsewhere; the budget was $29 million and enrollment in church schools was 40,000. In 1960 there were 1,245,125 members worldwide with an annual budget of over $99,900,000. Enrollment in church schools from elementary to college was 290,000 students. As of the year 2000 there were 11,687,229 members worldwide. The global budget was $28,610,881,313. And the enrollment in schools was 1, 065,092 students. In 2008 the global membership was 15,921,408 with a budget of $45,789,067,340. The number of students in SDA run universities, secondary and primary schools was 1,538,607.
"Seventh-day" means the observance of the original Sabbath, Saturday, is still a sacred obligation. Adventists argued that just as the rest of the Ten Commandments had not been revised, so also the injunction to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" remained in full force. This theological point turned the young group into a powerful force for religious liberty. Growing into its full stature in the late 19th century and early 20th century, these Adventists opposed Sunday laws on every side. Many were arrested for working on Sunday. In fighting against the real threat of a legally established National Day of worship, these Sabbatarians had to fight for their liberty on a daily basis. Soon, they were fighting for religious liberty on a broader, less parochial basis.
, he sought to organize the Sabbath-keeping companies under one umbrella.
occurred in Minneapolis. This session involved a discussion between the then General Conference
president, G. I. Butler; editor of the review, Uriah Smith
; and a group led by E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones about the meaning of "Righteousness by Faith" and the meaning of the law in Romans and Galatians. Ellen G. White
also addressed the conference.
As conferences developed in far off lands, it became obvious that the General Conference could not oversee the day to day needs of the conferences. This led to the development of Union conferences in Australia and Europe in the late 1890s and to the development of districts in the United States.
The 1901 and 1903 General Conference sessions reorganized the church's structure to include union conferences which managed a group of local conferences in their domain. By the end of 1904, the various society interests became incorporated as departments in each conference's structure.
in 1915 brought new questions about how the church would continue without a living prophet. Adventist leaders participated in a variety of Fundamentalist prophetic conferences during and soon after World War I
. The 1919 Bible Conference
was a pivotal theological event that looked at how Adventists interpreted Bible prophecy and the legacy of Ellen White's writings for the church. The 1919 Bible Conference also had a polarizing influence on Adventist theology with progressives such as A. G. Daniells
and W. W. Prescott pitted against traditionalists like Benjamin G. Wilkinson
, J. S. Washburn, and Claude Holmes.
Fundamentalism was dominant in the church in the early 20th century. George Knight dates it from 1919 to 1950.
The edited transcripts of the 1952 Bible Conference
were published as Our Firm Foundation.
1n 1902, those affiliated with Healdsburg College, now Pacific Union College, dedicated a week to sell Christ's Object Lessons. They first read the book together. Then each student was given six books to sell. Territories were assigned and for a week the school suspended classes in order to sell the books. The College Church took the territory immediately surrounding the church while the students were given territory further away from the school.
In Southern Europe, as soon as the war broke out, most of the church's workers of
military age were drafted. The church lost union and local conference presidents, pastors, evangelists, and institutional workers.
When the Nazis occupied France they dissolved the conference and all the churches, confiscated church buildings, and prohibited church work. In Croatia all Adventist churches were closed, and the conference was dissolved. All church and evangelistic work was strictly forbidden. Over in Rumania, where there were more than 25,000 Adventists, the union conference, the six local conferences, and all the churches were likewise dissolved. Over three hundred Adventist chapels, the publishing house in Bucharest, and the school at Brasov were all taken from the church. All church funds were taken. Three thousand Adventists were put in prison. They were tortured and abused.
The work of the church went forward under creative cover. People baptized were reported as students graduating and receiving their diplomas. One minister reported on life insurance policies sold. Another reported on the harvest of 253 baskets of fruit.
1970s
In the mid 1970s, two distinct factions were manifest within mainstream Seventh day Adventism. Defending many pre-1950 Adventist positions was Historic Adventism, while the more liberal Adventism emphasized a different understanding of justification by faith, and sought greater fellowship with Evangelical Christianity. This controversy soon led to what some see as a full-blown internal crisis and fragmentation.
In the 1970s Kenneth Wood and Herbert Douglass, editors of the Review and Herald, began to emphasize historic Adventist teachings which had been the traditional views in the church before Questions on Doctrine
such as sinless perfection of a final generation
, which was opposed by many Progressive Adventists
and associate editor Herbert Douglass
rejecting Questions on Doctrine and arguing for a final perfect generation.
The General Conference addressed this controversy over "righteousness by faith" by holding a conference in Palmdale
, California
in 1976. Ford was the "center of attention", and the resulting document known as the "Palmdale statement".
The 1980 General Conference session, held in Dallas, produced the church's first official declaration of beliefs voted by the world body, called the 27 Fundamental Beliefs. (This list of beliefs has since been expanded to the present 28 Fundamentals
).
teaching, known as the Glacier View controversy
. This precipitated a major schism within the church, and while the mainstream believe in the doctrine and the church reaffirmed its basic position on the doctrine since 1980, many of those within the church's more liberal wing continued to be critical of the teaching, and the effects of which have persisted well into the 21st century. Ford believed strongly that the church needed to change its teaching on the Judgment, but expressed a willingness to not publicly agitate the issue. Church administration did not respond to his offer. Desmond Ford later requested that his membership with the Seventh-day Adventist Church be discontinued for other than doctrinal differences.
were turned down at General Conference Session
s in 1990 in Indianapolis and 1996 in Utrecht.
, and Hillary Clinton, were made to the church to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
A review of membership revealed an average of about 2,900 people were joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church every day, which show the denomination now has 16.6 million adult baptized members according to church statistics. Denominational membership showed strong growth and membership audits showed for 2009 as the seventh consecutive year the church had a net gain of more than one million members. In October 2011, David Trim, director of the Archives, Statistics and Research department, called for the denomination to reassess its membership records. The numbers are "not entirely accurate," Trim asserted. He did not consider the inaccuracy intentional. Rather he said the record keeping system was flawed. It needed to be more accurate and transparent. The audits, he said, will likely result in a lower overall membership number than the recent claim of 16.5 million.
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
had its roots in the Millerite movement of the 1830s and 1840s, during the period of the Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
, and was officially founded in 1863. Prominent figures in the early church included Hiram Edson
Hiram Edson
Hiram Edson was a pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, known for introducing the investigative judgment doctrine to the church.-Early life:Edson's first wife died in 1839, leaving him to care for three children...
, James Springer White
James Springer White
James Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...
and his wife Ellen G. White
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
, Joseph Bates
Joseph Bates (Adventist)
Joseph Bates was an American seaman and revivalist minister. He was the founder and developer of Sabbatarian Adventism, a strain of religious thinking that evolved into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Bates is also credited with convincing James White and Ellen G...
, and J. N. Andrews
John Nevins Andrews
John Nevins Andrews , was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, missionary, writer, editor, and scholar...
. Over the ensuing decades the church expanded from its original base in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
to become an international organization. Significant developments in the 20th century led to its recognition as a Christian denomination.
Foundations
The 19th century provided ideal conditions for the Second Great AwakeningSecond Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
a revival movement in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Religious diversity was paramount and many minority movements were formed. Some of these movements held beliefs that would later be adopted by the Seventh-day Adventists.
An interest in prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
was kindled among some Protestants groups following the arrest of Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI , born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was Pope from 1775 to 1799.-Early years:Braschi was born in Cesena...
in 1798 by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Louis Alexandre Berthier
Louis Alexandre Berthier
Louis Alexandre Berthier, 1st Prince de Wagram, 1st Duc de Valangin, 1st Sovereign Prince de Neuchâtel , was a Marshal of France, Vice-Constable of France beginning in 1808, and Chief of Staff under Napoleon.-Early life:Alexandre was born at Versailles to Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Baptiste Berthier ,...
. Forerunners of the Adventist movement believed that this event marked the end of the 1260 day prophecy from the Book of Daniel
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a book in the Hebrew Bible. The book tells of how Daniel, and his Judean companions, were inducted into Babylon during Jewish exile, and how their positions elevated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. The court tales span events that occur during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,...
. Certain individuals began to look at the 2300 day prophecy found in Daniel 8:14. Hans Wood, an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
layman
Layman
A layperson or layman is a person who is not an expert in a given field of knowledge. The term originally meant a member of the laity, i.e. a non-clergymen, but over the centuries shifted in definition....
reached the same conclusions as Petri; however, due to a different commencement date his calculations pointed to 1880. Interest in prophecy also found its way into the Roman Catholic church when an exiled Jesuit priest by the name of Manuel de Lacunza published a manuscript calling for renewed interest in the Second Coming
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
of Christ. His publication created a stirring but was later condemned by Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII , born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiore Girolamo Nicola Sermattei della Genga, was Pope from 1823 to 1829.-Life:...
in 1824.
As a result of a pursuit for religious freedom, many revivalists had set foot in the United States, aiming to avoid persecution.
Early history
Millerite Roots
The Seventh-day Adventist ChurchSeventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
formed out of the movement known today as the Millerites. In 1831, a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
convert, William Miller
William Miller (preacher)
William Miller was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-nineteenth century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians...
(until then a Deist), was asked by a Baptist to preach in their church and began to preach that the Second Advent
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
would occur somewhere between 1843 and 1844, based on his interpretation of . A following gathered around Miller that included many from the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Christian Connection
Christian Connection
The Christian Connection or Christian Connexion was a Christian movement which began in several places during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and were secessions from three different religious denominations. The Christian Connection claimed to have no creed, instead professing to rely...
churches. After a number of revisions, October 22 was considered the most probable date that the return would occur. By 1844, over 100,000 people were anticipating what Miller had dubbed as the "Blessed Hope". On October 22 many of the believers were up late into the night watching, waiting for Christ to return and found themselves bitterly disappointed when both sunset and midnight passed with their expectations unfulfilled. This event later became known as the Great Disappointment
Great Disappointment
The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history...
.
Understanding the Sanctuary
After the disappointment of October 22 many of Miller's followers were left upset and disillusioned. One of the Adventists, Hiram EdsonHiram Edson
Hiram Edson was a pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, known for introducing the investigative judgment doctrine to the church.-Early life:Edson's first wife died in 1839, leaving him to care for three children...
(1806–1882) wrote "Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before. It seemed that the loss of all earthly friends could have been no comparison. We wept, and wept, till the day dawn." However, a few remained in the church. These people gathered together and spent much time in devoted prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
and study of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. On the morning of October 23, Edson, who lived in Port Gibson, New York was passing through his grain field with a friend where he claimed to have seen a vision
Vision (religion)
In spirituality, a vision is something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy, especially a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation.Visions generally have more clarity than dreams, but traditionally fewer psychological connotations...
. Edson later recounted:
- "We started, and while passing through a large field I was stopped about midway of the field. Heaven seemed opened to my view, and I saw distinctly and clearly that instead of our High Priest coming out of the Most Holy of the heavenly sanctuary to come to this earth on the tenth day of the seventh month, at the end of the 2300 days [calculated to be October 22, 1844], He for the first time entered on that day the second apartment of that sanctuary; and that He had a work to perform in the Most Holy before coming to the earth."
Edson shared what he believed he saw with many of the local Adventists who were greatly encouraged by his account. As a result Edson began studying the bible with two of the other believers in the area, O.R.L. Crosier and Franklin B. Hahn, who published their findings in a paper called Day-Dawn. This paper explored the biblical parable
Parable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
of the Ten Virgins and attempted to explain why the bridegroom had tarried. The article also explored the concept of the day of atonement
Day of Atonement
Day of Atonement may refer to:*Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement* Day of Atonement , a national day established in 1995 by the Nation of Islam...
and what the authors called "our chronology of events".
The findings published by Crosier, Hahn and Edson led to a new understanding about the sanctuary in heaven. Their paper explained how there was a sanctuary in heaven, that Christ, the High Priest
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
, was to cleanse. The believers understood this cleansing to be what the 2300 days in Daniel was referring to.
George Knight
George R. Knight
George Raymond Knight is a Seventh-day Adventist historian and educator. He is emeritus professor of church history at Andrews University.- Biography :Knight joined the Adventist church through the ministry of Ralph Larson...
wrote, "Although originally the smallest of the post-Millerite groups, it came to see itself as the true successor of the once-powerful Millerite movement." This view was endorsed by Ellen White. However, Seeking a Sanctuary
Seeking a Sanctuary
Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream is a book about the Seventh-day Adventist Church coauthored by Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart...
sees it more as an offshoot of the Millerite movement.
The "Sabbath and Shut Door" Adventists were disparate, but slowly emerged. Only Joseph Bates had had any prominence in the Millerite movement.
Adventists viewed themselves as heirs of earlier outcast believers such as the Waldenses, Protestant Reformers
Protestant Reformers
Protestant Reformers were those theologians, churchmen, and statesmen whose careers, works, and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century...
including the Anabaptists, English and Scottish Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s, evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
s of the 18th century including Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
, Seventh Day Baptists, and others who rejected established church traditions.
Sabbath observance
A young Seventh Day BaptistSeventh Day Baptist
Seventh Day Baptists are Christian Baptists who observe Sabbath on the seventh-day of the week in accord with their understanding of the Biblical Sabbath for the Judeo-Christian tradition...
layperson named Rachel Oakes Preston
Rachel Oakes Preston
Rachel Oakes Preston was a Seventh Day Baptist who persuaded a group of Adventist Millerites to accept Saturday, instead of Sunday, as Sabbath. This Sabbatarian group organized as the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863.Born in Vernon, Vermont, Rachel, daughter of Sylvanus Harris, first joined...
living in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
was responsible for introducing Sabbath to the Millerite Adventists. Due to her influence Frederick Wheeler began keeping the seventh day as Sabbath, probably in the early spring of 1844. Several members of the Washington
Washington, New Hampshire
Washington is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,123 at the 2010 census. Situated in a hilly, rocky, forested area, and with 26 lakes and ponds, Washington is a picturesque resort area...
, New Hampshire church he occasionally ministered to also followed his decision. These included William and Cyrus Farnsworth. T. M. Preble
T. M. Preble
Thomas Motherwell Preble was a Free Will Baptist minister in New Hampshire and a Millerite preacher. After accepting the teachings of William Miller, Preble was excommunicated from his church....
soon accepted it either from Wheeler or directly from Oakes. These events were shortly followed by the Great Disappointment.
Preble promoted Sabbath through the February 28, 1845 issue of the Hope of Israel. In March he published his Sabbath views in tract form. Although he returned to observing Sunday in the next few years, his writing convinced Joseph Bates
Joseph Bates (Adventist)
Joseph Bates was an American seaman and revivalist minister. He was the founder and developer of Sabbatarian Adventism, a strain of religious thinking that evolved into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Bates is also credited with convincing James White and Ellen G...
and J. N. Andrews
John Nevins Andrews
John Nevins Andrews , was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, missionary, writer, editor, and scholar...
. These men in turn convinced James
James Springer White
James Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...
and Ellen White
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
, as well as Hiram Edson
Hiram Edson
Hiram Edson was a pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, known for introducing the investigative judgment doctrine to the church.-Early life:Edson's first wife died in 1839, leaving him to care for three children...
and hundreds of others.
Bates proposed that a meeting should be organised between the believers in New Hampshire and Port Gibson. At this meeting, which occurred sometime in 1846 at Edson's farm, Edson and other Port Gibson believers readily accepted Sabbath and at the same time forged an alliance with Bates and two other folk from New Hampshire who later became very influential in the Adventist church, James
James Springer White
James Springer White , also known as Elder White was a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and husband of Ellen G. White...
and Ellen G. White
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
. Between April, 1848, and December 1850 twenty-two "Sabbath conferences" were held in New York and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. These meetings were often seen as opportunities for leaders such as James White, Joseph Bates, Stephen Pierce and Hiram Edson to discuss and reach conclusions about doctrinal issues.
While initially it was believed that Sabbath started at 6pm, by 1855 it was generally accepted that Sabbath begins at Friday sunset.
The Present Truth (see below) was largely devoted to Sabbath at first. J. N. Andrews was the first Adventist to write a book-length defense of Sabbath, first published in 1861.
Trinitarianism
At the formation of the church in the 19th century, many of the Adventist leaders came from churches that believed in the doctrine of ArianismArianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
and held to that.(although Ellen G. White was not one of them). One study, however, sees early Adventism as well as Ellen White to espouse a materialist rather than an Arian theology.
In 1876, James White compared Seventh-day Adventist doctrine with Seventh Day Baptists. He observed: "The principal difference between the two bodies is the immortality question. The S. D. Adventists hold the divinity of Christ so nearly with the trinitarian, that we apprehend no trial here...
Pretribulation Premillennialism
Adventists played a key role in introducing the Bible doctrine of premillennialism in the United States. In the appendix to his book "Kingdom of the Cults" where Walter Martin explains why Seventh-day Adventists are accepted as Orthodox Christians (see pg 423) Martin also summarizes the key role that Adventists played in the advancement of premillennialism in the 19th century.However the unique contribution of Seventh-day Adventists to this doctrine does not stop there. Seventh-day Adventists are pretribulation premillennialists who accept the Bible teaching on a literal 1000 years in Revelation 20 that immediately follows the literal second coming of Revelation 19 yet in contrast to almost all premillennialist groups they do not believe in a 1000 year kingdom on earth during the millennium. In Adventist eschatology Christ's promise to take the saints to His Father's house in John 14:1-3 is fulfilled at the 2nd coming where both the living and the dead saints are raptured up in the air to meet the Lord (see 1Thess 4:13-18 ) in what the Apostle John calls the "first resurrection" in Revelation 20:5-6. Instead of a Millennial Kingdom on earth, Adventists teach that there is only a desolated earth for 1000 years and during that time the saints are in heaven with Christ (See Jeremiah 4:23-29).
The Present Truth
Cruden's Concordance
A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures, generally known as Cruden's Concordance, is a concordance of the King James Bible that was singlehandedly created by Alexander Cruden...
, and an abridged dictionary with one of its covers off." Thanks to a generous offer by the printer to delay charges, the group of Advent believers had 1000 copies of the first publication printed. They sent the publication, which was on the topic of Sabbath, to friends and colleagues they believe would find it of interest. In total 11 issues were published, in 1849 and 1850.
Formal Organization
In 1860, the fledgling movement finally settled on the name, Seventh-day Adventist, representative of the church's distinguishing beliefs. Three years later, on May 21, 1863, the General Conference of Seventh-day AdventistsGeneral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, where it moved in 1989...
was formed and the movement became an official organization.
Ellen G. White
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
(1827–1915), while holding no official role, was a dominant personality. She, along with her husband, James White, and Joseph Bates, moved the denomination to a concentration on missionary and medical work. Mission and medical work continues to play a central role in the 21st century.
Under White's guidance the denomination in the 1870s turned to missionary work and revivals, tripling its membership to 16,000 by 1880; rapid growth continued, with 75,000 members in 1901. By this time operated two colleges, a medical school, a dozen academies, 27 hospitals, and 13 publishing houses.
By 1945, the church reported 226,000 members in the US and Canada, and 380,000 elsewhere; the budget was $29 million and enrollment in church schools was 40,000. In 1960 there were 1,245,125 members worldwide with an annual budget of over $99,900,000. Enrollment in church schools from elementary to college was 290,000 students. As of the year 2000 there were 11,687,229 members worldwide. The global budget was $28,610,881,313. And the enrollment in schools was 1, 065,092 students. In 2008 the global membership was 15,921,408 with a budget of $45,789,067,340. The number of students in SDA run universities, secondary and primary schools was 1,538,607.
Political views
Seventh-day Adventists participated in the Temperance Movement of the late 1800's and early 1900's. During this same time, they became actively involved in promoting Religious Liberty. They had closely followed American politics, matching current events to the predictions in the Bible."Seventh-day" means the observance of the original Sabbath, Saturday, is still a sacred obligation. Adventists argued that just as the rest of the Ten Commandments had not been revised, so also the injunction to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" remained in full force. This theological point turned the young group into a powerful force for religious liberty. Growing into its full stature in the late 19th century and early 20th century, these Adventists opposed Sunday laws on every side. Many were arrested for working on Sunday. In fighting against the real threat of a legally established National Day of worship, these Sabbatarians had to fight for their liberty on a daily basis. Soon, they were fighting for religious liberty on a broader, less parochial basis.
Worldwide Mission
In 1874 J. N. Andrews became the first official Adventist missionary to travel overseas. Working in SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, he sought to organize the Sabbath-keeping companies under one umbrella.
1888 General Conference
In 1888, a General Conference SessionGeneral Conference Session
The General Conference Session is the official world meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The first session was held on May 20, 1863 with 20 delegates in attendance, and it is now held quinquennially ....
occurred in Minneapolis. This session involved a discussion between the then General Conference
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is the governing organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, where it moved in 1989...
president, G. I. Butler; editor of the review, Uriah Smith
Uriah Smith
Uriah Smith was a Seventh-day Adventist author and editor who worked for the Review and Herald for 50 years....
; and a group led by E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones about the meaning of "Righteousness by Faith" and the meaning of the law in Romans and Galatians. Ellen G. White
Ellen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
also addressed the conference.
Organizational Developments
From the early 1860s the church had three levels of government: the local church, the conference, and the General Conference. As ideas developed, organizations came into existence to move forward the ideas; i.e. Sabbath Schools, health reform and medical work, printing, distribution of literature, religious liberty, missions, etc. all moved forward under the societies formed to do so. As the work progressed, the managing of all these societies became quite cumbersome.As conferences developed in far off lands, it became obvious that the General Conference could not oversee the day to day needs of the conferences. This led to the development of Union conferences in Australia and Europe in the late 1890s and to the development of districts in the United States.
The 1901 and 1903 General Conference sessions reorganized the church's structure to include union conferences which managed a group of local conferences in their domain. By the end of 1904, the various society interests became incorporated as departments in each conference's structure.
Fundamentalism and Progress
The early 20th-century brought with it new challenges to Adventist faith and practice. The death of Adventist prophetess Ellen G. WhiteEllen G. White
Ellen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
in 1915 brought new questions about how the church would continue without a living prophet. Adventist leaders participated in a variety of Fundamentalist prophetic conferences during and soon after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The 1919 Bible Conference
1919 Bible Conference
The 1919 Bible Conference was a Seventh-day Adventist Church conference or council held from July 1 to August 9, 1919, for denominational leaders, educators, and editors to discuss theological and pedagogical issues. The council was convened by the General Conference Executive Committee led by A. G...
was a pivotal theological event that looked at how Adventists interpreted Bible prophecy and the legacy of Ellen White's writings for the church. The 1919 Bible Conference also had a polarizing influence on Adventist theology with progressives such as A. G. Daniells
Arthur Grosvenor Daniells
Arthur Grosvenor Daniells was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and administrator, most notably the longest serving president of the General Conference....
and W. W. Prescott pitted against traditionalists like Benjamin G. Wilkinson
Benjamin G. Wilkinson
Dr. Benjamin George Wilkinson was a Seventh-day Adventist missionary, educator, theologian and the Dean of Theology at the Seventh-day Adventist Washington Missionary College which is located in Takoma Park, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.-Biography:Wilkinson is an obscure figure today, and is...
, J. S. Washburn, and Claude Holmes.
Fundamentalism was dominant in the church in the early 20th century. George Knight dates it from 1919 to 1950.
The edited transcripts of the 1952 Bible Conference
1952 Bible Conference
The 1952 Bible Conference was a Seventh-day Adventist conference in the Sligo Church in Takoma Park, Maryland from September 1–13, 1952. There were 498 people listed as attending this meeting with worldwide representation...
were published as Our Firm Foundation.
Christ's Object Lessons and Adventist Schools
Ellen White relates how her book Christ's Object Lessons came to be linked to the financial support of Adventist schools,"I am so thankful for the work that Christ’s Object Lessons has accomplished and is still accomplishing. When this book was in preparation, I expected to use the means coming from the sale of this book in preparing and publishing several other books. But the Lord put it into my mind to give this book to our schools, to be used in freeing them from debt. I asked our publishing houses to unite with me in this gift by donating the expense of the publication. This they willingly agreed to do. A fund was raised to pay for the materials used in printing the book, and canvassers and people have sold the book without commission.
"Thus the book has been circulated in all parts of the world. It has been received with great favor everywhere. Ministers of all denominations have written testimonials recommending it. The Lord has prepared the way for its reception so that no fewer than 200,000 have already been sold. The means thus raised has gone far toward freeing our schools from the debts that have been accumulating for many years.
"Our publishing houses have printed 300,000 copies, free of cost, and these have been distributed to the different tract societies, to be sold by our people.
"The Lord has made the sale of this book a means of teaching our people how to come in touch with those not of their faith, and how to impart to them a knowledge of the truth for this time. Many have been converted by reading this book."
1n 1902, those affiliated with Healdsburg College, now Pacific Union College, dedicated a week to sell Christ's Object Lessons. They first read the book together. Then each student was given six books to sell. Territories were assigned and for a week the school suspended classes in order to sell the books. The College Church took the territory immediately surrounding the church while the students were given territory further away from the school.
Mid 20th century
World War IIIn Southern Europe, as soon as the war broke out, most of the church's workers of
military age were drafted. The church lost union and local conference presidents, pastors, evangelists, and institutional workers.
When the Nazis occupied France they dissolved the conference and all the churches, confiscated church buildings, and prohibited church work. In Croatia all Adventist churches were closed, and the conference was dissolved. All church and evangelistic work was strictly forbidden. Over in Rumania, where there were more than 25,000 Adventists, the union conference, the six local conferences, and all the churches were likewise dissolved. Over three hundred Adventist chapels, the publishing house in Bucharest, and the school at Brasov were all taken from the church. All church funds were taken. Three thousand Adventists were put in prison. They were tortured and abused.
The work of the church went forward under creative cover. People baptized were reported as students graduating and receiving their diplomas. One minister reported on life insurance policies sold. Another reported on the harvest of 253 baskets of fruit.
1970s
In the mid 1970s, two distinct factions were manifest within mainstream Seventh day Adventism. Defending many pre-1950 Adventist positions was Historic Adventism, while the more liberal Adventism emphasized a different understanding of justification by faith, and sought greater fellowship with Evangelical Christianity. This controversy soon led to what some see as a full-blown internal crisis and fragmentation.
In the 1970s Kenneth Wood and Herbert Douglass, editors of the Review and Herald, began to emphasize historic Adventist teachings which had been the traditional views in the church before Questions on Doctrine
Questions on Doctrine
Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine is a book published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1957 to help explain Adventism to conservative Protestants and Evangelicals...
such as sinless perfection of a final generation
Last Generation Theology
Last Generation Theology or "final generation" theology is a belief system of overcoming sin held by some conservative members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which claims that perfection will be achieved by some people in the last generation before the Second Coming of Jesus much like the...
, which was opposed by many Progressive Adventists
Late 20th century
During the 1970s, what is now the Adventist Review carried articles by editor Kenneth WoodKenneth H. Wood
Kenneth H. Wood, Jr. was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, author, editor, and administrator. Since 1980 he served as chairman of the Ellen G. White Estate board of trustees. By virtue of this position he also served as an ex officio member of the General Conference Executive Committee.- Life and...
and associate editor Herbert Douglass
Herbert E. Douglass
Herbert Edgar Douglass, Jr. is a Seventh-day Adventist theologian. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts as the oldest of five children to Herbert Edgar Douglass Sr and Mildred Jennie Munson...
rejecting Questions on Doctrine and arguing for a final perfect generation.
The General Conference addressed this controversy over "righteousness by faith" by holding a conference in Palmdale
Palmdale, California
Palmdale is a city located in the center of northern Los Angeles County, California, United States.Palmdale was the first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city on August 24, 1962; 47 years later, voters approved creating a charter city in November, 2009. Palmdale is...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1976. Ford was the "center of attention", and the resulting document known as the "Palmdale statement".
The 1980 General Conference session, held in Dallas, produced the church's first official declaration of beliefs voted by the world body, called the 27 Fundamental Beliefs. (This list of beliefs has since been expanded to the present 28 Fundamentals
28 Fundamentals
The 28 Fundamentals are a core set of theological beliefs held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Traditionally, Adventists have been opposed to the formulation of creeds. It is claimed that the 28 Fundamentals are descriptors not prescriptors; that is, that they describe the official position of...
).
Firing of Desmond Ford
The year 1980 also saw the Adventist church become embroiled in a crisis over its investigative judgmentInvestigative judgment
The investigative judgment is a unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, which asserts that a divine judgment of professed Christians has been in progress since 1844. It is intimately related to the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and was described by the church's prophet and pioneer...
teaching, known as the Glacier View controversy
Glacier View controversy
In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Sanctuary Review Committee was a group of biblical scholars and administrators which met to decide the church's response to theologian Desmond Ford, who had challenged details of the church's "investigative judgment" teaching...
. This precipitated a major schism within the church, and while the mainstream believe in the doctrine and the church reaffirmed its basic position on the doctrine since 1980, many of those within the church's more liberal wing continued to be critical of the teaching, and the effects of which have persisted well into the 21st century. Ford believed strongly that the church needed to change its teaching on the Judgment, but expressed a willingness to not publicly agitate the issue. Church administration did not respond to his offer. Desmond Ford later requested that his membership with the Seventh-day Adventist Church be discontinued for other than doctrinal differences.
Ordination of women
Proposals supporting the ordination of womenOrdination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
were turned down at General Conference Session
General Conference Session
The General Conference Session is the official world meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The first session was held on May 20, 1863 with 20 delegates in attendance, and it is now held quinquennially ....
s in 1990 in Indianapolis and 1996 in Utrecht.
Early 21st century
Video addresses from the then-president of the United States George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, and Hillary Clinton, were made to the church to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
A review of membership revealed an average of about 2,900 people were joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church every day, which show the denomination now has 16.6 million adult baptized members according to church statistics. Denominational membership showed strong growth and membership audits showed for 2009 as the seventh consecutive year the church had a net gain of more than one million members. In October 2011, David Trim, director of the Archives, Statistics and Research department, called for the denomination to reassess its membership records. The numbers are "not entirely accurate," Trim asserted. He did not consider the inaccuracy intentional. Rather he said the record keeping system was flawed. It needed to be more accurate and transparent. The audits, he said, will likely result in a lower overall membership number than the recent claim of 16.5 million.
See also
- 28 fundamental beliefs
- The Pillars of AdventismThe Pillars of AdventismThe Pillars of Adventism are landmark doctrines for Seventh-Day Adventists; Bible doctrines that define who they are as a people of faith; doctrines that are "non-negotiables" in Adventist theology.-The Pillars of Adventism:...
- Investigative judgmentInvestigative judgmentThe investigative judgment is a unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, which asserts that a divine judgment of professed Christians has been in progress since 1844. It is intimately related to the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and was described by the church's prophet and pioneer...
- List of Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities
- List of Seventh-day Adventist hospitals
- List of Seventh-day Adventist medical schools
- List of Seventh-day Adventist secondary schools
- William Miller (preacher)William Miller (preacher)William Miller was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-nineteenth century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians...
- MilleritesMilleritesThe Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller who, in 1833, first shared publicly his belief in the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ in roughly the year 1843.-Origins:...
- PremillennialismPremillennialismPremillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
- Prophecy in the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchProphecy in the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchSeventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen G. White, one of the church's co-founders, was a prophet, understood today as an expression of the New Testament spiritual gift of prophecy....
- Sabbath in Christianity
- Sabbath in Seventh-day AdventismSabbath in Seventh-day AdventismSabbath is an important part of the belief and practice of seventh-day Christians. These believers observe Sabbath on the seventh Hebrew day of the week, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, in similar manner as in Judaism, rather than Lord's day on Sunday like a most forms of Christianity...
- Second comingSecond ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
- Seventh-day Adventist ChurchSeventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
- Seventh-day Adventist eschatology
- Seventh-day Adventist interfaith relationsSeventh-day Adventist interfaith relationsThis article describes the relations between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and other Christian denominations and movements, and other religions. Adventist resist the movement to full ecumenical integration with other churches, believing that such a transition would result in a renouncing of its...
– for relations with other Protestants and Catholics - Seventh-day Adventist theology
- Seventh-day Adventist worshipSeventh-day Adventist worshipThis article describes worship practice in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.The Seventh-day Sabbath is seen as an important aspect of worship....
- Ellen G. WhiteEllen G. WhiteEllen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
- Ellen G. White EstateEllen G. White EstateThe Ellen G. White Estate, Incorporated, or simply the White Estate, is the official organization created by Ellen G. White to act as the custodian of her writings, which are of importance to the Seventh-day Adventist Church...
- End times
- Inspiration of Ellen WhiteInspiration of Ellen WhiteSeventh-day Adventists believe church co-founder Ellen G. White was inspired by God as a prophet, today understood as a manifestation of the New Testament "gift of prophecy", as described in the official beliefs of the church...
- List of Ellen White writings
- Ellen G. White Estate
Further reading
- Damsteegt, Gerard. Foundations of the Seventh-day Adventist Message & Mission Andrews University Press (publisher's page)
- Edwards, Calvin W. and Gary Land. Seeker After Light: A F Ballenger, Adventism, and American Christianity. (2000). 240pp online review
- Gary Land, ed. Historical Dictionary of Seventh-day Adventists
- Gary Land, ed. Adventism in America: A History, 2nd edition. Andrews University PressAndrews University PressAndrews University Press is an academic publishing authority operated under the auspices of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Established with minimal funding in 1969, a permanent director was appointed in 1979...
(publisher's page) - London, Samuel G., Jr. Seventh-day Adventists and the Civil Rights Movement (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009. x, 194 pp.) ISBN 978-1-60473-272-6
- Morgan, Douglas. Adventism and the American Republic: The Public Involvement of a Major Apocalyptic Movement. (2001). 269 pp. publisher's page, about Adventists and religious freedom
- Morgan, Douglas. "Adventism, Apocalyptic, and the Cause of Liberty," Church History, Vol. 63, No. 2 (Jun., 1994), pp. 235–249 in JSTOR
- Neufield, Don F. ed. Seventh-Day Adventist Encyclopedia (10 vol 1976), official publication
- Pearson, Michael. Millennial Dreams and Moral Dilemmas: Seventh-day Adventism and Contemporary Ethics. (1990, 1998) excerpt and text search, looks at issues of marriage, abortion, homosexuality Originally Official history, and first written by a trained historian.
- Vance, Laura L. Seventh-day Adventism Crisis: Gender and Sectarian Change in an Emerging Religion. (1999). 261 pp.
Primary sources
- Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia
- Earliest Seventh-day Adventist Periodicals, reprinted by Andrews University Press. Introduction by George Knight (publisher's page)
- Adventist Classic Library series, reprints of up to 40 major titles by 2015 (publisher's page)
External links
- Movement of Destiny by Le Roy Edwin FroomLe Roy Edwin FroomLe Roy Edwin Froom was a Seventh-day Adventist minister and historian.-Life:Froom was the first associate secretary of the General Conference Ministerial Association from 1926 to 1950. He was also the founding editor of Ministry Magazine...
, a classic Adventist work - October Morn by Howard Krug - a look at Hiram Edson on October 23, 1844
- "Our Roots and Mission" by William G. Johnsson - A history of the Adventist Review
- Seventh-day Adventists: the Heritage Continues
- Adventist Archives Search Historical Documents
- What is Adventist in Adventism? by George R. Knight.
- Prophetic Basis of Adventism by Hans K. La Rondelle.
- Pathways of the Pioneers at the Ellen G. White Estate website
- Arthur Spalding, Captains of the Host (1949), has scholarly credibility
- Articles with subject 'history' as cataloged in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI)