The Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church

Jon Mayled traces the origins and development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Jon Mayled

William Miller (1782–1849) was an American Baptist preacher usually credited with the beginnings of the Adventist movement. His followers are still called Millerites. In 1833 Miller announced that the second coming (Advent) of Jesus Christ would take place between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844. From 1840 onwards, Millerism was transformed from an ‘obscure, regional movement into a national campaign’. The pastor of Chardon Street Chapel in Boston, Joshua Vaughan Himes, established a fortnightly paper called Signs of the Times in which he publicised Miller’s teachings.

On 25 March 1844 Miller wrote to Himes, ‘I am still looking for the Dear Savior…. The time, as I have calculated it, is now filled up; and I expect every moment to see the Savior descend from heaven. I have now nothing to look for but this glorious hope.’ As April passed, the Millerites believed that they had entered a ‘tarrying time’:

‘O LORD, I have heard of your renown, and I stand in awe, O LORD, of your work. In our own time revive it; in our own time make it known; in wrath may you remember mercy.’

Habakkuk 3:2–3

‘As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.’

Matthew 25:5

In August 1844 a Millerite preacher, Samuel S. Snow, announced that Christ would return on ‘the tenth day of the seventh month of the present year, 1844’. This was based on: ‘And he answered him, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state”’ (Daniel 8:14). Using complex calculations, this prophecy was taken as giving a date of 22 October 1844. When this prophecy was also proved false there was a great deal of confusion among Millerite followers and preachers — the ‘Great Disappointment’.

Beginnings

Millerism then broke into a number of sects. On 23 October 1844 another preacher, Hiram Edson, reached the conclusion that ‘the sanctuary to be cleansed in Daniel 8:14 was not the earth or the church, but the sanctuary in heaven’. This particular Millerite group became the Seventhday Adventist Church.

The Church was formally established in Battle Creek, Michigan, on 21 May 1863, with a membership of 3,500. The General Conference headquarters are now in Silver Spring, Maryland. In the 1870s the Church began missionary work and currently has a worldwide baptised membership of about 17.2 million people. As of May 2007, it was the 12th-largest religious body in the world. During the nineteenth century the Church struggled to form its basic teachings. Many of its leaders were Arians (Box 1).

The Church did not express belief in the Doctrine of the Trinity until the early twentieth century.

Beliefs and teachings

The official teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination are expressed in its 28 Fundamental Beliefs. Adventists have only one creed: ‘The Bible, and the Bible alone’. Their beliefs are basically those of Trinitarian Protestant theology: the infallibility of scripture, the substitutionary atonement, the resurrection of the dead and justification by faith alone, baptism by immersion and creation in six literal days.

There are a number of distinctive doctrines, many unique to Seventh-day Adventists:

■ The Sabbath should be observed on the seventh day of the week, specifically, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.

■ Jesus Christ will return visibly to earth after a ‘time of trouble’, during which observance of the Sabbath will become a worldwide test. The second coming will be followed by a millennial reign of the saints in heaven.

■ Humans are an indivisible unity of body, mind and spirit. They do not possess an immortal soul and there is no consciousness after death.

■ The wicked will not suffer eternal torment in hell, but instead will be permanently destroyed.

■ Humanity is involved in a ‘great controversy’ between Jesus Christ and Satan.

■ At his ascension, Jesus Christ commenced an atoning ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. In 1844, he began to cleanse the heavenly sanctuary in fulfilment of the day of atonement.

Practices

Sabbath observance

To keep the Sabbath holy, Adventists do no secular work on Saturday. They also avoid secular forms of recreation, such as competitive sport and watching non-religious television programmes.

Forms of worship

In line with their basic beliefs the major weekly service is held on a Saturday (rather than a Sunday). The services follow a typical evangelical format: a central sermon, hymns, scripture readings, prayers and the giving of money offerings.

Communion

In the Adventist Church the service of communion only takes place four times a year. Most churches celebrate this once a quarter but there are no fixed dates.

Adventist communion is an open service which welcomes members and Christian nonmembers. It starts with a foot washing ceremony, known as the Ordinance of Humility and based on the account of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in John 13. For the ordinance people are segregated by gender into separate rooms, although some congregations allow married couples to perform the ordinance on each other and families are often encouraged to wash together.

After the ordinance worshippers return to the main sanctuary and partake in the Lord’s Supper of unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice.

Healthy living

Since its formation the Church has always emphasised wholeness and health. Adventists are known for presenting a ‘health message’ that recommends vegetarianism and requires its followers to observe the kosher food laws in Leviticus 11. Following these laws means not eating pork, shellfish or other foods which are believed to be ‘unclean’. The Church discourages its members from the use of alcohol or tobacco and many Adventists also abstain from coffee, tea, cola or anything which contains caffeine.

THE CHURCH WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF BREAKFAST CEREALS INTO THE WESTERN DIET.

The Church was largely responsible for the introduction of breakfast cereals into the Western diet. John Harvey Kellogg (1852–1943) was one of the founders of Adventist health work. He developed breakfast cereals as a health food and this led to the founding of Kellogg’s by his brother William and the invention of Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies.

In Australia and New Zealand, the Churchowned Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing company is a leading manufacturer of health and vegetarian products, most prominently the breakfast cereal Weet-Bix.

In California, research has shown that the average Adventist lives 4 to 10 years longer than the average Californian. It was concluded that Adventists live longer because they do not smoke or drink alcohol, have a day of rest every week, and maintain a healthy, low-fat vegetarian diet that is rich in nuts and beans.

Ethics

The Adventist position on abortion is that ‘abortions for reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are not condoned’. However, in certain circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas — such as significant threats to the pregnant woman’s life or health, a foetus which is going to have a very short or severely disabled life, and any pregnancy which is the result of rape or incest— the Church believes that the individuals involved must make their own decisions according to their conscience. Counselling is provided in these situations.

The Church accepts the biblical teaching that heterosexual marriage is the only permitted situation in which sexual relations can take place. Practising homosexuals are not allowed to be ordained and can be disfellowshipped from the Church. Divorce is permitted in cases of adultery but reconciliation should always be attempted first.

The Church teaches that New Testament texts relating to the position of women should be interpreted literally and that wives should submit to their husbands: ‘Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands’ (Ephesians 5:22–24).

The Adventist Church is opposed to active euthanasia but does permit the passive withdrawal of medical support to allow death to occur. Birth control is approved of for married couples.

Personal conduct

Seventh-day Adventists have always been socially conservative (although there is now some resistance to this from younger members of the Church):

‘For the Spirit to recreate in us the character of our Lord we involve ourselves only in those things which will produce Christlike purity, health, and joy in our lives. This means that our amusement and entertainment should meet the highest standards of Christian taste and beauty. While recognising cultural differences, our dress is to be simple, modest, and neat, befitting those whose true beauty does not consist of outward adornment but in the imperishable ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit.’

Fundamental Beliefs

Many Adventists are opposed to practices such as body piercing and tattoos and do not wear jewellery. Conservative Adventists avoid recreational activities which are considered to be a negative spiritual influence, including dancing, films and the theatre. The Church totally opposes gambling.

Pathfinders

This organisation for 10–16 year olds is similar to the Scouting movement and is run by the Church’s youth department. Pathfinders take part in most of the activities that are found in the Scouting movement while also being trained for leadership roles within the Church. At 17 a Pathfinder becomes a member of staff, leading and teaching other Pathfinders. There are similar groups for younger children and different Pathfinder groups meet up for yearly events similar to Scout jamborees.

Youth Camp

The Seventh-day Adventist Church holds youth camps all over the world. These give young people the opportunity to participate in all types of physical and group activities.

Missionary work

The missionaries of the Adventist Church operate in over 200 countries and territories. They preach the gospel, work to improve living standards, provide emergency relief and promote healthy living by establishing hospitals and clinics. Adventists believe that they must reach out to both non-Christians and non-Adventist Christians, as Christ called his followers in the ‘Great Commission’ to reach the whole world.

Unlike some denominations, Adventists are careful not to intrude on people’s basic human rights. Religious liberty has always been a very important aspect of Adventist teaching, which for the last 100 years has advocated freedom of religion for all people. In 1893 the Church founded the International Religious Liberty Association and the Seventh-day Adventist Church State Council works to protect all religious groups from being adversely affected by legislation.

Education

The Adventist Church operates over 7,000 schools, colleges and universities, with over 1 million students and approximately 80,000 teachers. The Adventist educational programme covers ‘mental, physical, social and above all, spiritual health’ with the goal of ‘intellectual growth and service to humanity’.

Health and medicine

The Church runs a large network of hospitals, clinics, lifestyle centres and sanitariums throughout the world and the Adventist Health System is the largest not-for-profit, Protestant, multi-institutional healthcare system in the USA. It cares for over 4 million patients annually.

Global concerns

Since the mid twentieth century the Adventist Church has promoted humanitarian aid through the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). This agency operates in 125 countries and employs over 4,000 people in crisis relief and development projects.

The Church is also committed to the care of the environment and counteracting climate change:

‘Seventh-day Adventism advocates a simple, wholesome lifestyle, where people do not step on the treadmill of unbridled over-consumption, accumulation of goods, and production of waste. A reformation of lifestyle is called for, based on respect for nature, restraint in the use of the world’s resources, reevaluation of one’s needs, and reaffirmation of the dignity of created life.’

Church Statement on Stewardship of the Environment (1996)

Ecumenism

The Adventist Church does not give general support to the ecumenical movement, although it supports some of its aims:

‘Should Adventists cooperate ecumenically? Adventists should cooperate insofar as the authentic gospel is proclaimed and crying human needs are being met. The Seventhday Adventist Church wants no entangling memberships and refuses any compromising relationships that might tend to water down her distinct witness. However, Adventists wish to be ‘conscientious cooperators.’ The ecumenical movement as an agency of cooperation has acceptable aspects; as an agency for the organic unity of churches, it is much more suspect.’

Beach, B. (1985) Seventh-day Adventi sts and the Ecumenical Movem ent

The Adventist Church has participated in assemblies of the World Council of Churches in an observer capacity, as does the Roman Catholic Church.

THE MISSIONARIES OF THE ADVENTIST CHURCH OPERATE IN OVER 200 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES.

Exclusivism

Critics have said that certain Adventist beliefs and practices are exclusivist in nature. They have raised particular concerns about the Adventist claim to be the ‘remnant church’, and the describing of other denominations as ‘Babylon’. Adventist theologians have stated that the doctrine of the remnant is concerned with institutions and does not mean that other Christians are not genuine believers:

‘We fully recognise the heartening fact that a host of true followers of Christ are scattered all through the various churches of Christendom, including the Roman Catholic communion. These God clearly recognises as His own. Such do not form a part of the ‘Babylon’ portrayed in the Apocalypse.’

Questions on Doctrine (1957)

Jon Mayled is the author of many religious studies textbooks.