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Seventh Day Adventists
Founder: William Miller
Overview
In 1782 William Miller was born on the east coast of the United States. As
a young man he was a farmer and during the war of 1812, he served as a captain
in the American armed forces. In 1833 he was licensed to preach by a
Baptist church but was never ordained. After having studied the Bible for
two years, in 1818 Miller announced to the world that in 25 years (March 1844)
Jesus Christ would return to the earth. At the height of his ministry,
Miller had gathered some 50,000 followers, who had also become known as
"Adventists." When March 1844 came and went with no sign of Jesus
Christ having returned, Miller recalculated the new date to October 22,
1844. When Jesus did not return on October 22, 1844, the entire Millerite
movement collapsed as his followers' Christian faith were destroyed.
Miller revamped his doctrine to say that Christ had indeed returned, but that
Miller had not understood that Christ first had to come to the "Heavenly
Sanctuary," which He is now busy cleaning. Once Jesus has cleansed
things up in heaven, He would be coming back to the earth.
The remnant that bought into this
lie formed the Advent Church and in 1845 William Miller became its first
president. The name was later changed to Seventh Day Adventists and after
the death of Miller in 1849 a new false prophet came on the scene, this time a
woman, Ellen G. White. At the age of 13, Ellen was
taken to a meeting where William Miller spoke and was converted to the Adventist
faith. During the month of December, 1844, Ellen was holding a prayer meeting in
which she had a vision and felt that she was transported to heaven and shown
that Christ could not come back to the earth until the Great Commission has been
fulfilled. This revelation was later going to be mixed in with the
teaching that Christ had come back in 1844, but that He stopped in the heaven
sanctuary to first clean that up. Thus, like with so many other false
movements, the leaders in the Advents movement had to cover up for the false
prophecy of William Miller.
On August 30, 1846 Ellen married
James White, who had been ordained into the Adventist church in 1843. Her
ascension as a "prophetess" in the Seventh Day Adventist Church had
now begun. During her years as the "seer" for the SDA
church, she prophesied a number of predictions, which did not come true.
One of the most blatant false prophecies she made was when she predicted before
the American Civil war, that the Union would not be preserved but that the
United States would be divided, slavery would not be abolished but England would
intervene and declare war on the United States. Any student of history
knows differently. But, like so many other false movements, these failed
prophecies are swept under the rug and most Seventh Day Adventists today do not
even know about them.
Like so many other cults, the
doctrine of the SDA church evolved with time. The doctrine of Saturday as
the Sabbath was not preached by William Miller, but came in later. Neither
did Miller preach and believe in vegetarianism.
With the collapse of Miller's
prediction that Christ would return in 1844, the movement needed a cause in
order to survive. After the damage control had been completed and the SDA
spin doctors had cured the disease, it was time for the SDA leadership to hammer
out some kind of "theology" that could be used to attract new converts
to their fold.
The teaching of vegetarianism
came from the Whites. In1864 Ellen's husband became ill and Ellen nursed
him back to health. After his recovery James and Ellen began to think
about food and eating habits. Since just a practical experience would not
do the job of changing the theology of the SDA church, Ellen had a
"convenient" vision from the Lord, and vegetarianism was not
introduced tot he church as a "THUS SAYS THE LORD." In 1866 the
Western Health Reform Institute was founded at Battle Creek, Michigan.
Despite the new vegetarian diet, James White died in1881.
Ellen was always writing for the
SDA denominational publications, and wrote a string of books. One well
known book and still pushed hard by the SDA members is, "The Great Controversy."
It is important to note that Ellen was a proven plagiarist. The explanation of the SDA Church for her
plagiarism, that there were no copyright laws back then does not excuse her
"borrowing".
SDA's often make every effort to appear
"evangelical", joining in with inter-ministry groups and trying to
"blend in" with the Christian community. However, make no mistake
about it, they believe they are exclusively correct because they recognize and
follow Ellen G. White. Among themselves, they mock the Christian's beliefs,
calling our concept of salvation, "cheap grace". They privately
consider themselves to be spiritually superior to the rest of us.
The SDA Church made this statement in
their "Ministry" magazine of October 1981 and has never retracted it:
"We believe the revelation and
inspiration of both the Bible and Ellen White’s writings to be of equal
quality. The superintendence of the Holy Spirit was just as careful and
thorough in one case as in the other."
Cult Beliefs
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Great emphasis is laid upon
the teaching that the Sabbath day is on Saturday, and if a person does not
keep Saturday as Sabbath, he cannot be saved. Ultimately, according to SDA theology, your salvation in the last days boils down to the day you worship
on. Simply put, there is no salvation outside
the SDA church. The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith and
nothing more. Ephesians 2:8-9
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Ellen G. White taught that
all other churches except the SDA church were teaching lies from the
Devil. Only SDA members are true and obedient believers; prayers
spoken in other churches are only answered by the Devil. This is a
man-made doctrine not found in the Bible.
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They believe
that in the last days just before Christ returns, only those worshipping on
Saturday will be saved. They particularly believe that worshipping on
Sunday will be the mark of the beast. They consider themselves to be the only
true, remnant church and all others will be condemned in time.
This is a man-made doctrine not found in the Bible. The mark of the beast
will be a literal mark, either in your forehead or in your hand. Revelation
14:9
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They firmly believe that Jesus is Michael the Archangel and this is the name
used for him (Jesus) in the Old Testament; yet also believe that Jesus is
God. Jesus is God, he is the Creator; (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17;
Hebrews 1:1-6) whereas, Michael is just an angel, a created being.
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They believe that the atonement
through Jesus is not complete until He comes again, only
your past sins are forgiven by grace up to that point. The Bible says
that the atoning work of Jesus is finished, never again to be repeated. John
19:30; Hebrews 9:24-28
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They believe in the "sanctuary teaching" that Jesus
is now cleaning the sanctuary in the heavens before he can return to the
earth. This is a man-made doctrine not found in the Bible.
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They believe you will have to stand in the
presence of the living God for judgment without a mediator. The Bible
says that there is one mediator between God and men, and that is Jesus
himself. I Timothy 2:5
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The believe you can be sinless, also known
as "sinless perfection". Meaning that a person can become
sinless while they are still living on this earth in their physical body.
The Bible says that all are born with sin. All throughout the New Testament,
the various authors write about fleeing and resisting sin, they themselves
struggled with sin. This is a man-made doctrine not found in the Bible.
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They won’t tell you that early
Adventists expected the literal second coming of Christ in 1843 and 1844
only to be disappointed. They won’t tell you that their 1844
"investigative judgment" teaching was born out of an attempt to
cover over this false prophecy. Instead of repenting over this false date,
they believe that Christ really came, but INVISIBLY in heaven. As an SDA you now enter a period of "investigative judgment" where every
deed you do or don’t do is recorded for judgment day. You will even be
judged for "idle moments" where you could have been more obedient. When
Christ comes, every eye shall see it (Revelation 1:7). At the Judgment Seat
of Christ, we will be judged.
I Corinthians 3:11-15; II Corinthians 5:10
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They believe the doctrine
of soul sleeping, which states that the souls of believers in Christ are not
in heaven, but are sleeping in the graves. The Bible says those who were
saved on earth by receiving Jesus Christ as their Saviour and died are now
living a full and joyous life in heaven. Revelation 7:9-17
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They believe in the final and total
annihilation of the wicked, where they will simply cease to exist after the
final judgment. This doctrine is in harmony with the Jehovah's
Witnesses. The Bible says they will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
Revelation 20:12-15
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They do not believe in the eternal
punishment of Satan and his fallen angels. They believe that the
penalty for sinning against a Holy God is merely annihilation. Satan is the scapegoat; the
sins of the believers are laid upon him, and he and these sins are finally
burned up. The Bible says that Satan and his fallen angels will be cast
in the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:10-15
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They believe in and demand vegetarianism.
There is
no place in the Bible where God demands this. There is nothing wrong
if a person chooses to be vegetarian for personal or health reasons, but it
should never be tied in with our salvation.
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They
believe you should revere their founding prophetess, Ellen G. White,
viewing her as having the "spirit of prophecy" referred to in the
book of Revelation. Ellen G. White's writing are
considered as inspired as the Bible and are used as a authoritative source
of truth. In spite of revering her, they won’t
ordain women as ministers. Ellen was a
proven plagiarist and therefore a liar. God's attributes are truth and light
(I John 1:5-6), whereas, Satan's attributes are darkness and lying (John
8:44).
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