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INTRODUCTION

The Seventh-day Adventist denomination arose from the aftermath of the Second Coming movement of the mid-1800s. "Seventh-day" refers to the focus on Sabbath worship. "Adventist" refers to their belief that they are the fulfillment of Bible prophecy pertaining to the latter day remnant and the coming of Christ. The name Seventh-day Adventist was officially adopted in 1860, and the headquarters of the denomination was located in Washington D.C. in 1903. The writings of Ellen G. White (1827-1915) are exalted as prophecy in the Adventist movement. There are 7.7 million members worldwide in 36,032 SDA churches. There are more than 799,000 Adventists in the U.S. and Canada. They are working in 687 languages and dialects. The SDA has a large investment in publishing and education. They operate 57 publishing houses, and support 594 medical units, 973 colleges and secondary schools, and 4,533 elementary schools. There are more than 1,558 weekly radio and television broadcasts in many languages. More than 800,000 students are enrolled in Bible correspondence courses (Handbook of Denominations, 10th edition, 1995).

The following study is based directly upon Seventh-day Adventist publications. In researching this report, the author visited Adventist bookstores, colleges, and churches. I also took some of their correspondence courses. Though some of the books used for our documentation of Adventist belief were written in the 1800s and early 1900s, they are still being produced by Adventist publishing houses and distributed to the public throughout the world.

In early 1990 I received a letter from the editor of the Adventist periodical Ministry, challenging me to base my investigation of their beliefs solely upon one recently published volume titled Seventh-day Adventists Believe. In a review of Avoiding the Snare of Seventh-day Adventism, they claimed that by using older sources I was misrepresenting their doctrine.

That idea is a clever deception for the following reasons.

First, Seventh-day Adventists Believe, the book they sent to define official Adventism, promotes exactly the same heresies which I expose in my book Avoiding the Snare of Seventh-day Adventism. The entire issue is a smokescreen.

Second, Seventh-day Adventists Believe contains hundreds of citations of exactly the same works and authors I cite in my book. In fact, the vast majority of the footnotes in Seventh-day Adventists Believe cite SDA publications before 1970, which is exactly the matter they criticize me about. If they can quote these older works as authoritative, so can I!

Third, many of the quotations in my book Avoiding the Snare of Seventh-day Adventism are taken directly from Ellen White’s writings. The SDA claim that White was an inspired prophetess. If they reject her writings as undependable, they pull the rug out from under themselves because their doctrinal platform is built upon her writings.

Fourth, in their own writings they admit that their doctrinal landmarks were settled before 1850.

"By the year 1850 the lines of fundamental truth were quite well understood and clearly defined. Looking back in 1905, [Ellen White] wrote, ‘The truth for this time God has given us as a foundation for our faith. He Himself has taught us what is truth. ... We are not to receive the words of those who come with a message that contradicts the special points of our faith’" (The Spirit of Prophecy Treasure Chest, p. 122).

This same Adventist publication lists five "pillars of their faith": the Second advent, Sabbath worship, the third angel’s message, investigative judgment, and the non-immortality of the soul. It is ridiculous for the Adventists to criticize me for using older documents when they themselves state in formal publications that their doctrinal foundation was fully laid in the 19th century.

Finally, the publications I quote in this study are still in print and are distributed as Adventist doctrine. These publications do not contain any type of disclaimer to warn the reader that the contents might not reflect official Adventist belief. If the Adventists do not want people to judge them by these older books, they should stop printing them! In my February 9, 1990, reply to the SDA publication Ministry I said:

I have considered the review you sent by William Shea and the statements made in your own letter and must stand behind the contents of my book. I offer the following reasons for this:

1. Shea’s review is superficial, insidious, and does not deal with the weighty and thorough arguments I have given for my positions.

2. The sources for my conclusions about SDA doctrine are based solidly upon the writings of prophetess Ellen G. White and upon legitimate materials published by official Seventh-day Adventist presses. Most of these writings were purchased from the bookstore at your school in Collegedale, Tennessee. Others were obtained from correspondence courses offered by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

These materials, at least the vast majority of them, are still in print and are still promulgated. If the materials I purchased from you and which I quoted in my book are not to be considered reliable statements of Adventist belief, why do you crusade them before the public? Why are there no disclaimers on these writings, warning people that the statements contained therein are not dependable and not to be trusted in forming opinions about Adventism?

3. I would come to the same conclusions about Adventist belief and write virtually the same book by using only prophetess Ellen White’s published writings. Are her writings—the ones the Adventist church publishes —not reliable?

4. I would come to the same conclusions about Adventist belief and write virtually the same book by using only the so-called "official Seventh-day Adventist doctrinal book," Seventh-day Adventists Believe. The statements of Adventist doctrine made in Seventh-day Adventists Believe are more cleverly presented than in some of the other publications, but the same sad old heresies are there.

For these reasons I see no need to revise my book Avoiding the Snares of Seventh-day Adventism. If the time comes wherein you reject the writings of Ellen G. White and her position as a prophetess, and you reject the heretical "pillars" of the Seventh-day Adventist church which were developed and promoted by White and other early Adventist leaders, I will then be glad to reevaluate your beliefs.

I repeat, the entire matter is a deception, and I wanted our readers to be aware of this. Seventh-day Adventism has not changed at heart, but it is trying to put on a new face.