Are Seventh-day Adventists Christians!

A NEW LOOK AT SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

By DONALD GREY BARNHOUSE

n the past two years several evangelical leaders have come to a new attitude toward the Seventh-day Adventist

.church. T h e change is a remarkable one since it consists in moving the Seventh-day Adventists, in our opinion, out of the list of anti-Christian and non-Christian cults into the group of those who are brethren in Christ; although they still must be classified, in our opinion, as holding two or three very unorthodox and i n one case peculiar doctrines. T h e steps in our change of attitude must be traced and the justification of our changed attitude documented. Adven- tists who read this should realize that evangelical readers have been conditioned through the years for thinking that Adventists must be classified as non-Christians. This present article will explain reasons why this should no longer be so.

Our change of attitude goes back to our acquaintance with a young man whom I first knew in New York City as a member of my weekly Bible class there. When I first knew him, the Rev. Mr. Walter R. Martin was st111 in his early twenties, busily engaged in his study of American religious history. H e is at present a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in New York University, working on his thesis in the field of non-Christian religions that had their beginning in America. Of these the best known are Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, Unity, and up until very recently Seventh-day Adventism.

Already Mr. Martin's volumes Jehovah of the Watch- tower, T h e Christian Science Myth, T h e Rtse of the Cults, and a textbook, T h e Christian and the Cults, have become standard works in their field.* Mr. Martin joined the staff of ETERNITY magazine first as mnsulting editor on the cults and now as a full-time member of the staff of the Evangelical Foundation.

A little less than two years ago it was decided that Mr. Martin should undertake research in connection with Seventh-day Adventism. We got into touch with the Ad- ventists saying that we wished to treat them fairly and would appreciate the opportunity of interviewing some of their leaders. T h e response was immediate and enthusiastic.

Mr. Martin went to Takoma Park, 'washington, D. C., the headquarters of the Seventhday Adventist movement. At first the two groups looked upon each other with great suspicion. Mr. Martin had read a vast quantity of Adventist

These are all available from ETERNITY Book Sewice.

literature and presented them with a series of approximately forty questions concerning their theological position. On a second visit he was presented with scores of pages of de- tailed theological answers to his questions. Immediately it was perceived that the Adventists were strenuously denying certain doctrinal positions which had been previously at- tributed to them. .4s hlr. Martin read their answers he came, for example, upon a statement that they repudiated absolutely the ihought that seventh-day ~abbarh-keeping was a basis for salvation and a denial of any teaching that the keeping- of the first day of the week is as yet considered to be the receiving of the anti-Christian "mark of the beast." He pointed out to them that in their book store ad- joining the building in which these meetings were taking place a certain volume published by them and written by one of their ministers categorically stated the contrary to what they were now asserting. T h e leaders sent for the book, discovered that Mr. Martin was correct, and imme- diately brought this fact to the attention of the General Conference Officers, that this situation might be remedied and such publications be corrected. This same procedure was repeated regarding the nature of Christ while in the flesh which the majority of the denomination has always held to be sinless, holy, and perfect despite the fact that certain of their writers have occasionally gotten into print with contrary views completely repugnant to the Church at large. They further explained to Mr. Martin that they hat1 among their number certain members of their "lunatic fringe" even as there are similar wild-eyed irresponsibles in every field of fundamental Christianity. This action of the Seventh-day Adventists was indicative of similar steps that were taken subsequently.

T h e next phase of the discussion moved in A~igust, 1955. to a place in the country outside Philadelphia. There, four of the leaders of Seventh-day Adventist thought came for a two-day conference in the home of the editor-in-chief of ETERIVITY. Here they, together with Mr. Martin and Profes- sor George Cannon of the Nyack Missionary College, spent two full days going over the approximate:y hundred pages of the Seventh-day Adventist answers to Mr. Martin's ques- tions. At the outset the seven of us, on our knees, prayed together approaching God through the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

At that time I made a statement to these men approxi-

The true life of prayer is a life completely given to God

mately as follows: I want to explain to you my attitude toward Seventhday Adventism. In the prov;dence of God I was born in a little town in California about forty miles away from Mountain View where Ellen G. White, revered teacher in the Adventist movement, had her headquarters. At that time the followers of the Adventist movement that came into our town and others of the region were, from our point of view, colossally ignorant fanatics. We considered them to be the descendants of the Millerites who in 1844 were supposed to have gone on top of a hi11 to await the Second Coming of Christ on a certain night, and who were utterly deceived and discredited. We understood that the Seventh-day Adventists believed the devil to be the sin- bearer,* that a person had to keep Saturday in order to be saved,* thus denying the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Later on all of my bad opinions about the Adventist movement had been confirmed and established, I thought, by books which had been written by men who had been Adventist preachers and who had left the movement; notably, there was a series of works by E. B. Jones which showed that he had been a Seventh-day Adventist layman missionary and had believed a long list of horrible things which he had since abandoned now that he had been "saved."

I went on to state to my guests that in many conversa- tions with Walter Martin through the previous year and through reading their prepared statements I had come to see that. beyond question, there were sober, sane, truly re- generated men among the leaders of the Seventh-day Adven- tist church. While they still held positions which were totally alien to my thinking and which I had to repudinte. I was ready to admit that some of these positions had been held in the past by noted Christians (Martin Luther held one of these positions which with the modern Lutheran church I repudiate), and that I was ready to extend a hand to these men as Christian brethren though I still reserve the right strenuously to refute the two or three positions which evangelicals hold to be in error.

These leaders accepted my explanation and acknowledged that they understood the difficdties.

The seven of us worked through the Adventist statement for two days. Mr. Martin had further conferences with the Adventist leaders in Washington, D. C., and in Glendale, California. He was invited to preach in two of the large Adventist churches in the country and spoke to their theological seminary and to the employees of the Voice of Pro#hecy broadcast In May, 1956, the same group of Ad- ventist leaders returned to my home in Pennsylvania for another two-day conference.

Now the time has wme to make known to the general public the results of the hundreds of hours- of labor that have been expended by Mr. Martin and the similar time

Absolutely repudiated in Seventh-day Adventist theology today we are now informed

that has been put forth by many Adventist leaders. Mr. Martin's book on Seventh-day Adventism will appear

in print within a few months. I t will carry a foreword by responsible leaders of h e Seventh-day ~dven t i s t church tb the effect that they have not been misquoted in the volume and that the areas of agreement and disagreement as set forth by Mr. Martin are accurate from their point of view as well as from our evangelical point of view. All of Mr. Martin's references to a new Adventist volume on their. docmines will be from the page proof of their book, which will appear in print simultaneously with his work. Hence- forth any fair criticism of the Adventist movement must re- fer to these simultaneous publications.

The position of the Adventists seems to some of us in certain cases to be a new position; to them it may be merely the position of the majority group of sane leadership which is determined to put the brakes on any members who seek to hold views divergent from that of the responsible leader- ship of the denomination.

(1) Notably, the Adventist leadership prodaims that the writings of Ellen G. White, the great counselor of the Ad- ventist movement, are not on a parity with Scripture. While the Adventist church claims to have received great blessing from the ministry of Mrs. White, they admit her writings are not infallible, but in all fairness they do retere her writings as special counsels from God to their movement. Her writing incidentally are not a test of fellowship in the Seventh-day Adventist church.

(2) While the Adventists keep Saturday as the Sabbath, they specifically repudiate the idea that Sabbath-keeping is in any way a means of salvation. They acknowledge freely that Christians today who keep Sunday in good faith are as much members of the Body of Christ as they are.

(3) T o avoid charges that have been brought against them by evangelicals, Adventists have already worked out ar- rangements that the Voice of Prophecy radio program and the Signs of the Times, their largest paper, be identified as presentations of the Seventh-day Adventist church.

The Adventists specifically repudiate any teaching by ministers or members of their faith who have believed,

(Continued on page 43)

Have the Seventh-day Adventists been proselytizers? During the course of our dealings with Adventist larders w e brought up the complaints, common on the mission field, that Adventist missionaries and workers have been proselytizers. The leaders affirmed vehementhl that they have been doing everything possible to prwent such proselytizing, and, while there may have-been wch cases in the part, ?hay hold that such methods are not now-in use. In coopention with them we will gladly receive from any missionaries the world fully- documented instances of such proselytiution that haw taken place during the past two ymn. Such documentlfion, if my, sent 90 the Rev. Mr. Waher R. Matiin. in cam of ETERNm, will be forwarded to Adventist iuders, who have promised a thorough invnstigation.

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

and written any matter which would classify them among Arians. That is to say, they hoid that Jesus Christ is the eternal Word of God, sec- ond member of the Godhead, eternally existing with God as God, and they repudiate absolutely any concept that Jesus was a aeated being. While many of their Bible teachers have shown that "the angel of Jehovah in the Old Testa- ment is none other than Jesus Christ, this position is one that I myself have taken and taught in my book. The Invisible War. The word "angel" means "messenger" and Christ's action as a "messenger" did not and does not make Him a aezture or less than God. This declaration on the part of the Adventist leaders specifidly removes them from classification with Jehovah's Witnesses who are Arians in the modern sense. and the Adventists totally repudiate the Jehovah's Witnesses* concept of Christ The Adventists take their place in the very center of traditional Christianity's Trinitarian doctrine as accepting the Christology of the New Testament of the Fathers, the Reformers, and all true evangelicals.

(4) The Seventh-day Adventist posi tion on salvation is Arminlan, classifying them with Wesley and the modern groups such as the Holiness and Naza- rene movements. I discovered, however. in our long talks together that these brethren have what I think i s a mis- conception of Calvinism. They would not find ~t too hard to get along with the modem Calvinism which is held by most evangelical Baptists and Pres- byterians today and vice versa.

We discovered that there are still some sharp are4 of disagreeme2t To my mind, the most important of these is the Adventist belief in "conditional

immortality." They believe that death brings unconscious "soul-sleeping" and that the lost are to be annihilated, thus 3enying the doculnes of hell and eternal punishment. When we realize, however, that both Martin Luther and William Tyndale held this doctrine, we cannot on this ground alone divorce the Ad- ventists or sever them from the true Body of Christ. We most heartily dk+ agree with them on these doctrines and pray that they will soon move to a position of belief with the vast majority of evangelical Christians throughou h e centuries.

We also disagree on the questlon of the Seventh-day Sabbath. A great amount of time was spent in our early meetings to spell out the fact that Adventists do not believe in legalism as a part of salvation though everything in their practice seems to indicate that they do. They recognize dearly that some of their teachers have taught the contrary. but they take a position (to us very illogical) that the Ten Commandments are to be obeyed, but that their teaching has no part whatsoever as a down pay ment or a part payment toward salva- tion which they and we in common confess to be by Christ alone on t h e basis of His expiatory death on Calvary

The final major area of disagreemen is over the doctrine of the "investigativt judgment," which is a doctrine neve known in theological history until thl second half of the lineteenth centuq and which is a doctr;ne held exdusivel. by the Seventhday Adventists. At th very beginning of om contacts wit1 the Adventist leaders, Mr. Martin an4 I though that th~s would be the doc trine on which it would be impossiblt to come to any understanding whid would permit our including then among those who could be counted a Christians believing in :he iinished work of Christ. In order to understand this doctrine of "investiga~lve judgment" it

rs necessary to devote a few paragraphs to Adventist history.

In the earIy nineteenth century there was a great increase in the study of Bibie prophecy. Dr. LeRoy Froom, the eminent Adventist historian, in his monumental four-volume history of the development of Adventist teaching on prophecy, shows dearly that inn~~mer- able Bible students hum a saxe of denominational afiiliations were camed away with date-setting for the Second Coming of Christ The reason for this is (what I believe to be) a false inter- pretation of Daniel's prophecy of 2,300 days. In Daniel 8:I4 a figure is given of 2,300 days. In the early nineteenth century it became fashionable to equate this with 2.300 years. interpreting this verse by association with Ezekiel 4:6 where it is stated, '*I have appointed thee each day for a year." Since 2,300 years from Daniel would fall toward the end of the first half of the nine- teenth century, thousands of people believed that the Second Coming of Christ would take place in that period. Anglicans. Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc spent extraor&nary amounts of time and effort in figuring out the chronologies, and ultimately the consensus agreed on 184-4.

It should be realized that there was no Seventh-day Adventist church at that time. All of these. "Adventists" were in the major denominations. One William Miller of Baptist background even placed the advent between specific months. The newspapers of America were filled with headlines concerning the matter. A historical study of the events demonstrates that the& people were serious-minded students who were

) definitely self-deceived. The story that they dressed in flowing white rob& and went to the top of a hill has been ex- ploded. Hoodlums did dress up in flow- ing robes and in ribald fashion mocked these people, but they themselves were dreadf'ully sincere.

Dr. Frmm in the fourth volume of his work, describes these events as 'The Great Disappointment." Out ot the "Great Disappointment" grew the Seventhday Adventist church. It will be impossible to understand the movement unless it is realized that most of the Adventists before 1844 kept Sunday. were found in dozens of denominations, and had no common doctrine or organs- zation In their disappointment little segments of these dkiHuswned people drew together. One of the segments kept Saturday as the Sabbath. Still an- other of the segments believed in condi- tional immortality and soulsleeping, and a third segment fell upon the doc- trine of "the investigative judgment" The iatter doctrine, to me, is the most colossal, psychological, face-saving phenomenon in religious history1 I t would further seem to me that the Mli- om segments, each with a distinctive doctrine not held by the majority of Christendom, drew together and con- solidated on the basis of the acceptance of each other's peculiar heterodox teach- ings. The error-of conditional immortal- ity and the error of Sabbatarianism are both well known. That of the "'investi- gative judgment." however, now requires further explanation.

On the morning after the "Great Dis- appointment," two men were going through a corn field in order to avoid the pitiless gaze of tk& mocking neigh- bors to whom they had given their 6nal witness and had said an eternal good- bye the day befqre. To put it in the words of Hiram Edson (the man in the corn field who first conceived this peculiar idea), he was overwhelmed with the conviction "that instead of our High Priest coming out of the Mwt Holy of the heavenly sanctuary to ame to dis earth on the tenth day of the seventh month at the end of 2,300 days.

H e for the first time entered on that day the second apartment of that sanctuary, and that He had work to perfom in the Most Holy before coming to this earth." It is to rn? mind, therefore, nothing more than a human. face-saving idea! I t should also be realized that some uninformed Seventhhy Adventists took this idea and carried it to fantastic literalistic extremes. Mr. Martin and I heard the Adventist leaders say, flatly, that they repudiate all such extremes. This they have said in no uncertain temu Further, they do not believe. as some of their earlier teachen taught. that Jesus* atoning work was not com- pleted on Calvary but instead that He was still carrying on a second minister- ing work since 1844. This idea is also totallv repudiated. They belleve that since His ascension Christ has been ministering the benefits of the atone- ment which He completed on Calvary. Sxnce the sanctuary doctrine is based on the type of the Jewish high priest going into the Holy of Holies to complete his atoning work, it can be seen that what remains is most certainly exegeti- cally untenable and theological specula- tion of a highly imaginative order. What Christ is now doing, since 1844, accord- ing to his version, is ~ o i n g over the records of all human beings and decid- ing what rewards are going to be given to individual Christians. We personally do not believe that there is even a suspicion of a verse in Scripture to sus- tain such a peculiar position, and we further believe that any effort to estab- lish it is stale, flat, and unprofitable! This doctrine is linked with that of the scapegoat (Azazel) oE Leviticus 16, whom Seventh-day Adventists, in com- pany with not a few rer-nized non

Advetltist Hebrew scholars, believe to be Satan- I t should be noted, however that the transaction with the scapegoat is in no way to be construed as part or completion of the atonement which Adventists believe Christ alone vicarious- ly made on Golgotha. The meaning of the "scapegoat" teaching is that Satan merely bears away into final annihila- tion his responsibility in tempting man to sin, much as the master criminal who must pay a penalty for plotting and directing a crime though he never actually committed it. This concept while admittedly strange is not heretical because it is divorced from the doctrine of the atonement in Adventist theology so that it becomes only a kind of "legal transaction" not in any sense a vicarious bearing of sharing in the sin atonement of Christ on the Cross. This editor, of course, flatly rejects such an inter- pretation and reserves the right to con- sider it as a somewhat bizarre excursion into the field of speculative theology.

T o sum up, I would say that the differences between other evangelicals and the Seventhday Adventist position are three:

(1) The unimportant and almost naive doctrine of the "investigative judgmenr."

(2) The more serious doctrine of Sab- bath-keeping, which is not sufficient to bar Seventhday Adventists from the fellowship of true Christians but which makes such fellowship very d&cult be- cause of the overtones of legalism that has a tendency to gnaw at the roots of the truth of sovereign grace to unworthy sinners; and

(3) FinaIly, the most serious differ- ence, to me, is their belief in conditional immortality (i.e.. soul-sleeping and the

anniliilation ot the lost). l.he tact that they can name the names of famous Christian theologians or thinkers who have beIieved chis error is no justifica- tion for our believing it. since it x, thoroughly contradicts the llistoric bibli- cal position. "To dcpart" is not to be unconscious 'in sleel,. but to be with Christ ''which is far I~etter." (Phil. 1:21- 23). I will save the detailed refutation of this doctrine for- a further issue.

In conclusion, 1 should like to say

I that we are delighted to do justice to a much-maligned group of sincere be- lievers, and in our minds and liearts take them out of the group of utter heretics like the Jehovah's Witnesses. Mormons, and Christian Scientists, to acknowledge them as redeemed brethren and members of the Body of Christ. I t is our sincere prayer that they may be led to consider further the points on which they are so widely divergent from the rest of the Body of Christ and in so doing promote their own spiritual growth and that of their fellow Chris- tians. END

-DAY ADVENTISM

BY WALTER R. MARTIN

Seventh-day d v e n t ~ ~ m , as a religious movement, sprang from the great second advent "awakening" which shook 1 f s H i S f 0 r i c a 1

the rel~gious world toward the middle of the nineteenth i

Durlng this particular period of theological development. speculation relatlve to the second advent of Jesus Christ had been rampant on the continent of Europe, and it was Development not long before the European ~ r o p h e t i c scheme of inter- pretation bridged the Atlantic and penetrated American theological circles.

Based largely upon the books of Daniel and Revelation from (both apocalyptic), advent theology became a topic of conversation discussed in newspapers as well as theological journals; in short, New Testament eschatological study suddenly competed with current stock market quotations for front-page space, and the "seventy weeks," "twenty-

Christian Roots three hundred days." and "the abomination of desolation" (Dan. 8, 9) became common subjects of conversation.

Following the chronology of Archbishop Ussher and interpreting the twenty-three hundred days of Daniel as literal years, many Bible students of various faiths con- cluded that Christ would come back near o r about the What was the true role of Wil- year 1843. Of this studious number was one William Miller, a Baptist minister and resident of Low Hampton, New York. who arrived a t the final date. October 22, 1844.

liam Miller in the great advent as the time when Jesus Christ would return for His saints and usher in judgment upon sin, culminating in the estab- awakening movement? lishment of the Kingdom of God upon earth.

T h e great second advent movement, which was to sweep the United States particularly in the early 184OPs, stemmed from the activities of this William Miller, who confidently relocated in Low Hampton, New York, close to the Ver- taught, beginning in the year 1818, that in "about" twenty- mont State borderline. Miller was raised by a deeply five years from that date, i.e. 1843, Jesus Christ would religious mother, but despite her zeal for his conversion come anain, o r as Miller himself put it, "I was thus brought Miller himself a t length became an infidel, and only after i n 1818vat the close of my t ~ o - ~ e a r study of the Scriptures to the solemn. conclusion that i n about twenty-five years from that time all the affairs of our present state would be wound up" (The Midzight Cry, Francis D. Kicol, p. 35, Review and Herald, Washington, D. C.).

Lest anyone reading the various accounts of the'rise nf Millerism in the United States come to the unwarranted conclusion that Miller was a "crackpot" and an uneducated tool of Satan, the following facts should be known: T h e great advent awakening movement which spanned the Atlantic from Europe was bolstered by a tremendous wave of contemporary bibIical scholarship, and, though Miller himself was uneducated, there were literally scorer and scores of interpretative prophetic scholars, both in Europe and the United States, who espoused Miller's view before he himself announced it; and in realitv his was only one more voice proclaiming the 1843!1844 fulfillment of Daniel 8:14, o r the twenty-three-hundred davs' period aIlegedly dating from 457 B.C. and ending i n 1843!1844. William Miller was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1782, and while still a young chi!d his family

This i s the first of three articles. Next month Adventist theo'ogy will be examined.

- a soul-searching experience which culminated in his con- version did he begin his preparation for the ministry in the Baptist Church. A great many books have been written about William Miller and the rise of the Millerite move- ment, but to this writer's knowledge none of them has ever accused Miller on verifiable grounds of being e i ~ h e r dis- honest or deceptive in his prophetic interpretation of Scripture. Indeed, he always enjoyed the reputation among all who knew him as an honest, forthright. Christian man. One does not have to endorse the errors of Millerism and its unbiblical date-setting record, therefore, to have resFct for the historical figure of William Miller, for ~e,rr-irdless of his shortcomings Miller himself was a deeply re!igious Christiail who, had he had the benefit of a more extensive understanding of the Scriptures, most probably would never have embarked upon his date-setting career.

Ciearlv it may be seen that although Miller popularized the 1843/41 concept of Christ coming again, he was far from being alone; it we hold hiiller u p for scorr. we must also hold up a whole ream of internationally kr.own scholars who have some of the best educations i n the world but who had a "blind spot" i n p r o ~ b e t i c interpretation and so endorsed the Millerite interpretational system of

I

William Milkr

chronology. It was the Lord Jesus Christ who said. "No one knoweth the hour of my return," and at another time the Master ~la in ly stated that it was not given to us, His followers, to know the times nor the seasons "which the Father hath put in his own power." This should have been enough to deter the Milleritcs from their foolhardy quest to set a date for the return of the Lord, but, unfortunately, they persisted in their chronological speculations and suffer- ed tremendous humiliation, ridicule, and abject despair.

According to the prophetic interpretations of Whliam Miller, he had set the time for the probable return of the Lord somewhere between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844 (The Midnight Cry, p. 169). and as the time drew nigh a religious frenzy skiook the h1illerite world-the Lord was coming back!

Zealous though the followers of Miller were and terribly sincere in their faith as they must have bcen, stark dis- appointment waited them as the Jewish year "184%" .faded from time and the Lord had not Lome. As the realizabor~ that the dream closest to their hearts had not materialized mnk into the consciousness -of the disillusioned Millerites, word from William Miller was eagerly sought, and with his characteristic honesty it was ~hortly forthcoming. Wrote Miller in the very shadow of spiri-ual anguish: "Were I to live my life over again, with the same evidence that I then had, to be honest with God and man I should have to do as I have done. Although opposers said it would not come, they produced no weighty argvments. I t was evi- dently guess-work with them; and I ?hen thought, and do now, that their denial was based more on an unwillingness for the Lord to come than on any arguments leading to such conclusion. I confess rnv error, and acknowledge my disappointment; yet I still believe that the Day of the Lord is near, even at the door: and I exhort you, my brethren, to be watchful and not let that day come upon you unawares" (Memotrs of William Miller, Sylvester Bliss, p. 256).

In the wake of this stunning declaration by their leader, the Millerites strove vainly to reconcile the prophetic inter- pretation of the Scripture to which rhey had adhered with the stark reality of the fact that Christ had not come again. And with one last gasp, so to speak, Miller with reluctance endorsed what has come to be known historically as "The Seventh-month Movement" or the belief that Christ would come on October 22, 1844, the tenth day of the seventh month according to the Karaite reckoning of the Jewish Sacred Calendar (The Midnight Cry, p. 243). Once again the Millerites' hopes were lifted, and October 22, 1844 became the new battle cry for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The outcome of the "Seventh-month Movement" can best be sumnped up in the words of Dr. Josiah Litch, one of the leaders of the Millerite movement, who from his home in Philadelphia wrote on October 24 these words, "It is a cloudy and dark day here-the sheep are scattered- the Lord has not come yet" (The Midnight Cry, p. 263).

From Litch's statement, it is a simple matter to piece together the psychological framework of the Millerites in the wake of these two disappointments. They were shattered and disillusioned people-Christ had not come to cleanse the sanctuary, to usher in judgment, and to bring the world into subjugation to the "everlasting gospel." Instead, the physical sky was cloudy and dark, and the historical horizons were black with the failure of the Millerite movement. There was, understandably, terrible confusion, of which God, the Scripture tells us, is not the author.

The final phase of the Millerite movement, then, came to a close -with the "Great Disappointment" of 1844, and as the MiIlerites began to disintegrate as a movement there gradually emerged other group$ (First-day Adventists, etc.) but in our study we are concerried pri~rlarily with three distinct segments which later joined in a n indissoluble fusion eventuaIly producing the Seventh-day Adventist denomination as we know it today. William Miller, it should be noted, was never a Seventh-day Adventist and tonfessed himself that he had ."no confidence" in the "new theories" which emerged from the shambles of what was previously the Millerite movement. Dr. LeRoy Froorn of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, in the fourth volume of his masterful series The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers, p. 828-29, succinctly states exactly what Miller's position was. Wrote Dr. Froom: "Miller was out- spokenly opposed to the various new theories that had developed folIoxving October 22, 1844, in an endeavor to explain the disappointment. He deplored the call to come out of the churches that had been given, and he never accepted the distinctive positions of the Sabbatarians. The doctrine of the unconscious sleep of the dead and the final destruction of the wicked was not, he maintained, part of the original MiIlen'te position, but was introduced per- sonally by Storrs and Litch. He even came to deny the application of a parable in Thc Midnight Cry to the Seventh-month Movement and eventually went so far as to declare unequivocably that the movement was not 'a fulfillment of prophecy in any sense.' "

The theology of William Miller, then, except for his chronological speculation, differed from the Seventh-day Adventist theological interpretations in these three distinct ways: Miller denied the Seventh-day Sabbath, the doctrine of the unconscious sleep of the dead, and the final an- nihilation of the wicked-all doctrines held by the Seventh- day Adventist denomination. He also differed @ologically

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I L I ~ L c l c ~ ~ c ) ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ ; i i i c ) ~ ~ " \<;IS 11o1 c11Itci:tiiy urt~etl I)! tllc grot111 u t~ t i l 1Hciif itt ;I

~ l c t . c ~ ~ t c liclcl i l l H X L L I ~ (;reek, Aliclti-

rn, ;uncl ill 18.53 the I~e:~tlcl~r;trtcr-s 01 ~ ~ t ~ ~ v e u t c r ~ t w.ts cc~ttr;tlilctl in k+ttle .k, wlrerc it ren~airrccl u ~ ~ t i l 1903. n tlte n:ttional he:ttl(jtt:~rters wits ,ctl to 'V;tsltiugton. I ) . (:. l t e rltrcc tlistilrctivc tloc:trirtcs 111 ttt11-cl;ty Aclvciiti.;ri~, \\.lbicli were

c:viotrhly oiu~~~cr-:tte<l, will I)c tli.x.112isctl I I ~ twitlt cltltc:rs in the sccottd ;t~tcl !-<I ;trticlt:s of tltis series OII S ~ V C I I ~ ~ I -

.\s is thc ctsr rritit nmsr rrliginus movr- I I I ~ I I L \ . O I I C cxir;t~)r~Iiiritr! l ~ e r x ~ n : ~ l i ~ y ot- 11.11 c l c r ~ ~ ~ i l ~ ; t r ~ ~ ~ tllc vtuirc. I~istoi-y 01 i l ~ c R I O U ~ I . ; t t t ( I 5~.\1.1t[it-iI;i! .\cI\.ctlrixt~~ ia IIO

c . s ( < . l ~ t i ~ t t I ,) t l ~ i b I -~ I IC . . '1.11~: ( I ~ I I I ~ I I ; ~ I I I ~ ~ ~ l ~ X ~ 1 1 ~ 1 lit! 1 11 Se\ c.11 lh-tl:l! :\L!\.~HL~SIII

!<:IS E11c11 C;. \\'Itit(:. O I I ~ 01 tltc I I I O S ~ fas. c i~~;ttitlg fi;tire\ <-\cr L<I ;1p11c.;tt- I I ~ > ~ > I I tltc 11t)ri/o11 oi rcligiotts l~ih[<)rv, : t i t c I ;I c.c111-

~t.l)\c.~-\i:~l i )cr~~rt : t<r KII~I-,~. I I I ~ I I I O ~ ~ ;III(I \cork II;I\c: I J ~ : ~ I I itItt.r~t:ttely i~r;~i>ccl I)? .\tlvc,~~tists artJ tl ic~~~r~c.tl I,! tltcit- c~tct~ties xit~(c tile early ye:ir> (I! tile I I I ~ ~ \ ~ I I I ~ I I ~ ' S

ltistory. I%OI-II Jillctt (;,11tlt1 I - ~ : I ~ I I I O I I ~ I I ( ; V ~ ~ I ; I I I I , 1I:tine it1 1827, ; I I I ~ ~-c:ti-c~l ;r tlevr)ui churcl~-g~it tg .\frtitr~clisi in tile (.it! 01 I'ortla~~cl. Jlrs. l.\~itite-~ early irt her religious cx~)cric~trc, bcc;~ine known its :LII utrusuai IJcrsott. for s11e Imre wit- I I C ~ S lo rert:~in "rcvcl:~iiot~s," which she I~clievccl she h;ttl rec:eived ~ ~ I I I I Heavcn, ~ I I I C I its c;~rly ;IS tile agc of acvcateeir eln- I)r;tcccl t l ~ e ilclvvr~tis~ hit11 I>S ~ ! t e Nillcr- itcs (k. (;. If'i~ilc I.;/<* .Yhv/(/te.s, pp. (i.!-(iU}.

~tre~~clt~irs irlflrrcrttc ul)oir t11c tl~inkrrlg 01 \c\c~ttl~-J.t) \ c l \ c r ~ t i \ t e ; ~ ~ ~ t l docs to this

r~~.tttcr\ o f ittspir*ttiot~; o r :I\ Ilr. I:~OI)III it.^\ p11r it, *'Site 11eit11cr clai111ccl I I I I ~ ~ I C -

C ( . I J L ~ C I tit(, rc11c c)l i~tf:tllil)ili~y, %,lticIt i s \,t%tly tliilercl~t frotrt iz~spiratton, or tltc ~rrllucrrtc 01 ille spirit ol God illmu tllc \pirit c)f the sul)~rlissive s c r a n t and Ines- \engcr. I.rkc t l ~ c propllets of old %he illu- trtiti.ttec1 ;trttl appliccl trutll and gave :,.criil.~ttcc to her fellnw believers. S t ~ c dicl 11ot 1.1) elail11 to ~ l r e title o f propl~et, ~ ~ r c l e r r t l ~ g tc) 1~ c:~llecl ;I 'tr~cs\cnger' ant1 '\VI\ .IIIL' o f God."

.l'irc IS re:td cxtensively in tltc pi l~I i i ;~t iot t> ol t11c St-\entll-cl;ty .\tlvcrt- L I \ ~ c lotorni~~;~t ioi~ ;inti alnrost ;ill of the writill#\ of Ellen C;. White, in t lu t l i~~g 11c.r t r ~ t i r l l o n l ~ ~ , ailcl itpels free to state i11;1t t11cre <.III I)c IIO dou l )~ that hirs. \Vilitr w;ts ;I '-l)or~i ,tg:~it~" CI~risti;~n uort~;tt~ w!~o truly l i~\ct l t11c. I.orc1 Je\us <:ltrisi ;trld who tlctlicatcd l~crsell itn- >ti~ltitrgly :o chc t:tsk of 1)c:rring witne\s Tor Flirr~ .IS s l~e felt led. I t slro~rld 1)c t lc.trly uiidcr\tootl that irl sornc pl.~rcs ortl~otiox C;llristi,~rr t h m l o ~ and the in- tcrixct;~tioit~ nt Mrs. M'hitc do not agree; irt f;trt, 111 \OIIIC pl.r~ec hey are at direct

ir~g\ . I IC I I ~ J ~ tltc source oL our csyo\i- tlr)ilr. \\'c clcri\c our f;titli front the Sc I - I I J ~ III c\, .tnd o i ~ r interpretations o l 1~rol)lrecy acre all established I~efore Mrs. \Yl~itc \lrrkc or wrote tl\ercxm. We 1~01~1 i1c.1 \\.riti~~g$ in highest crteem and I)c- lie\c tlt.~t tlrc Iloly Spirit i l l u m i r ~ ~ l her 111it1t1 111 LIIC peni~itlg of tllese coun~elc r o i l ~ e Sc-\cr~tll-tl;ty .Itlvc~~tist Cllurcl~. 'I i~cii c~~ttlorr~tity wit11 biblicai, histori- c.11, .tttcl sticrttific f:tcts is truly rcmnrk- :tI)le wr led, I)ut wc clo not :~nd ne\cr I I . I \ ~ p t ~ t theln on ;I parity with Scrip- tttrc. ;I\ sllllltO f.ilscly charge."

it1 .itltliuon to this statemcrlt the iol- 1o~i11g tonlnlent from rcprcsent:~tive\ or l!ic (.c.11rr31 Confcrcncc of Seventh-tI:q .ltl\enti\t\, wl~ich is t l ~ e governing l)otl! ;11ic1 toice of Seventh-clay Ad\,cnri\itr ~ . c ~ ~ I c l ~ i c I e , clearly sratcs thc dcnon1in;r- t;c~~r:il position relative to Ellen C;. \Yliite: "Sevcntlt-day Adventists urrtlorr~l- l y i~elievc that tlie canon o r Strii~ture c It>\c.tl witI1 thc book 01 RevcI:~tir)tl. \\'c I~oltl L ~ I ; I ~ all writings and tc.itllirlgs .Ire 11, 11c juclgc-cl by ilttcl are sttl~ject tz) the 12il)lc, wl~ic-11 s ~ ~ n d s alonc .trttl r~rliquc :I\ klre W I I I ( e i111cl norm of our (::~rist~at~ I.titli. h'c (lo t ~ o t cottsider Ellert C;. l l ' l~ite to I J ~ it1 t11c c.ricgory of tlnc writer\ of t l ~ c ~ . I I I O I I of Scril~ttrrc. Her- \&.r-itit~g~ arc I rg:~rdetl by .\(l\cttiirt\ ;IS cont;tinirtg \pe- c i.tl cr~tlt~wl tl-crorti Gotl tor~cc.nrit~g per- \ot1.11 icligic~n :~nd tlic rotrtlrlc: of our ~ I ~ I I ~ I I I I I I : I ~ I ~ ~ I I . ~ ~ work. 3.1\:11 pt>rtior> of licr I itirtgh wltitl~ tl~ight I)e c I.r\sifietl as ])rt.tli(tic~~r :I< tu:111\ fc>rr~t\ :I \cry \III:IIJ ~c:rr~e~it. \ r l c l C \ ~ I I w11c.11 rlrr tlc;tlc wirh ~ t l t . l i i \ co~rlirtg or1 c .~r t l~ , hvr statelltents :IIC o r r l : .1111pIific:~tioit\ CII SiIAe propli- t.c!. Sllr tlicl not a\\rtrilc the title of

~)rol) l~c. t . I I U L si~nply :I rnessengcr of t l ~ e i .onl. "1'0 c.l;ti~n to I)c :t propl~ctcss is xon~et l~i t~g t1i;lt I I I ; I V ~ never clone . . . I ) I I L I I IY wort h;~s coverc.tl so many lirlcs 111:tt I c.;lnllot c.;~ll mysell other than :I

llles~ellxcl- scllt to i > c i l ~ l l l c s ~ l ~ e rrOlll tlic I.ortl' " ( I t ~ ~ r i r z o nnd Hrrrrltl. July 26. 1906).

\\'ljilc i t is rruc tlint Scvcntll-tl:ty htl- vcntists l~old Mrs. ll ' l~itc ancl l ~ c r writ- ings in great estccnl. t l ~ c Hil)lc is t!~rir only rulc of fairli ant1 pr:lc~irc. IVc :IS

~ ~ l l o ~ v Cl~ristia~is IXIY vio1(.11tlv t l i s :~~r rc

\vith 111cir ;~t l i t l~t lc row;~rd Xlrs. \Vhitc, i ~ u t ~ ~ o t l ~ i ~ ~ g SIIC e \e r wrote on t l ~ o ~ ( I ( I ( I F ~ I I ~ . > t..,\c,t~ti:tl t o ~ : I ~ V ; I L ~ O I ~ o r Cl~ris- ti:111 livi~rg \\-t~ultl c 11;11.;tcterize her in all! \\-;IY ;IS Iwitig otlicr than a (;ilristi;~n ~ I I

C.\c1-y SelISC o[ t l l ~ tcrn1. D. > I . C;~n~-igl~t . ' in 11is two books O I I

I<llcti (;. \Vliitc. ~I:IS gc)nc i t~ to great crit- ic.:~l clct;~il.; 1);lbt.d 1 1 1 ~ ) 1 1 his e;~rly asst)- t i i ~ t i o ~ ~ : I I I ~ l)vr>o11;11 ; t t . t~~r ; t i~~t ; t~~ce wit11 31r.;. IVl~itc., ;t11(1 I I I ; I I I ~ 111 the poir~ts whic-11 (::~rlrigltr ~ t t i ~ t c s 1ro111 the stantl- ~ ) C I ~ I I L of ;I I)(!I-\oII;I~ opi11io11 110 one is c-:11):iI)Ie c ~ f cll;~llc.ngi~~g Ior the silnplc rc.;tson that nc)l)otly ever 11:1tl source Inn- tcri;tl cnougll to qucstior~ Urc)tller Can- rig11t.s :111;11\sis. H a ~ i n g read D. 31. Call- right. E. H. j ~ ) ~ ~ e s . ;1nt1 cvcry major work on Sc\.cr~tl~-tl:ty ;\tlventisin printetl in thc Ill~itcvl St:~tes ;111tl Europe o\.cr die 1):lst fiSt):-scvcn yc:irs. L ~ I C writer. too. is 1111-

:~l,lc to t l c t c r n ~ i ~ ~ c whcthcr or not C;III- right's j~~clxnicnts wllcrc >ITS. ITIlite is c-onc-cr~rctl arc I00 1)er ccnt v;~lid. If rlic rc.;~tlc.r is scrio~~sly it~tcrrstctl in ;I cwn- 1';trisort or tl~c: two positio~is I I ~ is u~-::c.tl to rc.;ttl 1;. I). Nicol's I)ook. Ellr,n (;.

Il'hite nnrl Hrr Crilics and comp:lrc it witli C:anrigl~t's ~olunlcs. The Life o / .\l rs. E. G. It'l~ilc ;111tl Sv7w~rflr-dn?. :1{1- iar,rt~.rnt Her~ouni-ccf, a t the end of \vhicl~ rc;rding he is frcc to 111;lte up his O\CII

nrind as to the character and work o l Ellen G. White. -1.0 this writer as ;I stu- tlcnt of comparative rcl igio~~s it is irrelc-

v;~rlt wl~ethcr or not ,\ITS. Wliitc. :is ;I

I )C.~SOII \\.;IS actt1:111> cvcrythi~~; tli:~t lirotl~c~-s C:;~rlrigl~t or S i c o l procli~irn. ,-\ltc.r ;ill, site nc.vcr c.l;~itl~cd inl;tllibility lor I~crsclf, nntl. t11crcl;)l-c. to refute J11e11 (;. White ei t l~cr as ;I I)crson or tl~c.ologic;~lly is crrt;~ir~ly IIO/ to refute Sc.\entI~-d;ty i\t lvc~~tistr~ 1)c.r sc, Ir)r t l~erc

' A n ex-Adventist leader of great magnitude and a personal friend for many years of Ellen G. White. He left the movement, became a Baptist minister, and wrote much against SDA. His criticisms where they bear upon the ~ a b ? bath, soul sleep, annihilation of the wicked, the sanctuary doctrine, the investigative judgment, the spirit of prophecy as manifested in Mrs. White, and health reform in SDA are frequently well taken; however, much has changed since Canright's day and his work must be viewed in the light of current SDA theology.

are schools of interpretarion within the Seventhday Adventist movement which disagree with Ellen G. White's interpre- tations on some points, and it is signi- ficant to note that her writings are not a test of fellowship in the denomination! T o emphasize this point the Review and Herald, February 15, 1870, made the fol- lowing statement: "We therefore do not test the world in any manner by these gifts. Nor do we in our intercourse with other religious bodies who are striving to walk in the fear of God in any way make these a test of Christian character."

Another significant fact is that James White, three times President of the Gen- eral Conference of Seventh-day Adven- tists, when speaking on the work of his wife, expressly declared that "Adven- tists do not, however, make a belief in this work a test of Christian fellowship" (Review and Herald, June 13, 1871). F. M. Wilcox who for thirty-five years was editor of the Review and Herald, the Adventist denominational church paper, wrote, "In the practice of the church it has not been customary to disfellow- ship one because he did not recognize the doctrine of spiritual gifts. . . . A

member of the church should not be ex- cluded from the membership of the dlurch because of his inability to recog. nize clearly the doctrine of spiritual gifts and its application to the second advent movement" (The Testimony of Jesus, pp. 141, 143).

Today the Seventh-day Adventist de- nomination numbers over a million throughout the world, operates a total of forty-two publishing houses and pro- duces literature in more than two bun- dred languages, while publishing over three hundred periodicals, which include correspondence courses. Sabbath School lessons, etc. I n their Bible study courses, advertised over the Voice of Prophecy, their official denominational radio pro- gram, the Adventisrs have enrolled more than three million persons, and the Signs of the Times, their weekly paper, has a circulation of over a million cop- ies per month.

I n addition to their tremendous print- ed propaganda the Adventists have ex- celled in medical works on the mission field and in the United States and have numerous sanitariums and hospitals, which enjoy excellent reputations.

W e cannot hope to cover the entire scope oE Seventh-day Adventist historical development in an article of this length. However, enough has been shown to in- dicate clearly that from meager hegin- n i n e in the wake ~f the Great Disap- pointment of 1844 and the collapse of the Millerite movement, the Seventh- day 'Adventist denomination has pressed forward and expanded until today it constitutes an important segment of American Protestantism. Its theology will be the subject of our next article.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTlSM By Walter R. Martin

ex- the og- ifts

de- on tal ro- In- ier de )0l a. '3'. ro- Ire he er, 'P-

nt- ,

X -

311

ve 1s.

WHAT SEVENTH-DAY

ADVENTISTS

REALLY BELIEVE

Are the differences between Adventist and division involves a relatively small group of doc- trines which are peculiar to the Sevenrh.dav Adventist Church, and whici are not held or shared b; any other , .

orthodox Christian doctrines sufficient to deny groups- These distinctive doctrines are: (a) T h e doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary, (b) the investigative judgment.

them fellowship?

e saw in our first article of the series something of the W o r i g i n , growth and development of Seventh-day Ad- ventism as a movement. Now we shall review briefly Ad- ventist theology of today. The theology of Seventh-day Xd- ventism can be divided into three separate sections, as follows:

(1) Cardinal Doctrines of the Christian Faith: T h e doc- trine of the Trinity, the virgin birth of Christ, the perfect human nature of Christ during the incarnation, His eternal deity, the vicarious atinement of Christ on the cross for all sin, the bodily resurrection of our Lord from the grave, and His visible second advent to judge the world. On these basic fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Seventh- day Adventists are solidly in the tradition of historic ortho- dox Christianity. And without hesitation they recognize the Bible alone as the inspired, inerrant Word of God, the only rule of faith and practice.

(2) Alternate Views on Secondary Teachings: T h e second section of theological beliefs concerns alternate views on biblical doctrines, either view being admissible from the standpoint of Christian belief and argument, such as Arminianism versus Calvinism, Historicist eschatology versus Futurist, etc., so that the Adventists find themselves at times on one side and at other times on the other side

and (c) the restoration of spiritual gifts, including the "spirit of prophecy."

A concise statement of what Seventh-day Adventists do believe from an authoritative source will probably serve to establish their adherence to the basic principles of Christian theology far better than a hundred articles by a non- Adventist. Therefore, the following statement, prepared by a group of leading tlleologians of the seventh-day Adventist Church, appearing in a new book soon to be re!eased by the Keriew and Herald Publishing Association, covers the sub- ject quite thoroughly and is reproduced here by permission.

"Seventh-day Adventists believe that the unfolding light of Bible truth is progressive and is to shine 'more and more unto the ~ e r f e c t day' (Prov. 4:18). And we have sougilt to walk in the advancing light of truth. We have never driven in formal creedal stakes, and said, 'This is the truth; thus far and no farther.' Ellen G. White, one of our lead- ing writers, wrote in 1892: 'New light will ever be revealed on the Word of Cod to him who is in living connection with the Sun of Righteousness. Let no one come to thc conclusion that there is no more truth to be revealed. The diligent, prayerful seeker for truth will find precious rays of light yet to shine forth from the Word of Cod.'- (Coun- sels on Sabbath School Work, 1892, p. 34.) T h e founding fathers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church over a century ago came out of various denominational backgrounds. While all were premillennialists, some were Trinitarian; others were Arian. T h e majority were Arminians: a few Calvinists. Some insisted on immersion; a few were content with '

sprinkling. There was diversity on these points. And, as with various religious groups, our early days were charac-

relative to theological issues that have never fully been terized by transition and adjustment. A churcll was being settled throughout the history of the Christian Church. brought forth. As these men were already born-again be-

(3) Doctrines Peculiar to Seventh-day Adventism: The lievers. the initial study and emphasis was placed upon the

The Christian life is not an imitation but an inspiration

( l i \ t i~~ct ivc t(.:t(.lri~~:s o f 11ic I I ~ O V ~ I I I ~ I I ~ . ! l t~(l ~ I I C V wt :~e \illlil;ll-ly otcul,ictl it1 c lc \c lo l ) i~~g ;In ellcctive orgatli/;rtiou.

"L t l those e;~rly years rel:rrir.cly little ;~ t rent ion rv:~\ p:ticl to rli: I-e\I'~t-tive i~icri ts ol . \ T I ~ ~ I I ~ : I I ~ ~ S I I I in contrast to the (;:~l\ir)ist lx),itio~). . I ' l~e lris~c,ric (iiffc:re~i(cs o f t l ~ o t ~ ; l ~ t i l l -

\o!\ccl 11i1tl re ;~cl~c( l Ix~ck to .\ugustitle ;111d (:Irr>x)>to111. I l lc\ t l i t l riot c-o~ltcrll t l i c ~ ~ ~ \ c l v c ~ \ wit11 'n1)solure tlc'trccs.' '(1ivi11~ s o v c ~ ~ - c ~ i ~ ~ ~ t y.' '1):rrtic i11;lr clt,( t io~i , ' o r 'Ii~?rit(,(! : I ~ O I I V -

l l i ~ ~ l l t . ' N I ) ~ tli(l t l~cy. : I ( l i~-\ t , s(Y~. 10 cI(4i11e t11c II:I!IIIC of

t11c ( ; ( , ( I I I < ~ ; I ( I , 01- tliv 1)t-ol~lcr11\ 01 C!~r-istoIo~!~, i~rv(>Ivitrg L I I C (!(,it\ < , I (:111.i\t ;~ti t l t l i \ n:ltitrc (lrtrit~g t11c i ~ i c ; ~ r n ; ~ t i o ~ t : t11c 1)(.1-.>011;11ity :1n0 tl(,ity oL t l ~ c f-loly Spirit: the n:tturc. rcol)c, ; I I ) ( I < O I I I ~ J ~ ~ ~ L C I I ( : \ S of ~ l t c :1to11~111cnt: the r-eI;~tior~slrip of ::I\< LO y l c - c , o r tile f u l l ~ ~ c s s of the cloctriric of rightcoi~sncss I,!. Ltitll; arrtl the like.

"l<ut \\.it11 ~ I i c ~) ; IS\ ; I :~~C of ~ C : I T S tlte c;ulier tliversity or vie\\. on cer t ;~ in tloccrirlcs gr;ltluall!- g:~t.c w:~? to urlity of 1-iew. (:!c;tr ;111(1 ~o1111(1 pc)~itiorls were thcn taken I,y tllc gl-c:~r ru;~jot-ity o n sucli tloc.tri~~cs :ls tlie Goclllcatl, tlic tlcit! ;tti(l cicr11:11 l~t-ecxistctirc of Christ. :111(l tlie perso11;lIit) of tlic Fioly Spirit. C:lc:lr-c~~t \ icws were cst:~l)lishctl ci11 riglit- c o ~ ~ s ~ l e s s 1)y f;~irli, the trtle rel;~tionsliip of Inw and gr.~c-c. nntl O I I tlic dc ;~t l l of C:lrribt :ts the complete atonement far sin.

":\ Icw, however, iicl(l to sorne of their fornicr views. ;~nt l nt times tltese itle;~s got into print. However, for tlecatlcs tiow r l ~ c clrurclt has beerr practically a t one o n tlie I,asic truths of the Cl~rist ian faith.

I "1 I I C !cry f;~ct tlr;rt orrr ~)o\i~iorrb were now cl:trified

scc~iictl to us to 1,e sullic.icnt. O u r ~c:rchittgs, we felt, were I I

t lc;~r. .\ticl rio p;rrticul;~r st;ltenicnr of cllmige from those (

c;~rlicr itlc;is :~ppcnrcti treccss;lry. ?'otLn\ the printary em- ~ ) l i ; r \ i \ o f ;ill ~ I I I - 1c;rcling tlc~ior~iin;ition:~l literature, as \\-ell : I \ tllc contiriuot~s prc~cnt ;~t io t i s over radio a n d tele- \ i \ i o ~ i . c1111)11.1hi/c.s tlic lri\torit. f ~ ~ t i c l : i t ~ ~ e ~ r t ; ~ l s of the Chris- L ~ : I I I : : I ~ I ~ I .

"llrrt tire t h:~rgcs :1t1(1 ;1tt;1( k$ I I ; IVC 1>crsistc(I. Some coti- t i ~ l t ~ c L O g:~tlrcr rlp cluot:~tior~s frorn sotne of o u r earlier liter:~ttirc long sin<-c out o f t1;ite :~ncl print. Certain state- Incrlts :Ire c-itctl, often ~\.restctl o u t of contest. which give ;I rotnlly distortecl picture of the bcliefs a n d teachings of the Seven tli-clay . i d \ el) tist Churcll of today.

".\I1 this Itas nlarle it tlcsir;il)lc anti ncccssary for us to t lct l ;~rc o u r position ;~frc\li upor1 the xreat funciamental rc:~cliir~g\ of tlte Cllris!i:rn f:~ith. :lrld to tlcny every statement or implic;ktior~ th;lc (:l~ri.;t. tllc sccontl Person of the God- lic:rtl, W;IS not O n e with tlrc F:~tlicr froni :111 cternity, a n d ~11:lt His s:~crifice o n t l ~ c CI-oss w;is not n f r~ l l a n d con~ple te ;ctollcltlcnt. ?'hc present I)clicf o f Scvcntlt-tl;ry .r\d\.entists o n tllese great truths is c lc ;~r ; ~ r ~ t l cn~pltntic. Ant1 we feel that we should IIO longer I'e icler~tifictl with o r s t i gm;~ t i~ed for ccrt;~irl lirnitcd nntl f ;~ul ty corlcepts hcltl by some in o u r fornlntive years.

" 1 his statement shoultl therefore clullity t l ~ c stock 'cluot:rtio~rs' th;rt have been circulated :$gainst us. t l 'e a re one wit11 ou r fellow Cl~risti;trrs of clc~lr)nrin;~- tior1;tl groups it1 tlir g r c ; ~ ~ f~t~rcI :~~tre~~t : i l s ol tlte faith o ~ ~ c . c - (1t.lir.c.1-ccl t o thc u i1 l r . O u r 11vpe i\ in ;I c~t~cil ie(l . I - i ~ e r ~ . ~ r ~ i t ~ i s - tcri t~g, ;III(I S O O I I - ~ ~ L I I ~ I I ~ I I ~ Saviour."

I t is t rue tlr;~t there is ?till Lolrle literature i n prittt arltl o t ~ tlie stlelves of libraries tha t reflects soltre of the earlier positions just mentioned, bu t precautions a r e beiz~g taken to l imit further circulation a n d to present a uni- fied a n d t rue picture of Seventh-day Adventist adherence to the cardinal tloc- trines of t he Christian hit l t .

I n contrast to this develop~r~et t t in Seventh-day Adventism, it is to Ije rrotetl tha t there a r e many publications cir- culated today in evangelical bodies, tlcal- ing with the Seventh-d;iy Adverttist de- riomination that a re seemingly unaware of o r unconcerned wit11 the prescrit ~x)sit ions of the churcl~. ?'Iris writer 112s read all t he anti-Adver~tist pu1)lications issued withjn the last fifty-seven years ; ~ n d listed i n the catalogs of the Library of Congress a n d the New York Public l ibrary. Less than 20 per cent of these volumes are now u p to date o r contain the t rue Seventll-(lay Adventist posi- tions as they are stated and published irr contemporary Adventist circles.

My research has uncovered the Fact tha t not only have rrt;lny utrreplescnta- tive quotations citctl front earlier Seventh-day Advetttist public:ttions been expunged from tllr curl-errt ctlitiorls of these publicatio~rs. but tlr;tt rrl;lny of the critics of Seventh-day Adbcnttsm con- stantlv make unethical uhe oL the clilnis -the deletion of parts of sc~itcnces, anti sometimes wi~ole l);~r;igraphs in hctwccn

sentences-in order ~ e c - t ~ ~ r ! i ~ l y to irltltct [lie Adventists lor- Iroltlir~g I)elic.fs t11;rt they nlost strenuously r e j x t . ?'he abuse ~ J I ethics by some (:l~risti:rrl writers :11t(1 ~ ~ i ~ l ~ l i s l i e r s , both r t o~~-At l \ , c~~ t i \ t :irrtl Acl- \ ( . t~ t i \ t , is slrockil~g n.11c.11 O I I C I I I ; I ~ C S a (.low strrvcy 01 tl~c: ~ ~ ~ r ~ I l i ( t i t ~ g Ii~t~r;ttrir(: i~~rt)lvctl!

'1.11is writer is l)y I I O I I I ~ : I I I \ :I S ( .VCI I I~ I - tl:iy r2rlvc11tist. nor c l c ~ 1 ; I \ ;I R;~ptist a t ;ill 11oltl tlirir tIi\tirirtivc clortrincs, whicl~ we bllnll di\c.u.;s rlesc. but 311

irt~p;irti;~l study of tlic I ;~ct \ e x t c ~ i d i ~ r g over ;I sevctl-)-ear periotl, intel vic.ws wi t11

leaclcr-5 i n the Seve~~tli- t l :~y .- \ t lvc~~tist (;hurcI~, atrtl :I rhorougli ;~ccluaintance tvit11 ;I volunii~~orrs a tnour~t o f :\(i\erlti~t ; I I I < ~ ttotr-Adve~itist i ~ l l ~ ) ~ ~ < . ~ l ~ ~ l ~ l t \ . !::IS ]C(I rrle ;IS a rcse:lrch p o l c ~ ~ ~ i c i s t t o I~c l i e \ c that :I reasonable re-ev;~l r~;~t ior~ of the l~os i t io~r 01 Seventll-(lily . \ t l v c r ~ t i ~ ~ n i\ calleci k)r in ortlroclr~s c.v:~~~gclic;~l c i~c l c s toclay. -1.l1c rreetl I c ~ r - ; ~ f ) ; ~ ~ ~ ~ l o r ~ i ~ i g t l ~ e o~tr-or-l>rirrt q ~ ~ o t ; r t i t , ~ ~ s : I I I ( I ( ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ s t i o ~ l i r l ~ l e

\ ~ . I I C . I I I ~ I I ~ S tIi:it lt;~ve Iwrn rt=l~~~(li :r~t-(l 111 t 1 1 ~ . \civc~~tist d c r ~ o ~ ~ ~ i t ~ ; r t i o t ~ O I I ~ I I ~ .iI\o to be 1-ecognired by Christian ~ J I I ~ I -

li\lictr ~vi io \\.is11 to present tlte tl.trtlt. 'rr~rcl! I I O I I C is i~rterestcd nrerely it1 i \ \ ~ ~ i ~ t g 1)ooks ; I I I ~ I l ~ ; ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ l r l c t s to sell a 1 ~ 1 I I I : I ~ ( . I I I O I I ( . > , ir~c.\lx(.ti\c 01 LII(. ~111111-

l r 1 1 1 1 c . \ \ 01 tl~cir- ( r ~ ~ ~ t c ~ t t s . . c . \ c.~ttl~.clay . \ ~ ~ L . I L L L \ ~ LI IUI . ; I S ~ U I . C ~ -

11 ; i ( ( r l ) t rite EiOIc :IS [lie 111ipircc1 tcb*:l I -

I I O I I 01 ( ; o c l t o I I I ~ U . r l ~ c ~ l c rule of I:ri111 :111cl p ~ t c t i ( v . ' I ' l~e i r tlrcology ~ I I I -

I ) I ; I ( c.\ 111c o r t l l~~ t lox cloctrir~es of tllc '1 rillit). die deity and eternal precrist- c.11tc of :lcsus Christ, tlic second I'ersnl~ of t l ~ e (;otlllead, His miract~lous con- rcl'tior~ and Virgin birth, sinless t~rzrr : ; r r r ti;tturc (luring the i~lcarn:ltio~r, vicarious ; ~ t o ~ r i l ~ g t1e;rtll on the cross, 1)nclily rcc- ur-~.cc.tion, litcr;rl :lscct~sion. ~)ric.stlv

flitlr. ~)rogrc\\ivc s ; ~ ~ l c t i l i c : ~ t i t ~ ~ ~ I)y the i r t l c : l l i ~ ~ t o y i t , ;trrtl s:tlv:ctiotr I)? gr;ltc ~r lo~r t , tl~rottglt t11e blood of J e \ r ~ s C;ltri\t, i ( / > ~ r t f h - o ~ n [lie works of tlic I:I\\-. Sl~oulcl ; I I I ! O I I ~ rc:~(Iing t11is ;arti<:lc: tlcsirc pn>of 111 ~ 1 1 c okI~ci;~l Scvc~~ t l~ - t i ;~y . \ t l \ c ~ ~ t i , t 1x)sitio11 on llrcsc st;ltc.rnclrts 111c.y sl~oultl ;~tltlrc:ss :I I c t ~ c r o r I)O.;I;I~

c;lrtl u): 'l'ltc. (;c.t~ci;tl ( :or~lcre~tcc o f S ( ~ \ c ~ t t I ~ - t l ; ~ v A t l \ c ~ ~ t i \ ~ \ , l)cl):~rt~rrc~rt 1. .I.:IL.oIII:I l'itrk, \ V ; ~ s l r i t ~ ~ t o ~ ~ 12, D. C., : I I I ( ~ ( . o ~ t l i r ~ ~ t ; ~ ~ i o t ~ sull~(.icrit to co~rvir~(-c : I I I ~ 11o11e\t in \cs t i s i~ tor \<ill l)e fortll- I o ~ n i ~ ~ g ir~r~~~ccIi:~tt:Iy. i r ~ t l ~ c c;n.l> 111o11t1ls ,)I I!)>? tlte ( ; c ~ ~ c r . ~ l (:~,t~fcr-crrcc o f \(.I(.~ILII-(I;I! . l ( l r . c~~ t i> t \ tt-ill rcI(,;rsr :I

I I ~ \ V I)ook cIc;tlit~g wit11 corttetitporary S v \ e ~ r t l ~ - t l ~ y Aclvc~~ti\ t tllcology, ~ \ - l~ i c - l~ \ I I o L I I ( I s~~l)c~r~c:c l (~ i~ t ( l i \ i(l I I : I I - ; I I I I I I O I 1)11l)- l ic;~tio~ts on tlrc I J ; I \ ~ \ < ) I ; r r~ t I i~ , r i~ . r~ivc tl~c.ologic;tl po>itior~\. \ t ; ~ t i r ~ g ut~ec~uivo- (;111y tllc : ~ t l l r c r c ~ ~ t c OI the Ccrleral Con- I't:rc~~cc:, :rl~tl o l ; t l l trllc. .5ct ortlr-~l;tt . \ < I - vc~itists. to thc I I I I I ( ~ ; I I I I ~ ~ ~ I I . I ~ \ 01 tltc ,yo\f)(.l ju\t st;~tecl.

aclllerence ro tlrc c-:1rriin21 truth\ nf the gospel.

Dr. I.rKov I<. Frocrn~. one of tlic Secrerarics of thi. (;c~lc.r.rl C:o~lfcrctlcc of Sel-end-day .\tlvt-11tistz. writin: i l l a next. tl~eological publi( ; I L ~ ~ I I to I)? re1c;rsetl carry in i!)-17, cIt.;rrl> st.rtc\ LI IC S C I C I I ~ I I - clay ;\el\c~~tist ~ I C ~ I < I I I I ~ I I ; I I ~ O I I ' s r<.l>tr<li.r- ti011 01- all c x t r c ~ ~ ~ i \ ~ OI- J > ( . I - \ O I I : I ~ j ) l ) \ i -

t io~is o f tlle II;ISI t11:tt ~~~izrc - l~rc -< , t~ t l l ~ e clear teachi~~gs of t l ~ e cl~trrclt and of distortetl positio~~s wrongly ;~ttril)utetl to them. WI ires Dr. Froo~ii:

"We wholly rrjecr the ~ l ~ o u g l ~ t tliar the atoning sacrifice of Christ on Calvary was either insufficient o r incomplete. We totally reject the concept of a dual atonement. We utterly repudiate the postulate tliat human works are in any way a ground of acceptance with Cod. And we reject tlie blaspl ie~~~out and abhorrent suggestion that Satan plays any part in our salvation."

H e also lists popular "errors" in the religious world repudiated by Adven- tists: "We likewise reject the evolution hypothesis, tlre fa1l;lcy of a second proba- tion, the fant:~sy of ultiniate resroration- ism, or universalisn~, as well as spiritism, unitarianism, palitheism, ritualism, anti- nomianism, ;111d ratio~ialisnl. And we re- ject the practice of infant baptisnl ant1 baptismal regeneration."

I n addition, he states categorically: "And we similarly reject all such Roman Catholic doctrines as the superiority of tradition and tlre ir~suffrcience of Scrip- ture, the immaculate conception. t l ~ e mass and transubsta~~tiatiotl, roullnurl- ion in one kind, purgatory, penance, veneration of in~agrs, indulgences, in- vocation of sairxts, absolution, and ex- treme unction."

T h e positions presented in !]>is cover- ing statement by Dr. Froo~n, speaking as a leading authoriry OII Adver~tist liistory and tlicology, are fully supporter1 by the declaratiol~s of the General Coil- ference of Seventh-day Adventists. It is one more eviderlce that Seventll-day Ad- ventists wish to correct all misrepresen- t;itions, and any misinterpretatio~is of solrle in tlie past, and to fellowsl~il> with the other 111c111bers of the body of Christ.

The Scapegoat Teaching

One of the conilnon clr;~rges raised ;~g:~ir~st Seventli-day Adventist theology is tliat it 111akes Satan a co-sinbearer with rlic 1.t1rcl Iesus Christ. 'l'his charge is I~.~\c.tl 1 1 ~ ~ ~ 1 ~ 1.cviticus 16, where one-goat 11.;15 1;rin for a sin ofieririg and the other XI);IL w;rs sent out into the wilderne5s i r ~ tlrc Oltl 'l'etrament symbolism. T11e c c o ~ ~ t l go;~t's title was "Azazel." and S c v ~ r ~ ~ l ~ - t l ; r > Adventists, in company with :I 1run1l)cr of pronrinent scholars who

. I I V I I I ) L .ldve~itists. rl~:tint:iin that this ,ycr:lt I cprebents Satan. ' I t is the Atlvcriti~t reaching tlrat rvl~en

tile I.orrl Itsus Cl~rist rcturllc fro111

I I ( . I \ C 11 1 t i ~ I 1 I I i , , . I ~ I I ~ \ ; L C I I I C . C I O X . of

!I!(- I I I ~ I I ~ . I I I ~ ~ ~ I I I I I < ~ I I \ : I I I ( I !(.:IF\. 10 ( . I I ( I I I I C , ~ I ( . . I L : III(I t(~1~111lc tl:~! of . ] < . I I ~ \ : I ~ I . I I r I \ . I I I l)l.~tc L I ~ I O I I S;II;III. or I I I C (lc\il. I I I C i r r l l i r ~ . \ / > o ~ ~ ~ i t i l / l ? for Sa~:~rl's I-ole :IS instig;~tor or tcnil)ter to sin. ?-llc .\dvcntijts reason that Satan is indirectly involved, where guilt is concernetl, in ~ h n t he was the originator of evil 1v11o c::usecl our Iirst pnrcnts to sin ; I I I ( I ud>crcd tleatil into the world. Tlicrc- fore it is only fitring. they believe, tll;~t ;~cc.ording to the type he should be pu~iislled for his responsibility in bring- ing ;ll>out the rcbcilion of both angels ant1 men ;:gainst the Creator, and he n~ust therefore bear the retributive punishment for his responsibility in the sins of all men.

However, the Adventists repudiate co~rtpIeteIy any suggestion or implication that Satan is in any deg~ee their "sin- I)earer," pointing out that, i n the Olt l Testanlent symbolism, only the first goat was slain as a vicarious oflering. T h e sccontl goat was not killed, but sent out into the wilderness co die. And they ninintain that Satan similarly bears away to final anni1:ilation his part a n d rerponsibility as the master criminal who plotted the development of sin and has sustained it throughout rhe pcriod of God's grace toward lost men. T o quote R recognized Adventist authority:

"Now concerning my sin, Christ diet1 for my sins, (Romans 5:s). He was ivo:tnc!ed for m y transgressions and bore m y iniquities (Isaiah 53). He assumed n?y responsibilities and His blood alone cleanses me from all sin (1 John 1:7). T h e atonement for my sin is made solely b y the shed blood of Christ, for without the shedding of blood there is no re- nli\sion (Web. 9:22)."

T'lie "scapegoat," then, stands for Satan in 1.w. 16, according to Seventh- day .\tlveiitist tlleology. I t is he wlro, in the final ;~n;~lycis, is to have rolled back upon his head not only his own sins Ijut the responsibility for all the sins he h;*s cnz~sctl othrrs to commit. In their rlleolog!. S;tr;tn (toes not 7~irnrrorrsly bear t l ~ c sins of nnyonc! He Ii;ls no POI-t \%ll;~tsoe~er in the alrcatly c o ~ i ~ p l e ~ e d n~onr~ t rerz~ of the Lord Jcsus Christ. :\s Dr. Froom has succinctly said:

"Sat;rn's d c a ~ h , a thousand times over, colilcl ncvcr m;ike him a saviour in any s c ~ ~ s e x\-l~;~tmcvc~-. f Ie is tllc arch-sinner of rlic universe, the author and instiga- tor of sin. E\-en if he I~atl ncvcr sinnecl, 11e still could never save others. Xot cscn thc l~iglicst of the holy angcls could atone for our sins. Only Christ, the Crcator. the one anct only C.otl-~r~;~ri, co~lcl make a substitutiorlary atoncnrcnt lor 111cn's tr;~rls$~cssiorls. :\nd this Cllri\t (lit1 complctcly and 11crfcctly ant1 or~cc- co~--:tll on Golgotha."

?'lie literature of Sc\cnth-clay Ad- ventists in past years, and cvcn occasion-

Salvation by Law or Grace?

111 IS% :it :III ~ I I I ~ ( I V I : I I I L c o ~ ~ v o c ; ~ t i o ~ ~ of S(~\cr~rli-iI;~! .\(I\i.n[i>t lc:~(lers, 1<lIc11 (;. IV11ite ~ I I ~ O I I ~ : I S C ( ~ I I I ~ I I I ~ J C ~ S of the C ~ C I I I I ~ I I ~ I I : I ~ ~ O I I LO s~i111t1 Io1.tl11 iz111ly ~11)o1i t l ~ e ( l ( , ;~ r S C I . ~ ~ I ~ L I I - : I ~ t e ; r t I ~ i t ~ ~ o f s;tlv;t- tion 1)). g~; r tc nlo~rr tl11.1)u~tl the I)lootl of jc\us Clhri~t crlxrrt ~ I O I I I the deeds 01 tlic I;II\.. sI~lierc h;rcl I)ecri v ) n ~ c co~~tc~s ion on this point. Hut Jlrs. \\:liitc c ~ ~ ~ p l r a t i - ti111y rcjcctetl the itle:~s of a ccrt;~in scg- Itlent of .Atlventist lci~clership at t l ~ e tili~e. wl~icll heltl tli;~t salvation wns by grace, but w:rs corltirlgent in sornc r r - spcct upon the n.orks of tlic Ixw. '1-hc olfici;~l ~~os i t ion of the Scvcr~rli-d;~y Xtl- vcntist tlcnr>n~in;~tiorl dcc1:rrcs:

"l'hc lax\. c;uinot snvc thc transgressor from hi5 sin, nor irl~part po~\.er to keep him from sinning. In i~ihnite love and mercy, Gocl provides a way whcrel>y this o i ; ~ be done. He furnishes a sub- stittttk, cven Christ tlie Kightcous One to tlic in man's stead making Him to be sin [or us who knew no sin th:tt rvc 111igIit be made the righteousness of God in Him' (I1 Cor. 5:21). T h a t one is itistifieti, not by obedience to thc I; IW but I)? tllc grace t11;lt is i ~ i Christ Icsus. By :I(-ccpting Chri\t Inan is rccoticilctl to God. justified by His blood from tlie sills ot tllc 1~1st. ; ~ t ~ t l saved fro111 the po~vcr of sill I)y His indwcllit~g life. .l'lius tlle ~nspc l I)ccomcs 'LIIC poiver o f Cot1 U I I L ~ s;tlv;~tion to cvcr)onc t11;tt I)clic\ c t l~ ' (Kon~: t~~s I : i G ) . ?'his expvri- cncc is tvi-ot~glit by tllc tlivinc :~gcncy of tlie IIoly Spirit. who convinces of sir1 ;111tl Ic;~tls to thc/Sir~-liearcr. intlucting

i\-rittrr~ ulmti hi\ I~c;irt, ant1 througlr the c11;1I)li11g po\\-cx- of tllc intl~velling (;l~~-i\t . Iris lire is I)rougllt i r~to toniorrr~. i t \ to tllc tlii.ir~e ~)lcccpts. l ' l ~ c honor : I I I ~ r~tvrit < ) f t11is t\-o~~(lcrlul t r ; ~ t ~ s f o r ~ ~ ~ a - rio11 I~clor~l;\ \\-l~olly to Cllrist (I John 2: 1.2: 3: I : J<OIII:IIIS 3:ZO; 3:s-10; 7 :7 ; I ~ : ~ ~ I I ( ~ s ~ ~ I I I \ ?:8-10: 3: 17; Gal. ?:?O; lict). S:s- I? ) ." ("Ft~rltlan~ent:rI I3elicfs of C;c\ci~th-tl:c). .L\clvcntists," p. 4, of . Y ~ ~ ~ ~ r t l l ~ - t l ~ r ~ i l dzlet?list Y m r IIooh, 1956.)

Sc\cr~tl~-day ;\dventists have renctctl

r:~tIlcr violt~t~tly :t%:t ir t \ t 1 1 1 ~ ttlo(1cr11 I I . < . I I ~ I I ~ ) \ \ . : I I - ~ : I I I I ~ I I ~ J I I I ~ . I ~ ~ ~ ~ I I I ~ I I tile ( C > I I .

(1.1~1 t 1 1 . t ~ I I I C (:Ilribti.t~t II:I\ I I O I I ~ ~ I I : I ,) c 1 0 \ \ . i l l1 tllc I I I O I . : I ~ I : I \v ; I I I ( ~ t y c . c . i : ~ I l ! I 'c . t i ( : C I I I I I I I : I I I ~ ~ I I I ~ I ~ ~ S . 1 It<.> I I I : I ~ I I ~ . I ~ I ~ ,

,1 t1(1 ~ i ~ I i t l > ho. t11;tt ~ I I I I I O I I ~ I I 011t. i> I I I . I O I I I : i l ~ i t jcsus ( : I l ~ . i \ t . \ \ . I t o l l ! : t ~ ) : t ~ t I I .OIII I I I C I.I\\.. : I I I ( ~

\\-I~ilc i i 1'1i.c rri1111 : l ~ c ~ o t ~ i ! c t ~ ~ t ~ : t t i o n $)I r l t c 5 I ; I ~ \ . . I I C i, c -cr t :~i~~l\ 11ot ftcc fl.ont 111t. 111(1t:tl o I ) l ig ;~~io t~ i of C;ocl's 11tor:11

:;I\\.. Izcx t l t c ;\clvctlti>tc (:IS for o1hc.r I I I ~ O I . I I I ~ T ~ ( : I I Y I \ L I : I I I \ ) 11 i \ litkt ; I \ \ V X < I I I <

101- :I (:111.1sti.t1) ~ I I ~ I t c CItrt\ti.~~t Lrit to l i t - . I I I c.I~c;~t. 10 stc.:~I. to c o ~ t t ~ t ~ i t :~clt~ltcl-~ ' r i . I , , I ) l ; ~ s ~ ~ l ~ c : t ~ ~ c 1 ? o z ( - :IS i~ \\.as Lu. I x r t t -

L i ~ t c l to t l o sc~ I)clore <:.tlv;~r\. .\~tcl it h.ts I)(-ctr rl~eir t\nll>l~;thi~ t111o11 t l t i ~ 1)oillt. i ~ t 111c f ; ~ ( c of (crt:titt . \ I ~ ~ ~ I I ~ > I I I ~ : I I I ~ i ~ t t ~ l e ~ t t ic.5 i l l c\;tt~gc.Iit;~l tire I c ~ tIit.o~~glt t11c )(.:II-~. wl~i th I ~ ; I s 1;11-~i;lv l)ccn rc- ~ ~ ~ o t t s i l ~ l c ~ f~br c h : t r ~ c t e r i ~ i t ~ ~ tl~ctn a$ ' ~ I c ~ ~ : ~ l i \ t < . " ' I - I > . I I there :)I-c SOII IC Icg:11- i q i t tc.t~clc~~~(ic\ i l l . \ ~ I I ~ . I I I ~ \ I I I l ~ c ~ \ \ ~ i c r , 1l11.rc. ( . , I t I)(. I!,> ~ l < ) ~ t l l l . I ~ L I I \\ll:llc\cr lc.x:tli>~i, I ( ~ I : ( ~ ~ . I I ( ic\ (lo cxi\t. i t 1 110 \\.:tv itltl)tt;~l 1 1 1 ~ I ~ I I I ~ ~ : I I I ~ C I I I ~ I ~ :1cII\crr111c of \(I\ct~ri\t\ l o I I I C :o>pcl of (:llrist ;t11(1

I I I ( . c . ~ r c l i t ~ ; ~ l t l o c trittcs rhercof. I Ii\toric-:tII\. t l ~ e Sc.\cntll-il:l\ :\ti. c*tlti\c

( I < . I I ~ I I I ~ I I ; I L ~ I ) I ~ 1 1 : t i c\c.r c . I I I ~ I ~ I ; ~ ~ ~ I c ( ~ tile I>l11t)c1 t11 I V \ L I \ <:liri>t : I I I C ~ , 11;s ~ I ~ C C

:tlortt. ;is tllc 11.u~ l,:t\is for S : I ~ V : I L ~ ~ I I .

and tl:cir cn~phasis tlpon the law stems tnait~ly fro111 a (I~sirc 10 avoid thc error of ;Intinontianism.

The Doctrine of the Heavenly Sanctuary

. I ' l r i \ 1);tt-titular tloctrit~e, in its pre- setct for111 pecrtli:tr to rhc Seventh-day .\tlvc.ttti\c t lcrlo~~~irtatiot~, w;ts first pro- ~tttllg;~ red l)y I lira111 Eclson, a prominent carly :\tlvcntist, and a former Millerite tt~it~istcr. 111 tile wake of the Great I)iri;li;l~oitlt~l~cut of October 22, 1844, Etlwn rcex;tn~ined the prophecy of I);III~cI 8:I.l and the twenty-three Itur~dretl year-days, as ending in 1844. -1'his examination culminated in what is today known, among Adventists, as

the "sanctuary trutl~." Hiram Edsott came to believe that tltc I.t~rd had im- parted to hint a clearer interpretatiot~

. o l Daniel 8:14 relative to the Heavenly Sanctuary, which Edson transferred from the earlier Millerite concept of the earth as being the "s;~l~ctuary." to rec- ognition of Heaven as thc sanctuary. ;tccordix1g to Hebrews 8 ant1 !). 1nstc;ttl ol colnmitting MillcrFs error, howcvrr ant1 stating that Christ was to tottlc to cart11 in 1844 to cleanse the cartlily sanctttary by fire. Edson I,clievctl that Christ a t that time passed from the fiwt apartment of the sanctuary in heaven into the second apartment of the l~eavenly sanctuary in 1844. Christ then was to complete this final phase of His heavenly ministry, which commenced in

181-I. ; ~ r ~ t l ( O I I I C b;tth i t ) this carrh hring- ~ I I X rcw.trds ~ v . i t t l I I I I I I at Hi5 gIorio~ts \ccllntl atlvc~lt-d~stir~rrly a futttre e\.c.rtt. In a ruanuscrjpt setting forth his life ;tnd esprrience, Eclson records thc evctlt 111 tisly:

"~lfrcr I)rc:tkl;~st I wid to one of my l)l~ctllrt~rl, .l.ct tl5 go :llt<l scc :1t11I CII-

(ottr;tg. sornr or ottr bretllrc~~.' lIrc st:1rtcd. ; l l l ( l l%~llilc )J:lssitl~ tl1l-l~l1~lt :I

I:~rge ficltl I w:~s stol~l)cd ; ~ l ~ c ~ u t ~r~itl\\.;~v o f thc ficltl. Ileavt.11 sccntctl ope11 t o 111y view ;t~ltl I saw cli\rirtctly :tnti clc;trly that it~slei~tl of our f iish I'ricst coming out or the 3fost Ifoly of tltc 1Ic:lvenly Sanctu:try to come to this carth on the tenth day of t11c scventll n~onth, a t the end of the 2::00 d:~ys, I-Ie for the first time entcrcd O I I that tl:ty tllc sccotltl apartment of that s:lnctu;lry, rh;~t he had a work to perlorn1 in the 'most holy' hefore conling to this carth. T h a t EIe came to the marriage a t that time (as mentioned in the parablcs of the ten virgins); in othcr words to the ancient of days to receitc a kingclont, dominion and glor); we must wait for His return from the wedding. . . .

"While I was thus standing in the midst of the field, my comrade passed on almost beyond speaking distance before missing me. He inqnired why I was stopping so long. and I replied, T h e Lord was answering our morning prayers. hv giving light with regard to our dis:~ppointment.' "

In Ed\on's mind then, and in the minds of lnanr carly .~cIventists. Heaven containetl a literal sanctuary with a first apartment and a second apartment. constructetl long the lines of the ancient Hebrew tabernacle. According to Edson, Christ entered the second apartment of the sanctuary in 18.11 for the "first tinte." to perfortn His fin:tl jutlgntcnt work in tltc "hlosl f tol\-." o r sccotltl apartment, .ivhich woultI pl;tcc <;hrist i r l thc first apartnlcrlt of t l ~ c s:tnc:tuary

from the time of His ascension until October 22, 1844.'

This second work that the Lord was expected to perform, and which He has been carrytng out since 1814 accord- ing to Adventist theology, has been a work of "investigativc judgtnent," that Is, a review of all beliehers, covering thetr lives, their works, etc., and wlicn mzn's probationary period is closed, the Lc:rd Jcsus Chriht will come out of the heavenly sanctuary and return to earth, bringing all rewards w i t h Him, and ushering in the great and terrible day of God Almighty.

We have reserved further discussion of "the heavenly sanctuary," the "in- vestigative judgment." conditional im- mortality, annihilatior! of the wicked, and the Seventh-day Sabbath for our concluding article, : . h'ch w'll deal particu!?.~:y with tho , doctr~ne. and give a summary of i.. . reasons why,

despite such views, the writer feels that it is still possible for us to have fellow. ship with Seventhday Adventists.

T h e deviations from what is common- ly called "historic orthodox theology- embraced by Seventh-day Adventism, will therefore be the subject of our final article. I t has been the aim of this series of articles not to present an apologetic for Seventh-day Adventism, nor to whitewash their obvious deviations from the accepted theological views of orthodox Christianity, but rather to point out that all the evidence has not been considered where the Adventists are concerned, and what evidence has been presented has often been clouded by inaccuracy, lack of ethics, and distinct shortcomings of scholarly investigation. I n order to have someth ing to XI!.

against Adventism, many have beet1 COII-

tent to say anything-! However, whatcxcr else one may say about Seventll-tktY Adventism, it cannot be denied from their truly representative literature and their historic positions that they have always as a majority, held to the cardinal, fundamental doctrit~cs o i thc Christian faith which are necessary to salvation, and to the growth in ,grace that characterizes all true Christiatt 1,clievers.

This Iiteralistic interpretation is ro~r- Lrndicted by Hebrews 9:12. Christ had nl- rt-ndy entered in "once" into the holy places (Greek-Hagia, plural).

THE TRUTH ABOUT SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

n

By Walter R. Martin

ADVENTIST THEOLOGY VS.

HISTORIC ORTHODOXY t

Are there serious differences concerning cardinal

i doctrines of Christianity?

t Jn the first two articles. of this series on Seventh-day Ad-

ventism, we were concerned .clliefly with the llistory and some of the theological doctrines of the Adventist de- nomination. We saw how Seventh-day Adventism developed from the Second Advent (AIillerite) hlovement following the Great Disappointment of 1844, and that the early Ad- ventists came from varying religious back,grouncls, some orthodox and some heterodox-that is, out of hnrmony with generally accepted doctrinal teaching in particular areas. Thus, it was some years before certain segments within the main body resolved their differences a n i consolidated

1 their beliefs in a doctrinal platform acceptable to the / majority.

i ; We are concerned in this article with some of the differ- : ences between Seventh4ay Adventist theology and the rheology of "historic orthodoxy." We have two questions: (1) Are there major differences regarding the cardinal doc- trines of the Cllristian faith, between Seventh-day Adventist theology and evangelical ortllodouy? (2) Are the other differences that exist an insrrperable barrier to fellowsllip

I between Seventh-day Adventists and evangelicals? Extensive study reveals seven areas of disagreement. We

shall note these seven areas, discuss them, and attempt to

f reach a conclusion based upon all available evitlence, by- passing the morass o l prejudice accumulating Tor almost / one hundred years. (1 ) Conditional Immortality, "Sou1 Sleep" and Annihilation. I -The doctrine of "soul sleep" (unconsciousness in deadl) and the final extinction of all the wickecl, is a wrclinal tenet in the theological superstructure of the SevenB-day Ad-

! ventist Church. This presents what is probably regarded as

1 the greatest bar to hllow~hip between Advcnti~u and hei r i fellow Christians. , The doctrine of the "sleep of the soul"--though the term

is seldom used by informed Adventists--involves the prop-

This article concludes the series on Seventh-day Adventism by the : Rev. Mr. Martin. c

osition that at the death of the body the spirit, or principle of life in man, returns to God who gave it, and man as a "living soul" (Gen. 2:7) lapses into a state of unconscious ness, oblivious of passing time, pending the resurrection of the physical body. The Adventists base this doctrine upon various tests in the Bible where the word "sleep," in their thinking, is used as a synonym for "death."

For example, "them that sleep in the dust of the earth," "David is not ascended unto the heavens," "David slept with his fathers," "the dead know not anything," "in death there is no remembrance of thee," "Lazarus is not dead, but sleepeth," "they which are fallen asleep," etc., Seventh-day Adventists take to mean that man is in a temporary state of unconsciousness awaiting the resurrection, or call to life. They point out that the Bible 'never refers to "immortal souls." that it is God "who only hath immortality" (I Tim. 6:15, 16), and that immortality is declared to be a "giEt," received from Christ at the resurrection and is applicable on1 y to resurrected bodies.

Some thirty-five pages in my forthcoming book, T h e Truth About Seventh-day Adventism, is alloted to a fuller study of this problem, and its solution and refutation. So at this time it will be unnecessary to go into detail. However, the Scriptures teach that to be "absent from the body is to be present [or "at homev'-Greek] with the Lord" (I1 Cor. .5:8). and I for one do not see how any careful student of Greek today can read the first chapter of Paul's epistle to the Philippians, especially verses 21 to 23, and not come to understand that the apostle clearly meant with his choice of words that it was far better for him "to depart and be with Christ" than to remain there in the flesh, although it was needful for the Philippian Christians.

In that context the inspired apostle indisputably main- tained that "to live is Christ and to die is gain." If man, as an entity, be unconscious until the resurrection, i t cer- tainly is not gain. Again, in I1 CorintI~irtns 5:8 and that context where, although Paul states he would not desire to be "naked," that is "unclothed," until the resurrection, nevertheless, he definitely teaches that the soul will be con- .scious in the presence of the Lord until the resurrection. and that at the resurrection the soul will be clothed with an immortal body (I Cor. 15), the very image of the resurrec- tion body of our Lorcl Jesus Christ The Bible nowhm teaches what is commonly termed "soul sleep," nor is the term ever mentioned in Scripture, and we believe the Ad-

1 " Do something today that only a Christian would do. ETERNITY

1 1 9

C

ventlsts ar thrs point are srandlrlg on weak ground exe- getically.

However, it is only fair w mention that such noted scholars as William Tyndale, whose translation of the Bible was largely the basis for our King James translation; Martin Luther, great leader of the Protestant Reformation; and prior to them, John Wycliffe, himself a famous translator, all held to the doctrine of the sleep of the soul-as well as many other illustrious Christians through the centuries. This, of course does not make the doctrine true. But, one should see that if we refuse to fellowship with Seventh-day Adventists on the basis of the doctrine of the unconscious sleep of the dead then we likewise will have to refuse fellow- ship with Tyndale, Luther, Wycliffe, and a host of other Christians who held essentially that same view.

As far as this writer is concerned, although he is in defi- nite disagreement with the doctrine, it does not constitute a bar to our having fellowship with them, since the basis of fellowship is Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and coming again -"God manifest in the flesh"-and not the nature of man or the intermediate state of the soul pending the resurrection.

The doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked is felt by many to be a purely rationalistic development in Cluistiar~ theology. I t assumes that in order for the universe to be "clean" all evil will have to be annihilated that good ma\ eventually triumph. The fallacy in this thought, as I see it. is that God is not circumscribed by human concepts and methods of purging His creation. Further, what may uppea, perfectly logical to us, where a "clean universe" is corl- cerned, may be just the opposite in the divine mind. As I see it, the Bible uses no terms which could be translated "annihilate" or "reduced to nothingness." T o argue, therefore, for the annihilation of the wicked is to argue contrary to the usage of the terms employed in the Bible to describe God's final disposition of evil. Orthodox Chri\ tianity has commonly held since the early centuries of thc Christian era that God intends to punish unto the ever- lasting ages of eternity those who commit the infinite trana grcssion of rejecting Jesus Christ, the eternal Word madc flesh (Matt. 25:46; John 3:36; etc.). Seventh-day Adventists and their theological ancestors, historic Christianity con tends, have brought forth no valid scriptural evidence to the contrary, but only a rationalistic approach to what i r

admittedly a difficult but not insoluble problem. In essence, then, when the Lord Jesus Christ said i i i

Matthew 25:46. "These shall go away into everlastinp punishment," He meant precisely what He said, and to argue that in this text and others like it "everlasting punish- ment" means annihilation is contrary to the usage of the terms themselves. Insofar as historic orthodoxy is concerned. the teaching of the extinction or annihilation of the wicked is at best a speculative position, unsupported by systematic theology, good exegesis, and the application of the sound ~rinciples of hermeneutics (2) T h e Doctrine of the Sanctuary and the Investigative Judgment.-The Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary (discussed in my second article) holds that ~ h r i s t is now in the heavenly sanctuary judging who are to be accounted worthy to reign with Him; and that

January 1957 If you think you are humble en

when this work IS conlpleted Christ will return to eartit. bringing His rewards with Him. Thus, say the advent is^. Christ is ministering the benefits of the atonement which He completed on the cross. As our great high priest (Heb. 1:14, 15) Christ is interceding for us, constantly forgivirlg and cleansing us from all sin (I John 1:7,9). The "in- vestigative judgment" itself is a term and a doctrine peculiar to Seventh-dyy Adventism, and is based on an ~rminia l l interpretation of the position of the believer as opposed to the Calvinistic doctrine of the eternal security of the be iiever. According to their interpretation of salvation the .idventists hold that they may lose the benefit of redemptiorl through sin (Arrninianism), and the investigative judgkent is no more than a modified device of Arminianism, albeit unique.

The doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary and the investiga- tive judgment, which they base upon Hebrews 8 and 9, con- stitutes no real barrier to fellowship when it is understood in its symbolic meaning and not in the materialistic, and extreme literalistic sense in which some of the early Ad- ventist writers set it forth. The Adventists themselves recoE-

" nize that none of us can know of what these "heavenly things" (Heb. 9:24) are composed. God is here talking to men in language adapted to their understanding. The earthly sanctuary, and its services, was but the "shadow of heavenly things" (Heb. 8:5). - .

Contemporary Seventh-day Adventist theology accepts the

(Continued on page 38)

A middle-aged man who was a very young Christian had found in the Word of God that Christians are commanded to obey every

ordinance of man for the Lord's sake (I Pet. 2:13). Rusbing to a business appointment that involved catching a ferry boat, he found

himaelf late and tempted to do seventy in a fifty mile per hour zone.

He said to himself as he slowed down to the legal limit. 'Grd, Y w wrote the Book; 1 didn't. I am going to obey, even if it cod. my appointment." He thought he would have to wait half aa hour, bd to his utter amazement the ferry had been delayed tan minute-, and he made it. He had never known it to be late before. He thanked

the Lord who wrote the Book, learning that He holds all circumstances

in His hand; and he thanked the Lord who had given him the hmfi to obey.

tough. then you are not humble at all.

ADVENTIST THEOLOGY (Continued from page 13)

doctrine in the figurative sense as great heavenly realities, and teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is still interceding for all Christian believers before the throne of His Father. I t should be carefully observed here, that this doctrine of the investigative judgment in no way im- plies, in Seventh-day Adventist thinking. the concept of a dual or partially corn- pleted atonement; rather, Adventists em- ha size a completed, final work ac- complished by Christ alone on Calvary for them as well as all believers, which atoning sacrifice is ministered or applied by Christ as our Great High Priest in heaven above (I John 1:7,9).

As Dr. Barnhouse pointed out in his article in September the investigative judgment is purely a speculative dogma, inherent within the structure of Advent- ist theology, and when properly under- stood can offer no real objection to fellowship between Adventists and their fellow Christians. (3) The Scapegoat, a Teaching concern- ing Satan.-This particular doctrine was also discussed in the second article, where we saw that Adventists do not believe that Satan vicariously bears the sins of men. Rather, he bears only his own responsibility for the crime of tempting men to sin. It is not to be con- strued that he is a co-worker in the atonement with the Lord Jesus Christ. Though the scapegoat interpretation (of Leviticus 16), is peculiar in the light of tbe usual historic interpretation, it is not heretical. And since this area of ~dven t i s t theology does not involve a denial of the completed atonement . made by Christ alone, it certainiy cannot be cited as a legitimate reason for re- fusing to fellowship^ with the Adventists. (4) T h e Seventh-day Sabbath.-This doc- trine is just plain historical Sabbatar- ianism, which the Seventh-day Advent-

o ists took over from the Seventh-day Baptists. In the eyes of manv it smacks of legalism, especially since the Ad- ventists claim that if one does not ob- serve the seventh-day Sabbath he is in disobedience to what they believe to be one of the express commands of the moral law, or Ten Commandments as they describe it. But the Adventists also teach that those who keep Sunday in good faith and are honestly living up to all of the light that they have on the issue do not have this disobedience im- puted to them.

Contrary to this position, St. Paul tells us in the fourteenth chapter of Romans that one man esteems one day above another, others esteem every day alike and that each should be fully per- suaded in his own mind, etc. In the second chapter of Colossians, Paul also tells us thit days, feasts, ceremonials, types, etc., have all passed away at the cross. And in Colossians 2 1 6 and 17 the inspired apostle specifically mentions the Sabbaths, in the plpral, clearly indicat- ing that as far as he was concerned the Sabbath issue was closed at Calvary. (5) The Spirit of Prophecy.-The Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of the "spirit of prophecy" teaches that spiri- tual gifts did not cease with the apostolic church, but rather that they have been manifested through the years, and es- pecially so in the writings and work of Ellen G. White, prominent early leader in the Seventh-day Adventist denomina- tion. The Adventists maintain that Mrs. White was specifically guided in penning counsel and instruction to the Seventh- day Adventist denomination. They es- teem her writings highly, which one can- not understand until one digests a Suffi- cient quantity of them. he^ do not, however, put her writings on a parity with Scripture.

Adventists regard the "spirit of prophecy" counsels of Ellen G. White as counsels to the Adventist denomina- tion, and there is no reason 'why this view should prohibit Christians of other denominations from having fellowship with Adventists, so long as Adventists do not atiempt to enforce upon their fellow Christians the counsels that Mrs. White specifically directs to them. (6) Health Reform (nnclean foods, etc.). -The ministry of Mrs. White, through- out her manv years of association with the Seventh-day Adventist denomina- tion, uniformly enouraged what has been called "health reform." This term is much broader than the matter of diet. hIrs. White believed and taught that the Scriptures give the best outline for the care of the human body. Throughout her life she gave to the Seventhday Adventist denomination f r c quent counsels on health principles, in- cluding dietary matters. Many indi- viduals outside the ranks of Adventism;

looking at these dietary restrictior~s covering what they call "unclean" foods (it~clutling pork. lobsters, crabs, and vari- ous other etlibles. -which were all for 1,iclden uncler the Mosaic Inw), lrnre reasonctl that Ativentists are legalists i r ~ tl~is rc:ilnl ant1 ought instead to considrt

the~nsrlves "untlrr grace" ancl frre r r , eat a11 things. as hasctl upon Perrr's vi~iori in Arts 10:15. Herr I'rter saw a grritr sl~c.ct !tllrrl wit11 all martncr o f be;tst\. crrribing rh in~ t . 2nd fowls. 111

tl i ic tnrincction. the I.orcl speaking to Ii~m, saicl. "M7ha t God hath cleansed call not thou common or unclean."

Adventists I~old that this vision con- cerninp; the edibility of "all things" is symbolic. ant1 they quote verses 28 and 34, where Petrr says. "Cod hath showect me that I should not call any man com- mon or unclean" and adds. "Of a truth I perceive that Cod is no respectrr of persons."

In answer to the charge of Mosaic legalism, a prominent Adventist au- thority on the Old Testament, the Rev. W. E. Read, stated the denominational position when he wrote:

"It is true we refrain from eating cer- tain articles as indicated. . . . hot not because the law of Moses has any bind- ing claims upon us. Far from it. We stand fast in the liberty wherewith God has set us free. I t must be remembered that God recognized 'clean' and 'un- clean' animals at the time of the flood (Gen. 7:2. 8: 8:20), long before there was a law of Moses. We simply reason ,

that if God .saw fit to coilnsel His people j then that such things were not best for l1111nar1 tonsirn~ption. and since we are ' phvsicnllv concrit~lretl as are the Jews : and 311 otljrr people. that such things can hardly hr the best for us to use f today.

"it is primarily a question of health. ' We atrncl, religious significance to thr question o l eating insofar as it is vital rl~at we preserve our bodies in the best hralth. This we feel is our duty and rrsponsihility. for our bodies are the rrrnplc ol t l i ? Holv Spirit (I Cor. 3:16:. 6: 19; 11 Cor. 6: 16)."

It will he seen that, in the Adventist view. c~rra in principles of the Mosaic law arr still operative today regarding '

the q~lestion of foods, just as certain other features of the Mosaic law are opcrntit.~ toclay regarding other truths tarrird nvrr frhm the Old Testament to ;Ire Nrw Tesl:~mrnt: but these are not forretl upon :\dventists in a legalistic \c;ly, exrrpt as they prrsonally feel moral rrsponsihili~v or where their conscience is ri,nrcrrlrd: 2.11~ t certain features of the Old Tesr;~nicnt law are taught in the Srxv -1rat;tlnrnt. no informed theologian will clrrly. nnrl these were not abolished ;tr Calvary (See I Sam. 14:32. 33; Deut. 6 5 : 10-12, 36. and compare with Acts rs 28. 29; 21:25; Matt. 19:19; 22:39; Rom. 13.9; Gal. 5:14).

The inembership o£ the Adventism, now past the million mark, is scattered over most of the countries of the earth. They consistently seek to use the best foods available in the various lands, as circumstances permit, while conscien- tiously avoiding that which they regard ;ts "unclean." Should any doubt that the :\dventists have some ground.on which to stand, they may check the instances where some Mosaic injunctions were carried over as moral responsibilities in the New Testament.

We may not agree with Seventh-day .Adventists on the problem of dietary health reforms, but St. Paul tells us, in Romans 11:24, that we ought not to judge another's habits, etc., but leave such judgment unto the Lord. Further. that we ought to do nothing that would cause our brethren to stumble (I Cor. & 15). Therefore, so long as Seventhday .Adventists do not attempt to enforce upon their fellow Christians these die- tary restrictions this issue, too, fails to 'justify a refusal of fellowship.

(7) The Remnant Church.-The last area of conflict between Seventhday Ad- ventism and contemporary evangelical Christianity is the "remnant church" idea, espoused by early members of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Still taught in the denomination, though in a vastly different sense from its ori- ginal conception the idea is that Ad-

.-

~tlltisis C O I S ~ X ~ U L ~ a definite part of the "remnant church," or the "'remnant people" of God, of the last days. But they just as staunchly maintain that God's true children, scattered through all faiths, are likewise included in this "remnant," in contradistinction to some early writers in the movement who main- tained that the term "remnant" applied only to Seventhday Adventists.

These early writers, in their formative days, developed the idea that the 144,- 000, mentioned in the book of Revela- tion, was the Seventhday Adventist Church in literal numbers. Such restrict- ed views have long since been repudiated by their leaders and the great majority of Adventists

Today, the tenn involves a time e l e ment-the "remnant church" indicates the great last segment of the true Chris- tian church of the Christian Era, exist- ing just befare the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Adventists fur- ther recognize that God's true followers everywhere, whom He owns as His PeopIe are true members of this -*'ran- nant," which will constitute the Bride of Christ at His glorious return to usher in the Kingdom of God.

If Seventh-day Adventist theologv actually did maintain that they alone were the chosen or "remnant &urch," and that other Christians were excluded, we might sa>- that a definite reason exist-

ed for hesitation, where fellowship with them is concerned. But the denomina- tional position today clearly recognizes all true Christians as fellow members of the Body of Christ and part of the great last day "remnant people" to be nlani- fested in the closing days of the age of grace. Some detractors still persist in quoting outmoded or unrepresentativr literature and out-of-context quotation$ not in harmony with the true denomin;,. tional position in an attempt to prow that the Adventists are rigid exc!usivists on this issue. This assertion simply is not true1 Summary

As we draw this brief resume of cur- rent Seventh-day Adventist beliefs to a close, we feel that the two questions that we set out to answer in the beginning have been satisfactorily covered in the light of verifiable contemporaq evi- dence. It is definitely possible, we believe, to have fellowship with Seventh-da? Adventists on the basis of their clear fundamental allegiance to the cross 01 Jesus Christ., and to the cardinal doc- trines of the Christian faith, regarding which Seventhday Adventists are sound- ly orthodox. Despite their somewhal "heterodox" theological ideas in some areas, they are most certainly trxe be- lievers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

.As noted, the serious disagreement that might most naturally arise in three areas-sleep of the dead (and annihila- tion of the wicked); the Sabbath; and the sanctuary - investigative - judgment theory-can be greatly mollified by un- derstanding the true Adventist position on these doctrines.

The leadership of the denomination is eager to see that this position be set forth in their literature and borne out in their acrivities throughout the world. There 'is no doubt that Seventh-day Adventists desire to receive and to ex- tend the hand of fellowship to all truly within the Body of Christ. The differ- ences that exist between Seventh-day Adventist theology and accepted historic orthodoxy, do not justify the attitude which many have held toward Seventh- day Adventism of either the recent past, or the present. Were it not for the fact that many Christian writers and pub- lishers have seemingly been concerned only with selling books, pamphlets, etc.. and combatting certain phases of what they believe to be theological error in Adventist theology, instead of digging out the- true, verifiable facts and pre- senting the whole picture, the Christian public today would have a much dearer concept of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. True Seventh-day Adventism, despite its differences from us, is one with us in tbe great work of winning men to Jesus Christ and in preaching the wonders of His matchless, redeeming grace.

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

T h e long-awaited Answers to Questions on Doctrine, "prepared by a Representative Group of Seventh-day

Adventist Leaders, Bible Teachers, and Editors," has come from the Dress. I t is the vindication of the wosition we have taken in recent months and will soon be recognized as such by all fair-minded Christians.

About three years ago the Editor-in-Chief of ETERNITY approached the Adventist leaders saying that we were as- signing the Rev. Mr. Walter R. Martin, a member of the staff of the Evangelical Foundation and Contributing Edi- tor of ETERNITY, to make a study of their doctrines. Never have we seen such cooperation, such willingness to reveal everything, such desire for Christian fellowship, and such kindness and love in all relationships.

Mr. Martin prepared scores of questions. Their answers were hammered out with us. They gathered their best teachers and editors and have now published many of these questions with 720 pages of answers! The volume is an authoritative statement-of their doctrines. They say that it is not a new statement of faith, but rather "an answer to specific questions concerning their faith." However, it is a definitive statement that lops off the writings of Adventists who have been independent of and contradictory to their sound leadership and effectively refutes many of the charges of doctrinal error that have been leveled against them. The writings of those who have in the past attacked Seventh-day Adventism in those areas are now out of date. From now on anyone who echoes these criticisms must be considered as willfully ignorant of the facts or victims of such prejudice that they are no longer to be trusted as teachers in this field.

At the same time that the Adventists issue their new vol- ume Zondervan Publishing House is releasing Walter Mar- tin's appraisal and criticism of the Adventist position. The importance of this double publication cannot be minimized. I t may be the first time in modern church history that two parties with sharp differences have prayed and talked with each other and come finally to a complete understanding of the areas of agreement and disagreement. When Mr. Martin went to the Adventist headquarters in Washington, he was given complete access to all their records. The hon- est-y of the Adventists can be seen in their attitude. When Mr. Martin asked the custodian of their vault to let him see material unfavorable to the Adventists, the man repiied, "My instructions are to give you absolutely anything that

By DONALD GREY BARNHOUSE

you ask on this matter." .411 references in Mr. Martin's vol- ume are paged to this Adventist statement. In the front of Mr. arti in's book is a statement signed by an official of the Adventist denomination that they have not been misquoted or misrepresented by Mr. Martin.

The entire Adventist volume is an expansion of the an- swer to the first question in the book. We believe it so im- portant that we are reproducing that question and answer here:

"Question 1. What doctrines do Seventh-day Adventists hold in common with Christians i n general, and in what aspects of Christian thought do they differ?

"Christians in general are divided into various schools of thought on practically every doctrine of the Bible. On some doctrines Seventhday Adventists find themselves in one group, and on other doctrines we may be classified quite differently. With some religious groups we hold many doc- trines in common. With others we may find little common doctrinal ground. We do not accept certain doctrines held by some Christians because we feel that they are not based on the Word of God.

"Practically all Seventh-day Adventist beliefs are held by one or more Christian groups. ,4 few are distinctive with us. Our beliefs could be classified in relation to the beliefs of other Christians under the following headings:

'.-I. I n Common with Conservative Christians and the Historic Protestant Creeds, W e Believe:

"1. That God is the Sovereign Creator, upholder, and ruler of the universe, and that He is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

"2. That the Godhead, the Trinity, comprises God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit.

"3. That the Scriptures are the inspired revelation of God to men; and that the Bible is the sole rule of faith and practice.

"4. That Jesus Christ is very God, and that He has ex- isted with the Father from all eternity. .

"5. That the Holy Spirit is a personal being, sharing the attributes of deity with the Father and the Son. "6. That Christ, the Word of God, became incarnate

through the miraculous conception and the virgin birth; and that He lived an absolutely sinless life here on earth.

"7. That the vicarious, atoning death of Jesus Christ, once for all, is all-sufficient for the redemption of a lost race.

im

fa'

th

Strive to be-what by the grace of God you are.

"8. That Jesus Christ arose literaily a n d l)o:llt!~ iron1 the grave. "9. That He ascended literally and bodily inro Heaven. "10. That H e now serves as our advocate in priestly

ministry and mediation before the Father. "11. That H e will return in a premillennial, personal,

imminent second advent. "12. That man was created sin!ess, but by his ~ub5equent

fall entered a state of alienation and depravity. "13. That salvation through Christ is by grace alone,

througll faith in His blood. "14. That entrance upon the new life in Christ is b?

regeneration, or the new birth. "15. That man is justified by faith. "16. That man is sanctified by the indwelling Christ

through the Holy Spirit. "17. That man will be glorified at the resrlrrecrion or

translation of the saints when the Lord returns. "18. That there will be a judgment of all nier,. "19. That the gospel is to be preached as a witness to

all the world. "11. O n Certain Conlroversial Doci~ines among Con-

servative Christians, W e Hoid One of T w o or Afore Alter- nate Views. W e Belie-~e:

"I. That man is free to choose or reject the offer of salvation through Christ; we do not belie:.e that God has predetermined that some men shall be saved and others lost.

"2. That the nloral law of ten comnlandments, or the Decalogue has nor been either changed or abolished.

"3. That baptism is to be administered by single im- mersion; we do not think that it may be adminisiered by sprinkling, pouring or trine immersion.

"4. That man was endowed at creation with coiidirion- a1 immortality; we do not believe that man has Innate im- mortality or an immortal soul.

"5. That the wicked will be punished by suffering and complete destruction in the lake of fire; we do r ~ o ~ beliete in an eternally burning hell in which souls ;re tor~nented without end.

"6. That the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath; we do not believe that the Sabbath has been abolished, changed to the first day, or is merely a se~enth part of time.

''7. That the principle of tithing is God's plan for the support of His church; we do not believe that tithing was

"12. 'That wc si~ould abstain from such practices as the use of alcolloi and tobacco; we do not believe that indulg- ence in these things is fu!ly representative of the character of our Lord.

"II I . I n a Few Areas of Chrirtian Thought , OUT DOC- trines Are Dzstinctive with Us. W e Believe:

"1. That there is a sanctuary in Heaven where Christ, our High Priest, ministers in two distinct phases of His mediatorial work.

"2. That there is to be an investigative judgment in which the destinies of all nlen are decided before Christ comes in the clouds of glory.

"3. That the spirit of prophecy, or the prophetic gift, is one of :he gifts of the Spirit promised to the church in the last days, and that that gift was manifested to the Seventh-day .%drentist Church in the work and writings of E!!~E G. XVhice.

"4. That the seal of God and the mark of the beast: mentioned in Revelation, are the symbols of the opposing forces of gond and evil in the lost great conflict before Christ comes the second time.

,'- 3. That the three angels of Revelation 14 represent the proclamation of God's last message to the world in preparaticn for the conling of our Lord."

Reproduced here are the first few pages of a 730-page beok. .An! questions about anv of these thirty-six statements set forth wi!! be found fully answered in the heart of the volsme.

What we set out to say publ~cly, rcore than a year ago, has been amply vindicated bt the answers given here. I knmv that there will be prejudiced people who -.vill not want to believe that they have been misinformed and that

(Contznued on pagc 45::

oni; for the Jews. =

"8. That God created the world in six literal da.rs; we do not believe that creation was accomplished by !ong aeons of evolutionary processes.

"9. That the correct view of prophetic icterpretation is best set forth by what is known as the historicai school; we do not accept the systems followed by either the preterists or futurists.

"10. That church and state should operate in encirely separate spheres; we do not believe that in an attempt to control men's religion or religious activities the church should dominate the state, or that the state should govern the church.

"11. That the ordinance instituted by Christ-that of washing one another's feet at the time of the Lord's Sup- per-is to be practiced; we do not believe that this wab merely an accommodation to the customs and necessities of those times.

November 1957 We need not prove, only manifest, the existence of God.

125 1

"- . >*-.?* -, 2. -. r..

R

Near the Kingsport Press in Tennessee a southbound bus makes a scheduled midday stop of twenty minutes so that passengers may freshen up and get a bite to eat. One driver said, as he brought his bus to a srop, 'Folks, we'ti be stopping here for twenty minutes. This line makes it a strict policy never to recommend an eating pbce by name, but if anybody wants me while we're here, I'll be eating r wonderful T-bone steak with French fries at Tony's first-class, spos- lessly clean diner directly across the street." Indirect adverfising is indeed.important and often more effective than the direct pitch. So is the indirect witness for Christ. The believer who reveais Christ by the way he lives, moves, walks, klks, eats, reads, pays his bills, keeps his garden free of weads and a ,hourand other details of life, will probably do more than the fanatic with the sandwich-board reading, "Prepare to meet thy God.''

ADVENTISM

their favorite allegations have been drawn iron1 quotations frolii i r i n g ~t.:tclierb rvlio do 11ot repremit ~ l i c real thought 01 tile Adventis nlo\:emcnr.

ETERNITY lost some subscribers by tell- ing the truth about the Adventists. 'This we regret. We feel sure that this was due to an apparent nlisunderstanding of the issue. We are delighted, howe\-er, that many who cancelled have renewed their subscription because they have come to understand the matter and realized that we were motivated by Christian love.

\Zre would emphasize again, as we did in our first article, that we heartily dis- agree with the Adventists on many of the doctrines. I n fact, as my already heavily burdened schedule allows, we I expect to publish biblical expositions ! showing some of what I hold to be fall- '

acies i n the S.D.A. position. Especially d o I wish to show the error i n their whole idea of conditional immortality, soul sleeping, and annihilation. 1 wish also to show the fallacy of the day-year ,

theory, which is the theory that first got : their forefathers off the track and caused the beginning of the movement. I hope , to write on the whole question of the ' law and the Sabbath.

Let it be said for the very critical that the Adventists have been most careful to spell out their disagreement with the most serious charges which have been leveled against them in the past. They call Ellen G. White, "one of our lead- ing writers" (p. 29). They say, "We test the writings of Ellen G. White by the Bible, but in n o sense d o we test the Bible by her writings" (p. 90). "While Adventists hold the writings of Ellen G. White in highest esteem, these are not the source of Gur expositions" (p. 93). And again: "While we revere [her] writ- ings, and expect all who join the church to accept the doctrine of spiritual gifts as manifested in her experience, we do not make acceptance of her writings a matter for church discipline" (p. 96). ,

"The Bible is the sole rule of faith and practice" (p. 22).

T h e most serious charge ever made against the Adventists has arisen out of a series of booklets written by one of their former workers and disavowed again and again by the responsible leaders of the church. One writer in particular set forth that Jesus Christ had a sinful human nature. T h e present volume ap- proaches this statement from several different points of view and repudiates it with horror. Because this has been made such a large issue by one "defend- er of the faith," who has attempted to pin this error on Mrs. White herself, . the Adventist leaders i n this present volume boldly present thirty-six different

quotations from the writings of Mrs. White expressing herself in the strong- est fashion in positive statements con- cerning the eternal Godhead and sinless humaL nature of our Lord. I n anpther appendix are listed more than fifty quo- tations concerning the mystery of the in- carnation in wliich Mrs. White express- es over and over the wonder of the Word made flesh and the glory of His sinlessness. T h e original difficulty arose from the fact that Mrs. White was not a trained theologian and was largely unacquainted with historical theology. She was unaware that some of her terms might be construed against her. In my opinion she lacked profundity, accuracy,

and scholarship, but she owned, honored, and taught Jesus Christ as the eternal, sinless Son of God.

While most of our readers may not wish to attempt the 720 pages of the new Adventist volume, though it is iliumin- ating in many areas, I would recommend that they purchase, read, and circulate Air. Martin's volume,' which renders obsolete every other non-Adventist book thai has been written o n the appraisal and criticism of Seventh-day Adventism.

In deep humility before God I record one final angle of this whole question. T h e .Adventists had been maligned and persecuted for decades. Regardless of whether o r not some of this was their

I I W I I Cault, they were l i u r ~ by it and w~thdrew into thmmselves. One of their forernost leaders (and they have deep rrlen of God, gifted scholars who are I ~ u r r ~ l ~ l e Christian gentlemen) remarked, " I t ~ r editors o f ETE:KEI~~Y have comnrun- ic;rlctI ruorc wit11 us in t w o years than tlrc wl~olr I'rotestant church did in over 1,lte Iiunclred years because they canie to u i l l the spirit o f C;hristian love." hforc 11i;kn I can say 1 an1 glad for this. because this is the crowning desire of my life ttrat men shall know that we are His disc-iples I~ecause we love one another ( J o h n 13:35). ENI) ! E I I R N I - I Hoi~k Service. 17 16 Spruce S~rret. i't~iiaclclphia 3. Pa. $3.50.