Seventh-day Adventists put forth a very Christian veneer. What does the official SDA doctrine teach and where did it come from? What facts won’t they tell you? They won’t tell you that they consider themselves to be the only, true, remnant Church. Their prophetess, Ellen G. White, whom they revere and believe without question has told them that “…Satan has taken full possession of the Churches”. (Spiritual Gifts V.l,p.189-90) They also believe our prayers are an “abomination” to God. (Spiritual Gifts, V1 p.190). They believe that your Christian church and pastor are the tools of Satan.
The following is information about SDA doctrine. While we may and I do know some from SDA, and they are very nice, and of good moral character What is at the core of the SDA doctrine and why are they so secretive about certain things with potential new converts and their public meetings? This and much more with the links below.
The Seventh Day Adventists: Christian or Cult? Full supporting documents and audio links from Saints Alive & The Decker Report.
Podcast: Play in new window
Dealing with Seventh-day Adventism & Their “Prophetess”
By Ed Decker
Some discernment ministries claim the Seventh Day Adventist organization is Christian. Yet, as Ed has studied this out, he can come to no other conclusion but that the organization is a cult. In this week’s program, Ed goes through the many reasons for his position and clearly explains the non-biblical foundations of that faith that put it decidedly outside Christian Orthodoxy.
What facts won’t they tell you? They won’t tell you that they consider themselves to be the only, true, remnant Church. Their prophetess, Ellen G. White, whom they revere and believe without question has told them that “…Satan has taken full possession of the Churches”. (Spiritual Gifts V.l,p.189-90) They also believe our prayers are an “abomination” to God. (Spiritual Gifts, V1 p.190). They believe that your Christian church and pastor are the tools of Satan.
They revere their founding prophetess, Ellen G. White. They believe that her writings are equal with scripture. SDA made this statement in their “Ministry” Magazine of Oct. 1981 and have never retracted it:
“We believe the revelation and inspiration of both the Bible and Ellen White’s writings to be of equal quality. The superintendence of the Holy Spirit was just as careful and thorough in one case as in the other”.
They won’t tell you too much about Ellen G. White at any of their public seminars, but their goal is to bring the person attending to the point of conversion and baptism. Their 2000 baptismal certificate poses questions to which the candidate must answer “yes”. Question 8 says,
“Do you accept the biblical teaching of spiritual gifts and believe that the gift of prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the remnant church”.
If the candidate says “yes” and is baptized, they soon learn that the “gift of prophecy” is Ellen G. White’s writings. They learn that the SDA Church is the remnant church of Bible Prophecy. They have been baptized into an exclusive group, but they don’t know how exclusive it is, yet!
No doubt they will be urged to avail themselves of a “Clear Word Bible”. This publication of theirs has inserted the words and doctrines of Ellen G. White right into the Bible text, insuring that the person studying it will have the mind of Ellen G. White.
Slowly, but surely, the new SDA will come to believe these extra-biblical doctrines that set the SDA church apart from Orthodoxy.
SDA Doctrine on Christ
Seventh-day Adventists, in the early days, denied the Trinity, but now they accept it. However, they have “leftovers” from this heresy. Ellen G. White wrote in Patriarchs and Prophets, page 761, “…He (Jesus) was revealed to them as the Angel of Jehovah, the Captain of the Lord’s Host, Michael the Archangel”.
Adventists can’t have it both ways! Either Jesus Christ is God, or He is some kind of an Angel. You can’t cover up embarrassing statements by Ellen G. White. They will never admit she was wrong – when it is “Ellen G. White or the Bible”, Ellen G. White always wins!
Doctrines on Salvation
If you receive Christ as your Saviour through the SDA’s, only your past sins, up to that moment are forgiven. Now you must get to work to earn your salvation. Ellen G. White said in the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald of 10-26-1897 this statement,
“…The terms of salvation for every son and daughter of Adam are here outlined. It is plainly stated that the condition of gaining eternal life is obedience to the commandments of God”.
Encountering the Cultist: Cults a Problem of Terminology
See Articles Here on Problems with Cult Terminology:
Of course, like most cultic groups, one of the commandments that is stressed over the rest. Since Ellen saw this commandment glowing in one of her visions, Salvation now becomes dependent on which day of the week one observes.
Modern Adventists keep sundown Friday to sundown Saturday as the Sabbath, but earlier in their history, they kept 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday.
The rest of us “Sunday keepers” are doomed to receive the “mark of the beast” and lose our eternal life. (The Spirit of Prophecy V. 4, p. 505). They sure don’t tell the investigators that.!
Christ exclaimed “It is finished” when He died for our sins, but it is not finished in Seventh-day Adventism!
EGW wrote in “The Faith I Live By” p. 211,
“At the time appointed for the judgment – the close of the 2300 days, in 1844; began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins…both the living and the dead are to be judged “out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works”. (Rev. 20:12″.
People are never told that if they become SDA’s and are baptized, a recording angel is watching their every move to determine their worthiness for eventual salvation. EGW issues this warning in The Faith I Live By, page 210,
“Every man’s work passes in review before God…Opposite each name in the books of heaven is entered, with terrible exactness, every wrong word, every selfish act, every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful dissembling. Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wasted moments, unimproved opportunities, the influence exerted for good or for evil, with its far-reaching results, all are chronicled by the recording angel.”
It’s not much fun being an Adventist and being watched constantly by that recording angel with his “terrible exactness”. Prepare to become very uptight.
Christians will say, “sure we slip sometimes into sin, but we have a mediator in Christ Jesus”.
Not in Seventh-day Adventism. Be prepared for this SDA doctrine by Ellen G. White:
“…Those who are living on the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil….”. (The Great Controversy p. 425).
Obviously they have chosen EGW’s doctrine over that stated in the Bible in Hebrews 7:25,
“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”.
Where would we all be without Christ as our mediator, EVER making intercession for us?
Christ bore our own sins in his body on the tree according to the Bible.
1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…”.
For the SDA, and it will be Satan who will eventually bear your sins! Ellen G. White wrote,
“…so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin…so Satan, bearing the guilt of all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit, will be for a thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate…”.(The Great Controversy p. 485).
False Prophecies You Won’t be Told About
Seventh-day Adventism grew despite endorsing a false date for Christ’s return. What a dubious beginning!
Ellen G. White endorsed a false prophecy by William Miller that Christ would return, first in 1843 and then 1844. Miller repented when Christ didn’t show up on his date but Ellen didn’t want to be viewed as a false prophetess for endorsing him through her visions.
The idea was concocted by one of her followers that the date was right, but the event was wrong. Ellen eagerly accepted this “out”, and this explanation was offered to explain away the false prophecy:
According to her, Christ didn’t come visibly to earth, but He, invisibly, in heaven, changed compartments from the Holy to the Most Holy in 1844 and began the work of “investigative judgment” that we have discussed previously.
This false date and its failure triggered other heresies on the atonement of Christ which continues to this day. Honest-hearted SDA’s who have pointed out the error of the 1844 investigative judgment has been shown the door. Embarrassing false prophecies by EGW have been altered, covered up, and locked up by the SDA’s. You won’t be told about them, but here are a couple more oops.
According to the bible, even One false prophecy done in the name of the Lord marks that one as a false prophet (See Deut. chapter 18).
Ellen G. White said people alive in 1856 would be translated at the 2nd coming of Jesus. (Testimonies, V1, p 131,132).
She said in Testimonies for the Church, Volume 1, p. 259, that the United States would be “…humbled into the dust” by England during the Civil War.
Cult Links to Adventism
You won’t be told at the SDA Seminars about the things they have in common with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons.
SDA’s share their early history with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. An early Adventist, N. H. Barbour co-published with Charles Taze Russell. They had a falling out over (what else?) dates for the end of the world! (1844 and 1874), and parted company.
Both, however, kept heretical doctrines to this day like Jesus being Michael the Archangel, the denial of Hell, and both still advocate soul sleep. Both invented invisible occurrences in heaven for their failed dates for Christ’s visible return, investigative judgment for the SDA’s and Christ’s invisible “presence” for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
There is Mormon link also for the SDA’s. It is a proven fact that Ellen G. White plagiarized most of her writings. The Church has been challenged by Walter Rea, author of the White Lie to prove that even 20% of her writings are original. They can’t. Their weak defense was that there were no copyright laws in Ellen’s day, so what she did was legal. You will never be told of her plagiarism by the SDA’s.
As Ellen was rising to prominence, Joseph Smith had just died. Her writings contain many phrases used by Joseph Smith. Mind you, he has also been accused of plagiarism. You will definitely not be told of her similarities to Joseph Smith at the Seminars!
Necromancy: Consulting the Dead
You really won’t be told about Ellen G. White’s engaging in necromancy, communication with the dead, expressly forbidden by God in Deuteronomy 18:10-12
“There shall not be found among you anyone…who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord…”
This particular necromancy occurred after the death of her husband James, whom she called “Father”. She recounts the experience in a letter to her son published in “The Retirement Years” p. 161 – 163.
She begins her letter by stating that she was seeking God regarding her future,
“A few days since I was pleading with the Lord for light in regard to my duty”…
It is evident she believed this dream was in response to her prayers to God. James (whom she called “Father”) appeared beside her as she was in a carriage. She reported he looked “very pale, but calm and composed”. (After all, he was dead!)
She says,
“…I saw you die; I saw you buried. Has the Lord pitied me and let you come back…?”
We are not to have conversations with the dead, but Ellen and James converse back and forth about church matters and their health. At one point James foretells the future for Ellen,
“…Now, Ellen, calls will be made as they have been, desiring you to attend important meetings…”.
James, her dead husband, goes on to tell her she must avoid taxing her strength by going to meetings and retire and write instead. He tells her
“…Make this your first business”.
Ellen now makes an agreement with her dead husband to stay in touch,
“Well, said I, James you are always to stay with me now and we will work together”.
This would involve further communication with the dead. Ellen recounted that she then awoke and took the whole matter as being from the Lord in these words…
Ellen G. White Gnostic Heresies
Additional Study Information Links:
Perverting Atonement, Cultic Highlights & Eschatology of SDA
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Greetings,
I have been to their meetings and other meetings of different denominations.
None are able to give 100 % of info at such a short time. All fail to give complete doctrines of everything.
Richard…
What we do know is troubling in light of the early history of the movement. There are many false movements. The SDA official positions as stated in the article are an issue. Soon everyone will think that Mormons are Christian also.
Thanks for your comment.
Why do you have a picture of the LAMPLIGHTER Magazine in the article about Seventh day Adventist? It is published by LION&LAMB MINISTRIES. I don’t see the connection.
David’s Ministry did a good article on it… But I get your point. I will change it up in a day or so. Good catch. 🙂
Well I’m always interested to read which arguments the opposers to Seventh Adventism have to say, but they keep copying and pasting the same kind of things, these are the same arguments that opposers have used since Ellen White’s days and SDA has published thousands of responses to those since. I have read an article full of prejudice and unknownledge from actually Seventh Day adventist true believe and practice. If you are judging fearly SDA church you should read the responses one by one and open your mind. There are many prejudice seventh day adventist who keep preaching a misunderstanding of what EGW said about other churches. The Christian world is not fallen since the Mark of the beast has not been arose. And even then only the Christian who embrace that union surrounding that power will be fallen, you’re not Babylon and you’re not Satan’s worshippers by keep the Sabbath day on Sunday it will turn that way only when the power arising enforces religious laws into the Civil rights. It is not today and no seventh day adventist in the world has the right to judge you to choose worship God on Sunday. There are son may things wrong in this article but I don’t judge the person who wrote it, I understand that it’s a SDA’s fault because they haven’t express the Jesus’s love as He’d want they did and the SDA’s doctrines have been misunderstood by the rest of the Christian world because they have been exclusivists and they have made them feel bad at it with all those wrong expressions.
This is a solid article by ministry friend Ed Decker and very well researched. We know that many splinter groups exist within the SDA like many other Christian Denominations. The article is documented and quotes and links are available for anyone to do research or respond.