Part 10

In concluding this series on the Seventh-day Adventist Church, examination is given to some of the common heresies shared among the sister cults that emerged from the broader Adventist movement in the mid-nineteenth century, arising from the failed predictions of William Miller, including Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christadelphians.  In this teaching, these common doctrinal heresies shall be explored and briefly refuted.  

To wrap up this series, consideration shall be given to the different positions within Adventism, namely the traditionalists vs. the progressives.  Which side of the fence does the Adventist Church fall on today, and in the final analysis, is Seventh-day Adventism a cult?

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Part 9

It has been well said that the only distinctive doctrine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment.  This doctrine lies at the heart of Adventism and is woven into the fabric of how the Adventist Church views atonement.  In short, the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment teaches that in 1844, Jesus Christ began a work of judgment, examining the records of all professing believers to determine their worthiness to obtain heaven.  When one asks what is the standard by which they shall be judged, the answer is returned, the law of God!  According to Ellen G. White:  “All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life.”  

The doctrine of the Investigative Judgment is a damnable doctrine as it not only adds law to grace and works to faith, but it denies the finished work of the cross since it maintains that from 1844, Christ entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment, which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin (SDA Fundamental Belief 24). How can there be a final phase of atonement when Calvary WAS the final atonement?  We shall explore this at length in this teaching, along with the infamous Sanctuary doctrine.

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Part 8

When asking a well-versed Christian, “Is there anything forbidden for a Christian to eat?” they will immediately answer with a resounding “no,” then follow up with a few qualifying comments, turning to key passages in the New Testament, such as Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 and 10.  When the same question is asked to a Seventh-day Adventist, they will respond with a resounding “yes” before turning to key passages in the Old Testament, such as Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.  Who is right?  Both appeal to the Bible, yet only one can do so using the Bible as the sole authority for determining the truth.  Adventists are in a very precarious position since whether they admit it or not, in one hand they hold the Old Testament and in the other, the writings of Ellen G. White.  When asked what their source of authority is for determining all matters of faith and doctrine, they will respond by saying the Bible and God’s infallible interpreter, the Spirit of Prophecy.  

The purpose of this teaching is to examine what Seventh-day Adventists teach concerning diet and to see if it aligns with what the New Testament teaches.

Part 7

As one combs the pages of the New Testament Epistles, one will find that nine of the ten commandments written on tablets of stone are also explicitly prohibited by the New Testament writers except for one, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8).   Ironically, the only commandment of the ten, not brought across into the new, is the commandment which Seventh-day Adventists major on the most.

To understand why the Seventh-day Adventist Church places such emphasis on the seventh day, one has to first understand the emphasis placed upon this day by its prophet, Ellen G. White.  In this teaching, we shall take an in-depth look at what Mrs White and the Adventist Church teach regarding the continuing biding nature of the Sabbath and ask ourselves whether it is the same as what the Bible teaches.

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Part 6

According to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, love for Jesus Christ is manifested by one’s obedience to the Ten Commandments; without obedience to these commandments, no man shall enter the kingdom of heaven. The goal of this teaching is to establish what commandments Jesus had in mind when He said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love” (Jn. 15:10).

In addition to answering this question, consideration shall be given to arguments raised by Seventh-day Adventists to support their claim for the continuing binding nature of the Ten Commandments. 

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Part 4

Many of the misconceptions surrounding the question of this teaching arise from a failure to rightly understand the nature of a covenant.  When the children of Israel said, “…All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient” (Ex. 24:7), the ALL consisted of far more commandments than only ten.  The children of Israel committed themselves to the keeping of some 613 commandments, all of which were binding upon them. Furthermore, as one reads the passage in Exodus 24, one very quickly realises that at Mount Sinai, the Israelites were not simply agreeing to keep a set of laws; they were entering into a covenant with Yahweh, their God, that involved the sprinkling of blood.

As one reaches the end of the Book of Malachi in a Christian Bible, one passes from one covenant to another - a New Covenant not instituted with the blood of animals, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  By the bringing in of a new covenant, the first, by definition, has become old and has been made obsolete.  Once one understands this, the answer to the question, “Is the Law Binding Upon Believers” becomes an oxymoron, and the Adventist case for the continuation of the Ten Commandments is dismissed.    
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Part 3

Ellen G. White had over 2000 visions during her lifetime and the content of those visions resulted in over 100,000 pages of writings which the Seventh-day Adventist Church consider to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and a continuing and authoritative source of truth. Ellen White claimed that her visions and writings were not simply expressions of her ideas, but originated from God.

What do you call a prophet who prophesies things that don’t come to pass?  What do you call someone who steals from others' works while trying to pass them off as writings inspired by God?  In this teaching, further investigation is given to Mrs White’s prophecies and writings to determine whether or not she was a prophet called by God.
  
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Part 2

The Seventh-day Adventist Church arose out of the Great Millerite Disappointment of 1844.  The nineteenth century saw a literal explosion in the number of cults and religious groups springing up in the United States. Early on in Adventist history, Ellen G. White stamped her mark as a prophet, claiming to receive visions from God which guided and shaped the movement.

Without Ellen G. White, there is no Seventh-day Adventism.  In this teaching we take a look at the early beginnings of Seventh-day Adventism and in particular, the nature of Mrs White’s visions and the substance of her writings.  What does make of someone who teaches others one thing regarding the eating of meat, while at the same time eating meat herself?  I shall allow the evidence to speak for itself.

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Part 1

In 2023, the Seventh-day Adventist Church saw more additions to its membership than any year since its founding in 1863.  In 1961 the Seventh-day Adventist Church had a global membership of about a million.  Today they have a membership of more than 22.7 million, meeting in more than 100,000 Churches, spanning some 215 countries worldwide.  Without question, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the fastest-growing organisations in the world vastly outnumbering the global membership of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

When one goes to the official website of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to look at their statement of ‘Fundamental Beliefs’; upon first glance, one finds nothing of real concern.  They believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures, the doctrine of the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, substitutionary atonement and salvation by faith as a gift of God’s grace.  However, Seventh-day Adventists are adept at saying one thing out of one side of their mouth while taking it back out of the other.  In continuing to explore what else is included in their Fundamental Beliefs, emerging cracks begin to appear, which when further investigated reveal a rupture in the foundations!  In this introductory teaching, we shall discover what Seventh-day Adventists believe and why they are classified as a cult.

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Part 9

When one begins collating the teachings of the Christian cults, it’s no coincidence that there are many shared common beliefs that the Church has long rejected as heretical.  The doctrine in question in this ninth teaching part is no different.  While it may not be on the same damnable par as the rejection of the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ or the personhood of the Holy Spirit; to deny the immortality of the soul is a false teaching and one that must be strongly repudiated.  It should come as no surprise to learn that the Watch Tower along with its siblings – Seventh-day Adventists and Christadelphians, reject the belief in the immortality of the soul.  What is surprising is that increasingly, Evangelicals are choosing to adopt the same position as the cults regarding this doctrine.

In this teaching, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is defined and the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses are examined and refuted from the Word of God. 

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