The following is a paper that I wrote while in school. It contains zero opinion, and is Scripturally referenced.
Thomas Bowling/Seventh Day Adventism Defined and Defeated
Cults Class/Bill Bryant-Instructor
ETSPM/Winter 2011
Origin and History
The
Seventh-day Adventist Church had its roots in the Millerite movement of the
1830s and 1840s, during the period of the Second Great Awakening, and was
officially founded in 1863. Prominent figures in the early church included
Hiram Edson, James Springer White and his wife Ellen G. White, Joseph Bates,
and J. N. Andrews. Over the ensuing decades the church expanded from its
original base in New England to become an international organization.
Significant developments in the 20th century led to its recognition as a
Christian denomination. The Seventh-day Adventist Church formed out of the
movement known today as the Millerites. In 1831, a Baptist convert, William
Miller (until then a Deist), was asked by a Baptist to preach in their church
and began to preach that the Second Advent of Jesus would occur somewhere between
March of 1843 and March of 1844, based on his interpretation of Daniel 8:14. A
following gathered around Miller that included many from the Baptist,
Methodist, Presbyterian and Christian Connection churches. In the summer of
1844, some of Miller's followers promoted the date of October 22. They linked
the cleansing of the sanctuary of Daniel 8:14 with the Jewish Day of Atonement,
believed to be October 22 that year. By 1844, over 100,000 people were
anticipating what Miller had called the "Blessed Hope". On October 22
many of the believers were up late into the night watching, waiting for Christ
to return and found themselves bitterly disappointed when both sunset and
midnight passed with their expectations unfulfilled. This event later became
known as the Great Disappointment.
Pretribulation
Premillennialism
Beginning
with William Miller's teachings, Adventists have played a key role in
introducing the Bible doctrine of premillennialism in the United States. In the
appendix to his book Kingdom of the Cults
where Walter Martin explains why Seventh-day Adventists are accepted as
Orthodox Christians (see pg. 423) Martin also summarizes the key role that
Adventists played in the advancement of premillennialism in the 19th century.
"From the beginning, the Adventists
were regarded with grave suspicion by the great majority of evangelical
Christians, principally because Seventh-day Adventists were premillennial in
their teaching. That is they believed that Christ would come before the
millennium...Certain authors of the time considered premillennarians to be
peculiar... and dubbed as 'Adventist' all who held that view of
eschatology"1
However the
unique contribution of Seventh-day Adventists to this doctrine does not stop
there. Seventh-day Adventists are pre-tribulation pre-millennialists who accept
the Bible teaching on a literal 1000 years in Revelation 20 that immediately
follows the literal second coming of Christ described in Revelation 19. In
contrast to almost all pre-millennialist groups they do not believe in a 1000
year kingdom on earth during the millennium. In Adventist eschatology Christ's
promise to take the saints to His Father's house in John 14:1-3 is fulfilled at
the 2nd coming where both the living and the dead saints are taken up in the air
to meet the Lord (see 1Thess 4:13-18 ). John, the author of Revelation, calls
this moment the "first resurrection" in Revelation 20:5-6. Instead of
a Millennial Kingdom on earth, Adventists teach that there is only a desolated
earth for 1000 years and during that time the saints are in heaven with Christ
(See Jeremiah 4:23-29).
Adventist publishing
work begins with The Present Truth
On November
18, 1848, Ellen White supposedly had a vision in which God told her that her
husband should start a paper. In 1849, James, determined to publish this paper,
went to find work as a farm-hand to raise sufficient funds. They sent the publication, which was on the
topic of Sabbath, to friends and colleagues they believe would find it of
interest. Eleven issues were published in 1849 and 1850.
Choosing a Name and a
Constitution
In 1860,
the fledgling movement finally settled on the name, Seventh-day Adventist,
representative of the church's distinguishing beliefs. Three years later, on
May 21, 1863, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was formed and
the movement became an official organization.
Annual Regional Ramp Meetings
The first
annual regional camp meeting took place September, 1868. Since then, the annual
regional camp meeting has become a pattern among Seventh-day Adventists and is
still practiced today.
The Influence of
Ellen G. White
Ellen G.
White (1827–1915), while holding no official role, was a dominant personality.
She, along with her husband, James White, and Joseph Bates, moved the denomination
to a concentration on missionary and medical work. Mission and medical work
continues to play a central role in the 21st century. Under White's guidance
the denomination in the 1870s turned to missionary work and revivals, tripling
its membership to 16,000 by 1880; rapid growth continued with 75,000 members in
1901. By this time operated two colleges, a medical school, a dozen academies,
27 hospitals, and 13 publishing houses. By 1945, the church reported 226,000
members in the US and Canada, and 380,000 elsewhere; the budget was $29 million
and enrollment in church schools was 40,000. In 1960 there were 1,245,125 members worldwide
with an annual budget of over $99,900,000. Enrollment in church schools from
elementary to college was 290,000 students. As of the year 2000 there were 11,687,229
members worldwide. The global budget was $28,610,881,313. And the enrollment in
schools was 1, 065,092 students. In 2008 the global membership was 15,921,408
with a budget of $45,789,067,340. The number of students in SDA ran
universities, secondary and primary schools was 1,538,607.2
"Seventh-day"
means the observance of the original Sabbath, Saturday, and to SDA’s is still a
sacred obligation. Adventists argued that just as the rest of the Ten
Commandments had not been revised, so also the injunction to "remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy" remained in full force. This theological
point is defeated by verses such as Colossians 2:14: “Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross”-KJV. Adventists opposed Sunday laws on every side.
Many were arrested for working on Sunday. In fighting against the real threat
of a legally established National Day of worship, these Sabbatarians had to
fight for their liberty on a daily basis. Soon, they were fighting for
religious liberty on a broader, less parochial basis.
1888 General
Conference
In 1888, a
General Conference Session occurred in Minneapolis. This session involved a
discussion between the then General Conference president, G. I. Butler; editor
of the review, Uriah Smith; and a group led by E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones
about the meaning of "Righteousness by Faith" and the meaning of the
law in Romans and Galatians. Ellen G. White also addressed the conference.
Organizational
Developments
From the
early 1860s the church had three levels of government: the local church, the
conference, and the General Conference. As ideas developed, organizations came
into existence to move forward the ideas; i.e. Sabbath Schools, health reform
and medical work, printing, distribution of literature, religious liberty,
missions, etc. All moved forward under the societies formed to do so. As the work progressed, the managing of all
these societies became quite cumbersome.
As
conferences developed in far off lands, it became obvious that the General
Conference could not oversee the day to day needs of the conferences. This led
to the development of Union conferences in Australia and Europe in the late
1890s and to the development of districts in the United States. The 1901 and
1903 General Conference sessions reorganized the church's structure to include
union conferences which managed a group of local conferences in their domain.
By the end of 1904, the various society interests became incorporated as
departments in each conference's structure.4
Fundamentalism and
Progress
The early
20th-century brought with it new challenges to Adventist faith and practice.
The death of Adventist prophetess Ellen G. White in 1915 brought new questions
about how the church would continue without a living prophet. Adventist leaders
participated in a variety of Fundamentalist prophetic conferences during and
soon after World War I. The 1919 Bible Conference was a pivotal theological
event that looked at how Adventists interpreted Bible prophecy and the legacy
of Ellen White's writings for the church. The 1919 Bible Conference also had a
polarizing influence on Adventist theology with progressives such as A. G.
Daniells and W. W. Prescott pitted against traditionalists like Benjamin G.
Wilkinson, J. S. Washburn, and Claude Holmes.
Fundamentalism was dominant in the church in the early 20th century. The edited transcripts of the 1952 Bible
Conference were published as Our Firm
Foundation.
Overview
Shared
Protestant doctrines which Seventh-day Adventists have are the central
doctrines of Protestant Christianity: the Trinity, the incarnation, the virgin
birth, the substitutionary atonement, justification by faith, creation, the
second coming, the resurrection of the dead, and last judgment.
In
Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions
on Doctrine (1957), four authors outlined the core doctrines that they
share with Protestant Christianity;
"In Common With Conservative
Christians and the Historic Protestant Creeds, We 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 existed 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. 8. That Jesus Christ
arose literally and bodily from the grave. 9. That He ascended literally and
bodily into heaven. 10. That He now serves as our advocate in priestly ministry
and mediation before the Father. 11. That He will return in a premillennial,
personal, imminent second advent. 12. That man was created sinless, but by his
subsequent fall entered a state of alienation and depravity. 13. That salvation
through Christ is by grace alone, through faith in His blood. 14. That entrance
upon the new life in Christ is by 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 resurrection or
translation of the saints, when the Lord returns. 18. That there will be a
judgment of all men. 19. That the gospel is to be preached as a witness to all
the world.2
All of
these doctrines, with the exception of item 11 (regarding the premillennial
return of Christ), are widely held amongst conservative or evangelical
Protestants. (Different Protestant groups hold varying views on the
millennium.)
ANSWERS TO SDA
QUESTIONS
A. Was the Sabbath instituted at Creation?
Not only
the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Armstrong cultists, but also some
Evangelical Christians answer “yes,” because of Genesis 2:3, “...God blessed
the seventh day and made it holy because of it he rested from all the work of
creating that he had done.” According to this interpretation, the Sabbath is
therefore an eternal moral law of God which has always been in effect for all
men, and not merely part of the Old Covenant made with Israel. But Nehemiah said that the Sabbath was
revealed by God to Israel after the Exodus from Egypt. “You came down on Mount
Sinai... You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands...
through your servant Moses” (Nehemiah 9:13, 14).
If God made
the Sabbath known to them at that time, then obviously it had not been binding
on them before. Thus we conclude it had not been instituted as a law
previously.
Then why is the seventh day given special mention in Genesis
2? No doubt in anticipation. That is, when Moses wrote about the creation he
explained the reason (God’s rest) why the seventh day was selected afterwards
to be Israel’s day of rest. In the same way of anticipation or looking ahead,
Eve was called “the mother of all living” before she had any children
(Gen.3:20), and Judas was mentioned as Christ betrayer long before the betrayal
(Mark 3:19)-because the readers already knew about those events. Similarly,
Moses’ readers already knew about the institution of the Sabbath. Thus the
mention of the seventh day in Genesis does not show the Sabbath was instituted
then, but merely shows why it was instituted later. The first command in the
Bible to keep the Sabbath is in Exodus 16:22-26, given to Israel at Mt. Sinai
and repeated shortly afterwards in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8ff).
B. Christians must obey the Ten Commandments, mustn’t we?
We should
do all that God commands us, of course. But the Ten Commandments are part of
the Old Covenant made between God and Israel. Notice the introduction to them:
“And God spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God, who
brought you out of Egypt...’” (Exodus 20:1, 2). “Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I
declare in your hearing today” (Deuteronomy 5:1). (The Ten Commandments begin
at verse 6).
It is misleading to quote the Ten Commandments but leave off
the introduction which tells for whom they were intended. When they are read in their context (Exodus
19-24), the Ten Commandments are seen to inseparably connected with the Old
Covenant, while we are now under the New Covenant of Grace. On the other hand, we must recognize that
the Ten Commandments and the Old Testament do contain many principles of
behavior pleasing or not pleasing to God. These unchanging standards are repeated in the New Testament.
Examples of these “moral laws” are found in Matthew 5, where Jesus quotes from
the Ten Commandments, and then applies them to Christian behavior. Such laws
are always in effect. But the Old Covenant itself, as a code or agreement, has
passed away (Hebrews 8:13).
C. But the Sabbath is called “perpetual” (KJV, RSV) and said
to last “forever,” why?
God said,
“God said, the Israelites are to observe the Sabbath... for the generations to
come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites
forever...” (Exodus 31:16-17).
Therefore, how could it ever cease? It could cease in the same way that
several other practices related to Old Covenant worship ceased though they were
called perpetual and said to be forever: e.g. the burnt offerings (Exodus
29:42); incense (20:8); ceremonial washings (30:21); and the Passover feast
(12:14). These verses seem to mean that the practices were to be observed
forever as long as the covenant endured, for they were part of the covenant.
But now, the entire covenant has been replaced by something better, as the book
of Hebrews makes plain.
D. But Christ Himself kept the Sabbath as His regular custom
(Lk. 4:16).
Shouldn’t we follow His example? He was born
and lived “under the law,” the Old Covenant (Galatians 4:4). The Old Covenant
did not end until His death and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So during
His life it was still in effect, and he observed all its requirements, not just
the Sabbath.
E. But why did Paul regularly go to the synagogue on the
Sabbath, after the New Covenant began?
He went there in order to preach to the Jews
who gathered there every Sabbath. That was a natural opportunity to have an
audience to evangelize. Also, in the early decades of the church either
Saturday or Sunday (or both) were observed as times of worship. That was
because there was a period of overlapping of the two covenants, since it took
time for the earliest Christians, most of whom were Jews, to realize the
significance of God’s plan. Thus the Jerusalem church continued provided they
did not trust in circumcision and law observance for salvation (Galatians
5:2-4). There were many Jews in Jerusalem who had received Jesus as Messiah but
still were “zealous for the law” and Jewish customs (Acts 21:17-25). Years
after the church began, the writer to the Hebrews said that the Old Covenant
was “obsolete and aging” and would “soon disappear” (8:13). So, although the
New Covenant began with the events at Calvary and Pentecost, God allowed the
ceremonial practices of the Law to continue for a period on a voluntary basis
(Romans 14:1-3, 13). The disciples were warned, however, not to rely on them
for eternal life (Acts 15:10, 11 and many other passages). Paul himself not
only kept the Sabbath often, but also made a Jewish vow, sought to arrive at
Jerusalem in time for the feast of Pentecost, and also ceremonially purified
himself and assisted some men who were under a vow (Acts 18:18; 20-26;
21:23-26). Why did he observe these Mosaic ordinances? He explains reason in I Corinthians
9:20-22: “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the
law, I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so
as to win those under the law... I have become all things to all men so that by
all possible means I might save some.” Thus his keeping the Sabbath is not
necessarily an example or precedent for us. In fact, he wrote in Colossians
2:14, 16, 17 that Christ, “canceled the
written code, with its regulations, that was against us...; he took it away,
nailing it to the cross... Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you
eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or
a Sabbath Day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come...” Paul
clearly states here that because the Old Covenant with its legal demands has
ended (at the cross), we are not obligated to keep the Sabbath. The seventh day
cults insist that “Sabbath” in this passage does not mean weekly Sabbath but
only the monthly and annual feasts which were also rest-days or Sabbaths. But
it is obvious that “festival” refers to the yearly feasts, “new moon” to
monthly observances, and “Sabbath” to the weekly rest day. Compare Numbers 28,
which mentions various offerings: daily, weekly, monthly and annual. There is
not one bit of evidence to indicate that “Sabbath” in Colossians 2:16 means
anything different from what it means everywhere else in the New Testament: the
rest day, kept on the seventh day. And Paul says here that it has been set
aside as a legal obligation.
F. But didn’t Emperor Constantine or a pope begin the
practice?
No.
Sometimes Seventh-Day Adventists say a pope changed the Sabbath from Saturday
to Sunday. Which pope? When? Why? There
is no evidence. It is true that Constantine in AD 321 passed laws restricting
work on Sundays. But his official proclamations were merely recognition of the
practice of the church up to that time. His “Sunday laws” do not prove that
till then Sunday had not been observed, any more than the Council of Nicea’s
declaring the deity of Christ (AD 325) proves that till then the church did not
believe that doctrine! Constantine did not originate Sunday keeping, but merely
acknowledge the fact that Sunday was the day Christians had observed all along.
G. Why do Christians observe the Lord’s Day?
The SDA ask
us, “Please give chapter and verse where the Christian Church is commanded to
keep the first day of the week, or the Lord’s Day.” We quickly answer, “there
is none.” In turn we ask them, “Please cite chapter and verse where the
Christian church is commanded to observe the seventh day of the week as the
Sabbath.” In honesty they must acknowledge, “There is none.” We further ask,
“Where in the New Testament is the Christian church associated with the Sabbath?”
The simple answer is, “Nowhere.” And finally, “Where in the New Testament is
the Christian Church associated with the first day, or the Lord’s Day? In many
places as follows: The main distinction of the first day is that on this day
the Lord Jesus rose from the dead (Matthew 28:1). The word Sabbath implies a
“cessation of.” God ceased His work of creation and rested on the Sabbath.
Christ finished His work of redemption (“It is finished”) and rested on the
Sabbath. Christ truly perfected the law in His perfect sacrifice, His finished
work of redemption, and His Sabbath rest. For the Christian, Saturday or the
Sabbath is the day of the dead Christ resting in the tomb; Sunday is the day of
the living Christ, alive forever more. The Sabbath commemorates the end of the
old creation; the Lord’s Day, the beginning of the new creation.
1. It was the day when Jesus first appeared to His disciples
with a commission to evangelize (John 20:19-23).
2. On Sunday the first gospel sermon was preached about
Christ’s death and resurrection (Acts 2:1; Pentecost was always on Sunday)
3. On that day the first converts were baptized and gathered
into a Christian church (Acts 2:41).
4. On Sunday the disciples at Troas gathered together to
break bread (take the Lord’s Supper), and Paul preached to them (Acts 20:7).
5. On the first day of the week the Corinthian believers
were to lay aside their gifts for the Lord’s work (I Cor. 16:2).
For SDA’s to claim that Sunday is a pagan day because pagan
worshiped the sun on that day is as illogical as for us to claim that Saturday
is a pagan day because pagans worshiped Saturn on that day!
PROPHECY UNFULFILLED
One of the
duties of a Christian is to test the prophets. It is commanded in the Bible,
and failure to do so is disobedience to God's Word: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out
into the world” (1 John 4:1). The reason given that we are to test the prophets
is because there are "many" false ones out there. Jesus recognized
this problem would face His people in the future. "Beware of false
prophets", he warned, "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many." (Matt. 7:15, 24:11) He went on to warn that even good Christians,
intelligent people--"the very elect"--could be deceived: “For there shall arise...false
prophets...insomuch that if were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”
(Matt. 24:24). These warnings by Jesus should be enough to emphasize the
importance of validating the claims put forth by a prophet or by the followers
of a prophet. Jesus would not have bothered to make such strong statements
unless He believed His followers would face a significant threat from
"false prophets" in the future.
With so many prophets out there in the world today, how can we determine
which ones are true and which ones are false prophets? Have you ever asked
someone why they believe a prophet?
TEST #1:
Prophecies must be fulfilled
“When a
prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to
pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath
spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:22). A prophet does not have to make predictions
in order to be a prophet. A prophet is defined as "somebody who interprets
or passes on the will of a deity." (Encarta Dictionary) Typically,
however, Biblical prophets do make predictions about future events. These
predictions help to establish the claims and validity of a prophet because
knowledge of future events surpasses human ability and resides in the domain of
omnipotent power. Jeremiah writes that…”when the word of the prophet shall come
to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him”
(Jer. 28:9).
When a prophet first arises, he may not be believed by the
people at first, but when his predictions start coming to pass, then people
begin to have faith and confidence in that prophet. However, any
"prophet" can get lucky and make a guess about the future which, by
chance, comes to pass. Therefore, the Bible places a much more stringent test
upon the prophet. Moses told the people to keep a score card. If the prophet's
predictions come to pass, then keep on eye on him. If the prophet ever fails,
even once, then ignore him. He is not a true prophet. Why? Because anyone can
make a lucky guess, but only God can get the future right every single time.
This is what differentiates God's prophets from all the other false prophets in
the world. This is what sets them apart. This is how we can identify a true
prophet of God. God's prophets are correct about the future 100 percent of the
time. It is that simple.
Now, let us
examine some of the predictions made by Ellen White. As soon as you begin
analyzing Mrs. White's predictions, something becomes immediately evident. Most
of Mrs. White's specific predictions were made early in her career, and
virtually every single one of them failed to come to pass. The further she
progressed in life, the less predictions she made. If she did make a prediction, it was usually
something vague and ambiguous, such as "crime will worsen",
"cities will be more polluted", or "the earth will become more
and more corrupt." It appears that Mrs. White learned from her early
failures, and was more careful in later predictions to make them obscure and
ambiguous enough so that she could not be accused by her detractors of making
false predictions. With that in mind, let us now examine some of the
predictions she made. Remember to keep score because a true prophet of God will
never make a false prediction, not even one.
Prediction #1: Jesus will return in June, 1845
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
Ellen Harmon said "God revealed to her" that Jesus would come
in June of 1845. This is a failed prophecy.
Prediction #2: Jesus will return in September, 1845
Pass or Fail? FAILURE. Did Christ return in September of
1845? Obviously not.
Prediction #3: Whites to be thrown in Prison in 1846
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
It is obvious that the very people she told her vision to thought she
was describing an imminent imprisonment that would occur on their trip to the
east. This failed prophecy was enough to convince the people in the Maine
churches she was a false prophet, and it should be enough to convince us today!
We could stop right
here and know that, according to Deut. 18:22, we have nothing to fear from this
prophet. She has proven to be wrong, thus indicating she does not speak for
God. But let us be careful. The Bible warns us not to accept anything on the voice
of just one eyewitness.
Prediction #4: The Great Pestilence that Never Came
In 1849, Mrs. White penned these memorable words: "What
we have seen and heard of the pestilence [of 1849], is but the beginning of
what we shall see and hear. Soon the dead and dying will be all around
us." (Present Truth, Sept. 1849).
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
The "pestilence" she was describing turned out to be a local
phenomenon, not a sign of the imminent end of the world. Another prophetic
failure.
Prediction #5: Jesus to come in "months"
Pass or Fail? FAILURE. The context of this statement is
undeniable. New converts will have to learn the doctrines in a "few
months" because "now time is almost finished." The reduction in
learning time is not because new converts are smarter than the older ones, nor
is it because the Adventists developed an accelerated learning course. No, the
context clearly states the reason they will have to learn quickly: "time
is almost finished." Well, as of the end of 2011 it has been about one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two months since Mrs. White said only a
"few months" remained! She was certainly saying there were not
"years" or "decades" left, because she said that what
earlier converts had learned in "years", recent converts would have
to learn in "months." How can
this failure be explained?
Prediction #6: Some at 1856 Conference to see Jesus return.
Finally, Mrs. White concluded a 10-year string of failures
predicting the return of Christ with a notorious statement that, unlike the
previous failures, got widespread attention. She made this statement at a
church conference in 1856 and it received notoriety because it was published in
her "Testimonies to the Church" and many church members read it. Mrs.
White describes her "vision": "I was shown the company present
at the Conference. Said the angel: 'Some food for worms, some subjects of the
seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be
translated at the coming of Jesus.'" Testimonies, Vol. 1, p. 131.
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
Everyone at this conference passed away generations ago. Not
a single one was "alive" and "upon the earth to be translated at
the coming of Jesus." After this prophecy utterly failed the church was in
quandary as to what to do with this statement.
#7: Earth to be
depopulated soon.
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
Again we find the word "soon". In 1864 she said the earth
would "soon" be depopulated. Did that happen soon after 1864? Well,
by 1900 the earth's population had soared to 1.6 billion people. Today there
are over 6 billion. By 2050 there may be 25 billion people on the planet.
Because of better nutrition, advances in medicine, and improved living
conditions, each generation is living longer, healthier, stronger, and taller.
Diseases which once ravaged mankind have been eliminated or rendered harmless
by powerful medications. Sadly, all that Mrs. White could foresee in the future
was darkness, disease, and death. Had she truly had divine foresight she would
never have made this statement.
Prediction #8: Slavery to Revive in the South
Here is another infamous prediction made by Mrs. White:
"Slavery will again be revived in the Southern States; for the spirit of
slavery still lives. Therefore it will not do for those who labor among the
colored people to preach the truth as boldly and openly as they would be free
to do in other places. Even Christ clothed His lessons in figures and parables
to avoid the opposition of the Pharisees." (Spalding & Magan
Collection, page 21 and 2 MR #153, page 300)
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
Was slavery ever revived "in the Southern United States"? Of
course not! Since the Civil War ended it has been a federal crime to engage in
slavery. Since the end of the Civil War there have been a few criminal
operations that engaged in slave-labor, but when they are discovered by
authorities, they are shut down and the owners are jailed. Slavery was
permanently abolished and it will never be revived again in the United States.
Any person can choose to live and work any place they want to.
Prediction #9: Slave Masters to Suffer Seven Last
Plagues
Here Mrs. White predicts that slave masters will experience
the seven last plagues described in the book of Revelation: "I saw that
the slave master will have to answer for the soul of his slave whom he has kept
in ignorance...the master must endure the seven last plagues and then come up
in the second resurrection and suffer the second, most awful death."
(Early Writings, p. 276)
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
This "prophecy" was given in the context of the
slavery then existing in the United States. We have calculated that the oldest
slave masters in the United States died in the early 1900s, nearly 100 years
ago!
Prediction #10: Sick man to recover.
In 1873, the editor of the Swedish edition of Advent Herald,
Mr. C. Carlstedt, had become seriously ill with Typhoid fever. Mrs. White and
others were called to his bedside to pray for Carlstedt. On their way home from
the prayer meeting, Mrs. White remarked that the Lord was...
"present with his restoring power, to raise Carlstedt,
whose sickness was not unto death, but to the glory of the Son of God."
(Charles Lee, Three Important Questions for Seventh-Day Adventists to Consider)
Pass or Fail? FAILURE.
Charles Lee, who at that time was a Seventh-day Adventist
minister, was at the prayer meeting and was a witness to Mrs. White's
prediction. Sadly, Mrs. White was dead wrong. Carlstedt was dead within one
week of her statement. A horrific failed prediction.
You
Decide: Pass or Fail?
We have
cited several instances when her predictions failed. Remember, it only takes
one failure to disqualify a prophet. Even if we were generous and gave Mrs.
White credit for predicting the San Francisco earthquake--although she never
specifically said it would be an "earthquake" and the warning was
only penned in a manuscript and not published until after the event--she still
would have only made one out of twelve predictions correct. That is less than
10%. That would put her about equal with the psychics of today, who happen to
get lucky about so often. However, she is far from matching the Biblical
prophets, who were correct 100% of the time. In Bible times, you had to be
correct 100% of the time, or else you risked losing your life. Given that, it
is unlikely Mrs. White would have dared to proclaim herself the "spirit of
prophecy" back in Bible times.
Seventh Day
Adventism (SDA) is a very deceitful false religion. SDAs, more than any other false religion,
APPEAR as born again Christians. From
looking at their website, you'd never know they were unsaved. They believe in Christ's deity, the Virgin
Birth, the Godhead, etc. They teach on
their webpage that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, just as the
Word of God teaches. But don't be
fooled. This deception has led MANY
people, even Christians, to accept SDAs as "Christian." What they're NOT telling you about is their
HIDDEN heresies which they would never put forth to the public. False doctrine.
Works Cited
1Martin, Walter., Ravi K. Zacharias. The Kingdom of the Cults, Minneapolis,
MN: Bethany House, 2003, 419-20
(Print)
2Adventist.org: The Official Site of the
Seventh-day Adventist World Church. Web., 12 Jan. 2012. <http://adventist.org>.
3Seventh-Day Adventists Answer Questions on
Doctrine; an Explanation of Certain Major Aspects
of Seventh-Day Adventist Belief,. Washington: Review and Herald Pub. Association, 1957. Print.
