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A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

Seventh-Day Adventism sprang from the “Great second advent awakening” which shook the religious world just before the middle of the nineteenth century, when a reemphasis about the second advent of Jesus Christ was rampant in Britain and on the continent of Europe. Before long, many of the Old World views of prophetic interpretation crossed the Atlantic and penetrated American theological circles.¹ Following the chronology of Archbishop Ussher, and interpreting the 2300 days of Daniel as 2300 years, many Bible students of various denominations concluded that Christ would come back about the year 1843. Of this studious number was one William Miller, a Baptist Minister and resident of Lower Hampton, New York.² Miller yearned for the return of Christ, and devoted himself to an intense study of Bible prophesy to find out when this will be. Unfortunately, he did not consult capable Bible scholars. In 1831 he announced he had discovered the time for Christ Second Coming. He declared confidently that it would take place in 1843. (Later he said in 1844).³ But before Miller died in 1849 he declared, “we expected the personal coming of Christ at that time; and now to contend that we were not mistaken is dishonest. We should never be ashamed frankly to confess our errors. I have no confidence in any of the theories that grew out of the movement.” Miller was a sincere, godly Christian to the end of his life.⁴

One of the theories that grew out of the movement was started by an Adventist named Hiram Edson. On October 23, 1844, the day after the scheduled return of Christ.⁵ The group headed by Hiram Edson in Western, New York proclaimed the doctrine of the sanctuary “as embracing a special or final ministry of Christ in the Holy of Holies in the heavenly sanctuary,” thus giving a new meaning to the message.(italics his).⁶

The chief expounder of this idea of a heavenly sanctuary was Mrs. Ellen G. White, who with her husband James, had helped Miller set his dates. She taught that in this heavenly sanctuary Christ went to do his “Investigative Judgment” before coming to earth.

Mrs. White was a woman of poor education but she became the real founder og the Seventh-Day Adventist Movement. She claimed to received visions and teachings by revelation. She was their acknowledge teacher and prophetess.⁷

Adventist work began in the Philippines with the arrival of Mr. L.V. Finster. Work began slowly, but by 1911 the first SDA baptisms were held. The first Filipino Adventist ministers were ordained in 1916.⁸

ANSWERS TO SDA QUESTIONS

The preceding paragraph will deal mainly with the SDA’s doctrinal teachings primarily on the Sabbath.

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. But 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.” (J.O. Sanders)

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  worshipping in the temple (Acts 2:46; 3:1; 21:26). Early Jewish disciple observed both baptism and circumcision (Acts 16:1-3). This was allowed, 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 Hebrewssaid 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 this 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  of Sunday observance?

No. Sometimes Seventh-Day Adventists say a pope changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. But 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 a 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 Nicaea’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.

Not only was the first day of the week the day Jesus was resurrected. In addition:

All Scriptures taken from the The HOLY BIBLE,  NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. Emphasis 

          ¹ Walter R. Martin. The Kingdom of the Cults, (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers, 1985), p. 411.

          ² ibid., p. 411.

          ³ Alex Wilson and Christine Tetley, Witnessing to the Cults, (Makati, Manila: Church Strengthening Ministry, 1992), p. 157.

          ⁴ ibid., p. 158.

          ⁵ ibid., p. 158.

          ⁶ Walter R. Martin. The Kingdom of the Cults, p. 415.

          ⁷ op. cit., p. 159.

          ⁸ ibid., p. 160.

          ⁹ ibid., pp. 172-183

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...”