Saturday, December 18, 2010

What Do They Believe?-7th Day Adventists

Beginning: 1840: William Miller (Baptist)- Preached that Jesus would return (Advent) on Oct.22, 1844. When it didn’t occur, many left Miller, others interpreted the date as correct, but as being the date that Jesus entered into the “Holiest of Holies” in heaven to begin judging Christians on the earth. This is the common understanding of the several branches of the Adventists.

Officially, after this rough start, the “7th Day Adventist Church” name was chosen and a legal body created to hold property.

View of Scripture: The standard protestant canon is accepted. The Clear Word paraphrase is favored, but SDA denies preference. Ellen G. White, an early leader is considered their “prophet” and her writings are a “continuing and authoritative source for truth” such as... . “In the health reform vision of June 6, 1863, a broad array of health principles was revealed. The next year she published a fifty-page chapter entitled "Health" in Spiritual Gifts, volume 4. In reference to swine's flesh she said: "God never designed the swine to be eaten under any circumstances" (p. 124), and in her later books she continued to emphasize the injurious consequences of eating swine's flesh.” Remember, this group originally followed Wm. Miller in his error

View of God: Originally denied the Trinity, later and now it is taught as an essential understanding.

View on Jesus: Mrs. White: "Christ took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature ... Christ took human nature and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He took our nature and its deteriorating condition" (Q.D., pp. 654-656) (cf. Jn. 14:30). According to SDA, then, Christ acquired a sinful nature! Of course, if this could have been so, there could have been no sinless sacrifice, no hope for sinners, and no Savior

Also called Michael, the arch-angel, Eternal Son incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary. Death burial and resurrection ascended into heaven, and in the sanctuary, began a work of paying for the offenses of all humanity. That work was completed Oct.22, 1844 (see above; Beginning)

View on Salvation: Legalistic- Repentance, baptism (trinity formula), live in obedience to the 10 Commandments (2 Cor.3:2-8, Gal.3:1-13). Those found obedient will be saved. Sunday worship is viewed as the Mark of the Beast.

View on Death: Death is an unconscious state for everyone. At Christ’s return the righteous will be raised for life in heaven. After 1000 yrs, the wicked will be raised for annihilation (like the Jehovah’s Witnesses). No eternal judgment of hell fire.

View on the Church: The universal church includes all who believe in Christ. The last days are a time of apostasy during which a remnant (the 7th Day Adventists) keeps God’s commandments faithfully.

Sacraments: Baptism is by full immersion, contingent upon affirming both faith in Jesus and Adventist doctrines. Baptism is into the 7th Day Adventist Church. Communion is done quarterly, including foot-washing. Vegetarianism is taught with special emphasis against swine flesh. 1 Tim 4:1-5

Other Beliefs: Humans are indivisible mind, body and spirit. Humans do not have souls. No Meat, no caffeine

MUST READ:

Rom.10:2-17, 14:17, Col. 2:8-17

" Behold, I am against the prophets, said the Lord, that use their tongues and say, He said. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, said the Lord, and do tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their lightness; yet I send them not, nor commanded them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, said the Lord." Jeremiah 23:31-32

PROPHECIES BY ELLEN G. WHITE:

"I also saw that Old Jerusalem would never be built up." Early Writings Pg 75. Old Jerusalem has been built up.

Mrs White said she would be alive when Jesus returns... "Soon our eyes were drawn to the East, for a small black cloud had appeared, about half as large as a man's hand, which we all knew was the
sign of the Son of Man...we were changed and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air." Early Writings pg 15-16.

Mrs White said in May of 1856 that some of those listening to her will live to see the return of Jesus...

Some of those that were attending a meeting with her would become food for worms, and some would live to become subjects of the seven last plagues, and some others would "remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus." Testimonies for the Church, vol 1, pg 131-132.
That statement was made over 140 years ago. Has Jesus come yet? Are any of those at that 1856 meeting still alive?

Satan is to bear our sins… "As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the scapegoat, so Christ will place those sins upon Satan..." The Great Controversy, Pg 422, 485-486 "So also was Christ offered once to TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF MANY." Hebrews 9:28.

"God is either teaching His church, reproving their wrongs and strengthening their faith, or He is not. This work is of God, or it is not. God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or of the devil. In arraying yourself against the servants of God you are doing a work either for God or for the devil." -- Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 230. E.G. White

Well said, Ms.White!

Mrs. White claimed to have received more than 3,000 "inspired counsels from the Lord" (i.e., visions) between 1844 and 1868. (From these "visions," she produced over 100,000 handwritten manuscript pages from which were published 54 books!) Therefore, SDAs have a new source of authority in their lives -- according to SDA's dogma, if an SDA does not accept Mrs. White as infallible, they have no salvation!

The Clear Word Bible: Is It the Word of God?

By Dale Ratzlaff and Verle Streifling

The Seventh-day Adventists express a firm belief in the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. Their statement of beliefs claims,
The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, are the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. In this Word, God has committed to man the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God's acts in history.
1

Despite this affirmation of the character of the Bible, the SDA Church demonstrates a different approach to Scripture in its popular Clear Word Bible. The many changes made to the biblical text in the Clear Word Bible are ultimately destructive to the integrity of God's Word.

The gravity of deliberately changing the meaning of God's word cannot be overemphasized. Psalm 138 equates the sacredness of God's Word with His holy name: "Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name." Deuteronomy 4:2 says, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it." Proverbs 30:5, 6 reiterates this point: "Every word of God is pure.Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Since God's Word is pure and truth,2 any changes to His Word will ultimately change the truth of God into a lie, with disastrous consequences.3

Christians should inquire as to why anyone would want to make numerous additions, deletions and changes to God's word. True, some Christians allow paraphrases that interpretively present God's word in order to make it plain for the current generation. What is indicated, however, when a paraphrase deliberately revises God's Word? The belief that additions, deletions and changes need to be made is a clear sign of doctrinal weakness. This article will show that The Clear Word Bible has changed God's Word so that it supports Adventist doctrines in general and writings of their prophetess, Ellen G. White, in particular. Her writings are still held by the SDA church to be "a continuing and authoritative source of truth."4 Following are just a few examples where the Clear Word Bible alters the statements of Scripture to make it line up with Adventist theology. To illustrate this assertion, several passages in the CW (The Clear Word Bible) will be compared with the KJV (King James Version or Authorized Version).

Seventh day Sabbath

Adventists teach that observing the seventh-day Sabbath is the seal of God and will become the final test of loyalty to Christ for all Christians.

Genesis 2:2-3

KJV - And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

CW - Then on the seventh day of creation week, God stopped to enjoy what He had made and to rest in the beauty of it all. So He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a day of spiritual refreshment and joy.

Note - The CW makes the seventh day part of "creation week" rather than the celebration of a finished creation.

Exodus 5:5

KJV -And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

CW - You've created enough problems by making them rest every week on your Sabbath.

Note - The CW describes the rest as occurring every week on the Sabbath, whereas in reality Moses requested an isolated three day period in which the Israelites could worship God (see verse 3 in the KJV).

Exodus 16:5

KJV - And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

CW - On the sixth day they should gather twice as much as on the other days so as to have enough for the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, the day I set aside for worship and rest.

Note - The addition "which is the Sabbath, the day I set aside for worship and rest," does not appear in any biblical manuscript.

Exodus 31:13-14, 16

KJV -Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people ...Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

CW - Say to the people, "Most importantly, remember to keep the Sabbath holy because it is a very special day for me, and it's a day of rest for you. It's a sign between you and me for all time to show that you are the people whom I have chosen and set apart. The Sabbath is holy and anyone who desecrates it by working on that day will be put to death, since that would be an act of treason against God's government. My people are to keep the Sabbath, celebrating it as a sign that they belong to me."

Note - The CW purposefully revises the text to make it appear that the Sabbath is intended for all people, not just for Israel, as the Bible teaches. In verse 13 it changes "children of Israel" to "people" and in verse 16 it changes "children of Israel" to "My people," and "a perpetual covenant" to "a sign that they belong to Me." To justify making the Sabbath observance a universal requirement it also adds, "Since that would be treason against God's government to verse 14.

Leviticus 23:3

KJV - Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

CW - There has always been the weekly Sabbath.

Note - The CW replaces the biblical institution of the Sabbath with the statement that the Sabbath has always existed.

Ezekiel 45:17

KJV - And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.

CW - It will be his duty to provide these national offerings on all appointed festivals with their special Sabbaths, including the monthly festival of the New Moon. He is to bring grain offerings, whole burnt offerings and peace offerings for an atonement for the nation as a whole.

Note - The "feasts," "new moons," and "sabbaths" respectively signify the yearly, monthly, and weekly celebrations. The phrase is a virtual formula used in numerous places in the Old Testament in both ascending and descending order. In order to prevent the weekly sabbath from being associated with the whole sacrificial system done away with by the New Covenant, the CW destroys the word order to make sabbaths refer to the yearly feasts instead of the weekly.

Acts 20:7

KJV -And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

CW - After sundown on Saturday night, the believers got together for a fellowship meal and to say good-by to Paul. That evening he spoke to them until midnight, after which he hoped to get a few hours sleep before leaving early Sunday morning.

Note - The CW calls this a Saturday night meeting, changes "break bread", a term used by the early church for communion, to a fellowship meal and to say good-by to Paul. Such revision of Scripture completely changes the focus of this verse to fit Adventist theology.

Colossians 2:16

KJV - Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.

CW - Don't let anyone control you life by giving you a set of ceremonial rules about what to eat, what to drink and what monthly festivals or special Sabbaths to keep. All these rules were given as a shadow of the reality to come and that reality is Jesus Christ.

Note - Colossians 2:16 is a very important verse in that it shows clearly that the Seventh-day Sabbath is only a shadow of Christ. This verse should be studied in its context and also compared to its Old Testament parallel, Ezekiel 45:17 (above) When the terms "festival (or equivalent), new moons and Sabbaths are used together in the Old Testament the word Sabbath always refers to the seventh-day Sabbath. Also, these terms are usually used in either ascending or descending sequence: festival (yearly) new moons (monthly) Sabbaths (weekly) or Sabbaths (weekly), new moons (monthly), festivals (yearly).

These two well established patterns make it certain that the seventh-day Sabbath is in view in Colossians 2:16 and this fact undermines the whole SDA emphasis on the seventh-day Sabbath. Note how the CB alters both Colossians 2:16 as well as the Old Testament parallel text.

Hebrews 4:4

KJV -For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

CW - That's why at creation He gave man the seventh-day Sabbath, not only as a reminder of creation week, but also as a symbol of spiritual rest. According to the Scriptures, God Himself rested on the seventh day and enjoyed this special time with man.

Note - The CW states "according to the Scriptures," but then adds to the Scriptures such phrases as the "symbol of spiritual rest" and the "special time with man."

Hebrews 4:9

KJV -There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

CW - So there still remains the offer of spiritual rest that God intends for each generation to have, of which the Sabbath is a symbol.

Note - The biblical manuscripts make no reference in this verse to spiritual rest or the Sabbath as a symbol.5

Revelation 1:10

KJV - I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.

CW - On Sabbath morning when I had gone to the rocky island shore to meditate and worship.

Note - The CW adds the concluding clause to reinforce Adventist liturgical practices.

One can see by the examples listed above that The Clear Word Bible makes numerous deletions and additions, revising the Word of God to make the Bible teach what it does not teach: the Adventist doctrine of required universal observance of the seventh-day Sabbath for all peoples.

Death and Hell

Adventists, like Jehovah Witnesses, believe in soul sleep and do not believe in hell. Note how they have changed the word of God to fit their theology.

Isaiah 66:24

KJV - And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

CW - They will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me lying outside the city. It will be an abhorrent sight. But just as worms don't stop until they devour the dead and fire doesn't stop until it destroys, so the fires of the Lord will destroy the wicked and consume them all.

Note - Christ quotes this verse on several occasions. Never, however, does He give this interpretation. Rather, He uses it as a description of hell.6 A similar change can be seen in Matthew 5:22, 29, 30, where the CW changes "hell fire" to "lose eternal life".

Matthew 10:28

KJV -And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

CW - Don't be afraid that you might be killed. They can kill your body but not your spirit or your loyalty to me. Now if there is some thing to be concerned about, it's that you don't lose your faith in God.

Note - The CW deletes the segment referring to eternal damnation, and instead alter the text to make it solely an exhortation to retain one's faith in God.

Matthew 18:9

KJV -And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

CW - If, for example, your eye places a wrong value on things, be willing to lose your eye to keep your moral innocence. If you have to make a choice, it's better not to be great in this life and yet live forever than to lose your childlike innocence and have everything end with this life.

Note - Not only does this verse do away with "fiery hell" but it also inserts "moral innocence" and "childlike innocence," neither of which are mentioned in Scripture.

Also found in the Clear Word

Job 1:6-7 "In heaven the representatives of other planets in God’s created universe came together regularly to meet with Him. One day Satan also came with them and presented himself for admittance. He came to accuse God of being partial to Job." "God said to Satan, ‘On what basis do you want to attend this meeting?’ The Accuser answered, ‘I represent the planet Earth and have been in charge there for a long time.’"

(Genesis 2:25) Adam and the woman, whom he called Eve, wore no clothes in those days, yet they were unashamed because they were clothed with light.

(Spiritual Gifts 34) This sinless pair wore no artificial garments. They were clothed with a covering of light, such as angels wear.

Genesis 3:2 Eve was startled but instead of fleeing to Adam's side... (SG 40) Eve's curiosity was aroused. Instead of fleeing from the spot, she listened to hear a serpent talk. That strange voice should have driven her to her husband's side...

(Patriarchs &Prophets 54) Eve was surprised and startled... Instead of fleeing from the spot...

Genesis 6:4 In those days people were giants, twice as large as people today.

(SG3) Those who lived before the flood, come forth with their giant-like stature, more than twice as tall as men now living upon the earth.

Genesis 6:7 ...I will have to destroy the very creatures I made - people, animals and birds, including the large creatures which have come about by crossbreeding. I cannot let...

(SG3 64) But if there was one sin above another which called for the destruction of the race by the flood, it was the base crime of amalgamation of man and beast which defaced the image of God, and caused confusion everywhere.

(SG3 75) Every species of animal which God had created were preserved in the ark. The confused species which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation, were destroyed by the flood. Since the flood there has been amalgamation of man and beast, as may be seen in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men.

Jude vs.9
kjv- Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

CWB "In contrast to these ungodly men is the Lord Jesus Christ, also called Michael, the archangel in charge of the entire angelic host. When He was challenged by Satan about His intentions to resurrect Moses, He didn't come against Satan with a blistering attack nor did he belittle him. He simply said, 'God rejects your claim to his body."

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