Page 589 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

SEVEN STARS - SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

of the Holy Spirit, as described in Is. 11:2. [See Angel, Third, many of my quotations are taken directly from
Holy Spirit.] Ellen White’s writings. The SDA claim that White was an
SEVEN STARS. The Pleiades, a cluster of seven stars inspired commentator. If they reject her writings as
in the constellation Taurus (Am. 5:8). undependable, they pull the rug out from under
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM. The Seventh-day themselves because their doctrinal platform is built
Adventist denomination arose from the aftermath of the upon her writings.
adventist movement of the mid-1800s. “Seventh-day” Fourth, in their own writings they admit that their
refers to the focus on sabbath worship. “Adventist” doctrinal landmarks were settled prior to 1850. “By the
refers to their belief that they are the fulfillment of year 1850 the lines of fundamental truth were quite
prophecies pertaining to the latter days remnant and the well understood and clearly defined. Looking back in
coming of Christ. The name Seventh-day Adventist was 1905, [Ellen White] wrote, ‘The truth for this time God
officially adopted in 1860, and the headquarters of the has given us as a foundation for our faith. He Himself
denomination was located in Washington D.C. in 1903. has taught us what is truth. ... We are not to receive the
The writings of Ellen G. White (1827-1915) are exalted words of those who come with a message that
as prophecy in the Adventist movement. There are 15 contradicts the special points of our faith’” (The Spirit of
million members worldwide in 61,000 SDA churches. Prophecy Treasure Chest, p. 122). This same Adventist
There are more than 799,000 Adventists in the U.S. and publication lists five pillars of their faith: the Second
Canada. They are working in 203 countries and 885 advent, sabbath worship, the third angel’s message,
languages and dialects. The SDA has a large investment investigative judgment, and “the non-immortality of the
in publishing and education. They operate 63 publishing soul.” It is ridiculous for the Adventists to criticize me
houses, 748 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, and for using older documents when they themselves
7,200 schools. They have more than 1,500 weekly radio publicly admit that their doctrinal foundation was fully
and television broadcasts in many languages. More than laid in the middle of the 19th century.
one million students are enrolled in Bible Finally, the publications I quote in this study are still
correspondence courses. in print and are distributed as Adventist doctrine. They
A word about the documentation for this report. The do not contain any type of disclaimer to warn the reader
following study is based directly upon Seventh-day that the contents might not reflect official Adventist
Adventist publications. In researching this report, the belief. If the Adventists do not want God’s people to
author visited Adventist bookstores, colleges, and judge them by these older books, they should stop
churches, and also took some of their correspondence printing them! In my February 9, 1990, reply to the SDA
courses. Though many of the books used for our publication Ministry I said:
documentation of Adventist belief were written in the “I have considered the review you sent by William
early 1900s, they are still being produced by Adventist Shea and the statements made in your own letter and
publishing houses and distributed to the public must stand behind the contents of my book. I offer the
throughout the world. following reasons for this: (1) The review is superficial,
In early 1990 I received a letter from the editor of insidious, and does not deal at all with the weighty and
thorough arguments I have given for my positions. (2)
the Adventist periodical Ministry, challenging me to The sources for my conclusions about SDA doctrine are
base my investigation of their beliefs solely upon one based solidly upon the writings of prophetess Ellen G.
recently published volume entitled Seventh-day White and upon legitimate materials published by
Adventists Believe. In a review of my book Avoiding the official Seventh-day Adventist presses. Most of these
Snare of Seventh-day Adventism, they claimed that by writings were purchased from the bookstore at your
using older sources I was misrepresenting their doctrine. school in Collegedale, Tennessee. Others were obtained
This is a clever deception. First, Seventh-day from correspondence courses offered by the Seventh-
day Adventist Church. These materials, at least the vast
Adventists Believe, the book they sent to define official majority of them, are still in print and are still
Adventism, promotes the same heresies which I expose promulgated. If the materials I purchased from you
in the following study. The entire issue is a smokescreen. and which I quoted in my book are not to be
Second, the book Seventh-day Adventists Believe considered reliable statements of Adventist belief, why
contains hundreds of citations of exactly the same works do you crusade them before the public? Why are there
and authors I cite in the following study. In fact, the vast no disclaimers on these writings, warning people that
majority of the footnotes in this volume cite SDA the statements contained therein are not dependable
publications prior to 1970, which is exactly what they and not to be trusted in forming opinions about
Adventism? (3) I would come to the same conclusions
criticized me about. If they can quote these older works about Adventist belief and write virtually the same
as authoritative, so can I! book by using only prophetess Ellen White’s published

Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity 589