I’m a Seventh-Day Adventist (Christian) - AMA!

[SDAchurchAMA]

Have you heard of the SDA church before, or are you unaware of its existence? Do you have any questions about what we believe in, or anything random you want to ask me?

Long-term Mumsnetter - posting this on a new account. I’m a woman in my late 20s looking for a few breaks from cleaning my house this afternoon as I get ready for some guests tomorrow. Ask away!

How long have you been part of that religion?

I'm interested to know why you come onto Mumsnet where you'll find all sorts of swearing and instructions to leave the bastard and so on, given you are a member of such a strict religious order. I mean, that's the reason I actually do come here as I feel it's where women can be true to themselves, but I can see that might be a problem for you.

My parents were members of the church when I was born, so I grew up attending regularly and we were a religious family. I chose to be baptised and to become an official member of the church myself at the age of 14.

My mum was born into an Adventist family, my dad wasn’t and joined as an adult (long before meeting my mum).

I see many abstain from Pork and shellfish as per Leviticus. Do you follow all the mosaic laws ?

I’m not sure I fully understand what you mean, since I’m one of those who often tells others on here to LTB?

I’ve enjoyed reading and being on Mumsnet for years, as I’m also a woman who believes in supporting other women and finds most MN conversations empowering and eye-opening, both for myself and others. Just last night I was pointing out to the OP of a thread, that she was being abused by her husband and should probably leave him.

I’m not a member of a strict religious order, in that there are no rules or guidelines I must follow, and you’ll even hear me swear every now and then…

So you don’t abstain from alcohol or caffeine?

I follow the dietary laws of Leviticus 11, relating to clean and unclean foods. I’m actually vegetarian but the vast majority of SDA members I know do not eat pork, seafood, etc, as you said.

We don’t follow ceremonial laws or the feasts found in the mosaic laws. We do believe in the validity of the Ten Commandments to this day.

Why did the bible need updating?

I don’t drink alcohol, no. I personally have coffee and tea, but also know many people who don’t, and many who do.

Do you take the story of the creation literally?
Do you believe in evolution or you believe that the world was created in 6 days ?

What do you mean by updating? Are you referring to the newer translations that become available every so often, or to the different canons that the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches use?

Yes, I believe in creation as described in the Bible, even though there are many aspects of it that I can’t explain fully.

I believe in evolution at the “micro” level - mutation, natural selection and genetic variation happening in our world every day. I don’t believe we all come from the same atom, but I also don’t think that God made the world exactly how it is today. Both the natural world and the human species have evolved since, and will continue doing so for as long as we exist here.

This is my personal interpretation of the issue, not the church’s official stance.

Im talking about the founder of the SDA Ellen G White. What does her worl bring to christianity?

Do you find your Church's stance on some matters morally problematic for you? If so, I would be interested to know how you move around that issue in your daily life.

The question I have is really the same one I am curious about for anyone who believes in a religion's teachings. Why is it that you specifically believe in the teachings of the SDA church and feel those to be the correct teachings, instead of any of the other varied Christian churches or indeed the teachings of any other religion in the world?

There is one down the road from me, most of the attendees look to be from African/Afro/Caribbean heritage. Is that the case generally?

I find most of her writings to be a deeper commentary of what is written in the Bible, so she brings that extra bit of understanding and detail to it. At the end of the day, the books of the Bible were written in historical periods and contexts we don’t always understand, and many texts are brief and easy to take out of context.

Her advice on health and nutrition, family life, education, social issues… were often ahead of her time and are proved by what science says today.

I think that her work was a reminder of us needing to interpret the Bible within the social and historical context of the times it was written in. In the same way, her books were written in the late 19th/early 20th century. There are plenty of people who have completely lost sight of what she was trying to say, and defend her teachings literally, to the point of bigotry - eg saying a good Christian shouldn’t ride bikes 😂

Just as she helps us have a deeper understanding of the Bible and of God’s plans for humanity, we need to remember she was writing in 1880s America and the world has again changed massively since then.

I find fellow Adventists’ interpretation of the church’s stance to contradict my moral values often, yes. I do not find major contradictions between the church’s fundamental beliefs and what I ultimately consider to be right, because the SDA church believes in the Bible and its teachings.

The misogynist, homophobic, judgmental and narrow-minded attitudes of many individuals do not match at all what Jesus said during His time here. At the end of the day, the church teaches that we should follow the example of Jesus in our daily lives. That is how I try to live my life, and I have struggled with hypocrisy in my family and local church - this is why it was important for me to build up my own faith and decide for myself it I really identified with the values of this church. Even after I was baptised, I struggled with this for a long time.

At the end of the day, I follow God - not the SDA organisation, and I work tirelessly within my church not to perpetuate those attitudes for the next generation. I had amazing friends and mentors growing up, who showed me decent human values are not at odds with what the church stands for, and taught me to ignore those who misinterpret them. The young teens and children in my local church will hopefully grow up with a lot more love and open-mindedness around them than we did.

Thank you for your question, this is a very interesting topic for me and one that is not always easy to answer.

From all the denominations or religions I have looked into, the SDA church are the ones who interpret the Bible most accurately. That is why I chose to join and stay, their guidelines for a Christian faith are most in line with what the Bible teaches.

That is interesting

I never thought the teachings of Jesus, as set out in the Gospel were difficult to follow

I think I got the fundamentals at primary school, although to be fair that was somebody explaining them to me in their own words.

Do you have an example please of something that needed to be interpreted ?

I think in most areas of the UK they make up the majority of members, yes. I’m from a different European country and our churches here are very international, but mostly white - reflecting of the local population.

When I lived in England, I was part of a church leading services in a different language, so it was mostly people from those areas of the world. We had English, Jamaican heritage and Tamil-speaking communities nearby though.

I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. SDA and JWs were part of the same group of 'Bible students' I believe initially before going their separate ways and founding their churches. Do SDA practice excommunication/shunning the way JWs do? If you know anything about JWs, are there any similarities between both groups? Many people call JWs a cult (which I believe), have people told you that you belonged to a cult?

@SDAchurchAMA thanks. You didn't address why a Christian belief system, though, as opposed to any other religious organisation.

I am slightly confused about your response around homophobia. Is it incorrect to say that the SDA church teaches that sex and relationships are only for married male/female couples, and that anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of that context is committing a sin?

I totally agree with it, the gospels are fairly easy to understand. The 7 and 8 year olds I help teach, for example, are already capable of reading and understanding those passages.

The Bible is not just Matthew, Mark, Luke and John though, it has some complex passages. For example, historical books, or prophetic writings, or Paul’s letters to the different churches in the New Testament. The role of the woman in the worship / church structure. The numbers and symbols of the prophecies. EG White shines light on stories of the Old Testament and the context they happened in, etc.

In some countries and more traditional societies I think there are still “exclusions” from the church registers of membership, yes. We don’t tend to hear of many in Europe - unless someone publicly lives in total contrast to the SDA beliefs, at the more extreme level. We don’t exclude someone just for getting divorced, but we will if that person has been found out to be a domestic abuser. Usually though, you will remain on the church registers even if you’re not a practicing member anymore, but won’t be eligible for leadership positions or working in a department or ministry if you publicly support very different values.

No shunning to the level of the JWs, at least not that I’ve heard of. It is quite normal for people to leave the church and their families and church community don’t typically turn their backs on them. Those that do, are not true Christians - they’re just mean people who don’t live what they preach.

There are some similarities, although I can think of more differences than likenesses. We both do missionary work - distributing literature, producing content, aka bringing the gospel to other people, although this is done on different levels. I have heard SDA being called a cult, yes. To me, a cult is an organisation which exercises a level of control or manipulation on its members and insists certain guidelines must be followed for you to earn salvation / be a true Christian. This is not what the SDA church teaches, although there are of course groups that have branched out of the main structure and are 100% cults.

You’re not thrown out of the SDA church if you don’t do missionary work, don’t tithe, accept a blood transfusion, celebrate Christmas or marry someone of a different faith.