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!

I am Christian because I consider Jesus my personal saviour, and believe in the God of the Bible. I have this faith because of my trust in God and my personal experiences with Him. I haven’t found the same set of moral values in other religions, but I also haven’t dwelled as deep into them.

The Bible (and indeed the SDA church) does teach that sexual relationships outside of the marriage between a man and a woman are a sin, yes. So is being jealous of your neighbour’s house, or lying to your boss about your presentation being well underway when you haven’t even started, or eating too much ice cream after dinner 😅 Every human will commit sins all the time, and God doesn’t make a difference between “big” sins and “small” sins as the churches have traditionally tried to make us believe. None of us are perfect, and no one is qualified to judge other people’s actions.

Thank you for starting this thread, it's been really interesting. Someone from our church left to join the seventh day adventists so I'm interested in the subject.

Is there a version of the bible specifically for the seventh day adventists or do you use the niv, king james, good news versions?

My friend who left our church is very busy with the seventh day adventists, church all day, lots of going out on missions etc, is that the same for you?

Do you consider yourself Christian or seperate from the Christian faith?

Do you call the building you meet in a church or something else?

Do you meet up socially with other churches from different denominations eg church of England, Baptists etc or Jehovah's witnesses or just other seventh day adventists?

We don’t have a specific Bible, we use all kinds of versions like the ones you mentioned (although I hadn’t heard of good news, off to google!).

I go to church every weekend, (unless I’m away for work or very tired lol) and also volunteer as a Sabbath School teacher, with the children’s choir and the children’s Pathfinder Club (akin to scouts / girl guides). These are not every week, and the choir and Club we only run term-time. I have never gone on a mission! I have a very demanding job with lots of international travel, so only work in these departments as and when I can. I would say this is on the higher end of involvement in my local church, there’s also plenty of people who don’t do anything. We usually meet for a 1h Friday vespers service, 3h on Saturday morning, and sometimes another hour in the afternoon if there is a special programme - eg health seminar or concert or field trip with the kids or teens. Not sure how that amount compares to your friend.

I consider myself Christian as I follow the main Christian beliefs.

We meet in a church, yes.

Do you mean if our church organises meet-ups with other groups? Not usually, no - but we did recently take our 15 and 16 year olds to a Catholic Church to attend mass. It was the first time for many of them and an interesting experience for them to see a different kind of service. If you meant my own social circle then no, this is made up mostly of non-adventists. I think about 70-80% of my friend group are not Christian or religious at all.

Just to add on the time commitment, there used to be midweek prayer meetings but these seemed to disappear after Covid… I believe someone in our church runs an online one? When I lived in a large city it used to be more normal only to meet on Saturday mornings and stay until after lunch, as people travelled longer distances.

Once or twice a year we’ll have a week long programme with a 7/8pm event every night, but I very rarely go to those or help out with them. I often work evenings and even when I don’t, I’m shattered or make plans with other people.

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

To be fair you could ask anyone on earth why they chose to follow a particular religion including Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs or Buddhists. Like anything, it's very often cultural but can also be a personal preference that ticks your boxes. You could ask why some people prefer classical music to pop or cheese to chocolate.

@ginasevern Yes, that's why I said that my question is the same one I am curious about for anyone who believes in a religion's teachings.

@SDAchurchAMA do you believe non believers will go to hell? If so, how difficult is that when you have friends who are non believers?
thank you for the thread, it’s very informative.

How can Adventists claim the Bible is the sole rule of faith (sola scriptura) while simultaneously holding the writings of Ellen G. White as an inspired, authoritative prophetic voice for interpreting Scripture?

Those who are given the opportunity to know God and reject Him, will ultimately not be saved, that’s right. However, I don’t know how God determines who that is. EG White for example, says that in heaven there will be many people of all faiths and none, and that we will be surprised to see those who make it there. Calling yourself a believer doesn’t automatically save you, nor does getting baptised or belonging to a particular religion.

The thief on the cross next to Jesus will be in paradise - so there really is no way of knowing what is in each person’s heart and conscience. Even for those who will never hear about Christianity in their lifetime, God has given us all a conscience and the duty to use our critical thinking and live in the most honest and loving way possible.

I hope my friends and people around me will see God through my own life and example, and follow Him. I haven’t given much thinking to their fate, as I don’t constantly think of mine either tbh.

I worked for a hospital (overseas) which was bought by an SDA health group. Every Meeting started with prayers, there were bible verses posted everywhere, the pastor brought in tons of children's book with creationist ideas like fossils being fake, they tried to ban tea and coffee when they bought the hospital.

For a bunch of Christians, they were a really nasty bunch. Like, there were tons of lawsuits brought because managers had assaulted or harassed staff - one actually threw a chair at a worker. And it was widely accepted that unless you were SDA, you wouldn't get promoted. Is the hypocrisy unusual?

Because Ellen G. White has never gone against what the Bible teaches. She provides clarity and expands on several issues, but is not bringing a new narrative or one that contradicts the Bible. Mind you, I haven’t read all she has written, but what I have read so far, follows this. I also haven’t heard a sermon or seminar on EG White in years, so I don’t know just how much prevalence there is of this in other SDA churches around the world.

I think many people like to highlight those things that make them different from other groups. One of those elements is EG White for us, so I have seen individuals who become a little obsessed with defending her.

If the Catholic Church is the 'Beast' or the 'Whore of Babylon' as Ellen G. White claimed, how do you explain the millions of faithful Catholic saints, martyrs, and the preservation of core Christian doctrines like the Trinity through the Catholic Church?

Well, fossils are scientifically proven to be real, so that pastor was a little out of touch with the real world for starters, I’d say! (Not the point).

Hypocrisy is a real issue in the church, but that sounds like a horrendous experience for anyone to go through. I’d be ashamed to identify myself with those people who ran the hospital. As in all religions, there is a higher potential for abuse and mismanagement to occur in their institutions.

Do you know if it was the official SDA Church organisation who bought this hospital, or one of those (mostly American) offshoot groups that like to call themselves SDA but are not official members and have often been asked to leave the main organisation due to all the trouble they cause?

I appreciate that you take a balanced view and recognize that some can get overly obsessed with defending her. However, from a theological standpoint, there is still a major contradiction here with Sola Scriptura.

The official SDA Fundamental Belief #18 states that Ellen White’s writings are a 'continuing and authoritative source of truth.' If the Bible is fully sufficient, it shouldn't need an authoritative modern source to expand on it.

Furthermore, doctrines like the 1844 Investigative Judgment—which is central to Adventism—cannot be found in the Bible alone; it relies entirely on her interpretation to make sense. If she is required to unlock the 'true' meaning of scripture, doesn't that mean Adventists actually rely on a modern prophetic tradition, rather than the Bible alone?

That's a really good question and the short answer is l don't know. But they were based in a very small town up a Mountain where everyone was SDA. The local supermarket did not sell any meat products at all, so it sounds like they were much more extreme than you. And could well be an off shoot, which I didn't know was a thing. They just called themselves Adventists. And treated us (from many backgrounds, etc etc) like dirt on their shoes. My understanding is that they were involved in healthcare because of the sanitarium movement, which was very cool, and some of the ideas about healthy living were very sound, but yikes, they were mean.

Edited to say - I had never met any other SDA people but will be very glad to hear they were not typical!

Canonisation (the declaration of saints, martyrs, etc) has no biblical foundation. The Catholic Church started this practice long after the initial Christian faith was founded.

There are many (most?) denominations including the Catholic Church, that have preserved core doctrines like the Trinity throughout the years. I don’t think EG White is saying that all Catholic teachings are wrong. Many of the faith pillars of Catholic and Protestant faiths are the same.

Do you believe in heaven and hell? If so what do you do to get into each? If not what do you believe happens after death?

Good for you, OP and I have to say I am pleased and encouraged by your answer. I feel much the same way about my own denomination (Anglican). If only other people (of many a faith) were as enlightened as you, it would save a lot of grief and distress, wouldn't it?

This has been a very complex subject in the church and one I admit I’m not an expert in. I believe that the Bible alone is enough to reveal God’s plan of salvation for us and to teach us everything we need to know in order to live in a way that pleases Him.

The Bible prophetic text, once you do the maths, does point to the year 1844 as when the “final judgment” will begin. The Millerites (early adventists) interpreted this as the year when Jesus will come back and the Earth be destroyed. Judgment = Christ’s return. To my knowledge, what EG White did was point to the text that support the idea of the sanctuary in heaven following the model of the terrestrial one - as built by the Israelites and described in Exodus. Thus, there are two parts to the sanctuary and the transition from the Holy to Most Holy place was a necessary step in order for the judgment to begin.

Again, I’m not a theologian or really an expert in this at all. From my understanding, the concept of the investigative judgement can be seen and understood from the Bible itself — it was one wrongly interpreted by Christians throughout the years. Considering EG White’s teachings as prophetic, doesn’t contradict sola scriptura as the Bible remains the first authority.

Yes, the Bible is more than the Gospels

However the Gospels are the part that contain the teachings of Jesus.

Interpretations of Prophets, Revelations and for that matter the Pauline Epistles may be relevant to a belief system and a church, perhaps even providing a theological basis for its existence or the methods it has historically used to control others … however none of that is relevant to being a Christian

The term "saint" (hagios) literally means "holy one" and is used throughout the New Testament (e.g., Ephesians 1:1, Revelation 8:3–4). The Catholic Church does not "make" saints; it merely confirms that a specific soul is officially in heaven.

The biblical foundation is not the modern legal process of canonisation, but the fact that the dead in Christ are alive and praying. Hebrews 12:1: Speaks of the deceased faithful as a "great cloud of witnesses" surrounding us. Revelation 5:8 and 8:3–4: Explicitly shows the elders and angels in heaven offering up "the prayers of the saints" to God. If people in heaven can present our prayers to God, asking for their intercession is entirely biblical.

Re "All Denominations Preserved the Trinity" This is historically inaccurate. The early Church fought brutal theological wars against massive heresies like Arianism (which denied Christ's divinity) and Gnosticism. It was solely the Catholic Church, through Popes and Ecumenical Councils (like Nicaea in 325 AD), that defined, defended, and dogmatised the Holy Trinity.

If the Catholic Church is the apostate 'Beast' of revelation, why do you trust the infallible theological definitions (like the Trinity and the 27 books of the New Testament Canon) that came exclusively from that same Church?

Ellen White in her seminal book The Great Controversy, explicitly labels the Catholic Church as the "Babylon" of Revelation and the Papacy as the "Man of Sin" (Antichrist). She wrote that Catholicism is a "masterpiece of Satan's power." If the Catholic Church preserved the central pillars of the faith (the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Bible itself), it cannot simultaneously be the ultimate "masterpiece of Satan." Satan does not preserve the true identity of God for 2,000 years (Luke 11:18).

In sum:- If the Catholic Church is entirely corrupt/apostate...Then the Bible you read and the Trinity you believe in are compromised, as Catholics canonised and protected both.

If the Catholic Church successfully preserved core truths...Then Ellen White’s infallible prophetic claims that Rome is the ultimate demonic "Beast" of the end times are exaggerated and false.

Evangelical Christian here so there is considerable overlap with some of our beliefs.

I went to uni with a girl who was SDA but she definitely didn’t think I was a Christian because she believed sabbath keeping was central to that. I went to church with her a few times (out of curiosity) and I remember someone asking me which church I went to and when I gave him the name he said ‘oh you’re a Sunday Christian’ but it was said in sort of ‘not one of the real Christians’ tone.

I’m still in touch with my friend and thankfully over the years her beliefs have mellowed. She’s still a very committed member of the SDA church and in fact her family are very prominent, but she and I have prayed together and there’s no sense from her that I’m ’less than’.

So what are your views on other Christian denominations? Are you the only ‘true Christians’? And how strictly do you keep the sabbath? Is it linked to your salvation?

I do believe in heaven and hell, and that they will happen / begin when Jesus comes again to the Earth. I believe in resurrection at that point in time, as pointed out in the Bible. I don’t believe when we die we go straight to one or the other. The Bible explain that death is like a sleep, that the dead do not know anything and nothing happens until the second coming of Jesus - aka we don’t believe the body remains in the grave and the spirit goes to heaven. When you die, you are buried and know nothing more of it until that day comes.

Jesus says “everyone who believes in me will have eternal life”. Now what does believing in Him mean? As I understand it, it means a commitment to live by God’s principles. The SDA church doesn’t believe, and neither do I, that once you accept Jesus as your saviour then that’s it, you’re going to heaven no matter what you do in your life. The Bible also says “by their works they shall be judged” - so living in accordance to God’s will for your life includes a constant commitment. As I said upthread, many people of other religions and of no faith will also be in heaven, as God will judge them to have lived in accordance to His will for them. How is that decided? I don’t know, I hope I can learn that in heaven one day.

You can’t buy your way in, nor can you stop believing you have no chance, no matter what you’ve done. God is ready to welcome everyone no matter at what point in their lives they’re at, and He’s the only one who knows how we will be judged.

Thank you. I believe in God but I'm not religious so I'm always interested in certain aspects of religions, thank you for taking the time to answer!

They do indeed sound extreme but sadly, not unheard of. The health movement is a big part of the Adventist community, and like you say, at the core of it it makes a lot of sense and can bring lots of benefits. If not paired with kindness and love for people, though, it will do more harm than good.

The SDA organisation owns many hospitals and healthcare institutions worldwide and although my experience of them is limited, I’ve been lucky not to have heard any such stories until now - I’m sorry you had to work there and I’m glad you were able to leave! I doubt the local union or division of the church would be supporting such a “ministry”, hence my question about whether they were actual church members 😂