Baptists for Africa

The Truth about Seventh-Day Adventism

The Truth about Seventh-day Adventism

Seventh-day Adventism is a cult begun by the false prophet William Miller in the mid-19th century, and was soon after renewed by the false prophetess Ellen G. White. They have a false leadership and many false doctrines.

The False Leadership of Seventh-day Adventists

The SDA church began with a false prophecy by William Miller that Jesus’ second coming would be October 22nd, 1844, later termed “The Great Disappointment.” From this, we should immediately reject anything SDAs say, according to the Bible (see Deuteronomy 18:22). Ellen White took a prophetic role thereafter, and functioned (with her husband) as a co-leader of the emerging SDA cult. Although Ellen White would say such things as “the Bible alone is our rule of faith,” SDAs often regard her writings as inspired, on par with the Biblical writings. The 18th Fundamental Belief of the SDA church says, in part, “As the Lord’s messenger, [Ellen White’s] writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction.” In fact, SDAs claim that her writings are necessary to interpret/understand the Bible, thus elevating her words above God’s words.

According to the Bible, though, the scriptures are the sole source of instruction and guidance to the believer (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:3-4). The Bible is the complete word of God (II Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 19:7-9), and any “prophet” who thinks their words have equal authority to it is a liar (see Proverbs 30:6; Jeremiah 23). God no longer speaks by prophets after the time of Christ and his apostles (see Hebrews 1:1-2), so Ellen White is a false prophetess. Furthermore, women preachers are an abomination (see I Timothy 2:11-12; I Corinthians 14:34-35).

The False Doctrine of Seventh-day Adventists

Sabbath and Dietary Law Observation. The SDAs teach that Christians are obligated to observe some of the carnal ordinances of the Old Testament, like resting on the sabbath day or not eating the unclean animals of Leviticus 11. However, as Jesus said of the false teachers, the SDAs are hypocrites (see Matthew 15:1-8; 23), because they do not observe all of the carnal ordinances of the Old Testament (like performing animal sacrifices, see Leviticus 1-7), and they do not even observe the sabbath day as it was intended to be observed:

  • No work at all was to be done by you (Numbers 15:32-36), not even travelling (Exodus 16:29).
  • No work at all was to be done by anyone who in any way served you (Exodus 20:9-10), including, today, shopkeepers, mechanics, water-suppliers, power-suppliers, etc.
  • No fire could be kindled (Exodus 35:3; etc.), meaning that cooking was off-limits.

The reason why we are not supposed to observe the carnal ordinances of the Old Testament (like keeping the sabbath day, or not eating unclean foods) is simply because those laws have been abolished in the New Testament: “having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:15). The Old Testament scriptures are still relevant (see II Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 10:11), but not the laws related to the old covenant/agreement made in Mt. Sinai to Israel (Hebrews 8:7-9). The old covenant/agreement has been replaced by the new one (Hebrews 8:13; see also II Corinthians 3). The New Testament gives many warnings against Judaizers, who are false prophets (like the SDAs) which teach that Christians have to obey the ceremonial laws to be saved (see the book of Galatians (esp. 2:4); Philippians 3:1-4; Colossians 2:8-23; I Timothy 4:1-9; Titus 1:10-16).

The Sabbath day. Although God was the first to observe a day of sabbath rest on the seventh day of creation (see Genesis 2:2-3), he never commanded it to be observed until the giving of the old covenant with Moses in the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 31:16; Nehemiah 9:13-14). The sabbath/holy day laws are specifically said to be done away in the New Testament because they were fulfilled by Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-10). They symbolize the idea that we rest, ceasing from our own works, while Jesus did the work for our salvation (Hebrews 4:1-11). Those who observe the sabbath days today are not saved (Galatians 4:8-11, see also vv. 20-21).

  1. The holy days and sabbath days are clearly stated as having been done away (Colossians 2:16-17).
  2. The sabbath law was not reiterated anywhere in the New Testament:
  • Not in the numerous lists of sins (I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:5-9), whereas in the Old Testament, it is often listed in lists of sins (e.g., Isaiah 65:1-5).
  • Not in listings of the Ten Commandments (Matthew 19:18-19; Romans 13:9; James 2:10-11).
  • Not in the apostles’ counsel stating what should be observed from Moses’ law among the Gentiles (Acts 15, see vv. 19-21).
  1. No day is intrinsically more holy than another (Romans 14:5-6).
  2. In the practice of New Testament believers, the day of worship was Sunday, not Saturday:
  • Sunday was the day they used for regular preaching and fellowship (Acts 20:7-12; I Corinthians 16:2; see also John 20:19-23).
  • The believers did not meet for church on Saturday (Acts 18:4, 11; see “synagogue of Satan,” Revelation 2:9; 3:9).
  • Sunday is the Lord’s day (Revelation 1:10), the day on which Jesus resurrected from the dead (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

Dietary laws. The dietary laws are specifically said to be done away in the New Testament. The forbidding to eat certain foods is a false doctrine (Hebrews 13:9-10; see also Colossians 2:16)––it is a “doctrine of devils” (see I Timothy 4:1-5). All foods at the time of Christ were “purged” (see Mark 7:14-21), and there is no food which is inherently (by nature) unclean (see Romans 14:1-6, 14, 20).

Colossians 2:16-17: “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:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

Soul-sleep. SDAs teach that “death is an unconscious state for all people,” that once someone dies, they enter into a “soul-sleep” without conscious awareness of anything until the resurrection. The Bible so clearly and powerfully denies this false doctrine, so that one who believes it is a complete fool. The fact that humans possess an eternal soul that is distinct from their body (and will be separated from their body at death) is proven by the following facts:

  • The Definition of Death: the Bible defines death as “the body” being “without the spirit” (James 2:26; see also Genesis 25:8; Mark 15:37). The Bible uses a common euphemism for death, “giving up the ghost” (e.g., Genesis 25:8; Job 3:8; Mark 15:37/John 19:30), which embraces the reality that the spirit of man leaves their body at death.
  • The Doctrine of Death: the Bible explicitly teaches that believers’ souls go immediately to heaven when they die (e.g., Philippians 1:20-24; see also II Peter 1:14-15), that believers are “willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (II Corinthians 5:6-8).
  • The Examples of Death: when real examples of people die or rise again in the Bible, their soul is said to “depart” (e.g., Genesis 35:18), to leave/return to their body at their death/rising again (II Kings 17:20-22; Luke 8:54-55).

Annihilationism. SDAs further teach that unbelievers are not sent to hell to be tormented forever, but are instead “annihilated,” where they cease to exist. This is also ridiculous and untenable. The fact that hell is a place of fiery pain (e.g., Mark 9:43-46, 48; Luke 16:22-25), of ever-rising smoky torment (e.g., Revelation 14:11), of intense darkness (e.g., Matthew 8:12), and so on, is as Biblical as could be. That people will be consciously tormented in hell for all eternity is seen in the following facts:

  • Parallel to Heaven: the punishments of hell last as long as the joys of heaven (Matthew 25:46)—if hell doesn’t last forever, then neither does heaven.
  • Descriptions of Hell: the descriptions of hell are inconsistent with annihilation—“weeping/wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 25:30), “tormented with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 14:10), “being in torments” (Luke 16:23; see also Revelation 14:10), and “they have no rest day nor night” (Revelation 14:11) (see also Matthew 26:24).
  • Fear of Hell: the fears about hell demons have, and that unbelievers are supposed to have, are not fears of annihilation, but of eternal punishment (Matthew 8:29; Luke 12:5; Matthew 10:28).
  • Examples of People in Hell: the everlasting presence of real persons in hell powerfully refutes annihilationism (e.g., Revelation 14:9-11; Jude 6-7; compare Revelation 19:20 and 20:10).