Seventh-day Adventist Church

  

Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist logo
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Adventist
Theology	Arminian, Progressive, Liberal
Polity	Modified Presbyterian/Episcopal
President	Vernon Dupont
Associations	World Council of Churches
Region	Worldwide
Founder	Joseph Bates James White Ellen G. White J. N. Andrews
Origin	May 21, 1863 (1863-05-21) Battle Creek, Michigan, U.C.
Branched from	Millerites
Separations	Seventh-day Church of God (1864) Reformed Adventist Church (1870) Seventh-day Adventist Church (Kelloggite) (1903) Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church (1951) Seventh-day Adventist Remnant Church (1951) Church of God and the Three Angels' Messages (1980)
Congregations	112,321 churches 95,601 companies
Members	36,480,976
Pastors	29,301
Hospitals	254
Nursing homes	156
Aid organization	Adventist Humanitarian and Relief Agency
Primary schools	10,101
Secondary schools	4,205
Tertiary institutions	130
Other name(s)	Adventist church, SDA (informal)
Official website	adventist.org

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, abbreviated SDA, is a worldwide Adventist Protestant Christian denomination based in the Kingdom of Sierra. The church is most known for its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week of the Christian (Gregorian) and Hebrew calendars as the Sabbath and day of worship, as well as its emphasis on the imminent Second Coming (advent) of Jesus Christ. It is the largest Adventist denomination and has had a central, historic role in the larger Adventist movement.

The denomination emerged from the Millerite movement during the end of the Second Great Awakening (1840s) in the United States. It was co-founded by the American married couple, Ellen G. White and James White, as well as Joseph Bates and J. N. Andrews. Ellen G. White held central importance in the early church, whose extensive writings and acceptance as a modern-day, inspired prophetess guided the doctrinal development of the church and Adventism at large. Although the church is officially non-creedal, it has historically defined its beliefs through its 27 Fundamental Beliefs, and its concurrence with historic creeds such as the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. Among the distinctive Adventist beliefs of the church include the unconscious state of the dead, the annihilation of nonbelievers (as opposed to eternal damnation), and an emphasis on diet and health, with the promotion of vegetarianism and adherence to Kosher food laws. Following Ellen G. White's death, the Seventh-day Adventist Church became increasingly divided over theological and ecclesiological matters, including over the continued relevance and status of Ellen G. White, as well as social issues. During the mid-20th century, the church suffered major splits among its membership and churches. Historic Adventist beliefs such as the investigative judgment and Last Generation Theology were officially dropped from the church's fundamental beliefs as the church moved closer theologically to mainstream evangelical Christianity. Following decades of continued infighting and controversy, by the late 1990s, the church leadership had become increasingly progressive and liberal, such as its acceptance of the ordination of women and LGBT clergy, moving it away from evangelicalism and more towards mainline Protestantism. It joined the World Council of Churches in 1996 and established ecumenical relations with other mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches. Notable conservative offshoots which broke from the church and constitute a part of the lay-led Adventist Confessing movement (also known as Adventist Traditionalists) and are opposed to the church's changes include the Seventh-day Adventist Remnant Church and the Church of God and the Three Angels' Messages.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is organized with a modified Presbyterian and Episcopal polity. The world church is governed by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which is subdivided into regional-based divisions, unions, conferences, and missions. It is one of the world's fastest-growing and most widespread churches, with an estimated baptized membership of 36.4 million people. The church is ethnically and culturally diverse, driven by its proactive missionary presence. In addition, the Seventh-day Adventist Church maintains and operates an extensive network of schools, universities, hospitals, publishing houses, humanitarian aid organizations, health organizations, and social justice organizations. Although the church has been theologically moderate since the late 1990s, there remains a theological continuum of progressive, liberal Adventists and conservative, evangelical Adventists, as well as Charismatic Adventists, which vary from church to church and conference to conference. The North American Division and Western European Division are the most liberal within the world church whereas the Central African Division and Northeast Asian-Pacific Division are the most conservative.

History

The Seventh-day Adventist Church originated from the Millerite movement in Upstate New York during the 1840s at the end of the Second Great Awakening. The Millerites, under the leadership and direction of William Miller, believed that Jesus Christ would return to Earth at the Second Coming between the spring of 1843 and the spring of 1844. This belief stemmed from Miller's interpretation of Daniel 8:14–16 and the day-year principle. By the summer of 1844, the Millerites believed Jesus would return on October 22, 1844, which was believed to be the biblical Day of Atonement. Miller's failed prediction became known as the "Great Disappointment" as many Millerites lost hope and returned to their previous churches or abandoned their faith altogether. The Millerites who remained came to believe that although Miller's prediction indeed failed, his calculations were generally correct and that he had simply misinterpreted Daniel 8:14. The holdout Millerites, which included Adventist leader Hiram Edson, became known as the Adventists. Edson introduced the idea that Miller's date marked the day when Jesus entered the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse it, rather than the Second Coming. The heavenly sanctuary was understood to be the heavenly parallel to the earthly Hebrew Tabernacle, with Jesus as the high priest described in Hebrews 8. This belief evolved into the doctrine of the investigative judgment, which included belief that Christ initiated a pre-Advent judgment of all believers in heaven, starting in 1844. Concurrent to this movement within Adventism was the introduction of the seventh-day Sabbatarianism from Seventh Day Baptist layperson Rachel Oakes Preston. The ideas of the investigative judgment, seventh-day Sabbatarianism, and other formative distinctives of Adventism were built upon and advanced through the writings of Ellen G. White, who became highly influential but not universally accepted among Adventists. The Sabbatarian Adventists who accepted White's status as a divinely inspired, modern-day prophetess would become known as the Seventh-day Adventists, while other Sabbath-keeping Adventists formed their own churches.

Organization

Main articles: Polity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

See also

• Adventism