Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
Rather than just copying reams of info from their main website (www.adventist.org/beliefs/) which will only give all the good warm and fuzzies of things, this is gonna be the stuff you actually need to know about, though not from other denominations who have vested interests in dissing everybody else.
Seventh-Day Adventist Church
"The Seventh-day Adventist Church (abbreviated SDA) is a Christian denomination that grew out of the prophetic "Millerite" ) movement (i.e. William Miller in the United States during the middle part of the 19th century. It considers itself a branch of Protestant Christianity, though differences in doctrine and practice have led some mainstream Christians to dispute that designation.
The name of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination indicates its two main distinctive characteristics: Sabbath observance on the seventh day (i.e., Saturday) and an expectation that the end of the world is drawing near. Other distinguishing characteristics include adherence to the teachings of Ellen G. White (who is regarded as a prophet), and various dietary observances rooted in Jewish law.
As of 2005, the Seventh-day Adventist Church had 12 million baptized members and about 25 million total members and adherents worldwide. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the world's fastest-growing organizations, primarily due to increases in Third World membership. It now operates in 203 out of 228 countries recognized by the United Nations.
History of Seventh-day Adventism
The Adventist movement has its roots in the 19th-century "Millerite movement," which centered on the belief that Jesus Christ would return on October 22, 1844. William Miller (1782-1849) was a farmer who settled in upstate New York after the war of 1812.
He was originally a Deist, but after much private Bible study, Miller converted to Christianity and became a Baptist. He was convinced that the Bible contained coded information about the end of the world and the Second Coming of Jesus. In 1836, he published the book Evidences from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ about the Year 1843.
The prediction of the year 1843 was based in large part on Daniel 8
"And he said onto me, unto 2,300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Miller believed the "2,300 days" referred to 2,300 years and that the countdown began in 457 BC. He concluded that the "cleansing of the sanctuary" (interpreted as the Second Coming) would occur sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844.
When these dates passed, Samuel Snow, a follower of Miller, interpreted the "tarrying time" referred to in Habakkuk 2:3 as equal to 7 months and 10 days, thus delaying the end time to October 22, 1844. When this date also passed uneventfully, many followers left the movement in what is now termed "The Great Disappointment." Miller himself gradually withdrew from the leadership of the group and died in 1849.
Miller's followers who remained in the movement called themselves Adventists, and taught that the expectation had been fulfilled in a way that had not previously been understood.
...
Seventh-day Adventists do not eat pork or other unclean meat as identified in the book of Leviticus and many avoid all meat for health reasons.
Seventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and condones abstinence from pork, shellfish, and other foods proscribed as "unclean" in Leviticus. Alcohol and tobacco are also prohibited.
Dr. John Kellogg, founder of the Kellogg's company and a major supplier of breakfast cereals, was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is one of Australia's leading manufacturers of health and vegetarian-related products.
...
The official Seventh-day Adventist position on abortion is that it is permissable only in exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. While the general tone toward abortion is negative, the individual Adventist may take any position on the political spectrum. Abortions are performed in Adventist hospitals.
Seventh-day Adventists generally condemn homosexuality. The church does not perform gay marriages or holy unions, and gay men cannot be ordained. Homosexuality of a spouse is given as one of the rare acceptable reasons for divorce. The official statement on sexuality states that sexual acts outside of heterosexual marriage are forbidden. However, individual Adventists may take a much more liberal position.
...
Seventh-day Adventists have had a long interest in education. The Adventist church runs one of the largest education systems in the world. They operate some 5,700 pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges, universities, seminaries and medical schools in about 145 countries worldwide. This education system involves some 66,000 teachers and 1,257,000 students. The Adventist educational program is comprehensive encompassing "mental, physical, social, and spiritual health" with "intellectual growth and service to humanity" its goal.)
Seventh-Day Adventist Church
"The Seventh-day Adventist Church (abbreviated SDA) is a Christian denomination that grew out of the prophetic "Millerite" ) movement (i.e. William Miller in the United States during the middle part of the 19th century. It considers itself a branch of Protestant Christianity, though differences in doctrine and practice have led some mainstream Christians to dispute that designation.
The name of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination indicates its two main distinctive characteristics: Sabbath observance on the seventh day (i.e., Saturday) and an expectation that the end of the world is drawing near. Other distinguishing characteristics include adherence to the teachings of Ellen G. White (who is regarded as a prophet), and various dietary observances rooted in Jewish law.
As of 2005, the Seventh-day Adventist Church had 12 million baptized members and about 25 million total members and adherents worldwide. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the world's fastest-growing organizations, primarily due to increases in Third World membership. It now operates in 203 out of 228 countries recognized by the United Nations.
History of Seventh-day Adventism
The Adventist movement has its roots in the 19th-century "Millerite movement," which centered on the belief that Jesus Christ would return on October 22, 1844. William Miller (1782-1849) was a farmer who settled in upstate New York after the war of 1812.
He was originally a Deist, but after much private Bible study, Miller converted to Christianity and became a Baptist. He was convinced that the Bible contained coded information about the end of the world and the Second Coming of Jesus. In 1836, he published the book Evidences from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ about the Year 1843.
The prediction of the year 1843 was based in large part on Daniel 8
"And he said onto me, unto 2,300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Miller believed the "2,300 days" referred to 2,300 years and that the countdown began in 457 BC. He concluded that the "cleansing of the sanctuary" (interpreted as the Second Coming) would occur sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844.When these dates passed, Samuel Snow, a follower of Miller, interpreted the "tarrying time" referred to in Habakkuk 2:3 as equal to 7 months and 10 days, thus delaying the end time to October 22, 1844. When this date also passed uneventfully, many followers left the movement in what is now termed "The Great Disappointment." Miller himself gradually withdrew from the leadership of the group and died in 1849.
Miller's followers who remained in the movement called themselves Adventists, and taught that the expectation had been fulfilled in a way that had not previously been understood.
...
Seventh-day Adventists do not eat pork or other unclean meat as identified in the book of Leviticus and many avoid all meat for health reasons.
Seventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and condones abstinence from pork, shellfish, and other foods proscribed as "unclean" in Leviticus. Alcohol and tobacco are also prohibited.
Dr. John Kellogg, founder of the Kellogg's company and a major supplier of breakfast cereals, was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is one of Australia's leading manufacturers of health and vegetarian-related products.
...
The official Seventh-day Adventist position on abortion is that it is permissable only in exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. While the general tone toward abortion is negative, the individual Adventist may take any position on the political spectrum. Abortions are performed in Adventist hospitals.
Seventh-day Adventists generally condemn homosexuality. The church does not perform gay marriages or holy unions, and gay men cannot be ordained. Homosexuality of a spouse is given as one of the rare acceptable reasons for divorce. The official statement on sexuality states that sexual acts outside of heterosexual marriage are forbidden. However, individual Adventists may take a much more liberal position.
...
Seventh-day Adventists have had a long interest in education. The Adventist church runs one of the largest education systems in the world. They operate some 5,700 pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges, universities, seminaries and medical schools in about 145 countries worldwide. This education system involves some 66,000 teachers and 1,257,000 students. The Adventist educational program is comprehensive encompassing "mental, physical, social, and spiritual health" with "intellectual growth and service to humanity" its goal.)
