Roslyn D.

Cheatham& Johniese Pope

Seventh Day Adventist

June 15, 2011 The Seventh Day Adventist is a denomination. Its not a church that was founded by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this paper we will take a look at who started this organization, when it was started and where this organization was started. I will take the information that is found and compare it to the scriptures in the Bible that clearly tells us what the Church of Christ is. William Miller who lived from 1782-1849 studied Christianity and he was convinced that he knew when the world was coming to an end. He stated that the second coming of Christ would be sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When his prediction did not come true he slowly left his leadership position and later died in 1849. The group also became known as Adventists, Millerites and The Great Disappointment. On May 21, 1863 James and Ellen White along with Joseph Bates formed a small group of Baptist, Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian believers in Washington, New Hampshire. It was then that this organization became formally known as Seventh Day Adventist. In 1919 this organization split even more. A man by the name of Victor Houteff joined this organization and he claims to have found errors in the teachings of the previous leaders so the organization split in 1929. A new sector was formed and they were known as the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist. Later on another split occurred which resulted in the formation of an organization called Students of the Seven Seals. In conclusion, the Bible, which is Gods word, doesnt mention any of these organizational names. This is important for nonmembers of the Church of Christ to know and understand so that they can be baptized in the Lords church. There is only one way

Roslyn D. Cheatham& Johniese Pope to get to Heaven and you must be clear on how that process is to be done if you want to be saved. The Seventh Day Adventist follows the Old Testament with their beliefs. They believe in keeping the Sabbath day holy. They believe that since God rested on the Sabbath day when he created the Heavens and Earth that we should rest on that day and keep that day holy. We know from the Bible that the Old Testament Laws were nailed to the cross with Jesus so we are no longer under this commandment. There are three points that I would like to bring out to show that neither the Seventh Day Adventist nor any of the organizations arising from the Seventh Day Adventist is authorized by God. 1. The Bible only references one Church (Matt 16:18). This scripture says, That thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It is clear that when Jesus is speaking and he uses the terminology my he is speaking of one church because my is singular. 2. In Acts 2:47 it states the following, Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. The leaders and followers of the Seventh Day Adventist organizations joined the organization. They were not added. Also the scripture says the Lord must add you to the church not man. 3. Acts chapter 2 also speaks about the day of Pentecost when the 3000 souls were added to the church. This tells us that the Church of Christ was already in existence. The Seventh Day Adventist organization was formed in 1863 (traced back to the 19th Century). This clearly tells us that the Seventh Day Adventist can not be the Church of Christ because it didnt come into existence till 1863 and the Church of Christ was already formed.

Roslyn D. Cheatham& Johniese Pope This topic is relevant to me, my classmates, those in and out of the church. Its an important topic because if we know the background of the Seventh Day Adventist it helps us to determine that this is NOT the Church of Christ. With this knowledge we can also use it to teach others and show others the difference between the truth and false doctrine.

Roslyn D. Cheatham& Johniese Pope

Sources The Bible, King James Version www.religioustolerance.org www.adventist.org www.sdanet.org