We Seventh-day Adventists establish all our beliefs on the Bible alone. Our church doesn’t have a set creed. Instead, we have 28 fundamental beliefs that express what we believe the Bible teaches.
In this episode, Pastor Ted Wilson shares how these beliefs developed.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a movement that began the providential unfolding of the Bible prophecy to prepare people for Christ’s second coming. In the mid-19th century, God used a preacher named William Miller to proclaim the first angel’s message in Revelation 14.
It states, ”Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment has come” (verse 7). Thousands accepted this message and believed that Christ was indeed coming. However, some professed Christian churches rejected the idea. Hence, ”Babylon is fallen, is fallen” (verse 8).
When Jesus didn’t come as they expected on October 22, 1844, many of them left the Advent movement. Fortunately, a small remnant remained. They determined to diligently study and understand the Scripture better. As a result, they saw that the end of the 2300-day prophecy in Daniel 8:14 didn’t culminate in Christ’s coming to earth. Instead, it ushered in a new phase of His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.
With continued prayer and study with open hearts and minds, these remnant believers uncovered more truths. One of which was the full meaning of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. Another was the importance of keeping the holy Sabbath day. Others were the non-immortality of the soul, the state of the dead, and the second coming of Christ.
About 10 years after the Great Disappointment, the small remnant had grown into almost 1,000 believers. They didn’t have an official name that time yet, but they had an official publication called The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald.
On the front page of the August 15, 1854 issue of this publication, these five ”Leading Doctrines Taught by the Review” were included:
-
”The Bible, and the Bible alone, the rule of faith and duty.”
-
”The law of God, as taught in the Old and New Testaments, unchangeable.”
-
”The personal advent of Christ and the resurrection of the just, before the millennium.”
-
“The earth restored to its Eden perfection and glory, the final inheritance of the saints.”
-
”Immortality alone through Christ, to be given to the saints at the resurrection.”