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In Seventh-day Adventist theology, there will be an end time remnant of believers who are faithful to God. The remnant church is a visible, historical, organized body characterized by obedience to the commandments of God and the possession of a unique end-time gospel proclamation. Adventists have traditionally equated this "remnant church" with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. [1]
A distinct but related concept is the eschatological remnant, which will manifest shortly prior to the second coming of Jesus. The "remnant church" is understood to act as a catalyst for the formation of this group. The eschatological remnant will consist of some (but not all) constituents of the present "remnant church", together with a cohort of believers from other (that is, non-Adventist) churches. Only members of the eschatological remnant will be saved through the end-times. [1]
Traditionally, Adventists have also applied the symbol of "Laodicea" to themselves, a self-criticism as being "lukewarm" in the faith (Revelation 3:15–16).
The Adventist doctrine of the end-time remnant is based primarily upon Revelation 12:17, which states:
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (King James Version, emphasis added)
An estimated 90% of Adventists believe "The Adventist Church has a special mission to proclaim God’s last message to the world", according to estimates of local church leaders in a 2002 worldwide survey. [2]
The doctrine of the remnant is outlined in the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Adventist church, as follows. [3]
13. Remnant and Its Mission:
The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent. This proclamation is symbolized by the three angels of Revelation 14; it coincides with the work of judgment in heaven and results in a work of repentance and reform on earth. Every believer is called to have a personal part in this worldwide witness. (Dan. 7:9-14; Isa. 1:9; 11:11; Jer. 23:3; Mic. 2:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Peter 1:16-19; 4:17; 2 Peter 3:10-14; Jude 3, 14; Rev. 12:17; 14:6-12; 18:1-4.)
"18. The Gift of Prophecy: One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen. G. White[...] (Joel 2:28, 29; Acts 2:14–21; Heb. 1:1–3; Rev. 12:17; 19:10.)
The Mission Statement of the church declares:
The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to proclaim to all peoples the everlasting gospel of God’s love in the context of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14:6–12, and as revealed in the life, death, resurrection, and Godly ministry of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 9:6,7), leading them to accept Jesus as personal Saviour and Lord and to unite with His remnant church; and to nurture believers as disciples in preparation for His soon return." [4]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual [5] contains a "summary of doctrinal beliefs" in its appendix that is designed especially for use in the instruction of candidates for baptism. The final point identifies the Adventist church with the "remnant":
28. In accordance with God’s uniform dealing with mankind, warning them of coming events that will vitally affect their destiny, He has sent forth a proclamation of the approaching return of Christ. This preparatory message is symbolized by the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, and meets its fulfillment in the great Second Advent Movement today. This has brought forth the remnant, or Seventh-day Adventist Church, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. [5]
The church manual also outlines two alternative baptismal vows for candidates who are entering into church membership. The final question of the traditional longer vow (question 13) asks the candidate:
Do you accept and believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the remnant church of Bible prophecy and that people of every nation, race and language are invited and accepted into its fellowship? Do you desire to be a member of this local congregation of the world church? [5]
Following baptism, the new member is presented with a "certificate of baptism and commitment" which contains a similarly worded statement, but expressed as an affirmation rather than a question.
In 2005, an alternative baptismal vow was approved at the General Conference Session. This alternative vow contains three statements of belief, and does not mention the remnant. However, it does still require acceptance of the Fundamental Beliefs. Which version to use is up to the discretion of the parties involved.
In 1849, Joseph Bates asserted the Adventists were the remnant. [6]
Gerhard Hasel was a recognized remnant scholar within Christian circles at large, and wrote on the theme of the remnant throughout the Old Testament. [7]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has traditionally identified itself as the end-time "remnant church" described in Revelation 12:17. [8] Two of the identifying marks of the remnant listed in this verse are that they "keep the commandments of God" and have the "testimony of Jesus". It is held that the "commandments of God" refer to the Ten Commandments, which includes the fourth commandment regarding the seventh-day Sabbath. In addition, Revelation 19:10 equates "the testimony of Jesus" to the "Spirit of prophecy", which Adventists believe is a reference to the ministry and writings of Ellen G. White. The Adventist church therefore sees itself as unique in possessing these two identifying marks of the remnant church. [9]
According to the historicist interpretation of Revelation traditionally employed by Adventists, the remnant church emerges after a period of 1,260 years (Revelation 12:6) during which the Papacy reigns over Christendom. This period ended in 1798. The Seventh-day Adventist Church formed shortly afterwards, in the period 1844–1863. [10]
The remnant church has a divine mission which is symbolised in the three angels' messages. This mission is to proclaim the "everlasting gospel" to humanity, to call true believers out of false religion (represented by Babylon) and to prepare the world for the final end-time crisis. [11] Even so, at the present time, the remnant church is a visible institution that is made up of both saved and unsaved individuals (in other words, membership in the Adventist church is not a guarantee of salvation).
Ellen White wrote,
"Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness, and alienation from God, that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ's true followers are still to be found in their communion." [12]
At a time, known technically as the "close of probation", shortly before the second coming of Jesus, humanity will be polarized into two distinct groups. Adventists traditionally have taught that this polarization will occur over the Sabbath commandment. [13] Those who are obedient to God in this final era will make up the "eschatological remnant" which will be saved through the final crisis. The eschatological remnant will have some continuity with the remnant church, in that there will be some Adventists who remain faithful in the crisis. However, it is understood that numerous Adventists will succumb to apostasy, thus departing from the remnant. At the same time, there will be numerous Christian believers from non-Adventist churches who will join the eschatological remnant and receive salvation. [1]
Adventist scholar Ángel Manuel Rodríguez, who himself supports the traditional Adventist interpretation, has stated: "it is with great concern that some observe a tendency to de-emphasize or ignore this fundamental self-definition". [1] Rodríguez identifies a number of different interpretations of the "remnant" that have gained popularity within contemporary Adventism. He proposes several reasons for the increasing redefinition of the concept, including increased contact with other Christians, the delay of the Parousia, theological education in non-Adventist universities, exposure to post-modern world views, and perceived apostasy in the Adventist church. [1]
Similarly, in 2008, Roy Adams wrote in the Adventist Review , "Today we hesitate to claim we’re the remnant". [14]
In The Shaking of Adventism, Anglican Geoffrey Paxton described the mainstream belief as follows:
[The Seventh-day Adventist] believes that God has called him to carry forward the message of the Reformation in such a way as no other Christian or Christian body is able to do. In his opinion the Seventh-day Adventist is God's special heir of the Reformers. Only through the Adventist Church can the work of the Reformation be carried to its God-designed end. [15]
In modern times some Adventists have broadened the "remnant" concept to include sincere Christians in other denominations. Such a broadening occurred as early as the publication of Questions on Doctrine . [16]
Many Adventists who hold a "wider" concept of the remnant nevertheless consider that the Adventist church has a unique place in God's purpose for the end times. Questions on Doctrine acknowledged the Adventist church as "the visible organization through which God is proclaiming this last special message to the world". [16] Adventists such as Ross Cole speak of Adventists as possessing the "remnant message". These views focus more on the message of the remnant, and not on the Adventist church as an institution.
According to Ron Corson, many "progressive" Adventists believe in "An inclusion of other Christians into the category termed the 'Remnant.'" [17]
Some Adventists have re-interpreted the remnant concept significantly. Steve Daily rejects the identification of the "remnant" with any institution or denomination, and instead considers it to be an invisible entity. He argues for a "move from an ethnocentric remnant theology to a spirit of religious affirmation which acknowledges that the 'kingdom of God on earth' transcends every religious movement of mankind". [18] Ángel Manuel Rodríguez criticizes Daily's position, claiming that "The level of discontinuity with traditional Adventism is so drastic that it is difficult to incorporate it into any meaningful dialogue." [1]
Others have interpreted the remnant concept along sociological and political lines, for example Remnant and Republic: Adventist Themes for Personal and Social Ethics, edited by Charles W. Teel Jr. [19] It is argued that the remnant has a duty to work towards social and political reform. [20] Some who espouse these views deny that the remnant is a religious body to be identified with any particular church. Rodriguez again rejects such interpretations, asserting that they set aside "the biblical understanding of the remnant as fundamentally a religious entity". [1]
The progressive Adventist journals Spectrum and Adventist Today commonly publish articles and letters which deny this doctrine, instead claiming that the remnant is much wider than the Adventist church. Rodríguez believes that a tendency to reject the remnant concept is related to a tendency to reject the historicist method of interpreting prophecy.
Raymond Cottrell, writing about the challenges of producing the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary , claimed that the remnant doctrine is not supported by the traditional prooftexts.
What should an editor do with 'proof texts' that inherently do not prove what is traditionally attributed to them—as, for example...Revelation 12:17 and 19:10... In most of these and a number of other passages, pastoral concern led us to conclude that the Commentary was not the place to make an issue of the Bible versus the traditional interpretation, much as this disappointed us as Bible scholars and would be a disappointment to our scholarly friends who know better." [21]
Nathan Brown, then Record editor, has written in that magazine, "For many Adventists, the topic of the 'remnant'—and particularly various statements that have sounded like claims to be "the remnant church"—has been a source of discomfort, feeling a bit too much like arrogance or at best claims we would all struggle to live up to." [22]
Non-Adventists scholars have disputed the Adventist understanding of the remnant. Calvinist theologian Anthony Hoekema argued that the doctrine of the remnant church is indefensible on both exegetical and theological grounds. [23] [[Exegesis|Exegetically], the Greek word "remnant" (leimma) is not found in Revelation 12:17 and thus it is not possible to read a "church within a church" into the verse. The translation "remnant" is an inaccuracy of the KJV upon which the doctrine was originally based. Theologically, Adventists insist that the remnant is merely a visible body within the wider "invisible church;" however there is no biblical or theological warrant for believing in the existence of an ecclesiola in ecclesia, or "little church within the church". The concept of "remnant" in the New Testament, according to Hoekema, applies only to Jewish believers. Hoekema alleges that the Adventist concept of the remnant resembles the error of schismatic movements such as Montanism, Novatianism and Donatism. [23]
Hoekema finally concludes that the "remnant church" concept places Adventism among the cults, since it implies that the Adventist church is "the last true church left on earth, and all other groups which claim to be churches are not true but false churches." [24] That is, it implies the existence of an "exclusive community", which Hoekema believes is a distinctive trait of the cults. However, because Adventists acknowledge that it is possible for non-Adventist Christians to be saved, Hoekema concedes they manifest the "cultist trait" in a "somewhat ambivalent manner" when compared to religions who teach that salvation cannot be found outside their organisations. [23]
The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement, which schismed from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1920s, sees itself as the "remnant", the Adventist church represented by the "seed", and other Protestants as the "woman" in Revelation 12:17. [25]
The Great Disappointment in the Millerite movement was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller's proclamation that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent. His study of the Daniel 8 prophecy during the Second Great Awakening led him to conclude that Daniel's "cleansing of the sanctuary" was cleansing the world from sin when Christ would come, and he and many others prepared. When Jesus did not appear by October 22, 1844, Miller and his followers were disappointed.
The post-tribulation rapture doctrine is the belief in a combined resurrection and rapture, or gathering of the saints, after the Great Tribulation.
Criticism of the Seventh-day Adventist Church includes observations made about its teachings, structure, and practices or theological disagreements from various individuals and groups.
Last Generation Theology (LGT) or "final generation" theology is a religious belief regarding moral perfection achieved by sanctified people in the last generation before the Second Coming of Jesus. It was a concept that had its origins in the beliefs and teachings of Seventh-day Adventist Church pioneers, and there are verses in scripture in texts such as 2 Corinthians 7:1, Matthew 5:48, and many others. Seventh-day Adventists hold that there will be an end-time remnant of believers who are faithful to God, which will be manifest shortly prior to the second coming of Jesus, as suggested by the 144,000 saints described in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament.
In Seventh-day Adventist theology, the Great Controversy theme refers to the cosmic battle between Jesus Christ and Satan, also played out on earth. Ellen G. White, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, who wrote several books explaining, but allegedly never disagreeing with the Bible, delineates the theme in her book The Great Controversy, first published in 1858. The concept, or metanarrative, derives from many visions the author reported to have received, as well as from scriptural references. Adventist theology sees the concept as important in that it provides an understanding of the origin of evil, and of the eventual destruction of evil and the restoration of God's original purpose for this world. It constitutes belief number 8 of the church's 28 Fundamentals.
The investigative judgment, or pre-Advent Judgment, is a unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrine, which asserts that the divine judgment of professed Christians has been in progress since 1844. It is intimately related to the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and was described by one of the church's pioneers Ellen G. White as one of the pillars of Adventist belief. It is a major component of the broader Adventist understanding of the "heavenly sanctuary", and the two are sometimes spoken of interchangeably.
The remnant is a recurring theme throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bible. The Anchor Bible Dictionary describes it as "What is left of a community after it undergoes a catastrophe". The concept has stronger representation in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament than in the Christian New Testament.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church holds a unique system of eschatological beliefs. Adventist eschatology, which is based on a historicist interpretation of prophecy, is characterised principally by the premillennial Second Coming of Christ. Traditionally, the church has taught that the Second Coming will be preceded by a global crisis with the Sabbath as a central issue. At Jesus' return, the righteous will be taken to heaven for one thousand years. After the millennium the unsaved cease to exist as they will be punished by annihilation while the saved will live on a recreated Earth for eternity.
The theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church resembles early Protestant Christianity, combining elements from Lutheran, Wesleyan-Arminian, and Anabaptist branches of Protestantism. Adventists believe in the infallibility of the Scripture's teaching regarding salvation, which comes from grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The 28 fundamental beliefs constitute the church's current doctrinal positions, but they are revisable under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and are not a creed.
The 1888 Minneapolis General Conference Session was a meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in October 1888. It is regarded as a landmark event in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Key participants were Alonzo T. Jones and Ellet J. Waggoner, who presented a message on justification supported by Ellen G. White, but resisted by leaders such as G. I. Butler, Uriah Smith and others. The session discussed crucial theological issues such as the meaning of "righteousness by faith", the nature of the Godhead, the relationship between law and grace, and Justification and its relationship to Sanctification.
Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine is a book published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1957 to help explain Adventism to conservative Protestants and Evangelicals. The book generated greater acceptance of the Adventist church within the evangelical community, where it had previously been widely regarded as a cult. However, it also proved to be one of the most controversial publications in Adventist history and the release of the book brought prolonged alienation and separation within Adventism and evangelicalism.
Milian Lauritz Andreasen, was a Seventh-day Adventist theologian, pastor and author.
The "three angels' messages" is an interpretation of the messages given by three angels in Revelation 14:6–12. The Seventh-day Adventist church teaches that these messages are given to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and sees them as a central part of its own mission.
Hiram Edson (1806–1882) was a pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, known for introducing the sanctuary doctrine to the church. Hiram Edson was a Millerite adventist, and became a Sabbath-keeping Adventist. Like all Millerites, Edson expected that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ would occur on October 22, 1844. This belief was based on an interpretation of the 2300 day prophecy which predicted that "the sanctuary would be cleansed" which Millerites took to mean that Christ would return on that day.
In Seventh-day Adventist theology, the heavenly sanctuary teaching asserts that many aspects of the Hebrew tabernacle or sanctuary are representative of heavenly realities. In particular, Jesus is regarded as the High Priest who provides atonement for human sins by the sacrificial shedding of his blood at Calvary. The doctrine is based on Hebrews 4:14-15. As a whole, it is unique to Seventh-day Adventism, although other denominations share many of the typological identifications made by the epistle to the Hebrews, see Hebrews 8:2. One major aspect which is completely unique to Adventism is that the day of atonement is a type or foreshadowing of the investigative judgment. Technically, the "heavenly sanctuary" is an umbrella term which includes the investigative judgment, Christ's ministry in heaven before then, the understanding of Daniel 8:14, etc. However, it is often spoken of interchangeably with the investigative judgment.
Ángel Manuel Rodríguez (1945—) is a Seventh-day Adventist theologian and was the director of the Biblical Research Institute (BRI) before his retirement. His special research interests include Old Testament, Sanctuary and Atonement, and Old Testament Theology. He has written several books, and authors a monthly column in Adventist World.
Interpretations of the law in the Bible within the Seventh-day Adventist Church form a part of the broader debate regarding biblical law in Christianity. Adventists believe in a greater continuation of laws such as the law given to Moses in the present day than do most other Christians. In particular, they believe the 10 Commandments still apply to today, including the Sabbath in particular.
This article describes the relationship between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and other Christian denominations and movements, and other religions. Adventists resist the movement which advocates their full ecumenical integration into other churches, because they believe that such a transition would force them to renounce their foundational beliefs and endanger the distinctiveness of their religious message. According to one church document,
The Seventh-day Adventist Church pioneers were members of Seventh-day Adventist Church, part of the group of Millerites, who came together after the Great Disappointment across the United States and formed the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1860, the pioneers of the fledgling movement settled on the name, Seventh-day Adventist, representative of the church's distinguishing beliefs. Three years later, on May 21, 1863, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was formed and the movement became an official organization.
The Pillars of Adventism are landmark doctrines for Seventh-day Adventists. They are Bible doctrines that define who they are as a people of faith; doctrines that are "non-negotiables" in Adventist theology. The Seventh-day Adventist church teaches that these Pillars are needed to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and sees them as a central part of its own mission. Adventists teach that the Seventh-day Adventist Church doctrines were both a continuation of the reformation started in the 16th century and a movement of the end time rising from the Millerites, bringing God's final messages and warnings to the world.
Traditional position:
Liberal and sociological positions: