KNOW YOUR WONDERFUL HERITAGE

KNOW YOUR WONDERFUL HERITAGE

Detractors of Adventism give the impression that E.G.White founded Adventism by herself or was responsible for its main doctrines. They then vilify and defame her character in seeking to undermine the image of the denomination. They reason that since the founder lacked credibility the foundation of the religion must be false. Please take time to know your heritage and history. Please take time out to read the following:

The Seventh Day Adventist movement began with those who accepted the true interpretation of Daniel 8:14, which was the fundamental Scripure of the Millerite movement that started in 1833. Based on misinterpretation of this verse many believed Christ would come in a few years. The verse is as follows:

Daniel 8:14 kjv

"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

After the Great Disappointment in the 22nd October of 1844 the correct interpretation came a day after through the Seventh Day Adventist pioneer Hiram Edison. At that time Sister White was 16 years of age (DOB - 27th November, 1827) The following is what we are told by Wikipedia regarding Hiram Edison and his discovery in the Spirit:

"Hiram Edson (1806–1882) was a pioneer of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, known for introducing the sanctuary doctrine (investigative judgment) 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 Daniel 8:14.

On the morning of October 23, 1844 they walked through Edson's cornfield to avoid the mocking jeers of the neighbors who had refused to believe the Advent message.[3] It was in this cornfield that Edson claimed to have seen a vision. In this vision, Edson came to understand that "the cleansing of the sanctuary" meant that Jesus was moving from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary, and not to the Second Coming of Jesus to earth"

The following quote from Wikipedia tells of O.R.L Crosier's role spreading the truth of the Sanctuary Message

O. R. L. Crosier was a Millerite preacher and editor, from Canandiagua, New York. He collaborated with Hiram Edson and Dr. F. B. Hahn in publishing a small Millerite paper, the Day-Dawn. He was with Edson on the morning after the great disappointment on October 22, 1844. Edson received an inspiration from God which explained that the Millerites’ error was not in the date, but in the event; that Jesus had begun His work as High Priest in the most holy place in Heaven. Crosier, Edson, and Hahn joined together to study the subject, and Crosier was selected to write out their findings on the subject of the sanctuary and its cleansing.

Joseph Bates and James White were among those Millerites who were convinced by the resulting article. When Ellen White read the second and expanded printing of the article published in the Day-Star Extra, of February 7, 1846, she immediately recommended it to the brethren as “true light.”

The Sabbath doctrine came to the Seventh Day Adventist movement through Joseph Bates the following year after the Great Disappointment". The following is what is said on this pioneer on Wikipedia:

"Joseph Bates (July 8, 1792 – March 19, 1872) was an American seaman and revivalist minister. He was a co-founder and developer of Sabbatarian Adventism, a strain of religious thinking that evolved into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Bates is also credited with convincing James White and Ellen G. White of the validity of the seventh-day Sabbath.

During the spring of 1845, Bates accepted the seventh-day Sabbath after reading a pamphlet by T. M. Preble. Bates soon became known as the "apostle of the Sabbath" and wrote several booklets on the topic."

The follow is on Sis White's role as a co-Pioneer in finalizing or confirming the fundamental doctrines of Seventh Day Adventist by Merlin D. Burt

"Seventh-day Adventists believe that God called Ellen G. White to a prophetic ministry that played a vital role in the beginning and establishment of the church. Her visions and prophetic dreams spanned a period of a little more than 70 years, from 1844 to 1915. These special revelations were a correcting voice that kept the church and individuals close to a biblical faith. They did not originate any Adventist fundamental belief, but rather unified believers and enriched their biblical understanding. This role is clear in the history of Seventh-day Adventist doctrinal development.

In looking at the most important distinctive doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church—the sanctuary and the Sabbath and their integration in the three angels’ messages—we see this demonstrated. As a further illustration, we will see Ellen White’s role in the teaching of tithing.

Heavenly Sanctuary

In March 1845 O. R. L. Crosier published his first article in the Day-Dawn suggesting that Jesus began His ministry in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary on October 22, 1844. He further developed the idea of the antitypical day of atonement in a lengthy article titled “The Law of Moses” in the February 7, 1846, Day-Star Extra.1

Ellen White confirmed his presentation when she wrote in 1847: “The Lord [showed] me in vision, more than one year ago, that Brother Crosier had the true light, on the cleansing of the sanctuary.”2 While Ellen White enriched an understanding of the heavenly sanctuary by identifying Jesus as our great high priest, it was Crosier’s biblical expositions that built the foundation.

Sabbath

The seventh-day Sabbath came to Adventists through the influence of Seventh Day Baptists. Rachel Oakes, a Seventh Day Baptist in Washington, New Hampshire, shared the Sabbath with Frederick Wheeler. Wheeler likely influenced T. M. Preble, who in turn wrote an article and tract in February and March 1845 that brought Joseph Bates to the Sabbath.3 Bates wrote his important Sabbath tract, Seventh Day Sabbath a Perpetual Sign, in August 1846.4

Newly married, James and Ellen White studied this tract with their Bibles and became Sabbathkeepers. Ellen White did not receive a vision on the Sabbath until the next year. She had heard Bates speak of the Sabbath prior to reading his tract but “did not feel its importance.”5 God did not give her a vision to point her mind toward the Sabbath. Rather, He waited for her to study the Bible to settle her faith on this important doctrinal issue.

Sabbath and Sanctuary Unite

The most important theological development for Seventh-day Adventists was not the Sabbath or the heavenly sanctuary as individual doctrines, but rather the integration of the two into a final message for the world. The January 1847 second edition of Joseph Bates’s tract on the Sabbath presented the idea that the Sabbath had “present truth,” or end-time importance, based on Revelation 11:19 and 14:12.

Revelation 11:19 describes the temple opened in heaven with a view of the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place. In the ark are the Ten Commandments. The three angels’ messages call us to worship God as Creator and describe the saints as those who “keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.” For Bates, the Sabbath had end-time importance because of its link to Jesus’ Most Holy Place ministry.

Ellen White read Bates’s revised tract. In April 1847 her “Sabbath halo vision” gave a visual demonstration of Revelation 11:19 and confirmed what Bates had already published. In vision she saw Jesus, in the Most Holy Place, open the ark of the covenant and pick up the Ten Commandments. As He opened the two stone tablets, she looked and saw a “halo of glory” all around the fourth commandment.6 Her vision added an important application for their Bible understanding. She saw that Adventists “went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.”

This confirming vision helped anchor the eschatological importance of the Sabbath and provided an impetus for a new evangelistic proclamation of the gospel within the context of the Sabbath. This doctrine is integral to the three angels’ messages and is the core theological foundation for the evangelistic mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Thus we see that the core foundational doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church—the sanctuary, Sabbath, and the integration of the two for evangelistic mission—are not based on Ellen White’s visions, but rather on careful Bible study. The visions played a complementary role in confirming, correcting, and enriching. Ellen White was always clear that Adventist faith and practice are based on the Bible, not on her visions. In her first tract in 1851 she wrote: “I recommend to you, dear reader, the Word of God as the rule of your faith and practice. By that Word we are to be judged. God has, in that Word, promised to give visions in the ‘last days’; not for a new rule of faith, but for the comfort of His people, and to correct those who err from Bible truth.”

Facebook friends I hope you appreciate this wonderful historical heritage we have. Our faith and foundation is unique to all others.

It was bible study, research and the work of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of many that founded this movement. This is similar to the apostolic church where doctrinal position and prophetic direction was arrived at by the work of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of many. In Acts 15 for example we see the deciding on the issue of whether Circumcision is required to be saved by the gathering of Saints. In Acts 13:1-3 the directive of the Spirit among the Saints came to send Paul and Barnabus out to apostolic ministry. So indeed the SDA movement is unique in its beginnings. This is because it is truly God's church upon the earth, the church being the pillar and ground of truth (1Tim.3:15).

May God continue to ground and establish you in the faith of Jesus as you give your heart to God with all diligence.