Ellen G White
If perhaps you are new to this name, Ellen White is not only the founder of the Seventh- Day movement, but her teachings are also the basis of the entire SDA Church doctrine. Her writings are what the SDA members call “the spirit of prophecy”. It is concerning enough that what she wrote is regarded by the Adventist Church as being “divinely inspired” (on the same level with the Bible). It is equally worrying that Mrs. White allegedly made many “prophecies” that never came to pass, however, I am more concerned about her false doctrines, which are still upheld as truth by the SDA Church to this day. Some of those heretical teachings include Investigative Judgment, Satan bearing our sins and a few more that we will cover in depth below. However, the most concerning of them all, I believe, is her doctrine that Jesus is Michael the Archangel. I struggle to understand how someone could not study Scripture and learn that Christ is God the Creator, and Michael is a created being; “just an angel”. A wrong view of the nature of Christ is the foundation of a wrong understanding of the Gospel message.
Salvation by keeping the Sabbath
Any SDA theologian would bet his life on the fact that they believe in salvation by faith alone, apart from the law, just like my Bible teaches, however, I believe there is some kind of dishonesty in all that, because according to the words of their prophet, “Man, who has defaced the image of God in his soul by a corrupt life, cannot, by mere human effort, effect a radical change in himself. He must accept the provisions of the gospel; he must be reconciled to God through obedience to His law and faith in Jesus Christ” (God's Amazing Grace p.144). From that statement, you will realize that there is a mixture of obedience to the law and faith in Christ = salvation. Just in case I took all that out of context, here is another one, “The Sabbath is the golden clasp that unites God and His people. It means eternal salvation to keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord” (My Life Today p.287). Think of it this way, if those who worship on Sunday have already received the Mark of the Beast (so said Mrs White), then your salvation is based on Sabbath keeping. They can deny that if they can, but that is the overall implication.
Gentlemen, keeping the Sabbath has absolutely nothing to do with your salvation. Nor is Sabbath keeping a requirement for Gentile believers. If it were so, it would have been one of the things mentioned in the council of Jerusalem (Act 15:28-29). And how many times do we need to teach Col 2:16-17 until we learn that the Sabbath was only a shadow of Christ the true rest for our souls? Also, I think a good read of Romans 14 would do a lot of good in one’s mind concerning this issue.
Investigative Judgement
Some say this is the most heretical teaching of the SDA church. That is, according to the “visions” of their “inspired prophet” the meaning of Hebrews 8 and Daniel 8 is that, somewhere in the year 1844 (about 1 800 years after His crucifixion) Christ entered the holy of holies and began the process of judging or “investigating” the lives of all Christians, even us who are alive on earth. This is defined as “the last phase of Christ’s atoning ministry.” Those who are investigated and found to possess some unrepentant sin, will have their names blotted out from the Book of Life, while the righteous ones; those who are found to be presently keeping the law of God will have their sins forgiven.
The doctrine of investigative judgment is erroneous on two fronts. First, it implies that our Lord’s crosswork – where the real atonement took place– was not enough. Hence He needed to make another “atonement” to complete that. And why would He do it in 1844 for that matter; after almost 2 thousand years of the Christian Gospel advancing to the salvation of souls?
Secondly, this doctrine implies that our works are what determines our salvation, since “Jesus is presently judging” what we do so that He concludes whether we are worthy of eternal life or not. Whilst the Gospel says we are saved by faith alone, apart from works and that those who believe are given eternal life the moment they believe. There is no need for any investigative judgment of my works to decide my eternal fate. Christ has already accomplished that on the Cross.
The doctrine of hell
This was Mrs. White's belief about hell, “How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell; that for the sins of a brief, earthly life… (Great Controversy, p.535) Which means according to her human reasoning, there can’t be any eternal punishment of sinners. “It’s not according to our sense of justice.” I only wish she was still alive so I could visit her with my Bible and read verses like this to her ears, “Matthew 25:41 -Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
Dietary laws
The SDA church believes that there is a connection between spirituality and what you eat. Meat and other “harmful” products are discouraged. For this reason, a large percentage of the SDA members are vegetarian (don’t eat meat at all).
Personally, I have no problem with that, after all, he who eats, eats to the Lord, and he who does not eat, does it to the Lord (Rom 14:6). My big issue is that Ellen G white made her personal food preference part of the church doctrine that believers must adhere to, until she uttered such unbiblical statements like, “Flesh (meat) food is injurious to health, and whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and the soul.”
Conclusion. Friends I have limited time to tackle all these issues. I could go on and mention other things of concern such as the SDA baptism vows, and the legalistic rules that forbid dancing. However, I will allow you to do your own research. My summary is that the SDA would be a good denomination if only they could get rid of Ellen G White, because that is the source of all these heresies. Therefore, I don’t see myself, in good conscience, recommending the Seventh Day Adventist Church to anybody. Because I believe these issues (mentioned above) have a huge effect on the purity of the Gospel, from which we can be saved. I also beg my SDA neighbours, please friends, let’s examine these matters with our Bibles open. Because ultimately, it won’t matter the denomination we belong to, but whether we got the correct Gospel, and faithfully proclaimed that correct Gospel to others. With that, I hold my peace.
Sinothi Ncube
Related Content
Comments
Post a Comment