Is Seventh Day Adventism A Cult?

Michael Pearl gives additional thoughts on the Seventh-Day Adventist church, in answer to a question from a viewer.

Note: Mike answered this question in a previous video, but he ended up answering it again with some added thoughts.

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[devonmccloud]

Thanks for your hard work brother! I see a lot of anger on this thread. We need to all come out of denominations and truly come together as The Body Of Christ!! The enemy camps are not divided, one sect doesn't say "well those free masons like to sacrifice their prey like this, " and other sects recruit people to directly worship satan as deity, and the other saying "we worship Lucifer the light bearer who comes in peace, he's the great architect blah blah blah. No!!! The evil one just doesn't want us worshipping Jesus, because He is The Only Way!! We need to come together as a true church!!!!

[rogermetzger]

I’m 75. I don’t think this brother in intentionally deceiving people about Seventh-day Adventists but several of the things he says about adventists are not true of all adventist and some of the things he says are not true of any of the hundreds of adventists I have known well enough to learn their names.


I have a copy of Early Writings by Ellen White. I read that book when I was a boy and I think I would have remembered if it included anything about Jesus returning during the civil war. But I did re-read page 67 and that page doesn’t include anything about when Jesus would return.


There is no record that William Miller ever had a vision about when Jesus would return.


There was someone who had an epiphany in 1844 about the meaning of the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 but it wasn’t William Miller and it wasn’t Ellen White.


My parents were Seventh-day Adventists before I was born. They were adventist protestants. Dad sometimes recited a slogan he attributed to Martin Luther: “Only by grace, only through faith and only on the Holy Scriptures.”


One thing I did find on page 67 of Early Writings was this: “I recommend to you, dear reader, the word of God as the rule of your faith and practice.”


I’ve never met an adventist who referred to Ellen White’s writings as scripture.


Are there some adventists who, when they speak of Ellen White as inspired, mean that they think of themselves as followers of Ellen White?


I’m afraid that is true of SOME adventists. But when my parents spoke of Ellen White as inspired, the DIDN’T mean that everything she ever wrote was inspired and the DIDN’T mean that every bit of advice she gave to individuals in the nineteenth century was applicable to everyone in the twentieth century.


My parents - and thousands or tens of thousands of other adventists - subscribed to what I call the principle of prior reference - the principle that anything purported to be special revelation should be evaluated and interpreted by older revelation. Anyone who subscribes to that doctrine cannot be deceived by false prophets.


Was Jesus a prophet?


Many of the Hebrews rejected him as a prophet but it was because they compared his teachings with what they had been taught was the MEANING of the Hebrew Bible instead of studying the Hebrew prophets of antiquity for themselves.


Today, many Christians are making a similar mistake. Instead of interpreting the Gospels and the Epistles by the older Hebrew Bible, they try to interpret the Hebrew portions of the Bible by what they have been taught is the MEANING of the Gospels and the Epistles. Some even teach that Jesus MEANT the opposite of what he said!


One Lutheran told me that, if there is a doctrine Luther didn't teach, that doctrine isn’t important.


Do all Lutherans believe that?


One Lutheran told me that there are things he knows he must do if he doesn’t want to burn in hell.


Do all Lutherans believe that?


Likewise it would be better to not paint all adventists with the same broad brush.

[melissas]

The questions they ask in order to be baptized sound remarkable similar to the questions I was asked years ago when I was baptized at the Mennonite church I grew up in.

[karenweber]

Doesn't Paul say if any man proclaim false scripture let him be accursed? That satan can appear aan angel of lights, etc.?

[noahbanks]

As a Adventist myself, I am not sure where he gets his his information but to be baptized you do not have to accept Ellen white. Ellen white is not held over the Bible. And the reference about Jerusalem not being built is not taken in its full context because it’s in reference to the temple being rebuilt on the mount, and as of today there is no temple. Please check out Adventist beliefs for yourself and check out the program IT IS Written, I promise we are bible based, not based on Ellen white or millerite movement.

[HankTheCaveman]

You mention one prophecy by David Wilkerson that you say didn't happen and you label him a false prophet? The Catholic church has persecuted Protestants for many years, including Pentecostals. As a matter of fact no member of the Christian Church has been persecuted more than Pentecostals. What about Wilkerson predicting the VCR, children divorcing their parents, the covid plague, the riots in our cities, the burning of our cities, and a host of other prophecies he got right. David Wilkerson was a genuine Man of God. We could sure use some more like him now.

[GaudencioJrBuque]

May I borrow one comment earlier to strike deeper the point he made. "A cult is defined as a group that has secret doctrine - Adventists have no such thing. Call us a cult, who cares. Our job is to preach that Jesus is coming back. There's nothing secret about that. EGW gave her entire life from the age of 16 onward to serve in the vineyard. What have you done? Throughout the years critics love to call her a false prophet yet are unable to prove it."

[tinylewis]

Sda does not believe that satans gone rain for 1000 yr

[elijahrodgers]

I am an Adventist. The Bible and the Bible alone is my foundation of faith. This is what the Bible says. READ: Matthew 5:17-19; Matthew 15:3-6; Mark 7:6-9; Mark 2:27, 28; Matthew 19:17-22; Luke 16:7; Mark 10:19-21; John 14:15; Romans 3:31; Romans 7:12; 1 Corinthians 7:19; Romans 7:22-25; Romans 8:1-4; Revelation14:12: Revelation 22:14; James 2:11, 12; 1 John 3:4; Roman 7:7; Roman 13:9, 10; Genesis 2:1-3; Luke 23:54, 56. Who will you worship? God or the commandments of men? I chose to worship God.

[elijahrodgers]

I am a Seventh Day Adventist. There were many lies or misinterpretations in this video. One of them being about the 1, 000 years. Adventist do not believe that Satan will reign 1, 000 Years. Revelation 20:1-3 KJV, "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  (2)  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,  (3)  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." Satan will be bound 1, 000 years. Revelation 20:4-6 "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  (5)  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.  (6)  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." As Adventist we believe that Christ will reign 1, 000 years. The Bible does not teach that Jesus will walk the earth at his Second Coming. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  (17)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
We will meet the Lord in the air. After the 1, 000 years Satan will be devoured according to Revelation 20:9, "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

[AnonEeMouse]

The question is would Christ ask the question this video is asking?

[BeccalaiShushushu]

I was raised and baptized SDA and attended the church school until grade 8 as well. I still haven't committed to another church though I haven't attended regularly for many years. I agree with this picture of the Adventist church, in that it leans less on these fundamentals and when directly asked, my elders seemed uncomfortable and maybe embarrassed. However, though the church teachings are dictated and overseen by conferences and unions, the individual churches do vary in the extremes. I grew up in a pretty neutral church in Dover, DE, and also attended a couple large churches in WA that were the same. I also attended a couple that were a little scary. So, while every church has it's problems and we are all coming together to learn and study God's plan, the fundamental beliefs held by the church are pretty important.

[edithdotson]

Brother, you are so misinformed about SEventhday Adventism! SDA teachings are the closest to true biblical Christianity as you get in this world. It is the one church that admonishes people to keep the commandments of God as Jesus Himself said we should do in John 14:15. It, the one church that teaches the truth about each of the topics you discussed.
As for Ellen White, she most definitely is a true prophet. Taking statements out of contexts from her writings is a good way to discredit her and to deceive people.
Reader, if you want to know about EGW, read her writings for yourself. I recommend The Great Controversy book which you can read on line as well as listen to the reading of it on line.
11Chronicle 20:20 states:Believe the Lord your God so shall ye be established, believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.
By the way, in that book you will read the truth about what SDAs believe and lots more, God bless all honest searchers for truth.

[scarletpumpernickel]

PS..
EVERY day is Sabbath.
(If you wanna play church on Saturday or Sunday.. go ahead.)

[r.s.]

I'm a Seventh day Adventist, and was Baptized by them, they said no such thing as to go Ellen White's writing's, The just did the Baptize as it was in the Bible, They said that you do not have to believe in Ellen White's teaching's, I got into with them about Ellen being a false profit, and I only go by the Bible, They didn't argue to much about that., At least that what my Church did, they said nothing about following Ellen White, Only if you choose to, I chose not to, God Bless.
P.S. They are trying to get away from Ellen White.

[andalusianguitarist]

EGW didn't create the 7th Day Adventist church. This can easily be proven. The fundamental statements of beliefs which were written in 1980 were alien to the original pioneer teachings especially in relation to fundamental doctrines 2 and 4 which were never part of the beliefs of the early pioneers of the movement. Fact that EGW has been set up as a sort of 3rd canon of scripture is unbiblical and runs contrary to her own counsel with regard to the use of her writings. This can also be easily proven. What can also be proven is the fact that even though EGW was inspired by God under certain circumstances she was not infallible. Case in point in the beginning she was very legalistic and later after hearing the 1888 Message of Christ righteousness from AT Jones and EJ Waggoner she grew in the knowledge of righteousness by faith without the works of the law. Yet to my knowledge she never actually corrected or explained the Apostle Paul's position in Roman 4 in relation to what was stated in James regarding works and faith. The two positions cannot be reconciled for certain reasons which will not be covered in this brief exposition.


The result is that the denomination might promote the concept of righteousness by faith without the works of the law by giving lip service to the doctrine but ever since the rejection of 1888 you hear many SDAs using James as well and they will be stating that its by faith and works and this simply is not true since the Pauline position on the subject matter is properly laid out in Ephesians 2:8-10. The works that we do were prepared by God from beforehand that we may walk in them. So basically speaking everything comes from God even our good works.


She also stated that Jones and Waggoner were in fact given that message by God and that these two men were God's delegated Messengers with regard to that teaching which was based on the book of Galatians. Fact is that the majority of the leadership rejected that Message back in 1888 and EGW warned that from that period onward the church would have to watch carefully since the devil would come in with false teachings. This warning was never heeded and today we have seen the results on account of the fact that a proper exposition of the truth has never been given. When the SDA Evangelical Conferences came along in 1955-56 the SDA representatives stated that the Evangelicals helped them to explain their doctrine and that the matter of the cleansing of the Sanctuary in relation to a second Atonement was a question of semantics.
The concept of the Investigative Judgement is non biblical and has nothing to do with the doctrine of the cleansing of the Sanctuary. This doctrine was later brought in as an addition to the cleansing of the Sanctuary which is in fact a biblical doctrine. Miller's chronology was in fact correct but what was not correct was the belief of planet earth being the Sanctuary which was to be burned with fire. The early Millerite Advent movement actually spawned about 4 or 5 different groups. The one that became 7th Day Adventists were the ones that studied the Sanctuary in Leviticus 16 and arrived at the correct conclusion that the Sanctuary was the Tabernacle that was cleansed once a year from the records of forgiven sins.

[dustinhall]

Oh my. As an Adventist pastor I've got to tell you that there is so much about this thats wrong I can't even begin to explain it all here. I would encourage somebody who wonders about the church to actually talk to an Adventist pastor or church leader. I appreciate the attempt to be polite but man please check your facts before you try to explain somebody else's beliefs.

[calvinodhiambo]

Semi cooked tapestry of convenient half truths presented with an air of eloquence and imagined authority

[logosfocus]

the one true living God has but one religion😇 .. but satan has many religions, groups, cults and Utube channels to tempt ppl with 💀👹🔱.. do not be deceived ⛔

[gregcox]

A cult is defined as a group that has secret doctrine - Adventists have no such thing. Call us a cult, who cares. Our job is to preach that Jesus is coming back. There's nothing secret about that. EGW gave her entire life from the age of 16 onward to serve in the vineyard. What have you done? Throughout the years critics love to call her a false prophet yet are unable to prove it.