101 Questions on the Sanctuary and on Ellen White

5. Desmond Ford on the Investigative Judgment

How has Desmond Ford characterized the Adventist doctrine of the investigative judgment? QSEW 9.3

Ford declares: QSEW 9.4

“It is quite impossible to prove from Daniel, Hebrews, Revelation, or elsewhere that a judgment upon believers began as a result of a change of heavenly ministry in 1844.” “Neither is there any Scripture which teaches an investigative judgment of the saints beginning long before the advent.” “Either our basic sanctuary doctrine is found in the New Testament chapter which alone deals with that theme, or it is not found in Scripture at all.”—Ford, pages 630, 5, 41. ¹ QSEW 9.5

Ford’s belief in a “pre-advent judgment” is not the same as the Adventist teaching of an investigative judgment. Ford states, “A pre-advent judgment decision as Christ is about to close His intercession is Biblical, but not an attenuated investigative process.... Our traditional method of explaining the pre-advent judgment will not stand up to critical examination. There are no texts teaching an investigative judgment as we proclaim it.”—Ford, pages 595, 651. QSEW 9.6