Foundations of the Seventh-day Adventist Message and Mission

Introduction

With the increasing network of communications, in many parts of the world action between members of the human race has intensified. These inter-human relations have led to a desire and search for mutual understanding through dialogue. Such communication has taken place among Christians as well as between Christians and persons of other religions. To discover the depth of faith of those who have different religious convictions, an openness of spirit and a thorough knowledge of their religious self-image is indispensable. FSDA xiii.1

With this in mind we have attempted to arrive at an understanding of the origins and basic structure of the theology which has motivated the Seventh-day Adventist Church for more than a century, making it one of the most widespread Protestant churches. The study, which is limited to a descriptive historical-theological and missiological approach, has penetrated into the Seventh-day Adventist self-understanding through an analysis of their use of Scripture. Without analyzing the original Scriptural basis of Seventh-day Adventism it is impossible to grasp fully the significance of its missionary nature. This was very well brought out by Dr. Paul Schwarzenau in his evaluation of a dialogue with certain Seventh-day Adventists in Europe. He observed that “prior to and underlying every particular church doctrine, however objectively it may be based on biblical exegesis and theological argument, are experiences of faith which have left an indelible mark on that doctrine and are the source which consciously or unconsciously determines the questions, inquiries and teachings of the church in question.” He illustrated his point by drawing a parallel between Luther’s experience and the 1844 Adventist experience, stating that “the living resonance of the Protestant ‘Scripture principle’ rests on the fact that Luther had earlier experienced in the depths of despair the converting power of the Gospel.... And it is very much to the point that Adventist doctrine is rooted in and derives strength from an event which Adventists later referred to as ‘the great disappointment’ (October 22, 1844).” He concluded with a most relevant observation for any dialogue among Christians that “the full truth of a church’s doctrine is therefore not yet grasped so long as, in its details or as a whole, we see it in isolation from such events and as mere doctrine.” ¹ The present study, therefore, has investigated in the light of the Adventist experience the origin and significance of methods of Bible interpretation by Seventh-day Adventists; the development of their ecclesiology, soteriology, and apocalyptic-eschatology; their self-understanding of the role they play in the history of the Christian church and salvation history; their views on inter-church relations; their concepts on truth and revelation; and their approach to others. The investigation also deals with the fundamental questions of the influence of the general hermeneutical tradition of 19th-century evangelical Protestantism, why Adventism did not disintegrate after the failure of the Millerite predictions of Christ’s return but resulted in the successful development of Seventh-day Adventism, and the Millerite contribution to Seventh-day Adventist eschatology. All these factors are of relevance for an understanding of their present theology of mission, the basic structure of which was formed in the first decades after 1844. In 1874 its basic structure had progressed so much that believers began a gradual expansion on a worldwide scale. Post-1874 developments, which are beyond the scope of this inquiry, resulted in a more Christocentric mission theology with a greater non-apocalyptic thrust. The fact, however, that its basic theological framework has generally remained unchanged makes this research of great relevance for an understanding of contemporary Seventh-day Adventism. This study endeavors to contribute to an in-depth understanding of Seventh-day Adventists and to lead to improved relations between them and persons of other persuasions. FSDA xiii.2

As far as possible use has been made of primary source material, including leading Millerite publications and all available Sabbatarian Adventist and Seventh-day Adventist publications. Books, pamphlets, published reports, sermons, periodical articles, published and unpublished letters, and manuscripts have been used as sources. Non-contemporary material has only been used to elucidate developmental trends without contradicting contemporary source material. Footnotes entail secondary sources providing the reader with further explanatory background in areas on question and biographic information on the major personalities quoted. Source material was selected on the basis of its qualitative and quantitative nature and its relevance in understanding the development of the theology of mission in its historical and contemporary perspective. FSDA xiv.1

Part One deals with the immediate origins of the Seventh-day Adventist theology of mission and limits itself to the early 19th-century religious climate in the U.S.A. when millennialism flourished and an interconfessional movement emerged. William Miller, one of the foremost pre-millennialists during the first half of the 19th century, was its great inspirational force stressing the imminence of Christ’s personal return. It was out of this movement that the Seventh-day Adventist Church gradually arose. In the footnotes of Part One frequently reference has been made to publications by some of the most authoritative Seventh-day Adventists indicating the continuity of theological ideas between them and the Millerites. Part Two discusses the post-1844 theological developments till 1874. This early period is of great importance because during it the distinctive and basic characteristics of Seventh-day Adventism were formulated. FSDA xiv.2

The theological concepts which lay behind the missionary consciousness of the Adventists formed within their hermeneutical framework a coherent unifying theological system which determined almost all their mission endeavors. This fact led to the use of the term “theology of mission” in this study. During the period under consideration one has to realize, however, that their theology of mission was a dynamic concept which gradually deepened and took on a more permanent structure. Thus this study can be called: Toward the Seventh-day Adventist theology of mission. The term “mission” and its derivatives used in this study include both the traditional meaning of missions-converting men of other faiths to Christianity-and the meaning of evangelism-calling back those who have apostatized or are gradually backsliding, thus signifying any activity in regard to man’s salvation. Depending on the historical context, the scope of “mission” refers to either the population of the U.S.A. or that of the whole inhabited world. FSDA xv.1

The name “Millerites” has been used to designate Adventists in the U.S.A. who accepted many of Miller’s expositions on the imminence of the Second Advent. The fact that the Millerites split up into different groups after 1844 makes it advisable to substitute the term “Adventists.” The terms “Sabbatarian Adventists” and “Seventh-day Adventists” have been employed to indicate one of these groups which soon made the observance of the Sabbath a part of its faith, the latter term (abbreviated SDA) applying after their organization as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in 1863. FSDA xv.2

Regarding the technical nature of the study, as far as possible the orthography of the sources has been honored. In general the chapter arrangement is chronological. However, chapters V and VI cover the same time period, each dealing with a different but complementary aspect of the emerging theology. It was necessary to make chapter V substantially larger than any other chapter in order to incorporate the many facets of the basic structure of the theology of mission. Within the footnotes, whenever a manuscript, letter, article or series of articles has been reprinted in a pamphlet or book, that source is indicated between parentheses to facilitate its accessibility to the reader. In some cases these reprints reproduce only sections of a primary source; other times the title of the reprint differs from the title of the article or articles. Unless otherwise indicated, Scriptural references are taken from the King James Version. The abbreviation ibid. refers to the last reference in the preceding footnote. It was virtually impossible to include in the bibliography all sources used for the preparation of this study or referred to in the footnotes, so the sources for the selective bibliography have been chosen on the basis of their importance and/or their frequent use in the actual writing. The bibliography also lists the primary source locations. FSDA xv.3