Terms Frequently Used By The Seventh-day Adventists

[Hobie]

One of the most ludicrous doctrines that I've heard SDA's teach is that near the end of time the "mark of the best" of Revelation 14 will be placed upon those who worship on Sunday instead of Saturday.

Mark of the Beast

Need to look my brother and see who the devil is working through...

We cannot fabricate a teaching out of nothing, nowhere does it say or even hint that the first day was set aside, sanctified, blessed, or made sacred. But there is a entity which does claim it has the authority to do so and set aside what is from God..

"Protestants ... accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change... But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that ... in observing Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the pope." Our Sunday Visitor, February 5th, 1950. This Rock


Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. -Rev. Peter Geiermann C.SS.R., The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50


Q. Should not the Protestant doubt when he finds that he himself holds tradition as a guide?
A. Yes, if he would but reflect that he has nothing but Catholic Tradition for keeping the Sunday holy; ... Controversial Catechism by Stephen Keenan, New Edition, revised by Rev. George Cormack, published in London by Burns & Oates, Limited - New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benzinger Brothers, 1896, pages 6, 7.

"The Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord's Day. The Council of Trent (Sess. VI, can. xix) condemns those who deny that the Ten Commandments are binding on Christians." The Catholic Encyclopedia, Commandments of God, Volume IV, © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company, Online Edition © 1999 by Kevin Knight, Nihil Obstat - Remy Lafort, Censor Imprimatur - +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, page 153.

''The [Roman Catholic] Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant.'' The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4.

"All of us believe many things in regard to religion that we do not find in the Bible. For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath Day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the Church outside the Bible." The Catholic Virginian, "To Tell You The Truth,” Vol. 22, No. 49 (Oct. 3, 1947).

"... you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify." The Faith of Our Fathers, by James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, 88th edition, page 89. Originally published in 1876, republished and Copyright 1980 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., pages 72-73.

'Deny the authority of the Church and you have no adequate or reasonable explanation or justification for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday in the Third - Protestant Fourth - Commandment of God... The Church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.'' Catholic Record, September 1, 1923.

"But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn't it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course, it is inconsistent; but this change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away - like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a lock of her hair." The Faith of Millions

"Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. "The Day of the Lord" (dies Dominica) was chosen, not from any directions noted in the Scriptures, but from the Church's sense of its own power. The day of resurrection, the day of Pentecost, fifty days later, came on the first day of the week. So this would be the new Sabbath. People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy." Sentinel, Pastor's page, Saint Catherine Catholic Church, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995

'If Protestants would follow the Bible, they would worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church.' Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal, in a letter dated February 10, 1920.

'It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.'Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, NJ on March 18, 1903. This Rock


'Of course these .. quotations are exactly correct. The Catholic Church designated Sunday as the day for corporate worship and gets full credit or blame ' This Rock,The Magazine of Catholic Apologetics and Evangelization, p.8, June 1997


'The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church.' Monsignor Louis Segur, 'Plain Talk about the Protestantism of Today';, p. 213.

"On March 7, 321, Roman Emperor Constantine I decreed that dies Solis Invicti (‘sun-day,’ or Day of Sol Invictus, Roman God of the Sun) would be the Roman day of rest throughout the Roman Empire...

Though Sol Invictus (meaning ‘The unconquered Sun’) was indeed a pagan Roman God, and had been featured on Roman coins, Constantine coopted this pagan heritage along with the Judeo-Christian following of the 10 Commandments by granting a day to honor God and rest for man. As the Roman Empire gradually converted to Christianity, Sunday became the natural day for the Sabbath and rest since Romans were already accustomed to Sunday as their day off."March 7, 321: How Sunday Became the Christian Day of Rest - History and Headlines

"The early Romans initially adopted the earlier Greek Hellenistic religion that incorporated the worship of many deities, including Apollo and Helios—the sun god, who was known to the Romans as Sol. As time passed, Sol eventually took on the combined attributes of Apollo, Helios and Mithra. The early Roman Emperors promoted the rising cult of Sol Invictus with the addition of numerous new temples, statues, rites and festivals created in Sol's name. Like earlier solar deities, Sol's tasks included steering the sun-chariot across the sky each day, a reminder that this cult was a blending of monotheism and earlier paganism.

By promoting the cult and the consolidation of divine power into Sol, Roman emperors were able to please the military and also enhance their own power by identifying Sol as the source of imperial legitimacy; in some cases the emperors were able to promote themselves as the personification of Solon earth.

Constantine in the early 4th century advanced the pagan cult of Sol Invictus to the height of its popularity. Among his efforts was the minting of this special coin dedicated to Sol. Constantine also built his famous Arch in Rome, inscribed with several references to Sol Invictus, and positioned it carefully to align with the colossal 100' bronze statue of Sol that adjoined the Coliseum at the time. The rising popularity Christianity in Rome's rural areas was a factor in Constantine’s later adoption of Christianity as the Empire's official religious—a transition arguably made easier by the preceding, well accepted ideas embodied in and popularized by the cult of Sol Invictus." ..Biblical Artifacts Ancient Coins and Artifacts from the Holy Land

"Sol Invictus played a prominent role in the Mithraic mysteries and was portrayed as being equated with, allied with, or an epithet of Mithras, although the relationship between the public cults themselves is controversial. The New Testament scholar Helmut Koester, in his book, Introduction to the New Testament, says “Although Mithras appeared to be the most oriental god among the new deities, and although his cult was essentially celebrated in exclusive mystery associations—the Mithras cult was a “mystery religion” in the strict sense of the word—this god was received by the Romans without resistance, and at the end of the 3d century CE, as Sol Invictus he became the official god of the Roman state.” ..The Dying-and-Rising Gods: Sol Invictus

Christians need to look to see the authority they put themselves under and follow...

Revelation 13:2
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

 

[Hazelelponi]

SDA board, all over the forum .

 

[Arial]

"Protestants ... accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change... But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that ... in observing Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the pope." Our Sunday Visitor, February 5th, 1950. This Rock,

From ChatGPT

The First Day of the Week​

Acts 20:7 (ESV)

“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them…”

This is the clearest explicit statement of Christians assembling for worship on Sunday.

---

2. The Lord’s Day​

Revelation 1:10 (ESV)

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…”

By the late apostolic period, “the Lord’s Day” was already a recognized term, understood by the early church as the first day of the week, commemorating Christ’s resurrection.

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3. Pattern Connected to the Resurrection​

Jesus rose on the first day of the week:

• Matthew 28:1
• Mark 16:2
• Luke 24:1
• John 20:1

He also appeared repeatedly to His disciples on that day:

• John 20:19
• John 20:26 (eight days later, again Sunday by Jewish reckoning)

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4. Corporate Giving Tied to Assembly​

1 Corinthians 16:2 (ESV)

“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside…”

This assumes a regular, communal gathering on that day.

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5. Not a Re-enacted Sabbath​

From a Reformed perspective (which fits many of your earlier questions), Sunday worship is:

• Not a continuation of the Mosaic Sabbath
• But a resurrection-centered “Christian Sabbath” grounded in Christ’s completed work
  (cf. Hebrews 4:9–10, Colossians 2:16–17)

---

Summary​

The New Testament shows Christians:

• Gathering on the first day of the week
• Centered on Christ’s resurrection
• For word, sacrament, fellowship, and prayer

 

[John Bauer]

The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) church claims—by their so-called prophet, Ellen White—that the Pope changed the day of worship to Sunday. “I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for he never changes,” White said. “But the pope had changed it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws.” [1]

But this is not the first thing that White got wrong in her prolific writings, and certainly not the last. It was not the pope or the Roman Catholic church that changed the day of worship; the change occurred centuries before the Roman papacy even existed.

• In the apostolic period, you start to see some overlap in the days of worship: synagogue/Sabbath participation for mission and Jewish identity, plus first-day gatherings in Gentile churches (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). In other words, Jewish believers continued Sabbath observance because they were Jews, a practice that Gentile believers were never instructed to adopt it (Acts 15).
  
  ​
• During the same period, we read in the Epistle of Barnabas 15:9 (c. 74 CE), “Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead.”
  
  ​
• By the early second century, writers like Ignatius were already speaking of Jewish Christians who “ceased to keep the Sabbath and lived by the Lord's Day” (c. 110 CE), a contrast reinforced by Justin Martyr later (see below). [2] This is the earliest explicit theological contrast between Sabbath and Lord’s Day—and it is anti-Sabbatarian in tone.
  
  ​
• By the middle of the second century, Justin Martyr was noting (c. 150 CE) that Sunday is not only practiced but even theologically defended. “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things;” and elsewhere, “we live not after the law, and … do not observe sabbaths as you do.” [3]

The Roman Catholic church denies changing the day, arguing that the shift was confirmed by the early church fathers who “compared the observance of the Sabbath to the observance of the rite of circumcision, and from that they demonstrated that if the apostles abolished circumcision (Gal. 5:1-6), so also the observance of the Sabbath must have been abolished.” [4]

Dirk Anderson observed that a number of “Christian churches outside of the control of the Roman church worshipped on Sunday from a very early date,” including the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tawahedo churches, the Coptic Orthodox church, the Armenian Apostolic church, and so on, even the Malankara Orthodox church in India. [5]

---

[1] Ellen White, Early Writings (Review and Herald, 2017), 32.

[2] Ignatius of Antioch, “To the Magnesians,” in The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, chap. 9, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1885), 96.

[3] Justin Martyr, “Weekly Worship of the Christians,” in First Apology, chap. 67, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, 186; “Trypho Blames the Christians for This Alone—The Non-Observance of the Law,” in Dialogue with Trypho, chap. 10 (and surrounding context), in The Fathers of the Church, NewAdvent.org.

[4] Catholic Answers, “Sabbath or Sunday?” Catholic.com, 2004.

[5] Dirk Anderson, “SDA Doctrine versus Bible Truth: Mark of the Beast,” NonSDA.org, n.d.

 

[Hobie]

From ChatGPT

The First Day of the Week​

Acts 20:7 (ESV)


This is the clearest explicit statement of Christians assembling for worship on Sunday.

---

2. The Lord’s Day​

Revelation 1:10 (ESV)


By the late apostolic period, “the Lord’s Day” was already a recognized term, understood by the early church as the first day of the week, commemorating Christ’s resurrection.

---

3. Pattern Connected to the Resurrection​

Well, lets look a little more closely, as nowhere in the scriptures do you find one word which sanctions Sunday worship, you can search in the Old as well as the New Testament there is nothing. The word Sunday itself is not found in the Bible, you only see the number of the days so that it is clear what day is which. In the New Testament the first day of the week is mentioned eight times. In none of the eight instances is the first day said to be a day of worship, never is it said to be the Christian substitute for Sabbath, and neither do the texts suggest that the first day of the week should be regarded as a memorial of Christ's resurrection. Lets look in this study by Kenneth Strand, 'The Sabbath in Scripture and History' at each of the eight New Testament passages that mention the first day of the week.

Matthew 28:1, "After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake...." Jesus was crucified on Friday. He rested in the tomb over the Sabbath and rose early on Sunday morning. The verse indicates that the women disciples returned to the tomb at the very first opportunity after the death and burial of Jesus. Because the Sabbath came so soon after His burial, they could not approach the tomb again until after sundown on Sabbath evening.(The Sabbath began at sundown on the sixth day and ended at sundown on the seventh day; compare Lev. 23:32; Neh. 13:19; Mark 1:21, 32) Early Sunday morning was the most convenient time for them to visit the tomb.

Mark 16:1, 2, "When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb." Mark records the same events as Matthew with the additional information that the women visited the tomb early on the Sunday morning for the express purpose of anointing Jesus' body with spices.

Mark 16:9, "Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons."This verse simply records that, after His resurrection early on the Sunday morning, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene.

Luke 23:54 * 24:1, "It [the day of Jesus' death and burial] was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared." The Sabbath came a few hours after Jesus' death on the cross. The women disciples "rested the sabbath day according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56, KJV). Then very early in the morning of the first day they visited the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. The fact that they observed the Sabbath rest is sufficient indication that Jesus had never attempted to change the day or to suggest that after His death the first day would replace the Sabbath. Writing years after the event, Luke gave not the slightest hint that, even though the women disciples of Jesus observed the Sabbath, such a practice was no longer expected of Christians. He simply recorded that the Sabbath day "according to the commandment," which Jesus' followers were careful to observe, was the day after the crucifixion day (Friday), and before the resurrection day (Sunday.

John 20:1, "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb."Mary Magdalene visited the tomb early the first day of the week. Nothing is said of Sunday as a day of worship or rest.

John 20:19, "When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said,'Peace be with you.'" On the evening of the first day of the week the disciples were assembled behind locked doors "for fear of the Jews." Jesus appeared to them at that time. The passage does not say that henceforth Sunday was to be the day for worship. Since it was the evening of the first day of the week that Jesus appeared to the disciples, it was after sundown. According to Jewish reckoning this was actually the beginning of the second day (Monday; compare Gen. 1:5, 8). A week later when Thomas happened to be present, Jesus met with the disciples again (verse 26). But, writing years later, John records nothing regarding Sunday as a day of Christian worship. John's narrative gives no warrant for regarding Sunday as a substitute for the Sabbath or as a day to be distinguished by Christians above any other day of the week. And there is no indication in the passage that Sunday should ever be observed as a memorial of Christ's resurrection.

Acts 20:7, "On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight."Since the meeting was held at night on the first day of the week, it may have been Saturday night.

According to Jewish reckoning, the Sabbath ended and the first day of the week began at sundown of the seventh day. If it were Sunday evening, the event gives no suggestion that Sunday should be observed as a day of worship. The following verses record that Paul preached a sermon on Thursday. The next day after the meeting recorded in Acts 20:7 (Monday), Paul and his party set sail for Mitylene (Acts 20:13, 14). The following day (Tuesday) they arrived opposite Chios (verse 15). The next day (Wednesday) they passed Samos (verse 15), and the day after that (Thursday) they arrived at Miletus (verse 15). The elders of the church of Ephesus met Paul at Miletus, and he preached to them (Acts 20:16-36). Because a Christian service was held on Thursday, do we conclude that Thursday is a day for regular Christian worship replacing the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath? A religious service on Sunday, Thursday, or any other day certainly did not make that day a replacement for the seventh-day Sabbath or a day of regular Christian worship and rest. There is no special significance in the disciples breaking bread at this first-day meeting, for they broke bread "daily" (Acts 2:46). We are not told that it was a Lord's Supper celebration, nor are we told that henceforth Sunday should be the day for this service to be conducted. To read Sunday sacredness or Sunday observance into Acts 20:7 is to do violence to the text.

1 Corinthians 16:1, 2, "Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. "These verses may be literally translated from the Greek as follows: "And concerning the collection for the saints, as I instructed the churches of Galatia, so also you do. On the first day of the week let each of you place (or 'lay') by himself, storing up whatever he might be prospered, so that when I come there might be no collections." (Italics supplied.) The phrase "by himself" (par' heauto), followed by the participle "storing up" or "saving" (thesaupizon), rules out the possibility that this is a reference to an offering taken up in a worship service. The Christian believer was to check his accounts on Sunday and put by at home the money that he wished to give to Paul for the support of the church. When Paul arrived, then the offerings of each individual would be collected.

None of these eight New Testament references to the first day of the week (Sunday), provides any evidence that Jesus or His disciples changed the day of worship from the seventh to the first day. Nor is the first day of the week represented as a time to memorialize the resurrection of Christ. Whatever significance was given to Sunday in the later history of the church, it had no basis in the teaching or practice of Jesus and His apostles and is not sanctioned in Scripture. Jesus instructed His disciples to observe the Sabbath after His death and Jesus and the apostles kept the seventh-day Sabbath and instructed others to do likewise, so it wasn't changed by them. The record of the book of Acts establishes that the apostles consistently kept the Sabbath day as a time for worship and fellowship. So the origin of the change to Sunday worship is from another source.. it never was sanctioned in any way in scripture.

 

[Hobie]

The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) church claims—by their so-called prophet, Ellen White—that the Pope changed the day of worship to Sunday. “I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for he never changes,” White said. “But the pope had changed it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws.” [1]

But this is not the first thing that White got wrong in her prolific writings, and certainly not the last. It was not the pope or the Roman Catholic church that changed the day of worship; the change occurred centuries before the Roman papacy even existed.

• In the apostolic period, you start to see some overlap in the days of worship: synagogue/Sabbath participation for mission and Jewish identity, plus first-day gatherings in Gentile churches (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). In other words, Jewish believers continued Sabbath observance because they were Jews, a practice that Gentile believers were never instructed to adopt it (Acts 15).
  
  ​
• During the same period, we read in the Epistle of Barnabas 15:9 (c. 74 CE), “Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day [Sunday] with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead.”
  
  ​
• By the early second century, writers like Ignatius were already speaking of Jewish Christians who “ceased to keep the Sabbath and lived by the Lord's Day” (c. 110 CE), a contrast reinforced by Justin Martyr later (see below). [2] This is the earliest explicit theological contrast between Sabbath and Lord’s Day—and it is anti-Sabbatarian in tone.
  
  ​
• By the middle of the second century, Justin Martyr was noting (c. 150 CE) that Sunday is not only practiced but even theologically defended. “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things;” and elsewhere, “we live not after the law, and … do not observe sabbaths as you do.” [3]

The Roman Catholic church denies changing the day, arguing that the shift was confirmed by the early church fathers who “compared the observance of the Sabbath to the observance of the rite of circumcision, and from that they demonstrated that if the apostles abolished circumcision (Gal. 5:1-6), so also the observance of the Sabbath must have been abolished.” [4]

Dirk Anderson observed that a number of “Christian churches outside of the control of the Roman church worshipped on Sunday from a very early date,” including the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tawahedo churches, the Coptic Orthodox church, the Armenian Apostolic church, and so on, even the Malankara Orthodox church in India. [5]

---

[1] Ellen White, Early Writings (Review and Herald, 2017), 32.

[2] Ignatius of Antioch, “To the Magnesians,” in The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians, chap. 9, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1885), 96.

[3] Justin Martyr, “Weekly Worship of the Christians,” in First Apology, chap. 67, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, 186; “Trypho Blames the Christians for This Alone—The Non-Observance of the Law,” in Dialogue with Trypho, chap. 10 (and surrounding context), in The Fathers of the Church, NewAdvent.org.

[4] Catholic Answers, “Sabbath or Sunday?” Catholic.com, 2004.

[5] Dirk Anderson, “SDA Doctrine versus Bible Truth: Mark of the Beast,” NonSDA.org, n.d.

Constantine was not the one behind it, it was the church at Rome as they had allowed the rites, rituals and pagan worship to slowly engulf it and then spread it across the Empire as the old center. After the death of the apostles, these ideas which were not scriptural began to be introduced into Christianity from Rome, thus we see 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'. The war with the Jews when they rebelled led to a social upheaval against the Jews and anything Jewish including the Sabbath, led by the religious leaders in Rome. So thus by the second century, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria attacked Sabbath observance. Tertullian followed in the third century, and of course Constantine was looking to unite the Christians and pagans under his rule. Do a cursory search and see what you find....

"Emperor Constantine didn't fully unite Christians and Pagans into one religion but rather integrated them by legalizing Christianity (Edict of Milan, 313 AD), ending persecution, and using Christianity as a unifying force for the Empire, while also incorporating pagan symbols/practices (like Sol Invictus worship) into his own religious identity, creating a blend that bridged old and new faiths for political unity, though paganism continued officially for decades"
Key Actions & Motivations:

• Edict of Milan (313 AD): Granted religious tolerance, ending Christian persecution and allowing Christians to worship freely, a major step towards empire-wide acceptance.
• Council of Nicaea (325 AD): Convened to settle internal Christian doctrinal disputes (like Arianism), aiming for unity within the Church to better present a single front for the Empire.
• Syncretism (Blending Beliefs): Constantine himself maintained pagan elements, especially devotion to the sun god Sol Invictus, using Christian symbols alongside pagan ones, making his rule palatable to both groups.
• Political Goal: Unity: Christianity's universal, cross-border appeal made it a strong candidate to unify a fragmented empire, a pragmatic choice for a ruler needing stability

 

[Hobie]

Notice the constantly recuring theme across every spectrum..."devotion to the sun god Sol Invictus"

 

[JesusFan]

Consider the Seventh -day Adventests doctrine of sin.

First, know that there is no doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin. Mrs. White said that Adam could have formed a righteous character, but he failed to do this, and because of his sin, our natures are fallen, and we cannot make ourselves righteous. White wrote: The unaided human will has no real power to resist and overcome evil. White says in Ministry of Healing: the infinite price necessary for redemption shows that sin is a tremendous evil. In Steps to Christ (pg. 19), the prophetess says: "But through disobedience, his [man's] powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love." Sin, however, is not considered to be totally enslaving; the soul can and "must submit to God" (SC, p.46).
At the same time, "the unaided human will has no real power to resist and overcome evil" (Ministry of Healing, P. 429).
There is apparently an exception in the case of the sin of unbelief, for belief may and must precede regeneration. This implies fallen man's ability to believe.

So per EW herself there, how can any Sda avoid judgement by God if Jesus will not Mediate for them, up to how well they kept the law?

 

[JesusFan]

Their Doctrine of Christ is way out of line.

They teach that Jesus Christ is very God, being of the same nature and essence as the Eternal Father. Deviating from Christian orthodoxy, the Adventists teach that Christ took a polluted human nature: In His humanity, Christ partook of our sinful nature. If not, then he was not made like unto his brethren, was not in all points tempted like as we are, did not overcome as we have to overcome, and is not therefore, the complete and perfect Saviour man needs and must have to be saved (bible readings for the Home Circle, 1915 ed., p. 115). Our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibilities of yielding to temptation.

She also called him Michael, and mighty, but not almighty God

 

[JesusFan]

Well, let me say a few things touching on the doctrines and beliefs so we can get a balanced view so to say. Their were many other leaders involved in the foundation of the Adventist church, of which Ellen White was one. Adventist themselves have many different views on her place in the church, but one clearly is that she cannot be held to be above Gods Word and that is my view also. Now my wife reminds me of this every time I go to give a sermon, and I have many times had to search the scriptures on what Ellen White wrote to understand why it is in her writing. My personal belief is the Holy Spirit was poured out as we are given in scripture (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17) and is for us to study and gain deeper understanding, and use that knowledge to spread Gods truth. But the question for Adventist (and Christians) is how can we know Gods truth unless we study His Word with great desire and the help of the same Holy Spirit which is poured out as scripture reveals. Now I believe that Adventist must pray and ask for wisdom in how to use what has been unveiled to us through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the writings of Ellen White, so others may see the blessing been given through it. But as you can see from what I post in this forum, I normally refrain from posting her writings in my threads for discussion. However as this is section is on Adventist, I feel I can post some of the things she said on the Bible to make more clear how she herself said she is to be held...

Ellen White herself said: "Let all prove their positions from the Scriptures and substantiate every point they claim from the revealed Word of God."397 To the delegates of the General Conference in 1901, she said, "Lay Sister White right to one side: lay her to one side. Don't you never [sic] quote my words again as long as you live, until you can obey the Bible. When you take the Bible and make that your food, and your meat, and your drink, and you make that the elements of your character, when you can do that you will know better how to receive some counsel from God. But here is the Word, the precious Word, exalted before you today. And don't you give a rap any more what 'Sister White Said' [sic]';'Sister White said this,' and 'Sister White said that,' and 'Sister White said the other thing'. But say, 'Thus saith the Lord God of Israel.'398 ..."

In the introduction to The Great Controversy...

"In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience. "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, R.V. {GC vii.1}

"Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have received the love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. . . . Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible, and the Bible only?" (GC 625)

And from others..
"...The final court of appeal must always be the Bible.
This was the strong conviction of her husband James White who wrote: "There is a class of persons who are determined to have it that the Review and its conductors make the views of Mrs. White a test of doctrine and Christian fellowship. . . . What has the Review to do with Mrs. White's views? The sentiments published in its columns are all drawn form the Holy Scriptures.
No writer of the Review has ever referred to them as authority on any point. . . . It's motto has been, 'The Bible, and the Bible alone, the only rule of faith and duty.'. . .
206
"Every Christian is therefore duty bound to take the Bible as the perfect rule of faith and duty. He should pray fervently to be aided by the Holy Spirit in searching the Scriptures for the whole truth, and for his whole duty. He is not at liberty to turn from them to learn his duty through any of the gifts. We say that the very moment he does, he places the gifts in a wrong place, and takes an extremely dangerous position."395
He could see that, very early in Adventism, some were inclined to give her writings an authority over and above the Scriptural authority for the work of a prophet. "They conclude that if it be true that God is reviving some of the gifts, 'for the comfort of his people, and correct those who err from Bible truth.' That all errors would at once be corrected by these gifts, and the church be saved the trouble of searching the Word for truth to expose error. . . . They would put the gifts where they do not belong. . . . The revival of any, or all of the gifts, will never supersede the necessity of searching the Word to learn the truth."396 ...."

There is much more, but I think this suffices....

Sda officially accords to EW the inspiration equal to an OT prophet, as her views in doctrines and practices cannot be gone against, as their greatest theologian Desmond Ford denied Investigative Judgement was not based upon Scripture, and that view got him loss of teaching credentials

 

[Arial]

Sda officially accords to EW the inspiration equal to an OT prophet, as her views in doctrines and practices cannot be gone against, as their greatest theologian Desmond Ford denied Investigative Judgement was not based upon Scripture, and that view got him loss of teaching credentials

Just like Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) and the Catholic church (the pope).

 

[JesusFan]

As for the GodHead, that is a hard subject which I think we will study more deeply when get to heaven, but I posted a bit on this on a prior thread. https://christcentered.community.fo...d-the-father-the-son-and-the-holy-ghost.3010/

As for hell and eternal torment, I have several threads that give from scripture what it shows..
https://christcentered.community.forum/threads/understanding-what-sheol-hell-hades-mean.1833/
https://christcentered.community.fo...ot-go-to-heaven-or-to-hell-when-you-die.1586/
https://christcentered.community.forum/threads/the-lake-of-fire-or-hell.1476/


As for what SDA teach concerning the completion of Christ's atonement and who is the "sin-bearer" at the end and Christ's present work in Heaven. Here is what Adventist hold..
https://christcentered.community.fo...zle-scapegoat-and-the-sanctuary-service.3447/

As for 'Salvation requires personal works combined with God's grace.', not sure what is meant by that as Adventist do not believe in salvation by works, but by faith as you can see in the following..
https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/articles/salvation-by-faith
Salvation by Faith – Part I - Adventist Research

And from Ellen White, the same...
Messenger of the Lord

Sda Investigative Judgement denies pauline Justification, outright heresy
Earliest Sda leaders were Arian , later ones holding to 3 gods united in common purpose, same way Mormons v

 

[JesusFan]

Constantine was not the one behind it, it was the church at Rome as they had allowed the rites, rituals and pagan worship to slowly engulf it and then spread it across the Empire as the old center. After the death of the apostles, these ideas which were not scriptural began to be introduced into Christianity from Rome, thus we see 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'. The war with the Jews when they rebelled led to a social upheaval against the Jews and anything Jewish including the Sabbath, led by the religious leaders in Rome. So thus by the second century, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria attacked Sabbath observance. Tertullian followed in the third century, and of course Constantine was looking to unite the Christians and pagans under his rule. Do a cursory search and see what you find....

"Emperor Constantine didn't fully unite Christians and Pagans into one religion but rather integrated them by legalizing Christianity (Edict of Milan, 313 AD), ending persecution, and using Christianity as a unifying force for the Empire, while also incorporating pagan symbols/practices (like Sol Invictus worship) into his own religious identity, creating a blend that bridged old and new faiths for political unity, though paganism continued officially for decades"
Key Actions & Motivations:

• Edict of Milan (313 AD): Granted religious tolerance, ending Christian persecution and allowing Christians to worship freely, a major step towards empire-wide acceptance.
• Council of Nicaea (325 AD): Convened to settle internal Christian doctrinal disputes (like Arianism), aiming for unity within the Church to better present a single front for the Empire.
• Syncretism (Blending Beliefs): Constantine himself maintained pagan elements, especially devotion to the sun god Sol Invictus, using Christian symbols alongside pagan ones, making his rule palatable to both groups.
• Political Goal: Unity: Christianity's universal, cross-border appeal made it a strong candidate to unify a fragmented empire, a pragmatic choice for a ruler needing stability

The Sunday worship as the Lords day was being observed right there in book of Acts, as the Apsotle paul never placed gentile belivers in Jesus back under the Jewish Sabbath

 

[JesusFan]

Just like Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) and the Catholic church (the pope).

And pastor Russell and Joseph Smith