Loren Seibold is angry about Seventh-day Adventist “abusive eschatology” (see his article here). In recent years, this executive editor of Adventist Today (and occasional contributor to Spectrum Magazine––both progressive outfits) has increasingly written pieces challenging many aspects of conservative Adventism. This latest column, however, sounds very much like a tipping point, prompting much discussion among Adventists online, and even on various former Adventist forums. Although most of the elements in this piece are not novel to Seibold’s writing, he seems to have definitely upped the ante with a fairly strident, urgent tone.
Seibold denounces the church’s attitude toward Roman Catholics. He accuses Adventism of teaching that “something akin to perfection is necessary for us to be saved.” He decries the portrait of the end times painted by Adventists, including the promise of persecution for keeping the Sabbath by friends and family, only to face the “possibility of salvation and the Lord’s presence” being withdrawn altogether. He laments that The Great Controversy still “hangs over our heads and keeps us from discovering an eschatology that is sensible, realistic, and actual ‘good news.’ ” What follows next is (by my count) 13 real anecdotal stories conveyed by Seibold from current and former Adventists––all illustrating the fear that strikes at the heart of individuals taught such theology from childhood to adulthood.
In answer to the retort among the progressives (stereotypically located in Southern California) that these teachings are mere relics of the past––Seibold pushes back: “The as-soon-as-next-week return of Christ, imminent persecution for Sabbath-keepers, the unannounced close of probation, and the Roman Catholic church as our personal bogeyman—all of these are still the official teachings of the church.” In fact, one keenly feels Seibold’s plight, as he next describes the reality of ministry, not from the standpoint of a parishioner, but a Seventh-day Adventist pastor: “[I]n practice it is about serving the denomination: promoting its programs and preserving its history and doctrines, which is why so many of us spend our pastoral authority promoting, asking, and correcting. Everything we do seems to have an ulterior purpose.”
What now?
At this point the former Adventist crowd is likely to be cheering him on––and, indeed, that is the response I saw from many of the former Adventist online groups I participate in. After all, there can be no dispute––either about his charges, or the devastating effects they cause in real people’s lives. As a prominent Christian commentator has frequently reminded, “Theology matters.” All of these concerns are part of what has resulted in untold numbers leaving the Seventh-day Adventist church for well over a century now. One presumes, then, that Seibold is about to follow in their footsteps and head for the door.
Yet, as you read on, the response the author offers to his own anger is bafflingly vapid. Seibold states matter-of-factly: “This denomination is my home, but I refuse any longer to defend it on the basis that it is somehow more doctrinally ‘right’ than another one.” What a non-sequitur. After all the toxic theology the author has decried, his answer is to pledge to not place Seventh-day Adventism on a higher pedestal than Presbyterianism? When push comes to shove, Seibold, as a progressive Seventh-day Adventist, is concerned about theology and practices that “hurt people” and fill them “with guilt and shame.” He doesn’t care, nor can he conceive of, such theology damning souls, or bringing reproach upon the name of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the most amazing admission by Seibold is the following one: “[A]fter nearly 200 years, it is time, dear church, to at last be honest. It is time to rethink this 19th century eschatology—none of which, I remind you, has so far proven true!” (Emphasis original.) Again, one is dumbfounded by the logic on display. Seibold can freely admit to his church being founded upon utter error, yet refuse thereby to turn to Christendom like his predecessor William Miller did (well over a century and a half ago). He can cherish his Sabbaths, yet angrily denounce fear-mongering about end times commandment-keeping––the very fruit of that “Sabbath truth” discovered by the pioneers of his own church. He can place the highest emphasis on “grow[ing] in character under the influence of the example of Jesus,” yet fail to recognize the missing component in that very statement: the gospel! (This is that which is no less absent in his brand of progressive Adventism than it is in the historic variety he so loathes.)
Why doesn’t the executive editor of Adventist Today leave the heretical church he grew up in? Despite his righteous indignation, at the end of the day, Loren Seibold is as Adventist as they get. He describes himself in an online profile as follows: “I work for the Ohio Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. I write for several magazines, including Signs of the Times, Ministry and The Adventist Review, and I edit a newsletter for pastors called Best Practices for Adventist Ministry.” A little online digging will bring up a flavor his writing for those non-progressive publications.
Seibold on the Sabbath
For example, one comes across an article written by Loren Seibold, published in June 2014 in Signs of the Times (“Why My Saturdays Are Sabbaths”). In this piece, Seibold explains and defends his practice of Sabbath observance. He hints at a quasi-physicalist understanding of God when he explains the origins of the Sabbath at creation: “Of course, the almighty, infinite Creator of the universe doesn’t get tired. But He has a quality that He also built into us when He made us in His image: to be spiritually revitalized, He needs a change from the work of a fast-paced week.”
For him, the Sabbath is like a “sanctuary in time,” much more superior than the holy places of other religions. He boasts, “Wherever you are on earth, no matter what circumstances you are in––even in prison or in a hospital––you can go to God’s Sabbath sanctuary.” In so doing, he is treating the Sabbath like the shrine that it is for Adventists.
Seibold links Adventists as Sabbath-observers with old covenant Israelites. He even argues from this that the Sabbath is an identifying sign of his very election by God: “The seventh-day Sabbath identifies me as one of God’s special friends. It may sound somewhat elitist for me to claim to be one of God’s chosen people, but I don’t mean it that way…Since I want to be one of God’s special friends, I’m going to worship on the seventh-day Sabbath, too.”
He even ascribes eschatological significance to the Sabbath (again, in keeping with mainstream Seventh-day Adventism): “The book of Revelation says that before Jesus comes again, the devil, which Revelation calls the dragon, is going to do his best to destroy God’s special people, whom that book pictures as a pure woman. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring those who obey God’s commandments (Revelation 12:17; italics added). In other words, those who are true to Jesus at the time of His second coming will be people who obey all ten of His commandments, including the one that tells us to keep the seventh-day Sabbath as our worship day.” The test of salvation, in other words, is observance of the seventh-day Sabbath.
A common Adventist worldview
Other articles by Seibold could be similarly examined. A 2017 Signs of the Times piece titled “What Happened in Heaven?” recounts the preaching of William Miller and his date-setting (never once criticizing it). He then presents the doctrine of the investigative judgement, noting that our reward––eternal life––“hinges on our Judge’s evaluation of the life of every human being.” He concludes by dwelling on “the truth that arose from the ashes of the October 22, 1844 disappointment.” He asks rhetorically about the antitypical Day of Atonement: “Could something similar have begun in heaven [namely, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary]?”
In a 2018 blog post for the Rocky Mountain Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Seibold answers the question “Can We Work With Other Christian Churches?” The author claims that “we Seventh-day Adventists have a fairly orthodox Protestant theology,” and ultimately advocates for a good degree of cooperation with other denominations. He tempers that, however, with the following statement: “Most all of us would, appropriately, balk if doctrines that are opposed to our well-founded Fundamental Beliefs were preached from our pulpits.” Notice the qualifier well-founded.
What is one to make of all this? My incredulity at discovering these articles of Seibold could perhaps be satisfied with the possibility that publications such as Signs of the Times are apt to republish old articles by authors (A glance at their website indicates that Seibold has at least three webpages worth of articles for this publication.) Perhaps, then, Seibold’s old mainstream Adventist views are simply being republished, even though the author himself claims to have progressed in his theology, writing in more liberal publications. If this is a charitable explanation, one still has to wonder what difference it ultimately makes. (Would we expect Seibold to remove and repudiate those articles if he does not even see fit to leave his church?)
Progressive Adventists, at the end of the day, are still Adventists. They share the same foundational worldview, which includes a tritheistic conception of God, among many other false understandings of the doctrine of God. It is a worldview shaped by a fatally unbiblical anthropology, leading to a misunderstanding of sin and of salvation. It denigrates the cross of Christ no less than conservative Adventism (though neither will ever admit to it), since Christ’s example is ultimately more central to both groups than vicarious atonement. Both progressive and conservative varieties of Adventism have an unbiblical and blasphemous notion of God’s justice, putting the Creator on trial in place of his sinful creatures.
Adventists, former Adventists, and evangelicals all need to understand a fundamental reality: there is no group or faction within the Seventh-day Adventist church today (nor has there ever been) that is biblically orthodox or possesses a saving gospel. Such a truth is hard, indeed, to accept. Although there are clearly regenerate believers within Adventism today, their remaining within the church cuts against their testimony and is spiritually dangerous (both to them and to others).
Christians, especially former Seventh-day Adventists, need to take to heart the command given by Paul in Ephesians 5:11: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Although we have been transferred out of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13), we cannot stay silent, but must instead expose the truth about Adventism (yet always with a spirit of gentleness and love). Speaking plainly about matters that are central to the gospel will necessarily involve repudiating movements and sub-movements that present counterfeit gospels (even ones that are slickly packaged).
Although the world cannot understand it, Paul’s charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16 comes from a true love for others and for God: Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. †
- Overthrowing the Son: How Adventism Denies God His Glory - May 2, 2024
- Coming To Grips With the Deceptive Nature of Adventism - March 14, 2024
- Truth Led Him Out. Truth Led Him Home. - January 11, 2024
Kaspars Ozolins has given an excellent evaluation of Seibold’s writings. He shows again that even when faced with the realization of numerous errors in the bedrock of Adventist history and theology one has a hard time to free oneself from its grip. One can never get clean when swimming in dirty water. After writing about the old and new covenants, the writer of Hebrews says, “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb. 10:22).
Thanks, Dale!
Thank you Kaspars, I am still reeling from everything I am reading from this website and talks online. It does seem Seibold is hypercritical and note how many Adventist pastors “come out” after they are retired. How many lives have been damaged.
I’ve noticed in my small group at the SDA church I go they do not want to answer my questions, everything is around agreeing on everything and my spiritual life is grinding to a halt. What frustrates me more is there is a new person who is coming on the scene who is going to be woed into the false doctrines.