By Anthony Andreola
Years ago when I left Adventism I was sure I had written a letter asking for my membership to be removed. Perhaps they never got the letter—but for whatever reason, it turns out they never removed my name from their books.
Now, just a few days ago, I received a form letter from the local Adventist church where I used to attend. I was to fill out the form and return the letter to the church. Apparently they were looking for “missing members” and were trying to figure out what to do with my name. Notice the ways they worded their questions, especially the fifth one:
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Dear Hillcrest SDA Church: ––––– I consider myself a Seventh-day Adventist. Please keep me as a member of this church. I desire to attend and become more active in the services and ministries of our church. _____Please keep me as a member of this church even though I am unable to attend regularly. _____I wish to transfer to the ____________________Seventh-day Adventist Church. _____I do not wish to be a Seventh-day Adventist Christian. Please remove my name from the church membership records. Comments: |
The wording of question five annoyed me. Their conflation of Seventh-day Adventist and Christian, implying that if I didn’t want to be an Adventist I didn’t want to be a Christian, had to be answered. They left no room for a person moving from Adventism to Christianity!
I marked the blank in front of question five, underlined “Seventh-day Adventist”, and crossed out the word “Christian” so the sentence read, “I do not wish to be a Seventh-day Adventist.” Then, in the space after the word “Comments” and on the back of the page, I wrote my response. I share it below.
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Date: 8/31/2020 I converted to Christianity and in so doing left the SDA cult. Please remove my name from your books. Details are on the back as to why I consider the organization to be a cult. Seventh-day Adventists are anti-Trinitarian The Fundamental Belief #2 of Adventism claims that Seventh-day Adventists believe in the Trinity. However, they define the word differently—a difference which is deceptive. The Adventist statement leaves out that the three persons are of the “same substance”. Every confession of the Trinity of every major confessing Christian denomination confesses that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of the “same substance”. These assertions occur either in creedal or biblical language. For example: “We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity neither confounding the person nor dividing the substance” (Athanasian Creed). “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being” (Southern Baptist Convention). Ellen White taught thee separate beings of the Godhead with different bodies and substance, yet united in purpose and love. It would be more accurate to call this Adventist Godhead a tritheism. Ellen White was a false prophet Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief #18 states that Ellen White speaks with “prophetic authority”. Deuteronomy 18:21–22, however, teaches that true prophets don’t issue false prophecies. Ellen White issued many. The most obvious of her false prophecies is her teaching that Satan will bear our iniquities and carry them to the lake of fire at the end of time. This teaching is at the core of the “heavenly sanctuary” doctrines. A true messenger of God would never say Satan bears any of our sins in any way. Jesus alone bore our sins in His body on the cross. Crediting Satan with any sort of sin-bearing automatically discredits Ellen White from being a prophet of God. A Christian should not stay With respect, because of those two fundamental beliefs (numbers two and 18), I do not consider Adventism a Christian organization. I’m not saying there aren’t Christians in the organization; I’m just saying that no true Christian should stay Adventist once he or she finds out what Adventist doctrines really teach. God bless, |
I mailed my response and my comments to the local Adventist church. I don’t know that I will ever hear from them, but I wanted to share them with others who have questioned or left Adventism. I cannot keep silent in the face of Adventism assuming one cannot be Christian if they are not Adventist.
I know the gospel with no help from an extra-biblical prophet: Jesus died for our sins according to Scripture; He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to Scripture (1 Cor. 15:3,4). Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. †
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