Are Adventist Children’s Books Safe?
Here’s a quick question from a former Adventist of over 38 years (I was brought up in it as a wee one).
Have any of your staff read through the Arthur Maxwell children’s books to see if they are truly innocuous?
A young family I know was asking me, and because I don’t have my family’s set, I didn’t know how to answer. My first response was the books are probably fine, but then I started thinking how subtle my indoctrination was by day one. Any thoughts?
—VIA EMAIL
Response: The Maxwell books are NOT innocuous. They are filled with the great controversy worldview and with EGWs portrayals of who Jesus is, who we are, and how we are saved. We ran an article several years ago that looked at the children’s books; there have been some written since Maxwell’s that are sold today, and they teach the Adventist worldview through their art and through their words. Here is a link: Do Your children know Jesus?
Here is one more article that explores how Adventist art has taught generations a false picture of Jesus: Jesus Is Not an Old Covenant Priest
I hope this helps!
What About Baptism and Removing Adventist Membership?
I can’t thank you enough for your prayers and the time you took to write to me! I reached out to you at a very confusing time in my life, and I really appreciate the personal, special care you took in advising me. I just wanted to give you an update since I was lost and confused in my previous email.
I listened to all of the podcasts you recommended, and they were really eye-opening. No one had ever explained to me how the Abrahamic covenant pertains to us as Christians and how the Mosaic covenant was time- and people-specific. That really helped shake the hold that the Adventist law-keeping had on me.
I am still working on transcribing the books of the Bible that you suggested. Truthfully, I still had a lot of blinders on when it came to Adventist doctrine, so reading through Galatians the first time really just went over my head.…
I now feel hungry and thirsty for Scripture and I long to get to know the true Jesus, not the fake Adventist Jesus. Once you take away the cognitive dissonance from Adventism, the whole Bible seems to sing together in perfect harmony, and it is such a joy to read it!…
I have a couple of questions for you:
When you left Adventism, did you get baptized into a Christian Church? After re-reading through the 28 Fundamental Beliefs, I think I agreed to some heretical Adventist doctrines that I didn’t understand at the time. I feel like I want to get baptized into Christianity, but I am not sure how big of a deal that is.
Did you ever get your name removed from the Adventist “books”? I requested that once last year, and never got a response. I just don’t want to have my name associated with them anymore in any capacity. I just know that it would be a huge, long fight because I’ve heard that they are notorious for stonewalling anyone who wants to be removed. How important is it to be removed from the books?
I want to completely wash my hands of Adventism and renounce everything I used to believe so I can follow Jesus. I now understand why people want to spread the good news with everyone!
Again, I thank you for your prayers and your time! I pray that your ministry will touch other people like me and will bring them out of this cult and into the light.
—VIA EMAIL
Response: Thank you for writing! I resonate so much with your experience. There were two things I needed—and they are the things all Adventists need as they work out their Adventism. I had to settle on my authority, so I had to accept that EGW was demonic and the Bible is utterly trustworthy. Second, I had to know what the true gospel is. It is no accident that Adventists do not teach the biblical covenants as they are taught in Scripture. The covenants dismantle the Adventist framework that hangs salvation on the law.
We do recommend being baptized after leaving. In most cases, when people trust the Lord Jesus and see Adventism for what it is, the Holy Spirit impresses them to be baptized. It sounds to me as if He is leading you that direction. Ephesians 4 tells us that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and when we believe in the Lord Jesus, baptism is the public declaration of that commitment that God Himself helps us to know we need to do in order to follow Jesus’ own instructions.
I personally never insist that people MUST be baptized when they leave, because on rare occasions there are people who have been born again and baptized before joining Adventism or even, as in some specific cases such as Dale Ratzlaff as he tells his story, some people actually chose to be and knew they were committing themselves to Jesus when they were baptized in Adventism. I believe, though, that such cases are rare, and in general most people leaving Adventism are believing in Jesus and coming to Him for the first time. If you feel convicted that you have not been baptized into Jesus (and most people leaving Adventism ARE in this boat!), I recommend that you do it. I encourage all former Adventists to be baptized into Christ when they leave.
I also recommend that you ask to have your membership removed. They don’t always respond right away, but I suggest that you write or email your local church pastor. Adventist membership is held at the local church level, and the conferences will not deal with it. Nevertheless, I would send a copy of the request to the local conference office. You can say as much or as little as you wish. Some people take the opportunity to write their theological reasons for leaving. Some simply say they no longer agree with Adventist doctrine and wish to have their names removed from the books. I would, though, request confirmation that your request has been granted and acted on. If they try to initiate a meeting with you before granting the request, my suggestion would be to refuse and then repeat your request. They are trained in arguing and gaslighting people into a figurative corner and bringing them back in. You do not owe them a meeting. If they do not respond to you, I would repeat my request until they do.
I want to suggest one more collection of the Former Adventist Podcast: our series on the 28 Fundamental Beliefs. I think these also might help clarify the worldview! You can find that series here: https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/2021/10/04/inspecting-adventisms-fundamental-beliefs/
Contradictions Answered
Praise God for your ministry. I’ll be supporting you (as best as I can every so often) in the foreseeable future. You’ve helped to answer a lot of contradictions I’ve been struggling with regarding Adventism. Please pray for me as I navigate our family out of Adventism.
—VIA EMAIL
Enjoying Bible Study
Thank you for your email. I am really enjoying the Bible study and fellowship with you all. I plan to come as often as I can, and on Friday nights when I am unable to make the drive I plan to join via Zoom. Thank you for making me feel welcome, even though I’m not a former. I’m also very much looking forward to the conference. If there is anything I can do to help out, please let me know and I’m happy to help.
—VIA EMAIL
- April 27–May 3, 2024 - April 25, 2024
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