On Sunday, Steff shared with us some of the beliefs of the Seventh-Day Adventists (let's use SDA for short in this post) and the differences between theirs and ours. But first, a brief
history:
- The SDA Church arose from the the Millerite movement in 1860s in the US
- The Millerite movement was started by William Miller, which focuses on Christ's second coming/advent (therefore the name of the SDAs)
- Ellen White was one of the founders of the SDAs. She had visions and wrote many books, which contributed to the SDAs' beliefs. She was the one who taught that Jesus was Michael the Archangel. (This view is divided amongst the SDAs though, I think)
- The SDA Church currently has 16.3 million baptized believers worldwide, and there are 7 branches here in Singapore
The SDAs are actually categorized as a Protestant denomination, as their core beliefs are still the same as ours. They also believe that salvation is only through grace, not works, and also in the Apostle's Creed. So in a sense, they are not as much a cult as the other religions we've covered, but more of having different practices from us, like how Catholics are different but still Christians. So, moving on to some of their beliefs/practices that defer from ours:
1. SabbathThe
Sabbath is a day of rest. In the Old Testament, the Jewish could not do any work on the Sabbath, to commemorate God's rest on the 7th day of creation and because #4 of the 10 Commandments is:
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11)
Traditionally, the seventh day was on what we know today as a Saturday, and there were many traditions to follow on the day. The SDAs strongly observe this Jewish tradition of Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, and therefore holds their services on Saturdays. Instead of Sunday School, they have Sabbath School. On the other hand, we hold our services on Sunday and commemorate the Sabbath symbolically, instead of following the literal seventh day of Jewish tradition.
Why do we not also follow this Jewish tradition since the 10 Commandments told us to? In the New Testament, Jesus said,
“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:8) What this means is that with Jesus' coming, many of the rules and traditions of the Old Testament were 'cancelled out'. Click on the link to read more about why Jesus did this.
2. Holy Communion & Foot Washing
They practice communion (the breaking of bread & taking of wine) four times a year. (Different churches have different practices of this also, so this is just for some general knowledge. The Bible doesn't state how often we need to take communion; it is just a ceremony to commemorate Jesus' death on the cross.)
Before their communion, they take part in the "Ordinance of Humility" (above), where they wash one another's feet to symbolize Jesus' washing of his disciples' feet and to remind themselves of humility and servanthood. This is done in gender-separated rooms. Afterwhich the proceed on to have the Lord's Supper of unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice.
3. Diet
Much like the Jewish, the SDAs follow the OT rules in Leviticus 11 of not eating from 'unclean' food such as pork and shellfish, and also abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Some SDAs also abstain from caffeine (coffee, Coke, tea, etc.) Random Cool Fact: Did you know the food products Marmite and Weet-Bix are under a brand called Sanitarium which is owned by the SDA Church? :O
Like the observance of the Sabbath, our beliefs differ from the SDAs since, obviously, we do eat pork and crabs and prawns. This is also because of the 'change of laws' in the NT, when
Peter had a vision where he saw a sheet containing all the OT-certified-unclean-animals coming down from the sky, and a voice said, "
Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
(Acts 10:15) Although the vision was regarding Gentiles, Christians also take it that it was a change of rules regarding clean & unclean food, like the observance of the Sabbath.
Conclusion:Many of the SDAs' beliefs/practices which differ from ours are similar to the Jew's and Muslim's, because these practices are rooted in the Old Testament. However, their core beliefs and 'requirements' for salvation are still very much like ours. Something we can learn from them however, is the Ordinance of Humility; to learn to humble oneself to wash one anothers' feet, and to be a servant to many.
Labels: sermon, 异端邪说
On Sunday, Steff shared with us some of the beliefs of the Seventh-Day Adventists (let's use SDA for short in this post) and the differences between theirs and ours. But first, a brief history:
Before their communion, they take part in the "Ordinance of Humility" (above), where they wash one another's feet to symbolize Jesus' washing of his disciples' feet and to remind themselves of humility and servanthood. This is done in gender-separated rooms. Afterwhich the proceed on to have the Lord's Supper of unleavened bread and unfermented grape juice.
Isaaaca, at
September 28, 2011 at 10:53 PM
