A Quick Look At Seventh-day Adventists and...
...the Bible.The Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration to specially chosen individuals who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. Through them, God has committed to humanity the knowledge necessary for salvation.
...the Godhead.The Godhead is comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although God is One, the Bible speaks of three divine, co-eternal Persons which we call the Trinity. God the eternal Father is the Creator, Source, Sustainer, and Sovereign of all creation. The eternal Son became incarnate in Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, through whom the character of God is revealed, the salvation of humanity is accomplished, and the world is judged. The Holy Spirit draws and convicts men and women, extends spiritual gifts to the church.
...Creation.God is Creator of all things, and has revealed in Scripture the authentic account of His creative activity. In six days the Lord made "the heaven and the earth" and all living things upon the earth, and rested on the seventh day of that first week. The first man and woman were made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation and given responsibility over the world.
...the Sabbath.The seventh-day of the week is observed as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of communion with God and one another. It is joyfully observed as a holy time from Friday evening to Saturday evening, from sunset to sunset, as a celebration of God's creative and redemptive acts.
...Christ our hope.In Christ's life of perfect obedience to God's will, His suffering, death, and resurrection, God provided the only means of atonement for human sin, so that those who by faith accept this atonement may have eternal life.
...the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments, the great principles of God's law, are exemplified in the life of Christ. They express God's love, will, and purposes concerning human conduct and relationships.
...Prophecy. Bible prophecies reveal God's plan for the future, provide meaning for today, and hope for those who have chosen to serve God.
...Baptism. Baptism by immersion is a symbol of our union with Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and acceptance of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
...Life After Death.The grave is a place of unconsciousness, described in the Bible as sleep. When Jesus comes again, there will be a great resurrection of those who have died.
...Christ's Second Advent. The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the church and the grand climax of the gospel. The Saviour's coming will be literal, personal, visible, and worldwide. The time of that event has not been revealed, so we are urged to be spiritually ready at all times.
...the New Earth. On the new earth, God will provide a glorious home for the redeemed with a perfect environment for everlasting life, love, joy, and learning. God will dwell with His people, and suffering and death will not exist. All things, animate and inanimate, will declare that God is love, and He will reign forever.
...Health. Because Scripture describes our bodies as the temples of the Holy Spirit, we are to care for them intelligently. Along with adequate exercise and rest, we are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures, and in many cases, by following a vegetarian diet. Because alcoholic beverages and tobacco are harmful to our bodies, Adventists abstain from such substances as well. Instead, we are to engage in whatever brings our thoughts and bodies into the discipline of Christ, who desires our wholesomeness, joy, and complete health.
...Mission. The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to proclaim to all people the everlasting Gospel in the context of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14:6-12. Leading others to accept Jesus as their personal Savior and to unite with His Church, and nurturing them in preparation for His soon return is the heart of this mission. This is accomplished through preaching, teaching, and healing ministries.
...Global Community.Volunteers and church employees serve people at home and in the world's communities through neighborhood centers, on-site disaster areas, and short-term humanitarian and teaching projects around the globe. Church members support organizations like the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA), which provides basic needs such as water, food, clothing, and medical care to the world's people and communities in need. The Church has a variety of programs to assist people of any faith who have a desire to overcome smoking, alcoholism, and drug addiction. It provides family life and community service workshops as well as youth camps.
...Education. Adventist educational philosophy focuses on the holistic development of the student: mental, physical, social, and spiritual. The more than 45,500 teachers in Adventist schools form part of the world's largest Protestant church-related educational network. One of its institutions, Loma Linda University, in Loma Linda, California, continues to be on the cutting edge of medical technology with its proton accelerator and children's treatment center and its promotion of a healthful individual lifestyle. Andrews University, in Berrien Springs, Michigan, serves much of the world church with graduate seminary programs.
...Communication. Seventh-day Adventists communicate hope by focusing on the quality of life that is complete in Christ. Communication serves to connect the worldwide family of believers through a variety of media and print methods. The Church facilitates communication on-line through the Adventists On-line forum on the CompuServe Information Service, which offers a rich database for computer users. The Church also prepares evangelistic programming and news for radio through Adventist World Radio (AWR), and, for television, with programs like It is Written and Breath of Life, as well as programming for a worldwide satellite broadcast system. The Church's official news agency is the Adventist News Network (ANN), based in Silver Spring, Maryland.
...Heritage.The name "Seventh-day Adventist" highlights two of the distinguishing characteristics of the denomination. "Seventh-day" refers to the day of the week, Saturday, on which Adventists worship God as instructed throughout the Bible. "Adventist" refers to the hope Seventh-day Adventists have in Jesus' soon return to this earth.
Though Adventists did not officially organize as a church until 1863, Adventist roots go back at least to the early 1800s. Between 1831 and 1844, William Miller, a Baptist preacher, launched the "great second advent awakening," which eventually spread throughout most of the Christian world. Based on his study of the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, Miller calculated that Jesus would return to earth in 1844. When Jesus did not appear, most of the thousands who had expected His return left the faith, disillusioned. A few, however, went back to their Bibles to find why they had been disappointed. They learned that the Bible prophecy did not specify Christ's second coming on that date, but rather, they discovered that 1844 was the time when Jesus would begin a special ministry in heaven for His followers. From this small group, who refused to give up after the "great disappointment," arose several leaders who built the foundation of what would become the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Standing out among these leaders were a young couple, James and Ellen White, and a retired sea captain named Joseph Bates. Ellen White, a mere teenager at the time of Miller's preaching on the "great second advent awakening," grew into a gifted author, speaker, and administrator, who would come to enjoy God's special guidance as she wrote her counsels to the growing body of believers. In 1860, at Battle Creek, Michigan, the loosely knit congregations of Adventists, who had continued to seek and gain understanding of the Scriptures after the "great disappointment," chose the name Seventh-day Adventist and in 1863 formally organized as a church. In early 1997, the Seventh-day Adventist Church had a membership of over 9 million and continues to preach and look forward to the soon return of Jesus.
For more details, visit Adventist Statistics and look at the Current Statistics in the left column: World Statistics and Interesting Facts.
From A Quick Look At Adventists A People of Hope Production, Communication Department, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
