Seventh-day Adventism
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In 1986, Colin Cook, founder of Homosexuals Anonymous, an Adventist ministry targeted at disaffected [[Gay|homosexuals]], was discovered to be engaging in sexual acts with his patients.<ref>[http://www.gladventist.org/lead/blake_aware.htm Redeeming Our Sad Gay Situation: Awareness]</ref> This is very ironic and grimly funny. It also happens to be a general trait of rather aggressive [[homophobia|homophobes]]. | In 1986, Colin Cook, founder of Homosexuals Anonymous, an Adventist ministry targeted at disaffected [[Gay|homosexuals]], was discovered to be engaging in sexual acts with his patients.<ref>[http://www.gladventist.org/lead/blake_aware.htm Redeeming Our Sad Gay Situation: Awareness]</ref> This is very ironic and grimly funny. It also happens to be a general trait of rather aggressive [[homophobia|homophobes]]. | ||
Revision as of 10:54, 28 September 2013
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Seventh-day Adventism is a denomination of Christianity which holds that Jesus' return is imminent (though conveniently never setting a specific date for his return). Its largest organized church is the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, with approximately 16 million members worldwide.[1] The SDA Church was officially founded in 1844,[2] raising some interesting questions over just how "imminent" imminent is.
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Beliefs
The "Seventh-day" in their name refers to their belief that the seventh day of the week, Saturday, is the sabbath, as opposed to the more common Christian belief in a Sunday sabbath. Adventists take this difference very seriously, to the point that some buy into a conspiracy theory about National Sunday laws (wherein other Christian denominations gang up on Adventists to mandate a Sunday-only sabbath across the nation).
Given the importance of the seventh day to them, Adventists naturally hold that the seven-day creation myth of the Bible is literally true (as in, God took literally seven 24-hour days to make the world), and consequently reject evolution.
The SDA church also opposes gay marriage,[3][4] unions,[5] and abortion[6] (though they make exceptions for cases of rape or incest,[6] which is more leeway than many other fundamentalist Christian denominations are willing to give).
In another major break from other denominations, the SDA church is officially pacifist[7] and encourages vegetarianism as a way of caring for the environment.[8][9]
Origins
The Seventh-Day Adventist Church traces its roots back to a movement led by William Miller,[2] a Baptist preacher who, during the early 1800s, preached that his research into biblical prophecy indicated that Jesus would return in 1843. When his set date inevitably passed much like other supposed prophecies, his movement fell apart, and its members fractured. Some, including Miller, renounced Baptist Christianity, while others continued to believe that the Second Coming was imminent, but this time (surprise, surprise) didn't set a date. These believers formed the core of what would eventually become the Adventist movement. (Another, even wackier group said that Jesus had come and that his reign had begun; these are known as the Jehovah's Witnesses).
The modern SDA Church began to coalesce with the writings and teachings of Ellen G. White, who claimed to see visions. She was hailed by her followers as a prophet. She articulated many of the church's core beliefs, which include observing the sabbath on Saturday instead of Sunday (hence, seventh-day). The church was officially established in Battle Creek, Michigan, on May 23, 1863, with a membership of 3,500. Membership grew with missionaries, who actively exported Seventh-day Adventism to developing nations in Asia, Africa, and South America.
Issues
In 1986, Colin Cook, founder of Homosexuals Anonymous, an Adventist ministry targeted at disaffected homosexuals, was discovered to be engaging in sexual acts with his patients.[10] This is very ironic and grimly funny. It also happens to be a general trait of rather aggressive homophobes.
Seventh-day Adventism is the source of many cheap, mass distributed books (you've seen them: The Desire of Ages, The Great Controversy, America In Prophecy, National Sunday Law Crisis - the first three heavily edited reprints of books written in the 19th century by Ellen G. White), and is fertile ground for fringe conspiracy theories about an impending national Sunday law, with pamphlets warning of this to be occasionally discovered in public places such as bus or train stations.
The Great Controversy Project is a project to mass-mail a recent reprint of Ellen G. White's The Great Controversy by the Review and Herald Publishing Association of Hagerstown, Maryland by soliciting donations to saturate an entire U.S. zip code with the book, with the warning, "Time is running out! Obama just signed the hate crimes bill that might make it illegal to distribute this book". They needn't be so worried. Obama has about as much interest in taking away your copy of The Great Controversy from your cold, dead fingers as he does in taking away your gun: None.
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Official Church stats
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Official Seventh-Day Adventist Church history.
- ↑ Official Seventh-Day Adventist Church Statement on Homosexuality.
- ↑ Official Seventh-Day Adventist Church Response to Same-Sex Unions — A Reaffirmation of Christian Marriage.
- ↑ Official Seventh-Day Adventist Church Guidelines for Employer and Employee Relationships.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Official Seventh-Day Adventist Church Guidelines on Abortion.
- ↑ Official Seventh-Day Adventist Church Statement on Peace.
- ↑ Official Seventh-Day Adventist Church document on Caring for Creation — A Statement on the Environment.
- ↑ Why I Am Not a Vegetarian, by William T. Jarvis.
- ↑ Redeeming Our Sad Gay Situation: Awareness