Seventh-Day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventist Church[a] is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination[2][3] which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday,[4] the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath,[3] its emphasis on the imminent Second Coming (advent) of Jesus Christ, and its annihilationist soteriology. The denomination grew out of the Millerite movement in the United States during the mid-19th century and it was formally established in 1863.[5] Among its co-founders was Ellen G. White, whose extensive writings are still held in high regard by the church.[6]
Much of the theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church corresponds to common evangelical Christian teachings, such as the Trinity and the infallibility of Scripture. Distinctive post-tribulation teachings include the unconscious state of the dead and the doctrine of an investigative judgment. The church places an emphasis on diet and health, including adhering to Kosher food laws, advocating vegetarianism, and its holistic view of human nature—i.e. that the body, soul, and spirit form one inseparable entity.[7] The Church holds the belief that "God created the universe, and in a recent six-day creation made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day". Marriage is defined as a lifelong union between a man and a woman. The second coming of Christ, and resurrection of the dead, are among official beliefs.[8]
The world church is governed by a General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, with smaller regions administered by divisions, unions, local conferences and local missions. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is currently "one of the fastest-growing and most widespread churches worldwide",[3] with a worldwide baptized membership of over 21 million people, and 25 million adherents.
As of May 2007, it was the twelfth-largest Protestant religious body in the world, and the sixth-largest highly international religious body. It is ethnically and culturally diverse, and maintains a missionary presence in over 215 countries and territories.[9][10] The church operates over 7,500 schools including over 100 post-secondary institutions, numerous hospitals, and publishing houses worldwide, a humanitarian aid organization known as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and tax-exempt businesses such as Sanitarium[11] which fund the church's charitable and religious activities.
History
Main article: History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest of several Adventist groups which arose from the Millerite movement of the 1840s in upstate New York,[12] a phase of the Second Great Awakening.[13] William Miller predicted on the basis of Daniel 8:14–16[14] and the "day-year principle" that Jesus Christ would return to Earth between the spring of 1843 and the spring of 1844. In the summer of 1844, Millerites came to believe that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844, understood to be the biblical Day of Atonement for that year. Miller's failed prediction became known as the "Great Disappointment".[12][13]
Hiram Edson and other Millerites came to believe that Miller's calculations were correct, but that his interpretation of Daniel 8:14 was flawed as he assumed Christ would come to cleanse the world. These Adventists came to the conviction that Daniel 8:14 foretold Christ's entrance into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary rather than his Second Coming.[13]
Over the next few decades this understanding of a sanctuary in heaven developed into the doctrine of the investigative judgment, an eschatological process that commenced in 1844, in which every person would be judged to verify their eligibility for salvation and God's justice will be confirmed before the universe. This group of Adventists continued to believe that Christ's second coming would continue to be imminent, however they resisted setting further dates for the event, citing Revelation 10:6, "that there should be time no longer."[15]
Development of Sabbatarianism...
Extra Connections:
Miller predicted the Second Coming, associated with Seventh Day Adventists.
Well-known but distant offshoots are the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist organization and the Branch Davidians, themselves a schism within the larger Davidian movement.[156] The Davidians formed in 1929, following Victor Houteff, after he came out with his book The Shepherd's Rod, which was rejected as heretical. A succession dispute after Houteff's death in 1955 led to the formation of two groups, the original Davidians and the Branches. Later, another ex-Adventist, David Koresh, led the Branch Davidians, until he died in the 1993 siege, at the group's headquarters near Waco, Texas.[36] Trump chose to kick off his 2024 election campaign at Waco on 3oth anniversary.