Seventh-day Adventists Believe ... is an epoch-making book just published by the Ministerial Association of the General Conference. Not since Questions on Doctrine has the church published a major book on what Adventists believe. This new hardback 400-page volume will sell for under $6.00. Every Adventist family will want a copy. You will want to place a copy in every library in your district. Every non-Adventist minister should have a copy.
The rest of this report weaves together sections from the introductory pages of this book.
In 1872 the Adventist press in Battle Creek, Michigan, published a "synopsis of our faith" in 25 propositions. This document, slightly revised and expanded to 28 sections, appeared in the denominational Yearbook of 1889, and again in those years 1905 and 1907-1914. In response to an appeal from the leadership in Africa for "a statement [that] would help government officials and others to a better understanding of our work," a committee of four, including the president of the General Conference, prepared a statement encompassing "the principal features" of belief as they "may be summarized." This statement of 22 fundamental beliefs, first printed in the 1931 Yearbook, stood until the 1980 General Conference session replaced it with a similar but more comprehensive summarization in 27 paragraphs, published under the title "Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists."
The present volume, Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , is based on these short summaries. In it we present for our members, friends, and other interested persons, in an expanded, readable, and practical manner, these doctrinal convictions and their significance for Adventist Christians in today's society. While this volume is not an officially voted statement—only a General Conference in world session—could provide that it may be viewed as representative of "the truth . . . in Jesus" (Eph. 4:21) that Seventh-day Adventists around the globe cherish and proclaim.
Origin of book
It would be difficult for any one author to state the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church comprehensively and accurately. But individual authors, rather than committees, write the best books. So we have combined the efforts of many persons with the efforts of one person, P. G. Damsteegt, who had the task of preparing the initial draft of each chapter.
Damsteegt, a unique blend of scholar and evangelist, was born and reared in the Netherlands. After finding Christ while serving as an aeronautical engineer in the Dutch Air Force, he pursued a theological education in Europe and the United States. In 1977 he was granted a Doctor of Theology degree from the Free Reformed University of Amsterdam for a historical-theological and missiological study of the biblical foundations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Damsteegt presently teaches at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Michigan.
A Christ-centered manuscript on Adventist doctrines, prepared by Norman Gulley, professor of religion at Southern College of Seventh-day Adventists, provided both inspiration and material for this volume. In addition, it has had the benefit of thousands of hours of research in hundreds of books, pamphlets, and articles—both Adventist and non-Adventist—and thorough evaluation and discussion by various committees and groups.
The church's 10 world divisions selected a committee of 194 persons who went over each chapter, suggesting corrections, additions, and deletions. A smaller committee of 27 church leaders, theologians, and pastors met regularly with Damsteegt to give additional supervision to the preparation of this work.
Christ the center
We have written this exposition of our 27 major beliefs to reveal how Seventh-day Adventists perceive God. This is what we believe about His love, kindness, mercy, grace, justice, benevolence, purity, righteousness, and peace. Through Jesus Christ we see God benevolently holding children on His lap. We see Him weeping as He shares the sorrow of the mourners at the tomb of Lazarus. We see His love as He cries, "Forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
We have written this book to share our vision of Christ a vision that finds its focus at Calvary, where "mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Ps. 85:10, NKJV). At Calvary, where He became sin for us He who knew no sin "that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21, NKJV).
We have written this book believing that every doctrine, every belief, must reveal the love of our Lord. Here is a Person with an unconditional love and commitment unparalleled in human history. Recognizing that He who is the incarnation of truth is infinite, we humbly confess that there is still much truth to be discovered. As we find new facets of God's revelation, they will harmonize perfectly with the united testimony of Scripture.
We have written this book conscious of our indebtedness to the rich biblical truths we have received from the Christian church of history. We acknowledge the noble line of witnesses—such as Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Calvin, Knox, and Wesley—whose advance into new light led the church forward to a fuller understanding of God's character. And that understanding is ever progressive. "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4:18).
We have written this book with the guidance of a clear directive continually reminding us that "if you search the Scriptures to vindicate your own opinions, you will never reach the truth. Search in order to learn what the Lord says. If conviction comes as you search, if you see that your cherished opinions are not in harmony with the truth, do not misinterpret the truth in order to suit your own belief, but accept the light given. Open mind and heart that you may behold wondrous things out of God's Word" (Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons [Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1941], p. 112).
We have not written this book to serve as a creed—a statement of beliefs set in theological concrete. Adventists have but one creed: "The Bible, and the Bible alone."
We have not written this book to titillate the imagination. This is not a speculative work unless one considers the Bible to be that! Rather, it is a thorough, biblically-based, Christ-centered exposition of what we believe. And the beliefs expressed are not the product of a studious afternoon; they represent more than 100 years of prayer, study, prayer, reflection, prayer ... In other words, they are the product of Adventist growth "in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter3:18).
Doctrine to reveal Christ
We have written this book aware that some will ask whether doctrine is really important in an age that finds itself struggling to survive the threat of nuclear annihilation, an age preoccupied with the explosive growth of technology, an age when Christian endeavor tries vainly to press back the brooding specters of poverty, hunger, injustice, and ignorance.
Yet...
We have written this book with the deep conviction that all doctrines centering on the Way, the Truth, and the Life are extremely important. Doctrines define the character of the God we serve. They interpret events, both past and present, establishing a sense of place and purpose in the cosmos. They describe the objectives of God as He acts. Doctrines are a guide for Christians, giving stability in what otherwise would be unbalancing experiences, injecting certainty into a society that denies absolutes. Doctrines feed the human intellect and establish goals that inspire Christians and motivate them with concern for other per sons.
We have written this book to lead Adventist believers into a deeper relationship with Christ through a study of the Bible. Knowing Him and His will is vi tally important in this age of deception, doctrinal pluralism, and apathy. Such a knowledge is the Christian's only safe guard against those who, like "savage wolves," will come speaking perverse things in order to subvert truth and destroy the faith of God's people (see Acts 20:29, 30, NKJV). Especially in these last days, to keep from being "carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men" (Eph. 4:14, NKJV), all must have a right concept of God's character, government, and purposes. Only those who have fortified their minds with the truth of the Scriptures will be able to stand in the final conflict.
We have written this book to assist those who are interested in knowing why we believe what we believe. This study, written by Adventists themselves, is not just window dressing. Carefully re searched, it represents an authentic ex position of Adventist beliefs.
Finally, we have written this book recognizing that Christ-centered doctrine performs three obvious functions: first, it edifies the church; second, it preserves the truth; and third, it communicates the gospel in all its richness. True doctrine calls for far more than mere belief it calls for action. Through the Holy Spirit, Christian beliefs become loving deeds. A true knowledge of God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit is saving knowledge. That is the theme of this book.
