28 Fundamental Beliefs

The 28 fundamental beliefs are the core beliefs of Seventh-day Adventist theology. Adventists are opposed to the formulation of creeds, so the 28 fundamental beliefs are considered descriptors, not prescriptors; that is, that they describe the official position of the church but are not criteria for membership. These beliefs were originally known as the 27 fundamental beliefs when adopted by the church's General Conference in 1980. An additional belief (number 11) was added in 2005. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary is a significant expression of Adventist theological thought.

They may be grouped into the doctrines of God, humanity, salvation, the church, Christian life, and the restoration.

History

Adventists have historically been reluctant to formalize a creed. In the October 8, 1861 Review and Herald, J. N. Loughborough wrote:

"The first step of apostasy is to get up a creed, telling us what we shall believe. The second is, to make that creed a test of fellowship. The third is to try members by that creed. The fourth to denounce as heretics those who do not believe that creed. And fifth, to commence persecution against such."

Several summaries of Adventist theology have been presented at various times.

• In 1872 a pamphlet was produced presenting twenty-five Fundamental Principles not to "secure uniformity" but "to meet inquiries" and "to correct false statements."
• In 1931 a list of 22 Fundamental Beliefs was produced and published in the Adventist Yearbook, and subsequently in the Adventist Church Manual.
• In 1980, the 27 Fundamentals were instituted by the denomination's General Conference. Fritz Guy was the secretary of the original committee which produced the 27 Fundamentals. They were discussed and adopted at the 1980 General Conference Session. Ron Graybill wrote the preamble. They are expanded upon in the book Seventh-day Adventists Believe: A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines. This elaboration does not constitute the "official" position of the church.
• In 2005 another belief was inserted, fundamental belief number 11 "Growing in Christ", in response to the requests of Adventists in developing nations for a statement on spiritual warfare. It was voted in at the 2005 Adventist General Conference Session held in St. Louis, Missouri, yielding the current total of 28.

Preamble

The preamble to the 28 Fundamentals states that Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed, and that revision of the statements may be expected during the church General Conference Session:

Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. These beliefs, as set forth here, constitute the church's understanding and expression of the teaching of Scripture. Revision of these statements may be expected at a General Conference Session when the church is led by the Holy Spirit to a fuller understanding of Bible truth or finds better language in which to express the teachings of God's Holy Word."

Theological beliefs

Doctrines of God

1. Holy Scriptures

"The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of [God's] will." Adventist theologians generally reject the "verbal inspiration" position on Scripture held by many conservative evangelical Christians. They believe instead that God inspired the thoughts of the biblical authors, and that the authors then expressed these thoughts in their own words. This view is popularly known as "thought inspiration", and most Adventist members hold to that view. According to Ed Christian, former JATS editor, "few if any ATS members believe in verbal inerrancy".

Adventists generally reject higher critical approaches to Scripture. The 1986 statement Methods of Bible Study, urges Adventist Bible students to avoid relying on the use of the presuppositions and the resultant deductions associated with the historical-critical method.

2. Trinity

The Godhead (Trinity) consists of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

3. Father

God, the Father, is a personal and spiritual Being, who is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. He is infinite in wisdom and love.

4. Son

Jesus Christ, is God in verity. He is of the same nature and essence as the Father. In addition, he took upon Himself human nature, living as a righteous man on earth, dying for the sins of mankind, raised from the dead and ascended to heaven where he makes intercession for mankind.

5. Holy Spirit

God the eternal Spirit was active with the Father and the Son in Creation, incarnation, and redemption. He is as much a person as are the Father and the Son. He inspired the writers of Scripture. He filled Christ’s life with power. He draws and convicts human beings; and those who respond He renews and transforms into the image of God. Sent by the Father and the Son to be always with His children, He extends spiritual gifts to the church, empowers it to bear witness to Christ, and in harmony with the Scriptures leads it into all truth. (Genesis 1:1, 2; 2 Samuel 23:2; Psalm 51:11; Isaiah 61:1; Luke 1:35; 4:18; John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26; 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 5:3; 10:38; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Peter 1:21.)

The doctrines of humanity

6. Creation

The Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of creationism is based on believing that the opening chapters of Genesis should be interpreted as literal history. Adventist belief holds that all Earthly life originated during a six-day period some 6000 years ago, and a global flood destroyed all land based animals and humans except for those saved on Noah's Ark. Adventists oppose theories which propose interpreting the days of creation symbolically.

Although Adventists hold that creation week was a recent event, they believe the Bible speaks of other worlds populated by intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe, which pre-existed the Earth's creation week. Instead of being The Word's first creation, the Earth was most likely His last one. The sons of God of Job 1:6-12 are the Adams of unfallen worlds meeting in God's presence somewhere in the universe. Other inhabited planets are located in the vastness of space—well beyond the reach of space probes from our sin-polluted solar system, quarantined due to the infection of sin.

Adventists believe that inorganic matter was created prior to the creation week and was altered into its present form during the creation week. Therefore, the computed radiometric dates of standard geology are irrelevant to dating the creation of life on Earth. Since radiometric dating, says Webster, is an "interpretive science", he believes that for the Christian scientist “it would seem logical, almost compelling, to seriously consider” the Biblical account “for determining the time of Creation."

7. Nature of Humanity

The doctrines of salvation

8. The Great Controversy

9. The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ

10. The Experience of Salvation

11. Growing in Christ

The doctrines of the church

12. The Church

13. The Remnant and Its Mission

14. Unity in the Body of Christ

15. Baptism

16. The Lord's Supper

17. Spiritual Gifts and Ministries

18. The Gift of Prophecy

The doctrines of Christian living

19. The Law of God

20. The Sabbath

21. Stewardship

22. Christian Behavior

23. Marriage and the Family

The doctrines of the restoration

24. Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary

25. The Second Coming of Christ

26. Death and Resurrection

27. The Millennium and the End of Sin

28. The New Earth

Shared Protestant doctrine

In Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine (1957), the editors outlined the doctrines that they share with Protestant Christianity.

"In Common With Conservative Christians and the Historic Protestant Creeds, We Believe—

1. God is the Sovereign Creator, upholder, and ruler of the universe, and He is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

2. The Godhead, the Trinity, comprises God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

3. The Scriptures are the inspired revelation of God to men, and the Bible is the sole rule of faith and practice.

4. Jesus Christ is very God, and He has existed with the Father from all eternity.

5. The Holy Spirit is a personal being, sharing the attributes of deity with the Father and the Son.

6. Christ, the Word of God, became incarnate through the miraculous conception and the virgin birth; and that He lived an absolutely sinless life here on earth.

7. The vicarious, atoning death of Jesus Christ, once for all, is all-sufficient for the redemption of a lost race.

8. Jesus Christ arose literally and bodily from the grave.

9. Jesus Christ ascended literally and bodily into heaven.

10. Jesus Christ now serves as our advocate in priestly ministry and mediation before the Father.

11. Jesus Christ will return in a premillennial, personal, imminent second advent.

12. Man was created sinless, but by his subsequent fall entered a state of alienation and depravity.

13. Salvation through Christ is by grace alone, through faith in His blood.

14. That entrance upon the new life in Christ is by regeneration or the new birth.

15. Man is justified by faith.

16. Man is sanctified by the indwelling Christ through the Holy Spirit.

17. Man will be glorified at the resurrection or translation of the saints when the Lord returns.

18. There will be a judgment of all men.

19. The gospel is to be preached as a witness to all the world."

All of these doctrines, with the exception of item 11 (regarding the premillennial return of Christ), are widely held amongst conservative or evangelical Protestants. (Different Protestant groups hold varying views on the millennium.)

Regarding salvation, a major statement was the 1980 "The Dynamics of Salvation".

See also

• History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
• The Pillars of Adventism
• Seventh-day Adventist theology

Sources

• General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Ministerial Association (2005). Seventh-day Adventists Believe (2nd ed.). Pacific Press Publishing Association.
• Numbers, Ron (2006). The Creationists.

External links

See also Seventh-day Adventist theology#External links

• Fundamental Beliefs from the church's official website (see also Official Statements)
• "Uncovering the Origins of the Statement of Twenty-seven Fundamental Beliefs" by Fritz Guy. Presentation from the Being Adventist in 21st Century Australia Conference at Avondale College Church, 2002. Also Spectrum v 32, Spring (2004), pp 18–29
• "Seventh-Day Adventists Believe" ebook (1st ed)
• A series of Adventist Review articles around 2008 described each doctrine. (also Blogging the 28, articles collated by Spectrum)

Each issue of Adventist World comments on a fundamental belief. Following is the list to February 2012 inclusive: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9, 9 Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, 10, 10, 11, 12, 12 Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, 15, 15 Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17 Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, 19, 20 Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, 20 Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, 21, 21, 22, 22, 23, 23, 24, 24, 25, 26, 27, 27, 28 Archived 2009-05-07 at the Wayback Machine

• Spectrum 8:4 (August 1977) Special Section: An Adventist Creed?
• "Why Seventh-day Adventists have no creed" (DjVu) by Arthur L. White. Adventist Review 161:28 (12 July 1984), pp 6–8
• "General Conference Report" section, by Lawrence Geraty and other authors. Spectrum 11:1 (July 1980) (reprint of Geraty article)
• Letters to the editor in Spectrum 11:3 (February 1981), pp 61—
• "Creeds and Statements of Belief in Early Adventist Thought" by S. Joseph Kidder. Andrews University Seminary Studies 47:1 (Spring 2009), pp 101–16
• Search for "Creeds" in the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index (SDAPI)
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