Seventh Day Adventism: False Cult or Not?

August, 18, 2014

In 1971, while I was serving in the Navy, my two best friends on my ship were Mormons.  They both claimed to be Christians, yet their beliefs did not line up with what I knew about the Bible.  You see I had been raised in a church which did not teach me that there were things such as false cults and did not warn me to avoid them and did not identify which religious groups which claimed to be Christian but in reality were false cults.

When our ship arrived in Japan, I found a Christian Serviceman's Center and went there nearly every time I was able to get off the ship for a few hours.  I discussed with the Missionary there the conversations I had on board ship with my two Mormon shipmates.  He suggested I read a book they had in their library, which was titled, The Four Major Cults, by Anthony Hoekema.  The book had four sections, one covering each of the four major cults.

Using primary source materials, Hoekema presents the doctrinal teachings of Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventism, Christian Science, and Jehovah's Witnesses. He also briefly outlines the history and source of authority of each cult.

In June of 1972, I was released from active duty in the Navy, I moved to Normal, Illinois, where I continued my studies at Illinois State University.  There I ran into some Seventh Day Adventists, who told me they believed they were saved by trusting in Jesus but to stay saved they needed to observe the Saturday Sabbath, follow the Jewish Dietary Laws and follow the Ten Commandments.

These admissions convinced me that Anthony Hoekema was correct.  Seventh Day Adventism was indeed a false cult.

Later, other Christians began to tell me that the SDA, Seventh Day Adventists, had changed their teaching, and had become Bible-believing Evangelical Christians.  Those who really know me know that I have been given a nose to sniff out false cults, but this time I had been convinced, I even had several conversations with some current SDA clergy who confirmed, that yes we used to have some strange doctrines, but we don't anymore, we believe the Bible just like you.

Even Walter Martin had been convinced.

Then a couple of days ago, I received an E-mail from a Christian Ministry based in Oregon, The Berean Call, where they had interviewed a former SDA Pastor.  This former SDA Pastor claimed that the SDA is still a false cult, and why.  He said that several SDA leaders had intentionally lied to Walter Martin about their beliefs and that in 1994 the SDA Church/Cult, had even produced their own translation of the Bible, which they call the Clear Word.

So for the past few days I've been doing more research into this topic and became convinced that I need to once again warn Christian believers that the SDA is indeed a false cult.  I'm convinced that God not only wants me to preach the truth in love, but also to warn folks about those who pervert the Gospel.  See Galatians chapter 1.

Here are several web sites with more information about this topic:

www.ratzlaf.com

www.lifeassuranceministries.org

www.lifeassuranceministries.com

www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/clear_word.htm

www.clearwordexposed.com

www.carm.org/clear-word-bible-intro