PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- MAY 19, 2008

James and Ellen G. White, the most prominent founders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Is the Seventh-Day Adventist Church a cult?

Q. Thanks for your ministry. You and PTM are a great resource and support. I have a question: are the Seventh Day Adventists a cult?

A. There are many ways and many standards used to define a cult. The old joke is that everyone who does not belong to my church and do all the stuff I do is in a cult.

There are two kinds of cults -- theological cults and sociological cults. The theological cult holds heretical beliefs and practices that run afoul of biblical teaching. A sociological cult practices mind control and brain-washing (however that might be understood and defined) so that its followers blindly follow the directives of leadership. Some groups combine both dysfunctions.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church does not qualify as a cult under either definition. However, being a cult is not the only pitfall that one can fall into, in terms of one's relationship with God. One can be a "dues-paying" "rules-keeping" "faithful attending" member of a church or group that is not a cult, but still be trapped in some religious swamp, far from an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.

Adventism is legalistic religion, of that there is no doubt. Along with a number of other churches, the official teachings of Adventism certainly skate on thin ice in terms of religious legalism and regulations, and its implications -- that is, true Christianity means worshipping on Saturday, not on Sunday.

The official teaching of Adventism, as I understand it, unless some transformation of which I am unaware has happened, is that all "Sunday-keepers" will have the so-called "mark of the beast" described in Revelation, and thus will be cursed during a tribulation, unless they begin keeping a Saturday sabbath. This kind of teaching of course leads to an aberrant and beyond-the-pale assertion, shared by many churches, an exaggerated truth claim if you like. The idea is that we are special, superior and better because we have the truth, or more of the truth, than others. So, while some others who claim to be Christians might be in God's eternal kingdom, we really know we will be there, because we, knowing the real truth, obey his teachings as others do not.

Thus the focus is on religion -- performance -- and stuff we do. The focus is on our church, our doctrines, our truth -- which of course is a great marketing technique, but not so great in terms of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The focus in such a belief system also leads to discrediting and condemning others who are in the body of Christ, because, as so many in legalistic and sabbatarian groups like to say, "we can't all be right, can we?"

From the standpoint of authentic Christianity, the basis of our relationship with God is not all about how right we are, but it is about the righteousness of Jesus, which is, upon our unconditional acceptance of Jesus Christ, and our absolute denial of religiosity and all of its pompous legalisms, credited to us, by God's grace.

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