27 Fundamental Beliefs of The SDA Church
A Word About the 27 Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists
Through the years Seventh-day Adventists have been reluctant to formalize a creed (in the usual sense of that word). However, from time to time, for practical purposes, we have found it necessary to summarize our beliefs.
In 1872 the Adventist press at 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. This was not continued in subsequent issues, but it was inserted again in the Yearbook in 1905 and continued to appear through 1914. In response to an appeal from church leaders 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. They appear at the beginning of each chapter. In this book 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.— iv
Table of Contents
We Gratefully Acknowledge . . . v
To the Readers of This Book . . . vii
THE DOCTRINE OF GOD Chapter 1
The Word of God 4 Chapter 2
The Godhead 16 Chapter 3
God the Father 28 Chapter 4
God the Son 36 Chapter 5
God the Holy Spirit 58
THE DOCTRINE OF MAN Chapter 6
Creation 68 Chapter 7
The Nature of Man 78
THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION Chapter 8
The Great Controversy 98 Chapter 9
The Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ 106 Chapter 10
The Experience of Salvation 118
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH Chapter 11
The Church 134 Chapter 12
The Remnant and Its Mission 152 Chapter 13
Unity in the Body of Christ 170 Chapter 14
Baptism 180 Chapter 15
The Lord's Supper 184 Chapter 16
Spiritual Gifts and Ministries 206 Chapter 17
The Gift of Prophecy 216
THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE Chapter 18
The Law of God 232 Chapter 19
The Sabbath 248 Chapter 20
Stewardship 268 Chapter 21
Christian Behavior 278 Chapter 22
Marriage and the Family 294
THE DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS Chapter 23
Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary 312 Chapter 24
The Second Coming of Christ 332 Chapter 25
Death and Resurrection 348 Chapter 26
The Millennium and the End of Sin 362 Chapter 27
The New Earth 374
Scripture Index 693 -->
Subject Index 386
Unless indicated otherwise, the texts of Scripture quoted in this book are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.
Texts credited to KJV are from the King James Version.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977.
Texts credited to NEB are from The New English Bible. © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permission.
Texts credited to NIV from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Bible texts credited to RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1946, 1952 © 1971, 1973.
Bible texts credited to TEV are from the Good News Bible—Old Testament: Copyright American Bible Society 1976; New Testament: Copyright © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976.
Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971 Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Ill. Used by permission.
The Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists assumes full responsibility for the accuracy of the camera-ready copy of this book. Editing, copy editing, and proofreading for this book were done under the direction of the Ministerial Association. Due to technical limitations vowel points and diacritical marks have not been included when transliterating foreign words.
First Printing, May 1988: 80,000 Second Printing, June 1988: 100,000 R & H Cataloging Service Seventh-day Adventists believe ... 1. Seventh-day Adventists—Doctrines. I. Seventh-day Adventists, General Conference Ministerial Association. II. title. 286.73
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