Amish Voice, November 2015

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The Amish Voice 2
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teachings cannot be found in God’s
Word—at least not without a whole lot of
stretching and twisting. The apostle Paul
wrote: But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you
than that which we have preached unto
you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8).
It is surprising, therefore, to learn that the
founders of many religious groups (i.e.
Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons,
Jehovah’s Witnesses) claim to have had
special revelations or visions from God,
or special visits from an angel. Many of
these “angels” seem to have given
messages that contradict the Bible. Often,
more emphasis is placed on these visions
and revelations than on the pure Word of
God—the Holy Scriptures.
For example, Joseph Smith claimed to
have had visits from the angel Moroni.
The angel supposedly led him to the
golden plates that Smith translated into
what became known as the Book of
Mormon. Jehovah’s Witnesses say that
“scripture therefore suggests that Jesus
himself is the archangel Michael” and
that “the Bible indicates that Michael is
another name for Jesus Christ” ( ,
and He came to earth again in 1914
(invisibly). By the way, Charles Taze
Russell, early leader of the “Jehovah’s
Witnesses,” was greatly influenced in his
beliefs by the early Seventh-Day
Adventists.
What about the Seventh-Day
Adventists? They have many good
teachings. They do much good around
the world. Much of what they teach
seems to be Biblical. However, their
founders, Ellen G. White being one of
them, formed some of their main
teachings on the basis of visions or by
visits from angels. Having claimed in the
past that these teachings came from God
by way of an angel, they cannot now
deny these messages and claims without
denying that God gave them.
The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA)
church is headquartered in Silver Spring,
Maryland, and has nearly 20 million
members in over 200 countries around
the world. Its origins can be traced back
to a Baptist preacher named William
Miller, who was convinced that Daniel
8:14 taught that Jesus would return to
earth in 1843. (His return is known as
“advent”). Jesus did not return in 1843.
Miller, recalculating his figures,
determined that he was off a year, and
that Jesus would return on October 22,
1844. Jesus did not return then, either.
Now what would they do? Would the
group of “Millerites” die off?
Fortunately for them, a man named
Hiram Edson claimed that he had a vision
from God. His vision showed him that
the date of October 22, 1844, was not the
day when Jesus was to return to earth, but
was the day when Jesus entered the
heavenly sanctuary and began His
“investigative judgment.” The “truth" of
this vision was confirmed by Ellen G.
White, who claimed to have prophetic
gifts. From 1844-1851, White also taught
that the door of mercy had closed in
1844, so no one else could be saved. Of
course, after more people later converted
to Seventh-Day Adventism, she had to
change her story.
While many of the teachings of Seventh-
Day Adventism seem true to the Bible,
some of their teachings seem quite
foreign to God’s Word. It is those
teachings which should concern us. Some
of these teachings include the
investigative judgment, the command to
worship God on the seventh day of the
week (Saturday) rather than on Sunday,
the three angels’ messages of Revelation
14, and annihilationism. According to
their official Statement of 28
Fundamental Beliefs, the SDA church
believes that in addition to the Bible, the
many writings of Ellen G. White “are a
continuing and authoritative source of
truth which provide for the church
comfort, guidance, instruction, and
correction.”
Some people turn to Seventh-Day
Continued next page
Ellen G. White, founder of the Seventh-Day
Adventist Movement