Seventh-Day Adventist belief breakdown: belief 10 of 28

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has 28 fundamental beliefs. I list the underlying unspoken beliefs. Belief 10 is "The Experience of Salvation". Trigger warning: Contains SA and Purity Culture topics.

Apr 26, 2024

All beliefs are from the official Seventh-day Adventist Church website, Adventist.org. https://www.adventist.org/beliefs/

Per their website, Adventists reserve the right to change or update beliefs.

Therefore, this page is archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20240127045827/https://www.adventist.org/beliefs/

Links to all prior snarked beliefs are available at the bottom of this post.

10. The Experience of Salvation

In infinite love and mercy God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God.

Firstly, most of this statement of faith is straight up copied and pasted from KJ21 version of 2 Corinthians 5:21:

“For He hath made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Given the Adventists did not cite this source, this is plagiarism.

I spotted this as a Bible verse because Adventists had me memorize it as a kid.

On summarizing underlying assumptions: There’s a huge unspoken mythos underlying this sentence, like all the SDA beliefs. I try to summarize it enough so a new reader can get a decent idea of the mythos without having to go back and read prior belief breakdowns, yet different enough each time that it ain’t boring for regular readers. Wish me luck; I must do this eighteen more times.

So, on to the mythos!

First, god: There's an all-powerful immortal being who made everything. Humans call this being “god”. Of all the gods believed in on planet earth, only the Christian Protestant god is the true god.

All the rest are imaginary, or demons, or early truths shared by god to other cultures, depending on which Adventist one speaks to. (Read: Does an ancient text or myth very closely mirror a biblical text? It is god shining his light of truth upon other cultures to draw them to himself. This handily hand-waves away things like the many similarities between the Gilgamesh flood myth and Noah’s Ark story.)

God comes in thirds: So this Christian Protestant god is one whole god but made up of thirds. 1/3 of this god is a human-god hybrid called “Jesus Christ”. He allegedly existed bodily on planet earth around 2000 years ago.

Also Satan: God also created Satan, who rebelled against god. Satan tempted the first ever human couple to disobey god’s law. They used to be immortal.

Also sin: So disobeying god’s law is called “sin”. After god realized the first two humans sinned, in his great mercy, he cursed the earth and all the humans and animals and plants on it to suffer and die. This happened 6,000 years ago and all science to the contrary is from Satan.

There’s a fight: Together Satan and god fight over where humans wind up forever. They can either end up in heaven, a perfect paradise with god, or in Adventist hell (burned to death). This happens after god brings heaven physically to planet earth. Then god will resurrect all the humans who ever existed and burn to death all the not saved ones.

Oh. Heaven is in Orion’s Belt right now, per the Adventist plagiarizing prophetess, Ellen White:

“…we could look up through the open space in Orion, whence came the voice of God. The Holy City will come down through that open space.” Source: https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/28.326

Jesus: Ok so the 1/3 of god that is Jesus Christ lived a perfect sinless life on planet earth. He sacrificed himself to the other 2/3rds of god, by dying on a cross for all humanity’s sins. Then he was raised from the dead.

Also, the Bible: Oh, and this god had humans write a book called the Bible that tells humans all about him. Only the Protestant 66 book Bible is the right Bible. Those curious about other Bible versions can start here: https://www.historyinthebible.com/supplementary_pages/books-of-the-bible.html

Led by the Holy Spirit we sense our need,

Unspoken underlying assumption: Ok, so the Holy Spirit is 1/3 of god. He hangs out here on earth until god brings heaven to earth. His role is to function as a conscience in all humans, make non-Christians feel guilty for their sins, and pressure them to become born again. If people follow their conscience, they'll eventually become Adventists.

Also he comforts the Adventist believers as they hang out on earth waiting for heaven to be brought from the Constellation Orion’s Belt to planet earth, or their resurrection after their death, whichever comes first. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit “the Comforter”.

acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our transgressions,

Translation: A human can tell god that they’re sorry for disobeying his laws, and they accept Jesus’s death for their sins. Christians say this creates a whole new person, aka “made [into] the righteousness of God”. This is called “being saved” or “being born again” or “asking Jesus into your heart”.

This is an evangelical Protestant Christian thing, wholly unnecessary for Catholic Christians, much to my surprise. A Catholic buddy and I wound up debating if it was necessary for Catholics to be born again.

They asked their priest, “Does one have to be born again to be saved?”

“No,” said their priest.

I had been taught that everyone must be born again to be saved. Nope! Per the fabulous podcast, The Rest Is History, by British historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, it was Martin Luther in the 1500s who largely made becoming born again a Protestant belief. This is in their March 27, 2024, episode “Luther: The Revolution Begins (Part 2)”.

This is not mentioned in particular by Ellen White, the Adventist plagiarizing prophetess, in her (plagiarized) life history of Martin Luther. Nor did A Beka Books’ Christian white supremacist “history” curriculum I was homeschooled with contain this fact. Nor did mandatory Bible class at cult university mention this. Since zero of these three unreliable sources could be bothered with this fact, I did not know it.

Since Martin Luther, becoming born again has become a very important Evangelical Protestant thing. Plenty of these Christians can tell you their age and location when they asked Jesus into their heart.

It was very kind of my buddy’s Catholic priest to simply state “No, a Catholic does not need to be born again” instead of sharing the entire history of the rift between Catholicism and Protestantism and how being born again is a mainly Protestant tenet.

Like everything theological, Christians argue all sorts of things about “born again”. Start here if you want to enter that rabbit hole: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_again

and exercise faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord, Substitute and Example.

Translation: Then the person (hopefully) changes their ways and (ideally) follows Jesus’s example.

“By faith” means “try really really hard to believe Jesus existed, lived a sinless life, died on a cross for all of humanity’s sins, rose from the dead, is god”.

It is awesome when this works for a person. More power to them!

It’s not so awesome when “being born again” is used as a method to “help” children and adults who were sexually assaulted (SA’d) “become born again virgins”.

Purity Culture teaches that people, especially women and girls, are “impure” and “used like chewed gum” if they are not virgins when they get married. I personally heard Adventist men age teens and 20s debating if marrying a SA’d woman was “ok”. The consensus was that a virgin man was doing a SA’d woman a huge favor by marrying them. See, the woman would be “impure” and “used” while the non-SA’d man was “pure”.

One toxic way to overcome the natural feelings of shame an SA’d person in Purity Culture feels is by becoming a “born again virgin”. See, they’re told by well-meaning Purity Culture idiots, Jesus forgives them so they're virgins again in god’s eyes! In this way, a SA’d person is forced to apologize to god as though they did something wrong. They did nothing wrong. The person who SA’d them did the wrong.

This is the soul-destroying crap that humans endure when a human is valued by how much sexual contact they have had, whether consensual or non-consensual.

Relevant personal story: As a young teen I was groomed, isolated, SA’d by an Adventist male teacher. He was upper middle age. This happened at church. His methods were textbook grooming. One can read those here at RAINN website: https://www.rainn.org/news/grooming-know-warning-signs

As his methods were textbook grooming, it is clear this Adventist teacher had a practiced method well-honed by years of grooming and SAing children. This is 100% in line with multiple studies showing pedophiles molest on average 300 different children during the pedophile’s lifetime. So this Adventist pedophile teacher probably has molested around 299 other children. Source: https://www.stopchildpredators.org/sex-offender-recidivism

As a homeschooled until college girl in a fundamentalist Adventist Purity Culture home, I was denied adequate sex education. I was not taught the terminology for “inappropriate touch”, “molested”. Hamstrung by not having the language to explain what this Adventist teacher had done to my body, I attempted once to explain it, failed. The person I tried to explain it to reacted without concern.

I therefore pulled from what I was taught by Purity Culture and “knew” I had done something to invite this unwanted touch. Even my Dad and Mom said that immodest clothing invited unwanted attention from men and boys.

I lived quietly in shame about this Adventist teacher molesting me, silently wondering what I did wrong. Every morning I had looked in the mirror, imagined what a male might find attractive, and dressed in loose long modest clothing to mitigate that. Thus I would not make him sin in his thoughts with my clothing. I walked, talked, dressed, spoke modestly. This is what Guide magazine, Young Disciple Magazine, and other Purity Culture sources instructed faithful Christian girls to do.

It took years to deconstruct Purity Culture indoctrination, learn the language to explain what had been done to me, and have the strength to report this Adventist teacher to the police. I sent out over seventy-two emails to all Adventist conferences he attended, all pastors, Pathfinder leaders, Adventist schools, etc., he may encounter in said conferences.

During this time, I relived what the Adventist pedophile teacher had done to me. My entire body shook for hours. I puked.

Of all the over seventy Adventist leaders I contacted, I received one meaningful response. Per social media, the Adventist pedophile who molested me is still in Adventist churches around children, unattended, as a trusted retired Adventist teacher.

How the Adventist Church supports pedophiles:

The Adventist church prioritizes pedophile safety and salvation, like my openly pedophile uncle in church touching girls’ hair, over the safety of Adventist children. Read about that here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/the-first-terrible-story

The Adventist church teaches that everyone gets forgiven by Jesus, so pedophiles are allowed around children unsupervised. This happens in other Purity Culture churches too. By choosing to believe myth (Jesus saves and stops pedophiles!) over basic science on pedophilia recidivism, Adventist church willingly chooses to expose their children to pedophiles. Read some of the basic science of pedophilia recidivism here: https://www.stopchildpredators.org/sex-offender-recidivism

The Adventist church refuses to educate its populace on basic signs of pedophilia. There are many secular and faith-based organizations to assist with this. This information has been well-studied and available since the early 1990s. Here is one: https://www.stopitnow.org/ohc-content/sexual-abuse-prevention-faith-communities

The Adventist church refuses to implement policies to protect children from pedophiles, like mandatory background checks for all adults who work with children, and making all Adventist leaders mandatory reporters like nurses, doctors, and teachers are in the USA.

The church can well afford basic background checks, education, training, and reporting. As of 1998, it was the seventh wealthiest religion on the planet with $15.8 billion dollars. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_religious_organizations

Secular schools, libraries, hospitals and many other private faith organizations have training, policies on this subject that the Adventist church could implement. It does not bother.

By teaching Purity Culture, Adventism indoctrinates parents to blame their children for being sexually harassed by adult Adventist men. My dad was indoctrinated, blamed me for his best friend’s sexually harassing me. Read about that here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/dad-and-cain-part-4-the-psychology

The Adventist church continues to follow their prophetess’s written advice to a pedophile pastor. She told him to not tell police. Ellen White slut shamed, condemned to hell the girl he molested. She told him to NOT tell his wife—he had children, and NOT to tell the police, “for it would make the ministry look bad”. To this day Adventist media ignores his pedophilia. They wrote a glowing autobiography about this Adventist pedophile pastor, complete with implied miracles. Read about that here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/ellen-whites-written-policy-to-a

My story—a true believing Adventist child molested by an Adventist leader, silenced, shamed by Purity Culture, denied education and knowledge so I could not report the crime imposed upon my body. Then no useful reaction from Adventist leadership after I did report, and the pedophile still welcomed around children unsupervised. This is incredibly common in Adventism.

I recently made a list of all the Adventist SA’d in Adventist education settings that I know about in Adventist friends or family that I could think of in ten minutes. There are over fifteen individuals who have shared their stories with me, both men and women. All were underage when SA’d. These crimes occurred in multiple states, in Adventist grade schools, academies, and universities, by Adventist teachers and leaders, in every decade from the 1960s on.

Only one pedophile, my uncle, was kicked from the church, and only after an extended fight with Adventist church leadership and threatened legal action.

Every other pedophile is still in Adventist education or welcome in Adventist church. Given these are fifteen different people with fifteen unique pedophiles, and each pedophile statistically molests around 300 humans in their lifetime; we wind up with fucking disturbing math.

[15 pedophiles X 300 avg number molested children per pedophile = 4,500 probable number of children molested by Adventist pedophiles still welcome in Adventist circles.]

Again, this is ONLY from the stories I have heard… and ONLY the stories that came to my mind in that ten minute time span.

I have no stories from prior to the 60s as that generation does not speak about sexual abuse, or has died.

Adventists continue to preach Purity Culture in their youth Sabbath School magazines, sermons, books, and other media. It is included in and pointed out by me in the Guide breakdown on this blog:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/guide-breakdown-3-the-lesson-and

In short, it is unsafe to let children attend Adventist education, Pathfinders, or church events until the Adventist church stops protecting pedophiles and implements basic steps to protect children.

I'm sure I've repeated myself in the above section and it could be better edited. I’m starting to shake and be nauseous again, with flashbacks. The meaning and evidence is clear enough. I shall move on with the faith statement.

This saving faith comes through the divine power of the Word

Translation: Ok, so “Word” with a capital W is Christianese for either “Bible” or “Jesus”. They get the “Jesus” from the beginning of the Bible book of John, which says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with god, and the Word was god”. I know this because Adventists had me memorize it.

So this entire phrase can be translated to “Jesus saves”.

and is the gift of God’s grace.

Translation: God is fucking awesome like that, foisting the gift of Jesus on all us human peons who never asked for this gift.

Through Christ we are justified,

Translation: Jesus saves.

adopted as God’s sons and daughters,

Translation: Getting born again makes one a son or daughter of god, through adoption, says the Bible. Honestly, this is kind of badass. Get saved, badaboom badabing, you can brag you’re now “a child of the king” of the universe, god. There's hymns about this theology.

Whether or not intersex beings are permitted to be a “child of the king” is not mentioned in this Adventist faith statement. Going by their current scapegoating of LBGT+ people, the chances aren't good.

and delivered from the lordship of sin.

Translation: Getting born-again yoinks one from Satan’s power and therefore from Adventist hell (burned to death).

Through the Spirit we are born again and sanctified; the Spirit renews our minds, writes God’s law of love in our hearts, and we are given the power to live a holy life.

Translation: So the 1/3 of god called the Holy Spirit gets Adventists born again. I was always taught it was the whole damn 3/3rds of god involved in this, but whatever.

Anyways getting born again is supposed to totally, utterly change a person. This is called “sanctified” aka “made holy”. It's in the Bible book of Romans and it's hella confusing to read.

Adventists have entire sermons on justification, sanctification and other “-ifications”. There's probably some deep spiritual somethings in it. I've tried and failed to learn it. For hours and days. With repeat attempts months and years apart.

Abiding in Him we become partakers of the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the judgment.

Translation: Getting born again gives one the “assurance of salvation” but beware! You can definitely lose your salvation all sorts of ways!

(Gen. 3:15; Isa. 45:22; 53; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 33:11; 36:25-27; Hab. 2:4; Mark 9:23, 24; John 3:3-8, 16; 16:8; Rom. 3:21-26; 8:1-4, 14-17; 5:6-10; 10:17; 12:2; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Gal. 1:4; 3:13, 14, 26; 4:4-7; Eph. 2:4-10; Col. 1:13, 14; Titus 3:3-7; Heb. 8:7-12; 1 Peter 1:23; 2:21, 22; 2 Peter 1:3, 4; Rev. 13:8.)

Long list of Bible verses to totally prove Adventist beliefs are biblical is long. I shan’t look them up this time.

End snark of Adventist belief 10.

Why The Gentle Author calls Ellen Gould White “the Adventist plagiarizing prophetess”: Test The Prophet shows original Victorian Era books, first defining the Victorian definition of “plagiarize”. Then he shows the original authors’ books with content that Ellen White copied. Ellen White claimed that these texts were her visions from God. https://www.youtube.com/@TesttheProphet

All prior Seventh-day Adventist beliefs, snarked:

Belief 1, “Holy Scriptures”, is snarked here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/adventist-belief-breakdown-belief

Belief 2, “The Trinity”, is snarked here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/adventist-belief-breakdown-belief-91e

Belief 3, “God the Father”, is snarked here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/adventist-belief-breakdown-belief-961

Belief 4, “God the Son”, is snarked here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/adventist-belief-breakdown-belief-0d8

Belief 5, “God the Holy Spirit”, is snarked here:

https://talesfromacult.substack.com/p/seventh-day-adventist-belief-breakdown

Belief 6, “Creation”, is snarked here: