Fundamental Principles of Seventh-day Adventists (1874)
“Seventh-day Adventists have no creed but the Bible.” — These 28 principles, first published under the leadership of Uriah Smith, summarize the faith held by the early believers in full harmony throughout the body.
1.That there is one God, a personal, spiritual being, the Creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal; infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, truth and mercy; unchangeable and every-where present by his representative, the Holy Spirit. Psalm 139:7.
2.That there is one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the eternal Father, the one by whom he created all things, and by whom they do consist; that he took on him the nature of the seed of Abraham for the redemption of our fallen race; that he dwelt among men, full of grace and truth, lived our example,...
3.That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God, contain a full revelation of his will to man, and are the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
4.That baptism is an ordinance of the Christian church, to follow faith and repentance,—an ordinance by which we commemorate the resurrection of Christ, as by this act we show our faith in his burial and resurrection, and through that, in the resurrection of all the saints at the last day; and that no other mode more fitly represents these...
5.That the new birth comprises the entire change necessary to fit us for the kingdom of God, and consists of two parts: First, a moral change wrought by conversion and a Christian life (John 5:3); second, a physical change at the second coming of Christ, whereby, if dead, we are raised incorruptible, and if living, are changed to immortality...
6.That prophecy is a part of God’s revelation to man; that it is included in that Scripture which is profitable for instruction (2 Timothy 3:16); that it is designed for us and our children (Deuteronomy 29:29); that so far from being enshrouded in impenetrable mystery, it is that which especially constitutes the word of God a lamp to our...
7.That the world’s history from specified dates in the past, the rise and fall of empires, and the chronological succession of events down to the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom, are outlined in numerous great chains of prophecy; and that these prophecies are now all fulfilled except the closing scenes.
8.That the doctrine of the world’s conversion and a temporal millennium is a fable of these last days, calculated to lull men into a state of carnal security, and cause them to be overtaken by the great day of the Lord as by a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:3); that the second coming of Christ is to...
9.That the mistake of Adventists in 1844 pertained to the nature of the event then to transpire not to the time; that no prophetic period is given to reach the second advent, but that the longest one, the two thousand and three hundred days of Daniel 8:14, terminated in 1844, and brought us to an event called the cleansing...
10.That the sanctuary of the new covenant is the tabernacle of God in heaven, of which Paul speaks in Hebrews 8 and onward, and of which our Lord, as great high priest, is minister; that this sanctuary is the antitype of the Mosaic tabernacle and that the priestly work of our Lord, connected therewith, is the antitype of the...
11.That God’s moral requirements are the same upon all men in all dispensations; that these are summarily contained in the commandments spoken by Jehovah from Sinai, engraven on tables of stone, and deposited in the ark, which was in consequence called the “ark of the covenant,” or testament (Numbers 10:33; Hebrews 9:4, etc.); that this law is immutable and...
12.That the fourth commandment of this law requires that we devote the seventh day of each week, commonly called Saturday, to abstinence from our own labor, and to the performance of sacred and religious duties; that this is the only weekly Sabbath known to the Bible, being the day that was set apart before Paradise was lost (Genesis 2:2,...
13.That as the man of sin, the papacy, has thought to change times and laws (the law of God, Daniel 7:25), and has misled almost all Christendom in regard to the fourth commandment, we find a prophecy of reform in this respect to be wrought among believers just before the coming of Christ. Isaiah 56:1, 2; 1 Peter 1:5;...
14.That the followers of Christ should be a peculiar people, not following the maxims, nor conforming to the ways, of the world; not loving its pleasures nor countenancing its follies inasmuch as the apostle says that “whosoever therefore will be” in this sense, “a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4); and Christ says that...
15.That the Scriptures insist upon plainness and modesty of attire as a prominent mark of discipleship in those who profess to be the followers of Him who was “meek and lowly in heart;” that the wearing of gold, pearls, and costly array, or anything designed merely to adorn the person and foster the pride of the natural heart, is...
16.That means for the support of evangelical work among men should be contributed from love to God and love of souls, not raised by church lotteries, or occasions designed to contribute to the fun-loving, appetite-indulging propensities of the sinner, such as fairs, festivals, crazy socials, etc., which are a disgrace to the professed church of Christ; that the proportion...
17.That as the natural or carnal heart is at enmity with God and his law, this enmity can be subdued only by a radical transformation of the affections, the exchange of unholy for holy principles; that this transformation follows repentance and faith, is the special work of the Holy Spirit, and constitutes regeneration, or conversion.
18.That all have violated the law of God, and cannot of themselves render obedience to his just requirements, we are dependent on Christ, first for justification from our past offences, and secondly, for grace whereby to render acceptable obedience to his holy law in time to come.
19.That the Spirit of God was promised to manifest itself in the church through certain gifts, enumerated especially in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4; that these gifts are not designed to supersede, or take the place of, the Bible, which is sufficient to make us wise unto salvation, any more than the Bible can take the place of...
20.That God, in accordance with his uniform dealings with the race, sends forth a proclamation of the approach of the second advent of Christ; and that this work is symbolized by the three messages of Revelation 14, the last one bringing to view the work of reform on the law of God, that his people may acquire a complete...
21.That the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary (see proposition 10), synchronizing with the time of the proclamation of the third message (Revelation 14:9, 10), is a time of investigative judgment, first, with reference to the dead, and secondly, at the close of probation, with reference to the living, to determine who of the myriads now sleeping in...
22.That the grave, whither we all tend, expressed by the Hebrew word “sheol” and the Greek word “hades,” is a place, or condition, in which there is no work, device, wisdom, nor knowledge. Ecclesiastes 9:10.
23.That the state to which we are reduced by death is one of silence, inactivity, and entire unconsciousness. Psalm 146:4; Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6; Daniel 12:2.
24.That out of this prison-house of the grave, mankind are to be brought by a bodily resurrection, the righteous having part in the first resurrection, which takes place at the second coming of Christ; the wicked in the second resurrection, which takes place in a thousand years thereafter. Revelation 20:4, 6.
25.That at the last trump, the living righteous are to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and that the risen righteous are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so forever to be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
26.That these immortalized ones are then taken to heaven, to the New Jerusalem, the Father’s house, in which there are many mansions (John 14:1–3), where they reign with Christ a thousand years, judging the world and fallen angels, that is, apportioning the punishment to be executed upon them at the close of the one thousand years (Revelation 20:4; 1...
27.That at the end of the thousand years the Lord descends with his people and the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2), the wicked dead are raised, and come up on the surface of the yet unrenewed earth, and gather about the city, the camp of the saints (Revelation 20:9), and fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours...
28.That new heavens and a new earth shall spring by the power of God from the ashes of the old, and this renewed earth with the New Jerusalem for its metropolis and capital shall be the eternal inheritance of the saints, the place where the righteous shall evermore dwell. 2 Peter 3:13; Psalm 37:11, 29; Matthew 5:5.