AboutTom Norris Expertise I can answer most any question about church history and theology, starting from 1818 when William Miller articulated the 1st Angels Message that became the foundation of the Adventist Movement. While this first prophetic message terminated in the spring of 1844, it was followed by what Adventists refer to as the 2nd Angels Message, which dates from the spring of 1844 until the great disappointment of October 22, 1844. By 1847, the 3rd Angels Message had been developed and this Sabbatarian theology represents the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Moreover, I can explain the historical and theological development of the SDA denomination from its beginning and on through the great Battle Creek schism that forced the SDA's to retreat to Takoma Park. Here the 20th century church recovered from their internal battles that had erupted at the 1888 General Conference in Minneapolis over the definition of the law and the Gospel.
Fearing another repeat of this disaster, President Daniels, determined to hide this debate. However, this policy led to more conflict, especially over the role and authority of Ellen White, a unique and accomplished religious writer that had remarkable spiritual gifts. However, by the decade of the 1970`s, the church once again erupted into debate. The hierarchy settled the turmoil in 1980 with the trial of Dr. Desmond Ford at Glacier View. Here Dr. Ford was exiled because he supposedly disagreed with Ellen White over the Fundamentals. But this controversial action resulted in another major schism that is still in progress today.
Experience Tom Norris was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist in Takoma Park, Md. He attended SDA grade and High schools, moving on to study Adventist theology at Columbia Union College. He also spent significant time conducting independent research in the General Conference Archives and the Ellen G. White Estate. Over the years he has also interviewed a number of prominent Adventist scholars, theologians, and Pastors ranging from the late Arthur White to the exiled Dr. Desmond Ford. In addition, he has amassed a large private library, which includes numerous rare books and manuscripts about Adventist theology and history. He is presently the online editor of Adventist Reform, and can be found at Adventist for Tomorrow answering questions online about SDA theology and history as well as promoting Adventist Reform.
Question QUESTION: The last 2 years I've been searching and reading and praying to understand the uncomfortable feeling that I've been struggling with for more than 5 years within the SDA church. I was born almost on the church steps, my father was a minister of the 'gospel' (albeit in an independent ministry#, and my mom was the antithesis of the preacher's wife. We grew up living a lifestyle that has been so ingrained in my life that it is hard to believe or think anything else. How do I know what is really the truth about Sabbath keeping, tithing, salvation, and even the judgment? The even scarier thing is that I have a child #with another planned in the future# and I don't know what to teach them! I don't know. All I know is that I don't feel right in the churches that I attend. I only feel free when I read and pray on my own, but I still long for a worship experience that defines what I am coming to learn in my studies. Sometimes I don't know what to believe. How do you worship? Where do you go? How and what do you teach your children?
ANSWER: Today, many SDA’s are becoming very uncomfortable with their denomination. Many are tired of the legalism, double-talk, and the endless demands for money. The sermons are trite, incorrect, and useless, and there is no credible eschatology being promoted, which is what the SDA’s were originally all about.
Even worse, there is no Gospel or genuine caring for the members or others. The SDA church is a hierarchy like the RCC; thus the members do not even own their local church or even the song books in the pews, even though they paid for everything. Consequently, all SDA’s are at the mercy of their leaders, who have taken great advantage of them.
Thus the pastors are essentially landlords and property managers, whose job it is to entertain and control the local church, making as much money as possible for the Denomination. All in the name of God of course. But it is all a sham. The NT does not support a hierarchy, much less one that is based on Old Covenant tithe paying. So the whole situation is a blasphemous farce. A circus of false doctrine and greed, all in the name of God.
The SDA leaders are obsessed with money, not truth. So they feature the scam of tithe every Sabbath, and have made BILLIONS of dollars off this false, anti-Gospel doctrine that finances their corrupt ambitions. And they have no intention of stopping this doctrinal fraud. They don’t care if it wrong or not. They are long past caring.
As far as the leaders are concerned, the members exist to support the top-heavy bureaucracy and to pay for their failed attempts to build a religious Empire. It is a very dysfunctional and unbiblical situation that makes a mockery out of the Gospel and repudiates true religion on every level.
Since 1980, when the SDA’s dishonestly exiled Dr. Ford, for pointing out their errors, the Adventists have degenerated into a bureaucratic business, where censorship, incompetence, and corruption is the norm. The Denomination routinely spends millions of dollars on many forms of propaganda and mind control, even as their whole enterprise is based on the fraud of tithe, a doctrine that was NEVER practiced in the apostolic church.
In fact, this absurd idea that the SDA’s are the biblical “Storehouse” is pure quackery and impossible theology. Thus their claim, that it is God’s will for the church to practice tithe, is an outrageous, self-serving, blasphemy that cannot be tolerated by anyone that is honest and Gospel educated. And this is just one of their many cultic errors and frauds.
Why should anyone put up with such error? For what purpose?
Consequently, Millions of once loyal SDA’s, including many Scholars, Pastors, and Administrators, have left the Denomination in disgust because the dishonest, incompetent leadership refuses to repent and reform. Even when the last GC President, Robert Faulkenburg, was removed for corruption, the next one continued to oppose Adventist Reform and support the farce of Traditional Adventism.
So the leaders are set in their evil ways and those that remain within this Adventist wasteland cannot help but be affected by all this chaos, doctrinal dishonesty, and spiritual emptiness.
So you are not alone. Many are getting fed up with the Adventist Church.
Today, most understand that Adventism has many problems. But few know what to do or where to go in the alternative. Unfortunately, there is no real substitute for historic Adventist eschatology or for their prophetic mission to proclaim the Gospel and prepare the church for the end of the world. So this is a problem.
To make matters worse, as the world becomes more focused on cataclysmic doom from WMD’s, and other dangers, Adventism becomes more relevant, not less. So the Advent Movement is important, relevant, and very necessary, it must go forward and do its duty. Which is why the issues must be faced and the problems resolved. But the leaders are blocking reform and refusing to deal honestly with the issues.
To underscore this point, if an Adventist wants to question any doctrine, or discuss the issues, they are not encouraged or allowed. There is no freedom to address the issues or question the leaders, much less study the Bible honestly. With such an arrogant and Papist attitude, things naturally get worse and the problems grow over time.
Such an environment, especially from a Protestant denomination, is a remarkable and daring repudiation of the teachings of the NT, as well as the democratic principles that define America. All those in the Adventist Community should be livid about the gross mismanagement and corruption of the Adventist Church. There is no excuse for it, and thus it is time for the entire Adventist Community to stop supporting the SDA’s until they repent and reform.
Freedom Trumps Censorship
Over the years, the SDA’s have been able to hide the real issues and control the debate. They became masters at double-talk, censorship, and stonewalling, even convincing the public that Ellen White supported Traditional Adventism, when she actually opposed it. But few knew the depth of this massive fraud that is still ongoing in nature. And those that did, were quickly silenced and censored.
But the world has changed recently. Censorship and double-talk is no longer very effective because people can simply turn on their computers, in the privacy of their own homes, and investigate the issues for themselves. Thanks to the Internet, it is easy for anyone to discover the issues and discuss the problems, which are far worse than many imagined. This is what you have done, and so too many, many others.
Good for you! You are now free to think for yourself and study the issues without interference. And the leaders can no longer hide the fact that they are incompetent and corrupt, teaching one false doctrine after another.
At some point, the real issues and problems will become clear to the Adventist Community. Then the leaders will be pressured to Repent and Reform; if not, the Spirit will urge others to move forward and develop a new and improved denomination that will feature the true Fundamentals of the Adventist Movement. One way or another, Adventism must go forward, but not with all this dishonesty and false doctrine. There must be REFORM.
So it would not surprise me if a new Adventist Church emerged from the rubble of Traditional Adventism. After all, this is how the Advent Movement started and so too the SDA’s. The present situation is not sustainable, as your post underscores. Something is going to give way, and it is not going to be the Gospel, or the historic version of the Three Angels Messages.
Many Complain
Not a week goes by when I do not receive a number of e-mails and phone calls from very dissatisfied SDA’s. People no longer know what to believe or why. They are very confused and discouraged as they expected much better from their church. Consequently, there is a growing cry for Adventist Reform and you need to lend your voice to this important cause. At some point change will come.
However, until a credible Reform Movement emerges, the Adventist Community will have to go online to figure out what is truth and what is not. They will have to find or develop web sites that will meet their needs for fellowship, and Bible study, as well as for the open and free discussion of the issues.
You are a good example of how easy it is to go online, ask questions, and find the answers. Those that seek will find, and the Internet is a tremendous resource tool that can be used to understand the Gospel and create fellowship. While the SDA’s have been very busy developing new web sites to counter the critics, their teachings are easily proven to be false, even as their best apologists run away from any online debates.
So the Internet will be the doom of Traditional Adventism. It will expose the present teachings of the SDA’s as cultic nonsense that has no support from the apostles, reformers, or the Adventist Pioneers.
The House Church
In addition, some will start Home Churches, where like-minded Christians can fellowship and worship as the early Christians did in the NT. Expect a return to this practice of the early church were people met in their homes to pray, sing, and drink real wine in remembrance of the Gospel Story, even as they anxiously waited for the hope of the Second Coming.
The Home Church was a practical alternative for those who could no longer, with good conscience, participate in the organized, corrupt, and Gospel hating teachings of Judaism. The SDA’s are very much like the faithless Jews, and thus what is taking place today fits the pattern of the Gospel Story.
The last church will return to the correct doctrines of the first church, and so too any SDA’s that are looking for real Gospel fellowship instead of organized rebellion and Sabbatarian corruption.
So to answer your question, I go to my computer every Sabbath to read the Word and interact with others online. I refuse to attend an SDA church, because there is far too much false doctrine associated with everything that they teach and preach. So why waste the time?
Those that understand the Gospel and have been granted Eternal Life will not waste their time in such a cultic, unhealthy, and dishonest environment, where blasphemy and false doctrine are the norm. What is the point?
The SDA church is not a safe place for children, or adults, and all should be warned away from them until they repent and embrace Gospel Reform.
I hope this helps,
Tom Norris for All Experts.com and Adventist Reform
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QUESTION: Thank you for your candid and thorough answer. I am still praying that the battle going on in my head and heart will one day resolve itself. As far as giving monetary gifts, my husband and I have decided that we will focus on a particular ministry or a person/family to support. However, I still haven't found anything that negates the current tithing practice. Would you please provide a couple of resources that can get me started? Thank you again.
Answer Many SDA’s are stunned and shocked to hear that tithing is a false doctrine. Their first response is utter disbelief, because they have been indoctrinated from their youth to think that this is how the NT church was financed-- and what God still expects today.
Moreover, the SDA’s promote tithe every Sabbath, without fail, in all their churches. Every pew contains tithe envelopes, and the members are strongly encouraged by the Pastor and others, from the pulpit, to use them as they “return their tithe to God,” which they claim is the sacred duty of all Christians.
In fact, next to the Sabbath, there is no doctrine that receives more promotion than tithe. It is one of the modern SDA’s greatest doctrines, upon which their entire organizational system is managed and supported.
Furthermore, if any Pastor or church scholar questions this doctrine, or opposes it, they will be quickly removed, as this topic is off limits for discussion or examination.
I have personally challenged the SDA leaders to discuss this topic online, but they all run away, refusing to comment. Why? Because they know that they cannot sustain this false doctrine that pays their salaries.
They also know that they will be fired if they ever admit that tithe is an error. But the facts are what they are, and no amount of censorship, arm-twisting, or propaganda can ever make false doctrines into truth. There is no such doctrine as tithe in the New Covenant, and there has never been such an impossible doctrine any more than there is a Sunday Sabbath, Secret Rapture, or an Easter Bunny.
The SDA leaders should be ashamed of themselves for deceiving their members about tithe and church organization. Their dishonest, anti-Gospel position is outrageous, dangerous, and arrogant, proving that they are not fit to handle the Word of God, much less to speak in his name. Greed is not a gift of the Spirit and neither is the relentless promotion of false, dishonest, and self-serving doctrine.
It is very easy to Google tithe and look up many more sites that discuss this topic. Some will be for it, and a growing number will be against it. If you are honest, you will have to study the issues and choose whichever view follows the Gospel.
Moreover, as you study the NT on this topic, you will discover that nowhere does it show any Christian paying tithe, receiving tithe, or spending tithe. Why? Because the apostolic church never embraced this Old Covenant method to finance the church.
They used sharing, not tithing. Thus no about of double-talk and proof texting from the SDA’s, or the Mormons, or anyone else, will ever be able to change this fact, much less defend their absurd and greedy position that exposes them as foolish deceivers and Protestant Pretenders.
Of course this is not their only false doctrine, but it is one of their most important because it provides them resources to play church and to strut around pretending to be Christians, when they are really a very confused, divisive, and dishonest cult. Shame on the SDA’s, they have much to confess and repent.
When the majority of the Adventist Community understands that NT tithe is a total and complete fraud, they can remove their incompetent and dishonest leaders who have been misleading and deceiving them all these years.
The discovery that tithe is a sham should open the eyes of every SDA to the fact that their leaders are “wretched” and blind to the Gospel. Such fools should not be trusted or obeyed because they are great liars and deceivers. This stunning situation demands CONFESSION and REPENTENCE, as well as major REFORM within Adventism.
When the doctrine of NT tithe falls in the SDA church, so too will Traditional Adventism. Let all with honest heart pray for that day.
Tom Norris for All Experts.com and Adventist Reform
