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One Man's Journey out of Seventh-day Adventism; Introduction

by Brian Hyde
6/15/2011 / Testimonies

Introduction

'One Man's Journey out of Seventh-day Adventism' is my personal testimony. The decision behind my coming out was self-initiated, but it was precipitated, as will be seen, by correspondence with a former SDA brother living in the USA. Moreover, as I look back over the last two years or so, I see another hand at work to bring it about and that hand is most certainly that of our Heavenly Father.

Despite tensions I experienced in relating to the organizations that represented Seventh-day Adventists at the time before the journey began, I was quite settled in Adventism as a belief system. So, coming out of Adventism was the last thing on my mind. In fact it was as inconceivable to me as climbing Mount Everest. Indeed, if someone had suggested to me that one day I will leave Adventism I would have laughed him to scorn. I would have urged upon him that if only he knew me well enough, he would know the folly of entertaining such an idea as far as I am concerned. He would have settled it in his mind that I for one will surely die a Seventh-day Adventist.

This testimony will show aspects of my conversion to Christ, my initiation into and experiences in Adventism and, finally, after 33 years as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist movement, my return to Protestant Christianity. It will examine some of the fundamental issues that I struggled over for decades, while labouring under the illusion that somehow I must attain to spiritual perfection in order to gain salvation and acceptance with God. But, it will also show how in a relatively short time the good Lord brought me step-by-step from a semi-Palagianistic beliefthat I must be righteous by the exercise of my will to Gospel salvation. It will show how I came to understand that salvation is by grace alone because of the righteousness of Christ, and how, in the words of Paxton (1977), "the believer has no part in producing that righteousness and only has to accept it by faith".

The composition of this testimony was no easy undertaking; it was an immense and daunting logistical task, not least because I am neither a theologian nor 'a natural born writer. On both accounts I am self-educated.

I must also point out that I did not have the benefit of support from anybody at any stage, not even the editing of the final manuscript, so the work will, in all probability, reflect this factalthough, hopefully, not overly so! Notwithstanding these obstacles, I have given it my best shot and my trust is that it will at least make sense and be of great interest to the reader.

I have tried to weave into the narrative the central theological issues pertaining to my spiritual struggles. In this regard, I confess that sometimes I have set forth the Seventh-day Adventist position in the briefest of terms. Hence, in all fairness to that organization, I suggest that where this happens the reader should go to the official SDA website, where detailed explanations of the denomination's fundamental beliefs are to be found. Conversely, I have tried to answer Adventist beliefs by setting out in the fullest detail my new beliefs as I have come to comprehend them today. In the latter sense then this is a testimony with a difference; it is a testimony with a defense. I chose to do this because I did not want to simply testify that Adventist teaching and the Scriptures are antithetical but I wanted to show why and how.

And right here, I must point out that many of the truths the Lord has been so gracious to show me in the preparation of this document, have their source in many online articles written by other Christians. I owe these folk an immense debt of gratitude. Some will be well-known to the reader but others will likely be less known. When I selected source material in support my arguments, my constant aim was to select material that is fully substantiated from scripture. I have been scrupulous in acknowledging my sources where material is not my own, so as to give credit where credit is due and to abide by copyright conventions. Hopefully, I have succeeded, but in a work of this size there is always the possibility that I may have missed giving appropriate credit. In the event that I have, I ask the author concerned to bring this to my attention so that I can make the necessary correction.

Second only to sharing the glorious Gospel, my purpose for publishing this testimony is quite simple I want the world to know that the message Seventh-day Adventists are promoting, makes that denomination a dangerous cult. The excellent work carried out by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the fields of disaster relief and health reform is to be highly commended but this by no means detracts from the fact that its fundamental doctrine is permeated with gross heresy. In Jude we are told,

"beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 1:3).

In fulfilling this injunction it is hardly necessary for me to say that in "contending for the faith once delivered to the saints" it was essential that I, as a former Seventh-day Adventist, acquaint myself with "the faith once delivered to the saints", particularly if I was to effectively expose the errant beliefs of Seventh-day Adventism. The former task has been and continues to be a delightful and rewarding one, but the latter has been most unpleasant. While it is highly likely that mainline Christians will give a positive reception to material that exposes Adventism, Adventists will reject it with customary hostility. Negotiating my way through the latter will not be easy.

Nonetheless, in obedience to my conscience, contend I must and earnestly so.

Additionally, insofar as this testimony results in one or more individuals are set free from the shackles of Adventism, then exposing Adventism will have been a worthy cause and hopefully will have accorded with what Jude had in mind when he penned his inspired counsel.

Another reason for producing this testimony is that I have many relatives and former friends in Adventism. This testimony is also dedicated to any of these who may wish to know the reasons why I left the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

So, exactly who am I? Well, I guess, I am nobody in particular. I certainly make no claim to fame! I am a first generation believer. I was born in Portchester, a small town on the south coast of Hampshire, England. In my early twenties I immigrated to South Africa where I lived, apart from a few short years, until my final return to England in 1984. After settling back in the old country, I studied at the University of Hertfordshire, where I graduated with a BSc (Honors) Degree in Social Work. Today, I am a freelance mentor of social work undergraduates and a freelance writer of Christian articles.

This testimony could just as well as been described as 'one man's journey out of error into truth' for notwithstanding that my journey out of the Adventist Church organization is now complete physically, the same cannot necessarily be true psychologically. In regard to false ideas and notions, I imagine that journey will necessarily continue for some time. As Christians, we spend all our lives coming out of some form of spiritual error or another. Certainly, I hold this to be true in my own case. After three decades in the SDA Church it is highly likely that even now I retain a great number of ideas and assumptions implicitly erroneous. Moreover, mainstream Christianity is itself divided. My research has revealed that in respect of some of the basics of Christianity, opinion between scholars is divided; so much so that in some cases the two sides are irreconcilable. This is reflected in the acrimonious exchanges flooding YouTube, online electronic articles in general and of course in the great number of churches scattered across the Christian landscape. So, with these facts in mind, hopefully you the reader will have patience with me if I present ideas or assumptions in this document that do not necessarily reflect your own personal views.

Whatever, the future holds for me in terms of affiliation with any particular denomination, I am firmly resolved that irrespective of affiliation, I will boldly take my stand with the Protestant Reformers and adopt the same overarching principles for which they so valiantly fought. These are, of course: sola scriptura, or the scripture alone; soli deo gloria, or for the glory of God alone; solo Christo, or by Christ's work alone; sola gratia, or salvation by grace alone; and sola fide or justification by faith alone (Strawbridge, 2009).

References

Strawbridge G (2009) The Five Solas of the Reformation: A Brief Statement Retrieved June 4, 2010 Online: http://www.fivesolas.com/5solas.htm).

Brian Hyde is a first generation born-again Christian who lives in the United Kingdom. He holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Social Work and is a part-time social work mentor. He is currently researching new covenant theology and enjoys writing the occasional faith article. The link to his website is www.wayministry.org

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