My children attend a Seventh Day Adventist school. One teacher often mentions that 'people who go to church on Sunday will go to hell'. Is this consistent with Seventh Day Adventist belief?
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2As a matter of practicality, have you considered talking to your child's teacher about this?– DJClayworthCommented Nov 14, 2018 at 17:44
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@DJClayworth if an Adventist teacher is making such rash comments, it is likely that they are such fundamentalist that this would be an effort in futility.– BluephlameCommented Nov 24, 2018 at 9:52
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Adventists believe "people who go to church on Sunday will go to hell" the same way they believe it for Saturday. Hell is simply the English name for grave. Is this teacher really an SDA?– Ray ButterworthCommented Sep 13, 2022 at 1:47
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I am an SDA...we don't believe that anyone "goes to hell" as such. We do not believe that he'll is a place in the way Baptists do. I doubt very much a genuine SDA teacher said what you claim. Many teachers in our schools are not SDA these days. If the teacher had said, Sunday worshipers who don't keep the Sabbath won't be saved...that is a different claim.– AdamCommented Sep 13, 2022 at 18:03
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5 Answers
Do Seventh Day adventists believe that people who go to church on Sunday will go to hell?
No we do not, we believe only those who are unfaithful to God will be not be in heaven.
The Bible is clear that God has His people in many denominations. In Revelation 18:4, a voice is heard in heaven saying:
"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues." (Revelation 18:4)
There is also a common misconception that we believe Sunday keeping is the mark of the beast. But it is not. Only when Sunday keeping is a forced day of worship, restricting freedom of conscience, do we consider it the mark of the beast. The writings of Ellen White in SDA Bible commentary explains:
"Sundaykeeping is not yet the mark of the beast, and will not be until the decree goes forth causing men to worship this idol sabbath. The time will come when this day will be the test, but that time has not come yet." The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:977 (1899).
However, this is not to say that the Sabbath is not a test today, because it is. True observance of the fourth commandment is an outward sign of loyalty to God, just like the rest of the ten. Only that we are not able to say who has received this light and who has not.
"We shall not be held accountable for the light that has not reached our perception, but for that which we have resisted and refused. A man could not apprehend the truth which had never been presented to him, and therefore could not be condemned for light he had never had."—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1145 (1893).
The truth is Adventists within the same denomination will differ in their conviction of how much/ to how many God has revealed this light to today. Many have grandparents or relatives in Sunday churches, so it is a sensitive issue. More liberal Adventists believe that unless you are 100% convinced, you are perfectly fine to attend Sunday keeping churches. However, more conservative Adventists believe that many Sunday goers have heard of the Sabbath, but have neglected to study further and have quietened their conscience to a degree in breaking this commandment in favour of tradition, and thus will be held accountable.
Either way, what we do agree on is that no one is really saved by keeping Sunday or Sabbath, but by our faithfulness to Jesus and willingness to follow the lamb wherever He goes (Revelation 14:4). We will see many Sunday goers in heaven, especially those who lived in the middle ages when the Sabbath truth was lost to many.
This is a question that is often as misunderstood as the answer.
Seventh-day Adventists have a strong and positive believe in the 7th day of the week (Saturday) being the major day of worship. They strongly believe in freedom for people to worship as they believe God wants them to worship. In addition to Saturday as the major day, they do not believe that it is wrong to worship on any other day of the week.
What is happening is that the SDAs believe that there may come a time when people can be asked to replace Saturday as the main worship day for Sunday.
Further, the actual SDA teaching is that the major day of worship is the 7th day of the week, regardless of what that day has been named. SDAs commonly believe, as do Jews, that most often the 7th day of the week in named Saturday in English, or Sábado in portuguese (my native language).
People going to hell, 'cause go to church in Sunday is not the SDAs belief.
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"they do not believe that it is wrong to worship on any other day of the week" This is false. They believe "Sunday worship" is the mark of the beast, and all who receive the mark belong to the beast. It's the mark of the harlot church, where falsities are given and many deceived, leading to their doom, the second death in the Lake of Fire ...– user3961Commented Dec 26, 2018 at 19:53
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Did you read my answer? I didn't said that others days can be the major adoration day. Sabbath is and always will be the major day. Answer me @fredsbend, what a person do at church on Sunday or Wednesday? To me, it is worship. Different from Sabbath? Yeah, but it is worship anyway. Using Bluephlame answer, the time that you've mentioned, will still come. If you do not understand that non-Sabbath keeping aren't condemned yet, spend more time at your study. Salvation don't come by fear, but understanding The Word of God. The way you proclaim, causes fear. Rethink about it. Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 19:44
So for a start, Seventh-Day Adventist do not believe in an eternally burning hell. Rather, the wicked are destroyed by fire. But that seems to be the teacher's misrepresentation of the denomination in general.
In regards to your primary question, do Seventh-Day Adventist believe that non-Sabbath keeping Christians will be condemned?
My answer, Not-yet.
Here are the details, behind that obscure answer. Adventists centre their mission around Revelation 14:6-12 and consider it the equivalent of the great commission for the last days(Rev:14:6).
The first angel's message(rev 14:7) has a link to creation, which is important.
The third angel's message has a dire warning not to worship a beast or its image or receive its mark. The beast as it is understood by Adventists Refers to a Religious and political power that claims the authority of God on earth. This is based on a detailed study of Daniel 7. The mark as it turns out is not that of a physical one but a spiritual one.
Going back to the start of the chapter (Rev 14:1) there is a group of people known as the 144000 These people have the name of God on their forehead. The name of God can also be referred to as the seal of God, due to it being located in the same spot (i.e. the forehead) (Rev 7:2-3)
Essentially at the end of time, you end up either with the seal of God or the mark of the beast. When we go looking for what is the seal of God we look to find something that has the characteristics of what we would consider a seal. Such as a name, a title and a jurisdiction. We find this in the in the 4th of the 10 commandments i.e. Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11) Which represents God, the creator of the world. So the ten commandments and specifically the 4th commandment of Sabbath gets linked to the seal of God. The 4th Command is called out because it is the one command that the religious political power that believes it has the authority to change God's law specifically changed (From Saturday to Sunday)
Revelation 14:12 calls this out explicitly as there is a "call for Endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus."
So the question is when does this all take place? well the next section starting in Revelation 14:14 we see a white cloud and a reaping of the world. i.e. the second coming.
So as a Seventh Day Adventist, I believe that in the end times the Sabbath will become an important distinguishing factor of true worship but I also believe it will become so clear through signs and the Holy Spirit that those who are Christians regardless of the denomination will worship God in Spirit and in Truth and will receive his seal on their foreheads.
I have many friends who are Christians and are not Seventh-Day Adventist. Many of them are more beautiful souls relative to many of my fellow Adventist believers. I believe that they are saved just I am. I also believe that there will become a testing point and each of them will pass that test.
That being said I encourage you to study the Sabbath and the delight it can bring to you and your family.
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I'd like to upvote your answer, but I can't in good conscience unless you provide a source and citation for your third to last paragraph, beginning with "So as a Seventh Day Adventist, I believe ..." I'm not an Adventist, but I've spent a great deal of time studying with them and reading their literature and your distinction of "not yet is Sunday an issue", I do not recall finding. It is an issue now from my memory. I would say, SDA stress Adventist in their name because they believe the end is a now issue.– user3961Commented Dec 26, 2018 at 19:59
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1@fredsbend there is no formal source to cite for this statement. The intention is that the references provided before build to that point. Adventist do have an understanding that beliefs shouldn't be a formal creed as such you have to form conclusion from the bible. In terms of your comment around the name adventist. Yes adventist believe we are in the end times, but not the last days yet. You will know we are in the last days when worshiping on sabbath is an issue, at which point it will become a salvation issue. Commented Dec 26, 2018 at 21:24
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I am an SDA, I am not able to upvote this answer because of your inference about the seal being a literal physical mark on our foreheads. I find no evidence of there being a literal mark. This is related to the debate about the mark of Cain...my reading of scholars is that they do not believe it was a literal mark.– AdamCommented Sep 13, 2022 at 18:11
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@adam I would be interested to know how you got that idea. There is no way it is a literal mark but purely spiritual. Commented Oct 15, 2022 at 3:02
A slightly late answer, but it is wrong to say that anyone worshiping on Sunday will go to hell. This is not and never has been an Adventist teaching.
Anyone worshiping God to the best of their ability and to the best of their knowledge, and behaving lovingly towards their fellow man will stand blameless before Him, not because of inherent goodness, but because of Christ covering their sins of which they have no knowledge. This is an Adventist belief.
Paul alludes to this in his comment that God 'winks at' those things we unwittingly do wrong. You will also note that those to whom he speaks do not even know that God exists.
Going to church on Saturday or Sunday will neither condemn nor save. It is your knowledge of right and wrong, and your obedience to those principles you have learnt and discovered that God will judge.
Now it remains for each reader to confirm for themselves which day is actually God's Sabbath, and then to live according to that knowledge.
Perhaps the OP can print all these answers and take and discuss it with the teacher in question.
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This has the same issues as I noted in another answer. That comment in part: "This is false. They believe "Sunday worship" is the mark of the beast, and all who receive the mark belong to the beast. It's the mark of the harlot church, where falsities are given and many deceived, leading to their doom, the second death in the Lake of Fire ..."– user3961Commented Dec 26, 2018 at 19:55
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@fredsbend They believe "forced" Sunday worship is the mark of the beast. If you consider what "making an image to the beast" means: the removal of freedom of conscience and religious persecution, you will better understand why the mark of the beast is about "forced" Sunday worship to us. Commented Apr 27, 2019 at 21:11
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@Beestocks In my studies with adventists, forced Sunday worship is certainly an expected future thing, as we near the end, but Sunday worship itself is and has been the mark since the beginning. SDA eschatology is historically comprehensive, whereas your characterization of forced worship and persecutions gives an impression that their eschatology is more akin to LaHaye's Left Behind series. There currently is no forced worship, and few persecutions, but Sunday worship is still the mark, not "will be" the mark.– user3961Commented Apr 27, 2019 at 21:19
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2@fredsbend glad you remember some of your studies, but literature from Ellen White says otherwise, which aligns with generally held SDA views. "Sundaykeeping is not yet the mark of the beast, and will not be until the decree goes forth causing men to worship this idol sabbath. The time will come when this day will be the test, but that time has not come yet." SDA Bible Commentary 7:977. Commented Apr 27, 2019 at 21:31
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1@Beestocks Hmm, I think I've had the wrong impression then. Thank you for the quote. That one along with others found here should be in an answer on this question. m.egwwritings.org/en/book/39.1390– user3961Commented Apr 27, 2019 at 21:41
it is not true to say all who worship on Sunday will be thrown into hell and SDAs dont teach that. l think the teacher erred on that one. God will judge us according to the truth we have heard not only from our pulpits but from the Bible.There are those among the SDAs who are not obey this Truth will also be lost. the issue lies not in knowing the Truth about Sabbath keeping but in what to do with the Truth. Jesus said that there are the sheep that belong to His flock but not yet in, and will come after hearing His voice.
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This has the same issues as I noted in another answer. That comment in part: "This is false. They believe "Sunday worship" is the mark of the beast, and all who receive the mark belong to the beast. It's the mark of the harlot church, where falsities are given and many deceived, leading to their doom, the second death in the Lake of Fire ..."– user3961Commented Dec 26, 2018 at 19:56