What is Rome’s Challenge? I’m speaking with a Seventh Day Adventist, and I don’t have that many resources to understand some parts of their doctrine, etc. Apologetics resources would be helpful.
Talking to Adventists……
Anyone untaking studying with an Adventist needs to consider the following.
They will use a lot of quotes from historical figures, historical information and bible verses to support their position. Some of them will seem very favorable to their arguments. You can always give an honest answer of “I haven’t heard that, I will look into it.” Then DO look into it, from independent sources or msg me if you want or post a thread. Many quotes from the early Church fathers are taken out of context. Bible verses are open to differing interpretations. Many historical “facts”, are actually not supported generally by historians, sometimes not even by their own historians, so don’t let anything shake your convictions without studying the sources for yourself.
Some interesting questions for Adventists…
So… the sabbath was given to Israel.
WHEN was the sabbath given? Creation?
The first mention in the bible is this:
Hebrews 16:23
23And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
The hebrews had no idea about the sabbath, they tried to gather bread on the 7th day anyway…
29See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
It is interesting that the giving of the manna and the giving of the sabbath are at the same time. This is why they were to REMEMBER the sabbath… not from creation… but from the manna which fell six days.
Adventists will argue with my interpretation, but the prophet Nehemiah would seem to agree with me:
Neh. 9:13-14.
Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments; and MADEST KNOWN UNTO THEM THY HOLY SABBATH, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.
It doesn’t seem that the sabbath was known to the people before Exodus. According to the BIBLE.
My list of unanswered questions for Adventists:
Where in Genesis are WE commanded to keep the sabbath?
Let them look for the answer in vain. The seventh day was hallowed. Sabbath means to rest or cease… God ceased his works… and rested. Where is it recorded God “went back to work” ? Where are men told to follow his example? Where is there any record at all of anyone “keeping” a sabbath until it was given to Israel in the desert.
Where in the New Testament are CHRISTIANS commanded to keep the sabbath?
Let them look. Remember that the Jewish Christians attending sabbath services to preach to Jews doesn’t count as a command. You go where people are when they are gathered, in Israel, that would be the sabbath synagogue services. When in Athens, St. Paul went to the shrine of the “Unknown God” to preach. That doesn’t mean we are to gather at pagan temples to worship.
What is the biblical method for identifying “Saturday” (since Adventists allow for no exceptions) in all times and all places where men live?
A puzzle for Adventists: Adventists demonstrably accept changes in calendars which DO affect the order of days, most notably, the adoption of the International Date Line.
In the eastern Hemisphere, the saturday/sabbath falls BEFORE sabbath begins in Jerusalem. YET … Adventists can find no biblical command that allows this.
Adventists in Kiribati go to church on their Saturday… even though at the same exact time on the same line of longitude a few hundred miles to the north, it is Friday in Hawaii and Adventists are hard at work preparing for their sabbath, which is still in the future.
Think about this… the very SAME sunset that ENDS the Sabbath for kiribatian Adventists… BEGINS the Sabbath for Hawaiian Adventists…
I have pointed this inconsistency out Many MANY times on this forum, no adventist wants to tackle this difficult problem of theirs.
Evidently, this eternal, immutable law they like to talk about is easily changed by any civil government!
phys.uu.nl/~vgent/idl/idl_kiribati.htm
And interestingly, there are both Catholics and Adventists living on Kiribati. According to a forum member who lives on Kiribati, a Catholic who has adventist relatives… both groups follow the local calendar. That means at the very same time…while SDA people on Kiribati are “keeping” the sabbath on Saturday, local time, Adventists just north of them in Hawaii are busily working on their Friday, local time, to get ready for their sabbath the “next” day.
???
The letter of the law brings only death…
The spirit gives life.
How do you enter into the divine rest? Under the old covenant… God gave them a finite day to enter into this divine reality. Under the new… We have God Himself in the person of His divine Son, Jesus.
The Jews failed to enter into this divine, HOLY beyond human conception, rest that was hidden in the shadow of a day…
Christians have Jesus, who is all Holy and we find our rest in Him.
Again, fulfilling the shadow.
Adventists make the mistake of taking something infinitely Holy and beyond human understanding, and trying to tie it to something very limited… a particular day of the week.
God Bless,
MarysRoses