Why are the SDA so hostile and offensive

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A few years ago, in my home town the RC Church and congretation were in a position to do a very big favour to the 7th Day Adventists. I was appointed to over see the work. This I did and proudly announced that I was catholic. The local pastor and his assistants did not appear to have a problem with that.

It was not until I updated my ancient computer earlier this year, [as the old one was not capable of internet traffic], that I discovered to my horror some pretty offencive stuff about us from the SDA in USA.

I have even received some pretty aweful stuff that has upset my grandson and [being a sensitive lad] distressed him. Now my daughter has banned him from going on my computer [to play games and email his friends]… One of the emails said that 'the catholics are evil and one day will go after all the SDA children and kill them;. That is a really horrible thing to say. My [catholic] grandson made me promise that I wont let anyone hurt the little SDA children and babies. Where on earth did that come from?

Why the hostility? Why is this not evident in UK? Amittedly we were doing them a favour, while saving them a lot of money but]I seemed to get on really well with them.

Is this hostility unique to American SDA’s?

Can any one tell me why?
 
Umm… This may be a little off-topic… But what exactly are the SDA beliefs? I know almost nothing so I’m asking… Thanks! 😃
 
Fact is, religious fervor in the United States is much more intense than the Old Continent.

Anti-Catholicism is not unique to SDAs. In fact, anti-Catholcism, whether soft or strong, is widespread among the various non-Catholic christianities. I would argue the more sect-oriented the form of christaintity such as Jehovah’s Witnesses (if even it can be called “Christian”) or a non-denominational Pentecostal church, the more vehement the anti-Catholicism.

Anti-Catholicism has been described as the last acceptable prejudice in the U.S. You can find many books on this topic.
 
Adventists the world over maintain the same eschatological beliefs, portraying the Roman Catholic Church as “the antichrist” and persecutor of Adventists in the last days. These sentiments are particulary strong among Adventists in both American continents (since North America is the birthplace of Adventism, and South America is predominantly Catholic). Most Adventist evangelistic programs (called “prophecy seminars”) review this prophetic identification as an essential belief. Adventist are encouraged to “abhor popery” in their classic book, The Great Controversy (Ellen G. White).

Crazy, huh!? It seems wild, considering how (relatively) mainstream the Adventist Church appears.

That being said, Adventists are taught to be very cordial in their relations with Catholics, believing that though ostensibly “deceived,” many of them will leave the Catholic Church when persecutions erupt in the last days. This isn’t deception or hypocrisy; in fact, this flows from a spirit of genuine friendship. They learn to differentiate between the Catholic “system” and the Catholic individuals in it–the latter of which are capable of redemption (unlike the former, in their theology). Therefore, you needn’t doubt the sincerity of those nice Adventists who treated you well when you assisted them.

Many liberal Adventists have implicitly abandoned these ideas, or actively work to undermine it–but they are too few in number compared to the many converts entering the Church through the evangelistic programs described above. Even so, I’d submit that most Adventists, even when firmly believing these doctrines, are rather ashamed of them. There’s an unconscious, suppressed conviction that these ideas are antiquated and hateful. This is why the Adventist Church attemps to publicly distance itself from billboards exposing “the antichrist” by zealous conservative Adventists, while simultaneously funding evangelistic efforts spreading the same ideas (which incidentally, IS hypocrisy).

It’s an identity crisis… Adventists realize their historic beliefs are embarassing, but they are convinced they are right. They truly fear and denigrate the Roman Catholic Church, but they still try to have positive contacts with the Catholic community.

Adventism should be pitied; Adventists, prayed for.
 
You should read their National Sunday Law book sometime
reg6.com/

seventh-day.org/Read_NSL.htm

Basically those of us who worship on sunday have the mark of the beast. And, they identify the catholic church as the beast. They think since they worship on saturday, the sabbath they are the only true christians, thus they spread fear among their ranks to keep people in their church.
 
I think we need to be fair and not take the stupid things people say in private ocnversation as necessarily indicative of what their church actually believes.

I think the SDA Church has distanced itself from its more extreme views on “National Sunday Law” being the sign of the beast and even more generally, has made a real effort to reenter the evangelical mainstream.

But it remains that they are fiercely millenarian, and such groups have to have a villain, unfortunately that villain is, for SDA’s the Pope and his church.

But this is no different than what most Protestants teach about the Papacy though there appears to have been some better dialogue and interpretation lately.
 
Hi Stedfast, if that is true then why do they still publish Ellen White’s works? Why do they publish the Great Controversy? Why do they teach it in their seminaries? Why do they publish and promote the National Sunday Law book itself?

OP, have your grand children memorise,

Romans 8:15 (King James Version)
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

The Holy Spirit was called the comforter by Jesus. The Spirit we Christians recieve is not a spirit of fear. False doctrine causes fear in christians. True doctrine does not create fear in us, because there is no comdemdation for us.

Romans 8
**1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, **who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
 
I’ve only known one SDA family, and they were absolutely wonderful Christians. The wife was my teacher in my freshman and senior years of high school. She taught a humanities class, and part of that required discussing the various religions and traditions which come from them. She made sure we were aware that the Catholic Church was THE Christian Church until the splits occured, made sure we understood the Catholic beliefs involved in Dante’s Divine Comedy, helped us understand what was involved in the Reformation, and praised the Catholic Church for its use of Gregorian chant and Latin, and on the rare occasions that she did tell us her personal beliefs, she said how happy she was that the Catholic Church would take a stand against things such as active homosexuality and abortion. She was very knowledgeable about the Catholic Church, and believed it was very important that everyone in the class understand it, because Catholic thought was always in the material we learned. It saddens me to hear that my experience with SDA’s seems to be the minority experience.
 
Steadfast said:
I think we need to be fair and not take the stupid things people say in private ocnversation as necessarily indicative of what their church actually believes.

I think the SDA Church has distanced itself from its more extreme views on “National Sunday Law” being the sign of the beast and even more generally, has made a real effort to reenter the evangelical mainstream.

But it remains that they are fiercely millenarian, and such groups have to have a villain, unfortunately that villain is, for SDA’s the Pope and his church.

But this is no different than what most Protestants teach about the Papacy though there appears to have been some better dialogue and interpretation lately.
Click to expand...
The official SDA church has at least somewhat softended it’s stance on Catholicism. You can read a statement made at their 1997 General Conference here.

Pax Tecum,
Jay
 
As historian James Schelsinger Jr. wrote during the election of JFK, “anit-catholicism is deeper in American culture than anti-negro racism”. SDA’s origin was a distillation of that anti-catholicism prevelant in the evagelical protestant sects and the quasi-christian spin-offs of the early 19th century. SDA was a splinter sect of the Millertite 1844 Millenialist fiasco–and also reflected the anti-Catholic nativist sentiments (the “No-Nothings”) of the same period (Incidently the same anti-catholicism of the 1820s-1850s can also be found in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi among other references–Joseph Smith was anything but unsensitive to popular sentiment)
 
Hello Daniel Marsh,
We of the fullness of the faith, Catholics, don’t worship only on Sunday, but worship God every day, either individually, or at a daily Mass. What say our separated, SDA, brethren about this?
 
Because the whole sect is based on hating the Church. If you took out all of their ideas of the Church fulfilling the prophecies of Revelation and Daniel (in a negative way-always)-the only practical thing that would stay the same is their practice of worshiping on Saturday.
 
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