This is not a SDA refutation thread. It is a SDA scholars refuting SDA thread.
The "Great Controversy” Shackles Adventist Theology
Since the 1911 edition over a 100 years ago, it has not been updated in any form. Thus, the book that historically had been the pace-setter for Adventist theology has become dormant, effectively freezing Adventist theology in its tracks. What this situation has fostered is a perpetuation, and in some instances codification, of many 19th and early 20th century EGW understandings of our world and our place in it which some believe should not be “disturbed.” Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the book’s subject and viewpoints beg for engagement, both inside and outside the church.
There are several issues arising from the GC that have defied, and continue to defy, settlement within the church, periodically erupting into open conflicts.
17 May 2018 -
SPECTRUM - a Seventh Day Adventist publication
Well, the Catholic apostasy shackles all the denominations that follow its 'tradition'. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach a change from Sabbath to another day, there is no verse which changes the seventh day Sabbath to the first day of the week. The apostles say nothing of any change because of the resurrection, or from being given by divine light, or from the Holy Spirit inspiring them to set another day other than the Sabbath. Nothing is given, by any of the twelve or Paul that says that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. You can search every text in the scriptures and yet there is nothing there.
Now if you look into Catholic tradition or mans changes, suddenly it becomes clear. It was not changed by God, there was no words spoken by Christ making a changed, there was nothing written by the apostles or Paul declaring a change, it was done by tradition of someone else.
Here is the evidence:
"It is true that Protestants contradict their "Bible Only" theory by keeping the Sunday instead of Saturday, because nowhere in the Bible can a clear text be found to show that Christ changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. From tradition only, which Protestants claim to reject, can Sunday observance be justified. It is not true that the Catholic Church parades the world wide Christian custom as a sign of her power in religious matters, but she refers to it as an instance of Protestant inconsistency. Saturday was the Sabbath day and observed as such even by Christ."
(Source: Our Sunday Visitor, of Huntington Indiana, October 26, 1913, Bureau of Information, page 3.)
"If we would consult the Bible only, without Tradition, we ought, for instance, still to keep holy the Saturday with the Jews, instead of Sunday ..."
Source: Deharbe's Catechism, translated by Rev. John Fander, published by Schwartz, Kirwin & Fauss, 53 Park Place, New York, Sixth American Edition, Copyright 1912, 1919, 1924, page 81.
Why didn't God step in as apostasy crept into the early church, and stop it in its tracks, and keep the Roman Catholic church from leading them into a rejection of the Sabbath, and a change to Sunday worship.
Well God allows freewill, He could have stopped Adam, but then Satan would have been right that force was being used in having man follow God. The church fell into apostasy because they allowed false doctrines and tradition to sneak in, and so the true believers were forced to start again at the Protestant Reformation. But they didn't go all the way to clear out the apostasy that had crept in.
Sunday keeping is not declared or found in the Bible, it is from a tradition of man, in this case the Roman Church and the Papacy, and not of God. Some people may think Sunday is the Sabbath or has been transferred, or they claim for themselves that can choose whatever day or that every day is the day of worship except for the seventh, but nowhere in the scriptures is the Sabbath transferred to another day with God's blessing, and the Pope does not have the power to do so.
As the scripture clearly shows that the seventh day is the Sabbath, the question them becomes, must Christians keep the Sabbath day that God gave at Creation for all mankind? Must Christians keep any of the Commandments, if so then the Sabbath Commandment still applies. The Sabbath was made by the Creator, and sanctified and made holy, scripture tells us and from what Christ says that it was made for man, at Creation for mankind. This does not mean we are restricted or limited in our actions in showing our love for God and our fellowman to one day, but the Sabbath was made for man, as Christ said, which means it is to us a blessing a special gift for man. It is a special time set aside by God Himself from Creation, to meet with Him, and each other, in holy convocation and fellowship, and receive a blessing.
