Are Seventh-Day Adventists a better Church to belong to than being a JW

by jwfacts 57 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  bavman

  I have seen ex-seventh day adventists discussion boards much like the one we are on that rail against their former religion. In that way it is much the same as mormons and witnesses. I don't have any desire to go to a sda church but I would say it is better than the jw religion in that they can vote, join the military, get involved in after school activities...however they are not supposed to drink alcohol. They still are too fundamentalist in there beliefs for my taste.

  That being said, I do have seventh-day adventist relatives who have been very kind to me since I left the borg sort of a replacement family to some extent. They don't seem to mind what religion anyone comes from and don't like how pushy witnesses are. They don't seem to mind that I don't go to church or that I refuse to say a prayer when asked at their mealtimes either. See my experience at the below link:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/137526/1.ashx
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  RR

  The SDA church have had their share of problems like the Society. There have been numerous schisms in the groyup from its inception. The Church was originall a second adventist church, then were influence by the Seventh Day Baptist. After the death of Ellen White, a schism occurred. The Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Reform Seventh Day Adventist Church, both went trinitarian. There are smaller groups that are not.

  They of course meet on Saturdays ALL day and observe the LAW as well as its diets. So unless you're willing to meet on Saturdays and eat kosher foods and dress a specific way. this may not be for you.

  RR
• 

  Scully

  As Jim Penton was wont to say, JWs and SDAs are "pups from the same bitch".

  They have the commonality and shared history of being derived from the Adventist/Millerite movement.

  jwfacts opened the thread with the following statement:

  A lot of exJWs need an answer to "where else to go?" and some people seem to need to belong to an organization.

  Just keep in mind that the question that Peter asked of Jesus was not "where else shall we go?" but "whom shall we go away to?" (John 6:68), which implies that belonging to an organization is not a requirement.

  Ultimately, a person has to feel confident in their own choices and be responsible for the outcomes of those choices. Subjective opinions and objective comparisons are a good barometer for making informed choices, however, it's not always easy for an individual to wade through all that information and figure out what's what. I've offered what I thought was fairly tame information on JWs on other discussion boards, only to be accused of "having an axe to grind", simply because I told the whole story, rather than the Sanitized for Public Consumption™ version that JWs prefer.

  Just my opinion, but going from one dysfunctional belief system to another is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
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  barry

  As a third generation Adventist I would like to some perspective into SDAism.

  Within SDAism broardly speaking there a two groups the first being the traditional Adventistis. This group is cultic with there doctrins as they hold to older interpretations that came from the great dissapointement such as the 1844 investigative doctrine as well as other cultic doctrins. The reason I mention the 1844 doctrine is because of the heracy of perfectionism. Traditional Adventists beleive they will acheive absolute perfection before the second comming. So to a Traditional Adventist being saved is presumption because they would say only with absolute perfection they could claim such a state. This is the group that oposed Questions on doctrine since the 50s. This group also beleive that christ had a sinful human nature and that beleif also contributes to there perfectionism. Websites against SDAism are targeting the beleifs of this group.

  The second group is what I would call the evangelicals and are supported by the scholars of the church. This group rejects the 1844 perfectionistic interpretations of the former group and accepts the protestant beleif od righteousness by faith.. This group is accepting of other christians as the body of christ.

  So for anyone out there wanting to find a church home I could only reccommend an Adventist church that primarily is guided by people of the second group. The other alternative is to look for a group that does teach the protestant gospel. As Ive said Ive always been an Adventist but in may younger days I used to go with my friends to the Baptist church and went to school scripture lessons with the Anglicans and Prespetarians which I found OK to. I find it strange that people here sometimes favour non denominational groups. Some of these groups may be cultic also and sometimes they are groups that have broken away because of there fanaticism.

  Buy cultic I mean a system of beleif that departs from traditioal christianity. I realise cult could also mean a high control group.
• 

  DaCheech

  one of my customer was one:

  he was a big talker, and he tried to recruit, he even tried to get me to donate $$$$.

  after 1 year of dealing with him, he moved residence.......... he left $500 on his tab, unpaid!
• 

  barry

  Gday Da Cheech, Maybe youre friend wasnt a perfectionist. MAybe perfectionists have some good qualitys too.
• 

  DaCheech

  maybe, I can give his old address, and you can have the elders look him up.

  I do want the $ owed to me
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  *lost*

  bumped
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  Band on the Run

  I've found that religion is a matter of temperament and feeling comfortable than doctrinal questions. My denomination fits me. Sometimes I wonder if it all an accident that I found it. Other people will be drawn to other things. New York has many churches. In my quest for a good place, I attended plenty. My moon on a particular Sunday dictated where I attended. Walking two blocks can make a major difference in church personalities.

  For some reason, I can't keep the SDA teachings in my head.
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  steve2

  My best school friend was from a 7th-Day Adventist background, whilst I was raised a JW. We had a lot in common but also had some heated discussions over the Trinity ( ) and involvement in politics. Like a lot of young religious people, we really thought we knew everything and were out to prove the other wrong. Our paths parted as we got older, although we met again in our 20s and he disclosed he was no longer active in the Adventists and I was quietly in the process of extracting myself from the local kingdom hall. We no longer had much to argue over and the friendship fizzled.... but I think we had each done a hell of a lot of growing up and realizing the world was not as black and white as our respective religions had told us it was.