6. Judgment Started October 22, 1844

Dale Ratzlaff, Feature, Truth About Adventist "Truth"

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Before we consider the current Adventist teaching on this doctrine a little summary background is needed.1

  • This doctrine continues to build on the faulty assumption that October 22, 1844, is a valid interpretation of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14.
  • This doctrine is a reinterpretation of the “seventh-month movement” which predicted Christ would return to the earth on October 22, 1844; which itself was a reinterpretation of the prediction that Christ would come in 1843.
  • This doctrine did not originate through diligent Bible study but came through a “vision” to Hiram Edson, a man who was neither known beforehand nor afterward, to manifest the true gift of prophecy.
  • Edson had this “vision” October 23, 1844, the morning after Adventist’s “Great Disappointment” that Christ had not come. It was a time of extreme emotional instability among the Adventists.2
  • This doctrine is completely unknown in all of Christian history and theology.  

After receiving this “vision”., Edson meet with Mr. O.L.R. Crosier who wrote out and published this new “truth”. Following is a summary of their insightful “vision”. It said that:

  • Christ entered the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary for the first time on October 22, 1844.
  • No atonement was made at the cross but atonement is made by the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
  • The blotting out of sins does not take place at the point of repentance and conversion.
  • The atonement is not complete until Christ lays the sins of the righteous upon Satan, who is represented by the scapegoat in the Levitical Day of Atonement.3 

Regarding this statement of “truth” —which is really heretical error—Ellen White wrote:

The Lord shew [sic] in vision, more than one year ago, that Brother Crosier had the true light, on the cleansing of the Sanctuary, &c; and that it was his will, that Brother C. should write out the view which he gave us in the Day-Star, Extra, February 7, 1846. I feel fully authorized by the Lord, to recommend that Extra to every saint.4 (emphasis added)

The current Adventist teaching on this doctrine is found in Fundamental Belief No. 24, “Christ’s Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary”. It describes this belief as follows:

There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who, among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent.

Many SDA theologians, administrators and pastors know there is no biblical support for this doctrine and many will admit to this fact in private conversation with trusted people.5 However, this doctrine serves as the very foundation of Adventism and is strongly endorsed by Ellen White who defined Daniel 8:14 as “the central pillar of Adventism.”6 It is the glue that holds the central message of Adventism—the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14—together. Many feel that to jettison this teaching would be to commit denominational suicide. After all, how can the “central pillar” of Adventism be error?  

The investigative judgment doctrine is like an octopus with tentacles reaching into every aspect of SDA theology.7 Following is a summary of what is included in this doctrine. Those who want more detail with the supporting references quoted and not just listed, may find these in Cultic Doctrine in the chapter entitled, “The Sliver”.

The Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and the investigative judgment teaches that at His ascension Christ entered the outer apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. From that time until 1844 He performed a ministry of intercession and forgiveness analogous to that of the earthly sanctuary’s outer apartment,8 where forgiveness was only provisional and believers were not entirely freed from the condemnation of the law.9 In 1844 Christ entered into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary for the first time10,11 to begin a work of investigative judgment.12 This judgment deals only with those who have professed to believe in God.13 The wicked, according to SDA theology, will be investigated during the 1000 years14 and executed shortly after the close of the 1000 years of Revelation 20.15 The investigative judgment starts with the cases of the dead, reaching clear back to Adam, and reviews the life records of every person who has professed faith in God. Every deed is closely examined. Each succeeding generation is investigated and judged.16 At some time—none know when—the cases of the dead are completed and God then moves to the cases of the living.17 SDAs believe they will not know when their name comes up in judgment.18 Therefore, it is extremely important that they engage in no frivolous activity or sin. Every sin must be confessed. Sins which have been forgotten and unconfessed will stand against them in the judgment.19 Their characters must demonstrate perfect obedience to the Ten Commandments,20 especially the fourth commandment.21 Some names in this list of professed believers will be accepted, others will be rejected.22 When every person confessing faith in God has come up in review, Jesus then pleads his blood before the Father on behalf of those who are found worthy, and then blots out the record of their sins from the books of heaven23 After that, not knowing if, or when, the work of investigative judgment has been completed, the righteous, still in their human state before the second coming of Christ, will have to live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor.24 Next, Jesus takes the sins of God’s people and transfers them to Satan, who, Adventists teach, is represented by the Day of Atonement scapegoat in Leviticus 16.25 Satan then bears the sins he has caused the righteous to commit. He will suffer for the sins of the righteous and his own sins in the lake of fire and then be blotted from existence.26 This completes the atonement.27 The investigative judgment is conducted before all the intelligences of the universe. This vindicates the character of God before all the “unfallen beings”28 At that time everyone will know the immutability of the law of God and the righteous character of God.29

This doctrine rests upon some twenty-two linking assumptions. Most of these are contrary to biblical evidence.30 Not only is this doctrine unbiblical, its teachings are contrary to the New Testament gospel of grace.31 Remember, this “work of judgment in heaven” judges believers by their works, and “every believer” is called to have a personal part in this worldwide witness—the SDA church. Carried to its logical conclusion, SDA theology teaches that no “believer” who failed to heed the call to join the “remnant” church and participate in its witness could legitimately expect to pass this judgment.

Adventists teach that only those who have professed to believe in God are judged in this investigative judgment. However, the Bible teaches that true believers do not come into judgment.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (Jn. 5:24).

This contrary-to-the-gospel, unbiblical teaching was founded on a reinterpretation, of a reinterpretation, of a failed prophecy. The failed prophecy itself was founded on an obscure, out of context, apocalyptic passage using wild proof texting. Those who accept this doctrine as originally taught are placed under guilt, uncertainty and fear.32 Yet the SDA church will not publicly renounce it because it is “the central pillar of Adventism”. Today Adventist leaders are attempting to reinterpret this outlandish doctrine again. Note the flip/ flop, context-hopping, “reasoning” below.

…We stand on their [SDA pioneers] brave and inspiring shoulders now, and without altering a single plank of the basic pillars of faith, we do indeed perceive a clearer vision….Perhaps a better way, then, of expressing the same truth that came to Hiram Edson on that tear-filled morning would be as follows: At the Ascension, Christ went into the presence of God (and in saying this, we are in line with the New Testament) and there commenced a “first-apartment ministry” (in line with the ancient typical service). At the end of the 2300 days (years) in 1844 (in line with the book of Daniel), He commenced a “second-apartment ministry” (in line with the ancient typical service on the Day of Atonement)—namely, the restoration or vindication or cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary (in line with Leviticus 16 and Daniel 8:14).33 (Adams’ emphasis)

One Adventist Pioneer, A. F. Ballenger, quotes Elder Spicer, another leading Adventist, showing that these Adventist leaders knew the lack of support for the Adventist sanctuary theology.

When I used to give Bible readings in the earlier days in London, and took the people through the eighth of Daniel, I always skipped hastily over those texts where we made the sanctuary one minute in heaven and the next on earth, and the host one time the angels and the next the pagans, and I skipped over the statement that the taking away of the “daily” meant the taking away of paganism by suggesting the rendering in the original was a bit obscure so that the translation was difficult. That is what we used to be taught in the Bible school in Battle Creek in the old days. And all that was making no particular use of that particular portion of Scripture. It was simply passing over it to get down to the cleansing of the sanctuary…34

After studying this doctrine with Adventist scholars, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, editor of Eternity wrote this:

The [sanctuary] doctrine is, to me, the most colossal, psychological, face-saving phenomenon in religious history… We personally do not believe that there is even a suspicion of a verse in Scripture to sustain such a peculiar position, and we further believe that any effort to establish it is stale, flat, and unprofitable…[it is] unimportant and almost naive.35

Endnotes

  1. For a much more in-depth description and evaluation of this doctrine see Ratzlaff, Cultic Doctrine.
  2. “They were unable to find their bearings…” See Editor’s Note in Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 499.
  3. For exact wording and sources see Cultic Doctrine, p. 97-113.
  4. A Word to the “Little Flock”, as reproduced in Knight, Rise of Sabbatarian Adventism, (Review and Herald Publishing Association, Hagerstown, MD) p. 171.
  5. The author has personally spoken with many SDA pastors, several SDA theologians and a few church administrators at the conference and general conference level who acknowledge this is not a biblical doctrine.
  6. The Great Controversy, p. 409.
  7. Cultic Doctrine, See the chapter entitled, “The Pillar—The Heart of SDA Theology.”
  8. The Great Controversy, p. 420. See also Early Writings, p. 252; Review and Herald, 1850-03-01; 1905-11-09; Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 158.
  9. Patriarchs and Prophets, p.355. See also Chris Badenhorst, “The Investigative Judgment: Your Questions Finally Answered,” Proclamation!, https://lifeassuranceministries.org/2019/10/04/your-questions-finally-answered/ 
  10. See Knight, Rise of Sabbatarian Adventism, (Review and Herald Publishing Association, Hagerstown, MD), p. 126; The Great Controversy, p. 422; Ellen G. White, Southern Watchman 1905-01-24.
  11. Some Adventists make yet another reinterpretation in trying to harmonize EGW’s statement that Christ entered into the Most Holy Place in 1844 with the teaching of Hebrews 6:19. They state that Christ entered the Most Holy Place at His ascension to dedicate the Most Holy Place and then withdrew to the Holy Place until 1844.
  12. Review and Herald, 1887-03-22; Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 308.
  13. The Great Controversy, p. 483, 486; Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 420.
  14. The Great Controversy, p. 480; Early Writings, p. 292.
  15. The Great Controversy, p. 662.
  16. Ibid., p. 483.
  17. Ibid., p. 490.
  18. Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 315.
  19. Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 3, p. 331.
  20. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, p. 218.
  21. Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 257; The Great Controversy, p. 605.
  22. Ibid., p. 483.
  23. Ibid., p. 486. See also Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 266; Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 3, p. 530.
  24. Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 432; Early Writings, p. 280; Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, p. 198; The Great Controversy, p. 614.
  25. Ibid., p. 422; Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 266.
  26. Ibid., p. 267.
  27. The Great Controversy, p. 422.
  28. Adult Sabbath School Lessons, 1996, “Three Angels’ Messages”, p. 47.
  29. White, Review and Herald, 1901-06-18.
  30. See Daniel 8: 14, p. 174-176; Cultic Doctrine, p. 167-182.
  31. See Cultic Doctrine, p. 205-223.
  32. The author has received hundreds of letters from former Adventists who have expressed the fear and trauma it caused them by believing this doctrine. They also expressed the joy of understanding the simple gospel of faith in Christ when they left Adventism.
  33. Roy Adams, The Sanctuary, Understanding the Heart of Adventist Theology (Hagerstown MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1993) p. 106, 107.
  34. Bert Haloviak, 66 page paper on A. F. Ballenger, p. 45 in my loose-leaf copy.
  35. Eternity, 7:67, Sept. 1956, p. 6, 7, 43-45.

CONTENTS

Dale Ratzlaff
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