At this writing the author is heavily involved in ministry to questioning, transiting and former Seventh-day Adventists and is now also working with evangelical pastors. A few personal, closing remarks are in order.
When I left the Adventist church in 1981 I felt I should never write anything against the SDA church. After doing a thorough, inductive study of the Sabbath, I reached the conclusion that Sabbath observance was not required or even expected of new covenant believers. I noticed that many Adventists were leaving the SDA church but few were finding Christian fellowship in other churches. Many became agnostic and threw out the proverbial “baby with the bathwater”. I wrote Sabbath in Crisis, now enlarged and re-titled Sabbath in Christ to help former Adventists make the difficult transition into churches which worship on Sunday.
Some years later, I was introduced to The Clear Word Bible, now titled The Clear Word. When I read Daniel 8:14 in this “Bible” I could not believe that the church I grew up in and pastored in would ever resort to such deceptive corruption. Something swelled up inside of me that said, “This must stop!” I did not leave my position as pastor in the Adventist church until I had done a through, in-depth study of Adventist’s sanctuary theology. I knew it was an unbiblical doctrine that undermined the gospel. And I also knew that Adventist leaders were well aware of this fact and had covered it up time and again. Now, with the publication of The Clear Word Bible, Adventists would be led to believe their sanctuary theology was biblical.
That experience motivated me to write Cultic Doctrine. When I wrote that book I was not yet prepared to call the Adventist church a cult even though it met the majority of the criteria. I continued to pray that the SDA church would openly face the errors of its doctrinal teachings and fully accept the truths of Scripture and embrace the simple new convent gospel. From all indications, however, the leadership of the church has become more firmly entrenched into its cultic past than it was some years ago.
My dear SDA mother passed away in 2006 at the age of 99. In her belongings I found The Clear Word in which she had underlined passages in red pencil from Genesis to Revelation. Yes, Daniel 8:14 was included. She died in the deception of believing SDA’s sanctuary theology1 was biblical. She, like millions of other SDAs, trusted Adventist scholars to be honest.
I have seen the way that Adventist leaders have dealt with the hundreds of Adventist pastors and the thousands of members who have refused to believe or teach the unbiblical doctrines of the SDA church. I have personally spoken with many of them. Most of these have been expelled from the ministry and/or disfellowshipped and labeled as “apostates” even though they continue to be strong believers in Christ and in the teachings of the Bible.
Many Adventist members seem to have the same cultic mentality. I have personally received letters addressed “to the church of Satan” sent to my home. I have also received hundreds, if not thousands, of obscene letters and emails condemning me to burn in hell and telling me that there is no hope for my salvation unless I repent and return to the “true, remnant Seventh-day Adventist church.”2
Based upon these practices, the continued promotion of The Clear Word and the errors of Adventism as officially taught and practiced as outlined in this book, it is with deep regret and sorrow that I now feel compelled to include the Adventist church in the kingdom of the cults.
I recognize that the term “cult” does not fit every Seventh-day Adventist. However, the fact that the Seventh-day Adventist church officially continues to refuse to renounce past errors and continues to hold to a mixture of truth and error puts it, I feel, outside the realm of evangelical Christianity. Mixing truth with error—error which compromises the gospel—only makes the embedded error more dangerous because it is less apparent.
After again watching the interview with the late Walter Martin and William Johnson on the John Ankerberg show I am convinced that if Walter Martin were alive today he would do the same. I believe Dr. Martin had already made the change in his mind but died before he could make the change in print. I encourage the reader to watch this series. You can access the episodes at the following link: John Ankerberg Show with Walter Martin and William Johnsson
Endnotes
- As well as the other unbiblical doctrines of the SDA church.
- https://lifeassuranceministries.org/category/letters-to-the-editor/
- 11. Author’s Summary Remarks - August 19, 2026
- 10. Deceptive Practices Still Used - August 13, 2026
- 9. Gospel Additions - August 5, 2026