Disappointed By My Church’s Lost Discernment

DEB PRATT | Life Assurance Ministries’ Online Moderator |

Growing up in a confessional Lutheran church, even though I lived a mere ten miles or so from Andrews University, about the only way I encountered other religions or learned anything about them (very little) was when they knocked on the door (Jehovah’s Witnesses primarily), when we drove through Berrien Springs where my brother tactlessly joked about the “peanut eaters,” or when I went to large youth convocations where we were given tracts and sent out “witnessing” in college neighborhoods (my friend and I got part of a housing area for one of the Ann Arbor universities at the time – very 70s hippie/intellectual/new age mix then). 

Sometimes I could infer differences between my church and others if the pastors teaching our confirmation classes corrected someone because they stated something that wasn’t accurate according to our confirmation books or according to our pastors’ knowledge. I don’t recall being specifically taught how our doctrines were different from other mainline denominations, and I mostly learned some differences by exposure—going with a friend to a Pentecostal service (nearly gave me a panic attack), my brother marrying into the Catholic church, learning I had a friend who was Baptist who had to sneak out to play cards—that kind of thing. 

When I was a young adult, I ran across a small paperback entitled Our Church and Others: Beliefs and Practices of American Churches by Lewis William Spitz in my parents’ bookcase. Apparently, the church had given members an opportunity to examine how the confessional Lutheran church differed from other mainline denominations. When I was later exploring Adventism, I was curious what the church of my youth said about it. 

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find that copy of that book, so in an effort to discover what the church of my childhood now knew/thought/promoted about Seventh-day Adventism, I searched the denomination website under Missions, which offers information on common groups often targeted by evangelical Christianity (including confessional Lutheranism) – Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jewish people, and others. But, not very surprising to me these days, Adventism was not listed as a missions-targeted belief system. 

Sifting Through Out-Dated Confusion

In further searching on the denomination website, I finally found a list of documents on a page of publications authored by the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s [LCMS] Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR). Each document has an original published date as well as a “Last Modified” date.  Under the heading “CTCR Evaluations – Religious Organizations and Movements,” a document was published first in 2012 for Seventh-day Adventism (under that label). According to the primary document listing, it was last modified May 2024, but the documents in the top folder were “CTCR Evaluation—Seventh-day Adventism” and a Spanish version of the same document, both shown to be modified in August 2017, not May 2024. If these documents were modified in May 2024, there is no citation nor footnote to indicate how they were modified on that date.

The English document is five pages plus several references (they now offer a Spanish version). The article lists Miller, Bates, White, and White as founders. References and “further reading” include a 2011 text comparing views of the Sabbath, an LCMS document discussing eschatology and millennialism with an appendix entry (“excursus”) for Seventh Day Adventism [sic]. The document leads out with the first footnote providing citation for membership statistics retrieved from the Adventist archives dated 2010.

The document follows with a very brief description of “The Great Disappointment,” including a description of the investigative judgment (“a process of on-going judgment” [p. 1]) and Jesus moving from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place to begin investigating. A brief paragraph describes Ellen White, how she came to be considered “the Spirit of Prophecy,” and again mentions “God’s judgment had begun in the heavenly realm” (p. 2). 

The second footnote describes how Miller arrived at the 1843 date for the Second Advent, as found in a non-Adventist text on the history of American peoples’ religions. The third footnote refers to the adventist.org website where the 2009 mission statement is quoted in this LCMS document. 

A short description of the organization of the General Conference follows, including a note about the Branch Davidians and this statement: 

“Such extreme views, however, do not define Adventism. The Seventh-day Adventists are involved in worldwide mission work, education, and disaster relief. They also promote improvements in physical health, as well as defending religious liberty and human rights.” 

Before launching into more detail about a few SDA beliefs and practices, the CTCR lists “The Bible, the writings of Ellen G. White, including The Great Controversy between Christ and Satan; The Desire of Ages; The Ministry of Healing; and Steps to Christ” as relevant source texts. (One wonders if the article authors read any of them.)

Throwing the rest of the article under suspicion as at the very least inconsistent, if not excruciatingly superficial, selective, and either ignorant or lazy, the first paragraph on Seventh-day Adventist practices and beliefs reads:

Seventh-day Adventists confess many fundamental Christian teachings, including belief in the Holy Trinity, Christ’s incarnation, His atoning death for the sins of the world, and His resurrection. They accept the books of the Old and New Testament as the inspired Word of God. With regard to the Sacraments, they believe that Baptism must be done by immersion only and depends on the individual’s affirmation of faith. The bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper are believed to be symbols of Christ’s body and blood. The observance of the Lord’s Supper also includes the practice of foot washing as a mark of humility. (p. 2)

The footnotes cite the 1988 version of Seventh-day Adventists Believe: A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines four times, with the rest of the document content being drawn from other sources. In one footnote, referring to the section in the document on the struggle between Satan and Christ, which identifies Satan as the scapegoat, it is stated, “The SDA teach that Christ fully atoned for the sins of the world on the cross. Satan bears the sins of the world as a scapegoat in order to receive the just punishment for his demonic responsibility for those sins” (p. 3).

In the same document, the authors write, 

“It is believed that Christ began His investigative judgment in the heavenly sanctuary in 1844. By this process He reveals all of those among the dead, as well as those among the living, who are worthy in faith to participate in the first resurrection, when the righteous will be raised. This will take place at the completion of His heavenly investigation…” (p. 4). 

Regarding the Gospel, the article states as found on the Seventh-day Adventist webpage, 

“The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to make disciples of all people, communicating the everlasting gospel in the context of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14:6-12, leading them to accept Jesus as personal Savior and unite with [H]is [sic] remnant Church, discipling them to serve Him as Lord and preparing them for His soon return.”

Regarding the Sabbath, 

“The third angel pronounces judgment on those who receive the mark of the beast, that is, those who worship on Sundays (Sabbath worship—the day appointed by God—is regarded as the mark and memorial of the Creator’s lordship)”. 

The authors, however, focus on the meaning of the mark of the beast being 666 and identified with the pope, explaining how Adventism arrives at that conclusion. 

Lutheran Response to Adventist Doctrine

The “Lutheran response” focuses on freedom of Sunday worship from Acts 20:7 and other citations from early church fathers such as Justin Martyr. They also briefly address the problem of date-setting, not needing to fear an “’investigative judgment’” because we are citizens of Christ’s kingdom through His saving work, and they counter the Seventh-day Adventist millennial belief with that of the Lutheran doctrine of Christ’s one return. 

The authors comment on the Lutheran doctrinal meanings of baptism and the Lord’s Supper and note that the “Christian Church is not marked by Sabbath worship and obedience to Old Testament laws, but by the faithful preaching and use of the Gospel and the Sacraments” (p. 5). The Lutheran response also includes differing with the traditional Adventist practice of conscientious objection to participating in war and carrying out justice as well as our inability to earn salvation by law-keeping. 

Recommended reading suggestions come from the Concordia Commentary, the Augsburg Confession, a couple of digests on American religions, and last but not least, Walter Martin’s “The Puzzle of Seventh-day Adventism” as included in The Kingdom of the Cults (1992). The remaining reading suggestions are all sources outside of the only formal reference on Seventh-day Adventism, Seventh-day Adventists Believe (2018), and instead, the Seventh-day Adventist website is listed.

My Growing Concern

During the pandemic, I facilitated a Zoom Bible study on Sunday morning in which we read and discussed the Bible passages used during that Sunday’s service. I found that, when I brought up some points about Seventh-day Adventists relative to the day’s study, the attendees, all committed to lifelong Bible study, had really very little grasp of Seventh-day Adventism and its growing combination of slippery doctrinal explanations and increasing influence in evangelical Christianity. There is a clear dictum within the LCMS against fellowshipping in prayer or the sacraments with non-fellowshipping churches, but on a personal level, I doubt they would understand the problems with Adventist doctrine apart from the differences in practice of the sacraments. 

I was becoming increasingly concerned with my denomination’s apparent indifference to and lack of knowledge of Adventism. The administrative coordinator for the Commission on Theology and Church Relations directed me to send any questions I may have about the 2012 CTCR document discussed herein to the CTCR address, and one of the pastors could respond to me. I had previously asked what amendments were made to the document since, in the list of CTCR documents, it noted an update on this document from 2024, but there were no specifics. 

Beyond the CTCR, The Office of National Mission of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has no educational module for outreach in missions targeting Seventh-day Adventists. Their support coordinator said she would pass along my email noting its absence to the director “as a point of interest when we begin developing more modules.” 

In all this research, I was hoping to find some evidence of elevated concern—some evidence of awareness of even the internal inconsistency in the CTCR document’s explanations of Adventist doctrines. I wondered if the document was written by multiple authors who then never read what each other wrote. They clearly did not do enough of a deep dive to see the conflict of doctrinal statements between the Adventist website, clearly tailored to deceive, and the 28 beliefs as presented in their doctrinal manual.

I have not intended to bash the confessional Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, nor any synod with which it fellowships. But having the experience of the last ten years learning just how very putrefied the Seventh-day Adventist organization is in both doctrine and practice, I expected more Lutheran awareness and thoughtful assessment of the bag of dead men’s bones that is Seventh-day Adventism. At the same time, I know about the internal strife being experienced within the LCMS and its fellowshipping bodies – no wonder it can’t pay attention to the battle going on outside its doors. 

Lulled Into Complacency

At a deeper and more sinister level, though, it’s clear that, if a church can be kept busy by internal conflict and denominational distraction, it can be lulled into complacency about the wolf at the community door. Seventh-day Adventism and its practices remind me often of the Emerald Witch in the C. S. Lewis Narnia story of The Silver Chair. She rules a dark underground, populated by trapped slaves she has put under a spell, as she does with the son of King Caspian, Prince Rilian. 

Eustace and Jill, attempting to escape a dreary and mismanaged boarding school, stumble into Narnia and find themselves on a quest to find the missing Prince Rilian, meeting a marsh wiggle called Puddleglum on the way. Upon finding Prince Rilian in the company of the Emerald Witch, she tries to lull them into believing Narnia and Aslan are figments of their imaginations and that the dark underground is their reality. Puddleglum summons the strength to stomp on the fire with his foot, which jerks him and his companions back into alertness. They slay the witch, who turns into a serpent, and they escape. 

In a broad and large-scale sense, Seventh-day Adventism has lulled countless people by the means of false teachings and increasingly deceptive language manipulation into not seeing the Adventist threat. Those who succumb to the deception recoil at the pressure to wake up. They trot out the stock lines when confronted with truth, or they resort to hostility and accusations or shunning. That veil over their hearts is thick. 

Church organizations that refuse to deal with the truth of the deception don’t help. They don’t give their members the means to confront with truth in love because they don’t even know what’s wrong. The church of my youth is just one example. It truly angers me that they are so wrapped up in the turmoil of the moment, the erupting scandals, and intra-denominational politics, that they can’t even teach the members how to spot the lies. After all, when my church friend goes to the local farm store and finds a copy of Steps to Christ in its glitzy, updated cover in a handy little bookshelf by the door on which it says “FREE,” will she have a clue that it’s full of lies?  When she goes down to the hospital, will she find that copy of The Great Controversy on the magazine table interesting enough to pick it up, not knowing what it is? Can she spot the lies even in her own denominational Bible “studies” and materials that are off-base enough to be deceptive?

In another local case, the church that used to host a fall Former Adventist Fellowship (FAF) conference changed pastors and no longer sees the campus just south of them as a mission field. It’s as if they think it’s mean and rude to call false believers to the truth of faith in Christ. Where does that attitude come from, do you suppose? 

This is why ministries like Life Assurance Ministries and Centers for Apologetic Research (CFAR), for example, are so very important. They do see the mission field, but more and more, this battle is fought at the hand-to hand combat level, the Holy Spirit convicting one heart at a time. If it were left up to my childhood church, I would know nothing of what I know today about Seventh-day Adventism’s intentional, persistent false teaching. I am so grateful for the depth and breadth of Scripture I have learned while in the fellowship of born-again believers with hearts to speak the truth in love to those lost in Adventism. †

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Reference

CTCR Evaluation of Seventh-day Adventism; retrieved September 15, 2026, from: https://files.lcms.org/file/preview/8F0A67C8-F5A8-4129-A090-21CEAD2C80BB?host=resources.lcms.org%2Freading-study%2Fctcr-library-religious-organizations-movements-and-lodges%2F&_gl=1*3h0rh0*_ga*MTY5NjY4MzEwOS4xNzg1MDAzNTQ1*_ga_Z0184DBP2L*czE3ODUwOTU1MTgkbzUkZzEkdDE3ODUwOTc4ODckajMxJGwwJGgw