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AN EXPLANATION OF CERTAIN MAJOR ASPECTS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST BELIEF

Prepared by a Representative Group of Seventh-day Adventist Leaders, Bible Teachers, and Editors


Copyright 1957  Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D.C. 
All rights reserved.
Reproduced on the At Issue site by  permission.

The book,  Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions On Doctrine was written to answer specific questions asked by certain scholars and representatives of other Christian denominations as to what we believed on certain major doctrinal points.  Thus it does not cover the full spectrum of SDA thought, but only those areas in which other Christians wanted explanation of things they had heard about our beliefs.

After lengthy visits between these representatives and leading scholars at General Conference headquarters, the responses to these questions were published in this book and distributed widely to SDA church members.

Soon after Questions On Doctrine came out, however, a retired SDA educator who had not been consulted on the book opposed it publicly on the grounds of his understanding of some of the things said about certain aspects of the sanctuary and the nature of the human nature of Christ.  As a direct result of the controversy thus stirred up, the book was not reprinted and most persons  have had no opportunity to examine it for themselves but are acquainted with it only through quotations and criticisms.

It is, however, still used and valued by many SDA scholars, educators, administrators, and pastors, as well as by those laymen fortunate enough to have a copy of their own, and we have had many requests to make it available to online readers.  We  believe that it will be especially valuable to any who wonder about some of the differences (or perceived differences) between SDA thought and that of other conservative Christians.


Since writing this inroduction in 2002, Questions On Doctrines has been reprinted, keeping all original pages, but adding over 100 pages of historical information and analysis.  See material and links elsewhere on our site in connection with the increased interest in the book since the new annotated edition has come out.  However, if you are unable to secure a copy of that book, here is the original so you can see for yourself what it is that so many have talked about for so long.

Table of Contents

Introduction7
Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists. 11

I.

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS
1. Doctrines We Share With Other Christians.   21
2. The Bible Only Rule of Faith and Practice 26
3. Seventh-day Adventist Relationship to Past Positions 29

II.

QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRIST
4. Deity and Eternal Pre-existence of Christ 35
5. Deity of Christ and Church Membership 42
6. The Incarnation and the "Son of Man" 50
7. The Bodily Resurrection of Christ 66
8. Christ, and Michael the Archangel 71

III.

QUESTIONS ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF ELLEN G. WHITE'S WRITINGS TO THE BIBLE
9. Ellen G. White's writings and Their Relation to the Bible 89

IV.

QUESTIONS ON THE LAW AND LEGALISM
10. Christ the Heart of the Advent Message 101
11. The Basis and Fruitage of Christian Experience 105
12. The Ten Commandments, God's Standard of Conduct 121
13. Distinction Between the Decalogue and the Ceremonial Law 129
14. The Relationship of Grace to Law and Works 135

V.

QUESTIONS ON THE SABBATH, SUNDAY, AND THE MARK OF THE BEAST
15. The Foundation of Sabbath Observance 149
16. The Sabbath and The Moral Law 154
17. Saturday Observance a Valid Criterion177
18. Historic Concept of the Mark of the Beast 179
19. When the Mark Will Be Received 183
20. Who Constitute the "Remnant Church"? 186
21. What Constitutes "Babylon"? 197

VI.

QUESTIONS ON PROPHECY, DANIEL 8 AND 9. AND THE 2300 DAYS
22. Basic Principles of Prophetic Interpretation 205
23. Christ Pre-eminent in Daniel 8 and 9244
24. Problems Pertaining to Daniel 8252
25. Relation of Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9 to 2300 Days of Daniel 8.268
26. The Seventieth Week of Daniel 9 and the Gap Theory 296
27. Scholarly Precedents for 1844 Ending of 2300 Year-Days 309
28. Antiochus Epiphanes and the Prophetic Specification of Daniel317

VII.

QUESTIONS ON CHRIST AND HIS MINISTRY IN THE SANCTUARY
29. A Wider Concept of the Atonement 341
30. Sacrificial Atonement Provided: Sacrificial Atonement Applied 349
31. Salvation Prefigured in the Sanctuary Service 356
32. The Heavenly Sanctuary-Figurative or Literal Concepts 365
33. The High-Priestly Ministry of Christ 369
34. The Meaning of Azazel 391
35. The Transaction With The Scapegoat 396
36. The Investigative Judgment in The Setting of the Arminian Concept 402

VIII.

QUESTIONS ON THE SECOND ADVENT AND THE MILLENNIUM
37. The Second Coming of Christ 449
38. Varied Concepts of The Millennium 465
39. Adventist Understanding of the Millennium 489

IX.

QUESTIONS ON IMMORTALITY
40. Innate or Conditional Immortality 511
41. The Condition of Man in Death 520
42. The Punishment of The Wicked 533
43. The Rich Man and Lazarus 544
44. Champions of Conditional Immortality Span The Centuries 567

X.

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS
45. Intent of the Term "Everlasting Gospel" 613
46. Satan, Demons, and Angels 618
47. The Question of Unclean Foods 622
48. Adventist Relationship to World Missions Program 625
Representative Adventist Doctrinal Literature 629

XI.

APPENDIXES AND INDEXES
A. Christ's Place in the Godhead 641
B. Christ's Nature During the Incarnation 647
C. The Atonement661
General Index 710

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