Are Seventh Day Adventists in a brain washing Cult?

Question

I have some Seventh Day Adventist relatives who if you ask me are in a cult. They just act weird. For one thing, they always seem to attack other religions, especially Catholic. They seem to hate the Pope as well. If they are soo confident and happy in their religion, why are they always attacking other religions? This is a clear sign of a cult. One thing that also is weird is that if their against people looking up to the pope, why do they worship this woman Ellen White? It's also weird that they seem to keep their worship of her a secret. They will spend hours bashing the Pope, but will never mention their worship of Ellen unless you happen to already know about it and bring it up to them. Their also pretty tricky, they'll be your friend, and try to get close, but eventually they will make an attempt to try and convert you. Either they will try to do something in person, or one day you will get a letter in the mail, or an email from them, telling you about their GOOD NEWS.

Answer 1

all religious foundations are cult oriented, and bashing each other is the only path ever allowed, stay free, live life, ...

Answer 2

There seem to be different "degrees" of Seventh-day Adventism. Some Seventh-day Adventists believe identically to orthodox Christians, other than believing that worship should be held on Saturday and that the Saturday Sabbath should still be observed. If these are the only differences, then yes, a person could be a Seventh-day Adventist and still be a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.



However, some Seventh-day Adventists believe in much more than a Saturday Sabbath / worship day. Seventh-day Adventists have been known to believe in: the annihilation of the wicked instead of an eternal hell, that believers who die enter a state of soul sleep, and that a person must observe the Saturday Sabbath in order to be saved. Other problems with some Seventh-day Adventists are: belief in Ellen G. White, the founder of Seventh-day Adventism, as a true prophet of God even though many of her "prophecies" failed to come true - and - that Jesus entered a second phase of His redemptive work on October 22, 1844, as "prophesied" by Hiram Edson.



So, What is Seventh-day Adventism and what do Seventh-day Adventists believe? Should a Christian attend a Seventh-day Adventist church? Due to the potential doctrinal issues mentioned above, I would strongly encourage believers to not get involved in Seventh-day Adventism. Yes, a person can be an advocate of Seventh-day Adventism and still be a believer. At the same time, there are enough potential issues to make attending a Seventh-day Adventist church questionable at best.

Recommended Resource: Are Seventh-Day Adventists False Prophets? A Former Insider Speaks Out by Wallace Slattery.

Answer 3

I'm SDA and no, we are not. ALOT of people think that and they say I'm brainwashed and I'm going to hell. I go to a church with 15 people. Most of them are age 70 plus. I don't think they could be in a cult, or if so, they hide it well. Yes, SDA's are negative of catholics for alot of reasons, but not everyone treats ya'll bad. I don't and if I was in a cult, I'd be yelling at you. We just go to church on Saturday and read out of the Bible and we believe in Ellen White. She is a big part in way people think we are a cult. I have never read a book from from her nor have I been forced to. So NO. We are not. We are friendly people! :D

Answer 4

My mother is one, and I believe that it is a horrible religion.

She bashes Catholics, but she was Catholic for over 40 years. She believes the world is about to end and that Jesus will show up at any moment. She is against organ donation because she believes that after the rapture Christ will resurrect everyone's body, and it is important that they are pure.

She's against contraception, evolution, and homosexuality. She believes that the Bible is inerrant, and that "true" science never goes against it. She also believes that religious art depicting Jesus and God are tantamount to icons, and that she has a duty to destroy it. She doesn't celebrate Christmas because she believes the Bible considers it the worship of ornamental trees.

Seriously, this is the woman who took my childhood drawings of Jesus and the Manger scene, and cut out the parts showing angels and the baby Jesus! I found the chopped up remnants when I examined what was left on the wall. This is the woman started whispering the subtitles on the movie Passion of the Christ. She still warns me to get "saved" as I am an atheist.

It's enough to screw anybody up. Trust me, Seventh Day Adventists are nut jobs. Catholicism doesn't hold a candle to it, and most people think THAT religion is strict. I'm personally against all nonsense, especially the kind that sends society to the Dark Ages.

Answer 5

How can you say all that? It's seems you are basing your opinion of the SDAs on just a couple of people you know. I can assure you they are not a cult. They are Bible believing Christians, who believe in following all truths of the Bible, not just some of them, like most other denominations. You can't be wishy washy in your religion. You need to follow God's word completely not partially or strictly as some say. As Christians they do not hate anyone. Those who say they do, may not be true Christians at heart. And that is a sad thing. There are people in every church who just "act" like Christians.
Both through the Bible and history itself they know that the Pope and the Holy Roman empire is the antichrist. While this is true nothing should be done in hatered.
As for Ellen White. The church does not worship her. She is one of the founders of the SDA church. She has written numerous books on different aspects of religion, family, health, finances ect. The church does believe her to be a prophet. There are several Bible points that tell us how we know a true prophet from a false one. I am not going to go over them now, but just to say that she passes every test.
Most SDAs don't mention her to people who don't know about her at first is because most people who have never heard of a modern day prophet don't understand. It only causes confusion. God and the Bible are the most important. Not Ellen White. Her writings are only to help explain or enlighten the Bible to those who may be having a hard time understanding. Her writings always lead them back to the Bible.
I don't think they are being tricky. God tells us that we need to befriend others first and that we need to meet people where they are. Not shove religion down their throats at first sight.
They do not try to brain wash anyone. You either accept the truth or you don't. God does not force anyone to join Him and neither to they. It is their job to spread the "Good News" and share what they know with others, after that it is the Holy Spirit's job to work on someone's heart, not theirs.
It's sad that you would base your opinion on just a few people. We are all sinners, and any Christian of any denomination have people who do not act appropriatly. We are not to look to people but look to God.
Maybe if you really want to know how the SDA church really is you should find one in your area, and go check them out. Research what they believe and see if there is anything that is not relevant with the Bible. Never go by what others say but what the Bible says. God says to test and prove all things.

Answer 6

1) Yeah I know they appear anti-Catholic, which is one thing that upsets me about the SDA. But I can see their reasons, the Catholic Church practices many non-Biblical traditions and such, and it really adds barriers between the Self and God.

2) I don't think they worship any Ellen White. One of my gfs was SDA and so was her family, I've been to an SDA camp and also SDA seminars and never even heard of her.

3) Yes my gf's dad discussed things with me and though I was immature in logic at the time and did poorly in the discussion, he was making very good Biblical points.

Answer 7

I regret reading all this.

Listen, just put it aside and focus on the good side of life. Don't join with them and wonder.

Ms Dell.

Answer 8

religious or not I think it is safe to assume all new borns are subject to some kind of brainwashing whether on purpose or not .