..

D E U L A lt A 'l' I O N

or TQB

TAUOllT AND PRACTICED

-JJY-

TIIE SEVENTH-DAY ADVI1}NTIS'1'S.

"IJnilL u¡t011 tbo !oumlallon o! tho a¡1<1atlo, auJ ¡,r,,¡,t.uu, J11»1U Cliri•L himaolt
1H,l11g U,o chi11í oonu:r aluno." E1·11uutt, 2::)J. •

STEAl! l'UESS
Of Tlll S&V&MTII-DAT ADV&MTIBT 1'UDLI8ll1NO .lS80CIATION,
JJATTLE · CREEK, MICU.:
187::?.
 IUNDAMENTAL PJUNCIPLfü;,

IN prcecnting to tbc public this eynopsis or our

fo.ith, wo wisb to havo it distinctly undcrstood thn.t
wo havo no nrticles of faithJ.,creed, or disci_plinr.,
asido from tho Iliblo. ,ve do not put forth· this
as hn.vin, 1P~ ~_µthorit.Y_with our peop~c1 nor is it
<l'csi_gned to eccuro uniformity o.mong them, ns a
system of fn.ith, but is o. briof stn.tement or wha.t
is, and ha.e becn, with grcat unanimity, hcld
by thcm. ,vo oftcn find it nccessary to mect in-
quiries on thie eubject, o.nd eometimes to correct
false eta.tcmcnte circulated against us, and to re-
move orronooulJ impressions which have obtained
with thoee who ha.ve n9t had an opportunity to
becomo acquaintcd with our iaith and practice.
Our only objoct is to mcet this neceseity.
As Scvcnth~day Adventista we deaire simply
that our position shall bo understood ; and wo aro
tho moro eolicitous for this beco.use thoro aro mo.ny
who call thcmsclves Adventista who hold viows
with which wo can ho.vo no aympathy, somo of
which, we think, are subversive or tbe plainest
and most importo.nt principlea set forth in the
word of God:
As compared with other , Ad~cntiats, Seventh ·
,lny Atl,·('nti"t~ ,liff,•r from ottc d:t'414 iri h·lini,•g
 4 DECLARATION Oi' l'RINCIPLES.
in the unconscious eta.to of the den.el, n.nd the finu.l
dcstruction of the unrcpentant wicked ; from
anothcr, in bclieving in tho perpetuity of the la.w
of God n.s summarily containcd in tho ton com-
mo.ndmcnta; in tho opera.tion of tho IIoly Spirit
in tho church, and in sctting no times for tho ad-
. vcnt to oceur ; from all, in tho observanco of tho
ecvcnth da.y of tho wcek o.s tho Sa.bbath oí tho
Lord, and in ma.ny applications of tho prophctic
scripturcs.
,Vith thC!O remo.rks, WO nsk tho a.ttcntion of tho
render to thc following propositions, which nim to
bo a. concise statcmcnt of tho more prowincnt fea.-
turca of our faith.
-I-
Tlmt there is onc God, a personal, spiritua.l
bcing, tbc crco.tor of u.U things, omnipotcnt, om-
nh;cicnt, aml eternal, infinito in wisdom, l10Iincss,
justico, goodncss, truth, and merey ; unchaugo-
o.Llc, o.ntl cvcrywhero prcscnt by his reprcsonta-
tivc, too lloly Spirit. Pe. 139: 7.
-II-
Tha.t thcro is one Lord Jesus Christ, thc Son
of tho Eternal Fa.thcr,''tho ono by whom Gotl
crcatcd aH tbings, and by whom thcy do consist ;
that be ·took on him thc nn.turo of tho secd of
Al,raham for tho rcdcmption of our fallen rn.cc;
\
that 11c tlwélt urnong mcn full of gracc and truth,
.
DECí,AllATfON OJ,' flltl NCll'C.ES. 5
livctl our oxu.mplc, dioq our su.crifico, wn.s raisotl
for our justifico.tion, n.sccndcd on high to be our
<;>nly mediator in the sa.nctuo.ry in llou.ven whero
with his own blood ho .makes atonoment 'ror ou;
sins; which ~toncmcnt eo fa.r from boing mu.de on
tb.o c~oss,_ wh1ch was but tho offcring of tho sacri-
fico, 1s. tho ..v,~ {:¡,cJt 11ortion of hia ,r.o.tk .o.s t?riest•
accordmg to iñe oxamplo of tho Lcvitical pricst-
hood, which forcahn.<lowctl nnd profigurcJ. tho min-
istry of our Lord in llcavcn. Seo Lcv. 16; IIch.
8 : ,1, 5 ; D: 6, 7 ; &c.
-III-
Tha.t tho .lloly .S.cripturcs, ., of. tho Oltl and
Ncw .Tcst~mcnts, wcro givcn by inapirn.tion of
God, contam a. full rcvclation of his will to man
o..nd n.ro tho only infallihlcu·1.l.liUlf LLü.h..~nd prac~
t1co.
-IV-
Tha.t Ilaptism is an ordinanco of the Chris-
tian church, to follow füith and rcpcntnncc nn
or<lina.nco by which wo commcmornto tho r:sur-
rcction oí Chriet, as by this o.et wo show our foith
in his buria.l an_d rcsurrection, o.nd throµgh thut,
. of tho rcsurrcction of all tho snints at tho Iast
do.y; o.nd that no other modo fitly representa thcso
facts thnn thnt which tho Scripturcs prescribe
.n·o.moly, immcrsion. Uorn. G: 3-5; Col. 2: 12. ,
fi l 1t:CJ.All..l.TIO~ o•• l'RINCJI'LES.
-V-
'J.'ha.t tlic ncw birth compriscs thc ·cntiro chango
11ccc:i~ary to fit us for thc kingdom of Go<l,
nn<l consists of two parts: first, a moral chango,
wrought by convcrsion sml a Christian lifc; sec-
ond, a physica.l changc nt thc accond coming of
Christ, whcrchy, if dca.<l, wo aro ra.isctl incorrupt-
ible, nntl if living, are changctl to immortality in
a. momcnt, in tho twinkling of an oye. John 3:
3, 5; Luko 20: 3G.
-VI-
,vo bclievc thnt prophccy is o. part of God'e
revclation to m1m; that it is includcd h1 that
Rcripturc which is profitablo for instruction, 2 Tim.
3 : 16 ; tlui.t it is dcsignccl for ue nnd our childrcn:
J>cut. 2!l: 20 ; tho.t so far from bcing cnshroudetl
in impcnctralllc mystcry, it i~ thn.t which espccia.lly
constitutcs tho wortl of Gotl e. la.mp to our fcet
and a light to our path, Ps. 119: 105, 2 Pot. 2 :·'
lU; that n. blcssing is pronounccd upon thoso who
stu,ly it, ltcv. 1 :1-3; nnd that, conscquently, it
i~ to be unclcrstooll by tho pcoplo of God euffi-
cicntly to show thcm thcir position in tho world,e
hiatory, o.nd thc spccial dutics rcquircd o.t thcir
ho.nds.
UECLAllATION 01" l,RINCJI'LE8. 7
-VII-
. That tho world'e hietory from spccifictl dates
in tho past, thc riec a.nd fa.U of cmpircs, a.nd chrono-
logical aucccssion of evcnts down to tho_ ectting up
of God's ovcrlasting kingdom, aro outlincd in nu-
mcrous groat cha.ins of prophccy ; o.nd that thcso
prophcciee are now all f ulfillcd excopt tho closing
sccnea. ·
-VIII-
That tho doctrino of tho world'e convcrsion
o.nd temporal millennium is o. fable of theso la.st
days, calcula.ted to lull roen into a. ato.to of carnal
eecurity, and causo them to be ovcrtn.kcn by tho
grca.t de.y of tho Lord o.a by a thicf in the night ;
thn.t the eccond coming of Christ is to procedo, ·not
follow, tho millennium; for until tho Lord u.ppeare
tho papal power, with ali ita abominations, is to
continuo, tho wheat and tares grow togethcr, and
cvil men and scducors wax worse and worse, as
0
tbo word of God declares.
-IX-
That tho mistako or Adventista in 1844 pcr-
taincd to tho na.turo or tho cvcnt thon to trans-
pire, not to tho time ; that no prophetio pcriod is
givon to roach to tho eccond advcnt, but that tho
longcst ono, tho two thousand and thrco hundrod
dnye of Dan. 8: 14, torminatcd in tbo.t yoar, and

8 DEOLARATION OP PRINCJPr,l!8.
hrought us to o.n cvont cnllcd tho clon.nsing or tl,c
so.nctuary.
-X-
Tbat the sanotuary of tho now covcnn.nt is
the tabernaclo or God in Ileaven, or which Pa.ul
speake in Ilebrews 8, and onward, of which our
Lord, as grcat High Pricst, is minieter ; that tbis
eanctuary is the antitypo of tho Mosaic tabcrnaclo,
and that tho prieetly work of our Lord, eonnoctcd
thorowith, is the antitypo of tho work of tho J cw-
iah pricsts of tho former dispcnso.tion. IIob. 8 :
1-5, &c. ; tha.t this is tho ea.nctuary tobo cleo.nsod
o.t tho cnd of tho 2300 du.ye, what is tormcd ita
cleansing bcing in this en.so, as in tho typo, simply
tho cntrance of tho high priest into the most holy
placo, to finish tho round of eervice connectod
thcrcwith, by blotting out and removing from tho
eo.nctuary the sine which h_ad bcen transferrod to
it by means of tho ministration in tbo ñrst apo.rt-
ment, IIcb. 9 : 22, 28 ; o.nd that this work, in
tho antitypo, commencing in 1844, occupios o. bricr
but indcfinito space, e.t tho conclusion of ·which tho
work of merey for the world is fiuished.
-XI-
. rcst-do.y, aro no.mea of human invontion, un-
Thn.t God'a moral requirements aro tho so.me
upon all roen in o.U dispenso.tions ; tho.t thcso o.ro
summnrily conto.inod in tho commnntlmcnts epokcn
by Jchovah from Sino.i, cngra.ven on tho tn.blcs of
ffF.Cl,ARATroN O}' l'lllNCJI 1 I.EH. U
stonc, nntl <lcpositod in thc ark, which wns in con-
eequenco callotl tho "o.rk of tho covcnant;- or
tcst:i.mcnt. N um. 10 : 83, llcb. 9 : 4, &c. ; that
this law is immutable and pcrpotual, bcing o. tran-
script of the ta.bles dopositcd in tho ark iu thc
true aanctuary on high, which is also, for the samc
rcu.son, callcd the o.tk of God's tcstamcnt; for
under tho soun<ling of tho scvcnth truwpct wo n.ro
told that "tho templo of God wn.s opcnctl in
IIca.vcn, and thcro wu.s sccn in his templo tho o.rk
of bis tcstamont.'' Rev. 11 : 10.
-XII-
That the fourth, commandmcnt of this ln.w
rcquircs that we devoto tho sovcnth dn.y of ca.ch
woek, commonly co.llccl Saturtlay, to aLstincnco
from our own labor, o.nd to tho performn.nco of
eo.cred and rcligious dutics; thn.t this is tho only
wcckly So.bbath known to tho Iliblc, bcing tho
day thn.t wo.s set apart bcforc pn.rn.diso was lost,
Gen. 2 : 2, 3, nnd which will bo obscrvcd in para-
; diso rostorcd, Isa. Gü : 22, 23; thn.t tito fu.eta upon
' which tho Snbbo.th institution ia bascd confin u it
to the sovcnth da.y, o.s thoy are not true nf any
othcr do.y; and thn.t tho terma, Jcwish SaLbath
o.nd Christian So.bbn.th, ns npplicd to tLc wockly
scriptural in fu.et, and .falso in mcaning.
10 l>ECL.\ltATION <H' l'IUNCII'LES,
-XIII-
~l.'ltat ns tho man of ein, tho papacy, ha.a
thought to chango times n.nd lnws (tho la.ws of
God), Dan 7: 25, n.nd has misled almost all Chris-
tcnuom in rcgarcl to tho fourth commandment, wo
fin<l n prophccy of a rcform in this respoct to be
wrought nmong bcliovore just before the coming
of Chriat. !J3a.. 56 : 1, 2, 1 Pot. 1 : 5, Rev. 14:
12, &c.
-XIV-
That ns tho natural or carnal hcart is at
cnmity with God and his Iat, this cnmity can bo
eubdued only by s radical transformation ·oí tiro
afTcctione, tho exchango of unholy for holy prin-
cipies; thn.t thie traneformo.tion followa ropent-
nnco n.ml faith, ie tho r.pccia.1 work of the Iloly
Spirit, nml conslitutce regencration or convorsion.
-XV-
That as n.11 havo violatcd tho law oí God,
u.mi cnnnot of themsclvcs render obedicnco to his
just rc,tuircmcnte, wo aro dcpcndcnt on Christ,
first, for justification from our past offencce, and,
eccondly, for grnco whcrcby to render accopta.blo
ohc<lícnco to his holy la.w in timo to como.
DECI,AllATlO~ Oi' l'lUNCll'LE::;, 11
-XVI-
1'hnt tho Spirit of God wa.s promiscd to ma.n-
ifcst itaclf in the church through ccrtain gifts,
enumerated cspecially in 1 Cor. 12 and Epb. 4 ;
that theee.gifts are not designcd to supcrscde, or
ta.ke the placo of, the Biblo, which is eufficient to
make us wiso unto ealvation, any moro than tho
Diblo can tako tho placo of the IIoly Spirit; that
in epecifying tho various channola of its opera-
tion, tha.t Spirit has simply mado provision for
its own existcnco a.nd prcsenco with tho peoplo of
God to the cnd of timo, to lead to an undcrato.nd-
ing oí tho.t word which it ha.d inspirad, to con-
vinco of ein, and work a tranaformation :in tho
hoa.rt o.nd lifo; and that those who deny to tho .
Spirit ita placo and operation, do plainly deny that
part or the Diblo whioh aesigns to it this work and ·
position.
-XVII-
That God, in accordn.nco with bis uniCorm
doalinga with the raoe, sonda forth a proclamation
of the approach of tho eecond advont of Christ;
that thie work is symbolizcd by Ího thrco messagcs
of Itov. 14, tho last ono bringing to viow tho work
of rcform on tho law of God, that hie peoplc may
ncquire a completo rco.dincss Cor thl\t ovcnt.
 1:! HF..Cl,ARATlOS OF }lnJNCfl 1 f.F.S.
-XVIII-
That the timo of the clcansing of tl10 eanc-
tun.ry (ece proposition X), eynchronizing with tho
time of tho proclama#ou of tho thirJ measage, is
a. timo of investigative judgmont, first with refcr-
cnce to tho dead, and at tho closo of probation
with rcferonco to tho living, to determine who of
tbo myriads now sleeping in tho dust oí tho cn.rth
nro worthy oí a pa.rt in thc :first rcsurrcction, n.ntl
who of ita living multitudes o.ro worthy of trans-
la.tion-points which must bo dotermined bcforc
fho Lord appcare.
·-XIX-
Tho.t tho grave, whithcr wo all tend, cx-
prcssed by tho IIcbrcw al,eol, a.nd tho Grock luid~s,
is u. placo of darkncss in which thcrc is no work,
dovico, wisdom, or knowlcdgo. Eccl. !) : 10.
·-xx-.
That tho eta.to to which . wo o.ro rcduood by
dea.th is one of eilcnco, innctivity, and cntiro un-
. consciouaneea. Ps. 146: 4; Eccl. !J: 5, ü; Dan.
12: 2, &c.
-XXI-
Thnt out of tbis prison bouao or thc gravo
mankin,1 are to he brought by a bodily rcsurrcc-
UECLAllA'l'ION úlo' l'ltINCll'LE~. 13
tion; thc righteous having part in tLo first rcsur-
rcction, which ta.kcs place u.t tho scconu auvcnt of
Christ, tho wickctl iu tho sccond rcsurrcction,
which ta.kcs placo a. thousanU yoars thcrca.ftcr.
Rcv. 20 : 4-6~
-XXII-
Tho.t at tho laet trump, tho living rightcous
aro to bo changed in o. momcnt, in tho twiukliug
oí a.n cyc, nnd witb tho rcsurrcctccl rightcous ~ro
to be caught up to mcet tho LorJ in tho nir, so
forcver to bo with tbo Lord.
-XXIII-
That thcso immorto.lizcd oncs aro thcn tnkcn
to Hcavcn, to tho Ncw Jcrusalcm, the lí'a-
thcr's houso in which thero are many mansions,
John 14: 1-3, ,whero they reign with Christ a thou-
sand yca.rs, judging the worlJ and fallen angcls,
th11,t is, apportioning tho puniahmcnt to bo cxo-
oototl upon thcm at tho closo of tho ono thousantl
yc~rs; Uov. 20: 4; 1 Cor. G: 2, 3; thn.t during
this timo tho co.rth lios in a desolo.to o.nd chaotic
con<lition, Jcr. 4 : 20-27, dcscribod, o.s in tho bc-
ginning by tho Groek term abUBsos (,ifi,,aaor) bot-
tomlcss pit (Scptuagint of Gen. 1: 2); o.nd that
boro Satan is confincd during tho thousllrnl ycars,
Il.cv. 20: 1, 2, and bero finally tlcstroycd, llcv.
20: 10; !\!al. 4: 1; tho thcator of tho ruin ho hu.,
wrought in tho universo, ucing a¡>proprin.toly uuulo
1l l>ECI,ARATIOS Ol' PRDICIPr,ltS.

for a time hiR gloomy prison hom~c, nrnl thcn thc

place of his finnl rxccution.

-XXlY-
That n.t thc cml of tho thousand yenrs, thc
Lord <lcsconds with bis pcople and tho Ncw Jcru-
sa.lcm, ltcv. 21 : 2, tho wickcd dcad o.ro raiscd nnd
come up upon tho eurfüco of tho yct unrcno~ed
carth, o.nd gathcr about tho city, thc camp of tho
saints, Itov. 20: O, ancl firo comes down from God
ont of hea.vcn nnd dcvours thcm. Thcy o.ro then
consumc<l root an1l branch, l\Ial. 4 : 1, becoming
ns though thcy had not bccn. Obu.d. 15, 16. In
thia cvcrlasting dcstruction from tho prcscncc of
tho Lord, 2 Thcss. 1: D, tho wickcd mcct tho ov-
crlasting punishmont thrcatencd against thcm,
l\Iatt. 25 : 46. This is tho pcrdition of ungodly
mon, tho firo which consumos tbom boing tho firo
for which " tho hcn.vens o.nd tho carth which o.ro
now " aro kopt in atore, which shn.11 mclt evcn thc
clemente with its intonsity, e.nd purgo tho oarth
from tho dcepcst etains of tho curso of sin. 2 Pct.
3: 7-12.
-XXV-
Thnt a ncw henvcns o.nd carth ehnll epring
by thc powcr of God from thc ashcs of thc olcl, to
be, with tho Ncw Jcrusa.lem for its mctropolis and
capital, tho eternal inbcritn.ncc of tho sainte, tho
plnco whcrc tho rightcous eho.11 cvcrmoro dwoll . .
~ P<'L n: 1 !1 : P~. ~7 : 11, 2fl ; 1\fatt. r,: r,.