We have some dear neighbors who are devout Seventh-day Adventists. The Adventist church has almost exactly the same number of members as the Mormon church claims. They also, like the Mormons, have an extensive educational system, and an extensive missionary system. (They also have - or had - a prophet, Ellen G. White, whose prophecies were all fulfilled, they claim.)

The differences between the Adventist missionary system and the Mormon system are interesting, I think.

The Adventists only call adults of working age on missions, not 19-year-old kids or retired couples. They are also called for more than two years, often five or ten years. But the main difference is that the Adventist missionaries are primarily sent to actually help people in very practical ways. They are doctors, nurses, farmers, technicians, teachers. They set up hospitals, clinics, schools, sanitation programs, health education programs, etc. The religious part of their mission seems to be secondary. The primary purpose seems to be to do what Jesus said his disciples were to do: help the needy and the poor, and to heal the sick.

Also, the Adventist church pays its missionaries a salary. It supports them financially. They are not expected to finance their own mission.

What do Mormon missionaries do? The young ones are instructed to offer to help clean up your yard or give you a hand with chores around the place, but primarily they want you to take their discussions. The old ones are supposed to show you around Mormon's sacred sites and bear their testimony and tell you about Joseph Smith's First Vision. How many of those 60,000 Mormon missionaries are working full-time in health clinics for the poor, or growing vegetables for the hungry? What percentage of their time is spent really alleviating human suffering, and what percent is spent trying to convince some poor ignorant person to be baptized next week?

I do know of one Mormon couple who served an 18-month mission in Africa, primarily doing work to improve the water supply systems at villages. But I think they are an exception.

Or do I have a distorted view of the present-day Mormon missionary work?

[Disclaimer: this is not intended as a pro-Adventist advertisement. I think their prophet and their doctrines are as false as the Mormons'.]

so SDA missions are humanistic where as mormon missions are strictly prosyletizing ?

Thanks for the info, Richard. It made me wonder what is the difference in percentage of the income brought in by each faith that actually goes toward humanitarian effort throughout the world.

I don't know about how transparent the SDA are with their financials but I know that the LDS are not. Perhaps you or someone here can help me out.

The SDA posts membership numbers on their website, including how many members have left their church.

The LDS church would make a lot of progress if they would stop over emphasizing "eternal blessings" and recognize that Christ like behavior focuses on relieving temporal affliction. How often does the church make an effort to heal the lepers?

True, but that's not their definition of progress.

They don't want to help members; they want to exploit them. Instead of giving more back to their lives, they demand more and more of their time, talents, and money.

I couldn't believe they asked members who already have callings, pay tithing, and raise kids to come clean toilets. If I were giving $10k a year to the church, I wouldn't be happy being asked to scrub toilets!

One thing the Adventists have in common with Mormons is their clannish mannerisms. I lived in Ft. Worth for over two decades. Just south of there is Huguley hospital, owned by the Adventists. Although they claim to not believe in surgical procedures and blood transfusions, they do offer that there. Farther south is the town of Keene, TX. It is an entirely Adventist city. One odd thing is that the supermarket there does not have a meat department. I found that rather odd the first time I went in there. There is a sense of sparseness and simplicity to everything. The whole region is like that.

spintobear Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One thing the Adventists have in common with
> Mormons is their clannish mannerisms.

That is very true. There are a lot of Adventists in the area where we live (largest town's population is 21,000), and they are clannish like the Mormons.

>... Although they claim to not believe in
> surgical procedures and blood transfusions, they
> do offer that there.

I think you are confusing the Adventists with the JWs and the Christian Scientists. Our Adventist neighbor was an orthopedic surgeon.

>Farther south is the town of
> Keene, TX. It is an entirely Adventist city. One
> odd thing is that the supermarket there does not
> have a meat department. I found that rather odd
> the first time I went in there.

Many Adventists are vegetarian, although it is not a requirement.

It's the jehovah witness who don't like blood transfusions

I find it interesting that they're not supposed to wear jewelry other than wedding rings, but many do. Reminiscent of Mormon earring count holiness.

"Global Mission is the frontline mission arm of Adventist Mission, an office of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s world headquarters. The organization sends volunteer missionaries, typically for one or two years, to reach people in areas of the world where there are no Seventh-day Adventist members. Together Global Mission pioneers and cross-cultural Seventh-day Adventist missionaries are working to "Tell the World" about the love of Christ in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach places."

That's their own statement.
I don't see much if anything in there about non-religious activities. And they concentrate on places where there are no SDAs. Seems like regular old proselytizing -- trying to make new members and spread influence.

The Seventh Day Adventist I have met are not pushy about their religion, which helps me respect them more than Mormons. And as well as being more humanitarian on their missions, the Seventh Day Adventists have a healthier diet.

There is a Seventh Day Adventist community in Loma Linda California, that is one of the top 'Blue Zones' in the world. A Blue Zone is where people live the longest and most healthy lives. The rest of the top 5 are Okinawa Japan, Sardina Italy, Nicoya Costa Rica and Icaria Greece.

What they have in common as far as diet?
Vegetable based diet, with mostly little or no meat
Moderate consumption of calories
Little consumption of processed food

What they have in common as far as lifestyle?
Family is most important
Regular physical activity
little to no smoking
Social engagement with the community
Sense of purpose

While Seventh-Day Adventists have the no alcohol and no caffeine in common with Mormons to a degree, it is not rigidly enforced for the Adventists.

Moderate alcohol consumption is a regular part of 3 of the other blue zones and coffee/tea consumption is part of 4 of them. So I would have to emulate one of the other blue zones, for my daily coffee and occasional wine. :-)

A relative of mine just became a seventh day Adventist...he has filled his FB feed with the most vile anti-Catholic hatefulness I have ever encountered. 98.9% is easily disputed with basic historical facts, or the website is satire ( he hasn't figured that out). He just graduated from some Amazing Facts school. That's been my only experience with SDA...I'm unsure of what they actually believe though.

The Seventh-day Adventist have a cable channel and they are vehemently anti-Catholic. I think they just make this stuff up.

for self punishment they could be baptized and active in both LDS and SDA at the same time. This way one could attend a full day of church services on both Saturday and Sunday plus all the other weekly meetings and activities.

Also,by living the Word of Wisdom and SDA's health directives one could live to be 157 year of age at least or maybe even until Jesus finally gets off his holy throne and comes again.

If LDS and SDA combined headquarters they'd be called The Church of Jesus Christ of the Sacred Weekend.

In part because Loma Linda University operates a medical school, there are probably more Seventh-day Adventist doctors than doctors of any other fundamental Christian denomination in the U.S. I work with many SDA doctors. They may not have an interview process in which someone formally inquires about their alcohol and caffeine consumption, but other than that, the ban on alcohol and caffeine is every bit as rigidly enforced with SDAs as it is with the LDS. Along with the lack of interviews with ecclesiastical authorities, they also don't have temple recommends to hold over members' heads. Still, those who are thought to be partaking of forbidden substances are very definitely looked down upon.

From what I've observed, the children of SDAs have less fun than LDS kids do. The SDA religion is every bit as restrictive as is the COJCOLDS. They take their sabbath even more seriously than does the LDS church. The basic shutdown of normal life from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday makes it difficult for SDA kids to maintain friendships with kids who don't practice their religion. Devout SDA parents very often enroll their kids in SDA schools. When a kid grows up barely (or not at all) knowing anyone who doesn't practice his or her religion, that kid would have to end up with a somewhat narrow view of the world. This sometimes happens to LDS kids because they live in places where almost everyone around them is LDS. This often happens to SDA kids no matter where they live.

SDAs are healthier, statistically speaking, but I'll gladly trade a slightly shorter life expectancy for a considerably more enjoyable life.

While Seventh-Day Adventists may operate a more humane mission system, they're otherwise every bit as screwed up as the COJCOLDS if not more so. If I had to choose between growing up LDS or SDA, I'd choose LDS in a heartbeat.

I'm not disagreeing with anything the OP said. RPackham alluded his opinion of the bogus-ness of the SDA teachings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2016 03:07AM by scmd.

The kind of help Mormons offer is random at best and likely a manipulative ploy to gain access a press a church agenda. Helping is an afterthought not an actual goal.

Stalkers often gain access to victims by using fake smiles and offers to carry groceries or return a lost pet. Dangerous strangers lure kids into their cars an homes with friendliness and candy.

The SDA church is much bigger than the LDS church . The members they claim are active members and they also publish their financial figures on the website. From my experience in the UK they have far more people attending their churches than they claim in membership numbers. Also they are more into building hospitals schools and clinics than LDS are! I suggest looking at their website. www.adventist.org

My wife's friend is SDA...and they are a weird lot.

RB

LdS vs. SdA -- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) vs. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Similarities: Both organizations originated in the United States in the nineteenth century. Both groups believe someone in the nineteenth century received special revelation--Joseph Smith (LdS) claimed to have been visited by supernatural beings; Ellen Harmon-White (SdA) claimed to have had special visions or dreams. Both groups emphasize healthful living. Both groups have stringent behavior standards for “membership”. Both groups require immersion in water as a requisite for “membership”. Both groups have strong missionary programs.

Discussing the differences is difficult because, while the LdS try really hard to teach that all LdS believe the same things, there are two very different groups under the SdA umbrella.

Joseph Smith ridiculed protestants for basing their beliefs on the Bible. Ellen White urged SdA pastors to preach from the Bible only. Today some SdA pastors follow that advice. Some--especially the pastors of small SdA congregations--quote extensively from Ellen White’s writings in their sermons (except, of course, her advice to not quote her writings in their sermons).

The LdS Church is sufficiently hierarchical that any “member” who is not an officer is allowed to “vote” only in what is called a “sustaining vote”, i.e. decide whether to vote yes or to abstain from voting. As far as I know, any votes where officers are free to vote no on an issue are held behind closed doors. SdA membership statistics are of “voting members”, i.e. people who are eligible to participate in discussions (even if they aren’t officers) and vote yes or no on issues, elect local officers and select delegates to represent them in conference with delegates from other congregations.

LdS definition of “scripture” includes the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great price and official statements by LdS prophets. SdA definition of “scripture” includes only the 66 books in what are commonly known as the old and new testaments of the Bible

LdS are not protestants and make no pretense of being protestants. Some SdA are protestants in the sense of subscribing to the protestant doctrines of justification by grace alone through faith alone, the primacy scripture and the priesthood of all believers. Some SdA (primarily in small congregations) don’t call themselves protestants and place little or no emphasis on the protestant doctrines listed here.

In some respects at least, LdS doctrine hasn’t changed much in the last century-and-a-half but can and sometimes has (with regard to polygamy and negros, for example) at the behest of the president of the LdS Church. Some SdA subscribe to the doctrine (promoted by Ellen White) that truth is progressive, i.e truth doesn’t “change” per se but Christians should keep looking for deeper meaning in the Bible. Some SdA imagine that the nineteenth-century pioneers of the advent movement were in agreement about every doctrine and long for a “return” to that ideal.

I don’t pretend to understand how LdS interpret the kingdom prophecies of the Bible. Maybe they don’t. The two groups of SdA mentioned here agree that the purpose of the return of Jesus is to resurrect the people who have died in faith and take the living believers with them to the mansions he has gone to prepare; also that the millennial kingdom will be an heavenly kingdom--not an earthly one.

The LdS message seems to be that, by doing what the LdS leadership says, a person can achieve “exaltation”, the highest form of which is godhood. Some SdA believe salvation is entirely a gift of God’s grace and that the goal of the SdA message is to encourage faith in the creator and his written word so as to be less likely to be deceived by one or more false messiahs. Some SdA believe the goal is to follow Ellen White’s advice rigorously enough to deserve to be taken to heaven when Jesus returns.

LdS believe the church is and ought to be hierarchical. The pioneers of the nineteenth-century advent movement were so opposed to hierarchy and creedalism that the official name(s) of the organization didn’t (and don’t) even include the word “Church”. Some SdA still think of the SdA organization as “associations” or “conferences” of Christians with a similar calling to emphasize specific doctrines. Some SdA, however, think the SdA organization is or should be hierarchical and creedal.

I live just down the street from the SDA church.

SDAs and Mormons share the pre-church ritual of hauling ass in a mini van full of kids because they are late for church. Stay off of 15th Ave. in Bozeman on Saturday mornings. It's life threatening.

Mormon missions are all about "conversions". I know of one retired couple that were service missionaries. They were actually given a pretty good budget and were told to "do good". They didn't have a lot of other direction. However, this is definitely the exception, and it's still just a PR thing for the "church".

My mother's last calling was "Stake PR Specialist". Their job was to try to get any service project they did in the papers, on the news, etc... Learning that "PR" was a calling put a big crack in my shelf.

TSCC would NEVER help anyone without an ulterior motive. Look at their press releases every time they send supplies following any disaster. I'm pretty sure Jesus isn't telling them to brag about the supposed dollar value of the donated hygiene kits and tied blankets they ship around the world.

Say one thing for the Seventh-Day Aventist Church their missionary program makes sense if you want to have a missionary program AND it is not child abuse like that of the MormonCult.

They have the smarts to send out members who are more mature (not still growing teens) and OMG, they pay for their mission too. Teens, teens, TEENS!!!....what is the MormonCult thinking of? Oh right, only money, money, money.

The goal of the LDS church in sending out young people is, for the most part, to indoctrinate future core members. Especially in Europe, where they realized the futility of missionary work and gave up trying to bring in future tithe payers. Plus, Literally every new missionary they send out now (state side) goes to a Spanish speaking mission. Had a niece and a nephew both go to a Spanish speaking mid-West mission (Chicago and Indianapolis). It's all about retention, not conversion.

I have SDA relatives. Though I'm not attracted to join it, I think that all in all, it's a much better church than LDS. Their charity says it all.

My neighbors are 7th Day Adventists and it's very difficult to talk to them because they're always gone or on their way to church or have a church gathering at their house.

One time when I went over the 5 year-old girl kept staring at me then she said "Jesus doesn't like those" referring to my earrings. I'd say the indoctrination is pretty strong. And yes, their kids attend the 7th Day Adventist school.

Several years back I new a friend, she and her family had left the 7th Day Adventist church. She told me things about it that made it clear there were all kinds of little rules to follow and you would be pretty much shunned if you didn't adhere to them. She said it took most her time just trying to obey all the rules about food and trying to make food that met the requirements. Very time consuming and a huge waste of effort - for example you can't use baking powder (or is it baking soda - or both). There are tons of dietary rules.

For example, here's a link to one of their churches websites
www.mountpisgahsda.org/preparation-of-food

SDA Surgeon here

got on board given I had cousins who were LDS now they are all SDA.

Grew up in very strict SDA household. Went to SDA schools from 1st grade through Medical School.

Rules have relaxed over years. Sending my girls to SDA school.

Work in non SDA hospital where I'm tripping over other SDA doctors.

Many of us go into medical field given Jesus was a healer. In addition, in the SDA World, its ok to work on Saturday (sabbath) if your in medical field

I hope for a day when the concept of MISSON, in any and all forms, is discarded. Rather, good works are done to others for other motivations, including those which are mercenary (I'll scratch your back so you will return the favor).

At least in Mormonism, I didn't have members lecturing me that coffee is an 'endocrine disruptor' like my SDA 'friends'. I attended far too many 'Health Seminars' at SDA churches for my own good.

It's a shame that places like Loma Linda Hospital still associate with an quasi/anti-science religion like SDA.

I have had stats in two Adventist Hospitals, both times following my stroke m. Both were excellent, in my opinion:)

RPackham Wrote:

The Adventist church has > almost exactly the same number of members as the > Mormon church claims. They also, like the
> Mormons, have an extensive educational system, and > an extensive missionary system. (They also had a prophet, Ellen G. White, whose > prophecies were all fulfilled, they claim.)

Not at all surprising, since both church fronts were set on foot back then by agents of European Freemasonry.

A quite successful covert operation it were, with only an occasional claw stuck outta their secret worshipful bag.

Do a trace on the Masonic stench wafting from the founding fathers of both the Mormon and SDA cults.