Developments in the Teaching of Justification and Righteousness by Faith in the Seventh-day Adventist Church After 1900
Authors:   ,   Andrews University, Steinweg Bruno 
Published: June 2023

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this investigation has been to set forth the doctrine of justification and righteousness by faith as taught in the Seventh-day Adventist church after 1900. Attention has been given to the teaching of this doctrine in its relationship to the historical development of the church. Note has also been taken of the place accorded the teaching of this tenet alongside of other Bible doctrines held by Seventh-day Adventists. IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY This investigation is considered pertinent for the following reasons: First, justification and righteousness by faith constitute the heart of the gospel and the basis of Christian experience. This was the keynote of the preaching of the apostle Paul which stirred the Mediterranean world in a few decades following Christ's ascension. Second, it was the teaching of justification by faith by the Reformers of the sixteenth century that brought about marked changes in the religious thinking of many whose attention was called to this doctrine. Justification by faith was incorporated in the creeds of Protestantism as a fundamental tenet of faith. Third, with the appearance of Modernism, the trend among Protestants has been to give less prominence to teachings which were once preached with clearness and conviction. At a time when the tendency is to give less emphasis to doctrines that have been held as fundamental during four centuries, among these the teaching of justification by faith, it would be of more than passing interest to know whether this same tendency can be traced in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Fourth, considering that the Seventh-day Adventist church has consistently held that certain distinctive Bible truths are due the world at this time, it would not be amiss to inquire what place the teaching of justification and righteousness by faith has been accorded alongside of the distinctive tenets. ORGANIZATION OF THE INVESTIGATION The second chapter presents Mrs. E. G. White's teaching on justification and righteousness by faith. In this chapter some consideration has been given to Mrs. White's understanding of salvation inasmuch as it is in the light of this conception that her teaching on the doctrine under investigation must be understood. Chapter Three is a discussion of developments and tendencies in the teaching of justification and righteousness by faith in the Seventh- day Adventist church during the first two decades of the present century. Suggestions of opposition to the teaching have been noted, also convictions of how it was to be presented in relation to other Bible doctrines. Chapter Four, traces the evidences of an increased emphasis on the teaching of justification and righteousness by faith among Seventh-day Adventists beginning in the early 1920's and continuing for more than a decade. Chapter Five, deals with justification and righteousness by faith in the Seventh-day Adventist church from 1937 up to the present. Attention has been given to the most recent developments in the teaching of the doctrine under investigation. The principal sources have been the files of the general church paper of Seventh-day Adventists, reports of sermons at the General Conference sessions, Week of Prayer Readings, Sabbath School lessons, and books written by denominational leaders. References were noted that would aid in presenting the historical background of the teaching of justification and righteousness by faith in the Seventh-day Adventist church.