THE 1844 INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT DOCTRINE: COMMENTS AND COMMENTARIES—PART 1

“The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment” is the topic of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Third Quarter Adult Bible Study Guide, published by the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The study guide states that one purpose of this series of lessons is to “establish the biblical basis for the 1844 judgment [doctrine].” This doctrine teaches that a pre-Advent judgment—the investigative judgment—was begun by God in 1844.

The Adventist Today web site, www.atoday.org is hosting a series of varied and contrasting commentaries and discussions designed to illuminate the nature of the arguments supporting and opposing the only unique doctrinal position taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Some Adventist scholars and pastors understand and teach that this doctrine constitutes the central core of Adventism. Other Adventist scholars and pastors believe that this doctrine, as traditionally taught, has no unambiguous biblical support. And still others view this doctrine as fundamentally and fatally flawed.

Excerpts from Week 1 Comments and Commentaries

Title: “Principalities and Powers”

“Introduction and Comments on Lesson One”      Desmond Ford

Suppose me to be an evangelical Episcopalian, and I have just been lent the new quarterly by a SDA whose lifestyle and earnestness I deeply respect. He wishes me to be convinced of the truthfulness of what he esteems to be Adventism's distinctive contribution to theological truth…

[Please go to www.atoday.org for the complete text]

“The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment: Part I – The Gospel”      Jack Sequeira

The topic for the Adult Sabbath School lesson for the third quarter of 2006 is “The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment.” The purpose of these lessons is to look at the unique Seventh-day Adventist doctrines of 1844 and the Judgment in the context of the gospel. It goes without saying, therefore, that for a correct understanding of 1844 and the Judgment we have to first be clear on what the gospel is all about…

[Please go to www.atoday.org for the complete text]

“The ‘Sanctuary Doctrine’—Asset or Liability?” Part I      Raymond F. Cottrell

The traditional interpretation of Daniel 8:14 with its sanctuary and investigative judgment, which gave birth to Seventh-day Adventism and accounts for its existence as a distinct entity within Christendom, has been the object of more criticism and debate, by both Adventists and non-Adventists, than all other facets of its belief system combined. The same is true with respect to church discipline on doctrinal grounds, defections from the church, and the diversion of time, attention, and resources from Adventism's perceived mission to the world…

[Please go to www.atoday.org for the complete text]

“1844 and the Investigative Judgment”      Brad Cole

I appreciate that this quarterly, which hopes to address the issues that relate to 1844 and the investigative judgment, opens with a description of the war that began in heaven. The Heavenly Sanctuary initially became defiled before the creation of this earth and in God’s very presence. For this reason, the concept of a cleansing of the sanctuary can only be understood when we know what defiled it in the first place…

[Please go to www.atoday.org for the complete text]

Posting Schedule for Comments and Commentaries

The dates for the receipt of materials and posting target dates on the Adventist Today web site for the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study for July-August 2006 “The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment” are listed in a table which can be obtained by going to www.atoday.org.