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Former Adventist Pastor Revealed Adventist "Truth"
Dale Ratzlaff Helped Christians Understand How to Minister to Adventists and former Adventists
“The Truth About Adventist Truth” was presented by Former Adventist Fellowship, a ministry of Trinity Church, 1515 Reservoir Road in Redlands, on Friday, February 15, 2008, 7:00 pm.
Dale Ratzlaff, former Adventist pastor, gave information to help Christians understand how to minister to Adventists and former Adventists that come to Christian churches or become involved in their ministries. A question and answer session followed.
“Nearly 1.5 million left membership during the time period 2000 to 2005,”says Bert Haloviak, director of Archives and Statistics for the Seventh-day Adventist church. That’s nearly 300,000 per year.
The Christian community is unprepared for this growing exodus of Adventist members. Adventists’ cultural, emotional, theological, and spiritual confusion as they attempt to become involved in the larger Christian community often goes unaddressed because many Christians do not understand Adventism or its true effects.
Concurrently, Adventists are increasing their proselytizing of new members from among Christians.
According to Ratzlaff’s latest revision of his book The Truth about Adventist Truth released at the February 15 meeting, Adventism is built on a foundation of Arianism (the belief that Jesus was not eternally God). This foundational premise continues to color current Adventist understandings of salvation and the role of Jesus.
Even though the church now has more orthodox-sounding statements of belief, Adventism still endorses the authority of its prophetic messenger, Ellen White, who claimed she received visions from God endorsing the church’s doctrines and instruction.
Ratzlaff contends that Adventism’s continued dependence upon White’s authority and the ongoing influence of the early Arian beliefs place Adventism outside the bounds of mainstream Christianity.
"To turn a blind eye to the problems of Adventism means not only unconscionable compromise for evangelicals, but spiritual bondage for countless Adventists, " says Paul Carden, executive director for the Centers for Apologetics Research based in Orange County.
“Understanding what lies under the surface of Adventists’ beliefs is the key to understanding how to minister to them and also to protecting others from being recruited,” says Richard Tinker, leader of the Former Adventist Fellowship.
The meeting was attended by 200-300 individuals, a number that represented fourteen local Christian churches in the Redlands/San Bernardino area. This number also includes about 80 former Adventists in attendence.
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