Seventh Day Adventists Essay

American Born Religions- Outline

Amber Capestro

SOC: 412

Professor: Frank Smith

History of the Seventh-Day Adventist

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church was formed and grew out of the Millerite movement that was present in the early 1840s New York (Slick, 2017).
The Millerite movement was known for prophesying the second coming of Jesus Christ. Approximately twenty years after the Millerite movement began the Seventh-Day (Zavada, 2017). Adventist church was formed in Michigan, it was known for advocating for keeping the Sabbath day and as a day of rest.
Over the years, the church has expanded beyond the American borders with major missionary strategies in a ply to attract converts.
It is speculated that through Biblical study and prophecy the church in 1844 was able to set a specific date for the verbatim return of Christ (Slick, 2017).

Analysis

With the use of the sociology of religious paradigm, it has been analyzed that the Seventh-Day Adventist church has been using economic imagery to attract more converts (Leithart, 2017).
Though not defined by the economic metaphors, the strategy they have enforced has allowed them to have a global following. The church no longer takes for granted the loyalty of clients, which previously they could authoritatively impose (Goldstein, 2016).
Today they have to market the church through missionary work, counseling, and other activities (Dawson, 2011). This has created a pluralistic situation with other religions, such as the Jehovah Witnesses, where they have been subjugated by the rationality of marketing economics.

Influence on American Society

The Seventh-Day Adventist church has influenced the American society with their observance of the Sabbath day on Saturday, as well as other beliefs and practices. From its origins in the 19th century, by the founder William Miller, it has evolved from being regarded as a cult to one of the leading mainstream evangelical Christian denominations ("Seventh-day Adventists", 2009).
Its influence has steadily been growing with approximately 0.5% of American adults being members, whereas the number of Christians has drastically dropped by almost 8% (Lipka, 2015). Moreover, it is amongst the most racially diverse religions in the nation with 37% members being white, 32% being black, 15% Hispanic, 8% Asian and 8% mixed race (Lipka, 2015).
The Seventh-Day Adventist church does not reflect a Christian worldview, as the church itself states it does not consider itself as part of the Fundamentalist Christian community (taylor, 2015).
Their reason for this accord is that considering they are regarded as Protestants; they feel that majority of Protestant churches have failed to complete their reformation by invalidating the errors of Roman Catholicism ("Relationships with Other Christian Churches and Religious Organizations", 2013).
The church supports the restoration of the beliefs and practices of the primitive church, these practices include adult baptism, keeping the Sabbath day holy, and restrictive immorality amongst others (Robinson, 2015).

References

Dawson, A. (2011). Sociology of religion (1st ed.). London: SCM Press.

Goldstein, W. (2016). The Importance of Understanding the Sociology of Religion. Hds.harvard.edu. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2016/01/20/importance-understanding-sociology-religion

Leithart, P. (2017). New Paradigm in Sociology of Religion. First Things. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2015/08/new-paradigm-in-sociology-of-religion

Lipka, M. (2015). A closer look at Seventh-day Adventists in America. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/03/a-closer-look-at-seventh-day-adventists-in-america/

Relationships with Other Christian Churches and Religious Organizations. (2013). Adventist.org. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from https://www.adventist.org/en/information/official-statements/documents/article/go/-/relationships-with-other-christian-churches-and-religious-organizations/

Robinson, B. (2015). Beliefs and practices of the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination. Religioustolerance.org. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from http://www.religioustolerance.org/sda2.htm

Seventh-day Adventists. (2009). Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/seventhdayadventist_1.shtml

Slick, M. (2017). The History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Carm.org. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from https://carm.org/religious-movements/seventh-day-adventism/history-seventh-day-adventist-church

Taylor, J. (2015). All Your Questions About Seventh-Day Adventism And Ben Carson Answered. NPR.org. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/27/452314794/all-your-questions-about-seventh-day-adventism-and-ben-carson-answered

Zavada, J. (2017). Trace a Brief History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. ThoughtCo. Retrieved 28 April 2017, from https://www.thoughtco.com/seventh-day-adventists-history-701397