-Are Christians today still Protestants?

d.n.irvin said:

That depends on your analysis of the scriptures. I know I gonna get some "flack" of this, but it seems as though Most of the people that reply to my post- don't actually STUDY the Bible. It seems as though They are only interested in what their Church teaches. I say that in part because of the "responses" given to the posts that I have made

I also addressed the that in another post.

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lunamoth said:

BTW, I am looking forward to Booko's reply to your request about Rev and Daniel. I think you will find it enlightening if she chooses to spend the time to explain her extensive study of these books.

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d.n.irvin said:

Further proving my point, What about those who use Prayer, the Bible and the Holy Spirit, do they count- you know- the Bible tells you that they are all you need to use - to get an understanding.

If we use your logic, that because you have attended classes you have some sort of advantage, then poor people who only have the Bible as there guide should never understand it.

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MidnightBlue said:

Quakers, other than Evangelical Friends, don't necessarily believe in any of those things.

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Aqualung said:

Oh, thanks. Which ones specifically would one not believe in? I guess I have only had contact with the Evangelical Friends group of Quakers.

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lunamoth said:

You asked specifically about study d.n.i.., so that was the reply. I pray ceaselessly and was born again by the Spirit at my baptism.

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d.n.irvin said:

My fault, let me clarify, I meant- Bible study - thats all the Great Reformers used- that is- the Bible alone was the basis for there claims.

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Ðanisty;921834 said:

Ya know. I wonder just how many people really use the Bible alone? It seems that the people who claim to do this are usually very active in a church. If you're going to church, how can you say you're using just the Bible? By going to church, you're learning what that denomination thinks of the Bible so there's an outside influence from the beginning there.

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d.n.irvin said:

I would like to respond to that with the question: What if -your denomination is 'Bible only' based?

What is the definition of a Bible only based Faith?

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d.n.irvin said:

I would like to respond to that with the question: What if -your denomination is 'Bible only' based?

What is the definition of a Bible only based Faith?

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Ðanisty;921854 said:

I'm not a Christian. I'm a theistic Luciferian and I'm a solitary practitioner. My study of the Bible is done without any outside influence. I'm just consistently confused how a group of people who are taught the Bible by a minister can claim to base their beliefs strictly on the Bible. Their beliefs are influenced by their minister's interpretations of the Bible and his beliefs were probably influenced by his minister's interpretation, etc.

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d.n.irvin said:

I never thought that I would agree on any point with a Luciferian ( not to be offensive)- but I agree.

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d.n.irvin said:

SDA's follow the whole Bible as closely as I can tell -than any other Protestant religion that I can see in the world today. When I say the whole Bible, I mean the inclusion of certain doctrines as opposed to the exclusion.

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Ðanisty;921900 said:

If you get the chance you may want to browse some threads in the Luciferian forum. I think you might be surprised. You probably won't agree with everything, but you will be surprised.

What about apocryphal texts? Do you study those?
nope. Were founded on the 1611 KJV I do believe

Now my question is this. How are Seventh Day Adventists different? As far as I can tell the honoring of the fourth commandment - various doctrines like -Death and Dying, the Rapture and Health principles - I think are some of the major differences.

If you go to church, are you not influenced by your minister? And wasn't he influenced by his minister? If so, your beliefs come from more than just the Bible. Again, I revert to the previous question: What if your Ministers are influenced by the Bible only?

Please correct me if I'm wrong here because I certainly don't know everything, but don't the SDAs have a female prophet?

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d.n.irvin said:

Correct, a prophet that has passed the four Biblical requirements of true prophet of God

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Website said:

1. A prophet must be an Israelite. (Born again Bible - adhering Christians, being spiritual Israel, thereby qualify)
2. Prophets must speak not of their own accord or in their own name or any other, but in the Name of the Lord only.
3. Prophecies must be consistent with prior revelation.
4. Prophecies must not encourage idolatry or any other sin.
5. All prophecies must come true.

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d.n.irvin said:

Correct, a prophet that has passed the four Biblical requirements of true prophet of God

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Halcyon said:

Four? what are the four SDA requirements.

I found this list of five from someone else, they seem fairly sensible;
The Requirements For The Office Of A Prophet « Primitive Jesus Christology

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The Test of Fulfilled Predictions
There are four passages of Scripture to keep in mind when talking about the prophet's predictions of things to come:
1. Secret things belong to God (Deut. 29:29).
2. God reveals secrets to the prophets (Amos 3:7).
3. Unfulfilled predictions made in the name of the Lord are presumptuous; fulfilled predictions demonstrate that the prophet was sent by the Lord (Jer. 28:9)
4. Some prophecies are conditional (Jer. 18: 7-10 )

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There are three texts to keep in mind when studying God's guidance of His people:
1. “The Lord shall guide thee continually” (Isa. 58:11).
2. He instructs us in the way we should go (Ps. 32:8).
3. By a prophet the Lord led and guided Israel of old (Hosea 12:13).

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The Bible sets forth several characteristics of the true prophet in relationship to the law and the prophets, or the Scriptures as we know them:
1. He will exalt the true God (Deuteronomy 13:1-4).
2. He will teach obedience to God's law (2 Chronicles 24:19, 20; Deuteronomy 13:4).
3. He will believe and teach that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (1 John 4:2, 3).
4. He will speak as he is inspired by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21).

The true prophet must speak and write messages that are in harmony with the law and the testimony, or “there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20).

Every true prophet will be in accord with the law of God and the testimony of all the other true prophets. Since she wrote so much, the chances of discrepancies are greatly increased.
Did she teach and advocate that which harmonizes with the Scriptures?

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The External Evidence.—The 4,678* church schools, the 302 intermediate schools, academies, and colleges, the 249,847 students in them, and the $58,000,000 worth of Seventh-day Adventist school property, all witness to Ellen G. White's work in the field of Christian education.

The 235 sanitariums and treatment rooms, the 550 institutional physicians, the College of Medical Evangelists, the $40,000,000 worth of medical institutions, all bear witness to Ellen G. White's work in the field of health and healing.

The 43 publishing houses, the $13,000,000 worth of denominational publishing property, the 6,500 faithful colporteurs, the sale of almost a million and a half dollars' worth of Seventh-day Adventist literature each month of the year—all bear their powerful testimony to Ellen G. White's work in the field of Seventh-day Adventist literature ministry.
* 1954 figures are given as a sample.

The 21,129 Sabbath schools, the 1,257,209 Sabbath school members, the $5,862,458 a year as a Sabbath school gift to foreign missions—all testify to the power of her counsels on Sabbath school work.


The worldwide General Conference organization of Seventh-day Adventists, with its 68 union conference organizations, its 144 local conference and 204 mission organizations, its 11,447 churches, its 18,000 evangelistic workers, and 972,000 baptized church members, reflects the fruit of this gift.


The consistent, godly lives of Seventh-day Adventists around the world, exemplifying in their daily experience the principles set forth in the twoscore Ellen G. White books, testify to the prophetic gift—all these are the external evidence of the power and influence of Ellen G. White's work for the spiritual uplift of the people of all nations.

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Repeatedly the New Testament asserts that there will be prophets in the church. It like-wise states, “There were false prophets also among the people” (2 Peter 2:1). Clearly, we can expect both true and false prophets in the church. We should not “quench” the Holy Spirit and His manifestations or despise the prophesyings, but rather “prove,” test, and try them. As a result of such a process we are to “hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:19-21).
Ellen G. White claimed the gift of prophecy, and thereby declared herself to be a prophet in the church. However, she preferred the term “messenger.” Thus we find her explaining:
“I said that I did not claim to be a prophetess. I have not stood before the people claiming this title, though many called me thus. I have been instructed to say, ‘I am God's messenger, sent to bear a message of reproof to the erring and of encouragement to the meek and lowly.’”—The Review and Herald, Jan. 26, 1905, pp. 5, 6.

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Ðanisty;922048 said:

Thanks. I thought my father had mentioned something like that to me once. He was raised SDA.

The reason I say that the SDA church is still influenced beyond the Bible is because if everyone were to read the Bible for themselves, they would come up with drastically different ideas from it.
I disagree
It's a book that requires a bit of interpretation.
I agree, but not outside the scope of Biblical reasoning -comparing scripture with scripture.

Your minister would be delivering the interpretation he made from the Bible, but that is still not the same thing as reading the Bible for yourself and deciding on your own what it means.The common bond of any organization or group is common belief -so that, My Ministers beliefs can be tested by the Bible,- if my Ministers words are not in accordance with the Bible,-from personal Bible study -I can prove his words.

In theory, if you wanted to study the Bible alone, you don't need church and in fact, church can interfere with your own personal study.

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d.n.irvin said:

I disagree

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d.n.irvin said:

Quite honestly and frankly, I have personally struggled with Church attendance and some of the pomp and circumstance associated with organized religion. However these are my personal beliefs or struggles. The Bible says "forsake not the assembly of yourselves" especially in these last days, with emphasis placed upon the later. I present my testimony as an example as to the proving of scripture -for if my Minister were to tell me "its Ok not to go to Church", from Bible study I could prove him to be incorrect.

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Ðanisty;922106 said:

Well, you are free to disagree all you want but that doesn't make it true. I've read bit of the Bible and I promise I don't share your opinions about God. Not to"nit pick", but the Bible tells us to STUDY the Bible. That is some what different from just reading.

You seem to be missing that people who are raised in a church are more likely to agree with the church. Agreed, especially if there is no personal Bible study, Paul says "let everyone be persuaded in His own mind"
They are brought up with those beliefs so when they look at the Bible, they also see the same things (because whether they realize it or not, they were already taught to think this way).Look at it this way, If you were born in India you would probably be Hindu - and unless You ever heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ -you would probably die a Hindu. Whats the point, The point is no matter where you are in life Physically or Spiritually - God says " His people will hear his voice and come to Him"

That does not necessarily mean they would read it the same way if they were brought up without the church. Your argument works fine for converts, but not so much with people who were raised in the church. Also, please understand that I'm referring to all churches, not just the SDA church.
I understand what you are saying on a surface level, but think about this, during the" Great Disappointment" people from around the world came to the same conclusion regarding several points of scripture unawares to each other - people living on different continents- speaking different languages -and were of different Faiths - people reading the Bible came up with the same thing at the same time -and all they had was the Bible

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