Criticism of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

A number of groups and persons have voiced criticisms of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, some of which are summarized below. One of the most prominent early critics of the church was D. M. Canright, an early leader who later left the movement. According to evangelical Walter Martin, most subsequent criticism of the church has been based on his work. In the middle of the 20th century, Martin and the Christian Research Institute concluded that th... more

A number of groups and persons have voiced criticisms of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, some of which are summarized below. One of the most prominent early critics of the church was D. M. Canright, an early leader who later left the movement. According to evangelical Walter Martin, most subsequent criticism of the church has been based on his work. In the middle of the 20th century, Martin and the Christian Research Institute concluded that the Seventh-day Adventist church is a legitimate Christian body with some heterodox doctrines. However, other scholars disagreed and continued to classify the church as a cult. One such scholar was Anthony A. Hoekema, who grouped Seventh-day Adventism with Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science in his book The Four Major Cults. Another scholar who criticized Adventism vocally was John C. Whitcomb. A prominent contemporary critic is former Adventist Dale Ratzlaff, who left the church in the early 1980s and founded a private ministry... less