The Doctrinal Peculiarity of 19th Century Adventism: Teaching About The Trinity

This article presents an approach to the Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of the Trinity. In the Adventist’s philosophy this view evolved from antitrinitarianism to trinitarianism. In the nineteenth century, Seventh-day Adventists modeled on other religious denominations, thus the article includes statements of Methodists, Baptists, Unitarians, Deists and Christians from the Christian Connexion movement. The precursor of Adventism was the movement of William Miller, which made a great mark on the Seventh Day Adventists. Its views on the Trinity were varied, depending on the previous church affiliation of its members. In the years 1846-1888 the majority of Adventists rejected the doctrine of the Trinity. All leading Adventist writers were antitrinitarians, although there were those who advocated trinitarianism. The year 1888 is a landmark in Adventist movement, after which many theologians abandoned antitrinitarianism. Ten years later, the paradigm was completely changed. The turning point was the publication of Ellen White’s book ‘The Desire of Ages’ was. In this book, the author expressed a different view from the views of many of the pioneers of Adventism, especially when it comes to the preexisting of Christ. The same book comprised also a clear statement about the divinity of the Holy Spirit. However, only after 1915, we can talk about the disappearance of antitrinitarians in Adventism. When in 1930 a set of Adventist principles of faith were being prepared, it was clear that the only force is the view of the Trinity.