Theology
Historic Adventist theology tends to differ from mainstream Adventist theology in the areas of Christology, hamartiology (sin), soteriology (salvation) and eschatology (end times). They often use the term "new theology" as a pejorative term for perceived doctrinal shifts in the church.
With regards to Christology, Historic Adventists believe that Jesus Christ possessed a fallen nature in common with all the children of Adam and with a propensity to sin. This view of Jesus' nature was widespread in Adventism prior to the 1950s, but is now a minority position among theologians and mainstream Adventism.
They believe that Sin is defined in terms of personal transgressions of the commandments, over against an inborn corruption of the human nature inherited from Adam.
Historic Adventists tend to place more emphasis on sanctification than justification. Following Andreasen, they define the atonement in terms of God's work to cleanse our character from sin as well as payment of the penalty for sin. The work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary is regarded as a continuation of the work of atonement begun on the cross, rather than the application of the benefits of an already completed atonement.
"Eschatological perfectionism" is the teaching that a final generation of believers must achieve a state of perfection or complete sinlessness in the final period just before the second coming of Jesus (see Last Generation Theology) and most Historic Adventists hold to that teaching. This belief in sinlessness arose particularly from M. L. Andreasen's interpretation of the investigative judgment doctrine, which is one of the pillars of adventism and found in The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White.
Historic Adventists generally place more emphasis on the writings of Ellen G. White as a doctrinal authority compared to mainstream Adventists, some considering her writings as infallible and having near-equivalent status to the Bible.
Historic Adventists have a differing perspective on the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference arguing that Ellen White not only supported Jones and Waggoner, but perfectionistic theology which some say came from them.
Some historic Adventists, like many mainstream Adventist, are advocates of the King James Only movement, which promotes sole use of the King James Version of the Bible. (A classic book in this movement, Our Authorized Bible Vindicated (1930), was written by an Adventist, Benjamin G. Wilkinson. One critique is by Alden Thompson.)
Read more about this topic: Historic Adventism
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