C. The Ecclesiological Self-understanding

The ecclesiological self-understanding of the Sabbatarian Adventists was a consistent extension of the Millerite views during the crisis of 1843-44. ^{1See supra, pp. 78-84.} The “organized churches” were considered to be Babylon. ^{2Letter, J. White to Jacobs, The Day-Star, September 20, 1845, p. 26; Bates, SAWH, pp. 17-23. Bates stated that “mystery Babylon,“ the antetype of literal Babylon, which signifies confusion and mixture, represents the organized Churches of all descriptions, divided into three parts, Revelation 16:19, viz: Roman, Greek and Protestant” (SAWH, p. 24). Cf. Letter, H. L. Smith to Jacobs, The Day-Star, April 22, 1845, p. 44. Bates said that the cry of Revelation 18:4 was directed to the Protestant churches and not to the Roman Catholic Church, for God’s people “departed from her certainly 300 years ago” (SAWH, p. 27).} J. White remarked that “the fall of Babylon commenced in the spring of ‘43 when the churches all around, began to fall into a cold state, and was complete on the 7th month ‘44, when the last faint ray of hope was taken up from a wicked world and church.” ^{4[J. White, ed. and comp.], Hymns for God’s Peculiar People ..., 1849, p. 4. The theology in this hymn suggests a Sabbatarian Adventist composer.} In 1849 he compiled and edited a hymnal which included a hymn on the proclamation of the fall of Babylon referring to her “poisonous creeds” as an argument for separatism. According to Bates, the observance of the Sabbath by Adventists, as indicated in Revelation 14:12, was “demonstrated proof that Babylon has fallen.”FSDA 147.1

Adventists who remained faithful to their Advent beliefs after the Disappointment were designated as God’s people ^{6E. G. White, CEV, p. 63 (Early Writings, 76). Cf. E. G. White, Spiritual Gifts 2:58, 64.} and called the “remnant,” the “little remnant,” the “scattered remnant,” the “little flock” (Luke 12:32), or the “scattered flock.” ^{7See e.g., Letter, J. White to Jacobs, The Day-Star, September 6, 1845, p. 17; J. White, A Word to the Little Flock, 1; E. G. White, “DBS,” p. 23 (Early Writings, 38); ibid, p. 32 (Early Writings, 47); [J. White], Introduction, The Present Truth, July 1849, p. 1.} Adventists who rejected the Advent movement were called “the synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 3:9). ^{8Letter, J. White to Jacobs, The Day-Star, September 6, 1845, p. 17; E. G. White [E. G. Harmon] “RSA,” p. 15; Letter, E. G. White to Curtis, p. 12. In identifying themselves with the Philadelphian church (Revelation 3:7-13), this term was of particular relevance. Cf. J. White, “The Philadelphia Church,” RH, Oct. 30, 1856, p 205.}FSDA 147.2

The rejection of the validity of the Seventh Month movement and the Sabbath doctrine by the majority of Adventists contributed to a development in the Sabbatarian ecclesiology. J. White denounced the “unfaithful ones,” stating that “since the 7th month 1844, the ‘rebellious house’ of Israel, have been removing the ‘landmarks,’ and writing, and proclaiming false visions; but we all know that it has been the work of man, and not of God.” ^{9J. White, A Word to the Little Flock, 5. Bates stated: “Hosea says the Princes of Judea were like those that remove the bound [sic] v. 10. The spiritual leaders in Israel remove the bound, and make sad the heart of the humble seeker. This has been done undoubtedly since the days of the going out of Egypt, but never in so general and in such a particular manner as within the last thirty months. Hence the pressing necessity for God’s people to set their hearts toward the highway which they went, and look well to, and remember their way marks and high heaps, or as Jesus taught those in the Philalelphi [sic] church ‘to hold fast that which they had’” (SAWH, pp. 5, 6).} E. G. White designated them as “nominal Adventists.” ^{1Letter, E. G. White to Bates, A Word to the Little Flock, 19 (Early Writings, 33).} In her April 1847 vision the Sabbath was used as a criterion to indicate the ecclesiological distinctiveness of the Sabbatarian Adventists. She stated that “the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers” ^{2Ibid. For the true Israel concept, see Letter, Turner to Snow, p. 137; Letter, Nichols to Jacobs, p. 34; Letter, Main to Jacobs, p. 12; Preble, “Sabbath,” p. 433.} but warned against exclusivism, for “God had children, who do not see and keep the Sabbath. They had not rejected the light on it.” ^{4Ibid. When this process of assimilation has taken place a tension would have developed between the Sabbatarian Adventists on the one hand and the rest of Christianity on the other hand. This would result in a “time of trouble” during which Sabbatarian Adventists would be persecuted. The end of this conflict would be solved through the parousia bringing the deliverance (ibid., pp. 19, 20 [Early Writings, 33-35]).} These people were among the nominal Adventists and in the churches of Babylon, and would accept the Sabbath doctrine and unite with Sabbatarians in the future.FSDA 147.3

One of the earliest statements that applied the term “church” to Sabbatarian Adventists came from E. G. White, who, in January 1849, addressed a manuscript to “the church of God who keep the Sabbath-the seal of the living God.” ^{5E. G. White, Manuscript 3, 1849.}FSDA 148.1

Bates and others symbolized the churches from which Adventists had separated themselves as the Sardis Church (Revelation 3:1-6). The Sabbatarian Adventists he identified with the Philadelphian church (Revelation 3:7-13) and the “nominal Adventists” with the Laodicean state of the church (Revelation 3:14-22). ^{6Bates, SAWH, pp. 34-35. The Albany conference of May 1845 was seen by some as the starting point of the Laodicean church. Cf. Letter, E. L. H. Chamberlain to Jacobs, The Day-Star, August 11, 1845, p. 22; Edson, Time of the End, p. 24. Cf. Letter, Turner to Snow, pp. 137, 138. When in 1845 the spirit of “brotherhood” was broken among Adventists, they were identified by some as the Laodicean church (Letter, Hill to Snow, p. 100; Snow, “The Laodicean Church,” JS, June 12 and 19, 1845, pp. 108, 117). Snow alluded to the relevance of the name Laodicea (“judging of the people”) under the present pre-Advent judgment (ibid., p. 117).}FSDA 148.2

Thus, the ecclesiological self-understanding of the believers developed around three concentric circles: The inner circle represented the true Israel of God, the Philadelphian church, which observed the Sabbath; the second signified God’s people among the “nominal Adventists” and in the churches, who had not rejected the Sabbath doctrine and were unaware of its implications; the outer circle embraced the remaining “nominal Adventists” and church people, who had rejected the Sabbath doctrine as binding for Christians, and equated them with unbelievers. The future prospects were a unification of all God’s people with Sabbatarian Adventists resulting in a final conflict between them and unbelievers.FSDA 148.3