Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertations Graduate Research 1995 The Soteriology of Ellen G. White Compared with the Lutheran Formula of Concord: a Study of the Adventist Doctrine of the Final Judgment of the Saints and Their Justification Before God Gunnar Pedersen Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Pedersen, Gunnar, "The Soteriology of Ellen G. White Compared with the Lutheran Formula of Concord: a Study of the Adventist Doctrine of the Final Judgment of the Saints and Their Justification Before God" (1995). 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DMX Number: 9630653 Copyright 1996 by Pedersen, Gunnar All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9630653 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ® Copyright by Gunnar Pedeisen 1996 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE SOTERIOLOGY OF ELLEN G. WHITE COMPARED WITH THE LUTHERAN FORMULA OF CONCORD: A STUDY OF THE ADVENTIST DOCTRINE OF THE FINAL JUDGEMENT OF THE SAINTS AND THEIR JUSTIFICATION BEFORE GOD A dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Theology by Gunnar Pedersen APPRQVAT. RV THF mMMTTTFF ? Faculty Adviser, \ 7 Werner Vyhjjfei'ster, Dean Hans K. LaRondelle / SDA<T-he61ogical Seminary Professor of Theolocrv. Emeritus K 21 Professor of Church History, Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins Associate Professor of Church History Robert W. Olson Doctor of Theology Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT THE SOTEPJOLOGY OF ELLEN G. WHITE COMPARED WITH THE LUTHERAN FORMULA OF CONCORD: A STUDY OF THE ADVENTIST DOCTRINE OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF THE SAINTS AND THEIR JUSTIFICATION BEFORE GOD by Gunnar Pedersen Adviser Hans K. LaRondeile Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH Dissertation Andrews University Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Title: THE SOTERIOLOGY OF ELLEN G. WHITE COMPARED WITH THE LUTHERAN FORMULA OF CONCORD: A STUDY OF THE ADVENTIST DOCTRINE OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF THE SAINTS AND THEIR JUSTIFICATION BEFORE GOD Name of researcher Gunnar Pedersen Name and degree of faculty adviser Hans K. LaRondeile, Th.D. Date completed: November 1995. The Topic The Adventist doctrine of judgment is part of a larger salvation-historical perspective that in Adventist theology is termed the Sanctuary Doctrine. This doctrine depicts the post-ascension soteriological work of Christ as reaching its consummation in the judgment and the parousia. Critics of the Adventist doctrine of judgment consider it perplexing and even incompatible with the basic principles undergirding the classical Protestant doctrine on forensic justification, understood as a present, complete reception and possession of salvation both existentially and forensically. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Purpose This study aimed at investigating to what degree the classical Protestant prin­ ciples of grace alone, Christ alone, and faith alone are shared by the Seventh-day Adventist soteriology, as presented by Ellen G. White, with regard to the doctrines of justification and judgment. The design of the study includes four major sections. Chapter I presents the basic principles of Lutheran soteriology as reflected in The Formula of Concord as a basis for comparison with Adventist soteriology. Chapter 2 analyzes the unique features of the Adventist Sanctuary Doctrine with special focus on the place and meaning of Christ’s post-ascension mediatorial work in relationship to the present- existential and eschatoiogical-judicial dimensions in Adventist soteriology. Chapter 3 provides an analysis of the loci of the themes of faith, sanctification, and works in relationship to the Adventist perception of justification and judgment. Chapter 4 system­ atizes the constituent elements of Ellen G. White’s soteriology and summarizes its basic principles as compared with the Lutheran tradition. Conclusions The Adventist perception of the post-ascension mediatorial work of Christ, which reaches its consummation in the judgment, is in this study identified as the unique christological dimension by which Adventist soteriology may be viewed from either a present-existential or an eschatoiogical-judicial perspective without contradiction. Justi­ fication. understood as a complete, present, existential reception and possession of sal­ vation. may in this christological context be interpreted as mediated eschatclogy. Finally, this study concludes that the Lutheran-Protestant principles of grace alone, Christ alone, and faith alone are in all their essentials fully shared by the Seventh-day Adventist tradition as presented by Ellen G. White. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................. vi INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1 The Critical Aspects of the Sanctuary Doctrine.................................. 5 The Importance of the Sanctuary Doctrine in Adventist Theology . 9 The Objections of the Critics ................................................................ 11 The Problem ........................................................................................ 16 Methodology ......................................................................................... 18 I. THE BASIC PRINCIPLES IN LUTHERAN ORTHODOX SOTERIOLOGY.................................................................... 21 The Biblical Dimension of Law and S in ............................................ 22 The Law Reveals and Demands Original Righteousness............. 23 Sin as an Inherited Corruption of Man’s Spiritual N ature 24 The Law Reveals the Radical Consequences of Human Sinfulness.................................................................................. 27 The Threefold Principle of Justification by Grace, by