Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

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DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT
In order to hold on to their Adventist worldview, the
Adventists focused on the texts of Scripture that refer to
death as sleep. They realized that any other view would
undermine the investigative judgment. They therefore made
this doctrine a test of fellowship. To question this teaching
would mean questioning the sanctuary and the Adventist
identity. Ellen White had been so forceful about the
importance of the sanctuary doctrine that to question it
would be to question her authority. Since the “Spirit of
Prophecy” and the Sabbath are identifying marks of God’s
“one and only true remnant church,” questioning the
sanctuary doctrine became tantamount to rejecting the very
heart of the church’s identity.
We will not go into great detail in examining this
doctrine because the Sabbath is the first and primary SDA
doctrine that most people will encounter and is usually the
drawing card Adventists use to attract new converts. Those
claims will be the focus of the remainder of this book.
However, I will include this brief summary of the problems
with the investigative judgment doctrine because of its
centrality to the church identity that few from the outside
will ever fully realize.
The following questions that Adventists must answer in
order for the doctrine to be scripturally viable came from Ex-
Seventh-day Adventist minister Phillip Wilson and were
recently printed by Sidney Cleveland.
1. It should be explained why the context of Daniel
8 is not considered and why the question of
Daniel 8:13 is ignored, when seeking to interpret
its answer given in Daniel 8:14
2. It must be proved the 2300 evening and morning
sacrifices equal 2300 full days, when there is no
conclusive evidence from Daniel 8:14 itself (and
no other test of Scripture to confirm) that it means
full days.