WalksWithChrist said:
http://amightywind.com/adventist/seventhdayadventist.htm
Don't know how authoritative this site it, but I would like to know if most of this is true or not. If a lot of it is true, then I'm scared! ; )
At least part of this true. I wouldn't call them a cult, though.
The SDA church was born out the "great disappointment" of 1844, when the expected return of Christ did not happen. To explain the failure, EW and all stated that instead, it had been the time for Jesus to start a new phase of atonement. They state this belief here:
http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html
24. Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary:
There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent. (Heb. 8:1-5; 4:14-16; 9:11-28; 10:19-22; 1:3; 2:16, 17; Dan. 7:9-27; 8:13, 14; 9:24-27; Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6; Lev. 16; Rev. 14:6, 7; 20:12; 14:12; 22:12.)
There really is no reason to believe that Christ waited until 1844 to start cleansing the heavenly sancuary. In Leviticus 16, we learn all about the Day of Atonement. Blood from the bulluck and the goat and springle it in the Holy Splace. it is the only time the High Priest was allowed in.
Jesus already offerred His blood in the heavenly sanctuary:
Hbr 9:11 But when Christ appeared {as} a high priest of the good things to come, {He entered} through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
Hbr 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves,
but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Christ offered His blood in the heavenly sanctuary way before 1844:
Hbr 9:11 But when Christ appeared {as} a high priest of the good things to come, {He entered} through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
Hbr 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
I don't think the scriptures that offered with #24 quoted above actually show what they claim.