Shut-door theology

Shut-door theology was a belief held by the group that became the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1844 to approximately 1854. It held that, William Miller had given the final call for salvation and that all who did not accept his message were lost, because the door of salvation was shut, Hence the term "Shut Door". When Jesus did not come the Shut door Adventist, later the seventh-day Adventist, Had to explain why the delay. The thory of the investigative judgement was formed in order to explain why Jesus had not come and that the sanctuary needed to be cleansed and a revie of the records in heaven need to be completed before Christ would appear. Those believing in the Shut door theroy did not beleive it necessary or possible to reach out to the lost, since lost had rejected Millers final call why try to reach them. Salvation was only open to those who had accepted William Millers message.

The groundwork for the theory came from a William Miller quote published in the December 11, 1844 Advent Herald: "We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake a formal church. God, in his providence has shut the door; and we can only stir one another up to be patient; and be diligent to make our calling and election sure."

In January 1845, editors Apollos Hale of the Advent Herald and Joseph Turner of The Hope of Israel further developed this thought, eventually coming to believe that on October 22, 1844, every man's destiny was forever sealed, using Revelation 22:11,12 as their basis. The term "shut door" came from Jesus' parable of the Bridegroom and the Virgins: "and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut." (Matthew 25:10) The Adventists believed that Jesus' return was just around the corner.

Ellen White early on in her minintery as a prophet had visions supporting the belief in the Shut door, the belief that salvation was lost to all who had not accepted William Millers final warning to the world. despite her earlier affirmations, beginning in November of that 1848, she had a vision in which she saw the Three Angels' Messages "like streams of light... clear round the world." As the Millerite movement had not been significantly multinational, her vision clearly showed that new converts would be made to the movement.

In a 1849 vision, she saw Christ tell her that the door that had been shut was the door to the Holy Place of the Sanctuary, which meant that the Sabbath message, which had previously been unknown to most Christians, would now be a test of faith. However, at the time, the Adventists were unsure of Ellen White's prophetic status, and did not accept the visions as a signal that the shut-door theory was false.

Gradually over time, individuals who had no prior connection with Adventism converted into the church. This seemed to be a clear violation of the shut door theory. By 1854, religious leaders and most Adventists were ready to accept that the shut-door theory was false.

See also

• Seventh-day Adventist theology
• History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

References

• Knight, George R. (1999). A Brief History of Seventh-day Adventism. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association. ISBN 0-8280-1430-2.
• Knight, George R. (2000). A Search for Identity: The Development of Seventh-day Adventist Beliefs. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association. ISBN 0-8280-1541-4.
• Schwarz, Richard W. (1979). Light Bearers: A History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association. ISBN 0-8163-1795-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• "Open and Shut Door" from the Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, second revised edition, 11:249–252. Reprinted on the Ellen G. White Estate website
• "The Shut Door—A Case Study", chapter 44 in Messenger of the Lord by Herbert E. Douglass