Investigative judgment

Seventh day Adventist doctrine

The investigative judgment, or pre Advent Judgment (or, more accurately the pre Second Advent Judgment), is a unique Seventh day Adventist doctrine, which asserts that the divine judgment of professed Christians has been in progress since 1844. It is intimately related to the history of the Seventh day Adventist Church and was described by one of the church's pioneers Ellen G. White as one of the pillars of Adventist belief. It is a major component of the broader Adventist understanding of the "heavenly sanctuary", and the two are sometimes spoken of interchangeably.

Seventh day Adventists believe that texts such as Hebrews 8:1–2 teach that the two compartment design of the earthly sanctuary built by Moses, was in fact a model patterned after the Heavenly Sanctuary "which the Lord set up, not man." Hebrews 8:2 (NASB). They believe that statements in Hebrews 7:17–28 as well as statements found in Hebrews chapters 8 and 9, reveal that Christ entered the first phase of his Heavenly ministry (in the Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary) as the High Priest of humanity after his bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven. According to this view the 2,300 days (years) found in Daniel 8:13–14 point to the date when Christ's Most Holy Place ministry in Heaven would start. This is the event typified by the Day of Atonement described in Leviticus 16 and in Leviticus 23:26–32. The Investigative Judgment doctrine states that in 1844 Christ moved from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place in Heaven as described in Daniel 8:13–14, and that this began the judgment described in Daniel 7:9–10. Professing Christians are represented by the wedding guests, and the judgment is represented by the King's inspection of the guests (verses 10, 11). In order to pass the judgment, believers must be wearing the robe of Christ's righteousness, represented by the wedding garments (verses 11, 12).

According to Adventist teaching, the works of all men and women are written in "books of record", kept in heaven. During the pre Advent Judgment, these books are opened (as described in Daniel 7:10 and Revelation 20:12), and the lives of all people both living and dead are examined to establish who has responded to Christ's offer of salvation. "The books of record in heaven, in which the names and the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the decisions of the judgment." "As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated." The Judgment will show those who are authentic believers in God from those who are not. "All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life." On the other hand, "When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life, and the record of their good deeds will be erased from the book of God's remembrance." "Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God." With Jesus as Attorney and Judge, there is nothing to fear. For a long time, Adventists held the concept that the pre advent judgment was only concerned with God judging mankind and deciding their eternal destiny. Increasingly the statement is being made that God already "knows who are his," and certainly does not need years to pore over books to inform himself. However, beginning in the 1950s and on through the 1970s, Edward Heppenstall began teaching that there were bigger issues involved in the pre advent judgment than just humans. Heppenstall's proteges, Hans LaRondelle, Raoul Dederen and Morris Venden, through the 1970s and 1980s, taught an understanding of the purpose of the pre advent judgment that includes humans, Satan, the entire universe, and even God himself.

The doctrine of the Investigative Judgment is closely linked to the Great Controversy theme, another uniquely Adventist teaching. As the judgment proceeds, angels and "heavenly intelligences" will watch closely. "The deepest interest manifested among men in the decisions of earthly tribunals but faintly represents the interest evinced in the heavenly courts when the names entered in the book of life come up in review before the Judge of all the earth."

The doctrine of the Investigative Judgment is an integral part of the Seventh day Adventist doctrine of the sanctuary. As true believers are found righteous in the judgment, their sins are removed or "blotted" from record by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. This is believed to have been foreshadowed by the work of the High Priest in the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). The investigative judgment is the final phase of Christ's atoning work, which began on the cross and continued after his ascension in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. which will be a period of intense conflict and persecution for God's people (Revelation 13:15–17; 7:14). Shortly afterward, Christ will return in glory (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10) and raise the righteous dead (the "first resurrection", Revelation 20:4–5), whom he will take to heaven together with the righteous living to share his millennial reign (Revelation 20:6). Just who these "righteous" are will, of course, have been revealed during the course of the Investigative Judgment. During the millennium, Satan will be imprisoned on earth alone with his demons (Revelation 20:1–3). During this period God's redeemed will be in heaven, having 1000 years to examine the books of Judgment for themselves, ensuring that God has acted fairly in his dealings with humanity. Judgment is committed to those who have walked in human shoes to ensure that the lost have indeed rejected God (Revelation 20:4). At the end of the millennium, Christ will again return to earth with his redeemed to raise the wicked (the "second resurrection", Revelation 20:5). Satan will then deceive the wicked into attacking God's people (Revelation 20:7–9). At this time, Christ will sit down in final Executive Judgment and the books will be open for all (sinner and saved alike) to see and judge (Revelation 20:11–13). Once all have acknowledged the justice and love of God, the execution of the judgment proceeds. Having already thrown Satan and his demonic henchmen into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10), God now consigns those who have rejected forgiveness to incineration and eternal death (Revelation 20:15). Those who have accepted forgiveness inherit a recreated, perfect, new earth. (Revelation 21:1–5). Adventists feel that their eschatological message is to sound the cry of Revelation 22:17: "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let him who hears say, 'Come.' And let him who is thirsty, let him come. And whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

The doctrine of the Investigative Judgment is outlined in item 24, Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary, of the Seventh day Adventist fundamental beliefs. In the original Fundamental Beliefs of 1980 it was item 23, but when item 11 was added by the General Conference in 2005 it was changed to item 24.

The constitution of the Adventist Theological Society affirms the doctrine of the Investigative Judgment. Official Adventist publications such as Seventh day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine (1957) and Seventh day Adventists believe (1988) defend the church's traditional teaching. Documents publicly available on the Biblical Research Institute's website support and defend the traditional doctrine with reference to Scripture. The 2006 third quarter Adult Bible Study Guide produced by the Seventh day Adventist General Conference, was entitled The Gospel, 1844, and Judgment, and strongly upholds and defends the church's traditional 1844 doctrine. The preface to the study guide states that "From this doctrine, perhaps more than any other, our distinct identity as Seventh day Adventists arises."

The emphasis of this belief has evolved over time, but the basis is the same. The year 1844 is believed to be the time Christ commenced a new phase of ministry in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, symbolised by the Day of Atonement ceremony described in Leviticus 16. In the years immediately after World War II, Adventism tended to view the judgment in stern tones and the teaching has increasingly been understood as God on the side of people. Smuts van Rooyen describes a "string of changing interpretations we have given this prophecy from Second Coming, to Shut Door, to Investigative Judgment, to cleansing the Living Temple, to Vindication of God's Character, to simple Pre advent Judgment "

Progressive Adventist, Raymond Cottrell claims the investigative judgment has received "more criticism and debate, by both Adventists and non Adventists, than all other facets of its belief system combined." He was followed by Albion F. Ballenger who was disfellowshipped around 1905. According to one author, the doctrine evolved as a reaction against Ballenger. William Fletcher resigned in 1930 when he disagreed with the traditional understanding and later published his views. Louis R. Conradi had his ministerial credentials removed, and chose to leave the church in 1931. Raymond Cottrell says William W. Prescott believed there were some flaws, and shared it privately with a few church leaders who became critics. According to Cottrell, he stated, c. 1930, "I have waited all these years for someone to make an adequate answer to Ballenger, Fletcher and others on their positions re. the sanctuary but I have not seen or heard it." He did stay in the church, unlike the others above. Harold E. Snide of what is now Southern Adventist University withdrew from the church around 1945. Some critics such as Canright and Ballenger "embarked on vendettas against the church" after leaving, whereas Cottrell and Desmond Ford continued to profess support for the church. According to Raymond Cottrell, the editors of the Seventh day Adventist Bible Commentary in 1955 found it "hopelessly impossible" to combine both solid Bible scholarship with what Adventists believed and taught about Daniel 8 (NIV) and In 1958 when revising Bible Readings for republication, Cottrell sought the opinion of 27 North American Adventist theologians who knew Hebrew, and also heads of religion departments, concerning the interpretation of Daniel 8:14. Without exception, the scholars responded by acknowledging "that there is no valid linguistic or contextual basis for the traditional interpretation of Daniel 8:14." After being notified, the General Conference appointed a secret "Committee on Problems in the Book of Daniel", which met from 1961 to 1966 but was unable to reach a consensus. and a lengthy book on the subject – Eschatology of Daniel. It remained unpublished, and Cottrell stated, "the manuscript awaits a climate of openness and objectivity in the church, which is essential to a fair examination of the facts.") According to Desmond Ford, the belief had not been taught for several decades at the Seventh day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, but was revived in the 1960s by Robert Brinsmead, who linked it with perfectionism. Desmond Ford convinced Brinsmead that his perfectionism was incorrect and Brinsmead came to reject it, and Brinsmead in the 1970s attempted to convince leading Adventist theologians Ford and Edward Heppenstall to write a refutation of it. Brinsmead said he hesitated "blasting this theology because I thought someone from within Adventism should do it." >

Australian Desmond Ford was a theologian in the church. In 1979 he addressed an Adventist Forums meeting at Pacific Union College critiquing the doctrine. This was viewed with concern and he was given leave to write up his views. In August 1980 the "Sanctuary Review Committee" met at Glacier View Ranch in Colorado to discuss Ford's views. Ford had written nearly 1000 pages titled Daniel 8:14, the Day of Atonement and the Investigative Judgement. The Glacier View meeting produced two consensus statements and formulated a ten point summary that highlighted major points of difference between Ford's positions and traditional Adventist teaching. Ultimately, the church's administration took action against Ford, revoking his ministerial credentials one month after Glacier View. Special issues of Ministry and Spectrum covered the event. A number of ministers resigned in the wake of Glacier View because they supported Ford's theology. By one count, 182 pastors in Australia and New Zealand left between 1980 and 1988, equivalent to "an astonishing 40 percent of the total ministerial workforce" in those countries. This amounts to "the most rapid and massive exit of Adventist pastors in the movement's 150 year history" (although he cautions that the fallout may have involved more than one factor). Cottrell believes Ford has given more scholarly study to the belief and written more on it than any other person in history. Five of these seven volumes cover the biblical Book of Daniel, and two cover the Book of Revelation. Ford has claimed that a number of "key figures" privately agreed with his views about the investigative judgment but refrained from speaking publicly on the issue, fearing that these "key figures" might lose their employment. Arthur Patrick saw Glacier View as a milestone in the theological development of the church, and that the effects of this controversy continue to be felt today. Morris Venden's portrayal of the investigative judgment emphasizes the fairness of God as a judge, as well as the grace of God. Recent critics include Dale Ratzlaff, who left the church following the Ford crisis, and former lecturer Jerry Gladson.

Non Adventist Christian churches and theologians have found that the investigative judgment is a doctrine with which they cannot agree. In a discussion between Adventist leaders and representatives from the World Evangelical Alliance in August 2007, the investigative judgment was noted as one of three points of doctrinal disagreement (the other two being the Sabbath and the authoritative role of Ellen G. White).