Progressive Adventists are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who prefer different emphases or disagree with certain beliefs traditionally held by mainstream Adventism and officially by the church. While they are often described as liberal Adventism by other Adventists, the term "progressive" is generally preferred as a self-description. This article describes terms such as evangelical Adventism, cultural Adventism, charismatic Adventism, and progressive Adventism and others, which are generally related but have distinctions.

Progressives typically disagree with one or more of the church's basic beliefs such as the Sabbath or "distinctive" beliefs such as the investigative judgment, the remnant, a future global Sunday-law, or a use of Ellen G. White's writings. They also tend to question some of the denomination's 28 fundamental beliefs: with debate arising on the nature of the Trinity, perpetuity of the Law of God, the Nature of Christ, the Gift of Prophecy, Creation or observance of the seventh-day Sabbath."

It also has many similarities with the ecumenical emerging church movement, as both are characterized by their disillusionment with the organized and institutional church.Brenton Reading, "Summer Reading Group: Deep Church". Spectrum Blog, 10 July 2010. Quote: "It should be evident that there are many similarities between the Emerging Church and Progressive Adventism as well as between the Traditional Evangelical Church and Traditional Adventism." "It was in the order of God that Christ should take upon Ηimself the form and nature of fallen man, that He might be made perfect through suffering, and Himself endure the strength of Satan's fierce temptation, that He might understand how to succour those that should be tempted (Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 2, p. 39" Perceptions and definitions of it may differ somewhat depending on the author, although much in common is also clearly discernible.

History The movement emerged with certain interactions with evangelical Christians in the 1950s, which included the publication of Questions on Doctrine in 1957.Unknown This period marked a shift in the broader Christian world's perception of Adventists, from being viewed as a sect to being more commonly accepted as a legitimate Christian denomination. The term "progressive Adventist" was first used in the mid-1960s in Spectrum magazine, according to one author.

One scholar wrote in 2001:

"It is only within the last few decades that the Adventist Review has recognized editorially that there exists within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, at least in North America, 'liberals,' 'liberal churches,' 'liberal colleges/universities' and 'liberal conferences.' Depending on the author and his/her agenda, Adventist liberals are compared and/or contrasted with 'conservative Adventists,' 'historic Adventists,' 'Bible-believing (or EGW-believing) Adventists,' 'traditional Adventists,' 'evangelical Adventists,' 'cultural Adventists,' and/or 'ecumenical Adventists.'"

Beliefs and practices Progressives tend to agree on some beliefs, but differ or have a greater variation on others. According to one author, Progressive Adventism "regrets the anti-intellectual, authoritarian and obscurant tendencies that characterize a significant segment of traditional, historic Adventism, along with the attempts at creating a creed out of the "27 Fundamental Doctrines"."

Ron Corson identifies four common areas of progressive belief: , and on Corson's website

Investigative judgment. A different view of the investigative judgment, or a denial of its biblical basis. Remnant. An inclusion of other Christians in the term remnant. Ellen White. A less rigid view of the Inspiration of Ellen White that may recognize her fallibility or express skepticism of her prophetic abilities. Sabbath. Progressive Adventists tend not to hold to the traditional view of Sabbath as a Holy day of worship, but emphasize some of the positive aspects of Sabbath such as it being made for human benefit (), and deny that Sunday-keeping is or will be the mark of the beast.

Origins Progressive Adventists tend to challenge traditional teachings such as young Earth creationism and some have accepted old Earth creationism or evolutionary creationism.

Church structure Progressive Adventists typically believe the present church structure is very "top heavy" with too many levels of leadership, and possibly too much hierarchical control. Many mainstream Adventists such as George Knight have also called for change in this area.

Free press Progressive Adventists tend to believe there should be candid reporting of news and information about the church whether positive or negative. They believe in open discussion in a free press. This view is also shared by many more mainstream Adventists such as former editors of the Australian Record James CoffinJames Coffin, A Different Church for a Different World, p.23 (probably also published in the Adventist Review) and Bruce Manners.

Music Progressive Adventists are typically open to a variety of styles of worship music in church, including contemporary Christian music."" by Alissa Rouse, who describes attending an Audio Adrenaline concert.

Movie theaters Progressives typically disregard the church's stand on movie theater attendance. For instance, the adventist publication Spectrum does reviews of movies and TV shows.

Varieties of evangelical/progressive Adventism Cultural Adventism

A similar group have been referred to as "cultural Adventists". This term may be used by Adventists who are not overly concerned with theology, such as evangelical Kenneth Samples' description of "a segment that is atheological in nature and reflects what [he] would call a cultural Adventism."Samples, Kenneth (2007). "Evangelical Reflections on Seventh-day Adventism: Yesterday and Today ". Questions on Doctrine 50th anniversary conference It may also refer to those who feel an attachment towards the Adventist church for cultural reasons only rather than beliefs or strict theological conformity.

Clifford Goldstein has declared, "A cultural Adventist? The concept's incomprehensible to me... I'm an Adventist for one reason: the beliefs, the teachings, the doctrines that this church—and this church alone—espouses. If it were not for them, I'd be gone faster than the junk food at church potlucks. The Seventh-day Adventist culture had nothing to do with bringing me here. On the contrary, coming as I did from a secular Jewish background, the culture was the biggest obstacle."

Charismatic Adventism

While Adventist church worship is commonly conservative, a few minor segments in their history may be looked at as charismatic in nature. Phenomena of this nature have been present throughout Adventist history, resulting in such things as the Holy Flesh movement which Ellen White strongly rebuked."

Liberal Adventism The term liberal Adventist or left-wing Adventist usually means "progressive Adventist" (the preferred self-designation; see above).Progressive Adventism: A Nonfundamentalist Vision by Ervin Taylor This is appropriate because most progressive Adventists are still "conservative" or evangelical Christians. For example most do believe in the resurrection of Jesus. They do not hold to a "libertine" or "anything goes" attitude which the term "liberal" sometimes implies. A number of Progressive Adventists are actually liberal Christians, accepting such things as homosexuality and even support for LGBTQ individuals at the college and university level.

According to evangelical Kenneth Samples, "It should also be mentioned that, though small, there was and is a segment in Adventism which could be described as being theologically liberal" or even "very liberal". He claims it rejects Christ's vicarious substitutionary atonement.

Ron Corson wrote,[Progressive Adventists] could be termed liberal, except that the term 'liberal Christian' generally refers to those who don't believe that Christ was resurrected nor that he performed miracles, and who hold other tenets with which most Progressive SDA's would not agree. These 'liberals' are often involved in the Jesus Seminars.

Social action Many Progressive Adventists describe themselves as "liberal" to mean they are liberal or left-wing politically, and have a concern for political or social justice action.

Other terms Also compare to the "Evangelical left" and "Progressive Christianity". Also compare to the "Christian/religious left" (although this term is associated with left-wing politics).

Other terms such as ecumenical Adventist and evangelical Adventist have been used, with presumably related meaning. (Compare the much broader movements "Ecumenism" and "Evangelicalism" within Christianity as a whole).

Moves toward mainstream Christianity The 1957 publication of Questions on Doctrine (QOD) as a result of dialog with critic Walter Martin is seen as a beginning for Progressive Adventism. According to one author, the roots of evangelical Adventism can be traced to scholars who met with Martin and Barnhouse, or earlier. "The seeds of this movement were sown within the denomination via the book QOD in 1957, and the seed-plot was watered by the public ministries of such men as R. A. Anderson, Robert Brinsmead, Desmond Ford, Smuts van Rooyen, and others."Alan Crandall, "Whither Evangelical Adventism". Evangelica, May 1982, 23; as quoted by SamplesFor information on Rooyen, see (see p22–23) This book precipitated the different factions. The movement emerged with Ford and Brinsmead as its main spokesmen. Brinsmead changed his stance while Desmond Ford openly differed with several church viewpoints in the 1970s., echoing some of the ideas of A.F. Ballenger. Many liberals left the church in this period and liberals still follow and cite his viewpoints.

According to one author, Progressives reject the mainstream views on and are united by belief in the pre-fallen nature of Jesus (and hold he was primarily our substitute not our example), assurance of salvation without sanctification, that overcoming sin or perfectionism is impossible, that Jesus ascended straight to the Most Holy Place rather the Holy Place in the tabernacle in heaven at his ascension (although opinions varied on a pre-advent judgment), that Ellen White had the gift of prophecy but was not infallible nor should be used for doctrine.

Media Operational

Progressive Adventists, such as Raymond Cottrell, were responsible for the progressive-leaning Spectrum (archives), a newsmagazine published by Adventist Forums, that has been the premier independent Adventist magazine since its founding in 1969. In addition to its quarterly journal, Spectrum also runs a regularly updated website with news and analysis on developments within the Church and other areas. Progressive Adventists also established Adventist Today (archives), a bimonthly magazine first published in 1993. In 2008 Adventist Today made a renewed commitment to reporting on a greater diversity of Adventist views.

Also started by Progressives was Adventist Heritage: A Journal of Adventist History (archives), "which provided an important liberal platform" of Keith Lockhart by Julius Nam. Lockhart is the coauthor of Seeking a Sanctuary with Malcolm Bull from 1974 to 1998 in roughly 18 volumes. It was supported by the Association of Seventh-day Adventist Historians and other groups. Gary Land was a founding editor,Historical Dictionary of Seventh-day Adventists by Gary Land, p421 as was Ronald Numbers. Jonathan M. Butler served as editor for a decade.The Disappointed: Millerism and Millenarianism in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Ronald L. Numbers and Jonathan M. Butler Published twice yearly, it was acquired by Loma Linda University.Adventist Review July 3, 1975 , p19

Historical