Foundations of the Seventh-day Adventist Message and Mission

About the Author

Professor Damsteegt, who bagged his doctorate form the Free University of Amsterdam, has contributed immensely to the study of Seventh-day Adventist history and theology. But much more, he has provided a much needed insight into the theological framework of Adventist mission.

About the Book

Did you know that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the most ubiquitously spread denominations? The Church has its presence in 235 countries, with its work established in 213 of them. Its membership stood at 21, 414, 779 as at December 31, 2018. It has also grown in institutions, with 118 tertiary educational institutions, 34 worker training institutions, 2,549 secondary schools, and 6,106 primary schools. In health care, the Church runs 211 hospitals and sanitariums, 440 clinics and dispensaries, and 132 nursing and retirement centers and orphanages. 

So what kind of message could have inspired a movement that only began in 1863 to cross the frontiers of global missions? P. Gerard Damsteegt, in this 1977 classic published in Grand Rapids, Michigan by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, has provided a timeless argument for the foundations of the missionary ethos of Seventh-day Adventism. Without understanding the theological framework of the Adventists, their mission philosophy, which has evolved progressively, will not be understood. 

Damsteegt employs a descriptive historical-theological and missiological approach in this book. He investigates the origin and significance of methods of interpretation by Seventh-day Adventists; the development of their ecclesiology, soteriology, and apocalyptic-eschatology; their self-understanding of the role they play in the history of the Christian church and salvation history; their views on inter-church relations; their concepts on truth and revelation; and approach to other faith groups. This book also discusses the reasons that kept this movement from disintegration after the 1844 disappointment suffered by the Millerites. All these factors, Damsteegt advances as indispensable in understanding the present theology of mission of the Adventists. 

For anyone who wants to understand how the Adventists have moved from an intensely apocalyptic mission thrust to a more Christocentric mission theology, this is the book to read. And for a better appreciation of the eschatological motifs of Adventism, this is the place to begin. A thorough reading of this well researched masterpiece of 348 pages will deepen the truth that theology is the springboard of mission. 

This book is recommended to Adventists who seek understanding of their mission roots, and non-Adventists who are amazed at the global spread of Seventh-day Adventism. 

Reviewed by John Okpechi