Seventh Day Adventists of the Reformation Movement

The Adventist-reforming movement emerged during the First World War in Germany as a result of violations of the Law of God by the leadership and members of the SDA. Unlike most Seventh-day Adventists, who spoke out against God's Law for serving in the armed forces of their states, Adventist-reformers, referring to God's Law, the Bible, the historical position of the SDA Church on this issue - E. White and the Pioneers-Adventists categorically objected to participation in hostilities. They stated that believers should only comply with laws that are not contrary to God's law (the 10 commandments) and considered a different position to be a direct violation of the 6th and 4th commandments of the Decalogue (“Do not kill,” “Remember the Sabbath day”). Disagreements eventually led to the separation and the formation of a reformation movement. As a result, according to the official data of the SDA church itself, at least 2% of Seventh-day Adventists were excluded from the church lists ^{[3] [4]} .

After the war ended, the leaders of Seventh-day Adventists attempted to reconcile with the detached groups. At a meeting with dissidents in Friedensau (Germany), the leaders of the church, despite the law of God, made concessions and released everything at the mercy of conscience, stating that the possibility of participation or non-participation in armed formations and military conflicts should depend on the personal opinion of each person. Despite this, the split was not resolved. In 1925 , at the congress in Gotha (Germany), Adventist reformers created a highly centralized church organization led by its General Conference ^{[3] [4]} .

When the war ended and a peace treaty was signed in 1918, those expelled from the church made special efforts to regulate their relationship with the church, but this did not bring any benefit. There was no room for reconciliation. Then the Seventh-Day Adventist General Conference, located in Washington, sent 4 members of the General Conference Committee to Europe. They were pastors A. G. Daniels, President of the General Conference, L. H. Christian, F. M. Wilcox and M. E. Kern. They were sent to Europe in 1920 and had negotiations with brothers who were excluded from the church. These talks were held from July 21 to 23, 1920 at the Seventh Day Adventist Missionary School in Friedensau, Germany. The course of this meeting and everything that was said during this meeting was recorded by the stenographer and later published under the name “Protocol”. In this document, the excluded brothers were called the Opposition Movement. They were also known as "2 percent." There were few of them. But they had something better - they kept the teachings of Seventh Day Adventists. They did not intend to separate, did not introduce any new teachings, but adhered to the following principle:

Who made the first division among ASD?

1. In Germany: Sturm, Germs, Fritz, Kornik, Iokshe, Neertzen, Taberg, Bach, Tischler, Spanknobel, Otto Welp, Kramer, Beretsky and Freineerger;

2. In Romania: Nikulich, Vatsa, Salagura, Gica, Mac, Ursan, Mihai, Strezha, Alexander Dalaleu;

3. In Russia: Netevich, Yantzen, Manzhura , Unrau, Ostwald , Frank and Reputin

In the USSR ^[5]

In the USSR, Seventh-day Adventist communities have existed since pre-revolutionary times (1890). With the establishment of Soviet power in October 1917 and the publication in January 1918 of the democratic decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church, all religious organizations received freedom and equality. In spite of this, the SDA Church adhered to a new course in relation to military service. This was confirmed at the 5th All-Union Seventh-day Adventist Congress, held August 16-23, 1924 in Moscow, in the 3rd House of the Soviets. On the 4th day of the congress, the question of the attitude to the Soviet power and service in the army was discussed: "The congress decided to send to the CEC of the USSR the" Declaration ", the detailed elaboration of which was entrusted to the commission for resolutions."

The declaration has been developed. In particular, it stated: “The Seventh-day Adventist doctrine is sensitive to the freedom of conscience of its members, and therefore does not consider it to itself to order them to act one way or another on this issue, and each member, guided by his convictions, is personally responsible for his attitude to military service, and the Congress does not prevent such members from undertaking military service when their conscience allows them. The responsibility for the service should be accepted by members for their civic duty and to fulfill it honestly and in good faith. ” - From the history of the church. - P.75, 76.

“Remembering now this decision, we must recognize that it generally reflected the position of the World Church on the issue of military service.” - CBC. May 18-19, 1995

By contacting the General Conference of the Seventh Day Adventists of the Reformation Movement, which already existed at that time and received approval, in 1926 the expellees organized themselves in the Russian missionary field, and the following was recorded in the minutes of the conference:

“At our frequent meetings and committee meetings, with God's help, we could successfully develop some plans for the progress of God's work in our country. Thus, the following brothers were authorized to work: Ostwald G., Unrau G., Dezhiner O. (biblical worker), Tomansko G. (assistant biblical worker), Regier O. (cashier) ”. These brothers were the first workers of the SDA Reformation Movement organized in Russia.

Under pressure from the Soviet authorities, the leadership of the SDA Church held a resolution that allowed Adventists to carry out military service in arms, if this does not contradict their conscience and convictions. The 6th Congress, held in 1928 , obliged Adventists to carry out “state and military service in all its forms on common grounds for all citizens,” without even leaving the believers free choice. Some church members considered this a violation of the biblical commandment prohibiting murder. Their leader was Heinrich Ostwald , who for the irreconcilable position against military service as early as 1925 was expelled from the SDA church. However, the preacher in 1926 established links with the General Conference of the Reformation Movement of Seventh-day Adventists in Germany, which arose during the First World War as a protest against the call of believers to the front. With the consent of the leadership of the organization, G. A. Ostwald created and headed its department - the Russian field of the Seventh-day Adventists of the reformation movement. He preached the refusal to cooperate with the Soviet government and military service. For his convictions, G. A. Ostwald in 1931 was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but immediately after his release in 1936 he created the All-Russian Union of Adventist Reformers, but it was not officially registered, since in Soviet times it was impossible. In 1937 he was arrested again and died during the preliminary investigation.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the Reformation movement was formed in the most difficult conditions. Not only did the former brothers of the SDA relate not to Christianity, and even had to, like all the faithful in all ages, endure persecution throughout the entire period of the existence of Soviet power, and especially of Stalin’s hard times. During this period, repression touched many believers, and especially ministers, because the course was taken towards the complete eradication of religion, therefore the government called itself atheistic. Believers were accused of being “hiding behind religious convictions, opposing service in the Soviet Army and defending the homeland in arms, which undermine the military power of the state, and, refusing to work on Saturdays, undermine economic power.” These are standard charges for all believers. Their rights were not recognized anywhere, unfairly accused as state criminals, condemned for long terms of imprisonment (almost for life), and even shot. Some believers managed to be intimidated and forced to submit to the illegal demands of the authorities, and then they were made scammers to others, and thus found out a lot for accusations. For this, members of the SDA were also used, sending them to attend meetings of the ASDRD and report back, followed by arrests.

The first preachers were arrested: G. Ostwald, P. Manzhura , G. Unrau, Janzen and other ministers; It is impossible to list all. All of them were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, and many died a martyr's death due to poor nutrition and ill-treatment. With the beginning of the war in 1941, four young brothers from the village of Bochkovtsy, Chernivtsi region. - R. Pasechnik, F. Pirog, K. Moldovan, and M. Bug were drafted into the army. Wanting to remain faithful to the Law of God, they refused to take up arms and kill, for which, according to one eyewitness, they were locked in an old carriage and burned. There are many such stories.

The repressions affected not only individual members, but also entire communities of the Reformation Movement. Thus, up to one 18 members of the Armavir community were arrested, half of whom were old people. But they were all charged with a political article 58, accused of anti-Soviet activities, and convicted everyone of 25 years in prison. Many of them died in the camps. Among the convicts of the Armavir community was the servant O. V. Tsvetkov, his mother and sister. Tsvetkov O. V. courageously defended the sanctity of the Law of God, for which he had four convictions, serving 16 years in harsh camp conditions. Even children suffered, who were taken away from their parents and taken to boarding schools by the court’s decision, and their parents were deprived of parental rights. Young people could not receive education in higher education, because for this it was necessary to recognize the ideology that there is no God and join the Komsomol. But the believers could not do this, because it meant going against their conscience. And to do something against conscience is wrongful and unjust.

The successor of Ostwald as chairman, P. I. Manzhur, died in the camp in 1949. He was succeeded by Vladimir Andreevich Shelkov , who moved from ASD to ASDRD in 1934. He was arrested several times. In 1945, Shelkov was sentenced to death and spent 55 days on death row, after which the shooting was replaced by 10 years of the camp. Shelkov spent in prison and in exile for a total of 26 years and died in 1980 in a prison camp near Yakutsk ^{[6] [7]} . Between arrests he was in an illegal situation. As a servant of the SDA Church of the Reformation Movement, he practically left it and created his society under a new name - the AACCD.

The modern organization of Adventist reformers is called the Seventh Day Adventists of the Reformation Movement.

The doctrine and practice of worship among Adventist reformers and Seventh Day Adventists is almost identical. At the same time, Adventist reformers believe that the organization of the Seventh-day Orthodox Adventists retreated from the 4th and 6th Commandments of the Decalogue , strictly prohibiting working on Saturdays and taking up arms. ^[8] .

Seventh Day Adventists of the Reformation Movement operate in more than 126 countries.

Other branches of Adventism are not so numerous. But all of them can also use materials and symbols of orthodox Adventists.

• Alekseeva L.M. Faithful and Free Seventh Day Adventists // History of Dissent in the USSR: The Latest Period . - Vilnius; M .: News, 1992. - 352 p. - ISBN 5-89942-250-3 .
• Belov A.V. Adventism. - 2nd ed. - M .: Politizdat , 1973. - 238 p. - (Library "Modern religions"). - 100 000 copies
• Grigorenko A.Yu. Eschatology, millenarianism, Adventism: history and modernity. Philosophical and religious essays . - SPb. : European House, 2004. - 392 p. - 3000 copies - ISBN 5-8015-0174-6 .
• Puchkov P. I. Reform Adventists // Peoples and Religions of the World: Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. V.A. Tishkov . - M .: The Great Russian Encyclopedia , 1999. - S. [675] (stb. 2). - 928 s. - 100 000 copies - ISBN 5-85270-155-6 .
• Murray, Katharine. Soviet Seventh-day Adventists // Religion, State and Society, 5: 2 (Summer 1977). - P. 88–93.
• Ruttmann H. Die adventistische Reformationsbewegung 1914-2001: die Internationale Missionsgesellschaft der Siebenten-Tags-Adventisten, Reformationsbewegung in Deutschland. - Köln: Teiresias-Verlag, 2002. - ISBN 3-934305-39-3 .
• Sapiets, Marite . VA Shelkov and the Adventists of the USSR, Religion, State and Society, 8: 3 (1980). - P. 201-217.
• Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. - Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1996. - ISBN 0-8280-0918-X .

Seventh Day Adventists of the Reformation Movement

• The official website of the Church of the SDA Reformation Movement, Eastern European Union
• The official website of the Church of the SDA Reformation Movement in Russia ^[1]
• Church of the ASD of the Reformation Movement in the Republic of Moldova
• Zhemchuzhina : ASD website of the reformation movement of the Black Sea field in the Eastern European Union (Ukraine)
• Nikolaev OV Seventh Day Adventists (ASD) // Denominations and Religious Associations in the Orenburg Region: a Handbook / under. total ed. O. A. Gainutdinova. Orenburg: IC Ortesi, 2012. P. 99.