What We Believe

Our Faith

The "faith" of Memory, Meaning & Faith is Christian. Historically, our faith community—our church and seminary—is in the Christian tradition. We trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and base our lives on the authority of the Scriptures.

Our Christian faith is specifically Seventh-day Adventist (Fundamental Beliefs). Seventh-day Adventism is a Protestant movement that came out of the Second Great Awakening of 19th century America with specific roots in the Millerite movement. Seventh-day Adventism's distinctive beliefs may be summarized as five Ss.

Sanctuary - Christ’s mediatorial ministry for sinners in the heavenly sanctuary entered a special phase of cleansing and judgment in 1844, setting the stage for His return to earth.
Second Coming - The personal, visible, premillenial, soon return of Christ
State of the Dead - Unconsciousness until the resurrection, either to eternal life or eternal annihilation
Sabbath - Keeping the seventh day of the week holy
Spirit of Prophecy - Spiritual gifts, including the gift of Ellen White's visions

Our Philosophy

We believe that our faith has been shaped and informed by history, but that our view of history is also influenced by our beliefs. Our faith depends on the memory of the Lord’s leadings in the past, and at the same time faith guides us in seeing the true meaning of those memories. As scholars committed to the God of reality, we attempt to shape memories that are honest to the past, to discern meanings that are genuinely rooted in those memories, and to apply our faith when describing, critiquing, and explaining history. In turn, these efforts can and should deepen, enrich, and mature our faith in God.

Our Values

At Memory, Meaning & Faith we value