wfn.org | Sierra Leone: Adventist Aid Agency Helps Families Rebuild

["Beckett, John" <BeckettJ@gc.adventist.org>]

ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
September 29, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

No Religious Significance to Year 2000 Says Adventist Church

Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. ... [ANN] 

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has issued a statement expressing its view
about the Year 2000. "The year 2000 has no particular prophetic
significance," the statement says. The Church rejects "any speculation
concerning its religious  meaning." Referring to the second coming of
Christ, the statement affirms that Seventh-day Adventists "do not speculate
about the precise historical moment when that event will take place."

Commenting about the statement, Leo Ranzolin, vice president of the World
Church,  said that "if anything is of significance about the future, it is
the hope we, as Christians, have in the soon return of Christ. While others
worry, we are a people who have and live out our Christian  hope." 

"Many people are afraid of the future," adds Ranzolin. "There is a lot of
speculation about the Year 2000 and its importance for the world's history.
Assigning spiritual dimension to a year's end and to the turning of yet
another new year would be going beyond the value we give to such occasions.
As a Church, we are not assigning anything special to this date. But as
individuals who are counting the days of our lives, 2000 seems special. How
often can we witness such a 'round' calendar number during our lifetime?"
 
The "Statement About Adventism and the Year 2000" was voted on September 29
by 330 members of the Church's Executive Committee which is meeting at its
Annual Council at the World Church Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The Council, which opened on Tuesday evening, September 28, will continue
until October 7.  The committee members, who represent the Church's highest
governing body, are discussing the current church issues, as well as agenda
matters for the up-coming quinquennial world Church Session in Toronto in
July of 2000.

The full text of the statement follows. 

    "Statement About Adventism and the Year 2000"

Seventh-day Adventists anchor their hope in the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ and joyfully look forward to the consummation of that
hope in the soon return of Jesus.  Adventists  base their faith on the
teachings of Scripture and believe that the passage of time is significant
inasmuch as it brings us closer to the most wonderful event that ever will
be witnessed by human eyes.  We eagerly expect the visible return of Christ.
Yet we do not speculate about the precise historical moment when that event
will take place.  Jesus told us, "'It is not for you to know the times or
dates the Father has set by His own authority'" (Acts 1:7, NIV).

Consequently, Adventists do not attach religious significance to the ending
of one millennium and the beginning of a new one.  The year 2000 has no
particular prophetic significance; it is not mentioned in the Bible, and any
speculation concerning its religious meaning is to be rejected.  However, we
see each year that passes as bringing us closer to the return of our Lord. 

We realize that the turn of a millennium has a significant emotional impact
on the human race.  No one alive has experienced such an event.  Many are
filled with concern, expectation, and even fear as we approach the year
2000.  While many people are apprehensive in the face of turmoil in nature
and in society, our Lord says, "Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1,
KJV).  Thus, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we share the hope of a
glorious future that will become a reality at God's appointed time.

-end-
----------------------
Contact Information: 
Communications Department
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600

Phone: 301-680-6300
e-mail: info@gc.adventist.org
web: http://www.adventist.org/