wfn.org | No Religious Significance to Year 2000 Says Adventist Church

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

October 1, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

Special Report General Conference Annual Council 1999

No Religious Significance to Year 2000 Says Adventist Church

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