Proposed Update to the 2nd Fundamental Belief of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Written by: Dr. Christopher Sernaque

Opening

The 2nd Fundamental Belief of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as expressed in the 2020 Edition, states that Seventh-day Adventists affirm the Trinity.  Maintaining a scripturally accurate view of the Godhead is vital because belief in the one triune God is essential to the Christian faith. Dr. Christopher Sernaque has proposed a revised update to the 2nd Fundamental Belief because of the clear Biblical affirmations of God’s oneness and God’s threeness and because of his dialogues with evangelical scholars. During his revisionary process, Dr. Sernaque was committed to the teachings of Scripture and used language already found in the Scriptures to express the Fundamental Belief. The revised 2nd Fundamental Belief is seen below the version that appears in the 2020 Edition of the 28 Fundamental Beliefs.

2020 Edition

There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. God, who is love, is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 6:8; Matt. 28:19; John 3:16; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22; 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2.)

2025 Edition

There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-equal and co-eternal Persons. The Godhead is one in divine nature and three in divine personhood. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever-present. He is infinite, and His greatness is unsearchable, yet He is known through His self-revelation. God, who is love, is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Gen. 1:1–2, 1:26; Deut. 6:4; 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 90:1–2, 145:3; Isa. 6:8, 44:6, 57:15; Matt. 28:19; Jn. 3:16, 10:30, 17:21–22; Acts 17:24–25, 28; Rom. 16:27; 1 Cor. 1:21–22; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4–6; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:2; 2 Pet. 1:4, 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:17; 1 Jn. 1:5, 5:20).

Updates

There are several notable changes.

Affirmation of Equality: The revised statement reads, “There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-equal and co-eternal Persons.” Several of the evangelical scholars expressed concern that the 2020 edition could be taken as an endorsement of subordinationism or Eternal Subordination of the Son (ESS). The revised statement affirms that the three persons of the Trinity are all co-eternal, and unequivocally, co-equal, which is the clear teaching of Scripture.

Clarification on God’s Oneness and Threeness: The revised statement reads, “The Godhead is one in divine nature and three in divine personhood.” This clear affirmation of God’s oneness and God’s threeness was appreciated by the evangelical scholars reading the revised 2nd Fundamental Belief because this declaration makes it abundantly clear that Seventh-day Adventists reject polytheism in all its forms, specifically tritheism. In contrast to polytheistic views, like the Greek pantheon, this revised statement makes it clear that there is only one singular divine nature, as taught in 2 Peter 1:4 and by the use of the singular "name" in the baptismal vow, in passages such as Matthew 28:19. This statement also distinguishes Seventh-day Adventists from tritheists, such as Latter-day Saints, who believe that God is one merely “in purpose.” The term “divine nature” was selected because it comes from the Scriptural language, and the term personhood was selected because the Oxford Language Dictionary’s definition of personhood emphasizes individuality, i.e., “the quality or condition of being an individual person.” Thus, this updated terminology makes it plain that Seventh-day Adventists believe in the one true God of Deuteronomy 6:4, who is a unity of three distinct persons, as expressed in passages such as Matthew 3:13-17, and Hebrews 1:3. The evangelicals found that the language used in the revision on God’s oneness and threeness was considered an acceptable formulation of “Neither dividing the essence nor confounding the persons”, which stayed true to the language of scripture without having to use credal terminology.

Improved Grammar: The revised version reads, “God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever-present.” The only difference between this line, and the 2020 edition, is the addition of a hyphen between the words “ever” and “present” because "ever-present" is a compound adjective describing God's constant presence. Compound adjectives are formed when two or more words work together to modify a noun. In this case, "ever" (meaning "always") and "present" (meaning "existing or occurring now") combine to describe God's presence as continual or unceasing. Without the hyphen (dash), the phrase "ever present" could be misread as two separate ideas—"ever" (always) as a standalone adverb and "present" as a standalone adjective. This might create ambiguity in meaning. In the statement, terms like "all-powerful" and "all-knowing" already have hyphens because they combine an adverb and an adjective to describe God. To be consistent and accurate, "ever-present" should follow the same rule, as it also combines two words to form a single descriptive term because it acts as a compound adjective modifying God.

Upholding Perspicuity: The revised statement reads, “He is infinite and His greatness is unsearchable, yet He is known through His self-revelation.” An evangelical scholar expressed concern that the current belief, which claims that God is “beyond human comprehension” is tacitly denying the perspicuity of God and the Bible, which is foundational to the Protestant belief that the Bible is accessible without the guidance of clergy. They approved of the revised, “His greatness is unsearchable” as it maintains the glory of God and the perspicuity of God. The phrase “His greatness is unsearchable” is a direct quotation from Psalm 145:3, thus, it expresses the concept using language found in the scripture.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the proposed update to the 2nd Fundamental Belief strengthens the Seventh-day Adventist Church's understanding of the Trinity by affirming the co-equality and co-eternality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The revision clarifies God’s oneness in divine nature and threeness in personhood, ensuring a rejection of both subordinationism and tritheism. By incorporating clearer scriptural language and improving grammatical consistency, this update enhances the precision and clarity of the Church’s doctrine, staying true to the Bible’s teaching while remaining accessible and theologically sound.

Addendum

(April 10th, 2025)

Dr. Christopher Sernaque takes no issue with using the terms "substance", "essence", or "ontological being" to describe the Holy Trinity. In fact, he welcomes the use of clear and precise terminology to describe the Trinity, whether credal or otherwise. He affirms, as other Christian apologists have, that "God is one ‘what’ but three ‘whos’." However, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians typically strive to use language that is already present in Scripture, Dr. Sernaque has chosen to use the term "divine nature", which is terminology that the Bible, as well as other Christian Apologetics organizations, have used to describe the Trinity. This choice reflects a desire to remain faithful to the scriptural language while maintaining theological clarity and accuracy.

It is also worth noting that Hebrews 1:3, which Dr. Sernaque referenced in the proposal, speaks of the Son as “the exact representation of [God’s] being”, which aligns with the understanding that the Son shares the same essence, or substance, as the Father. While terms like "substance" and "essence" are biblical, "divine nature" is equally a scriptural and accessible expression of this truth, aligning with both biblical language and the broader Christian theological tradition.