March 2019
Is the modern (post-1800’s) conservation movement consistent with Christian and/or Seventh-day Adventist principals and theology? We will explore this over the next few issues. Protection of God’s creatures has been a part of the Seventh-day Adventist movement since it’s inception. Cpt. Joseph Bates, one of the four principle founders of the denomination advocated compassion for living creatures. In 1848 he published a tract about the Sabbath truth. In it he pointed out that the Sabbath rest was not only for man, but also a protection for animals and all of creation. It is our duty to let our animals rest on the Sabbath because they cannot speak for themselves. “He has also given this day of rest to the beasts of burden, and makes man accountable for causing them to violate his day.”1 Bates took his beliefs of protecting animals further by becoming vegetarian. Elliot J. Waggoner was another renowned evangelist early in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He wrote several