On a related note - we have Seventh-day Adventists being affirmed as an Evangelical Christian group by the author of "Kingdom of the Cults" according to this referenced-quote on wikipedia --
en.wikipedia.org
"He (Walter Martin)
indicated his opposition to Adventist teachings in a brief paragraph in the inaugural edition of his book
The Rise of the Cults, published in 1955.
[20]
"However,
he reversed his views after a series of interviews with various leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
and on reading Adventist literature. Martin reported his initial findings to Barnhouse, and between 1955 and 1956 a series of small conferences were held, with Barnhouse and Martin meeting Adventist leaders like T. E. Unruh and
LeRoy Froom.
[21][22][23]
"Barnhouse and Martin then published some of their findings in a series of articles that appeared in
Eternity between September and November 1956.
[24][25][26][27] The standpoint taken by Barnhouse and Martin was that
Adventists were largely orthodox on central doctrines, but heterodox on lesser doctrines, and so could be classified as
belonging in the Evangelical camp.
"Martin later
expanded his position in his 1960 book-length treatment,
The Truth About Seventh-day Adventism.
[28] Martin's book carried an explanatory foreword by Barnhouse and a statement from H. W. Lowe who was the chairman of the Biblical Study and Research Group of the
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
[29] While Lowe
did not agree with Martin's criticism of the church's distinctive doctrines he nonetheless commended the book for providing a "
fair and accurate statement of Adventist teachings."
[30]
"A committee of Adventist leaders themselves wrote and published a companion book,
Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine, in 1957. While many Adventists welcomed the overtures of Barnhouse and Martin..."
=============== brief comment - insert
Amen to that last statement. I am an example of an Adventist that greatly appreciates both the "Questions on Doctrines" book - dealing with many of the questions Walter Martin had about Adventism, but I also enjoyed reading Martin's book "Kingdom of the Cults".
============= resume quote of wiki
"there were other Adventists who questioned the position taken by church leaders in the volume
Questions on Doctrine.
[31]
..."As the controversy ensued among Evangelicals Martin found it was necessary to restate and defend his position and to reply to his critics. To that end Martin reproduced much of the text of his 1960 book, together with critical replies
in an appendix "The Puzzle of Seventh-day Adventism" in his 1965 textbook
The Kingdom of the Cults.
[39]
"Martin later updated the appendix in the 1985 edition of
Kingdom of the Cults, and since his death the editors of the posthumous editions of 1997 and 2003 have continued to update it.
[40]
======================= End wiki quote
I have the 1985 edition of Martin's book.
Page 409 of his book (where he devotes almost 100 pages to Adventists, out of the total of 525 pages for the entire book ) -- we find this on page 409.
"it is perfectly possible to be a Seventh-day Adventist and be a true follower of Jesus"
(Martin says this does not mean he agrees with "the entire theological structure" of Adventists.)
P411 Martin says
"it is our position that that
Seventh-day Adventism as a denomination is essentially Christian in the sense that all denominations and groups professing Christianity are Christian if they conform to the classic mission of Christianity as given in the Bible..."
"But
this does not mean that all Baptists, all Methodists, all Episcopalians, all Lutherans, or all Adventists are necessarily Christians. This is
a matter between the individual and God..."
==================
in places like 433 of Martin's book - he faults Anthony Hoekema's book "The Four Major Cults" for using unconvincing, shoddy tactics in its treatment and condemnation of the Adventist faith.
