Who we are and what our purpose is:
When the Seventh Day Adventists initially formed their beliefs, they were unitedly opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity. The church's first statement of its beliefs (1872) reflects this teaching. It states:
I. That there is one God, a personal, spiritual being, the creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal, infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and mercy; unchangeable, and everywhere present by his representative, the Holy Spirit. Ps. 139:7.
II. That there is one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, the one by whom God created all things, and by whom they do consist; ..."
James White said:
"As fundamental errors, we might class with this counterfeit sabbath other errors which Protestants have brought away from the Catholic church, such as sprinkling for baptism, the trinity, the consciousness of the dead and eternal life in misery . The mass who have held these fundamental errors, have doubtless done it ignorantly; but can it be supposed that the church of Christ will carry along with her these errors till the judgment scenes burst upon the world? We think not.", {J. S. White, Review & Herald, September 12, 1854}
Joseph Bates said:
"Respecting the trinity, I concluded that it was an impossibility for me to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, was also the Almighty God, the Father, one and the same being. I said to my father, "If you can convince me that we are one in this sense, that you are my father, and I your son; and also that I am your father, and you my son, then I can believe in the trinity." {J. Bates, The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates, pp. 204, 205. 1868}".
J.N. andrews stated:
"The doctrine of the Trinity which was established in the church by the council of Nice, A. D. 325. This doctrine destroys the personality of God, and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The infamous, measures by which it was forced upon the church which appear upon the pages of ecclesiastical history might well cause every believer in that doctrine to blush." {J. N. Andrews, Review & Herald, March 6, 1855}.
In 1889, the 1872 statement was enlarged by the addition of 3 points, one mentioning God's people being a peculiar people, another mentioning simplicity of dress and a third mentioning the tithing principle. Otherwise, the two statements are identical.
It is the purpose, of the 1889 Historic Seventh Day Adventists to restore these first principles in Adventism, the most important being the two concerning the God that we worship.
See the statement in the header in its entirety for a more complete description of this doctrinal change in Adventism and what it really means.