Adventists and Catholics (2024)
Bruinsma, Reinder. Adventists and Catholics: The History of a Turbulent Relationship. Peter Lang, 2024. 346 pp.
“This book deals with the origins and history of anti-Catholicism among Seventh-day Adventists in North America. These anti-Catholic sentiments were rooted in the history of nineteenth century America, as well as in Adventist interpretation of particular apocalyptic passages in the Bible. Building on historicist prophetic interpretations, Adventists developed an end-time scenario in which Catholics were expected to play an increasingly sinister role.
This book chronicles in detail the flow of this turbulent relationship, from the emergence of Adventism down to the present day. It will be of interest to all those interested in the fields of Seventh-day Adventist history, American religious history, ecumenics, and Roman Catholic history in the United States.”
Author
Reinder Bruinsma was born in the Netherlands, where he is now retired after a career in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Netherlands, West Africa, the United States and Great Britain. He has a PhD from the University of London, and is the author of more than thirty books.
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter One - The context
Post-Reformation Views on Roman Catholicism in England
Puritan Views on Roman Catholicism
America in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century
Millenarianism
The Anti-Catholic Climate in Nineteenth Century America
Conclusion
Chapter Two - The Movement of William Miller and Catholicism
William Miller (1782-1849)
From Ecumenical Movement to Sect
Catholicism in the Millerite Chronological Scheme
The Catholic Church in the Prophecies of Daniel
The Catholic Church in the Book of Revelation
Millerism and the Catholic Threat
Conclusion
Chapter Three - Sabbatarian Adventists and Catholics
Developments in Sabbatarian Adventism
Catholicism and its Opponents
The Crystallizing of Prophetic Views
"Popish Errors"
Limited Interest in Contemporary Issues in Catholicism
Conclusion
Chapter Four - Seventh-day Adventists and Catholics: 1863-1915
The Formative Period of Seventh-day Adventism
Developments in Catholicism
Continuous Prophetic Interest
Emphasis on History
Adventist Reactions to Current Issues in Catholicism
Adventist Fears for the Immediate Future
Ellen G. White's Views regarding Catholicism
Institutions vs. Individuals
Conclusion
Chapter Five - Adventism and Catholicism: 1915-1965
Adventism Comes of Age
Developments in American Catholicism
Continued Anti-Catholicism
Reconfirming the Prophetic Framework
The Mass and Other Errors
Adventism and Anti-Catholicism
Adventist Reactions to Specific Issues
Prospects for Evangelization
No Signs of Real Change?
The Second Vatican Council
Conclusion
Chapter Six - After 1965: a Little Less Turbulence?
Adventism Becomes a World Movement
Catholicism since Vatican II
Developments in Adventist Prophetic Interpretation
Interacting with Babylon and its "Daughters"
Recent Adventist Appraisals of Roman Catholicism
Reacting to Events and Trends in Catholicism
Again: Will Rome Ever Change?
Summary and Conclusions
Bibliography
Index of Persons
Index of Topics”
Description is from the publisher’s website.
