From A Mustard Seed To A Big Tree

It is estimated that there are around three thousand denominations in Christianitytoday. The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA), a religious minority in this large family,caught little attention to the surrounded world at the very beginning. After one centuryand a half’s development, SDA has grown into one of the most widespread protestantchurches and produced significant impact on America and the world. SDA’stremendous social achievements and contributions are not to be neglected and worthyof our attention.Researches on American Religion in China are extensive and fruitful. But mostof them are conducted in a macro manner and others are focused on some mainstreamlarge denominations, very few involved minority denominations. Therefore, byexploring and analyzing a representative among them, this thesis aims to facilitaterelevant studies in this area.By raising and addressing the following basic questions:“Where is SDA from?”“What did SDA do?” and “Who is SDA today?” the outline of this thesis wasformulated. Firstly, the thesis explores SDA’s origin in a bigger historical context. Thepurpose is to examine the overall religious climate in the United States in the early19thcentury, trying to find out the incubating and stimulating elements behind theemergence of the Adventist. Next, it analyzes how SDA developed a completestructure of theology from its basic theological principals, which is interrelated withits mission. And then, the thesis moves on to discuss how SDA practiced its missionthrough a series of social reforms, which made a great impact on American society. AsSDA’s operations reach to the whole world including China, it has become a globalorganization with positive recognition in almost every area.The thesis argues that by focusing on a particular religious organization like SDA’s, and discussing it in a micro fashion, we can gain a lot of insights into theimportance of religion in the United States and the impact it exerts on Americansociety.