Adventists and Ethics

Abstract Coming from a variety of Christian faiths, early Adventists held similar ethical views opposing slavery, promoting soft pacifism, and defending women in ministry. Common-sense reasoning and Wesleyan Quadrilateral influenced church leaders to a broader ethical decision-making through reflective equilibrium. Adventists were ardent abolitionists, and they stood against racial discrimination. Sanctity of life mattered to Adventists, and this influenced their decisions to create one of the largest Protestant healthcare systems in the world to improve lives of millions. Adventist ethics has had a checkered history, at times speaking up and taking action. At other times, however, Adventists have done very little, stayed silent, or even acted unethically due to pragmatic or self-preservation reasons. For greater consistency, Adventists need to base their ethical influence on solid moral reflections emerging from common-sense experience and reason, identifying with Jesus, who called his disciples to radical and peculiar morality driven by divine-like agape love.