The person of Christ in the Seventh–day Adventism: doctrine–building and E. J. Wagonner’s potential in developing christological dialogue with eastern Christianity

The feat of salvation and of the everlasting life had been (and still is) one of the most profound anxieties expressed by the Christian believers, which led to a consistent scrutinizing of the identity of Jesus Christ.
Titled, “The Person of Christ in the Seventh–day Adventism: Doctrine–Building and E. J. Wagonner’s Potential in Developing Christological Dialogue with Eastern Christianity,” this thesis presents the historical context and the essence of the debates in which the Seventh–day Adventists adopted the belief that Jesus Christ is fully divine and eternal, and abandoned the Arian, and semi-Arian teachings of its pioneers. The thesis also demonstrates that, with a seasoned Christology in place, the Seventh–day Adventism is ready to engage a more meaningful Christological dialogue with Orthodox Christianity, for the purpose of religious coexistence, if nothing else.
The adoption of the Trinitarian Christology by the Seventh–Day Adventists has been widely debated during the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, both as matter of ecclesiastic identity, and as a quest for spiritual salvation. While some argued that by adopting a Trinitarian Christology that resembled a Catholic creed, Seventh–day Adventism endangered itself of “returning” to a creedal Catholicism. Others recognized that only a Christ who forever is the true God, and who also became truly human, can indeed save humanity from the bondage of sin, and grant everlasting life. As this thesis demonstrates, Waggoner’s arguments that favoured the Trinitarian Christology were built on the Scripture, and away from any interference of Catholicism.
Beyond historical criticism, this thesis also delves into comparative dogmatics in order to demonstrate that a similar interpretation of the Scripture by the Seventh–day Adventism, and the Eastern Orthodox Christianity yielded similar Christological results with regard to the relationship between the divine nature and human nature of Jesus Christ. Last but not least, in spite of an apparent contextual disparity that might emerge from the comparison between American Protestantism and Orthodox Christianity, this thesis also demonstrates that both parties were concerned with the same questions regarding the identity of Jesus Christ, who, as described by Mark, “even the wind and the waves obey!” (Mark 4:41)