What Is the State of Adventist Theological Diversity — How Much Doctrinal Variation Exists Across Divisions?

Executive summary

The Seventh-day Adventist Church maintains formal unity through 28 Fundamental Beliefs, a global governance structure, and shared identity markers (Sabbath, health message, eschatology, Ellen White's prophetic role). Yet beneath this formal unity lies significant theological diversity that has intensified as the church has grown to 23.7 million members across every inhabited continent. Key fault lines include: women's ordination (with some divisions ordaining women despite a 2015 General Confere...