From the beginning Seventh-day Adventists have had an interest in certain elements of astronomy as they relate to certain aspects of their teaching: 1. Chronology. Seventh-day Adventists inherited their chronology of the 2300 prophetic days from the Millerites, who had cited for it the canon, or king list, of the ancient astronomer Ptolemy as well as the ancient lunisolar calendar. 2. The Sabbath . Advocacy of the Sabbath often evokes the demand for an explanation of certain problems, such as the phenomenon of the day beginning at the date line and traveling with sunset round the rotating globe; of the sunset reckoning of the Sabbath in the polar regions, which is connected with the inclination of the earth’s axis; of the continuity of the week ( see Sabbath, VI ; Week ).
Astronomical cycles cannot identify the first Sabbath (or the year of Creation or the day of the Crucifixion); but there are certain dates in OT history that have been fixed by astronomical computation (for example, in Nebuchadnezzar’s reign; see SDADic , “Chronology,” V, 3; SDACom 2:152; SB , No. 452 ). On the other hand, the very absence of any astronomical basis for a seven-day cycle is cited by SDA s as strengthening the case for the Mosaic account of the origin of the week (see SB , Nos. 1762 , 1766 ; also Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed. ), vol. 4, p. 988). 3. Cosmic-theological concept . Beginning with Ellen G. White’s early references to other planets ( 2SG 83; EW 39, 40), which influenced the pioneer leader Joseph Bates, SDA s developed a sort of cosmic-theological concept of the earth as a planet—indeed, a revolted planet—among other worlds in an orderly universe sustained by the Creator. They see world history as a cosmic demonstration of both the results of sin on a rebel world and the redemptive power of God’s love; and they envision the re-creation of this globe as Paradise restored ( see Home of the Redeemed ).
In addition, evangelists have often employed popularized descriptions of the heavenly bodies as examples of the obedience of the cosmos to God’s natural law, and as evidence of His creative and sustaining power.