The Problem of Heavenly and Earthly Citizenship in the Religious-Philosophical Discourse of Seventh-day Adventists

Abstract

The conceptualization of dual citizenship – heavenly and earthly – constitutes one of the most fundamental and complex problems of Christian social ethics and political theology. Within the religious-philosophical discourse of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, this issue acquires particular sharpness due to the denomination’s distinctive eschatological paradigm. This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental problem of dual citizenship – heavenly and earthly – in the religious-philosophical discourse of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It examines the existential tension embedded in the very name of the denomination, namely, between the ethics of creation and social responsibility («Seventh-day») and the radical eschatological expectation of the Second Coming («Adventists»). The study offers a detailed consideration of the spectrum of theological approaches, ranging from the isolationist paradigm, in which the Christian is viewed as a «resident alien», grounded in the metanarrative of the Great Controversy and a hermeneutics of suspicion toward the state, to the activist model, which interprets earthly service as the practical embodiment of the principles of the Kingdom of God. Particular attention is devoted to the complex issues of military obligation and the principle of noncombatancy in the context of loyalty to one’s earthly homeland. The scholarly novelty of the study lies in its analysis of the evolution of Ukrainian Adventism from Soviet marginalization to active integration into the democratic public sphere through participation in the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. Special emphasis is placed on the experience of believers during the full-scale war in Ukraine (2022–2024), where it is demonstrated that the intensification of eschatological expectations became not a cause of escapism but a powerful catalyst for volunteer, medical, and humanitarian activity. The article concludes that contemporary Adventist theology offers a model of «engaged eschatology», in which fidelity to heavenly ideals is realized through active responsibility for the fate of society.