ABSTRACT
Leaving behind worldly things, Bernard Lambert indicated, was what made Adventists the "spiritual Israel," God's people. For Adventists, the material world is the site of an enormous conflict between the forces of God and the forces of Satan. The development of this conflict can be followed, they said, through close examination of biblical prophecies, especially those found in the Old Testament book of Daniel Bastien and the New Testament book of Revelation. Inside the church all ethnic, national and class divisions are to be erased. Because Adventists live "in the world," they are enjoined to be "model citizens," being obedient to the law and good workers. Separation from the world is facilitated by the organization of the church. Membership in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church seems to offer Antilleans refuge from the "coldness" of racism in French society. But the issues that confront Antilleans "in the world" can also appear in the church.
