5. Isn’t the SDA Church a cult because its distinctive doctrines were invented quite recently (i.e. last 150 years), rather than conform to ancient tradition?

No.  Firstly, as the SDA Church upholds the principle of sola scriptura (the Bible and the Bible alone), it does not recognise the authority or arguments derived from tradition.
Secondly, Adventists might claim that as believers in progressive revelation, they are merely re-discovering ancient truths rather than inventing new ones.  For example, the Adventist view on Soul Sleep was shared by Martin Luther, and is now becoming increasingly accepted within modern scholarship:
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_sleep#Modern_scholarship
And: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_sleep
Finally, it should be remembered that distinctive Evangelical-Pentecostal beliefs, many of which are now considered ‘mainstream’, were also formulated recently.  For example, the doctrines of the Rapture and Dispensationalism were largely established by John Darby (b1800 - d1882), the founder of the Exclusive (Darbyite) Brethren (which incidentally many consider a cult, whether rightly or wrongly).
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nelson_Darby
And: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_Bretheren
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  1. Anonymous5 May 2011 at 22:48

    Further to the point, did you know the RC Church only officially adopted:
    - infant baptism until the 2nd century A.D.;
    - Sunday-keeping by an edict of Emperor Constantine in 321;
    - original sin at the 2nd Council of Orange in 529;
    - celibacy for priests at the First Lateran Council in 1123;
    - the immaculate conception of Mary as a doctrine in 1854; and
    - papal infallibility in 1870.

    Thus, tradition means nothing – and in many cases it isn’t as long a tradition as people might think. 7th-day

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