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The
Ellen G. White Web Site Many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 "These books...will bear the test of investigation" For excellent documentation re the SDA Church Visit this web. http://www.ellenwhite.org/
Did Ellen G. White teach 'A Different God'? Dr. V. Streifling
Recounting her
'vision' of Dec, 1844, Ellen speaks of her and Jesus as
"In a moment we were winging our way upward…"
Seeing this, in the light of her calling Him Michael the
Archangel, in Desire of Ages p. 99 & 379; Spiritual
Gifts, Va, p.158; and Prophets & Kings, p. 572, one is
led to question if she did not, in fact, really view Him as
just that-an angel! And if so, what of His deity and bodily
resurrection?
SDA Pioneers as Arians for over 50 years It's well known that the early Adventist leaders and founders were Arians, who denied the deity of Christ, and the Trinity. Their article "The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Adventists" by Gerhard Pfandi, of their Bible Research Institute (referred to as "Trinity?" below) tells us on p. 1: "Two of the principal founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Joseph Bates and James White, were originally members of the Christian Connection Church which rejected the doctrine of the Trinity…Other prominent Adventists who spoke out against the Trinity were J.N.Loughborough, R.F.Cottrell, J.N.Andrews, and Uriah Smith…" These denied Jesus'
deity, and the Trinity. Joseph Bates, raised as
Congregational, himself repudiated the Trinity joining the
Christian Connection Church. This is alarming for we were
told that he was Seventh-day Baptist, but they uphold the
Trinity! So the Adventists didn't get the Sabbath from him,
but more likely from the Shakers with whom they had so many
things in common, including Arianism. Only by the turn of
the century did Adventism begin to move out of Arianism to
espousing Jesus' deity, and subsequently, the Trinity. This
was hard to do, in light of Ellen White's statements, from
over 50 years upholding Arianism.
Ellen White's Arian Views Ellen often called Jesus as "The Son of God" at original creation. We read these not seeing them as the Arian views they are, for they evoke the question 'How was He 'the Son of God'?'. Jn 1:1-3 and Heb 1:10 show He was Yhwh the Word at creation, but became ' Son of God' and 'Son of Man' at His incarnation (Heb 1:5+6) when the Father said "I will become to Him a father, and He will become to me a Son" (cf Lk 1:35). Arians teach he was the 'Son of God' by being created or begotten by the Father, then God created other things through him. So he was only a lesser deity, whose preeminence over the angels was conferred to him, by the Father. Ellen G White also held this Christ-debasing view: "…yet, Jesus, God's dear Son, had the preeminence over all the angelic host. He was one with the Father before the angels were created. Satan was envious of Christ and gradually assumed command which devolved on Christ alone. "The great Creator assembled the heavenly host, that he might in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon his Son…The Father then make known that it was ordained by himself that Christ, his Son, should be equal with himself." (Spirit of Prophecy, I, p.17+18) The article "Trinity?"
acknowledges this implies that "he was not equal to the
Father before that time", for Jesus' command was only
'devolved' or handed-down from the Father, and his equality
was 'conferred' or positional equality-rather than being
equal by nature, as necessary for True Deity. (Gal 4:8).
Moving to Deity of Christ and the Trinity Dr.Walter Rea informs us, in 1896 W.W.Prescott identified Jesus as the "I AM" of John 8:58 & Ex 3:14, beginning the move toward Christ's true deity and the Trinity. (SDA Forum, Feb 14, 1982). "Trinity?" says "The breakthrough came with the publication of Ellen White's article "Christ the Life-giver" in Signs of the Times in 1897, and the book The Desire of Ages in 1898…she says "In Him was life original, unborrowed, underived". In Desire of Ages…she quotes Jesus' answer to the Jews in John 8:58 "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I AM"… "He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent…He is the eternal self-existing Son"." (ms 101, 1897) "Trinity?" dubs these changing views "she received more light" and "increasing light leading to a clearer understanding" (p.3). p7 they say "Ellen White in 1905…unambiguously endorsed the Trinity doctrine" citing Evangelism p 614-615 where she calls the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit "the fullness of the God-head" individually, saying "There are three living persons of the heavenly trio…" Yet by 1919 SDA leaders had not united on Christ's full deity or the Trinity (1919 Bible Conference, p.57). Their 1915 Bible Readings for the Home only held Jesus "essential deity", limiting his equality with God to "proprietorship" of the angels, saints, etc. (p.68); but failed to give any teaching of the Trinity at all! These had to be because Ellen's 1897 1898 and 1905 words were ambiguously modified by other statements!
Dense Fog covering the 'Light' Dr. Rea has shown many of the articles credited to Ellen were first written or assembled by her secretaries, as Fanny Boulton, or Marion Davis, who worked on Desire of Ages, using the work of other Christian writers as their sources. Thus those statements may not accurately portray Ellen's own view of Christ. This becomes more apparent from some of her statements written in that time-period:
These, and her 1844 vision of Jesus with wings, and her calling Him the Archangel in Desire of Ages, etc., certainly befog her 1897+8 statements re Jesus' Deity. In Daniel and Revelation, p341, Uriah Smith identified the angel of Rev 1:1, etc., as Gabriel. But Ellen made it to be Jesus Himself! Her error is manifest in the context of Rev 1:1; 'allos' in 8:3, shows this angel the same kind as the 7 angels of vs 2; & in Rev 19 the angel rebukes John's attempt to worship him. "Trinity?" quotes W.W.Prescott "For a long time we believed…that Christ was created, in spite of what the Scripture says" (1919 Bible conf p.62) D.Canright showed how Ellen synthesized the risen Jesus with her view of him as the angel Michael. In Life of Mrs. E.G.White, ch 17, p.31 he tells of Dr. Kellogg's theory that the dead body wouldn't be raised, but all that was left of a person at death was a record of his life kept in heaven, and a new body of new matter was raised and made to think that it was the same person as the old one. When asked if she had light on this, Ellen declared the Lord shew her not a particle of the old body would ever be raised, but a new body of new material would be formed. Canright asked "How about Christ's body which was raised?" She responded "He dropped it all when he ascended". She failed to recognize him as 'the man Christ Jesus' (1 Tim 2:5 & Heb 7:24+25); and that 'in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form' (Col 2:9).
Was the Father also Human? This questions her 1905 "unambiguouos" view of the Trinity, which "Trinity?" tells of. It's also selfindicting, for she starts saying "The Father is the fullness of the Godhead Bodily…" (Evangelism, p. 614 ; The Faith I Live By, p.39; Testimonies…warning p.62; Bible Training School, Mar 1, 1906,). Jesus said "God is Spirit" (Jn 4:24) and "a spirit does not have flesh and bone as you see I have" (Lk 24:39). So the Father cannot be the fullness of the Godhead bodily, which only Christ is, and Christ can't be an angel, for He's not a spirit, but 'the man Christ Jesus' risen 'bodily'. Maybe Ellen was affected by both the Jehovah's Witnesses (who began as Adventists) and the Mormons who wrote and prophesied in her day. The JWs predicted Jesus' return in the early 1870s with the SDA, then denied Jesus' bodily resurrection to allow his spiritual presence. Joseph Smith widely published his visitat-ion, by God and Christ, where God was not a spirit being, but a person of flesh and bones, which was the basis of their progression of God doctrine so Adam became God, and Jesus who was a man became God. In 1898, even SDA's Uriah Smith held a degree of this in his book Looking Unto Jesus, where he wrote "With the Son, the evolution of deity, as deity, ceased" (p13; "Trinity?" p.2). From all the above, Ellen's view of God was unbiblical. It was 'a different Godhead' with a 'different Jesus' and a 'different Father' from the real Jesus Christ and real Father, found in the Scriptures. Worse yet, her calling Christ an angel, namely Michael the Archangel, and affirming his body dropped off at his ascension, denies He is returning 'in the flesh'. The SDA Comt'y IV p860 & VII p706, holds her view that He is the Archangel who comes from heaven for his saints. Here we must note 2 Jn 7 "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who deny Christ is coming in the flesh, this is the deceiver and the antichrist" Scripture attests Jesus' bodily resurrection & ascension, that He'll return 'in like manner', He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily; He is 'the man Christ Jesus' in heaven today; we are 'bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh'; and when 'he returns we will be like him'; receiving glorified resurrection bodies. Ellen's making Him an angel, makes him to be a spirit, and denies he's coming in the flesh, which makes her both a false prophet, and anti Christ-against Christ Himself. Obviously the light
did not get brighter for Ellen. SDA largely took the Trinity
doctrine because it was Biblical, while suppressing Ellen's
anti-trinitarian statements over the years. Yet, for almost
2000 years the Orthodox church has held to the Trinity,
while combating heresies in every century-especially in this
end of the Church age, when apostasy is so rampant. The
Biblical view is so plain, that since 1931 it was the
official position of the SDA, though the Arian views weren't
expunged from their books, and Ellen's writings. Her vision
that Satan was in full possession of the churches, all their
prayers and professions are an abomination to God has been
upheld, though her words are categorical indictment of the
Trinity!
Seventh-day Adventist Anti-Trinitarians "Trinity?" (p.5) tells that in recent years a number of anti-Trinitarian publications have appeared in the SDA church, contending that "the church as a whole rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, and it was not until many years after the death of Ellen G. White that the Adventist church changed their position in regards to the Trinity". By the evidence above it was at least 15 years after she died before a Trinity statement of faith is seen. Yet the SDA denomination upholds Arian members, and has been heavily promoting their reversion to Arianism, by two means in these last 2 decades. They've been strongly advocating Ellen White as their 'canonical' and 'divinely inspired' interpreter of the Bible. Thus, her views have become more authoritative than Scripture itself. This was more subtly effected in their 1958 Bible Commentary which upheld her positions and gave her quotes that established them. So they defended Jesus being Michael the Archangel, and upheld him as the angel of Rev 1, 8, & 10; etc. Also their Clear Word Bible, has been heavily promoted since 1994. In America today, nearly half of the Adventist homes are already using this so-called Bible, for regular reading and Bible study-many even for Sabbath School lesson study! The church has promoted this Bible because SDA's unorthodox positions have been translated right into the text, most of which came from Ellen White's endorsements. But the sweet scroll that becomes bitter in the stomach, is that this 'Bible' upholds and promotes her Arianism as well
With SDA heavily promoting Ellen's infallible and canonical interpretive gift, and such a gross perversion of the Bible, that so freely & heavily rewrites it to include Ellen's unorthodox views, including her denial of Jesus' absolute deity and the Trinity, and with SDAs yet upholding as members those denying these essential articles from their statement of faith, actively destroying them, to support Ellen's false views, it is only a matter of time before the whole denomination will revert to the Christ debasing positions, they once held for 60 years! For more information and documentation on the SDA church visit these webs.
http://www.Bible.ca/sabbath.htm |