ELLEN G WHITE & THE GODHEAD Because I use the phrase “3 Persons of the Godhead”, that does not make me an anti-Trinitarian or Trinitarian. It merely makes me a believer in the “3 Persons of the Godhead”, and no more and no less. Non-Trinitarians have a tendency to label someone Trinitarian because they use the term “3 Persons of the Godhead”. This is grossly inaccurate. The term Trinitarian can only be explained by the particular religion or group on their teaching & belief in the term “Trinitarian”. This is because, every denomination or group that claims to have a Trinity Doctrine explains and teaches it differently to the next. Many are similar, but do not adhere to the scriptures when teaching their view. Hence the term “Trinitarian” conjures up false beliefs in the “3 Persons of the Godhead”. The “Trinitarian Teaching” of these denominations and groups is not Biblical. People that claim to be Seventh-day Adventists, that have non-Trinitarian beliefs, unfortunately do not, or are not, capable of recognising that Sister White and the Pioneers progressed and eventually left the Non-Trinitarian or Semi-Arian views behind. Like all Seventh-day Adventist teachings the “3 Persons of the Godhead” was a process that came later. I cannot find any of Sister White’s visions referring to the “3 Persons of the Godhead” prior to 1889. There are reasons this was probably so will be mentioned later. I have highlighted that portion just mentioned because it is a fundamental error these non-Trinitarians seem to have a blockage with. So much so they keep emphasising matters prior to 1889 regarding the teachings of Sister White and the Pioneers. Most Seventh-day Adventists held in common or prevailing view their Semi-Arian or non-Trinitarian views until Sister White started to get the “3 Persons of the Godhead” visions around 1889 and until near her death. Like the Millerites held in common or prevailing view of the 1844 belief on the Sanctuary was wrong and not correct until after the event. The disciples held a false prevailing view as well regarding Christ until after His death. Why they have such a mental block as to why they can’t see the change Sister White made from 1889 and onwards puzzles me. It took some Pioneers sometime to make the same correction. Great truths are dearly bought. The common truth, such as men give and take from day to day, comes in the common walk of easy life, Blown by the careless wind across our bough. Great truths are dearly won; not found by chance, nor wafted on the breath of summer dream; But grasped in the struggle of the soul, Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream. Truth springs like harvest from the well-ploughed fields, rewarding patient toil, and faith, and zeal. To those thus seeking her, she ever yields Her richest treasures for their lasting weal. Longfellow (Part of). They call error truth and truth error, because they walk in the sparks of their own kindling. God declares that such shall lie down in sorrow. -- Ms. 23, 1899, pp. 3-6 (March 9, 1899). {12MR 256.2} THE CENTRAL DOGMA OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY The 3 Persons of the Godhead is a great truth of Scripture that must be proclaimed but it must also be protected. Matthew 28:19 KJV [19] Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: Ever since New Testament times it has been attacked, distorted, and discredited. It is a basic teaching of Scripture and therefore seems to come in for special attention. Other authorities have been brought in to try and override Scripture in an endeavour to undermine the doctrine and this has been done among groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses (the Watch Tower Prophet) and Mormons (Joseph Smith). Unfortunately, Ellen G. White has been used by some Seventh-day Adventists to try and bring about a similar result. This is distressing to faithful Seventh-day Adventists. As for me, I have studied with the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and other denominations, and I am determined that nothing would ever again come between the Bible and me when I saw how they distorted the Bible. The Watch Tower is a teaching wedge distorting the Bible by the Jehovah's Witnesses - so I know the danger and the error of allowing something other than the Bible to be my teacher. When Adventists do to Sister White’s Writings what the Watch Tower does to the Bible, I tremble. The non-Trinitarian and Semi-Arian beliefs in the Godhead are terribly wrong and not unlike those teachings by Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Because the Roman Catholic Church has claimed that the Trinity Doctrine is at the centre of it's teachings, many have scoffed at Seventh- day Adventists who support the doctrine “3 Eternal Persons of the Godhead”. These scoffers don't seem to know that other groups make the same claim. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, 2005, describes the Trinity as "the central dogma of Christian theology." As Seventh-day Adventists our central foremost teaching should be the 3 Angels’ Messages along with Second Coming of Christ. The “3 Eternal Persons of the Godhead” seems to have over awed the Semi-Arians or non-Trinitarians. By their push on their non-Biblical beliefs they have caused a split in the denomination, They have effectively separated themselves from the original teachings of the faith. ELLEN G. WHITE AND AUTHORITY FOR DOCTRINE All sorts of things have been written about Sister White. To some, her writings are on a par with the Bible. To others she was an inspired Commentator on the Bible. To others she was an absolute fake, a phoney. Unfortunately, there are extremists in about everything everywhere. To me, I can only speak of her as a wonderful Christian lady who loved God and strived all of her life to serve Him from what I have learned from her writings and those that wrote in witness of her. She was not infallible and never claimed to be. In fact, I have found her to be quite human but in a good sense. Her position (using her words) was that she was a lesser light to lead to the Greater Light (the Bible). She positively asserted that her writings should not be used to determine doctrine. Silly people have written a lot of silly garbage about Ellen White, particularly on the Internet. My friends, only silly other people take notice of this discrediting nonsense. Some will think that I am attacking Ellen White, that will sadden me because I am endeavouring to discover the truth about her. Truth and honesty are vitally important to me. If anyone can show me to be in error in the assessments which I make in the following material, I would be most thankful for your advice. I can change, I have had to in the past, and I will change again if I can clearly be shown to be out of harmony with the facts. AUTHORITY FOR DOCTRINE ACCORDING TO THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH Item 1 of the Fundamental Beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church states: "In this Word God has committed to man the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrine, and the trustworthy record of God's acts in history." Surely, that is clear enough, isn't it? But no, if what we have just read is not in agreement with what they want to believe it is never enough for some. What about Ellen White? We move to Item 18 of our Fundamental Beliefs and read: "Her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested." I have highlighted this last section for emphasis. Surely, all this is very clear. The writings of Ellen White have their place and are to be appreciated, but they are not the final authority – the final authority is the Bible. Here are a few statements from Ellen White herself on the matter: ELLEN WHITE´S OWN SUMMATION OF WHAT HER POSITION WAS AND IS: God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. …… Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord" in its support. {GC 595.1} Let all prove their positions from the Scriptures and substantiate every point they claim as truth from the revealed Word of God. -- Letter 12, 1890. {Ev 256.2} The Bible, and the Bible alone, is to be our creed, the sole bond of union; all who bow to this Holy Word will be in harmony. Our own views and ideas must not control our efforts. Man is fallible, but God's Word is infallible. Instead of wrangling with one another, let men exalt the Lord. Let us meet all opposition as did our Master, saying, "It is written." Let us lift up the banner on which is inscribed, The Bible our rule of faith and discipline. -- The Review and Herald, Dec. 15, 1885. {1SM 416.2 Lay Sister White to one side. Do not quote my words again as long as you live until you can obey the Bible. When you make the Bible your food, your meat, and your drink, when you make its principles the elements of your character, you will know better how to receive counsel from God. I exalt the precious Word before you today. Do not repeat what I have said, saying, "Sister White said this," and "Sister White said that." Find out what the Lord God of Israel says, and then do what He commands. {3SM 33.1} The testimonies of Sister White should not be carried to the front. God's Word is the unerring standard. The Testimonies are not to take the place of the Word. Great care should be exercised by all believers to advance these questions carefully, and always stop when you have said enough. Let all prove their positions from the Scriptures and substantiate every point they claim as truth from the revealed Word of God. -- Letter 12, 1890. {Ev 256.2} Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light. -- The Review and Herald, Jan. 20, 1903. (Quoted in Colporteur Ministry, p. 125.) {3SM 30.4} The Spirit was not given--nor can it ever be bestowed -- to supersede the Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. Says the apostle John, "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1. And Isaiah declares, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20. {GC vii.3} The more we look at the promises of the Word of God, the brighter they grow. The more we practice them, the deeper will be our understanding of them. Our position and faith is in the Bible. And never do we want any soul to bring in the Testimonies ahead of the Bible. -- Manuscript 7, 1894. {Ev 256.3} Purpose of the Testimonies. -- The Word of God is sufficient to enlighten the most beclouded mind, and may be understood by those who have any desire to understand it. But notwithstanding all this, some who profess to make the Word of God their study, are found living in direct opposition to its plainest teachings. Then, to leave men and women without excuse, God gives plain and pointed testimonies, bringing them back to the Word that they have neglected to follow. The Word of God abounds in general principles for the formation of correct habits of living, and the Testimonies, general and personal, have been calculated to call their attention more especially to these principles. -- Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 663, 664. (1889) {Ev 256.4} He [Christ] pointed to the Scriptures as of unquestionable authority, and we should do the same. The Bible is to be presented as the word of the infinite God, as the end of all controversy and the foundation of all faith. {COL 39.1} We have established that the Bible is the authority that settles all questions related to doctrine and that there is no other authority which is in legitimate contention with it. The 3 Persons of the Godhead is a doctrine of Scriptures and can be shown from the Scriptures. Ellen White finally a 3 Persons of the Godhead believer, after she was originally a Semi-Arian but later a 3 Persons of the Godhead. Before she was and Adventist, she Was a Trinitarian when she was a Methodist as that was there belief in the matter. I know something of what she went through for I went through a similar process. Let me explain about Ellen White: THE REALLY EARLY ELLEN WHITE WAS A TRINITARIAN Ellen Gould Harmon was born November 26, 1827. At the age of 9 a stone thrown by a classmate from her school injured her. The injury inhibited her quite considerably – the exact extent is difficult to determine. On June 26, 1842 Ellen was baptised and accepted into the fellowship of the Methodist Church – this was the fellowship of her family. Ellen and her family became involved with the 1844 movement and because of this she and her parents and other members of her family were disfellowshipped from the Methodist Church (A Trinitarian Church) in September of 1843. EARLY ADVENTISTS AND THE IMAGE OF GOD Ellen got to know and appreciate James White a young ordained Minister of the Christian Connection a non-Trinitarian group. He also had been part of the 1844 movement - they were married on August 30 1846. She would then have been 18 years of age still. James and Ellen were now part of the group emerging from the 1844 disappointment which later was organised as the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Presumably, Ellen was still a Trinitarian and James a non-Trinitarian. Although the emphasis of our early believers was on the imminent Second Coming of Jesus, the Judgment, the Ten Commandments, Conditional Immortality, and suchlike, this matter surely needed to be settled. Would James become a Trinitarian, or would Ellen become a Semi-Arian? Or would they perhaps remain as they were? Was it a mere coincidence, or was there much more to it than that, for James White to write in the Day Star, January 24, 1846, page 25, dismissing the Trinity doctrine "as the old unscriptural Trinitarian creed"? This was a Methodist Creed as can be seen from pages 206, 207 of The Trinity by Whidden, Moon and Reeve, Review and Herald, 2002. This was eight months before the marriage took place. Was this perhaps part of his attempt to condition Ellen away from the Trinity doctrine to his belief? Ellen would still have been a teen-ager at this time. This what the methodist Trinity Doctrine Says: “There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” The Methodist Book of Discipline does have a statement such as James mentioned, "There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts..." However, many may not know that it was common among Trinitarians to acknowledge that God is without body or parts. He has always been acknowledged among Trinitarians as being pure spirit. (John 4:24). This also seems to have caused concern among our early believers because of some referred to as "Spiritualisers" who virtually spiritualised God away. Of course, Trinitarians are not guilty of such a foolish thing at all. We recognise that God has all sorts of intelligent qualities and attributes. Here are what some other creeds offered about God, all of them from before the time of James White: The Thirty-Nine Articles (Church of England), 1571 – "There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions..." The Westminster Confession of 1646 – "There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions..." The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 – "Who is a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions." Confession of Faith of the Calvinistic Methodists or the Presbyterians of Wales, 1823 – "God is a pure, invisible, self-subsisting Spirit, without body parts, or passions..." It is not strange to believe that God is pure Spirit, without body or parts. John 4:24 states most clearly that "God is spirit." The Following is from page 27 of Seventh-day Adventists Believe, Ministerial Association of the General Conference, 2005: "God is omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-12; Heb. 4:13), transcending all space. Yet He is fully present in every part of space. He is eternal (Ps. 90:2; Rev. 1:8) exceeding the limits of time, yet is fully present in every moment of time." James White, and I guess others, were successful in helping persuade the young Ellen White to accept that God does have body parts. How they could reconcile this with the fact that He is plainly said to be Spirit is quite beyond me. A body would place severe limits on God and confine Him to particular places constantly. Our early leaders were aware of the many statements of Scripture where God is spoken of as having eyes, hands, and suchlike. and they saw them as supporting the concept that God has a body. But they surely must also have been aware that the Bible also points to Him having wings and feathers – see Psalm 91:4. Expressions such as we have mentioned are very widely acknowledged to be anthropomorphisms. It is not hard to see that such things said of God are metaphorical, designed to help us understand some things about our Omnipresent God who is invisible Spirit. Our Pioneers were clearly going down a wrong track and for whatever reason Ellen White was now going down the same track with them. "Ellen Harmon White experienced the same growth patterns as do all men and women. Human beings understand concepts in a step-by- step process, starting early in life-a principle that Jesus and Paul well understood in their eagerness to teach new truth to their hearers. Young Ellen, it seems, did not fully understand, at first, all the implications of her earliest visions. She had to work with the mindset of her time as well as the mental equipment of a teenager." Now, some reading this may be getting real worried, am I trying to depreciate Ellen White? Why would I want to do that? I have no reason to want to do such a thing – what I want is the truth about Ellen White and that is not hard to see by anyone willing to accept the truth. MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH A STATEMENT FROM ELLEN WHITE WHICH BOTHERED ME Not long after I became an Adventist I was quite astonished to read a statement from Ellen White which says: "Man was to bear God's image, both in outward resemblance and in character." (emphasis supplied) {PP 45.2} I was quite puzzled by this. I had recently spent well over a year intensely studying things about God that caused me to become a Trinitarian, when later I became a “3 Persons of the Godhead” changing away from being a Trinitarian because of the way the word “Trinity” in all other denominations was not depicting a Biblical standpoint. Now could I accept that God was much like me to look at? I was busy with other things and didn't understand how the statement related to other matters in Ellen White writings, so for the time being I just let it go at that. Now I can see this was from the pen of Ellen White who had been conditioned to be a Semi-Arian. God looks something like me? How could a single human look something like the Great “3 Persons of the Godhead” who is everywhere present at the same time? The statement of our dear lady does fit the Semi-Arian God quite well, but certainly not the Trinitarian God or “3 Persons of the Godhead”! Should we not heed the warning of Isaiah 40:18? Isaiah 40:18 KJV [18] To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare unto him? It must be accepted that God is unique and that there is really nothing that we can compare Him with in the whole Universe. The plain truth is that God is pure spirit – John 4:24. God is not like us for a spirit does not have flesh and bones – Luke 24:39. In fact God is Omnipresent - in other words, He is everywhere present at the same time (this should not be confused with Pantheism – which claims that God is not only everywhere but is everything). Psalm 139 beautifully describes this attribute of God. Verse 7 asks, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" Verse 8 comments, "If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths you are there." "Am I only a God nearby, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? "Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth? Declares the LORD." Jeremiah 23:23-24 The attributes of God are far beyond our complete understanding really. It is clear however that God is everywhere and we don’t know how. Yet Scripture says we are made in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). In some way we are made in God's image, but does that suggest that He exists in our physical image? Surely, we can agree that such a conclusion would be taking the matter too far. Ekkehardt Mueller, of the Biblical Research Institute, provided an interesting article on the subject on pages 5 and 6 of "Reflections" a Biblical Research Institute Newsletter No 3, dated July 2003. In it Mueller states: "it seems likely that the image of god primarily has to do with being God's representative as well as with standing in an intimate relationship with God." He further states that "Genesis 5:1-3 may therefore suggest that the image of God also includes a resemblance of all human faculties and the entire human being with the Lord of the universe." God is omniscient. No sin escapes His notice. {21MR 271.2} In this next passage we see the Holy Ghost omnipresence and provided Christ with His Omniscience abilities while in our flesh: It is not essential for you to know and be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and the Comforter is the Holy Ghost, "the Spirit of truth, which the Father shall send in My name." "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" [John 14:16, 17]. This refers to the omnipresence of the Spirit of Christ, called the Comforter. Again Jesus says, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth" [John 16:12, 13]. {14MR 179.2} Christ lost his Omnipresence and His Omniscience when He agreed to take upon our sinful flesh. God the Father and the Holy Spirit both keep their Omnipresence but Christ forfeited His to save us. That truly is the mystery of Godliness. 1 Timothy 3:16 Is it not true that many are inclined to think of God as sitting on a throne in a place somewhere out there? If it was true that God is limited to being in a single place (because He has a body much like ours) we can't help wondering about the rest of the Universe. An Astronomer calculated that if we were to travel from planet Earth to the edge of the known Universe, travelling at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), it would take us ten billion years to arrive there, and that is just the known edge of the known Universe. The mind boggles as we try to understand how enormously large the Universe is. Would we be able to escape God at the known edge of creation? What about beings on other planets? Is God not involved with them as well as with us? He is involved with the swirling Universes wherever they exist I believe that we would still find Him no matter where we might go. If that is so, what does this say to us about God? It means that we must be careful not to make God too small in our thinking and that conversely it is necessary to think of Him as being infinite. HERE ARE A FEW OF THE STATEMENTS OF ELLEN WHITE THAT CONVINCE ME THAT SHE WAS SEMI-ARIAN IN HER EARLY YEARS This is where many seem to prefer not to go. I want the truth about Ellen G. White. I am willing to go where the truth leads me on this and I invite all those who cherish truth to come with me. Some things that she says will be highlighted for emphasis. I have often seen the lovely Jesus, that He is a person. I asked Him if His Father was a person and had a form like Himself. Said Jesus, "I am in the express image of My Father's person." {EW 77.1} We know that the early Adventists were concerned about Methodist Trinitarians saying God had no body or parts. They thought that to say this was to spiritualise Him away so that He was really nothing. The anxiety of Ellen White to clarify all this is clear. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, "If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist. {EW 54.2} This is virtually the same as the previous quote except now we are told that the Father has glory which Jesus did not share. Similarly, on pages 47, 48 of Supplement to the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White (1854) we read that Jesus was able to approach the Father in His Glory but did not share this Himself. We have to conclude from these statements that Jesus did not share the glory of the Father. This is not what we would expect from John 17:5. The fact that Mrs White says she saw in vision that Jesus and the Father are quite separate individuals does not fit with the Trinitarian concept where they are of the same substance. The Lord has shown me that Satan was once an honored angel in heaven, next to Jesus Christ. {1SG 17.1} “God informed Satan that to his Son alone he would reveal his secret purposes, and he required all the family in Heaven, even Satan, to yield him implicit, unquestioned obedience; but that he (Satan) had proved himself unworthy a place in Heaven. {1SP 22.2} The Trinity doctrine and the “3 Persons of the Godhead” teaches that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all equal – they are all Omniscient. Ellen White says in Sermons and Talks volume 2: "The one great burden and grief of Jesus, was that He, with omniscient eye, was viewing the destruction of Jerusalem." The earlier statement of Ellen White requires that Jesus was a lesser Person than the Father – He was not. In actual fact they were both Omniscient. In all of this Jesus is being revealed as next in line to the Father but not equal with Him. Next in line to Him was Satan. The Holy Spirit has apparently no place at all in her thinking then. God would reveal His secret purposes to Jesus only – not to the Holy Spirit. As a “3 Persons of the Godhead” I believe that all Three are conscious of the purposes of the others automatically some how. When Ellen White described the baptism of Christ in 1873 the Holy Spirit is still not yet recognised as a Person: The heavens were opened, and beams of glory rested upon the Son of God and assumed the form of a dove, in appearance like burnished gold. The dove-like form was emblematical of the meekness and gentleness of Christ. {RH, January 21, 1873 par. 5} We must all surely know that the Dove represented the Holy Spirit – but not in the mind of Ellen White at this time. All that she was writing fitted perfectly with the teachings of the Semi-Arians. But thankfully God had not finished with her yet – it seems that after 1888 her mind was now open to be educated further in an understanding of things about God. It was not until in 1897 that Ellen White wrote that the Holy Spirit is "the third person of the Godhead." Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers, series A, No. 10 (1897). Here are a couple of her later statements on the Holy Spirit: By 1899: We have been brought together as a school, and we need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds, that the Lord God is our keeper, and helper. He hears every word we utter and knows every thought of the mind. -- Ms 66, 1899, p. 4. (Talk, April 15, 1899). The Holy Spirit is a person; for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. {20MR 68.5} The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. "For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man, which is in him; even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." -- Ms 20, 1906. {20MR 69.1} At one time Ellen White was convinced that Jesus was the only Person in the Universe who could atone for our sins. Here is one of her statements on this: The Son of God was next in authority to the great Lawgiver. He knew that his life alone could be sufficient to ransom fallen man. {RH, December 17, 1872 par. 1} Here again we have Jesus next in authority to the Father - not equal in authority. How could it possibly be true that Jesus was the only one who could be an atonement for our sins? What about the Father? What about the Holy Spirit? Ellen White could only say what she did because she held to Semi-Arian concepts. A FEW OTHER MATTERS INDICATING THE SEMI-ARIANISM OF ELLEN WHITE There was a time when Ellen White seemed to believe that Jesus could have fallen and been lost: " Remember that Christ risked all; "tempted like as we are," he staked even his own eternal existence upon the issue of the conflict. Heaven itself was imperiled for our redemption. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 22} Though Christ humbled Himself to become man, the Godhead was still His own. His Deity could not be lost while He stood faithful and true to His loyalty. …… He was ready to take once more His divine glory when His work on earth was done. {ST, May 10, 1899 par. 11} He became subject to temptation, endangering as it were, His divine attributes. Satan sought, by the constant and curious devices of his cunning, to make Christ yield to temptation. {7BC 926.5} It seems that she became quite clear on this matter by 1904 when she reversed her belief: Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person--the man Christ Jesus. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die; that would have been impossible.--The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1113. {7ABC 446.2} AN IMAGINARY MEETING WITH ELLEN WHITE IN THE FUTURE As I have already said, I conclude that Ellen White was a Semi-Arian in her early years in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her statements, that I have offered cannot be reconciled with the “3 Persons of the Godhead” doctrine or the Trinity Doctrine. Thankfully she did grow in understanding and consequently changed her stand as she gained a clearer picture of what God is. She unquestionably became a “3 Persons of the Godhead” but that did not make her a Trinitarian unless you explain the Trinity the same way you explain the “3 Persons of the Godhead”. She made many positive statements declaring this fact to be so. Nobody can know whether prior to her death her understanding of God had reached the maximum possible for a human to have. I am of the opinion that she still had things to learn so that means we all much to learn too. I have tried to imagine a conversation I hope to have with Ellen White in heaven. In response to my queries about her early years as an Adventist, this is what I expect she might say: "I was very young then and somewhat immature. I reported things as I understood them to be or was shown them from time to time. I was in no doubt influenced by my husband and other associates on the “Persons of the Godhead” but I didn’t have visions about that until after 1888. As I grew in knowledge and understanding I came to see who Jesus was really was, and I also came to understand that the Holy Spirit was a Divine Person too. Gradually, I became a believer in the “3 Persons of the Godhead” after God showed ne in vision, and I think I made this very clear in my later writings." When I asked her about the question of decisions some make when comparing what she says in her early years about God and what the Bible says, she responded: "Up until 1888 I had not been shown visions about the Godhead. There should be no question about it, I have never been commissioned by God to be the arbiter on doctrine. Study the Bible and stand firm on what it says. This is what God expects from each one of us." AT THIS POINT I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO OFFER WHAT OTHER ADVENTISTS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE EARLY ELLEN WHITE GERHARD PFANDL of the Biblical Research Institute had a paper "The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Seventh-day Adventists" in the Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 17/1, 2006, pages 163, 164. The following is extracted from it. I highlighted some points which I wish to draw special attention to: "The Position of Ellen G. White During the early decades of our church, Ellen White made statements that could be interpreted as anti- Trinitarian. She at times referred to the Holy Spirit as "it," and in the context of her description of the fall of Satan, she wrote: A special light beamed in his countenance, and shone around him brighter and more beautiful than around the other angels; yet Jesus, God's dear Son, had the pre-eminence 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 made known that it was ordained by himself that Christ, his Son, should be equal with himself; so that wherever was the presence of his Son, it was as his own presence. ……. His Son would carry out his will and his purposes, but would do nothing of himself alone. The Father's will would be fulfilled in him. {1SP 17.1- 2} This seems to imply that after the angels were created, they did not know or recognize that Christ was equal with the Father and it took a special "heavenly council" to inform them of this. On the other hand, if Christ's equality was a "special honor" which was conferred upon him, the implication is that he was not equal to the Father before that time. In the book Patriarchs and Prophets (1890) she wrote: He [Satan] was beloved and reverenced by the heavenly host, angels delighted to execute his commands, and he was clothed with wisdom and glory above them all. Yet the Son of God was exalted above him, as one in power and authority with the Father. He shared the Father's counsels, while Lucifer did not thus enter into the purposes of God. "Why," questioned this mighty angel, "should Christ have the supremacy? Why is He honored above Lucifer?" {PP 36.3} Two paragraphs further on she explains: There had been no change in the position or authority of Christ. Lucifer's envy and misrepresentation and his claims to equality with Christ had made necessary a statement of the true position of the Son of God; but this had been the same from the beginning. Many of the angels were, however, blinded by Lucifer's deceptions. {PP 38.1} Nevertheless, these kinds of statements are used today to support the semi-Arian or non-Trinitarian position that some Adventists have recently begun to advocate. Could it be that these passages express Ellen White's understanding of Christ's position in heaven at that time and that as time progressed, she received more light, which eventually led to her very clear “3 Persons of the Godhead” statements beginning 1889? Never forget that to be a “3 Persons of the Godhead” believer does not make you a Trinitarian that you believe falsely about the Godhead, hence my emphasis on the “3 Persons of the Godhead”. I continue stay away from the Trinity in favour of the “3 Persons of the Godhead” because the semi-Arian and non-Trinitarian views are not Biblical and by my using the term Trinitarian conjures up false ideas regarding my thoughts on the “3 Persons of the Godhead”. The early Ellen G. White seems to have been in harmony with her associates who did not believe in the Trinity. The Anti-Trinitarian Adventists today try to carry her early concepts through to the end of her life. I see a clear reversal in her thinking so that later in life she moved from being a non-Trinitarian to being a true Trinitarian. The dissidents try to marry the old Ellen G. White concepts with her later ones as though there was development but no real change. However, as we shall yet see there was considerable change many of her old concepts were left far behind. JERRY MOON A Jerry Moon wrote a letter to a Max Hatton sometime ago: I don't think our understandings of EGW's early views are that far apart. I said she was not "antitrinitarian," because, unlike some of her colleagues, she never directly criticized the basic idea of the trinity. She may have been "semi-Arian" in her view, because some of her early statements can be taken that way. Her most emphatic statements, like Early Writings 54-55, are simply statements of what she saw in vision, and do not clearly support either the Arian or Trinitarian views. "I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus' countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father's person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, "If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist." Before the throne I saw the Advent people--the church and the world. I saw two companies, one bowed down before the throne, deeply interested, while the other stood uninterested and careless. Those who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus; then He would look to His Father, and appear to be pleading with Him. A light would come from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the praying company. Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from the Father to the Son, and from the Son it waved over the people before the throne. But few would receive this great light. Many came out from under it and immediately resisted it; others were careless and did not cherish the light, and it moved off from them. Some cherished it, and went and bowed down with the little praying company. This company all received the light and rejoiced in it, and their countenances shone with its glory. {EW 54.2} The bold sentence above, "I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had ……." This disagreed with the Methodist Episcopal creed most other denominations, which described God as "without body or parts," but the statement did not disagree with the basic biblical idea of one God in three divine persons. The part that could seem semi-Arian is that she saw the Father and the Son, but said nothing about the Holy Spirit in this immediate passage. That could be read as evidence that she held a semi-Arian view. Or it could be that she did not yet have any fully-defined view of the Godhead at that time. Since in later life she is clear about the "heavenly trio," it seems likely to me that God simply revealed to her information about the Godhead, little by little. The church had so many issues to accept and change —Sabbath keeping, church organization, and health reform, to name a few. Just choosing a name and forming a legal organization was so controversial it took roughly a decade to reach agreement on — from 1850 to 1860. They barely got the General Conference organized when God initiated the health reform. I wonder if the issue of the “3 Person of the Godhead” vs. semi-Arianism would have been just too divisive if it had been confronted directly at that time, and even before 1889. It was still controversial in 1888-89. It would have more so further back. Even the matter of not eating pork was sufficiently divisive that it was threatening the unity of the body (1T 206.3 – 207.1). Blessings to you, Jerry Moon Associate Professor of Church History Andrews University ERWIN GANE His well known work, The Arian or Anti-Trinitarian Views Presented in Seventh-day Adventist Literature and the Ellen G. White Answer, 1963, received some criticism from Eric Claude Webster, Crosscurrents in Adventist Christology, Peter Lang, Publisher, New York, 1984. Webster says on page 72: "While Gane comes out in strong support of Ellen White's anti-Arian views or “3 Persons of the Godhead” against this background it should be noted that his evidence is taken mainly from the period 1890 and beyond." Assuming that what Webster says is correct, I have to comment that there are two Ellen Whites on the “3 Persons of the Godhead” question. The Semi-Arians are incorrect in accepting her early statements and then trying to push the concepts gained right through her life. It is just as incorrect to accept the concepts from her later life and try to claim that her earlier statements are in harmony with them. If we want the truth we have to accept that Ellen White was a Semi-Arian in her earlier experience with the Adventist Church but became a “3 Persons of the Godhead” in her later years. As we think on these things we need to remember that the spirit of prophecy and other spiritual gifts are always subject to the authority, supervision and correction of Scripture. It is never the other way round. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 instructs us as follows: 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 KJV [19] Quench not the Spirit. [20] Despise not prophesyings. [21] Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Anyone who has the Gift of Prophecy is not to be thought of as infallible. Even great men like the Apostles were open to making mistakes. Take the great Apostle Peter as an example. He denied Jesus at the time of the Crucifixion and later was entirely wrong in his relation with the Gentiles. Yes, he was wrong but he was corrected and received the correction. Ellen White was wrong on a number of matters. Eventually she was corrected and she accepted the correction. Ellen White was quite wrong in her acceptance of Semi-Arianism in her early experience with early Adventism. I cannot be faithful to her as she was then and to Scripture at the same time. I am proud to stand with her in her later experience as a “3 Persons of the Godhead. She stated clearly that she was not infallible and who are we to try and make out that she was? SOME MATTERS ON WHICH ELLEN WHITE WAS IN ERROR BUT LATER CHANGED The following is from Jerry Moon, Andrews University Seminary Studies, No.2, Autumn 2003, The Adventist Trinity Debate Part 2, The Role of Ellen G. White: EVIDENCES FOR CHANGE At the core of the debate is the question regarding Ellen White's position and her role in the process of change. Some assume that Ellen White did not change, that she was either always trinitarian or never trinitarian. There is ample evidence, however, that Ellen White's beliefs did change on a number of other issues, so it is entirely plausible that she grew in her understanding of the Godhead as well. When she declared in 1849, "We know we have the truth," she was referring to the beliefs that Sabbatarian Adventists held in distinction from other Christian groups. She did not mean that there was no more truth to be discovered or that Adventists would never need to change any of their views. The argument that her views did change is based on the recognition that at every stage of life her knowledge of God and His will was a combination of what she had learned through ordinary means such as parental training, church attendance, Bible study, and personal experience, and — after December 1844 — what she received through visions. Furthermore, she herself considered her visions as an educational process that continued in cumulative fashion for many years. Consequently, her personal understanding, especially in the earlier years, contained many elements not fully consistent with her later beliefs, because neither her personal Bible study nor her visions had yet called her attention to those inconsistent elements. For instance, after her first vision in December 1844, she continued to observe Sunday as the Sabbath for almost three more years. She had not yet learned about the seventh-day Sabbath. A second example of a changed view was the discovery of the "time to commence the Sabbath" in 1855. For nine years after they accepted the seventh-day Sabbath, the Whites and most of the Sabbatarian Adventists observed the Sabbath from 6:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 p.m. Saturday. Not until J.N. Andrews in 1855 demonstrated from Scripture that the biblical Sabbath begins at sunset, did Ellen White very reluctantly acknowledge that for nine years Adventists had been ignorant of the biblical time to begin the Sabbath. A third example is what Adventists have historically called health reform. Until 1863, most of them, including James and Ellen White, were heavy meat eaters, even slaughtering their own hogs. Not until after basic denominational organization had been achieved, was the attention of the movement called to a broader platform of health principles, including complete proscription of pork products and the strong recommendation of vegetarianism. In view of these and other areas of conceptual development, it is not particularly surprising that Ellen White should show both development and change in her view of the Godhead. Other examples could be offered but surely the fact that Ellen White could and did change has been established as she grew over the years. IN HER MATURE YEARS ELLEN WHITE LEFT FAR BEHIND THE INFERIOR VIEWS OF JESUS THAT SHE ONCE HELD In her later years she accepted the equality of Jesus with the Father and His eternity and self-existence. I feel compelled to offer some examples and again I will offer points I want to emphasise in highlight: 1900 Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God. ... In speaking of his pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God..--Signs of the Times, Aug. 29, 1900. {Ev 615.2} 1897 "He is the eternal self-existent Son." {12MR 395.3} This actually agrees with the Desire of Ages when it says: In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. "He that hath the Son hath life." 1 John 5:12. The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life. {DA 530.3} Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore. {1SM 247.3} The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. {1SM 247.4} When the voice of the angel was heard saying, "Thy Father calls thee," He who had said, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again," "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," came forth from the grave to life that was in Himself. Deity did not die. Humanity died, but Christ now proclaims over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, "I am the resurrection, and the life." In His divinity Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. He declares that He had life in Himself to quicken whom He will. {5BC 1113.4} 1897 He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. . . . He is the eternal, self-existent Son. -- Manuscript 101, 1897. {Ev 615.3} 1900 The Self-existent, Unchangeable One. -- [Revelation 1:18-20 quoted.] These are wonderfully solemn and significant statements. It was the Source of all mercy and pardon, peace and grace, the self-existent, eternal, unchangeable One, who visited His exiled servant on the isle that is called Patmos (MS 81, 1900). {7BC 955.11} There can be no doubt that there is a vast difference between the early and the later Ellen White. She left her earlier immature concepts far behind. HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF HER STATEMENTS WHICH REQUIRE US TO ACCEPT THAT IN HER LATER YEARS ELLEN WHITE WAS A CONVINCED “3 Persons of the Godhead”. 1901 The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. {AUCR, April 1, 1901 par. 10} 1909 The three highest powers in the universe are pledged to labor with those who will seek to save the lost. God wants his people to claim his promised help for the accomplishment of his work in the world. {RH, August 12, 1909 par. 3} 1894 God Himself was crucified with Christ; for Christ was one with the Father. (BE Aug. 6, 1894). {5BC 1108.5} 1889 There are many who have thought that the Father had no part in the suffering of the Son, but this is a mistake. The Father suffered with the Son." {ST, November 25, 1889 par. 6} I cannot see that the first of the two statements just offered could be made by other than a “3 Person of the Godhead” thinking person. I cannot see that it could be made by one who accepts the Tritheistic or non-Trinitarian concepts of the Godhead either. Here is something else that convinces me that the mature Ellen White was a “3 Person of the Godhead” believer. She refers to each of the Heavenly Trio as Omnipotent. No one will dispute that the Father is Omnipotent so here are statements from her on the Omnipotence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit: "He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent" – {12MR 395.3} "With Christ is Omnipotence" – {15MR 101.2} "The omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit is the defense of every contrite soul." {DA 490.5} "He knew that truth, armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the contest with evil" – {DA 679.2} Unless my reasoning is faulty, you cannot have three who are Omnipotent unless the Three are members of the Trinity God. That is the single significant exception. 1906 The Father can not be described by the things of earth. The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight. The Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested. The word of God declares Him to be "the express image of His person." "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Here is shown the personality of the Father. {BTS, March 1, 1906 par. 1} HOLY SPIRIT The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio. In the name of these three powers, -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will cooperate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ. {BTS, March 1, 1906 par. 2} 1899 We have been brought together as a school, and we need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds, that the Lord God is our keeper, and helper. He hears every word we utter and knows every thought of the mind. -- Ms 66, 1899, p. 4. (Talk, April 15, 1899) The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden. {AA 52.1} If “nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery” and men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them and it is too deep for human understanding why do Semi-Arians or non-Trinitarians think they know better than the advice we have been given from God. Why can’t they be obedient to the instruction “silence is golden”. The Holy Spirit is a free, working, independent agency. {RH, May 5, 1896 par. 2} “……the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person” and “The Holy Spirit is a free, working, independent agency” means that Christ and the Holy Spirit cannot be ONE AND THE SAME PERSON. You cannot be independent and be a person as God is a person and be the same person all at the same time. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden. {AA 52.1} What is it about that last quote non-Trinitarians fail to understand when it ends with: Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden. They carry on like they are so smart and know more that inspiration a claim to know who the Holy Spirit is and what He is. No, they have to carry on about their theories which we are plainly told we cannot understand, and we need to keep silent on such matters. Why listen to non-Trinitarians if we are told we cannot understand what they are saying. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall (although unseen by you), [THIS PHRASE WAS ADDED BY ELLEN WHITE] teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" [John 14:26]. {14MR 23.3} So, we see here “Christ could not be in every place personally” meaning He has lost His omnipresence and cannot be everywhere at once like the Holy Spirit. If one is omnipresent like the Holy Spirit, and the other is not omnipresent, then they can hardly be the same person as one is omnipresent and the other isn’t. Let’s assume for one second that Christ and the Holy Spirit are the same person, the Holy Spirit would have to leave His body to become omnipresent. Last I heard when someone claims a spirit leaves the body of a human, we call that “spiritualism”. Since we know Christ had a physical body after the resurrection: John 20:27-29 KJV [27] Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. [28] And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. [29] Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 21:12-14 KJV [12] Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. [13] Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. [14] This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. If Christ’s Spirit was to leave His body that would be “spiritualism”. Now, let’s suppose for a minute second that Christ is the Holy Spirit and he sends His Spirit to you. That means His spirit leaves His body and comes to you. This means Christ is having what spiritualists call an out of body experience. Let’s be perfectly straight here: What anti-Trinitarians teach here is SPIRITUALISM when they say Christ is the Holy Spirit. His spirit would have to leave His body like in SPIRITUALISM. This verse from Romans along with Mrs Whites quote proves there were two Spirits involved. Christ’s Spirit, which was the Great Jehovah, slept with Him in the tomb, and the Holy Spirit which resurrected Him. If Christ’s Spirit did not sleep with him in the tomb, He was not made in all points like unto his brethren. We know that Christ was Jehovah in the Old Testament as Sister White informs us: Jehovah is the name given to Christ. — The Signs of the Times, May 3, 1899, p. 2. {7ABC 439.3} Hebrews 2:14, 17 KJV [14] Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; [17] Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. The Great Jehovah was incarnate into human flesh and made like unto his brethren in all things. In fact if there was one point He was not made like unto his brethren that is the point He could not save us. Here in verse 11 in Romans we see The Spirit (Holy Spirit) raise Christ and his sleeping spirit (Jehovah) from the tomb: Romans 8:9-11 KJV [9] But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. [10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11] But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Now we have confirmation: The spirit of Jesus (Jehovah) slept in the tomb with His body, and did not wing its way to heaven, there to maintain a separate existence, and to look down upon the mourning disciples embalming the body from which it had taken flight. All that comprised the life and intelligence of Jesus remained with His body in the sepulcher; and when He came forth it was as a whole being; He did not have to summon His spirit from heaven. He had power to lay down His life and to take it up again. (3SP 203, 204). {5BC 1150.6} Anti-Trinitarians claim there is one Spirit, but in Romans 8:11, the Holy Spirit raised a sleeping Christ & His sleeping Spirit, whilst His spirit was sleeping in the tomb with Him. This means Christ’s Spirit, and the Holy Spirit, cannot be the same person. Remember Sister White said: “when He came forth it was as a whole being; He did not have to summon His spirit from heaven”. Remember Hebrews 2:17 says:— …… in all things it behoved (was required for) him to be made like unto his brethren …… We must notice “all things” means ALL. His spirit was not a created spirit because: Colossians 2:9 says: [9] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This really does mean Christ’s Spirit, the Great Jehovah, did sleep with Him in the tomb, and was a different Spirit to the one who resurrected Him from the sepulchre. In 1899 Sister White told us who Christ was before He was Christ: 1899 Jehovah is the name given to Christ. …… Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” — The Signs of the Times, May 3, 1899, p. 2. {7ABC 439.3} “Jehovah is the name given to Christ” tells the sleeping spirit in the tomb was Christ. Then the spirit that raise Him from the tomb was a different spirit the Bible calls the Holy Spirit. The non-Trinitarians or Semi-Arians claim our pioneers did not believe in “3 Person of the Godhead. Then why did James White write this in 1854: James White 1854 and 1875 A. Yes, he does know and see all things. Q. Has God any body? A. No; God has no body, he is a pure Spirit. Q. Are there more Gods than one? A. No; there is but one God. Q. Are there more persons than one in God? A. Yes; in God there are three persons. Q. Which are they? A. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Q. Are there not three Gods? A. No; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, are all but one and the same God. {March 7, 1854 JWe, ARSH 50.11} I believe in one living and true God, and that there are three persons in the Godhead - as there is in man, the body, soul, and spirit. And if any one will tell me how these exist, I will tell him how the three persons of the Triune God are connected. {1875 JW, SLWM 59.3} Stephen Haskell Preceding this beginning, there must have been, according to Rom. 16: 25, R. V., ‘ times eternal,’ when there were no worlds, no created being, not even an angel; in fact, there were only three beings—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit ; these three persons in the Godhead.” . Phelps, Review and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 1, January 1, 1901 17. Name the three Beings that unite in sending a blessing to the church. {1905 SN Haskell, SSP 374.40} "The doctrine of the trinity is true when rightly understood." --Stephen N. Haskell (SDA pioneer), Bible Training School, Feb. 1, 1906 "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one and receive worship. Each one represents all the other members of the *Trinity [or the Godhead GROUP overall]...[but] Gabriel was only an angel bearing a message from the great *Trinity of heaven, and could not receive worship [Rev. 19:10; Rev. 22:8-9]" ---S.N. Haskell, The Bible Training School, November 1907, No. 6, pg. 94 "It is evident that the Holy Spirit is one of the *Trinity, and fully represent God [the Father] and Christ, and the *Trinity [or the Godhead GROUP overall]; and appears in any form or shape, or without form or shape, as best answers the purpose of God" ---S.N. Haskell, The Bible Training School, 1910, Vol. 9, No. 7, pg. 13 William Miller 1853 I believe in one living and true God, and that there are three persons in the Godhead, - as there is in man, the body, soul and spirit. And if any one will tell me how these exist, I will tell him how the three persons of the Triune God are connected." {1853 SB, MWM 77.5} Uriah Smith 1867 & 1859 That three are one in the Godhead. {March 12, 1857 UrSe, ARSH 146.21} 1. We all agree that water baptism is necessary; but all admit that the thing is more essential than the mode. 2. Another strong bond of union is the belief in one God. 3. We all believe that there are three persons in the Godhead. {September 22, 1859 UrSe, ARSH 140.5} A.T. Jones Listen to AT Jones in 1898: There was no dispute about the fact of there being a Trinity, it was about the nature of the Trinity. Both parties believed in precisely the same Trinity; but they differed upon the precise relationship which the Son bears to the Father. {1898 AT Jones, GEP 496.2} In 1899 Jones wrote the following: God is one. Jesus Christ is one. The Holy Spirit is one. And these three are one: there is no dissent nor division among them. {January 10, 1899 ATJ, ARSH 24.2} There are many, many more quotes but I think from these few quotes it is sufficient to show that many of our pioneers did believe in a 3 Person Godhead. This fact makes the non-Trinitarians totally incorrect. Our Pioneers did have a major shift on thinking from 1889 when Sister White started to get visions and dreams regarding 3 persons of the Godhead. Prior to this there was no fixed doctrine or teaching. This shift is in line with all our doctrines from the outset. They began with error on many things and as time moved forward and Sister White received visions to correct both she and the pioneers made shifts in their doctrinal thinking when corrected. The topic of the Godhead was no different to any other belief, she and they changed as they were enlightened. Why can’t the non-Trinitarians and Semi- Arians understand that instead of teaching the falsehood that the pioneers did not teach a “3 Person of the Godhead” (Trinity) doctrine. Like A.T. Jones said: There was no dispute about the fact of there being a Trinity, it was about the nature of the Trinity. Both parties believed in precisely the same Trinity; but they differed upon the precise relationship which the Son bears to the Father. {1898 AT Jones, GEP 496.2} E.J. Waggoner 1903 Waggoner was asked: Do you believe in the Trinity? He replied: If I knew what you meant by the term, I might tell you; but from the days of Athanasius until now all discussion about the Trinity has been an attempt to define the indefinable and the incomprehensible. {July 30, 1903 EJW, PTUK 483.1} Seems Waggoner understood what Mrs White meant about not being able to understand the Godhead. He makes it very clear when describing the Godhead it is: “an attempt to define the indefinable and the incomprehensible”. This makes it painfully clear that we need to use the words of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. 1 Timothy 3:16 KJV [16] And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. CONCLUSION The world is full of frauds. Just about everything seems to have been corrupted somehow. The truths of the Bible have been distorted and confused. The “3 Person of the Godhead” or some call the Trinity doctrine has not escaped this disfiguring. However, the truths are still there for the diligent seeker to find. As I have endeavoured to show; some have tried to confuse the writings of Ellen G. White with the Bible. This was never God's intention for her. She was a faithful servant and did her best to serve the Lord that she undoubtedly loved. We do not honour her by making out that she was someone that she really wasn't. We really do honour her when we reveal who she truly was and what her relationship with the Bible really was. Some have presented what is really a mythical Ellen White and we must not get carried away with the myth. We need to know the truth on this matter and as Scripture says, the truth will set us free. The evidence for the truth is there and I have tried to unravel and reveal it to the best of my limited ability. I trust that what I have presented is clear enough for ordinary readers. Please do not forget that I would appreciate any genuine suggestions where I might be thought to be in error. Here is a list of some of Sister White’s quotes: 22 x 3rd Person of the Godhead {DA 671.4} 1896 30 x 3 great powers of heaven {RH, June 15, 1905 par. 34} 1901 06 x 3 highest powers in the universe {RH, August 12, 1909 par. 4} 1904 05 x 3 living persons of the heavenly trio {SpTB07 63.2} 03 x 3 great infinite powers {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 17} 02 x 3 powers of the Godhead {RH, July 18, 1907 par. 3} 02 x 3 holiest beings in heaven {7MR 268.1} 01 x 3 great Worthies in heaven {1SAT 363.1} 03 x three powers of the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit {AUCR, October 7, 1907 par. 9} There are many more quotes I have not listed here ANSWERING SOME NON-TRINITARIAN QUOTES The phrase “Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” can only be found in one place in the Bible and this is Matthew 28:19. There are some who claim this was added and therefore is not the true text, solely for the purpose of establishing the Trinity doctrine. If quote — “Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” was not supposed to be there I hardly think EG White would have used 173 times in her writings. And 4 times as “Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, making a total 177 times. “The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ.” Testimonies, Series B, no. 7, pp. 62, 63. The rite of baptism is administered in the name of the Father, and of Son, and of the Holy Ghost. These three great powers of heaven pledge themselves to be the efficiency of all who submit to this ordinance, and who faithfully keep the vow they then make. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him; rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." It is here that the great danger comes in. A worldly spirit and worldly practices have taken the place that Christ should have in the life. “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. …… Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." {6MR 27.1} Before the disciples shall compass the threshold, there is to be the imprint of the sacred name, baptizing the believers in the name of the threefold powers in the heavenly world. The human mind is impressed in this ceremony, the beginning of the Christian life. It means very much. The work of salvation is not a small matter, but so vast that the highest authorities are taken hold of by the expressed faith of the human agent. The eternal Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost— is involved in the action required to make assurance to the human agent, . . . confederating the heavenly powers with the human that man may become, through heavenly efficiency, partakers of the divine nature and workers together with Christ. {UL 148.4} Those who have by baptism given to God a pledge of their faith in Christ, and their death to the old life of sin, have entered into covenant relation with God. The three powers of the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are pledged to be their strength and their efficiency in their new life in Christ Jesus. {AUCR, October 7, 1907 par. 9} The prejudice of the Jews was aroused because the disciples of Jesus did not use the exact words of John in the rite of baptism. John baptized unto repentance, but the disciples of Jesus, on profession of the faith, baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The teachings of John were in perfect harmony with those of Jesus, yet his disciples became jealous for fear his influence was diminishing. A dispute arose between them and the disciples of Jesus in regard to the form of words proper to use at baptism, and finally as to the right of the latter to baptize at all. {4Red 20.3} Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to His spiritual kingdom. He has made this a positive condition with which all must comply who wish to be acknowledged as under the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Before man can find a home in the church, before passing the threshold of God's spiritual kingdom, he is to receive the impress of the divine name, "The Lord Our Righteousness." Jeremiah 23:6. {CCh 295.2} Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have forsaken the service of Satan and have become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. They have obeyed the command: "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing." And to them is fulfilled the promise: "I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18. {CCh 295.3} The vows which we take upon ourselves in baptism embrace much. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we are buried in the likeness of Christ's death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection, and we are to live a new life. Our life is to be bound up with the life of Christ. Henceforth the believer is to bear in mind that he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he has declared that he will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence. He is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a covenant with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord, to use for Him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization that he bears God's signature, that he is a subject of Christ's kingdom, a partaker of the divine nature. He is to surrender to God all that he is and all that he has, employing all his gifts to His name's glory. {CCh 295.4} The Sign of Entrance to the Kingdom. — Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to His spiritual kingdom. He has made this a positive condition with which all must comply who wish to be acknowledged as under the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Before man can find a home in the church, before passing the threshold of God's spiritual kingdom, he is to receive the impress of the divine name, "The Lord our righteousness." Jeremiah 23:6.{Ev 307.1} Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have forsaken the service of Satan, and have become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. They have obeyed the command, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing." And to them is fulfilled the promise, "I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18. --Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 91. (1900) {Ev 307.2} There was no dispute about the fact of there being a Trinity, it was about the nature of the Trinity. Both parties believed in precisely the same Trinity; but they differed upon the precise relationship which the Son bears to the Father. {1898 ATJones, GEP 496.2} You ask what we teach about the Trinity. Inasmuch as we find no such expression in the Scriptures, we do not teach anything about it. But as to the Being of God, — the Godhead, — Divinity as revealed in the Father, the Word (the Son), and the Holy Spirit, we believe and teach just what the Bible says, and nothing else. No man can by searching find out God. No creature can understand the Almighty to perfection. The finite mind cannot comprehend infinity. Therefore, in discussions about the Trinity, about the nature of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, are manifestations of gross presumption. {February 6, 1902 EJWaggoner, PTUK 83.12} "7. Do you believe in the Trinity?" {July 30, 1903 EJW, PTUK 483.1} If I knew what you meant by the term, I might tell you; but from the days of Athanasius until now all discussion about the Trinity has been an attempt to define the indefinable and the incomprehensible. Thousands have been put to death for not professing belief in a formula which even its professors could not comprehend, nor state in terms that anybody else could comprehend. The Scriptures reveal "One God and Father of all," our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the brightness of the Father's glory, and "the eternal Spirit" through whom Christ offered Himself and was raised from the dead; but we do not profess any knowledge of them beyond what the Scriptures give us. In teaching and preaching the Gospel we always confine ourselves strictly to Scripture terms and language; those who manufacture terms must be looked to for definitions of them. It is attest not to presume to define what the Bible has not defined, nor to attempt to explain infinity. {July 30, 1903 EJW, PTUK 483.2} The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave Themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. In order fully to carry out this plan, it was decided that Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, should give Himself an offering for sin. What line can measure the depth of this love? God would make it impossible for man to say that He could have done more. With Christ He gave all the resources of heaven, that nothing might be wanting in the plan for man's uplifting. Here is love--the contemplation of which should fill the soul with inexpressible gratitude! Oh, what love, what matchless love! The contemplation of this love will cleanse the soul from all selfishness. It will lead the disciple to deny self, take up the cross, and follow the Redeemer. {Counsels on Health 222.2} The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ. — Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, pp. 62, 63. (1905) {Ev 615.1} It is the glory of the gospel that it is founded upon the principle of restoring in the fallen race the divine image by a constant manifestation of benevolence. This work began in the heavenly courts. ……The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. {AG 190.2} Three Persons in the Godhead There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ. — Evangelism, p. 615. {7ABC 441.9} The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. — Counsels on Health, p. 222. {7ABC 442.1} Those who proclaim the third angel's message must put on the whole armour of God, that they may stand boldly at their post, in the face of detraction and falsehood, fighting the good fight of faith, resisting the enemy with the word, "It is written." Keep yourselves where the three great powers of heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, can be your efficiency. These powers work with the one who gives himself unreservedly to God. The strength of heaven is at the command of God's believing ones. The man who takes God as his trust is barricaded by an impregnable wall. — The Southern Watchman, Feb. 23, 1904, p. 122. {7ABC 442.2} The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. In order to fully carry out this plan, it was decided that Christ, the only begotten Son of God, should give Himself an offering for sin. What line can measure the depth of this love? {AUCR, April 1, 1901 par. 10} Those who have by baptism given to God a pledge of their faith in Christ, and their death to the old life of sin, have entered into covenant relation with God. The three powers of the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are pledged to be their strength and their efficiency in their new life in Christ Jesus. {AUCR, October 7, 1907 par. 9} The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio. In the name of these three powers, — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will cooperate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ. {BTS, March 1, 1906 par. 2} The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. In order fully to carry out this plan, it was decided that Christ, the only begotten Son of God, should give Himself an offering for sin. What line can measure the depth of this love? God would make it impossible for man to say that He could have done more. When He gave Christ, He gave all the resources of heaven, that nothing might be wanting in the plan for man's uplifting. Here is love -- the contemplation of which should fill the soul with inexpressible gratitude! {Needs, July 4, 1903 par. 28} The Eternal Dignitaries of the Trinity. — The eternal heavenly dignitaries — God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit — arming them [the disciples] with more than mortal energy, . . . would advance with them to the work and convince the world of sin. — Manuscript 145, 1901. {Ev 616.4} In the first chapter of Second Peter is presented the progressive work in the Christian life. The whole chapter is a lesson of deep importance. If man, in acquiring the Christian graces, works on the plan of addition, God has pledged Himself to work in his behalf upon the plan of multiplication. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." The work is laid out before every soul that has acknowledged his faith in Jesus Christ by baptism, and has become a receiver of the pledge from the three persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (MS 57, 1900). {6BC 1074.9} There are four things that are predicted of personality and they are ‘will’, ‘intelligence’, ‘power’, and the capacity for ‘love’. Personality, therefore involves a self-conscious, self knowing, self willing, and self determining being. Jesus when speaking of the Holy Spirit never implied that the Holy Spirit was simply an influence. In John chapters 14, 15 and 16 – twenty four times the Holy Spirit is referred to as “Him”, “He” or “whom”. And in Matthew 28:29 Jesus gave the great commission by including the Holy Spirit along with the Father and Himself on an equal footing with the three persons of the Godhead. “Baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Jesus knew perfectly well who He was speaking about. The Holy Spirit is God in the true sense, part of the eternal Godhead. Melchisedec or Melchizedek The high priest was designed in an especial manner to represent Christ, who was to become a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec (RH Dec. 17, 1872). {5BC 1100.8} Melchizedek was not Christ, but he was the voice of God in the world, the representative of the Father. And all through the generations of the past, Christ has spoken; Christ has led His people, and has been the light of the world. When God chose Abraham as a representative of His truth, He took him out of his country, and away from his kindred, and set him apart. He desired to mould him after His own model. He desired to teach him according to His own plan. The mould of the world's teachers was not to be upon him. He was to be taught how to command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. This is the work that God would have us do. He would have us understand how to govern our families, how to control our children, how to command our households to keep the way of the Lord. {1SM 409.3} Melchizedek was not Christ, but then according Hebrews 7 Melchizedek was the Holy Spirit. So if Christ was not Melchizedek it is the same as saying Christ is not the Holy Spirit. Analysing Hebrews 7:1-4 KJV [1] For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; [2] To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; [3] Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. [4] Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. Melchisedec, king of Salem — Salem did not exist at that time and even today it is only a spot on a map mostly devoid of population. In name only, if Salem has added Jeru we get the name JeruSalem. “Priest of the Most High God” — is here a reference to heaven — a Priest of a perfect Priesthood of Heaven Christ Jesus is compared to Melchizedek in Psalms and Hebrews— Psalms 110:4 KJV [4] The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:20 KJV [20] Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. In Hebrews 7:3 — Without father, without mother, without descent means Melchisedec can only have been one of the Godhead. “having neither beginning of days, nor end of life;” again talks of the Godhead head except one — Jesus Christ had an end of life — and EG White also said “Melchizedek was not Christ” {1SM 409.3}. “but made like unto the Son of God” — means this person was not the father as the Scriptures tell us Christ is like the Father because Jesus said in John 14:7 — If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. — however a study of the Scriptures enlightens us to that the Holy Spirit is like Jesus Christ — so the conclusion is that Melchisedec is the Holy Spirit. If we believe what Mrs White said — “Melchizedek was not Christ” then the Holy Spirit is not Christ. If we leave out the Word Trinity and use the word the Bible uses — Godhead — we get the same Seventh-day Adventist meaning no matter which word is used. If you ask me if I believe in the Trinity — I would ask — which version of interpretation of the word do you expect me to explain — then my I would answer that there is a Godhead and interpretation as given us by the Spirit of Prophecy and our Pioneers — and that is my belief in a Trinity but I do prefer the term GODHEAD of which there is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as mentioned over 177 times by EG White. The prince of the power of evil can only be held in check by the power of God in the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit”. Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 10, p. 37 1807. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the sub mission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker or the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to empress His own character upon His church.” The Desire of Ages, p. 671 Through the power of the Holy Spirit, every work of God’s appointment is to be elevated and ennobled, and made to witness for the Lord. Man must place himself under the control of the eternal mind, whose dictates he is to obey in every particular.” Counsels on Health p. 524 “It is not essential for us to be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Spirit is the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father. It is plainly declared regarding the Holy Spirit, that in His work of guiding men into all truth, ‘He shall not speak of Himself.’ “The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them; but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.” Acts of the Apostles pp. 51, 52 Email us at: admin@thebiblesays.net