Trinitarians are confused. They are teaching that there are three beings who are God and at the same time teaching there is one God. Dennis Priebe a Seventh-day Adventist Pastor recently shared a message on the Trinity and he was against the idea that there are only two beings who are worthy of worship. The Pastor thought worshiping only two beings was error. The SDA Pastor proclaimed,
“There are three beings that are God and yet there is one God. This is one of the great mysterious teachings of Scripture that even today we have a hard time wrapping our minds around.” Dennis Priebe, New Light for Adventists sermon, July 21, 2016, Hartland Summer Campmeeting, Rapidan, Virginia, USA.
Seventh-day Adventist trinitarians are confused because they have set themselves up to defend the Trinity. They see God as a mystery: 3-in-1 and 1-in-3. The current doctrine of God in our church is that God is a unity of three co-eternal Persons. But Seventh-day Adventists are looking at the Bible with Trinity colored glasses. How can I say that? Because I use to believe in the Trinity doctrine. I assumed it was true, not because of solid Bible verses proving the Trinity, but more because I believed the church to be the true church and that she could not err. I believed in the Trinity because all the Pastors that I trusted weren’t saying anything against it. If Doug Batchelor, Walter Veith, Stephen Bohr, Mark Finley and David Asscherick were not talking against it then it must be right. These evangelists could not be wrong on any doctrine…..could they?
Listed below are three questions that will help the honest Bible student to know how many beings are worthy of our worship.
Question One
Question #1: Does the Bible teach that there are only two beings who are worthy of worship?
Answer: Yes.
We need to know two Divine Beings to have eternal life. God, who is the Father. and His Son Jesus Christ:
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:3
Two Divine Beings sit on thrones. God, who is the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ:
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation 22:1
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: Revelation 22:3
.Do you see a pattern forming? Two Divine Beings have a kingdom. God who is the Father and His Son Jesus Christ:
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Ephesians 5:5
Please critically examine your belief about God being a unity of 3 co-eternal persons. The Bible is not revealing a Trinity. The SDA pioneers including Ellen White were correct in their understanding. We didn’t have to change as a church 36 years ago. We changed positions for the worse. It’s time to come back to the pillars of our faith.
The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure. {Ellen White, 1904, SpTB02 54.3}
Please search the Scriptures whether these things are so. Please reread the passages above and notice that God does not equal a plurality but a personal Being, and Jesus Christ is the Son of the personal Being we call God. Two Divine Beings.
Here are a few more Scriptures all pointing in the same direction that the Father and Son alone are to be exalted.
How many Divine Beings are praised by the whole creation? Two. (Rev 5:13)
How many Divine Beings were involved in the counsel of peace? Two. (Zech 13:7)
How many Divine Beings are involved in the judgment? Two. (Dan 7:13)
How many Divine Beings are involved in the everlasting gospel? Two. (John 3:16-18)
How many Divine Beings will the believers have fellowship with? Two. (1 John 1:3)
How many Divine Beings will the unsaved hide away from? Two. (Rev 6:16)
How many Divine Beings give us grace and peace? Two. (Rom 1:7)
This is only a partial list. See also (1John 2:22, 1Tim 1:1, 1Tim 5:21, John 10:30)
Question Two
Question #2: Do the writings of Ellen White teach that there are only two beings who are worthy of worship?
Answer: Yes.
“And Jesus increased his wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Let the brightest example the world has yet seen be your example, rather than the greatest and most learned men of the age, who know not God, nor Jesus Christ whom he has sent. The Father and the Son alone are to be exalted. {Ellen White, Youth Instructor, July 7, 1898 par. 2}
God and Christ alone know what the souls of men have cost.” {Ellen White, ST, January 13, 1909 par. 8}
The Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both. About the throne gathered the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng–“ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Revelation 5:11.), the most exalted angels, as ministers and subjects, rejoicing in the light that fell upon them from the presence of the Deity. Before the assembled inhabitants of heaven the King declared that none but Christ, the Only Begotten of God, could fully enter into His purposes, and to Him it was committed to execute the mighty counsels of His will. The Son of God had wrought the Father’s will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. Christ was still to exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. But in all this He would not seek power or exaltation for Himself contrary to God’s plan, but would exalt the Father’s glory and execute His purposes of beneficence and love. {Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p.36.2}
Before the entrance of evil there was peace and joy throughout the universe. All was in perfect harmony with the Creator’s will. Love for God was supreme, love for one another impartial. Christ the Word, the Only Begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,–one in nature, in character, and in purpose,–the only being in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. By Christ the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers” (Colossians 1:16); and to Christ, equally with the Father, all heaven gave allegiance. {Ellen White, Great Controversy, p.493.1}
The Father and the Son engaged in the mighty, wondrous work they had contemplated–of creating the world. {Ellen White, The Story of Redemption p.20}
After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. {Ellen White, The Spirit of Prophecy Volume One p.24}
Please do not overlook these quotes. Take time to see if they harmonize with your current belief about God. If the Scriptures and Ellen White’s writings clearly show two beings alone are to be exalted then please critically examine your belief about the Trinity. God is not calling you to defend the new creed of your church. You do not need to defend a 3-in-1 God and say it’s mysterious. God is calling you to stand on His Word. Pastor’s are human. Sincere pastors can be sincerely wrong hence the counsel to study to show thyself approved.
Question Three
Question #3: Does the truth about the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of Christ reveal that there are only two beings who are worthy of worship?
Answer: Yes.
Seventh-day Adventists can hold to the truth that there are only two beings who are worthy of worship and at the same time believe in the third person of the Godhead. How? Because the third person of the Godhead is not a separate person from the Father and the Son. The third person is Jesus Christ “divested of the personality of humanity” (DA 669.2; 14MR 23.3). Non-trinitarians believe in the third person of the Godhead. However, using the words of Ellen White, we believe that the Holy Spirit is Christ Himself, but “divested of the personality of humanity.”
Adventists can hold to the truth that “The Father and the Son alone are to be exalted” and at the same time believe in the “heavenly trio” because the heavenly trio consists of the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit of Christ.
All the Scriptures that you once thought proved 3 separate beings now harmonize with the truth that life eternal consists of knowing 2 Divine Beings, the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3.)
In summary, the Bible teaches two beings, the spirit of prophecy teaches two beings, and the understanding of the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of Christ teaches two beings. The one true God is to be worshipped. God is a personal being who is our Father in heaven. And the Father has a Son who is also worthy of our worship because He is the Son of God.
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. Matthew 14:33
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. Hebrews 1:1-6
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. 1 Corinthians 8:6
You can worship the one true God, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Cor 11:31; Eph 1:3; 1Pet 1:3),by exalting His Son. You can worship God by worshiping the Son of God.
I agree with the article, but how are we to be sure White was talking about the Holy Spirit when she says pillars would be changed or removed?
Good question
Here is a quote that may help answer that question:
“Those who seek to remove the old landmarks are not holding fast; they are not remembering how they have received and heard. Those who try to bring in theories that would remove the pillars of our faith concerning the sanctuary or concerning the personality of God or of Christ, are working as blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties and to set the people of God adrift without an anchor.” Ellen White, MR760 9.5
This quote shows us that the personalities of God and Christ were pillars that were not to be changed. In this quote she doesn’t mention the Holy Spirit, but this is telling. She does mention God & Christ. God is one being. Christ is another. God is not three beings of which Christ is one. God is one personal being and Christ is another. The trinitarian concept of the Holy Spirit doesn’t fit our landmark doctrines of who God and Christ are.
Hope that helps
HERE’S HOW TO DEBUNK THOSE WHO MISAPPLY THE E.G. WHITE STATEMENT THAT “THE FATHER AND SON ALONE ARE TO BE EXALTED”!!
Notice that Mrs White DID NOT SAY only the Father and the Son are to be “worshipped” or “served” in the divine sense, since she is on record saying the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are to be worshipped, served, bowed down to, praised and prayed to!! This is proven irrefutably below in clear quotes from her. The Bible itself makes plain that humble human servants who are saved (or “every valley” in symbol) “shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12; Isaiah 40:4). So what then does this “the Father and Son alone are to be exalted” quote really mean, if even saved humans will be “exalted”? And how does it harmonize with the full truth given in the Bible and the Spirit of prophecy writings of Mrs White about the worship of divinity revealed as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? This is vital to the matter at hand, and too many SDAs have allowed themselves to be duped by those dissidents in our midst who misinterpret this “Father and Son alone to be exalted” statement, and who never reasoned the issue through; but are simply repeating common soundbites but failing to research properly and think comprehensively. Let’s allow the facts to debunk the misguided teachers many times over.
First of all, the very same Mrs White makes plain that:
1. “….should not the *Scriptures be EXALTED in every school in our land?”
—E.G. White, Counsels to Teachers, p. 427.
2. “Christ is the King of the world, and His *Kingdom is to be EXALTED.”
— E.G. White, June 16, 1899 (Fundamentals of Education, pg. 481)
3. “…today God is still using His church to make known His purpose in the earth…The standard of God’s *law is being EXALTED…”
—E.G. White, Acts of the Apostles, 1911, pg. 53
Now it is plain that it’s not only the Father and Son who will or should be literally “exalted”, since even God’s written word, his kingdom, his law and his servants will be “exalted”. So for those who think that the word “exalted” only mean worshiped in the divine sense, they already stand debunked. The word “exalted” can mean to be recognized, esteemed highly, honored, promoted, valued, highlighted, etc, and if that is so then how can we really say that the Holy Spirit is not to be? See at the link below what the word “exalt” or “exalted” meant in Mrs White’s time:
http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Exalt
http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Exalted
Secondly, if Mrs White meant that only the Father and Son are to be literally “exalted” or (as some claim) worshipped as divine persons then how do we harmonize her saying:
“Jesus ALONE is to be EXALTED.” —E.G. White, Review and Herald, July 5, 1887
If the “Jesus alone” statement above was to be interpreted literally at face value (or out of context, as the dissidents love to do), then we would have to exclude Jesus’ Father from being “exalted” (using the faulty logic of the dissidents against them). But this is not so, since Mrs White herself made plain that all “three living persons” of divinity are to be not only praised, or honored, or recognized, or held in high esteem, but they all are to be WORSHIPPED or SERVED in the sense of Matthew 4:10 (a reality reminding us why we should allow all of Mrs White’s statements to speak on an issue; not just some to suit ourselves). Proof?
“…let us [SDAs] consecrate to Him [“the Lord” our God] all that we are, and all that we have, and then may we all unite to swell the song, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, *AND Holy Ghost .”
—E.G. White, Review and Herald (SDA periodical), January 4, 1881
“When we have accepted Christ, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit have pledged ourselves to *SERVE God, the Father, Christ, *AND the Holy Spirit –the three dignitaries and powers of heaven–pledge themselves that every facility shall be given to us if we carry out our baptismal vows to “come out from among them, and be . . . separate . . . and touch not the unclean thing.” [Remember that “TO SERVE” here means to reverence, honor, worship and obey; see Joshua 24:15; Psalm 100:2]
—-E.G. White, Manuscript 85, 1901
“As the saints in the kingdom of God are accepted in the beloved [i.e. Paradise], they hear: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” And then the golden harps are touched, and the music flows all through the heavenly host, and they fall down and *WORSHIP the Father and the Son *AND the Holy Spirit.”
—E.G. White, Manuscript 139, 1906.
“You are born unto God, and you stand under the sanction and the power of the THREE holiest BEINGS in heaven, who are able to keep you from falling…. When I feel oppressed and hardly know how to relate myself toward the work that God has given me to do, I just *CALL UPON [or pray to] the three great worthies… And this is the *PRAYER that every one of us may offer”
—E.G. White, Lesson from Romans 15, October 20, 1906 (recorded sermon by personal secretary)
The above is plain. She listed all “three living persons” of divinity separately as objects of praise, worship, and prayer. If she had always only listed two divine persons when dealing SPECIFICALLY with worship, praise, religious service, or prayer, then I would not be here explaining the CONTEXT of the “Father and Son alone are to be exalted” quote; the matter would be already clear-cut. But as we have seen above this “alone to be exalted” statement is NOT as clear-cut as the dissidents make it out to be.
It is plain that to her, the word “alone” and the word “exalted” can be used in various contexts, and it does NOT always mean she was absolutely excluding other persons and things from being “exalted”, neither does it mean she was always dealing with worship when using the word “exalted”. For her to say “Jesus alone is to be exalted” MUST mean that any divine person can REPRESENT the other Godhead persons as divinity who only should be honored/worshipped in the highest sense, since they all are “one” spiritually. And this reality would equally apply to the Holy Spirit, just as one E.G. White-endorsed SDA pioneer made plain:
“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
In addition, Mrs White showed plainly that to her the word “worship” and “exalt” meant different things at times. Notice:
“It is not men whom we are to exalt *AND worship; it is God, the only true and living God, to whom our worship and reverence are due.”— E.G. White, Youth Instructor, July 7, 1896
Notice that the words “exalt” and “worship” are separated by the word “AND”!! Now, since (as we have seen above) she herself said we should “exalt” God’s word and his law, and she mentioned that even God’s kingdom will be “exalted” (and we know that the saved in it will be “exalted”, as the Bible promised), yet we don’t/shouldn’t divinely worship the bible, the law, or the kingdom, or the saints, it is plain then that the words “exalt’ and “worship” (or “serve”) can and does mean different things. The “Father and Son alone are to be exalted” statement was made specifically in one place in Mrs White’s writings with reference to the tendency in some churches to be “exalting” humans with titles like “Reverend”. The issue was not so much about who are the divine persons to worship or praise or serve, but that it’s only divinity we should ascribe the term “reverend” to, and at that juncture in her writings she chose to focus only on the Father and the Son (both persons who cannot be separated from their Representative Holy Spirit in nature). In other places she chose to focus only on Jesus alone to be exalted when contending against vain humans elevating themselves, and yet by no stretch of the imagination could we expect that it would exclude the Father and the Holy Spirit whom he is “one” with functionally and spiritually as God. In fact, she herself lauded the Holy Spirit as the Father and Son’s co-equal in terms of his divinity (or “the fullness of the Godhead”), in his “living” and “distinct personality”, in his love or “pity” for humanity (see Rom. 15:30), in his omniscience, in his omnipotent power, in his ruler-ship i.e. being a member of “the great threefold power”), in his “Fatherhood” of humanity, etc. She went as far as telling true SDAs:
“There is, thank God, an ever living Spirit [i.e. the Holy Spirit, a “living person”] to guide us into all truth. But it [i.e. this truth about him] is to be communicated, not shut up to our own individual selves. This Spirit, who will guide us into all truth, must be made known to others, and will guide them.“
—E.G. White, Letter 92, 1896.
Thus all her life Mrs White was exalting the Holy Spirit right alongside the Father and the Son (in terms of equal worship directed to him and recognition of his distinct person-hood and divinity), so much so that at her funeral a leading pioneer, A.G. Daniels (who was the General Conference president for several years) said of her work:
“In her teaching, Christ is recognized and *exalted as the only Saviour of sinners….[and] The Holy Spirit, the third *PERSON of the Godhead, and Christ’s Representative on earth is set forth [by her] and *EXALTED as the Heavenly Teacher and Guide sent to this world by our Lord…”
—A.G. Daniels (SDA pioneer), Review & Herald, August 5, 1915, pg. 7 (also as reported by F.M.Wilcox, another pioneer, in his book“Testimony of Jesus”, 1934, pg.43)
Finally, anyone who thinks that Mrs White when speaking of “God” or our “Father” in heaven that this meant only (or always) that its only Jesus’ Father who is always in view they will again be debunked by the following quote:
“God says, [notice after this whom she means says this] “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you [notice hereafter who is speaking as “I” and “the Almighty” here], and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith [or pledges] the Lord Almighty.” [Now notice carefully] This is the pledge of [not one person, but] the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [i.e. the *pledge to receive and be a Father to you]; made to you if you will keep your baptismal vow, and touch not the unclean thing… In order to deal righteously with the world, as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, Christians must feel their need of a power, which comes only from the [three] heavenly agencies that have pledged themselves to work in man’s behalf. After we have formed a union with the great THREEFOLD POWER [singular; collective], we shall regard our duty toward the members of God’s family with a sacred awe.” —E.G. White, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1901
Thus to Mrs White, and the pioneers after 1888, God our Father who should be praised and worshiped can at times (in context) include all Three of the “great threefold power” (or “the triune Deity”); “LIVING persons” spiritually united as separate beings (not as one three-headed being in one undivided substance….but just as more than one person can be called “Adam” or “man” in the singular but as separate beings. See Gen. 5:2 and Gen. 6:3, 5-7).
“… the Godhead is composed of three personal *BEINGS, and these three are one. The oneness of the Godhead must, then, consist not in personality, but in some other kind of oneness. Let us apply the Bible idea of oneness of *individuals to the Godhead, and see if it will contradict the possibility of three or more individuals being called one. We have two visible institutions in this world that are Bible illustrations of God’s idea of oneness, marriage and the church.”
—Review and Herald, Vol. 89; Dec. 19, 1912; No. 51, pg. 5
“God is worshipped because He is Creator; and God means the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for all are mentioned as having part in creation .”
—The Present Truth (SDA periodical), Vol. 29, No. 48. Nov. 27, 1913, p. 757
“In the former dispensations God was known by such appellations as, The Lord God, The Almighty God, The I Am, and The Jehovah God. But in the ordinance of baptism (according to the gospel commission), in which ordinance we take upon us the name of the God we worship, he is
known as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now if this be the truth, as it most certainly is, then it follows that to believe and confess this truth is to answer a good conscience toward God… when we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as the true and living God, our Creator, Preserver, and Saviour, we at once and forever renounce and separate ourselves from every kind and species of idolatry and false worship.”
—Review and Herald, March 16, 1876, pg. 82
“Christ said. Go, teach, bring into discipleship, all nations. Give them the knowledge of the truth of My gospel, which is founded on truth. Lead them to understand that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are heaven’s *LOVING, powerful AGENCIES for the accomplishment of the work of representing God in the world.”
[*REMEMBER only a personal being, a living person who’s separate from another can be both considered as “living” and “LOVING”, and REMEMBER an “agency” represents a another or a group, and notice even the Father was deemed by her as an “agency” of the Godhead]
—E.G. White, Letter 93, 1900
See:
http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Agency
ENOUGH SAID!
Thanks for your comment. I will take a look at what you have shared.
“There are some, who upon accepting erroneous theories, strive to establish them by collecting from my writings statements of truth, which they use, separated from their proper connection and perverted by association with error.” .[—Letter 136, April 27, 1906, to Brethren Butler, Daniels, and Irwin.]
This statement was in reference to the book “The Living Temple” written by John Harvey Kellogg which contained Pantheistic teachings. The teaching of pantheism is that God was in everything and was everything; an impersonal being.
Thank you.
I have begun to read your comment brother Derrick.
“Notice that Mrs White DID NOT SAY only the Father and the Son are to be “worshipped” or “served” in the divine sense, since she is on record saying the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are to be worshipped, served, bowed down to, praised and prayed to!! This is proven irrefutably below in clear quotes from her.”
Here is the EGW quote that brother Derrick is questioning:
“And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them.” “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Let the brightest example the world has yet seen be your example, rather than the greatest and most learned men of the age, who know not God, nor Jesus Christ whom he has sent. The Father and the Son alone are to be exalted. Ellen White, Youth Instructor, July 7, 1898 par. 2
Brother Derrick is absolutely correct on the fact that in this quote it DID NOT SAY only the Father and the Son are to be “worshipped” or “served” in the divine sense. It only communicated the fact that the Father and the Son alone are to be exalted. This statement by brother Derrick does not debunk the article that was written. Brother Derrick is making a case that I am incorrectly using the word “Exalted” to mean “Worship” because in the article regarding question #2 it says the following: Do the writings of Ellen White teach that there are only two beings who are worthy of worship? Answer: Yes.
Brother Derrick goes on to define the word “Exalted” in the 1828 dictionary to prove his point that the word “Exalted” does not mean “Worship”.
The point I would like to bring out is that I did not just use the first quote as my only quote. In the same section where the above quote is taken from I reference Patriarchs and Prophets:
The Son of God had wrought the Father’s will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. Patriarchs and Prophets 36.2
Let’s look at what the 1828 dictionary says regarding the word “Homage”
Homage = Reverence directed to the Supreme Being; reverential worship; devout affection.
http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/homage
We see with this quote that the Son of God as well as the Father was to receive homage (reverential worship).
As one reads the quotes that brother Derrick uses please note that at least 3 of his quotes of Ellen White are sermons or talks that have been recorded by other people. What this means is that at least 3 quotes of brother Derrick’s that he is using to debunk the article is not from the pen of Ellen White.
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/8964.2000001
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/9579.2000001
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/427.1648 (Thank you brother Derrick for acknowledging in your comments that this quote was a recording)
I ask brother Derrick to acknowledge the points mentioned above as being true before I continue to look at the rest of his comment. I would like to say that I do appreciate brother Derrick sharing as we do need to study these things out and if someone see’s an error we should be willing to look at what is being said us and check ourselves. I desire to apply 2 Corinthians 13:5 to myself: Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith;
I pray that I may have the right spirit in this conversation. I’ve seen many times on the internet, discussions that are filled with “fight” in them. I desire not to fight. I pray that believers in this movement remember that we really do want to know the Father and His Son which also means a knowledge of their character. Let us pray that we may have the mind of Christ in all our responses and conversations. Blessings!
On March 1, 1973, Mrs. White’s grandson, Arthur L. White wrote an article in White.Estate, called “The Ellen G. White Writings.” And what I found there amazed me, Friend Jason, keep your faith only in God and in his Son Jesus Christ. You are right in everything. The testimonies of Mrs. White’s son and grandson are like gold against every SDA church lie and adulteration.
Hugs from Brazil.
A Few Words to the Reader
Through this volume I, the secretary of the Ellen G. White Estate, pass to the readers my rather intimate knowledge of the operation of inspiration and the writing of the prophetic message as seen in the experience of Ellen G. White. EGWW 9.1
Some of this knowledge I gained from my father, William C. White, third son of James and Ellen G. White. I grew up in the environment of these things and worked with W. C. White in the Elmshaven office of the White Estate for nine years.EGWW 9.2
Most of what is presented here stems from a knowledge acquired in handling the Ellen G. White documents over a period of four decades.EGWW 9.3
This volume consists of five formal presentations made to groups of university and college teachers, administrators, and forum groups. The topics were assigned. The rather heavily documented papers were built upon the Ellen G. White documents themselves and the witness of Ellen G. White’s contemporaries. Little reference is made to the works of scholars and theologians in the field of inspiration in general, for it was my intent to present the picture as I have seen it, working closely with the materials as found in the White Estate office records.
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/663.8#8
Consistent and Repeated Declarations on a Critical Point
One such case relates to the personality of God and involves the Trinity. I have failed to find one instance in which Ellen White employs the term Trinity. However, she was clear on the subject of “the three highest powers in heaven—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost” (Evangelism, 617). She had been reared in the Methodist Church with a creed, the very first tenet of which declares:EGWW 156.2
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, 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 Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1888, pp. 16, 17. EGWW 156.3
Besides reacting against this doctrine she also had to meet the devastating teachings of the “spiritualizers” in the mid-1840’s. EGWW 156.4
The point of God being without body or parts was a question Ellen White in vision discussed with Jesus. She records it in her first book, published in 185 1: EGWW 156.5
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.” Early Writings, 55 (1882 edition). EGWW 157.1
In an explanatory statement published in 1854 Ellen G. White defines further just what she meant:EGWW 157.2
On page 55, I stated that a cloud of glorious light covered the Father and that His person could not be seen. I also stated that I saw the Father rise from the throne. The Father was enshrouded with a body of light and glory, so that His person could not be seen; yet I knew it was the Father and that from His person emanated this light and glory. When I saw this body of light and glory rise from the throne, I knew it was because the Father moved, therefore said, I saw the Father rise. The glory, or excellency, of His form I never saw; no one could behold it and live; yet the body of light and glory that enshrouded His person could be seen.—Early Writings, 92. EGWW 157.3
And she discussed the matter elsewhere in the book: EGWW 157.4
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 the express image of My Father’s person.” Early Writings, 77. EGWW 157.5
Then follows a significant statement employing the word spiritualism 17 in a manner not usually employed by Seventh-day Adventists, and stemming from the work of “the spiritualizers,” who were heard in 1845 and onward for a few years:EGWW 157.6
I have often seen that the spiritual view took away all the glory of heaven, and that in many minds the throne of David and the lovely person of Jesus have been burned up in the fire of spiritualism.—Ibid. EGWW 157.7
Our forefathers consistently were averse to the doctrine of the Trinity as defined in church creeds, notably the Methodist. They saw in it an element that “spiritualized” away both Jesus Christ and God. James White in a letter sent to the Day Star and published in the issue of January 24, 1846, speaks of— EGWW 158.1
A certain class who deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. This class can be no other than those who spiritualize away the existence of the Father and the Son, as two distinct, literal, tangible persons, also a literal Holy city and throne of David…. The way spiritualizers this way have disposed of or denied the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ is first using the old unscriptural trinitarian creed. EGWW 158.2
James White’s use of the term spiritualizershelps to clarify Ellen White’s use of the term spiritualism as it appears in the quotations above, and this is a point we shall pursue. But before doing so, let us place on the record here four statements particularly significant in the light of the words from Early Writings quoted above: EGWW 158.3
In the beginning, man was created in the likeness of God, not only in character, but in form and feature.—The Great Controversy, 644, 645.EGWW 158.4
God is a being, and man was made in His image. After God created man in His image, the form was perfect.—Manuscript 117, 1898.EGWW 158.5
Man was to bear God’s image, both in outward resemblance and in character. Christ alone is “the express image” of the Father; but man was formed in the likeness of God.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 45. EGWW 158.6
When Adam came from the Creator’s hand, he bore, in his physical, mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker. “God created man in His own image.” Education, 15. They bore in outward resemblance the likeness of their Maker.—Education, 20. EGWW 158.7
In laying a foundation for what is to come, we turn to the Review and Herald Extra bearing date of July 21, 1851. Note the date. James White under the heading “A Warning” declares: EGWW 158.8
We feel to pity, and mourn over the condition of our honest brethren who have fallen into the mischievous error and bewitching snare of modern spiritualism, and we would do all in our power to help them.—Ellen G. White Present Truth and Review and Herald Articles,vol. 1, p. 16.
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/663.1100#1100
EVEN BEFORE 1888 THE SDA PIONEERS STARTED TO SEE GOD AS A GROUP, A SPECIE OF *SEPARATE *BEINGS, A COMPOSITE “HE” OR “HIM”, OR A *TRIUNE DIVINITY (AND THEY WORSHIPED GOD OR DIVINITY AS A GROUP FROM THE 1840s)! PROOF?
“In the former dispensations God was known by such appellations as, The Lord God, The Almighty God, The I Am, and The Jehovah God. But in the ordinance of baptism (according to the gospel commission), in which ordinance we take upon us the name of the God we worship, he is known as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Now if this be the truth, as it most certainly is, then it follows that to believe and confess this truth is to answer a good conscience toward God… when we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as the true and living God, our Creator, Preserver, and Saviour, we at once and forever renounce and separate ourselves from every kind and species of idolatry and false worship.”
—Review and Herald, March 16, 1876, pg. 82
“…let us [SDAs] consecrate to Him [“the Lord” our God] all that we are, and all that we have, and then may we all unite to swell the songs, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, *AND Holy Ghost.”
—E.G. White, Review and Herald, January 4, 1881
“Do the Scriptures warrant praise to and worship of the Holy Sprint? …in the formula for baptism, the name “Holy Ghost,” or” Holy Spirit,” is associated with that of the Father and the Son. And if the name can be used thus, why could it not properly stand as a part of the same *TRINITY in the hymn of praise, “Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”?”
— Uriah Smith (“U.S.”), In the Question Chair, Review and Herald, 1896, Vol. 73, No. 43, pg. 685
Even Uriah Smith, before his 1903 death, had begun to deem “all of Deity” (or all of God) as forming a “trinity”. He described “all of Deity” (or God) as “the union between the Father and the Son” “in connection with the Holy Spirit” (Uriah Smith, Looking Unto Jesus”,1898) and he (just like Mrs White) amazingly (as seen quoted above) defended the worship of the Holy Spirit in the doxology sung among SDAs from as early as the 1840s: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow…praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost” .
And notice two crucial things here. First, Uriah Smith knew full well that the word “Deity” when capitalized means God or Jehovah our God, and yet he did not refrain from describing “all of Deity” or all of who God is as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit united. Second, notice that Mrs White freely affirmed the song “Praise God from who all blessings flow, praise *HIM all creatures…praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”. Notice that the word “HIM” in the doxology did not stop at only the Father of Jesus, but it included the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in that united “HIM”; just as seen in the picture quote here from the 1876 Review and Herald!!
I think our pioneers started to embrace the truth of a triune God (of separate *BEINGS) much earlier than some do realize, despite it took some time for them to work out the details about the distinct personality of the “three BEINGS” involved…i.e. “three LIVING persons” of divinity who are all worshipped or served as Jehovah our God, since, as Jesus himself said in Matthew 4:10, only who is our God we should worship or serve in this sense! And obviously the pioneers realized that to worship God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (separate beings of divinity) this was obeying the first of the Ten Commandments; not disobeying it as some (the misguided dissidents) mistakenly believe. No wonder then that by the early 1900s the SDA pioneers in union with Mrs White herself were freely saying the following about the “three beings” of the Godhead (i.e. before 1915 when Mrs White died):
“Let Him [the Spirit] make you know, beloved, how surprisingly beautiful are the blended personalities of our *TRIUNE God manifested by the personal presence of the Holy Ghost.”
—“Blended Personalities”, Review and Herald, Vol. 77, April 3, 1900, pg. 210
“After we have formed a union with the great threefold Power [or triune Sovereign or Ruler; singular], we shall regard our duty toward the members of God’s family with a sacred awe. We shall seek to answer the prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” by living pure, sanctified lives, showing the world how the will of God is done in heaven.”
—E.G. White, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1901
“We art children of a Father with “all comfort” in his holding; Jesus is our “Elder Brother” and his blood for us he gave; While the Holy Ghost, “the Comforter,” each heart by truth is molding. So the great, *TRIUNE JEHOVAH is omnipotent to save; he Is building mansions” for us… as children, we obey him. And the “image” and the ‘likeness” lost, by grace shall be restored”
—-Signs of the Times, January 6, 1904, Vol. 30 (No. 1), pg. 1
“In the afternoon, at 3: 30 I conducted a singular baptismal service in the home of a sick sister who, although bedridden, anxiously desired a burial with Christ. A bath tub was procured, and after a straight talk on the necessity of baptism and salvation through it, I buried Sister Jennie Bagley in the name of the TRIUNE Deity…..”
—J. K. Humphry, Atlantic Union Gleaner, August 2, 1905, Vol. 4 (No. 30), pgs. 357-8
“May we all in glory praise The TRIUNE through endless days.”
—The Present Truth, March 23, 1905 , Vol.21 (No. 12) p.183
*NOTE: The word “triune” as applied to divinity simply meant the following to the pioneers (as the American English dictionary of their time made plain):
“Three in one; an epithet applied to God, to express the unity of the Godhead in a trinity of persons.”
“http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Triune
So to Mrs White, to be baptized in the name of the “triune Jehovah” meant:
“By our baptismal pledge we avouched and solemnly confessed the Lord Jehovah as our Ruler. We virtually took a solemn oath, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that henceforth our lives would be merged into the life of these three great agencies, ”
—E.G. White, Manuscript 67, 1907
ENOUGH SAID!
I was sadden and alarmed to read this article. These claims are SO incorrect & alarming. Trust only the Word combined with the writings of God’s prophet! God tells us clearly: “If they preach not according to this Word there is NO light in them!
PLEASE NOTE: ** 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)
AND NOTE:** The Pre-existent, Self-existent Son of God.–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. He to whose voice the Jews were then listening had been with God as one brought up with Him.– Signs of the Times, Aug. 29, 1900.