- “One thing it is certain is soon to be realised,—THE GREAT APOSTASY, which is DEVELOPING AND INCREASING AND WAXING STRONGER, and will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout.” {Ellen White: Testimonies, Series B, No.7, S. 57 & NYI February 7, 1906, par. 1}
- “Let none seek to tear away the foundations of our faith,—the foundations that were laid at the beginning of our work, by prayerful study of the Word and by revelation.” {Ellen White: GW, p. 307}
When our pioneers, after deep and dedicated research and prayer, did not know how to proceed, Ellen White would receive a direct answer from God and all would understand the meaning of the verses they had been studying. Ellen White was open to new light. But at the same time, she also said that new truths could only be based on already established foundations that we must not try to change!
- “The leading points of our faith as we hold them today were firmly established. Point after point (not instead of another!) was clearly defined, and all the brethren came into harmony. The whole company of believers were united in the truth. There were those who came in with strange doctrines, but we were never afraid to meet them. Our experience was wonderfully established by the revelation of the holy Spirit.” {Ellen White: 3MR 412.4 1903}
One point after the next does not mean one point instead of another. Does this above statement perhaps say that she did not rebel against wrong teachings? She wrote these words at the time when she raised her voice against Dr. Kellogg, and during that same time, raised “Daniel and Revelation” by Uriah Smith as one of the most important books besides “The Great Controversy”. The original copy of that book was explicitly against the Trinity! What other proof does God need to reveal to us before we accept this truth?
- “The burden of the warning now to come to the people of God, nigh and afar off, is the third angel’s message. And those who are seeking to understand this message will not be led by the Lord to make an application of the Word that will undermine the foundation and remove the pillars of the faith that has made Seventh-day Adventists what they are today.” {Ellen White: 2SM, p. 103. 1896}
The above statement is warning to us not to accept the “proves” that she “accepted” the Trinity at that time, which is not true.
- “There is no excuse for any one in taking the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without an error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation.” {Ellen White: RH, 20. December 1892}
In these words, we read that every new truth can be confirmed through examination of the old truth and that for the sake of personal testimony we will determine whether something is true since the truth itself will never change. Foundations remain foundations whether we have fully understood all the passages in the Bible or not. In 1888, God, through Waggoner and Jones, expanded the truth, but without contradicting the old truths The earlier omission of the Ten Commandments from that context did not mean their non-observance or any new opposite and untrue teaching. It only meant that until then, the minds of our pioneers were not ready to understand the full breadth of unaltered truth, which remained the same even after deepening.
- “Here is the very work resting upon us to perform. Do not, I beg of you, listen to the unbelief that will be crowded into your mind, and sophistries. Some are to depart from the faith. Where are they? Who are they? Who is departing from the faith laid down, the very foundation that we were on a whole century ago? We are on the very same foundation; we have the same evidence, and we worked on it day and night, to know in regard to the sanctuary question, and in regard to the personality of God, and of Christ, and of all these subjects.” {Ellen White: Ms 138, March 24, 1906}
The Spirit of Prophecy says quite clearly that our points of truth about the Person of God and the Person of Christ, as well as about the holy spirit, are completely defined, and that their rejection is clear Apostasy, which is exactly what is happening now. The Trinity brings a definition of nature and heavenly image of the Father and the Son that is 180 degrees opposite to what the pioneers believed on. The Trinity rejects Jesus’ sacrifice by claiming that Jesus did not literally die on the cross! But only Jesus’ literal death could bring us eternal salvation! In the quote below, Ellen White emphasizes that her words do not mean that we must undo the pillars of our faith:
- “There are many who are in a perilous position spiritually—many who are “ready to die.” The Revelator (John) was bidden to write to the church in Sardis: “These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” There is a censure resting upon those who have heard the truth, received the truth, and who afterward have acted like men spiritually dead. “Remember therefore.” In our work we are not to be drawn into any plausible theories that would lead to a denial of our past faith in the truth we have heard and advocated. “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.” “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” -” {Ellen White: Lt 230, July 5th, 1906}
- “The word of God covers a period of history reaching from the creation to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. Yea, more; it carries the mind forward to the future life, and opens before it the glories of paradise restored. THROUGH ALL these centuries the truth of God has remained the same. That which was truth in the beginning is truth now. Although new and important truths appropriate for succeeding generations have been opened to the understanding, the present revealings do not contradict those of the past. Every new truth understood only makes more significant the old.” {Ellen White: RH March 2, 1886, par. 6}
- “In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. [..] But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form.” {Ellen White: COL, 127.4}
Here again, we can see that the truth can be recognised after a complete study of all the quotes because otherwise, quotes that are taken out of context can prove wrong views. According to the last prophetic statement, it is impossible that we, as a Church, resolutely rejected the Trinity for decades, and then suddenly “recognised a completely different truth”, opposite to the faith of the pioneers.
This Text is part of the book First Commandment OR Trinity? – Encyclopedia of Evidences of the Old Trampled Truths of All Areas