Did EGW use the term “person or personality” when she referred to the holy Spirit? Those two expressions contradict all other EGW quotes about the holy Spirit. We can read in the quote below that Ellen White explicitly preceded the Adventists from the apostasy teachings of A.T. Jones. He claimed, that the holy Spirit is one being (person).
Ellen White wrote in 1906 that A.T. Jones had chosen the deceptions of satanic power:
- “I am sorry for A. T. Jones, who has been warned over and over again. Notwithstanding these warnings, he has allowed the enemy to fill his mind with thoughts of self-importance. Heed not his words, for he has rejected the plainest light and has chosen darkness instead. The holy One (1. Peter 1,16 = Jesus} hath given us messages clear and distinct, but some poor souls have been blinded by the falsehoods and the deceptive influences of satanic agencies and have turned from truth and righteousness to follow these fallacies of satanic origin.“ {EGW Ms 39, 1906.5}
One year later, A.T. Jones wrote in ´The Medical Missionary´ that we must “FINALLY“ “understand“ and ASSUME that the holy Spirit is not an IT, but a person:
AT. Jones 1907: Here we see his demand to change the faith and accept the holy Ghost as a person:
- “And the holy Spirit is a person. This great truth is not recognised, indeed it is not believed, by more than a very few even of Christians. For everybody knows that almost invariably, with very, very few exceptions, the holy Spirit is referred to and spoken of by Christians as “it.” But the word “it” never applies to a person. The word “IT” in the very genius of our language, refers and applies only to things, never to persons; to things of inanimate substance, as a stone, a horse, a tree; or to things of concept, or experience, as space, height, breadth, peace, joy, grief, an impression, an influence. But the holy Spirit is none of these: the holy Spirit is not an influence; nor an impression, nor peace, nor joy, nor any thing. The holy Spirit gives peace, and gives joy, assuag es in grief, makes an impression, excerts an influence; but the holy Spirit is none of these things, nor any other thing. No, eternally no! The holy Spirit is a Person, eternally a Divine Person. And he must be always recognised and spoken of as a person, or he is not truly recognised or spoken of at all.“ {A.T. Jones: “The Medical Missionary“ page 98.5 – 98.7} {https:// m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1162.98}
The above statement by A.T. Jones, in 1907, reveals the LIE that Church of that day, along with the Pioneers and Ellen White, had accepted the Trinity doctrine. If the terms ‘person’ or ‘personality’ were used to describe the holy spirit around that time, why did A.T. Jones write that apart from just a few people (actually those which brought the apostasy in our church at that time), ALL other Adventists described the holy Spirit with the word IT? It is quite strange if the SDA congregation had really accepted the Trinity at that time, as it is claimed today with written “pieces of evidence” that actually only came from the apostasy teachers of that time. Ellen White wrote that A.T. Jones was hopeless in his apostasy, and in fact, was a servant of Dr. Kellogg:
Ellen White 1908: A.T. Jones and Dr. Kellogg, together, proclaim the same heresy:
- “We did not see anything to encourage us in the hope that Elder Jones is coming out from the darkness i.e. upon him. He feels that he understands Himself; but he is as the blind and is feeling about to know what step to take next. I felt that I must speak plainly to him. I told him that notwithstanding the warnings that had been given regarding Dr. Kellogg’s influence over him, he had gone into the very path he had been cautioned not to take; he had not spiritual discernment to understand the doctor’s religious standing. I told him that he had become Dr. Kellogg’s voice to the people.“ {Ellen White, Lt 234, 1908.5}
- “He (Dr. Kellog) told me that he NOW believed in God the Father, God the Son, and God the holy Ghost; and HIS view was that it was God the holy Ghost, and NOT God the Father, that filled all space, and every living thing.“ {Letter by A. G. Daniells to W. C. White on October 29, 1903 p. 1+2}
The only topic in the CONTINUATION of the Alpha apostasy by Dr. Kellogg was entirely false doctrine about God and the holy Spirit. Why did EGW write this warning if the holy Spirit was already considered God in our church? H.C. Lacey wrote a letter to Dr. LeRoy Froom, describing his old beliefs and his family’s beliefs about the Trinity. In this letter, the question is not whether H.C. Lacey believed in the Trinity or not, but rather about his statement that, in the Adventist church, the holy Spirit was described as “it”, and everyone had rejected the holy Spirit as a 3rd being!
- “As to any special controversy, or agitation, over the matter of the Trinity, I cannot recall anything serious at all. Of course I have always known that elder Uriah Smith was an Arian in belief, (‘Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation’ reveal that!) and that our people undoubtedly generally followed that view. But we, as a family, had been brought up in the Church of England, and were naturally, may I say, Trinitarians. We just believed it, subconsciously, and I do not remember our ever discussing the question with the brethren who brought us into the Truth, Elder M. C. Israel, and young brother W. L. H. Baker. One thing I do recall is my mother’s remarking on the strange language used by our ministers in speaking of the holy Ghost as IT and ‘ITs’ as though they thought of the holy Spirit as an influence, instead of as a Person. That seemed very strange to her, and in a measure to me also (I was about 17 then).” {H. C. Lacey letter to Dr. LeRoy Froom Aug. 30, 1945}
God has ensured that despite the intentional changes to most of EGW quotes, some have not been changed from their original meaning. For example, in the “Great Controversy” there is a quote where she uses the word ‘IT’. Those who are really looking for the old truth shell find it!
- “The Father gave His Spirit without measure to His Son, and we also may partake of IT´s fullness.” {Ellen White: Great Controversy, p. 477}
Alternate interpretation:
In the following text down is the proof of the old truth for all readers who hold on to their attitude that there is NO falsification of the Spirit of Prophecy or the Bible. But even in this case the controversial texts or verses, in conjunction with the remaining verses and texts, cannot provide any evidence in favour of the Trinity. By isolating some text, we can prove almost any heresy. We know that the writings of Ellen White (Spirit of Prophecy) cannot, at the same time, oppose and support the Trinity. This also shows us the only way to interpret expressions like “three heavenly powers”, without taking the quote out of context. Although this script brought the evidence of the falsifications, we can still see in the text below, that even if these texts were original, the doctrine of the Trinity could not be proven!
At first glance, the quote below could be used as a strong support for the Trinity. Who is the third person? A being? According to the Spirit of Prophecy, it is not:
- “Those who believe the truth should remember that they are God’s little children, that they are under His training. Let them be thankful to God for His manifold mercies and be kind to one another. They have one God and one Saviour; and one Spirit—the Spirit of Christ —is to bring unity into their ranks.” {Ellen White: 9T, p. 189.3 1905}
- “We want the holy Spirit, which is Jesus Christ.” {Ellen White: Letter 66, April 10, 1894, par. 18}
If a person has a body, life, and spirit, is their spirit another being or only a part of this person? At the same time, the expression “my son” naturally means another being, which does not apply to a spirit, because a spirit is always only a part of a being! Most of Ellen White’s quotes, nearly 100,000 pages, state that the holy Spirit is actually the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Jesus. On the other hand there’s about then quotes that the impression that the holy Ghost could be one Divine being, but these quotes are the minority.
Therefore, using these isolated quotes as “evidence” for the Trinity doctrine, is a not correct way to find the truth. If you really want to know who or what the holy Spirit is, you should evaluate ALL the inspired quotes to find the answer, and not just the isolated quotes. That is the method that the theologians are using to prove the unbiblical Trinity. Through such methods, we could also “prove” life after death, like when we took out of context the description of the spirit of “Samuel” and Saul.
- “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.” {Ellen White: DA, p. 671.2}
- “Our sanctification is the work of the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit. It is the fulfillment of the covenant God has made with those who bind themselves up with Him, to stand with Him, His Son, and His Spirit in holy fellowship. Have you been born again? Have you become a new being in Christ Jesus? Then cooperate with the three great powers of heaven who are working in your behalf.“ {Ellen White: 7BC, p. 908.11, 1901}
But why do these apparently opposing quotes exist in the writings of Ellen White? It may seem like they are opposing, however, Ellen White explains in other of her writings the meaning of such quotes. An important principle to keep in mind is: The quotes of a prophet can only be in harmony with the rest of their writings, because otherwise, the prophet would not be a prophet of God! We can see in her quotes that Ellen White uses the term ´third personality´ to emphasise that the holy Spirit is not an unconscious energy but a different kind of manifestation of Jesus, this time omnipresent and independent of His body.
Jesus is personally among us and in us through His Spirit. The holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, is certainly not a deadly force. The Spirit of Prophecy calls this conscious presence of God a conscious personality, which shows us the difference to the teaching of Dr. Kellogg, who pantheistically described the holy Spirit as an “unconscious force”. EGW also wrote that the holy Spirit is the personal presence of Jesus, separate from His human personality. This is something hard for us humans to comprehend. But despite it being hard for us to comprehend how that works, we do not have guidance about having a third false god! Ellen White wrote clearly that, the holy Spirit is not a third God, but the Spirit of Jesus!
- “The holy Spirit is Himself (Jesus) divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent.” {Ellen White: Letter 119, 1895.18}
- “This refers to the OMNIPRESENCE of the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, called the Comforter. …There are many mysteries which I do not seek to understand or to explain; they are too high for me, and too high for you. On some of these points, silence is golden.” {Ellen White: 14MR, June 11, 1891, p. 179.2}
Although Ellen White warned us, that SILENCE is GOLD (about the holy Spirit of Jesus), the fallen theologians lift up the holy Spirit as a third God! When we talk about this question, we should be particularly careful about the meaning of individual words, as Joseph Waggoner, one of our most important pioneers and one of the greatest fighters against the Trinity, Himself said:
- “There is one question, which has been much controverted in the theological world upon which we have never presumed to enter. It is that of the personality of the Spirit of God. Prevailing ideas of person are very diverse, often crude, and the word is differently understood; so that unity of opinion on this point cannot be expected until all shall be able to define precisely what they mean by the word, or until all shall agree upon one particular sense in which the word shall be used. But as this agreement does not exist, it seems that a discussion of the subject cannot be profitable, especially as it is not a question of direct revelation.” {J. H. Waggoner: The Spirit of God, p. 8+9}
He is telling us here that when we talk about the holy Spirit, we should pay more attention to the definition of the word ‘personality’ because it can have different meanings. William White also explains that he did not correctly understand what his mother was teaching about the holy Spirit until he found the dictionary meaning of the word ‘personality’:
- “My perplexities were lessened a little when I learned from the dictionary that one of the meanings of personality, was characteristics. It is stated in such a way that I concluded that there might be personality without bodily form which is possessed by the Father and the Son“ {W. C. White, 1935, Letter to H. W. Carr}
What is one of the meanings of the word ‘person – personality’?
- “In describing to His disciples the office work of the holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. 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 submission 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 of the Divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a Divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.” {Ellen White: DA, p. 671. + RH, 19. November 1908}
This quote expands on how to understand the Spirit of Jesus as “the third person of Godhead”: It is the presence of Jesus, His power, His service, and His gift, without which His sacrifice would be useless. We already know that Divinity does not mean a being, but a characteristic. As is known in the Adventist Church, Ellen White used Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, which in definition 6 explains the different meanings of the word person-personality:
- “How different is the same man from Himself, as he sustains the Person of a magistrate and that of a friend.“ {Noahs Webster: Person – 6th Character of office}
A person, although being a single individual, can have different roles. Each of his roles represents a special person, in a sense. For example, as a judge, a person has a different personality, in terms of his service and behavior, than in his private life or than as a friend. The Bible also uses the term ‘another’ when describing the same individual:
- “And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.“ {1 Samuel 10:6}
As the holy Spirit came into him, Saul temporarily became a different person, which means that he received a different personality. We can use Webster’s definition of the word personality. At the moment when he received the holy Spirit, Saul was already the king of Israel, but with the holy spirit, he received a new ministry as a prophet, and through this, he became one different person, although being the same individual. This is how Saul could be a different person as a king and as a prophet.
- “While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth. He is withdrawn from the eye of sense, but His parting promise is fulfilled, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20.) While He delegates His power to inferior ministers, His energising presence is still with His church.“ {Ellen White: DA, p. 166}
- “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. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God…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.” {Ellen White: Evangelism, p. 616+617}
Although the first part of the quote leaves the impression that the holy Spirit could be a “being”, we have to seek the truth more deeply with an honest heart. And this is already in the second part of this quote! Does God (the Father) Himself not know what is in Him, but only a “third being” His holy Spirit?
- “But God (the Father) hath revealed them unto us by HIS Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things 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. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is OF God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.“ {1 Corinthians 2:12}
The apostle Paul compares man with his spirit and our God with His spirit. And just as the human spirit is not a different and independent being, but is only a part of man, so the spirit of God is also only part of His personality.
- “The greatness of God is to us incomprehensible. “The Lord’s throne is in heaven“ (Psalm 11:4); yet by HIS Spirit HE is everywhere present. HE has an intimate knowledge of, and a personal interest in, all the works of His hand.” {Ellen White: Ed, p. 132}
The Spirit has a personality because God has personality. Through the gift of His Spirit, God gives Himself to us. Of course, when God gives Himself to us in spirit, He does not remain without His personality. The holy Spirit is not a faceless power or essence. No, IT is very personal and intimate. IT is the personality of God. The Spirit is God’s DIVINE person. This is because God, from Whom IT proceeds, is a DIVINE Person.
- “As the Divine endowment—the power of the holy Spirit—was given to the disciples, so it will today be given to all who seek aright. This power alone is able to make us wise unto salvation and to fit us for the courts above. Christ wants to give us a blessing that will make us holy. “These things have I spoken unto you,” He says, “that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (John 15:11.) Joy in the holy Spirit is health-giving, life-giving joy. In giving us His Spirit, God gives us Himself, making Himself a fountain of Divine influences, to give health and life to the world.” {Ellen White: 7T, p. 273}
- “God is a Spirit; yet He is a personal Being; for so He has revealed Himself.” {Ellen White: MH, p. 413}
The holy Spirit is a Person because God is a Person. The holy Spirit is not a third Divine being, but the Personality of God the Father. The holy Spirit is also the personality of Christ:
- “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” Christ is not here referring to His doctrine, but to His Person, the Divinity of His character.” {Ellen White: Review and Herald, 5. April 1906 par. 12}
The term ´third-person – personality´, which is used for the holy Spirit, shows us that the holy Spirit is the manifestation of Jesus, but independent of His body and physical presence. During Jesus speaks personally with the Beings present in heaven, His holy Spirit represents His symbolically second personality, because Jesus speaks at the same time through His holy Spirit with all Beings in the whole universe.
- “No truth is more clearly taught in the Bible than that God by His holy Spirit especially directs His servants on Earth in the great movements for the carrying forward of the work of salvation.“ {Ellen White: GC, p. 343}
- “The imparted holy Spirit enabled His disciples, the apostles, to stand firmly against every species of idolatry and to exalt the Lord and Him alone. Who, but Jesus Christ by His Spirit and Divine power, guided the pens of the sacred historians that to the world might be presented the precious record of the sayings and works of Jesus Christ?“ {Ellen White: 3SM 137.2}
Who did His disciples have, according to the Bible? Only Jesus, of course! Through those words, we can see that Jesus is also His holy Spirit! All of this helps us to understand the following words of the Spirit of Prophecy, which never contradict each other (although if used isolated, it could support another opinion):
- “The holy Spirit is the Comforter, in Christ’s name. He personifies Christ, yet is a distinct personality. We may have the holy Spirit if we ask for it and make it [a] habit to turn to and trust in God rather than in any finite human agent who may make mistakes.” {Ellen White: 20MR 324.2}
What is this quote describing? Let us repeat: Christ is in heaven as our heavenly High Priest and He is, at the same time, personally present on Earth through His holy Spirit – the Comforter. We have read in many other quotes from Ellen White that only Jesus is the Comforter. We can see in context then, that the Comforter and the heavenly High Priest are two different personalities of the same being, Jesus Christ. Just like Saul was a different person as a king and as a prophet.
Jesus is personally present in us through His Spirit, and He personally sees and hears everything. That is no other personality of Jesus, i.e. the personality of Jesus in a different form, in a different manifestation than physical. The holy Spirit is the presence of God and Christ but is manifested as one personality, not two. He is, at the same time, the Spirit of Jesus and of the Father. How? We do not understand this, and it has not been revealed to us or the angels. But this is not a reason for us to take a few quotes out of context and make a new God out of them! Ellen White is very clear on this question:
- “We cannot be with Christ in person, as were His first disciples, but He has sent HIS holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.“ {Ellen White: Ms 30, 1900}
- “Christ is not now with us in person, but through the agency of the holy Spirit.“ {Ellen White: RH, September 16, 1909}
This Text is part of the book First Commandment OR Trinity? – Encyclopedia of Evidences of the Old Trampled Truths of All Areas