How do Seventh day Adventists view one of their founders, Ellen G. White? According to recent church documents, she is regarded as a prophet of God, a messenger of the LORD and her writings are to be esteemed as divine authority in the church for both "Godly living" and for doctrine. This is a profound position for any church in the Protestant tradition to take and it deserves closer inspection. The official policy statement of the SDA church states ...
We consider the biblical canon closed. However, we also believe, as did Ellen G White's contemporaries, that her writings carry divine authority, both for godly living and for doctrine. Therefore, we recommend:
1) That as a church we seek the power of the Holy Spirit to apply to our lives more fully the inspired counsel contained in the writings of Ellen G White, and
2) That we make increased efforts to publish and circulate these writings throughout the world. (1)
That is a lot of doublespeak. I do not know of anybody within the pale of Protestant orthodoxy who would claim any of the Early Church Fathers, the various great theologians down through the centuries, the wonderful men and women of God who have taught and led the church over the years ever claimed or were deserved of the mantle of God's Messenger, with divine authority. If the canon of scripture is closed, so too is the body of divinely inspired writings having any divine authority for doctrine. Ellen G. White is viewed as the embodiment of the "spirit of prophecy", a prophetess of divine importance whose writings are disseminated on a near par with the Gospel. I don't know if many non-SDA Christians realize it or not but there is substantial evidence that Ms. White was a false prophet. Her claims ranged from claiming the existence of a temple in the heavens as seen in her visions to setting an approximate time frame for the return of Christ as given to her by "angels" to presenting her prophetic declaration that the sabbath was the greatest of commandments. Each of these pronouncements can be demonstrated scripturally to be false. John in his apocalypse stated there was no temple in Glory. Jesus told us that no man would know the time of His return, that only the Father knows. Jesus told us that the Love of God and loving one's neighbor were the greatest of commandments.How is it that the SDA can embrace a false prophet and continue to claim a place within orthodox Protestantism? I believe they need to refute these cult loyalties before being accepted as orthodox and especially as Arminian.
Arminius stated the following regarding the perfection of scripture and his cautious view of those who claimed visions, tales and dreams as some measure of authority in the church ...
... As we are about to engage in the defense of this perfection, against inspirations, visions, dreams and other novel enthusiastic things, we assert, that, since the time when Christ and his apostles sojourned on earth, no inspiration of any thing necessary for the salvation of any individual man, or of the church, has been given to any single person or to any congregation of men whatsoever, which thing is not in a full and most perfect manner comprised in the sacred Scriptures. We likewise affirm, that in the latter ages no doctrine necessary to salvation has been deduced from these Scriptures which was not explicitly known and believed from the very commencement of the Christian church. For, from the time of Christ's ascent into heaven, the church of God was in an adult state, being capable indeed of increasing in the knowledge and belief of things necessary to salvation, but not capable of receiving accessions of new articles; that is, she was capable of increase in that faith by which the articles of religion are believed, but not in that faith which is the subject of belief. ...(2)
This is a long way from the musings of our SDA fellows.
This is a long way from the musings of our SDA fellows.
4 comments:
Concerning your statement: "I don't know if many non-SDA Christians realize it or not but there is substantial evidence that Ms. White was a false prophet. Her claims ranged from claiming the existence of a temple in the heavens as seen in her visions to setting an approximate time frame for the return of Christ as given to her by "angels" to presenting her prophetic declaration that the sabbath was the greatest of commandments."
EGW writings are readily available for research so I undertook the task to substantiate your claims. I could not find an instance of her claiming the Sabbath commandments to be the greatest of commandments. Also she was very adamantly against date setting. An as for her mistaken idea of there being a temple in heaven I'm sure she simply misunderstood the treatment of such a structure (though called a tabernacle) in Hebrews 8 and 9.
I do not have the primary source in front of me at the moment. However, here are her comments regarding the Sabbath. This is clearly indicative of what I was referring to.
We felt an unusual spirit of prayer. And as we prayed the Holy Ghost fell upon us. We were very happy. Soon I was lost to earthly things and was wrapped in a vision of God's glory. I saw an angel flying swiftly to me. He quickly carried me from the earth to the Holy City. In the city I saw a temple, which I entered. I passed through a door before I came to the first veil. This veil was raised, and I passed into the holy place. Here I saw the altar of incense, the candlestick with seven lamps, and the table on which was the shewbread. After viewing the glory of the holy, Jesus raised the second veil and I passed into the holy of holies.
In the holiest I saw an ark; on the top and sides of it was purest gold. On each end of the ark was a lovely cherub, with its wings spread out over it. Their faces were turned toward each other, and they looked downward. Between the angels was a golden censer. Above the ark, where the angels stood, was an exceeding bright glory, that appeared like a throne where God dwelt. Jesus stood by the ark, and as the saints' prayers came up to Him, the incense in the censer would smoke, and He would offer up their prayers with the smoke of the incense to His Father. In the ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of stone which folded together like a book. Jesus opened them, and I saw the ten commandments written on them with the finger of God. On one table were four, and on the other six. The four on the first table shone brighter than the other six. But the fourth, the Sabbath commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God's holy name. The holy Sabbath looked glorious -- a halo of glory was all around it. I saw that the Sabbath commandment was not nailed to the cross. If it was, the other nine commandments were; and we are at liberty to break them all, as well as to break the fourth. I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for He never changes. But the pope had changed it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws ....
I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers; and that the Sabbath is the great question to unite the hearts of God's dear, waiting saints (Early Writings, 1963, pp. 32,33).
Thank you A. M. for your response. the accounts of E. G. White's visions are quite interesting. Whether they were truly genuine is another topic altogether but the do bear a slight similarity to John's vision related in Revelation chapter 1. And as I have previously mentioned Paul in his treatment in Hebrews 8 and 9 seems to imply that a temple in heaven did indeed exist and even served as a pattern for the temple built by Moses.
As for the quote in fails to support your greatest commandment assertion but only proves that what she saw caused her expected the Sabbath to be "the great question to unite the hearts of God's dear, waiting saints".
Again thanks for your response
bluej,
You are very welcome.
God Bless!
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