I was saddened when I read from the Summer 2018 Inside Report from Amazing Facts, page 4, The President’s Perspective that Amazing Facts put out a new book
teaching the Trinity book, Exploring the
Trinity, and warning Adventists and non-Adventists to beware of “the
resurgence of the teaching that Jesus is a created being and that the Holy
Spirit is nothing more than an impersonal force of God.” And then Pastor Doug
continues on in the ad to urge his audience, “If you or your church is dealing
with this hot topic, you’ll be blessed and strengthened by this brief but
thorough and convicting sharing resource.”
Fighting is no fun. I don’t want to have enemies or to
make enemies; and I love Pastor Doug. But, I must address a misconception in
Pastor Batchelor’s warning.
Three issues in this post contends with Pastor Doug.
SDA non-trinitarians do not believe 1) that Jesus was created, 2) that the Holy
Spirit is not an impersonal force, 3) that we are explaining the nature of the
Holy Spirit.
1) “…that Jesus is a created being and that the Holy
Spirit is nothing more than an impersonal force of God”.
No one of the non-trinitarian Seventh-day Adventists
refers to Jesus as a created being. That hand-me-down from the apostatizing
apostolic church, that accusation birthed from the Church of Rome, is a fearful
misconstrual of the remnant non-trinitarian cause and, even if it is an innocent
smearing, it is a smearing nonetheless. It alleges an untruth of its opposers.
The Seventh-day Adventist non-trinitarians confess,
that there was a time when the Son did not exist. In dateless past ages, “from
of old, from everlasting” (Mic. 5:2), before “I was brought forth” (Prov. 8:24),
the Father existed alone as “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings,
and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality”.
“…Our Lord Jesus Christ:
which in His [set time] He shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate,
the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in
the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see:
to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” (1Tim. 6:14-16).
God the Father, the Lord God Almighty, alone is the
self-existent One. And His only begotten Son inherited that divinity and
self-existence. The Son was born divine and self-existent, by nature inheriting
bonds with His Father God that could never be broken. But the children of His birthing/creating
hold eternal life not via inheritance, but by their continued, personal effort
to remain connected with God through His Son, through whom they were brought
into existence.
Greater than His Son who is King and Lord over all
creation, God the Father is the most blessed and the only, highest Potentate,
King over the King of kings and Lord of the Lord of lords. This in no way
diminishes the greatness of the Son who was called, “one like the Son of man”
(Dan. 7:13), “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32). But, it does exalt the
utmost greatness of “the Most High” (Dan. 7:22), “the Highest” (Luke 1:35), “the
Almighty” (Ps. 91:1), “Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come”
(Rev. 11:17), the blessed and only Potentate, “Him that sitteth on the throne”
(Rev. 5:13), “Him that liveth for ever and ever” (Rev. 5:14), “the Ancient of
days” (Dan. 7:9). If you ask me, “How dare you treat the Mighty Son of God that
way?” I can only say in return, “How dare you treat the first, greater, Almighty
Father of all, that way?”
After much planning and anticipation, eventually the
first thing the Father did was to bring forth His only begotten Son, Michael.
“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 FirstbegottenG4416 [prōtotokos,
“firstborn”] into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship
Him.
And of the angels He saith,
Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire.
But unto the Son He saith,
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the
sceptre of Thy kingdom.” (Heb. 1:4-8).
These quotations from the Old
Testament, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee” (Ps. 2:7), and, “Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre
of Thy kingdom” (Ps. 45:6), describe the pre-incarnate Michael. By inheritance
He obtained a more excellent name—Jehovah—more excellent than the angels because
He was “made so much better than” (Heb. 1:4) they. Therefore, later “when He
bringeth in the Firstbegotten into the world”, the angels were sent to worship
Him. For the love that He had for us God sent His Son to be our propitiation. Therefore,
God sent His Son because God already had a Son to send, a unique Son with a
unique name by inheritance through birth—Jehovah.
“Who is the image of the
invisible God, the FirstbornG4416 [prōtotokos, “firstborn”] of every creature:
For by Him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by Him, and for Him:
And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the
body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in
all things He might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father
that in Him should all fulness dwell.” (Col. 1:15-19).
As Adam was created in Christ’s
image, and Eve in Adam’s image, likewise Christ was made in His Father’s image.
Therefore, it is that “the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the
woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1Cor. 11:3).
After an unknown period of swaddling His Son with His
arms, pouring upon Him His attentiveness and joy, loving His first begotten
Prototokos, and training Him up in the way that He should go, the Father could
then, by His Son, begin the great work of creation. Now His Son, through His
Father, would beget—not divine beings, or even divine angels, but holy beings,
holy angels and holy corporeal sons on the inhabited worlds.
“…to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 3:9).
It is a Greek philosophical assumption
from the days of the Nicene era, that to say if the Son of God had a beginning,
then He mustn’t be divine, but a created being. It is wrong to make such a
deduction, and unnecessary to create strife among the brethren by building such
an insinuated, wrongly described straw-man of the opposition’s case. The Son of
God, being born of divinity was not created, but made divine God, God from God,
as divine as His one and only Father is divine.
As God made His Son a High
Priest forever, He also made His Son the fullness of the Godhead, a Prince and
Mediator since the beginning. But that doesn’t mean that His Son was created.
He was the Firstbegotten, the Firstborn, the divine one and only Prototokos. When
we look at the Deep Field photograph, and see the 10,000 galaxies packed in a
rice grain sized spot in the cosmos, and then we multiply that by tens of thousands
of same-sized spots in the spherical azimuth of the cosmos, then one can begin
to conceive of how long in the past did the birth of the precious Prototokos take
place. “In the beginning” was a long time ago. “The LORD possessed Me in the
beginning of His way, before His works of old.” (Pro. 8:22).
Ellen White wrote that much in her book, Patriarchs and Prophets, and a close
reproduction of the same in The Great
Controversy (1911):
“The Sovereign of the
universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate—a
co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving
happiness to created beings. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.’ John
1:1, 2. Christ, the Word, the only
begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character,
in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes
of God. ‘His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ Isaiah 9:6. His ‘goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting.’ Micah 5:2. And the Son of God declares
concerning Himself: ‘The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before
His works of old. I was set up from everlasting.... When He appointed the
foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I
was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.’ Proverbs 8:22-30.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34.
“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.” The Great Controversy, p. 493.
Yet, the Father was greater than the Son, because He
was before Him. And the Son wouldn’t have it any other way.
2) Let me explain concerning Pastor Doug’s statement
of the non-Trinitarians, “the Holy Spirit is nothing more than an impersonal
force of God”. I don’t see the Bible teaching the Holy Spirit like that, and
neither have I heard that from other proponents of the Father and Son Godhead.
The “impersonal force of God” doctrine exists in all
the world religions. Protestant Christianity is the only true religion because
it reveals the Creator as a being, a personal God. The Spirit of God—that is,
the all-powerful, all-compassing, ever-present union of the Father and Son—takes
Their infinite bond to the uttermost limits of Their created universe. Hear
this prayer of David to Jehovah.
“For there is not a word in
my tongue, but, lo, O LORDH3068 [Yehôvâh], Thou knowest
it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and
before, and laid Thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whither shall I go from Thy
Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven,
Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.
If I take the wings of the
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall Thy hand
lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” (Ps. 139:4-10).
“Whither shall I go from Thy
Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?” (vs. 4), is a parallelism
that equates the Spirit of Jehovah with His presence. How sweet is His
presence! “…Thy hand [shall] lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me” (vs.
10) is that for which David praised Jehovah Jesus in Psalm 16. It is heaven to
be in Jesus’ presence, as it is to be in Jehovah, the Father’s presence.
“I have set the LORDH3068
[Yehôvâh] always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall
not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad,
and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
For Thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou wilt shew me the path of
life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures
for evermore.” (Ps. 16:8-11).
What David may not have understood was that the One
who was coming to Him was Two—the Father and Son.
“Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and
We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23).
“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.” (Rom. 8:9).
The Spirit is both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of
Christ. The Spirit is Them both. For more evidence for the Father and Son
Godhead, continue reading from the website below.
http://trinitytruth.org/ellenwhitethreeholiestbeings.html
“Introduction
Some believe that Ellen White became a Trinitarian
based on a few quotes that relate to the Holy Spirit. They mistakenly believe
these quotes say the Holy Spirit is a literal person when she actually taught
the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God coming to us through His Son.
LeRoy Froom deliberately set out to search over
100,000 pages of her writings (25,000,000 words) for anything that could be
mistaken as being Trinitarian. It is now alleged that he was working as a
Catholic Priest prior to entering the Adventist Church and some suspect [that
he] was a Jesuit.
On the 14 December 1955, Leroy Froom in a letter to
Reuben Figuhr wrote, ‘I was publicly denounced in the chapel at
the Washington Missionary College by Dr. B. G. Wilkinson as the most
dangerous man in this denomination.’
The quote containing the phrase ‘three holiest beings’
was not used by LeRoy Froom because it was not available while he was still
alive.
Did Ellen White write, ‘Three Holiest
Beings?’
The answer is a definite ‘No.’
Ellen White DID NOT pen these words by her own hand.
They were written by a stenographer
trying to keep up with a sermon she was preaching.
So while some claim that Ellen White wrote ‘three
holiest beings,’ the Ellen White Estate clearly informs us on their web site
that Sermons and Talks, Book 1 containing the phrase ‘three holiest beings’
comes from a ‘HIGHLY EDITED’ stenographer’s report of a sermon she preached on
October 20, 1906 at the Congregational Church of Oakland, California.
The date of release by the White Estate is ‘March 16,
1976.’ So this was not her handwriting but a typed report from a stenographer
that was first published 70 years after her sermon and can never be authenticated.
This is what Ellen White wrote about unauthenticated
reports,
‘And now to all who have a desire for truth I would
say: Do not give credence to unauthenticated
reports as to what Sister White has done or said or written. If
you desire to know what the Lord has revealed through her, read her published
works.’ — (Ellen G. White, 5T 696.1)
The statement appears in the book Sermons and Talks,
Book 1.
In the forward of the book we are told,
‘All the messages reproduced in this volume were
delivered in public and stenographically reported, or were prepared with that
purpose in view. Many of Ellen White’s sermons may be found in the Review and
Herald and Signs of the Times, but nearly all of those included in this series
have been drawn from previously unpublished manuscripts, as they appear in our
files. So, although there were no tape recorders in Ellen White’s day, a person
may get the true “feel” of Ellen White as a speaker by reading this book.’
— (Forward, Sermons and Talks, Vol. 1)
Ellen White taught that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of God coming to us through His Son and so she wrote.
‘The HOLY SPIRIT is the SPIRIT of CHRIST;
it is His representative.’ — (Ellen G. White, 13MR 313.3, 1895)
‘CHRIST has left HIS
HOLY SPIRIT to be HIS representative in the world,’
— (Ellen G. White, Lt84, October 22, 1895)
‘The HOLY SPIRIT is the SPIRIT of CHRIST,
which is sent to all men to give them sufficiency,’ — (E.G. White, 14MR
84.3)
‘We want the HOLY SPIRIT, which is JESUS
CHRIST.’ — (Ellen G. White, Lt66, April 10, 1894)
‘But it is the leaven of the SPIRIT of
JESUS CHRIST, which is sent down from heaven, called the HOLY GHOST,’
— (Ellen G. White, Ms36-1891)
Not only did she identify the ‘Holy Spirit’ as the
‘Spirit of Christ,’ but she always identified ONLY two beings ALONE, not three.
So if Ellen White had said or written ‘three holiest beings’ then she would
have contradicted herself making herself a false prophet.
Note that she wrote ALONE and ONLY.
‘The Father and the Son ALONE are
to be exalted.’ — (Ellen G. White, The Youth’s Instructor,
July 7, 1898) — ONLY TWO BEINGS.
Did she say the Father, Son and Holy Spirit ALONE are
to be exalted? No she did not!
And again, ‘God and Christ ALONE know
what the souls of men have cost.’ — (Ellen G. White, Signs of the
Times, January 13, 1909) — ONLY TWO BEINGS.
‘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;’ — (Ellen G.
White, Signs of the Times, January 9, 1879) --- ONLY TWO
BEINGS
‘Can anyone consider the condescension of God in
preparing the gospel feast, and its great cost, and treat the invitation
slightingly? No man, nor even the highest angel, can
estimate the great cost; it is known ONLY to the
Father and the Son.’ — (Ellen G. White, The Bible Echo,
October 28, 1895) — ONLY TWO BEINGS
If the Holy Spirit was a third co-equal being then it
would also know. But since it is the Spirit of Christ, then not so.
‘The ONLY Being who
was one with God lived the law in humanity, descended to the
lowly life of a common laborer, and toiled at the carpenter’s bench with His
earthly parent.’ — (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, October
14, 1897) — ONLY TWO BEINGS
‘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.’ — (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p.
493) — ONLY TWO BEINGS
In more than one quote Ellen White identified the
three highest beings in heaven before the fall as the Father, Son and Satan.
Not the Father, Son and Holy Spirit since the Holy Spirit is not a being. ‘Satan,
next to Christ, was at one time most honored of God, and highest in power and
glory.’ — (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, July 23, 1902)
So that facts are:
1.
Ellen White did not pen the words ‘three holiest
beings.’
2.
The words of the
stenographer are not inspired.
3.
The sermon was
not transcribed for another 70 years.
4.
The
stenographer’s report was highly edited.
5.
The
stenographer’s report can never be authenticated.
6.
The words ‘three
holiest beings’ contradicts a multitude of things she did write.
7.
Sermon and Talks
was only intended to get the ‘feel’ of Ellen White as a speaker.
Picking out statements from Ellen White’s writings
that would fit into a Trinitarian concept of God while ignoring her statements
that do not fit the Trinitarian concept of God is a dishonest way to use her
writings. To understand correctly what God has revealed through Ellen White,
and find out what her beliefs were on this topic, it is necessary to quote all
that she wrote on this subject, not just be selective in what we quote to suit
our own agenda. That would be tantamount to deception.”
3) Addressing the third
issue: Pastor Doug is incorrect that SDA non-trinitarians are attempting to
explain the nature of the Holy Spirit. Rather, they are explaining its identity.
The following is the Amazing
Facts overview of their book, Exploring
the Trinity, referred to at the top of this blog post:
“…But what is the nature of
that close relationship?
Is God the Father the only
“one God”—or is the Son, Jesus, God too? If so, do Christians worship more than
one God? Is that not polytheism, as some suggest? Is
God the Father superior to Jesus? Did Jesus come after the
Father? Was there a time when the Father but not Jesus existed?
And what about the Holy
Spirit? Is He God too? If so, do Christians worship three gods, as some claim
we do? And just what or who is the Holy Spirit? How
are we to understand the Holy Spirit in relationship to the Father and the Son?
Is the Holy Spirit divine, or merely an impersonal force emanating from God?
From the early days of the
Christian church to this very day, the subject of the Trinity has caused
contention in the church. And no wonder, the church is made up of fallen,
finite beings trying to grasp the nature of a perfect and eternal God. Even if
God weren’t a triune being, it would be difficult to understand the full nature
of God, a being who “spoke” the world into existence. How do we even begin to
grasp His power and personhood, Trinity or no Trinity?...”
There is sufficient biblical
evidence to convince the honest student that the Spirit is not a person, but a
divine faculty, a creative-redemptive power, a dynamic love from the Almighty. “A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” (Eze.
36:26). However it works that that powerful love, ever flowing from the Father,
changes hearts and seals them for eternity, it is a mystery and will be our
study and wonder for eternity. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24).
One Sabbath after another,
one new moon after the next, year after year, age after age will stand still in
the wonder of it all. If eternity would not be everlasting it would be too
short because of all that the peace and rest will offer the redeemed.
“Can any hide himself in
secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven
and earth? saith the LORD.” (Jer. 23:24).
“Mine hand also hath laid the
foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I
call unto them, they stand up together.” (Isa. 48:13).
“Thousands of years after
Jesus left the planet, Christians are still asking questions and disagreeing
about the topic of the Trinity. For instance, some Christians take what is
known as an “Arian” position regarding the Trinity. This view claims that
Christ hasn’t always existed; after He was brought forth, however, His divinity
was given to Him by the Father. If this view were true, it would mean that
Jesus is inferior to the Father. Many today are now trying to resurrect these
views, arguing that the doctrine of the Trinity comes from
pagan Rome, an example of how Protestant churches have been infected by Roman
Catholicism. Hence, all the more reason we need to reject, they argue, the
Trinity.”
To that I will let quotations
give their answers.
“Through the two great
errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the
people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of
spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome.” Great Controversy, p. 588.1
Any connection with a false
doctrine of Rome is intoxicating and sedating, and creates a bond of sympathy
with her to be drawn into her snares. “No man also having drunk old wine
straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” (Luke 5:39).
“‘I saw another angel come
down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his
glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of
every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’ ‘And I heard
another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.’ Revelation 18:1,
2, 4.
This scripture points forward to a time
when the announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel of
Revelation 14 (verse 8), is to be repeated, with
the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the
various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first
given, in the summer of 1844.” Great
Controversy, p. 603.
The Sabbath was proclaimed
during the third angel’s message. More than the Sabbath truth will be declared
during the fourth angel of Revelation 18:1-5. The apparently innocuous Trinity “additional
corruption” entered the Advent Movement in 1919. During the final preaching the
Trinity will be exposed for all of its connection with pagan religion.
“The Trinity is… the central
doctrine of the Christian religion.” Catholic
Encyclopedia article: “The Blessed Trinity”
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as
a university professor, was known to teach that, more than Sunday sacredness,
the Trinity forms the foundation of Catholicism.