[Apology: The font color is barely acceptable, but I'm making this post from my phone and I don't have all the capabilities of my laptop. Please bear with me.]
"Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord.
Therefore son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me." (Eze. 20:25-27).
Is our Lord remiss in His law of freedom of choice, so that He would give statutes that are false? 2 Samuel 24:1/1 Chronicles 21:1, and 2 Thessalonians 2:12 say that He would not be remiss in so doing. But in reality the deceptions have always come from Satan who they were serving through their refusal to keep all of the Lord's laws from a deeply repentant and humbled heart.
"And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel.
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:
And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.
And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.
Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.
And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not...." (Jud. 2:7-22).
Just what is my point? What has all that got to do with the Trinity? From the Ellen White compilation, Healthful Living,
The Modern Church Repeating the History of Ancient Israel
1169. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ.—The Review and Herald, February 18, 1890. HL 280.1
1170. Satan's snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. We are repeating the history of that people.—Testimonies for the Church 5:160. HL 280.2
1171. Their history should be a solemn warning to us. We need never expect that when the Lord has light for his people, Satan will stand calmly by and make no effort to prevent them from receiving it. Let us beware that we do not refuse the light God sends, because it does not come in a way to please us.... If there are any who do not see and accept the light themselves, let them not stand in the way of others.—Testimonies for the Church 5:728. HL 280.3
1172. “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live; that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” HL 280.4
This song was not historical but prophetic. While it recounted the wonderful dealings of God with his people in the past, it also foreshadowed the great events of the future, the final victory of the faithful when Christ shall come the second time in power and glory.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 467.HL 281.1
1173. The apostle Paul plainly states that the experience of the Israelites in their travels has been recorded for the benefit of those living in this age of the world, those upon whom the ends of the world are come. We do not consider that our dangers are any less than those of the Hebrews, but greater.—Testimonies for the Church 3:358. HL 281.2
God's Dealing with Israel
1174. God in mercy called them out from the Egyptians, that they might worship him without hindrance or restraint. He wrought for them in the way by miracles, he proved and tried them by bringing them into strait places. After the wonderful dealings of God with them, and their deliverance so many times, they murmured when tried or proved by him. Their language was, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt.” They lusted for the leeks and onions there.... Said the angel, “Ye have done worse than they.”—Testimonies for the Church 1:128. HL 281.3
The Influence of Flesh Food upon Mind and Body
1175. How frequently ancient Israel rebelled, and how often they were visited with judgments, and thousands slain, because they would not heed the commands of God who had chosen them! The Israel of God in these last days are in constant danger of mingling with the world, and losing all signs of being the chosen people of God.... Shall we provoke him as did ancient Israel? Shall we bring his wrath upon us by departing from him, and mingling with the world and following the abominations of the nations around us? ... The same injunctions that rested upon ancient Israel rest upon God's people now, to be separate from the world. The great Head of the church has not changed. The experience of Christians in these days is much like the travels of ancient Israel. Please read 1 Corinthians 10, especially from the 6th to the 15th verse: “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.... Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”—Testimonies for the Church 1:283.HL 282.1
1176. The Lord intends to bring his people back to live upon simple fruits, vegetables, and grains. He led the children of Israel into the wilderness, where they could not get a flesh diet; and he gave them the bread of heaven. “Man did eat angels’ food.” But they craved the flesh pots of Egypt, and mourned and cried for flesh, notwithstanding the promise of the Lord that if they would submit to his will, he would carry them into the land of Canaan, and establish them there, a pure holy, happy people, and there should not be a feeble one in all their tribes; for he would take away all sickness from among them. But although they had a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” they mourned and wept, and murmured and complained, until the Lord was wroth with them. Because they were so determined to have the flesh of dead animals, he gave them the very diet that he had withheld from them. The Lord would have given them flesh from the first had it been essential to their health; but he had created and redeemed them, and led them the long journey in the wilderness, to educate, discipline and train them in correct habits. The Lord understood what influence flesh eating has upon the human system. He would have a people that would, in their physical appearance, bear the divine credentials, notwithstanding their long journey.—Unpublished Testimonies, November 5, 1896. HL 282.2
Warnings from the Experience of Israel
1177. The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way, and forsake the way of the Lord.—The Signs of the Times, November 3, 1890. HL 283.1
1178. Because of Israel's disobedience and departure from God, they were allowed to be brought into close places, and to suffer adversity; their enemies were permitted to make war with them, to humble them and lead them to seek God in their trouble and distress.—Testimonies for the Church 2:106.HL 283.2
1179. “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” The experience of Israel, referred to in the above words by the apostle, and as recorded in the 105th and 106th psalms, contains lessons of warning that the people of God in these last days especially need to study. I urge that these chapters be read at least once every week.—Special Testimony to Battle Creek Church, 43. HL 284.1
1180. With the history of the children of Israel before us, let us take heed, and not be found committing the same sins, following in the same way of unbelief and rebellion.—The Review and Herald, April 18, 1893. HL 284.
With all of the above background, we can more correctly understand Adventist history. Below is an article copied from Ministry Magazine written by Merlin E. Burt, one of the directors of the Ellen White Estate.
"The 1890s began, two of the key thinkers on each side of the righteousness by faith/law in Galatians issue agreed on the derived divinity of Jesus. E. J. Waggoner wrote in his 1890 Christ and His Righteousness, “There was a time when Christ proceeded forth and came from God . . . but that time was so far back in the days of eternity that to finite comprehension it is practically without beginning.”12 In 1898, Uriah Smith wrote in Looking Unto Jesus, “God alone is without beginning. At the earliest epoch when a beginning could be,—a period so remote that to finite minds it is essentially eternity,—appeared the Word.”13
The period after the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference saw a new emphasis on Jesus and the plan of salvation. This led to a consideration of His deity and what it meant for the redemption of humanity. A. T. Jones was among the first (with the exception of Ellen White) to suggest that Christ was eternally preexistent. Jones emphasized Colossians 2:9 and the idea that in Christ was the “fullness of the Godhead bodily.” He also described Christ as “ ‘the eternal Word.’ ”14 Though he avoided the word Trinity, in 1899 he wrote, “God is one. Jesus Christ is one. The Holy Spirit is one. And these three are one: there is no dissent nor division among them.”15
Ellen White played a prophetic role in confirming the eternal deity of Jesus and the Three-Person Godhead. As early as 1878, she referred to Jesus as the “eternal Son of God.”16 In The Desire of Ages, she wrote, “[Christ] announced Himself to be the self-existent One” and “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived.”17 She wrote of the Holy Spirit as the “Third Person of the Godhead.”18Ellen White played an important role in urging the church toward a biblical trinitarian position. However, for years after the publication of The Desire of Ages, the church generally avoided these and other statements. While she never used the term Trinity in her published writings, she repeatedly conveyed the concept.
M. L. Andreasen questioned whether Ellen White had actually written some of her statements in The Desire of Ages and other books. During 1909, Andreasen spent three months at Elmshaven, California, and was convinced of the accuracy of her published position.19
FROM 1900 TO 1931: TRANSITION AND CONFLICT
During the first three decades of the twentieth century, the church remained divided in its position on the deity of Christ. The use of the word Trinity in print continued to be avoided. W. W. Prescott and A.T. Jones, both editors of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, were key supporters of the full and eternal deity of Jesus. During the 1890s, Prescott was slower than Jones to accept the new view. But after 1900, as editor of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, he published articles on the personhood and eternal nature of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.20 Still Prescott believed that Jesus had a derived existence from God the Father. At the 1919 Bible Conference, he presented a series of eight devotionals for the conference titled “The Person of Christ” that expressed this view. Careful discussion at this conference showed that there were varying opinions.21
The early twentieth century saw Adventists and Protestant Fundamentalists battling higher criticism and the “new modernism” growing in Christianity. Liberalism rejected the deity of Jesus and His virgin birth. Adventist articles defending the Bible view began to appear more frequently in church papers. Irrespective of individual differences on details, Adventist ministers pulled into line against liberal views. Naturally, those who rejected the eternal preexistence of Christ did not want to speak of His beginning and weaken the argument against higher criticism. Even articles on the Trinity were tolerated.22 The result was an increased appreciation of the full deity of the Son of God.
FROM 1931 TO 1957: ACCEPTANCE OF THE TRINITARIAN VIEW
F. M. Wilcox was crucial in facilitating the final transition to an accepted Seventh-day Adventist view on the Trinity through his guidance in the 1931 Statement of Fundamental Beliefs and his articles in the Review and Herald.23Doctrinal summaries were carefully avoided during the first decades of the twentieth century, due in part to conflict on the Trinity. According to L. E. Froom, Wilcox was “respected by all parties for his soundness, integrity, and loyalty to the Advent Faith—and to the Spirit of Prophecy—he, as editor of the Review, did what probably no other man could have done to achieve unity in acceptance.”24 It was not until 1946 that the General Conference session officially voted a Statement of Fundamental Beliefs.25
During the 1940s, an ever-increasing majority of the church believed in the eternal, underived deity of Christ and the personhood of the Holy Spirit, yet there were some who held back and even actively resisted the change. These were mainly comprised of a few older ministers and Bible teachers such as J. S. Washburn, C. S. Longacre, and W. R. French. In 1944, Uriah Smith’s Daniel and the Revelation was revised and his comments on the derived nature of Christ’s divinity were removed.26
In 1957, the book Questions on Doctrineanchored the doctrine of the Trinity or Godhead for Adventists. While the book produced theological conflict in other areas, there was virtually no dissent on the book’s clear teaching of the Trinity.27The current unambiguous statement on the Trinity in the Seventh-day Adventist at the 1980 General Conference Session.
The process of adopting the Trinity continued from 1900 to 1950. Key influences in the change were (1) repeated published biblical studies on the topic, (2) Ellen White’s clear statements, (3) Adventist response to the attacks of modern liberalism on the deity of Christ and His virgin birth, and (4) F. M. Wilcox’s statement of Fundamental Beliefs and his Review and Herald editorials.
We may learn several lessons from the history of the development of doctrine of the Trinity in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. First, we must acknowledge that the development of Adventist theology has usually been progressive and corrective. This is clearly illustrated in the Holy Spirit is dynamic. Other doctrinal concepts developed in a similar manner. This development never supposed a paradigm shift that contradicted the clear biblical teaching of the heavenly sanctuary ministry of Jesus and the prophetic foundation of the church. Second, the development of the Trinity doctrine demonstrates that doctrinal change sometimes requires the passing of a previous generation. For Seventh-day Adventists, it took more than 50 years for the doctrine of the Trinity to become normative...."
https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2009/02/the-trinity.html
And the rest is history to the present day.
But that past 130 year history, having disregarded Ellen White's statements from Healthful Living, paints only a partial picture. We have repeated the history of ancient Israel by departing into heathen worship. Just as Allah is not the God of the Old Testament, but is Ba'al, likewise is the Trinity god not the God of the New Testament, but is simply a makeover of ancient Baalim and Ashtaroth. Satan hasn't changed his tactics. He only changed names.
Therefore, the Ministry Magazine article is biased. Not taking into the Trinity discussion this post's opening scriptures and Ellen White quotations, Mr. Burt skews our history. He places a favorable light upon F.M. Wilcox's personal "1931 Statement of Fundamental Beliefs". I say "personal" because his Statement of Fundamental Beliefs was not voted on by a General Conference Session, as had all the previous Statements of Fundamental Beliefs. It could appear in the Review and Herald because he was its editor-in-chief from 1911-1944.
An excerpt from another website, Leroy Froom sheds light on this very subject:
"...Watson stated to me, that in the thinking of the small committee, no formal or official approval should be sought forthe unofficial Wilcox statement of 1931. It was therefore not brought before the General Conference Committee. It had not been prepared as a creed, but as a summary of our fundamental beliefs, to see how it [the "Trinity" term] would be received. To this end the committee of four had been given power to act." (Froom, MOD, p. 418, 419, emphasis supplied).
https://maranathamedia.com/article/view/another-perspective-of-the-1913-f-m-wilcox-trinity-statement
A point repeated by several documented cases in the above website regards the Adventists' backlash toward the current concepts of the Trinity. The introduction of this papal dogma was insidiously engineered and gradually slipped into SDA thinking. Such manuevering mimics Jesuitry so closely that it would defy reason to disallow Jesuit machinations here.
One last thought: we have applauded the statement concerning the early Dark Ages church's resistance to the Papal Sunday:
"The fact remains though that, outside of Rome and Alexandria, the rest of the Christian world continued to observe the Sabbath as a memorial of creation. Of course, gradually, Sunday observance also became popular early on within many Christian churches as a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. The mid-5th Century historian Sozomen reported,
'The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria.'
Sozomen. The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen. Comprising a History of the Church, from a.d. 323 to a.d. 425. Book VII, Chapter XIX. Translated from the Greek. Revised by Chester D. Hartranft, Hartford Theological Seminary, Under the editorial supervision of Philip Shaff, D.D., LL.D. and Henry Wace, D. D., Professor of Church History in the Union Theological Seminary, New York. Principal of King’s College, London. T&T Clark, Edinburgh, circa 1846.
Socrates Scholasticus (380-440 AD):
The 5th-century historian Socrates Scholasticus of Constantinople noted:
'For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.'"
http://detectingdesign.com/wp/2017/04/20/christians-and-the-sabbath/#Sozomen_400-450_AD
If we can be so full of applause to the Sabbath-keepers for holding fast to what God had given the apostolic church, then why shouldn't we be edified by the SDA church for contending for the anti-Trinitarian faith that was once given to the Adventist pioneers?
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