BORROWED!

The Trinitarian Sources of

Mrs. White's Key Extra-biblical
Godhead Expressions!!

An eye-opening 2019 Expose!

By Derrick Gillespie
 Contents
Fact 1: MRS WHITE QUOTED NON-SDA TRINITARIAN AUTHORS IN ORDER TO
COMBAT KELLOGG'S PANTHEISTIC HERESY!! ..............................................pg. 4

Fact 2: MRS WHITE BORROWED FROM TRINITARIAN AUTHORS THEIR EXTRA-

BIBICAL EXPRESSONS ABOUT JESUS’ DUAL NATURE IN ONE PERSON ……….pg. 10

Fact 3: MRS WHITE BORROWED FROM TRINITARIANS THAT GOD’S BOSOM WAS
AND IS A PLACE OF FELLOWHIP THAT JESUS CAME FROM! ………………………pg. 14

Fact 4: MRS WHITE BORROWED TRINITARIAN EXPRESSIONS DESCRIBING JESUS

AS PRE-INCARNATELY “BEGOTTEN” AS WELL AS EXISTING ALWAYS ALONGSIDE
THE FATHER ……………………………………………………………………………………………..pg. 15

Fact 5: MRS WHITE BORROWED THE TRINITARIAN EXPLANATION THAT THE

HOLY SPIRIT IS “CHRIST HIMSELF”, DESPITE THE HOLY SPIRT IS A “THIRD” AND
“DISTINCT PERSON”, JUST AS SHE BORROWED THE TRINITY VIEW THAT JESUS
WAS “GOD HIMSELF” DESPITE HE IS A “DISTINCT PERSON” ……………………..pg. 21

Further Study and Appendices …………………………………………………………………pg. 30

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 INTRODUCTION:
Since my 2017 publication of the free booklet, “Mrs. White Quoted Trinitarian
Authors- An Assessment” (Click this link to get your free copy!), I have marveled
at the avalanche of new discoveries which underscore the truth that Seventh-day
Adventism’s Ellen G. White did accept the basic truth about the Trinity of
SEPARATE beings which comprise the one “eternal Godhead”—the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit—even if she differed in some areas with traditional
explanations of the Trinity given by Roman Catholics (e.g. she believed the
Godhead is comprised of “the three holiest beings in heaven”, while Catholics
refuse to see them as beings, but rather as one being, or “one undivided
substance” with three faces of Jesus fused on one neck, as it were). As noted in
my earlier 2017 presentation, “Mrs. White Quoted Trinitarian Authors-An
Assessment”, Mrs. White saw much validity in much of the extra-biblical
Trinitarian expressions, and borrowed a whole host of them to explain her own
Godhead theology, which obviously was quite similar in many respects.
Her most noted extra-biblical description of the Godhead is that there are
“three living persons of the heavenly trio” or in the one “eternal Godhead” (i.e.
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), and it was irrefutably inspired by a non-
SDA Trinitarian author, William E. Boardman, and his 1858 Trinitarian book,
“The Higher Christian Life”; the book that she borrowed the idea from for this
expression! So it is not an anti-Trinitarian book by an anti-Trinitarian author
that inspired Mrs. White’s most noted or her most famous description of the
Godhead, but rather it’s a Trinitarian one, and like the word “trinity” it’s an
expression found nowhere in Scripture!! In addition, her most noted description
of Jesus’ divinity in terms of his eternal and immortal life, where she used extra-
biblical words, it’s the expression “in him is life, original, unborrowed and
underived”, and that too came from the pages of another Trinitarian book (a
commentary on John), published in 1856 by a Trinitarian author, John Cumming.
And her most famous extra-biblical description of the Holy Spirit is that he is
“the third person of the Godhead”, and that too is a noted Trinitarian
expression that the earliest pioneers rejected as “heretical” (as testified to by
the pioneer W.W. Prescott in 1919), and no anti-Trinitarian SDA pioneer used it
before Mrs. White adopted it from Trinitarian authors in the 1890s. Let these
realities sink in from the outset, dear reader, before moving on!
Now, let’s delve further, both into the Trinitarian sources where much of Mrs.
White’s other noted extra-biblical Godhead expressions came from, and
into what it all ultimately means. It’s an adventure of discovery. Read on!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fact 1: MRS WHITE QUOTED NON-SDA TRINITARIAN AUTHORS IN ORDER TO
COMBAT KELLOGG'S PANTHEISTIC HERESY!!

Recently, I was referred to an 1836 book, "The Great Teacher", written by a non-
SDA *TRINITARIAN, John Harris (seen below on the right); a book that was
revised in 1837 by the same author (revised while Mrs. White was just 10 years
old then in 1837). As I read pages 203-206 in "Section 4", entitled, "Of the
Doctrine of the Trinity" , "The doctrine of the Trinity imperfectly known under the
Jewish economy—Taught by our Lord”, I was amazed that these pages were
DIRECTLY referenced and the Trinitarian thoughts borrowed by Mrs. White in
1904 to combat and refute Kellogg's pantheism heresy; with Kellogg's "heresy"
(click link for details) seeking to present God or the Godhead *SCIENTIFICALLY in
inanimate terms (e.g. as light, dew, cloud, rain, etc.; see more in the Appendices).
Mrs. White borrowed (with alterations of course) almost the entire train of
thought from this NON-SDA Trinitarian author's book, "The Great Teacher", even
as that author explained that Jesus taught in simple terms the Trinity that was
"imperfectly known under the Jewish economy".

See online or download for free that original 1836 book. Read the content page's
description of Section 4, and read pages 203-206 and BE AMAZED that it's those
very pages Mrs. White 'borrowed' from to oppose Kellogg's heresy, and she did so
with her own teaching affirming that, as the Trinitarian author William E.
Boardman taught, “there are three living persons of the heavenly trio”!!

She wrote the following plainly in 1904, while Kellogg (seen in picture above on
the left) was misleading SDAs between 1900 and 1905 to think that God or the
Godhead (and how he is omnipresent) is best illustrated SCIENTIFICALLY in terms
of nature, and the things of nature (inserts in brackets and emphases are mine):

"There is a world to be warned, and every effort must now be made to exalt the
*TRUTH. . . . [*Here following is where she borrowed much of John Harris'
Trinitarian thoughts as "the truth"] *The *great *Teacher held in His hand the
entire map of truth. In simple language He made plain to His disciples the way
to heaven, and the endless subjects of divine power. The question of the essence
[i.e. nature, substance, being] of God was a subject on which He maintained a
wise reserve, for their entanglements and specifications would bring in science
which could not be dwelt upon by unsanctified minds without confusion
[*because obviously the issue is complex; and does not involve just one person of
divinity]. In regard to God and in regard to His personality, the Lord Jesus said,
"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he
that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). Christ was the express
image of His Father's person.

The open path, the safe path of walking in the way of His commandments, is a
path from which there is no safe departing. And when men follow their own
human theories dressed up in soft, fascinating representations, they make a
snare in which to catch souls. In the place of devoting your powers to theorizing
[*i.e. about the essence of God; where he is and what he is], Christ has given you
a work to do. His commission is, Go throughout the world and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Before the disciples shall compass the threshold, there is to be the
imprint of the sacred name, baptizing the believers in the name of the threefold
powers [meaning the three separate divine and sovereign beings; plural] in the
heavenly world. The human mind is impressed in this ceremony, the beginning
of the Christian life. It means very much.

The work of salvation is not a small matter, but so vast that the highest
authorities [i.e. the Father, Son and Holy Spirit] are taken hold of by the
expressed faith of the human agent. The eternal Godhead--the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost--*is [singular] involved in the action required to make
assurance to the human agent, . . . confederating the heavenly powers with the
human that man may become, through heavenly efficiency, partakers of the
divine nature and workers together with Christ. Man's capabilities can multiply
through the connection of human agencies with divine agencies. United with the
heavenly powers, the human capabilities increase according to that faith that
works by love and purifies, sanctifies, and ennobles the whole man."

---E.G. White, Manuscript 45, May 14, 1904, "That They All May Be One."

JOHN HARRIS HAD *ORIGINALLY WRITTEN (IN PART) IN 1836:

"Though the Great Teacher held in his hand the entire map of truth, he disclosed
only so much of the part in question as related to our path to heaven. In
adverting to the abysmal subject of the Divine Essence, he maintained a wise
reserve: and he did this, both that he might not entangle us in a labyrinth,
[because obviously the issue is complex] when we ought to be advancing in the
open path of life; and because of our natural incapacity to comprehend him on
a theme on which there are no analogies to assist us. How shall ye believe or
understand me,’ said he, ‘if I tell you of heavenly things?’ Instead, therefore, of
theorizing on the subject, he taught it dogmatically and practically.
The doctrine [of the *complex threefold or triune Godhead; the Trinity] in the
general opinion of the Christian church, is necessarily involved in various parts of
our Lord's teaching. I shall content myself, however, with adverting to his great
command, ‘Go, then, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them unto the
NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit....Now as this name is
attributed equally to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, it seems
inevitably to follow, that the Son and the Spirit are, with the Father, the One
God [or the one eternal Godhead] .... Baptism is the vestibule, or entrance, to his
spiritual temple, the church; so that before his disciples can pass the threshold,
he requires them to receive the print of the Sacred Name: and by making that
one ceremony final, he reminds them that the holy signature is indelible. By
baptizing us into the threefold name of God, he would impress us at the very
outset of our Christian life with the fact, that the work of our salvation is so vast
that it brings into action every distinction and attribute of the divine nature;
that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the entire Godhead find ample
scope for the exercise of all their perfections, and employment for all the
affluence of their grace …How amazing the thought, that the Godhead, the
three glorious subsistences [three distinct persons] in the Divine Essence [the one
Godhead] should be all officially present to receive us in the baptismal
solemnity, the porch of the church; that all the Divine Being should be there, to
enter into covenant relation with us, that we should there be met by the sum of
excellence"

---John Harris, The Great Teacher, 1836, pages 204-205

*VITAL TO NOTE: THIS WAS JOHN HARRIS EXPOUNDING ON THE TRINITY USING A WHOLE HOST OF
EXTRA-BIBLICAL EXPRESSIONS, AND MRS WHITE SAW IT AS "THE TRUTH" IN MANY (NOT ALL)
RESPECTS SO MUCH SO THAT IT WARRANTED (WITH SOME ALTERATIONS) BEING BORROWED FROM A
NON-SDA *TRINITARIAN; NOT FROM AN ANTI-TRINITARIAN!!

One year after that she expressed John Harris' above-quoted Trinitarian thoughts
by saying in 1905:

"The salvation of human beings is a vast enterprise that calls into action every
attribute of the divine nature. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have
pledged themselves to make God's children more than conquerors
through Him that loved them."
---E.G. White, Pacific Union Recorder, January 5, 1905

Notice carefully that Mrs. White AGREED WITH THE TRINITARIAN, John Harris:

1. That the essence of God involves the one eternal Godhead comprised by
THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT; not just the Father of
 Jesus. Notice she agreed that Jesus knew its a complex matter, and
that its not just about one person being God, and so she did not stop at
only the Father when writing about the essence of God, but included
the Son and the Holy Spirit as well; all included as separate/distinct
beings/powers, but united by one name and nature in Matt. 28:19.

2. That "every attribute of the divine nature" is exhibited by THE FATHER,

THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT in united action to save us, and

3. That all Three of the Godhead have real personal "selves" or they are
real personal subsistences, and they pledged/covenanted
"themselves" equally to be our united aid

Mrs. White agreed with the basic Trinitarian thoughts of John Harris, except she
made slight alterations to his utterances, both to avoid plagiarism (i.e. avoiding
the exact ‘copy and paste’ style of borrowing) as well as to tailor his Trinity
expressions to be in keeping with the “three holiest BEINGS in heaven” SDA
version of the Trinity. To her, just like John Harris, the eternal Godhead is one
united or THREEFOLD Sovereign or Ruler or “power”, but, unlike Harris, she felt
they exist as separate BEINGS who together operate as our Father. Proof?

"After we have formed a union with the great threefold power [or three-part
Sovereign or Ruler; singular], we shall regard our duty toward the members of
God’s family with a sacred awe” ---E.G. White, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1901

"By our baptismal pledge we avouched and solemnly confessed the Lord
Jehovah as our Ruler. We virtually took a solemn oath, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that henceforth our lives would be
merged into the life of these three great agencies…"
---E.G. White, Manuscript 67, 1907

"God says, [notice after this whom she means says this] "Come out from among
them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith
[or pledges] the Lord Almighty." [Notice hereafter who is speaking as “I” and “the
Almighty” here. Notice carefully]. This is the pledge of [not one person, but] the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [i.e. the *pledge to receive and be a Father to
you]; made to you if you will keep your baptismal vow, and touch not the
unclean thing… In order to deal righteously with the world, as members of the
royal family, children of the heavenly King, Christians must feel their need of a
power, which comes only from the [three] heavenly agencies that have pledged
themselves to work in man's behalf.”---E.G. White, ST, June 19, 1901
[*Remember that Jesus too, not just his Father, is called “the everlasting Father”,
and the Holy Spirit begets us as sons (John 3:6), which is what a Father does]

That’s plain! She was mimicking John Harris Trinitarian theology in almost every
point, except THAT to her, separate “living” BEINGS are involved/acting together.
As already noted, Mrs. White had also borrowed the Trinitarian thoughts
regarding “the three living persons” of the “heavenly trio” from the NON-SDA
Trinitarian author W.E. Boardman, in order to combat Kellogg’s pantheistic
heresy. To get the details of that saga, see the links below to the free booklets:
Click this link! Also click this link!

IMPLICATIONS??
Now, how can someone think (like certain dissidents today in Adventism
troubling the SDA Church) that Mrs. White’s theology on God after the 1880s
was not similar to that of the Trinitarian’s view if she chose not to consult and
borrow from anti-Trinitarian authors, but rather Trinitarian ones? And how can
someone think that the SDA pioneers did not gradually/eventually adopt
Trinitarian-type views (if even in a revised way to involves separate BEINGS of
“the Trinity”) when they themselves combatted Kellogg’s heresy by saying:

"This we [SDAs] call pantheism of the most revolting type —a confounding of the
third person of the blessed *Trinity with a secretion of the nerves."
----Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 49; October 2, 1900, p. 627

From as early as 1876, SDA pioneers began to teach that God is not
only the Father of Jesus, but God can also mean the following:

"In the former dispensations God was known by such appellations as, The Lord
God, The Almighty God, The I Am, and The Jehovah God. But in the ordinance of
baptism (according to the gospel commission)...*HE [God, the divine specie] is
known as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Now if this be the truth, as it most certainly is, then it follows that to believe and
confess this truth is to answer a good conscience toward God... when we are
baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as the true and living
God, our Creator, Preserver, and Saviour, we at once and forever renounce and
separate ourselves from every kind and species of idolatry and false worship."
---Review and Herald, March 16, 1876, pg. 82

No wonder right after 1876 Mrs. White declared in 1881 and after, and backed by
other pioneers thereafter saying (while she was still alive):
"...let us [SDAs] consecrate to Him ["the Lord" our God] all that we are, and all
that we have, and then may we all unite to swell the songs, “Praise God, from
whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above,
ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, *AND Holy Ghost.”
---E.G. White, Review and Herald, January 4, 1881

"God is worshipped because He is Creator; and God means the Godhead, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit; for all are mentioned as having part in creation."

---The Present Truth (SDA periodical), Vol. 29,

No. 48. Nov. 27, 1913, p. 757

"The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one and receive worship. Each one
represents all the other members of the *Trinity…"
---S.N. Haskell, The Bible Training School, November 1907, No. 6, pg. 94

"… the great, *TRIUNE JEHOVAH is omnipotent to save; he is building mansions"

for us... as children, we obey him."
----Signs of the Times, January 6, 1904, Vol. 30 (No. 1), pg. 1

“…In the very first chapter of Genesis we have revealed the great *TRIUNE God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit …. It needs only the inspired interpretation of the
New Testament to fill out this picture and reveal to us Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit working together to bring light, harmony, and order out of the darkness
and chaos of the beginning…”
---The Oriental Watchman; Vol. 13 (No. 12), Dec. 1910, p.13

“... the Godhead is composed of three personal *BEINGS and these three are
one. The oneness of the Godhead must, then, consist not in personality, but in
some other kind of oneness. Let us apply the Bible idea of oneness of
*individuals to the Godhead, and see if it will contradict the possibility of three
or more individuals being called one. We have two visible institutions in this
world that are Bible illustrations of God's idea of oneness, marriage and the
church.” ---Review and Herald, Vol. 89; Dec. 19, 1912; No. 51, pg. 5

ALL OF THIS EXPLAIN PRECISELY WHY MRS WHITE WENT TO TRINITARIAN AUTHORS TO COMBAT KELLOGG’S
PANTHEISTIC HERESY; A HERESY THAT SOUGHT TO MISREPRESENT THE “BEINGS” OF DIVINITY BY COMPARING
THEM TO ASPECTS OF NATURE. SHE KNEW THAT ANTI-TRINITARIAN THOUGHTS COULD NOT BE THE BEST
ANSWER TO KELLOGG, BUT TRINITARIAN THOUGHTS WHICH WERE SLIGHTLY MODIFIED TO CAPTURE THE TRUTH
ABOUT THE THREE PERSONAL AND “LIVING” BEINGS OF THE GODHEAD BEING “THE ESSENCE OF GOD”!!
Fact 2: MRS WHITE BORROWED FROM TRINITARIAN AUTHORS THEIR EXTRA-
BIBICAL EXPRESSIONS ABOUT JESUS’ DUAL NATURE AS ONE PERSON

The dissidents in Adventism claiming to be supporters of Mrs. White’s writings,

they seem to be largely unaware of the Trinitarian source of the following quotes
even as they deny the validity of the Trinitarian doctrine in Adventism which
teaches that despite he fully died as a person, yet Jesus did not die in his divinity,
but mysteriously only in his humanity! And yet even this is another case of them
not realizing that Mrs. White consulted a Trinitarian author to borrow this
Trinitarian explanation regarding this awesome mystery. Notice what she said
after the 1890s, and how it compares with the original 1836 Trinitarian source
where she borrowed it from:

“Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of
the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person--
the man Christ Jesus. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When
Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and
die; that would have been impossible. …This is a great mystery, a mystery that
will not be fully, completely understood in all its greatness until the translation
of the redeemed shall take place….The mysteries of redemption, embracing
Christ's divine-human character, His incarnation, His atonement for sin, could
employ the pens and the highest mental powers of the wisest men from now
until Christ shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory.
But though these men should seek with all their power to give a representation
of Christ and His work, the representation would fall far short of the reality…”
” ---E.G. White, Letter 280, 1904

“The divine nature in the person of Christ was not transformed in human nature
and the human nature of the Son of man was not changed into the divine
nature, but they were mysteriously blended in the Saviour of men. He was not
the Father but in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily…”
---E.G. White, Letter 8a, July 7, 1890 (July 7)

THIS WAS BORROWED FROM HEMAN HUMPHREY WHO WROTE IN 1836

“What infinite opposites meet in the person of Jesus Christ. ‘The mighty God,’
and yet a helpless child! The Creator of all worlds, and yet
without a place ‘to lay his head!’ ‘God, manifest in the flesh!’
A man, and yet infinitely higher than the angels! Equal with
the Father, in dignity, and glory, and blessedness; and yet at
the same moment ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief!’ … How can I believe it? Was the divine nature in the
person of Christ, transformed into the human nature of the
son of Mary? And was the human nature of the son of Mary changed into the
divine nature? No—but the two were mysteriously united, so as to become one
person. ‘The man Christ Jesus,’ was not ‘the Lord from heaven;’ but ‘in him dwelt
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.’ The Deity did not suffer and sink under
the agonies of Calvary,1 and yet in the person of Jesus, God there purchased the
church with his own blood. A great mystery, but no absurdity. Above reason, but
not contrary to it.”

---Heman Humphrey, The Great Teacher (Introduction), 1836, pg. XV

Humphrey (seen in the above picture) was another Trinitarian author. He wrote
the introduction to John Harris’ 1836 book, “The Great Teacher”, and Mrs. White
saw his 1836 Trinitarian explanation of Jesus’ dual nature as valid enough to
worth being borrowed. Again, how could someone read her borrowed
expressions on this mysterious issue, and claim she had no Trinitarian type views?
Beats me!! She did cite Scripture to support this Trinitarian doctrine, but certainly
while mixing in the extra-biblical expressions of the Trinitarian, Heman Humphrey.
She wrote:

“When the voice of the angel was heard saying, "Thy Father calls thee," He who
had said, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again," "Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up," came forth from the grave to life that was in
Himself. Deity did not die. Humanity died, but Christ now proclaims over the rent
sepulcher of Joseph, "I am the resurrection, and the life." In His divinity Christ
possessed the power to break the bonds of death. He declares that He had life in
Himself to quicken whom He will. "I am the resurrection, and the life." This
language can be used only by the Deity [i.e. THE supreme God]. All created
things live by the will and power of God. They are dependent recipients of the
life of the Son of God. However able and talented, however large their
capabilities, they are replenished with life from the Source of all life. Only He
who alone hath immortality, dwelling in light and life, could say, "I have power
to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again." All the human beings in
our world take their life from Him. He is the spring, the fountain of life”
---E.G. White, Manuscript, 131, 1897.

Clearly, just like Trinitarians like John Harris and Heman Humphrey, Mrs. White
saw Jesus as co-equally the supreme Almighty God himself, or “the Deity” who
cannot die as God (only as Man), as the Creator who is co-equally the ultimate
“fountain” or “source” of all life, and as the One who is the “the blessed and only
Potentate who ALONE hath immortality”, despite, yes, he is NOT the person of His
Father. How do I know? Because she said it in plain Trinitarian-type words which
no one can explain away! Here is the plain proof:

"It was to save the transgressor from ruin that he [Jesus] who was *CO-EQUAL
with God, offered up his life on Calvary..." [*Remember, only Trinitarians
historically declared this fact, and earlier pioneers like J.H. Waggoner (in *1884)
denied Jesus as “co-equal” with his Father+
--- E.G. White, Review and Herald, June 28, 1892

“It was the Son of God alone who could present an acceptable sacrifice. GOD
*HIMSELF became man, and bore all the wrath that sin had provoked….”
---Ellen G. White, Youth’s Instructor, 31st August, 1887

“He says to us, I [Jesus] AM THE LORD THY GOD [see John 20:28-29]; walk with
Me, and I will fill thy path with light. Jesus, the Majesty of heaven, proposes to
elevate to companionship with Himself those who come to Him with their
burdens, their weaknesses, and their cares.”
---E.G. White, Lift Him Up, pg. 98

"The crowning glory of Christ´s [Jesus] attributes is His holiness. The angels bow
before *Him [Jesus] in adoration, exclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord *God
Almighty." Revelation 4:8. *It’s only logical, since that’s what it mean’s to be “co-
equal” with God+. He is declared to be glorious in His holiness. Study the character
of God. By beholding Christ, by seeking Him in faith and prayer, you may become
like Him.”
---E.G. White, Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students pg. 402

"The burning bush, in which *Christ appeared to Moses, revealed God. The
symbol chosen for the representation of *THE Deity was a lowly shrub, that
seemingly had no attractions. This enshrined the Infinite. The all-merciful God
[i.e. Jesus] shrouded His glory in a most humble type, that Moses could look
upon it and live. " ----E.G. White, Desire of Ages, 1898, pg. 23

“Christ is the source of light, the *fountain [the highest point of origin] of life.”
----E.G. White, Manuscript Release, Vol. 20, pg. 130

“Represent before a world laden with corruption the blessedness of true

education. The weary, the heavy-laden, the broken-hearted, the perplexed-- point
them to Christ, the *source of all strength, *all life, all hope.”
---E.G. White, Review and Herald, January 16, 1913

“The consecration, the vital piety and humility which God requires, does not exist
[among many church-goers today]. Self is exalted, and Jesus, the blessed and
*only Potentate, [see 1 Tim. 6: 13-16] the Mediator between God and man, does
not work with them. Satan’s insinuations are credited...”
---E.G. White, Manuscript Release, Vol. 21, pg. 455

“Jesus Christ laid off His royal robe, His kingly crown, and clothed His divinity
with humanity, in order to become a substitute and surety for humanity, that
dying in humanity He might by his death destroy him who had the power of
death. He could not have done this as God, but by coming as man Christ could
die….Christ lived and died as a man, that He might be God both of the living and
of the dead.” --E.G. White, Lift Him Up, pg. 345

"...let Jesus, in His love and mercy, be revealed as the crucified Saviour, and from
many once unwilling lips will be heard the acknowledgment of Thomas, “My
Lord and *my God.” ---E.G. White, Desire of Ages (1898), pg. 808

For Mrs. White to call Jesus “co-equal with God”, “the Infinite”, “the Deity”
(capitalized) or “God in the highest sense”, or simply one of the “powers
omniscient and infinite”, she was using extra-Biblical Trinitarian-type language!
But only our God, the supreme God is, for instance, “infinite” (with “infinite”
meaning: “without limits…applied to time, space and qualities. God is infinite in
duration, having neither beginning nor end”, etc.; see Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
of American English). If Mrs. White really wanted to indicate she was totally
anti-Trinitarian, as some lamely assume, what a strange place for her to find so
much of her theology being affirmed, forcing her to borrow so much from
Trinitarian writings and authors, and not from anti-Trinitarian sources!!
Certainly “the blindest person is who will not see”, someone wise once said.
Let’s move on to discover even more!
Fact 3: MRS WHITE BORROWED FROM TRINITARIANS THAT GOD’S BOSOM WAS
AND IS A PLACE OF FELLOWHIP THAT JESUS CAME FROM!

The Bible has only one place, in John 1:18, where it describes Jesus as being
presently “IN” (present tense) “the bosom of the Father”, and to Mrs. White it is
plainly a ‘place’ of fellowship and intimacy that Jesus voluntarily left by consent,
in order to come to this earth as our Saviour, since as John 1:18 indicates, he
returned to that ‘place’ of fellowship and intimacy and is occupying it today even
as you read these words, dear reader. It’s fascinating that Mrs. White also
borrowed from the Trinitarian author, John Harris, the idea that Jesus left this
bosom of the Father at a prophetic time in order to be incarnated. Notice her
words in 1905 compared with John Harris 1836 book, “the Great Teacher”:

“When in the fullness of time the Son of the infinite God came forth from the
bosom of the Father to this world, He came in the garb of humanity, clothing His
divinity with humanity.” ---E.G. White, Signs of the Times, May 17, 1905

JOHN HARRIS HAD ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 1836:

“WHEN, in the fulness of time, the eternal Son came forth from the bosom of the
Father, he descended to a region of spiritual darkness… The darkness was
universal and complete. It had settled down, like a pall, over the face of the
whole earth. Truth looked down from heaven; but from no part could she behold
her image reflected. If she would relieve the gloom, she must descend, and
shine, and dissipate it with her actual presence. All things proclaimed the urgent
necessity that the world should be visited by ‘a teacher sent from God.”
---John Harris, The Great Teacher, 1836, pg. 3

Clearly John Harris used this Trinitarian description long before Mrs. White, and
she not only borrowed this description that’s found nowhere in Scripture (i.e. in
those terms), but she expanded on it is a variety of ways thereafter. Here is an
example:

“…“praise and adoration was poured forth [by the angels] for the self-denial and
sacrifice of Jesus, in consenting to leave the bosom of His Father, and choosing a
life of suffering and anguish, and an ignominious death, that He might give life
to others…” ---E.G. White, Early Writings, 1882, pg. 126
All over her writings she described this same “in” the “bosom” of the Father”
experience that Jesus “consented to leave”, as simply the event of him
“consenting to leave” his throne, his glory, his kingly authority, the heavenly
courts, the face to face fellowship with the Father, etc. Now, not only does all of
the foregoing prove that Mrs. borrowed this Trinitarian concept of what the
“bosom of the Father” is, but the way she used the expression shows plainly it’s
not a place of Jesus’ origin, or he being brought into existence from it, as some
misguided dissidents in Adventism think, but rather its where he consciously
and voluntarily “CONSENTED” to leave when the prophetic time was
fulfilled….the place of fellowship of the Father. It was a painful experience for
him, as Mrs. White described all over her writings, for Jesus to leave the
fellowship of his Father, a place he was “tore from” by the sin problem, and to
condescend to become one of us in order to save us:

“The Eternal Father, the unchangeable one, gave his only begotten Son, tore
from his bosom Him who was made in the express image of his person, and sent
him down to earth to reveal how greatly he loved mankind.”
---E.G. White, Review and Herald, July 9, 1895

And when one considers that all over the Bible the bosom is always symbolic of
intimacy and closeness, and with Jesus now “IN” (present tense) that “bosom” of
the Father once again (John 1:18), then it’s not hard to understand that Mrs.
White’s reference to Jesus being “tore from” the Father’s “bosom”, that it does
not mean his origin, since the loins, never the bosom, is what is used to symbolize
a place of origin (e.g. Heb. 7:5,10). All of the foregoing now leads me to the next
crucial point. Read on!

Fact 4: MRS WHITE BORROWED TRINITARIAN EXPRESSIONS DESCRIBING JESUS

AS PRE-INCARNATELY “BEGOTTEN” AS WELL AS EXISTING ALWAYS ALONGSIDE
THE FATHER

As already irrefutably proven in the 2017 booklet, “Mrs. White Quoted

Trinitarian Authors- An Assessment”, Mrs. White’s “in him was life original,
unborrowed, underived” statement was borrowed from John Cumming, the
Trinitarian author who believed in the Nicene Creed that teaches that Jesus was
“begotten” “before all time”, and yet he exists from all eternity past. It was not an
anti-Trintarain source that she got that expression from, so it MUST be deemed a
Trinitarian expression, just as pioneer M.L. Andreasen was honest to confess! In
addition to this, the following 1900 description was also borrowed from a
Trinitarian source:

“Christ is the pre-existent, *self-existent [not originated by another] Son of God…In

speaking of His pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless
ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close
fellowship with the eternal God. He to whose voice the Jews were then listening
had been with God as one brought up with Him.” **See “self existent” in the
1828 Webster’s Dictionary of Mrs. White’s time]
--- E.G. White, Signs of the Times, Aug. 19, 1900

ORIGINALLY JOHN HARRIS THE TRINITARAIN HAD WRITTEN IN 1836:

“Looking at the outline of our Savior’s character…The pen of inspiration had

recorded that his goings forth had been from everlasting; in illustration of this
sublime truth, he raised the veil of the past eternity, carried back their thoughts
through dateless ages before the world began, towards the unimaginable and
awful place where God dwells, assuring them that there never was a period
when he was not there…there, in a *fellowship of glory *with Deity… and unity
of essence [or in oneness with God] … he, to whose human voice they were then
listening, had there seen the cycles of eternity revolve…”
---John Harris, the Great Teacher, 1836, pgs. 116-117

Clearly, John Harris is also the source of Mrs. White’s 1900 statements above, and
it being a Trinitarian source it would naturally have these “dateless ages” of
eternity in which the self–existent Jesus pre-existed, to mean nothing less than
the teaching that he existed “from all eternity” despite depicted as “begotten”.
Nothing or no one can make “from all eternity” past mean anything less than
existing always without beginning of days (Heb. 7:3). And that’s why Mrs. White’s
statements subsequent to this 1900 statement (which was inspired by John
Harris), they had her speaking of Jesus existing “from *all eternity” despite
“begotten”. Notice:

1905
“If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in
regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God
*essentially, and in the highest sense. He was *with God from *all eternity [thus
always in existence], God over all, blessed forevermore. The Lord Jesus Christ, the
divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the
Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the
heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by
Him as His right. This was no robbery of God. “The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way,” He declares, “before his works of old. I was set up from
everlasting *but like God’s own wisdom he always was with and possessed by
God; not originating after “the all-wise God”+, from the beginning, or ever the
earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were
no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the
fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world…. Proverbs 8:22-27”
–E.G. White, Selected Messages, 1905, pg.247

1906
"Christ was God essentially, and IN THE HIGHEST SENSE. He was with God from
*all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore. The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine
Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He
was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly
intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by him as his
right. This was no robbery of God. “The Lord POSSESSED me in the beginning of
his way,” he declares, “before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was
BROUGHT FORTH; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before
the mountains were settled, before the hills was I BROUGHT FORTH; while as yet
he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the
world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon
the face of the depth.” There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was one
with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light
shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. This
truth, INFINITELY MYSTERIOUS in itself, explains other mysterious and otherwise
unexplainable truths, while it is enshrined in light, unapproachable and
INCOMPREHENSIBLE. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou
hadst formed the earth and the world, even FROM EVERLASTING TO
EVERLASTING, THOU [Jesus] ART GOD.”
---E.G. White, Review and Herald, April 5, 1906

The foregoing quotes all coming after 1888, and representing what true SDAs
should teach are plain. They agree with all the Trinitarians outside of Adventism
that Jesus was indeed “begotten” from eternity or “before all time” (see the
Nicene Creed, for instance), but he exists from all eternity as a distinct person.

MRS WHITE ALSO BORROWED A FAMOUS STATEMENT FROM A TRINITARIAN

AUTHOR SAYING THAT JESUS WAS PRE-INCARNATELY BEGOTTEN:

In fact Mrs. White’s most famous statement about Jesus being “begotten” and
not created in his pre-existence was also gotten from another Trinitarian; a
Baptist preacher, James Smith. He wrote in 1863:
“He [God] sent his own Son. He had a Son, an only Son, a divine
Son, his own proper Son, called his ‘only-begotten Son.’ Not a son by creation, as
the angels; nor by adoption, as the saints; but a Son partaking of his own nature
in all its fulness, glory, and majesty, — a Son equal to himself in authority,
dignity, and every divine perfection. …”
--James Smith, The Believer’s Triumph; Or, No Condemnation in Christ, and No
Separation from Christ, 1863, pg. 23

IN 1895, MRS WHITE BORROWED THIS TRINITARIAN STATEMENT:

"A complete offering has been made; for “God so loved the world, that he gave
his only-begotten Son,”—not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by
adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of
the Father’s person, and in all the brightness of his majesty and glory, one equal
with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily." ---E.G. White, Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895

Amazing! The truth is, the teaching that Jesus was pre-incarnately “begotten” or
“brought forth” from eternity is not an anti-Trinitarian teaching only, as the
dissidents love to mislead people to think. It is a truth taught by both
Trinitarians in history as well as by *some anti-Trinitarians. The SDA pioneers
taught this truth both *before and *after they accepted and taught their version
of “the Trinity”…a truth most SDAs today have sadly been led to reject by our
modern pastors/seminarians!
Now it is also true that the other SDA pioneers did initially teach that Jesus had
a beginning as the PRE-INCARNATELY “begotten” Son of God, but just as the
pioneers gradually matured doctrinally to change their views in other areas they
also gradually adjusted their views about Jesus the “begotten Son”. They all
died *still teaching (without ever changing) that he was “begotten” or “brought
forth” of the Father from eternity (not just on earth when he was “begotten” a
second time), but they gradually admitted that this truth does not mean he did
not exist always as God’s “co-existent” or “co-eternal” and “self-existent” Son
(and this is a fact the dissidents troubling Adventism will not share with you, i.e.
the full story, dear reader, even as they *correctly insist that Jesus was
“begotten” of God from eternity). Proof of the adjusted pioneer views on this
matter after Mrs. White’s own statements after the year 1900?

1907
"The divine Son involves the eternity of his being, *co-existent [i.e. coetaneous
or coeval] and co-equal with his Father, and standing next to the Father, and
being the agent, the representative of the Father, so that every revealing of God
in his work *in *every *way has been through his eternal Son."
---Review and Herald, January 17, 1907, Vol. 84, No. 3, pg. 4
1911
" The words of the wise man [Solomon] will aid us to understand this theme as
far as the finite mind can reach. Of Christ, under the personification of wisdom,
he says: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of
old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the world was
made, . . . when he prepared the heavens, I was there . . . 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." Prov. 8 :22-30. To this agree
the words of the Psalmist, "Lord, thou has been our dwelling place in all
generations. Before the mountains were brought forth or thou hadst formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting, to everlasting, thou art God." Ps. 90:
2. Observe the expression used here to describe the *infinity of Christ, "from
everlasting to everlasting. " In other words, FROM THE EVERLASTING ETERNITY
OF THE PAST TO THE EVERLASTING ETERNITY OF THE FUTURE" [Note: "infinity"
has no limit in length of existence…and that’s why Jesus is called the “Infinite
One” by Mrs. White on behalf of true SDAs]
--The Oriental Watchman, Vol. 14, No. 1, January 11, 1911, pg. 14

1911
“...Christ is understood and portrayed by all the Old Testament writers.... [as] not
a Christ whose beginning dated from his birth in human form amid the humble
surroundings of a Judean stable, but one who was everlasting, all-powerful, and
*co-existent with the Father; not a son merely of Joseph the carpenter, but the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
---The Oriental Watchman, Vol.14, January, 1911; No. 1; pgs. 13-14

1919
“…the Son is *co-eternal with the Father [i.e. he existed "from all eternity" past
just like the Father]. That does not prevent His being the only-begotten Son of
God….There is no contradiction to say that the Son is co-eternal with the Father,
and yet the Son is the only-begotten of the Father.”
----W. W. Prescott, Report of the 1919 Bible Conference for July 2nd, pg. 20

*Note: The foregoing quotes evidence a marked change in thought among

pioneers. SDA pioneer J.M. Stephenson, for instance, in 1854 (Review and Herald,
December 5, 1854, pgs. 123, 124) denied that Jesus could even be deemed
“coetaneous” (or “co-existent”) with the Father, or be properly deemed an
“eternal Son” or as a “self-existent Son”, but we see clearly that later on the
pioneers (influenced by ongoing bible study, and Mrs. White’s ministry, no doubt)
they gradually came to accept that Jesus was in existence “from *all eternity”;
and remember “all” simply means “all”, and “eternity” simply means without
beginning…thus Jesus was always in existence). No wonder well known SDA
pioneers eventually said the following, despite still believing in the pre-incarnately
begotten Son (as Trinitarians in history always did):
1920
“Evidently in an Eternal Father and an Eternal Son the ideas of older and
younger can have no place. As we lift up the conception of Sonship out of time
into eternity, these elements of it, ever present in human fathers and sons, at once
disappear. When they fall away, does any conception essential to our idea of son
ship remain? Yes.... plainly embodied in John 5:26, and in other express assertions
from the lips of Christ describing his own relation to God.”
---W. W. Prescott, The Doctrine of Christ: A Series of Bible Studies for
Use in Colleges and Seminaries, 1920, page 20

1929
“As the absolute Son, He, who 'in the beginning was with God, and was God,'
was begotten before times eternal...." ---W.W. Prescott, Signs of the Times,
January 8, 1929

1936
"It was Satan's scheme to become equal with Christ; but this could never be, for
Christ was [in his pre-incarnation] the only begotten of the Father, the same
essence as God, and hence God the Son. Lucifer, although created next to Christ
in position, was nevertheless a created being and did not and could not partake of
the essence of the Godhead. Christ was the one who brought Satan into existence.
Satan's great enmity is against Christ, and he falsely accuses the Son, his own
creator, for all the misfortune that he has brought upon himself by his own pride
and rebellion." --- Signs of the Times, July 14, 1936, Vol. 63, pg. 12

1946
“In the third verse of the first chapter of Hebrews, Christ is spoken of as “being the
brightness of His *Father’s+ glory.” The participle “being” is an expression of
eternal, timeless existence and has the same sense as “was” in John 1: 1: “In the
beginning was the Word.” The Word is Christ. (Verse 14) He did not come into
existence in the beginning. In the beginning He was. He did not become the
brightness of the Father’s glory. He always was. **Just as God’s wisdom has
always existed along with him, never having a beginning after God, Proverbs 8:1,
22-31] This constitutes the essential and eternal ground of His personality.
“Brightness” is variously translated “outshining,” “outraying,” “reflection.” It has
the same relation to God’s glory as the rays of the sun have to the sun. The rays
cannot be separated from the sun, nor the sun from its rays. The two are
inseparable. So with the Father and the Son.” —M. L. Andreasen, “Christ, the
Express Image of God,” Review and Herald, Oct. 17, 1946, p. 8

*Note: Just in case it be argued by the dissidents that the last quote above (from
the pioneer M.L. Andreasen) makes Jesus and the Father the same being/entity
(like the sun and its inseparable rays), ever remember that even Mrs. White (who
believed they are separate as beings) she made plain: “The Son of God cannot be
separated from His Father...“I and my Father are one” (E.G. White, Manuscript
58, 1900, pg.33). And using almost the same ‘sun and it’s glory’ analogy she said
the following while using controversial Trinitarian-type language:

“….because he loved the world He [God the Father] sent his Son into the world
that divinity clothed with humanity might touch humanity, while divinity lays hold
of infinity. Though sin had produced a gulf between man and his God, divine
benevolence provided a plan to bridge that gulf and what material did he use? A
part of himself, the brightness of the Father’s glory [i.e. Jesus] came to a world
all seared and marred with the curse, and in his own divine character, in his own
divine body, bridged the gulf, and opened a channel of communication between
God and man” --- E.G. White, Letter 36a to J.S. Washburn, Sept. 18, 1890

“The words of Christ were full of deep meaning as he put forth the claim that he
and the Father were of one substance, possessing the same attributes." [*Note:
The Trinitarian Nicene Creed used the same “of one substance” language to describe Jesus in
relation to the Father, but despite they are separate beings to Mrs. White she still borrowed
and used that controversial expression] ---E.G. White, Signs of the Times,
November 27, 1893

The unassailable point is that in nature, action and function they are united as if
one thing is in operation (*see 1 Cor. 12:4-6, 11 in light of the “one body” but
“several (distinct) members” illustration in that chapter). [In the foregoing M.L.
Andreasen quote it’s simply imagery being used to illustrate the Godhead’s “oneness” in
eternity as equally “infinite” beings of equal eternal existence; it’s not saying that the Father
and Son are one personal entity.] In the end, we see that Seventh-day Adventism was
destined to gradually adopt revised Trinitarian views and expression, because
their own prophetess, Mrs. White, adopted a whole host of them, and led the
way in that regard!

Fact 5: MRS WHITE BORROWED THE TRINITRIAN EXPLANATION THAT THE HOLY
SPIRIT IS “CHRIST HIMSELF”, DESPITE THE HOLY SPIRT IS A “THIRD” AND
“DISTINCT PERSON”, JUST AS SHE BORROWED THE TRINITY VIEW THAT JESUS
WAS “GOD HIMSELF” DESPITE HE IS A “DISTINCT PERSON”!!

As I indicated in the 2017 presentation, “Mrs. White Quotes Trinitarian Authors-

An Assessment”, as I read William E. Boardman’s 1858 Trinitarian book from
which Mrs. White got her “three living persons” and “heavenly trio” ideas, I was
amazed to discover that on page 97 of “A Higher Christian Life”, Boardman, as a
Trinitarian, wrote in 1858 of the Holy Spirit being “Jesus Omnipresent” or being
“the Spirit of Jesus”, and lo and behold these same expressions found their way
into Mrs. White’s later writings; concepts anti-Trinitarian dissidents love to
quote from her, naively thinking it is purely an anti-Trinitarian idea original with
Mrs. White, when in fact it is the opposite (how laughable)!
Let’s discover further how Mrs. White borrowed the 1836 Trinitarian
thoughts/language of John Harris to teach the same thought above. Harris wrote
in 1836:

JOHN HARRIS HAD ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 1836:

“Christ not only gave himself for, but to, his disciples. ‘He breathed on them, and
saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.’ By this emblematic act, he
signified, not merely the impartation of miraculous powers, but the inspiration
of his sanctifying spirit, the vital transfusion of his own self, into the souls of his
people. He would have them to know, that henceforth, he and they can no more
live a divided life; that he will live through their faculties, and act through their
organs; and that they must choose with his will, and act with his spirit; that it
may be no more they that live, but he that liveth in them.” ---John Harris, The
Great Teacher, 1836

MRS WHITE BORROWED THIS TRINITARIAN EXPLANATION AS WELL:

“The Lord Jesus loves His people, and when they put their trust in Him,
depending wholly upon Him, He strengthens them. He will live through them,
giving them the inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, imparting to the soul a vital
transfusion of Himself.—E.G. White, Sabbath School Worker, Feb. 1, 1896.

“The Lord Jesus loves His people, and when they put their trust in Him, depending
wholly upon Him, He strengthens them. He will live through them, giving them
the inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, imparting to the soul a vital transfusion
of Himself. He acts through their faculties and causes them to choose His will
and to act out His character. With the apostle Paul they then may say, "I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me". . . .” ---E.G. White, That I May now Him, pg. 78

The 1836 Trinitarian wording of John Harris is seen infused in the above quotes
from Mrs. White, just as she also borrowed his Trinitarian following explanation
about the Holy Spirit being NUMERICALLY the “third person of the Godhead”:

JOHN HARRIS HAD WRITTEN IN 1836:

“….how tremendous then must that principle of evil be, which can only be
subdued by the mighty power of the Spirit; by the advent and accession of the
third person in the awful Godhead; by no modified energy, but by the full
almightiness of divine power…” ---John Harris, The Great Teacher, 1836
LO AND BEHOLD MRS WHITE BORROWED THIS TRINITARIAN VIEW AS WELL:

“Evil had been accumulating for centuries, and could only be restrained and
resisted by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead,
who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power.
Another spirit must be met; for the essence of evil was working in all ways, and
the submission of man to this satanic captivity was amazing.”
---E.G. White, Letter 8, 1896 (Feb. 6), in Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 10, p. 25

“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.”
---E.G. White, Desire of Ages, 1898, pg. 671

This is an amazing development with Mrs. White in the 1890s, because a key
thing stood out in Adventism before this development. No other SDA pioneer
used this Trinitarian “third person of the Godhead” expression before Mrs. White
did, because it was deemed a “heretical” Trinitarian expression in the opinion of
the earliest SDA pioneers. And considering that she borrowed this expression
from a Trinitarian author, we must never forget that it’s not just a “third person”
style of language Mrs. White employed when speaking of the Holy Spirit as “the
third person of the Godhead” (as dissidents in Adventism love to argue to
mislead the unlearned with this faulty argument), but rather it’s a NUMERIC
reality of “three living personalities” or individuals involved, as proven here:

“The Person by whom God will judge the world is Jesus Christ, God-Man. The
second Person in THE *Trinity, that same Person of Whom we read in our
Bibles...was born of the Virgin Mary…” --The Present Truth, 1908, Vol. 24, No. 51-
52, pg. 812
And this was why this Trinitarian “third person of the Godhead” expression was
deemed by the pioneers initially (or in the earlier years; before 1888) to be a
“heretical” Trinitarian expression connected to the Trinity, as they fully well knew
it meant “three persons”, and not two!! This was what pioneer W.W. Prescott
candidly admitted at the 1919 Bible Conference with no one denying it (making us
know Mrs. White herself was by the 1890s adopting a formerly considered
“heretical” expression connected to the Trinity). He said (unchallenged):
"I was in the same place that Brother Daniells was, and was
taught the same things by authority [of the early pioneering SDA Church], that
Christ was the beginning of God's creative work, that to speak of the third
person of the Godhead or of the trinity was heretical..."
--- W.W. Prescott, July 6, 1919 Bible Conference.

DID YOU CATCH THAT??? Not only did the earlier expressions of some of the SDA
pioneers ( like that of Uriah Smith, and J.M. Stephenson , among others) present
Jesus as a “created being” but the expressions "third person of the Godhead"
and "the trinity" were considered "heretical" by early SDA pioneers because
they were TRINITARIAN EXPRESSIONS...and the whole world knows it!! So when
later pioneers (like F.E. Belden, A.T. Jones, S.N. Haskell, Robert Hare, F.M.
Wilcox, E.G. White, et al) started after 1888 to use either one of these formerly
deemed “heretical” Trinitarian expressions, it is plain they were now leaning in
the direction of Trinitarianism (clearly the revised version ); not continuing in a
totally non-Trinitarian direction!! Here (below) is the actual photocopied proof of
SDA pioneer W.W. Prescott admitting at the 1919 Bible Conference that early SDA
pioneers opposed the use of Trinitarian expressions like "the third person of the
Godhead", and "trinity"---a solid proof of the later acceptance of certain Trinity-
related concepts/expression by E.G. White and other pioneers even before
Kellogg did in 1902-1903 (this scan is from the Minutes on July 6, 1919):

With the foregoing now establishing that even Mrs. White herself was borrowing
from the stock of Trinitarian-type expressions in the 1890s, we can now proceed
to the following vital consideration.

HOW COULD MRS. WHITE LOGICALLY DESCRIBE THE HOLY SPIRIT AS BEING
JESUS "HIMSELF"? THE EXPLANATION IS SIMPLE AND CONSISTENT!

It’s quite simple from the Trinitarian standpoint that Mrs. White appealed to
largely. In just the same way God the Father was represented through Jesus on
earth as "God with us" (Emmanuel) or as "God manifested in the flesh", since
"God was in Christ" (see 2 Cor. 5:19 with 1 Tim. 3:16), so too is Jesus
represented through the Holy Spirit as Christ with us. It’s the principle of
REPRESENTATION or AGENCY, where the presence of the Son is as if it’s the
presence of His Father who sent him, and the presence of the Spirit is as if it’s
the presence of the Son who sent the Spirit. The Son (actually called "God
himself" by Mrs. White) is depicted Biblically as God's "wisdom and power", his
"logos" or mind or reason and expressed "Word" that was sent to earth, as well as
his holy "arm" reaching down to save us as "the Savior", our only Saviour (just as
God the Father himself is depicted in Isaiah 43:10-11). See 1 Cor. 1:24, John 1:1-3,
14, 1 John 1:1-3, and Isaiah 53:1. This is only possible if the Father and Son are
spiritually "one" in function; despite they are distinct personalities from each
other who each possess "the fullness of the Godhead'. This is the type of spiritual
"oneness" the Spirit also shares with the Son. Follow the evidence below:

"We want the Holy Spirit, which is Jesus Christ....”

----E.G. White, Letter 66, April 10, 1894

“He [Jesus] comes personally *BY [via] His Holy Spirit into the midst of His
church.” —E.G. White, Letter 2d, Dec. 23, 1892

" Jesus is present IN [via] the PERSON of His representative, the Holy Spirit,
reviving the heart of the humble and contrite ones. “If a man love me, he will
keep my words,” Christ said, “and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him.”
---E.G. White, Manuscript 158, 1898

"If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We
will come unto him. “We,” that is, the Father, Son, *AND the Holy Ghost, and
make Our abode with him” (John 14:23). Oh, my brother, walk carefully with
God..."
---E.G. White, Letter 44 (to A.T. Jones), April 9, 1893

"It is evident that the Holy Spirit is one of the Trinity, and fully represent God
[the Father] and Christ, and the Trinity [i.e. he also comes on behalf of himself as
well; not just on behalf of the Father and the Son]; and appears in any form or
shape, or without form or shape, as best answers the purpose of God"

---S.N. Haskell (SDA pioneer), The Bible Training School, 1910, Vol. 9, No. 7, pg. 13

"The Holy Spirit is Himself [i.e. Jesus, but obviously representationally

because]...He would *REPRESENT Himself as present in all places *BY [via] His
Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent...if I depart, I will send *him unto you.”
—E.G. White, Letter 119, Feb. 18, 1895
COMMENTS:
The Holy Spirit is one of the "three living persons" of the "Eternal Godhead" (E.G.
White, Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, 1905, pp. 62, 63,) who's so much like
Jesus, that his presence is very much like Jesus himself is present. In 1899 Mrs.
White was pointed in appealing to the resistant SDA brethren that "we need to
realize that the Spirit is as much a person as God is a person", and so had no
choice after that 1899 pronouncement but to proclaim/re-affirm "three living
persons" of the "Eternal Godhead", since Jesus and the Father, as we already
know, are two separate "LIVING" persons!! And the only way for the Father and
Son to be separate persons or beings, the Spirit MUST be separate as well, since
he could not be the actual person or being of the Father and Son at the same
time; else they would BOTH be one and the same personal being, which is not
the case!! So why this language of the Spirit being "Christ himself" who has come
to us, or to our souls, yet we still await his second coming to earth?

Mrs. White was pointed and plain in terms of what it means that the Spirit is
Christ himself or his person in the soul, when she simply said the Spirit
"personifies Christ". Manuscript 93, 1893, pg. 8. And please note that the word
"personify" in Mrs. White's time meant to "IMPERSONATE" or imitate
another...indicating again that the Spirit was not Jesus in person literally but
another divine person impersonating him. The 1828 Noah Webster's Dictionary
of American English lists the two words "personify" and "impersonate" as
synonyms!! Thus when she wanted to maintain the truth that there are indeed
"three living persons" of "the Eternal Godhead" she also made it plain that
though "the Spirit personifies [impersonates] Christ, yet he is a distinct
personality", and so was simply His REPRESENTATIVE. This is precisely the same
principle at work when over and over she described Jesus the Man as "God
himself" who was "with us" (as "Emmanuel"), and yet she made plain that Jesus
the Man was just His Father's REPRESENTATIVE who was simply personifying
him to us, but doing so as a "distinct personality" from him.

"...the divine Son of God [is] —the personification of the only true God,..."
--- E.G. White, Manuscript 40, 1897.

"Jesus Christ IS *the Father with us. God is the Father, and there is the link of the
chain brought right down to bind His children in connection with the Father."
---E.G. White, Manuscript 141, 1908

"Jesus is attractive. He is full of love, mercy, and compassion. He proposes to be

our friend, to walk with us through all the rough pathways of life. He says to us,
I [Jesus] AM THE LORD THY GOD; walk with Me, and I will fill thy path with light.
Jesus, the Majesty of heaven, proposes to elevate to companionship with
Himself those who come to Him with their burdens, their weaknesses, and their
cares.“ ---E.G. White, Lift Him Up, pg. 98
" It was the Son of God alone who could present an acceptable sacrifice. GOD
*HIMSELF [or Jesus] became man, and bore all the wrath that sin had provoked.
This problem, How could God be just and yet the justifier of sinners? baffled all
finite intelligence. A divine person alone could mediate between God and man”
---Ellen G. White, Youth’s Instructor, 31st August 1887, ‘Search the Scriptures’

"The second temple was not honored with the cloud of Jehovah's glory, but with
the living presence of One in whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily [i.e.
Jesus] --who was GOD *HIMSELF manifest in the flesh [1 Tim. 3:16]. The "Desire
of all nations" had indeed come to His temple when the Man of Nazareth taught
and healed in the sacred courts. In the presence of Christ, and in this only, did
the second temple exceed the first in glory." --- E.G. White, Great Controversy,
1911, pg. 24

We know that Jesus is divine enough to be our Lord and our God himself, just as
Thomas affirmed and Jesus himself commended his affirmation (see John 20:28,
29), but is he the literal person of his Father? No! And we know that the Spirit is
divine enough to be Jesus himself to us, but is he the literal person of Jesus? No!!

SOLUTION TO THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS?

Mrs. White solves the problem by making plain on one hand:

"...let Jesus, in His love and mercy, be revealed as the crucified Saviour, and from
many once unwilling lips will be heard the acknowledgment of Thomas, “My
Lord and *my God.”---E.G. White, Desire of Ages, 1898, pg. 808

"Seek a thorough preparation to meet Jesus, that when He appears you may
exclaim with joy, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save
us." Isaiah 25:9. Eternal life will then be yours, and you will be a partaker with
Christ of His glory, ever to hear His glorious approving voice and behold His
lovely person." ---- E.G. White, The Faith I Live By, pgs. 351-352

But then she makes us also know that Jesus as the Lord our God he is a separate
person from his Father:

“The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is truly God in
infinity, but not in personality.”
---E.G. White, Manuscript 116, 1905, pg.19

"In.... Scripture God [the Father] and Christ [the Messiah] are spoken of as two
distinct personalities, each acting in their own individuality [*Mrs. White here
proves clearly that when she uses the expression a "distinct personality" it meant
a separate person or individual is in view compared to another]
---E.G. White, Manuscript 145, 1905, (Diary, October 31, 1905.)

"The gospel testifies that God in his boundless love for man assumed humanity
*IN [or via] the person of his Son." —- E.G. White, Manuscript 183, 1901

"... God so loved the world that He gave Himself *IN [or via] Christ to the world
to bear the penalty of man’s transgression. God suffered with His Son as the
divine Being alone could suffer…."
— E.G. White, Letter 43, 1895

"...the divine Son of God [is] —the personification of the only true God,..." ---
E.G. White, Manuscript 40, 1897.

And she makes the same clarification when speaking of the Spirit:

“The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, *IN [or via] Christ’s name. He personifies
[impersonates] Christ [i.e. is Christ himself, as it were], yet is a distinct
personality.” [or separate individual person]
---E.G. White, Manuscript 93, 1893, pg. 8

Consistent as consistent can be! This is the only logical way for Mrs. White to have
deliberately chosen the words "THREE living persons", and yet described
elsewhere two of them (i.e. Jesus and the Holy Spirit) as REPRESENTING another,
as if that person himself. Again, it's consistent as consistent can be. "Three"
simply means 1, 2, 3; in this case 1, 2, 3 "living persons" in view...not just two!!

THE SDA PIONEERS EVENTUALLY TAUGHT THREE GODHEAD *BEINGS OF THE

TRINITY WHILE MRS WHITE WAS ALIVE!

The SDA pioneers themselves before 1915 left no one in doubt because they
themselves (INCLUDING MRS WHITE) said of the "three living persons of the
heavenly trio":

"You are born unto God, and you stand under the sanction and the power of the
three holiest *BEINGS in heaven, who are able to keep you from falling… When I
feel oppressed and hardly know how to relate myself toward the work that God
has given me to do, I just call upon the three great Worthies, and say: You know
I cannot do this work in my own strength. You must work in me, and by me, and
through me… And this is the prayer that every one of us may offer. [Keeping in
mind that it’s only to who is our God or is the Godhead we should pray to+
---E.G. White, Manuscript, 95, 1906

"There are three *BEINGS in the Godhead: God, the Father; Jesus Christ, the
Word; and the Holy Spirit. "These three are one...."Canst thou by searching find
out God?" Job 11: 7."

---- Review and Herald, Vol. 8, No. 50, December 15, 1910; p. 8

"The language of Jesus, " If I depart, I will send him unto you," plainly shows the
Holy Ghost to be possessed of a divine personality. The same argument applied
to the language, " Whom the Father will send in " my name," indicates the same
truth, and thus establishes the conclusion that the Godhead is composed of
three *personal *BEINGS, and that these three are one. The oneness of the
Godhead must, then, consist not in personality, but in some other kind of
oneness. Let us apply the Bible idea of oneness of *individuals to the Godhead,
and see if it will contradict the possibility of *three or more *individuals being
called one. We have two visible institutions in this world that are Bible illustrations of God's
idea of oneness, marriage and the church. Of marriage, Christ said, "For this cause shall a
man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh."
Matt. 19 : 5. Of the church, Christ said, through the mouth of his inspired apostle Paul, " So
we, being - many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Rom. 12:
5. Christ compares the unity Of the church to the oneness of the Godhead in his last recorded
prayer."
---The Review and Herald, Vol. 89, No. 51, Dec.19, 1912, p. 5

“Seventh-day Adventists believe [now] in ... the Divine *TRINITY. This Trinity
consists of the Eternal Father… the Lord Jesus Christ… [and] the Holy Spirit, the
third Person of the Godhead”
---F. M. Wilcox (chief editor), *Review and Herald, October 9, 1913

No true SDA need to be mistaken about these matters, and we should simply
study to show ourselves approved…otherwise we will be led astray by the
misguided among us!!

As I close, I cannot but point out to you, dear reader, the sad traits observed in
many (not all) of the SDA dissidents who daily act as “accusers of the brethren”
and are now “protestors” against the plain truth. Many of the dissidents sadly
display the following traits (as *quoted from Lazarus Castang):
Let’s pray for them that God will humble them and release them from the chains
of self-deception that they have allowed themselves to be in. I am certainly
doing so myself (i.e. praying for them), even as I do what Isaiah 58:1 calls me to
do, i.e. lift up my voice like a trumpet, and, speaking fearlessly and frankly, but
with the deepest love for all concerned, show my people in Zion where they are
going wrong….i.e. living in denial and refusing to accept historical and biblical
truth when it becomes evident!!! I also pray that those of us on the Trinitarian
side recognize the much-neglected and denied truth as *ALWAYS TAUGHT BY
OUR SDA PIONEERS (i.e. BEFORE AND AFTER 1888 AND 1915) about “the only
begotten Son” who was “brought forth” from all eternity of the Father’s own
substance, since many of us on the Trinitarian side of the debate are as stubborn
as those on the anti-Trinitarian side to accept all truth when it becomes plain.

---THE END---
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Further Study and Appendices

Appendix 1: What was John Harvey Kellogg’s heresy really promoting?

When Mrs. White opposed Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's "alpha heresy" of 1903-1905, nowhere
does she name and oppose his belief in the Trinity that he adopted after 1888 (just like other
SDA pioneers, like Stephen Haskell who Mrs. White personally endorsed even after he taught
the SDA version of the Trinity (click the link for more eye-opening details). Neither did she
oppose his post-1888 adopted belief that the Holy Spirit "is a person as God is a person" (a view
she herself expressed from 1899), but she opposed just the "pantheistic" ideas he mixed in with
that belief. And so Mrs. White specifically *named and denounced the "pantheistic" ideas of
Kellogg, as he tried to scientifically illustrate God and the "three living persons" of divinity or
the Godhead with inanimate illustrations like light, cloud, dew, mist, rain, etc. She did not name
the "Trinity" ideas he espoused and denounced them, since she herself insisted that his ideas
were a mixture of truth and error. (i.e. trinity truths and pantheism error mixed) but she only
named and denounced the *pantheism errors mixed in; and she refuted them by using
borrowed Trinitarian-type language. Rather telling, isn't it?

If what Kellogg had *introduced as the "alpha" heresy in 1902-1903 it was "the Trinity" of
separate Godhead beings who were to be worshipped as "the Trinity" (i.e. a version different
from the Catholic version), as dissidents love to argue, how come the SDA pioneers were
already worshipping that version of the "the Trinity" BEFORE Kellogg's book, "The Living
Temple"? How come Mrs. White did not denounce those SDA pioneers doing so a whole
decade BEFORE Kellogg, and how come she only reached into his book or his thesis (which she
called the "alpha" and not what came before him) and denounced "PANTHEISM" mixed in with
his teaching about the Trinity; not the Trinity of beings worshipped in Adventism BEFORE
Kellogg's book was released?
And how come when Mrs. White was denouncing Kellogg's representation of the Godhead of
"three living persons" it was his representation of those persons by things in inanimate nature
(i.e. as light, cloud, dew, rain, etc.) that she denounced and not that there were "three persons"
in the first place? How come she then denounced the Kellogg representation of the "three
persons" by things of inanimate nature, but then turned around herself to re-affirm the
existence of those same "three living persons" and she herself declared elsewhere in her
writings that ALL three are to be "worshiped", "praised", "served" and even "prayer offered" to
them?? In addition, how come Mrs. White endorsed and promoted S.N. Haskell's ministry
within the same period (after 1903), with him NAMING and teaching "the Trinity" and the
worship of "the Trinity", and she had nothing to say against him in that regard, yet she
denounced Kellogg's depiction of "the Trinity" in PANTHEISTIC or inanimate terms? MISGUIDED
"omega heresy" theories held by dissident SDA anti-Trinitarians today about the Trinity being
denounced by E.G. White (i.e. the SDA version of separate divine beings), these theories are
simply BUNK!! Plain and simple!

Now it would be a logical question to ask where is the evidence that SDA pioneers had come to
accept and were worshipping their version of "the Trinity" as separate beings BEFORE and
AFTER Kellogg's introduction of the "alpha", and if that can be proven then that is what would
debunk the notion that the "alpha" was Kellogg's introduction of the worship of "the Trinity" as
separate beings. Here are vital links to the plain facts often ignored by misguided preachers like
DANIEL MESA and NADER MANSOUR (see the links below):

Link 1:
https://www.scribd.com/document/332422277/SDA-Pioneers-Rejected-Papal-Trinity-But-2nd-
edition

Link 2:
https://www.scribd.com/document/366003845/LeRoy-Froom-Acquitted-2017

Link 3:
https://www.scribd.com/document/367580418/The-Final-Conquest-True-Worship

HERE IS WHAT KELLOGG'S HERESY WAS ABOUT, AND WHAT MRS. WHITE PRESENTED AS THE
ALTERNATIVE:

"Positive Truth Versus Spiritualistic Representations—I am instructed to say, The sentiments of

those who are searching for advanced scientific ideas are not to be trusted. Such
representations as the following are made: “The Father is as the *light invisible [an inanimate
representation]: the Son is as the *light embodied [an inanimate representation]; the Spirit is
the *light shed abroad [an inanimate representation].” “The Father is like the *dew, invisible
vapor [an inanimate representation] ; the Son is like the *dew gathered in beauteous form [an
inanimate representation]; the Spirit is like the *dew fallen to the seat of life [an inanimate
representation].” Another representation: “The Father is like the invisible vapor[an inanimate
representation]; the Son is like the leaden *cloud [an inanimate representation]; the Spirit is
*rain fallen [an inanimate representation] and working in refreshing power.

All these spiritualistic representations [inanimate representations] are simply nothingness. They
are imperfect, untrue. They weaken and diminish the Majesty which no earthly likeness can be
compared to. God cannot be compared with the things [i.e. inanimate representations] His
hands have made. These are mere earthly things [i.e. inanimate representations] , suffering
under the curse of God because of the sins of man. The Father cannot be described by the things
of earth [or by inanimate representations].

[N.B. *Here following is some of what she borrowed from the non-SDA Trinitarian author, W.E.
Boardman]
The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight.
The Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested. The Word of God declares Him to be “the
express image of His person.” “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Here is shown the
personality of the Father.

The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the
fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and
believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are *three *living *persons of the heavenly trio; in
the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who
receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient
subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ".
---E.G. White, Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, pp. 62, 63. (1905)

WHAT DID THE "ALPHA HERESY" OF KELLOGG DO? COMPARE THESE "THREE LIVING
PERSONS" TO INANIMATE OBJECTS IN NATURE!! WHAT WOULD THE "OMEGA HERESY" DO?
DENY THE REAL EXISTENCE OF THESE "THREE LIVING PERSONS" AND MAKE ONE OF THEM AN
INANIMATE INFLUENCE LIKE ELECTRICITY, AND OTHER SIMILAR INANIMATE ILLUSTRATIONS!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VITAL ONLINE LINKS TO FURTHER STUDY:

To do your own further study into this and the other issues raised in this booklet,
dear reader; see the links below to my published material online, dealing with
every and all issues raised by the “confused” anti-Trinitarian dissidents in our
midst:

Link 1: to my Facebook page with dozens of articles addressing the controversial

issues (visit and scroll to view the very many questions answered and opposing
arguments debunked):
https://www.facebook.com/derrick.gillespie

Link 2: to my free downloadable booklets (e-books in PDF) dealing with the issues
in specific and greater detail (join the scribd.com website-- it’s free -- and start
downloading at the link below):
https://www.scribd.com/uploads
_______________________________________________________________________________
 Derrick Gillespie is a trained teacher in the Social Sciences, History, and Geography, and
remains a member of the SDA Church in Jamaica and a lay evangelist for SDAs.
(Contact Info: ddgillespie@live.com OR https://www.facebook.com/derrick.gillespie

____________________

---A PUBLICATION OF DERRICK GILLESPIE’S “REMNANT RESISTANCE” ONLINE MINISTRIES---