Thots Regarding Word Inspiration, 20

01/06/22
Yes, that's exactly what i believe. The early materials written
by Ellen White were quite clear on that point saying they wer
e "dictated", and even 1880/01/22 Review: "The scribes of G
od wrote as they were dictated by the Holy Spirit, having no
control of the work themselves." It doesn't get much plainer
than this!! Of course the Bible is quite explicit too about the
words being from God himself. Once for a friend who did not
believe all the words in the Bible were from God, i gave him l
ots of references from the Bible itself (which isn't really good
logic) showing that the words themselves are inspired. Ther
e is only one place that even hints of the scribes writing out t
he ideas they received from God in their own words - 2Peter
1:21. But even this text, if read thoroughly, disproves that id
ea!!! (Actually, Jeremiah 36:32 also somewhat promotes the
'ideas only inspired' theory). In contrast to that, there are m
any, many places that say things like "The word of the Lor
d......" But Jesus himself gave the most forceful support for t
his truth himself in Matthew 4:4 - "But he answered and said,
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." John 14:24 -
"He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the wor
d which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."

When we see things written that refute this truth, we can kn

ow that they are not inspired by God. When someone who w
as openly defying the counsel of the Testimonies became the
chief editor at the publishing office in Battle Creek in 1881, o
ne of the first things he did was start to change the books gi
ven by the Holy Spirit. Early Writings, which came out in 188
2, was a compilation of many earlier works. Not a whole lot
was changed, but changes were made. For example, The Gr
eat Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan a
nd His Angels is basically reproduced in Early Writings. I've d
one a word-for-word check only on one chapter (chap.18), an
d while most of the changes were very minor, there was this
one whole sentence missing - "The Bible was kept from them,
in order to conceal the truths which would condemn them."

Then in 1883 the publishing committee made it public that t

hey believed that except in rare cases only the ideas were i
mparted from God, and that they would "remove the imperfe
ctions" in the books. Then we immediately see huge overha
uls done to The Great Controversy Between Christ and His A
ngels, and Satan and His Angels, resulting in what we usually
refer to today as: "Spirit of Prophecy vol.4" (1884 Great Cont
roversy). For example, of the 161 times that the phrase: "I s
aw" is used in the 1858 GC, how many times do you think th
at phrase is used in the 1884, 1888, or 1911 editions? It's us
ed to refer to the writer's own experience exactly 0 times!! I
f the 35 times that John the Revelator uses the same phrase
"I saw" were all removed, wouldn't there be a big outcry at c
hanging God's word? At least the 1884 GC tries to keep the
present tense form of writing alive. The 1888 and 1911 GC d
on't even allow that much, as they have even the tense chan
ged into the passive form. So everything winds up sounding
like a history book. The Holy Spirit has really been slighted,
and by professed friends of the truth!

It strikes me as odd that many people will agree that the Dou
ay translation (Catholic) and Jehovah's Witness translations o
f the Bible are not accurate, and so don't use them. In the s
ame vein, the translators of the NIV and RSV etc. state right
up front that they don't believe the words themselves are ins
pired, only the ideas. The end result is the same - a translati
on of God's Word that has been heavily influenced with man'
s ideas. It's just a matter of degree. In contrast, the Tyndale
Bible, KJV, NKJV, Interlinear, and LITV translations believe the
words themselves are from God, and try to translate them so
(in English anyway). Now which would you rather trust your
soul to?

In the same manner that all books with the title "Bible" on th
e cover are not necessarily the Word of God, all books with t
he author "Ellen White" on the cover are not necessarily the
Spirit of Prophecy. We must use our God-given talents, and d
ig for the truth as if our eternal destiny depended on the out
come.

In a similar manner to the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy has b

een mishandled by men and women who did not believe the
words were from God. Above i showed a few examples, but
will give a crystal clear example here. First of all, we have to
be agreed that "his people" does not equal "the world". That
seems obvious right?

4SP page38: "As he warned his disciples of Jerusalem's destr

uction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin that they
might make their escape, so he has warned his people of the
day of final destruction, and given them signs of its approach,
that all who will may flee from the wrath to come."
1911GC page37: "As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem's
destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin, that
they might make their escape; so He has warned the world o
f the day of final destruction and has given them tokens of it
s approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to com
e."

There are many more examples such as Patriarchs and Proph

ets stating that Satan didn't repent while the 1858 GC says h
e did; the 1858 GC saying that Christ's ministry in the Sanctu
ary will all be completed before he comes back the second ti
me, while the 1911 GC has part of that ministry being done a
fter the saints have all been taken to heaven (p.658!?!?!) etc.
etc.

I know people who have lost all confidence in the Testimonie

s because of inconsistencies in them. They are not "seeming
" inconsistencies, but real, actual inconsistencies. Should we
do like someone very close to me did, and just toss all the Sp
irit of Prophecy out the window? Or should we carefully exa
mine them in the power of the Holy Spirit, and return to the
original straight truth?
May God help his people to stand in the day that is soon to t
ake the whole world by surprise. A never-ending pure river o
f water of life is awaiting us (^-^).