By John Stanton

No Fixed Creed

“Now what is our position as a people? The Bible is our
creed. We reject everything in the form of a human
creed. We take the Bible and the gifts of the Spirit;
embracing the faith that thus the Lord will teach us
from time to time. And in this we take a position
against the formation of a creed.”
James White, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,
October 8, 1861, vol. 18, 149
 No Fixed Creed

“Thus early in the experience of the emerging church,
light new to herself and others, yet in full harmony
with the Scriptures, was given by the Lord through His
chosen messenger. The pioneers were conscious of this;
a decade and a half later, when organizing the church,
they refrained from the adoption of a creed, which
could stand in the way of God giving new light through
the visions.”
Arthur White, Ellen G. White, Vol. 1
- The Early Years: 1827-1862, 100
 Time-Tested Truths

“The Word of the Lord has guided our steps since the
passing of the time in 1844. We have searched the
Scriptures; we have built solidly; and we have not had
to tear up our foundations and put in new timbers.”
Letter 24, to Elder A. G. Daniells, February 4, 1907
 Is it a Catholic Doctrine?

One of the objections to the Trinity is that it is a Catholic
doctrine. This is one of the reasons why we often use the
term Godhead (Acts 17:29; Colossians 2:9) to describe the
teaching rather than Trinity. That being said, history
shows that the Council of Nicaea was summoned by
Emperor Constantine to deal with the Arian controversy.
Of the 318 bishops that attended, only eight came from
the West. The others were from the East where the …
 Is it a Catholic Doctrine?

bishop of Rome had very little influence over churches.
One must ignore these facts to conclude that the first
official dogma on the Trinity that came out of that
council was Catholic. There are also significant
differences between the Catholic version of the Trinity
and the Seventh-day Adventist understanding. Two
such examples are the Eternal Generation (implying a
subordinate unequal relationship whereby the Father
continually generates the substance of the Godhead to
the Son) …
 Is it a Catholic Doctrine?

and Divine Impassibility (God is ever above humanity,
not with us; He is incapable of emotional change and
remains unaffected by the fall of human creation), both
influences from Greek dualism. It is important to
recognize that our view of the Trinity developed over
many years of diligent Bible study and forthright
discussion amongst leading church scholars. What we
find in every objection raised today is a recapitulation
of old arguments that have long since been answered.
 Multitude of Counselors

“There are a thousand temptations in disguise prepared
for those who have the light of truth; and the only
safety for any of us is in receiving no new doctrine, no
new interpretation of the Scriptures, without first
submitting it to brethren of experience. Lay it before
them in a humble, teachable spirit, with earnest prayer;
and if they see no light in it, yield to their judgment; for
‘in the multitude of counselors there is safety.’”
Ellen G. White, Testimonies to the Church, vol. 5, 293
 Unity of Belief

“God is leading a people out from the world upon the
exalted platform of eternal truth, the commandments of
God and the faith of Jesus. He will discipline and fit up
His people. They will not be at variance, one believing
one thing and another having faith and views entirely
opposite, each moving independently of the body. …
 Unity of Belief

Through the diversity of the gifts and governments that
He has placed in the church, they will all come to the
unity of the faith. If one man takes his views of Bible
truth without regard to the opinion of his brethren, and
justifies his course, alleging that he has a right to his
own peculiar views, and then presses them upon
others, how can he be fulfilling the prayer of Christ?”
Ellen G. White, Testimonies to the Church, vol. 5, 293
 Three Main Issues

There were three main objections to the Trinity that were
raised by the early pioneers of the church:

1. Jesus had a beginning (created; begotten)

2. Jesus is inferior (unequal) to the Father having received
His divinity from Him
3. The Holy Spirit is a force or influence, not a Person
 Three Periods

Over the first 50 years of our church history, the
Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of the Godhead moved
steadily toward a Trinitarian view. We will explore the
history of its development in three periods:

1. Early views (carried over from past experiences)

2. A time of transition (from previous ideas to revealed
truth)
3. Later years
Early Views


 Doctrinal Roots

While William Miller was a Trinitarian, his partner
Joshua Himes was not. Himes, James White and Joseph
Bates all belonged to the Christian Connexion church,
which had strong anti-Trinitarian views. In the cases of
White and Bates, their prior beliefs influenced the
teachings of Sabbatarian Adventists and the early
Seventh-day Adventist church.
James White
1821 - 1881


 James White (1855)

“Here we might mention the Trinity, which does away
with the personality of God, and of his Son Jesus
Christ.”
Preach the Word, Review and Herald,
December 11, 1855, 85
 James White (1876)

By 1876, he began to soften his stance as evidenced in
the following statement from an article about the
differences of belief between Seventh-day Adventists
and other denominations:
“S. D. Adventists hold the divinity of Christ so nearly
with the Trinitarians, that we apprehend no trial here.”
The Two Bodies, Review and Herald, Oct 12, 1876
 James White (1877)

White finally reached a position of agreement that Jesus
was equal with the Father:
“The inexplicable trinity that makes the godhead three
in one and one in three, is bad enough; but the ultra
Unitarianism that makes Christ inferior to the Father is
worse.”
Christ Equal with God, Review and Herald,
November 29, 1877, 72
Joseph Bates
1792 - 1872


 Joseph Bates (1868)

“Respecting the trinity, I concluded that it was an
impossibility for me to believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of the Father, was also the Almighty
God.”
The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates,
Battle Creek, Michigan, 1868, 205
John N. Andrews
1829 - 1883


 J. N. Andrews (1855)

“The doctrine of the Trinity which was established in
the church by the council of Nice, A. D. 325. This
doctrine destroys the personality of God, and his Son
Jesus Christ our Lord. The infamous, measures by
which it was forced upon the church which appear
upon the pages of ecclesiastical history might well
cause every believer in that doctrine to blush.”
Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,
March 6, 1855, vol. 6, no. 24, 185
John N. Loughborough
1832 - 1924


 J. N. Loughborough (1861)

Loughborough saw the Trinity doctrine as an extension
of pagan Tri-theism:
“There are many objections which we might urge, but
on account of our limited space we shall reduce them to
the three following: 1. It is contrary to common sense.
2. It is contrary to scripture. 3. Its origin is Pagan and
fabulous.”
November 5, 1861, Advent Review and
Sabbath Herald, vol. 18, 184
Uriah Smith
1832 - 1903


 Uriah Smith (1865)

Early on, Uriah Smith believed that Jesus was a created
being:
Jesus was “the first created being, dating his existence
far back before any other created being or thing, next to
the self-existent and eternal God.”
Thoughts, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Revelation,
First Edition, Battle Creek, Michigan, 59
 Uriah Smith (1875)

By 1875, Smith changed his view from Jesus as a
created being to Jesus as begotten, yet still with the idea
that He originated after the Father:
“In either case the Father must have had a prior
existence.”
Thoughts, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Revelation,
Second Edition, Battle Creek, Michigan, 59
A Time of Transition

 Jesus


From Created of the Father to
Eternal Deity
 Main Issues

There were three main topics of discussion during the
transition of thought about the Person of Jesus:
1. Origin of existence
2. Equality (with the Father)
3. Deity (original or inherited)
 Begotten

“During the nineteenth century there was a progression
of understanding on the deity of Christ. By about 1880
the idea of Christ as a created being faded away and the
concept of a ‘begotten’ divine Son of God became the
standard position. Christ was described as the Creator
with the Father.”
Development of Seventh-day Adventist Theology,
Merlin D. Burt, 2013, 197
 Begotten

“Early Adventists strove to be true to Scripture. When
they read ‘first-born of every creature’ they took it at
face value. Other Bible phrases like ‘only begotten Son
of God’ also were understood on a literal English level.”
Development of Seventh-day Adventist Theology,
Merlin D. Burt, 2013, 197
 Begotten

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared
Him.” (John 1:18)
 Begotten

Begotten does not mean “birthed” or “created” as many
have supposed. The Greek word monogenes has less to
do with being born and more to do with the uniqueness
of being the “only one of a kind.” It is used in the Bible
and in extra-biblical Greek literature to describe an only
child of a family or to one having the exclusive position
of being firstborn. Concerning the Messiah, Jesus is the
“one of a kind” and “only one” sent into the world by
the Father to save mankind. …
 Begotten

He was sent into the world as the second Adam, the
preeminent Ruler and Head over all mankind, having
taken his place. Any biblical reference to Jesus as
firstborn pertains to the Father’s gift of His Son as the
first and only One sent into the world in the likeness
(not sameness) of men. It has nothing to do with being
born into a heavenly existence the same as we are born
into an earthly existence.
 Begotten

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over
all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that
are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers. All things were created
through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all
things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the
head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have
the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:15–18)
 Begotten

“For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are
My Son, today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will
be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son’? 6 But
when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He
says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.‘”
(Hebrews 1:5–6)
“… Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from
the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.”
(Revelation 1:5)
 New Emphasis (Post 1888)

Following the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference
Session, there was a renewed emphasis on the doctrine
of salvation and righteousness by faith. Along with it
came the desire for a better understanding of the
Godhead, especially the nature of Jesus and the
personhood of the Holy Spirit.
Ellet J. Waggoner
1855 - 1916


 E. J. Waggoner (1890)

“There was a time when Christ proceeded forth and
came from God, from the bosom of the Father (John
8:42, 1:18), but that time was so far back in the days of
eternity that to finite comprehension it was practically
without beginning.”
Christ and His Righteousness, 1890, 21
Alonzo T. Jones
1850 - 1923


 A. T. Jones (1895)

Jones was among the first to argue in Adventist
literature for the eternal nature of Jesus:
“The eternal Word consented to be made flesh. God
became man.”
The Third Angel’s Message Number 17,
General Conference Bulletin, February 25, 1895, 332
Two days later:
“Were it looked upon, as many do look upon it, that the
sacrifice of Christ was for only thirty-three years …
 A. T. Jones (1895)

and then He died the death on the cross and went back
into eternity in all respects as He was before, men
might argue that in view of eternity before and eternity
after, thirty-three years is not such an infinite sacrifice
after all. But when we consider that He sank His nature
in our human nature to all eternity, that is a sacrifice.”
The Third Angel’s Message Number 17,
General Conference Bulletin, February 27, 1895, 382
 A. T. Jones (1899)

A few years later he used language very similar to our
teaching today:
“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.”
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, January 10, 1899, 24
 Uriah Smith (1898)

Uriah Smith also continued to move toward the belief
in the eternal nature of Jesus and His complete equality
with the Father:
“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.” …
“This Son was in the likeness of the Father, and was
equal with the Father.”
Looking Unto Jesus, 1898, 10
William W. Prescott
1855 - 1944


 W. W. Prescott (1896)

Initially, W. W. Prescott used language in agreement
with Jesus having a moment of origin:
“As Christ was twice born, – once in eternity, the only
begotten of the Father, and again here in the flesh, thus
uniting the divine with the human in that second
birth…”
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, April 14, 1896, 232
 W. W. Prescott (1919)

But later his view of eternity changed. In response to an
objection by L. L. Caviness regarding the equality of
Christ to the Father, Prescott raised the following
important question:
“Can we believe in the Deity of Christ without
believing in the eternity of Christ?”
The Person of Christ presentation at the 1919 Bible Conference
 W. W. Prescott (1919)

In response to Prescott’s question, one participant at the
conference answered, “I have done so for years.” To
this Prescott made the following statement:
“That is my very point – that we have used terms in
that accommodating sense that are not really in
harmony with Scriptural teaching. We believed a long
time that Christ was a created being, In spite of what
the Scripture says. I say this, that passing over the
experience I have passed over myself in this matter –
 W. W. Prescott (1919)

this accommodating use of terms which makes the
Deity without eternity, is not my conception now of the
gospel of Christ. I think it falls short of the whole idea
expressed in the Scriptures, and leaves us not with the
kind of Savior I believe in now, but a sort of human
view – a semi-human being. As I view it, the deity
involves eternity. The very expression involves it. You
cannot read the Scripture and have the idea of deity
without eternity.”
1919 Bible Conference Transcripts, July 6, 1919, 58
 Changing Views

“As we can see, our pioneers were not locked into one
particular interpretation. When new understanding
came, they changed their views even though at times it
took a long time. Furthermore, we must note that some
of their views as to what was involved in the Trinity
were erroneous, e.g., they thought the Trinity was three
persons in one person, or that Jesus and the Father were
one and the same. Another misconception was the idea
that the Trinity teaches the existence of three Gods. …
 Changing Views

Many also held the view that belief in the Trinity would
diminish the value of the atonement, i.e., if Christ was
the self- existing God, he could not have died on
Calvary. If only his humanity died, then his sacrifice
was only a human sacrifice. These misunderstandings
contributed to the rejection of the Trinity.”
The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Adventists, Gerhard Pfandl,
Biblical Research Institute, 1999
Ellen G. White
1827 - 1915


 Ellen White (1878)

One of the first statements on the eternal nature of Jesus
was from Ellen White in 1878:
“The unworthiness, weakness, and inefficiency of their
[ministers of the gospel] own efforts in contrast with
those of the eternal Son of God, will render them
humble, distrustful of self, and will lead them to rely
upon Christ for strength and efficiency in their work.”
An Appeal to Ministers, Review and Herald, April 8, 1878, 49
 Ellen White (1893)

“The Jews had never before heard such words from
human lips, and a convicting influence attended them;
for it seemed that divinity flashed through humanity as
Jesus said, ‘I and My Father are One.’ 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.”
Signs of the Times, November 27, 1893
 Ellen White (1897)

“He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. …
He is the eternal, self-existent Son.”
Manuscript 101, 1897
 Ellen White (1897)

Probably her most definitive statements on the nature
of Jesus appears in the book, Desire of Ages. First she
quotes Jesus’ answer to the Jews, “Most assuredly, I say
to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58) Then
she elaborates further:
“Silence fell upon the vast assembly. The name of God,
given to Moses to express the idea of the eternal
presence, had been claimed as His own by this Galilean
Rabbi. …
 Ellen White (1897)

He announced Himself to be the self-existent One, He
who had been promised to Israel, “whose goings forth
have been from of old, from the days of eternity.”
The Desire of Ages, 469

Then, in the chapter, Lazarus, Come Forth, she wrote:

“In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived.”
Ibid., 530
 Ellen White (1900)

“Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent 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.”
Signs of the Times, August 29, 1900
 Ellen White (1906)

“The world was made by Him, ‘and without him was
not any thing made that was made’ (John 1:3). 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, God
over all, blessed forevermore.”
The Review and Herald, April 5, 1906
 The Godhead


A Shift from Anti-Trinitarian
to Trinitarian View
 Ellen White (1900)

“The work is laid out before every soul that has
acknowledged his faith in Jesus Christ by baptism, and
has become a receiver of the pledge from the three
persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
Manuscript 57, 1900
 Ellen White (1901)

Here is one of Ellen White’s first statements on what
she refers to as the “three great powers”:
“As at our baptism we pledged ourselves to him, and
received the ordinance in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, these three great powers
of heaven pledged themselves to work in our behalf,
not only to begin, but to finish our faith.” [italics supplied]
General Conference Bulletin, April 14, 1901
 Ellen White (1905)

“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.’ …
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. …
 Ellen White (1905)

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.”
Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, 62-63
 Holy Spirit

Power or Person?
 A Mystery

“The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men
cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it
to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together
passages of Scripture and put a human construction on
them, but the acceptance of these views will not
strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries,
which are too deep for human understanding, silence is
golden. ”
Acts of the Apostles, 52
 Uriah Smith (1878)

“It is something which is common to the Father and the
Son: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ. It is
something to which the expressions, ‘poured out,’ ‘shed
abroad,’ ‘descended,’ etc., are applied. It was breathed
by Christ upon his disciples. John 20:22. It was an agent
in the creation of the world. Genesis 1:2. … In a word it
may, perhaps, best be described as a mysterious
influence emanating from the Father and the Son, their
representative and the medium of their power.”
The Biblical Institute, 1878, 184
 Uriah Smith (1890)

“But respecting this Spirit, the Bible uses expressions
which cannot be harmonized with the idea that it is a
person like the Father and the Son. Rather it is shown to
be a divine influence from them both, the medium
which represents their presence and by which they
have knowledge and power through all the universe,
when not personally present.”
Review and Herald, October 28, 1890
(in response to a reader’s question)
Joseph H. Waggoner
1820 - 1889


 J. H. Waggoner (1877)

“We are not only willing but anxious to leave it just
where the word of God leaves it. From it we learn that
the Spirit of God is that awful and mysterious power
which proceeds from the throne of the universe, and
which is the efficient actor of the work of creation and
of redemption.”
The Spirit of God, 1877, 9
Dudley M. Canright
1840 - 1919


 D. M. Canright (1878)

“All trinitarian creeds make the Holy Ghost a person,
equal in substance, power and eternity, and glory with
the Father and the Son. Thus they claim three persons
in the trinity, each one equal with both the others. If
this be so, then the Holy Spirit is just as truly an
individual, intelligent person as is the Father or the Son.
But this we cannot believe. The Holy Spirit is not a
person.” …
 D. M. Canright (1878)

“The truth is evident. The Holy Spirit is not a person,
not an individual, but is an influence or power
proceeding from the Godhead.”
The Holy Spirit, Signs of the Times, July 25, 1878
 Changing Views

Early on, Seventh-day Adventists resisted the view that
the Holy Spirit was a distinct personality. Much of the
literature published referred to “it” rather than “He.”
By viewing the Holy Spirit as a power or influence, it
allowed God – both Father and Son – to be
omnipresent. But in the 1890s, a transition from this
view to the personhood of the Holy Spirit began. Ellen
White wrote several definitive statements on the topic,
which helped lead to a corresponding change of belief
amongst church leaders and scholars.
 Changing Views

“There is no excuse for any one in taking the position
that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all
our expositions of Scriptures are without an error. The
fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for
many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas
are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and
truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose
anything by close investigation.”
Ellen G. White, Christ Our Hope, Review and Herald, December 20, 1892
 R. A. Underwood (1898)

One of the earliest articles on the personhood of the
Holy Spirit was from R. A. Underwood:
“The Holy Spirit is Christ’s personal representative in
the field; and he is charged with the work of meeting
Satan, and defeating this personal enemy of God and
his government. It seems strange to me, now, that I ever
believed that the Holy Spirit was only an influence, in
view of the work he does.”
The Holy Spirit a Person, Review and Herald, May 17, 1898, 310
 A. T. Jones (1907)

“The Holy Spirit is not an influence; nor an impression,
nor peace, nor joy, nor any thing. The Holy Spirit gives
peace, and gives joy, assuages in grief, makes an
impression, exerts an influence.” …
“The Holy Spirit is a Person, eternally a divine Person.
And he must be always recognized and spoken of as a
Person, or he is not truly recognized or spoken of at
all.”
The Medical Missionary, Vol. 16, March 27, 1907, 98
Stephen N. Haskell
1833 - 1922


 Stephen N. Haskell (1899)

While Haskell struggled with the eternal nature and
equality of Jesus to the Father, he wrote the following
concerning the Holy Spirit as a representative of God:
“What is said of God may also be said of the Holy
Spirit; for the Holy Spirit represents God.”
The Review and Herald, vol. 76, November 28, 1899
 Ellen White (1884)

One of the first clear statements by Ellen White on the
Holy Spirit’s role appeared in 1884:
“The Holy Spirit exalts and glorifies the Saviour. It is
his office to present Christ.”[italics supplied]
Signs of the Times, April 3, 1884
 Ellen White (1893)

In the early 1890s, Ellen White began to write regularly
on the personhood of the Holy Spirit:
“The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, in Christ’s name. He
personifies Christ, yet is a distinct personality.”
Privileges and Responsibilities of Christians;
Depend on Holy Spirit, Not Self, Manuscript 93, 1893
 Ellen White (1896)

“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.”*
Holy Spirit Versus Selfishness. The Danger of Rejecting Light,
February 6, 1896, Special Testimonies for Ministers and Workers – no. 10

*She later published essentially the same statement in Desire of Ages, 671.
 Ellen White (1898)

“He determined to give His representative, the third
person of the Godhead.”
Signs of the Times, December 1, 1898
 Ellen White (1899)

“We have been brought together as a school, and we
need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a
person as God is a person, is walking through these
grounds, that the Lord God is our keeper, and helper.
He hears every word we utter and knows every
thought of the mind.”
Manuscript 66, 1899, 9
 Ellen White (1906)

“The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not
bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we
are the children of God. He must also be a divine
person, else He could not search out the secrets which
lie hidden in the mind of God. ‘For what man knoweth
the things of a man save the spirit of man, which is in
him; even so the things of God knoweth no man, but
the Spirit of God.’”
Manuscript 20, 1906
 Answering the Critics

Ellen White’s clear statements on the Trinity provide a
significant challenge to those who believe in her
prophetic gift but remain steadfastly anti-Trinitarian.
Some have even questioned whether or not she actually
wrote some of her statements on the subject. One such
person was M. L. Andreasen.
 M. L. Andreasen
1876 - 1962


He was quoted as saying,
“I remember how astonished we were when Desire of
Ages was first published, for it contained some things
that we believed were unbelievable; among other things
the doctrine of the trinity which was not generally
accepted by Adventists then.”
In 1909, he spent three months at Elmshaven talking
with her to gain clarity on her statements. He wrote
about that experience:
 M. L. Andreasen
1876 - 1962


“In her own handwriting I saw the statements which I
was sure she had not written – could not have written.
Especially was I struck with the now familiar quotation
in Desire of Ages, page 530: ‘In Christ is life, original,
unborrowed, underived.’ This statement at that time
was revolutionary and compelled a complete revision
of my former view – and that of the denomination – on
the deity of Christ.”
Testimony of M. L. Andreasen, Oct. 15, 1953
 Answering the Critics

There are currently at least four original hand-written
drafts available at the White Estate along with other
drafts in typed form with her notations added. She
approved these typed drafts before publishing with the
handwritten note: “I have read this carefully and accept
it.” The handwriting has also been verified as her own
by handwriting experts for those who still refuse to
accept her definitive support of the trinity doctrine as
we know it today.
Later Years


 A Fundamental Belief

L. E. Froom wrote about the challenges of the changing
views in the early twentieth century on the nature of
Jesus and the personhood of the Spirit:
“Certain of these historic variances of view still
persisted. And chiefly because of these differences, no
Statement of Faith or Fundamental Belief had appeared
in the annual Yearbook.”
LeRoy E. Froom, Movement of Destiny, 1971, 413
 A Fundamental Belief

This all changed with the 1931 publication of the Year
Book. Here is how the first published statement read:

“That the Godhead, or Trinity, consists of the Eternal

Father, a personal, spiritual Being, omnipotent,
omnipresent, omniscient, infinite in wisdom and love;
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father,
through whom all things were created and through
whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be …
 A Fundamental Belief

accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the
Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of
redemption.”
1931 Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination,
prepared by H. E. Rogers, 1931, 377
 A Fundamental Belief

Here is Fundamental Belief No. 2 as it reads today:

“There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity

of three co-eternal Persons. God is immortal, all-
powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He
is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet
known through His self-revelation. He is forever worthy
of worship, adoration, and service by the whole
creation.”
 A Fundamental Belief

By the 1940s, M. L. Andreasen and F. M. Wilcox were
among the strongest proponents of the church’s view of
the Trinity. This essentially remains the current view
held by Seventh-day Adventists today. Not only is our
belief today a view in harmony with the clear and
unambiguous statements by Ellen White, it is the only
position that can be derived by “rightly dividing the
word of truth.” (2Timothy 2:15)
Questions

By John Stanton