A few pages further in the book, in the chapter 'Lazarus, Come Forth' she repeats her statement from 1897, "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived."23 These statements clearly describe Christ as God in the highest sense. He is not derived from the Father as most Adventists up to that time believed, nor has divinity been bestowed upon him. He is the self-existent One, equal to the Father in every respect. In fact Ellen White had said that much already in 1897, "He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent ... He is the eternal selfexisting Son."24
In spite of these clear statements from the pen of Ellen White, it took many years before this truth was accepted by the church at large. Not only did Uriah Smith, editor of the Review and Herald, believe until his death in 1903 that Christ had a beginning, but during the first decades of this century there were many who held on to the view that in some way Christ came forth from the Father, i.e., he had a beginning, and was therefore inferior to Him.
During the 1919 Bible Conference, for example, Elder W. W. Prescott made a presentation on 'The Person of Christ.' In the ensuing discussion the question of the Trinity was raised. L. L. Caviness voiced his concern and said, "I cannot believe that the two persons of the Godhead are equal, the Father and the Son, that one is the Father and the other the Son, and that they might be just as well the other way round.... In praying he [Christ] said it was his wish that the disciples might see the glory which he had with the Father, and which the Father had given him. It was not something he had all through eternity, but the Father had some time given to him the glory of God. He is divine, but he is the divine Son. I cannot explain further than that, but I cannot believe the so called Trinitarian doctrine of the three persons always existing." 25
Elder Prescott then raised the question, "Can we believe in the Deity of Christ without believing in the eternity of Christ?"26 Some of those present said, "yes." W. T. Knox suggested that Christ was the eternal Son in the same sense that Levi was in the loins of Abraham. He said, "There came a time in a way we cannot comprehend nor the time that we cannot comprehend, when by Gods mysterious operation the Son sprung from the bosom of his Father and had a separate existence .... "27
This discussion indicates that twenty years after Ellen White's clear statement on the eternal divinity of Christ and his absolute equality with the Father, many in the church still held on to the idea that Christ, although divine, had a beginning.
In 1930 church administrators in Africa requested that the General Conference include a statement in the Yearbook of what Seventh-day Adventists believe. "Such a statement," they said, "would help government officials and others to a better understanding of our work."28
A committee of four (M. E. Kern, E. R. Palmer, C. H. Watson, F. M. Wilcox) was appointed to draft such a statement. They produced a 22 point statement which in 1931 was printed in the Adventist Yearbook. Fundamental Beliefs three and four stated:
"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 accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of redemption.
Matt. 28:19.
That Jesus Christ is very God, being of the same nature and essence as the Eternal Father. While retaining His divine nature He took upon Himself the nature of the human family, lived on the earth as a man, exemplified in His life as our Example the principles of righteousness, attested His relationship to God by many mighty miracles, died for our sins on the cross, was raised from the dead, and ascended to the Father where He ever lives to make intercession for us.
John 1:1,
14;
Heb. 2:9-18;
8:1,
2;
4:14-16;
7:25.
29"
These statements fully expressed the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Christ is described as "very God", self-existent and eternal, and the Holy Spirit is identified as the third person of the Godhead.
...Ellen White in 1897 and 1898 taught that in Christ "was life, original, unborrowed, underived."43 This can only be true if he was God in the highest sense and did not derive his existence from the Father. In regard to the Holy Spirit she told the students at Avondale College in 1899, "We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds."44
In the context of the Kellogg crisis, Ellen White in 1905 wrote a warning to our workers connected with the medical work in which she unambiguously endorsed the Trinity doctrine. "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 manifest.... 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 Savior. 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."45
Only someone who believed the Trinity doctrine would speak of 'three living persons in the heavenly trio.' Anti-Trinitarians would not use such language. Furthermore, her bold statements on the Trinity took many by surprise. M. L. Andreasen recounts, "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."46
During 1909 Andreasen spent three months at Elmshaven where he was able to look at her handwritten manuscripts. He wrote, "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."47
This clearly took place long before Ellen White's death. Thus, the charge that only after Ellen G. White's death was the Trinity doctrine introduced into the church cannot be sustained.
.....
10 A similar statement is found as late as 1904. At that time she wrote, "God is the Father of Christ; Christ is the Son of God. To Christ had been given an exalted position. He has been made equal with the Father. All the counsels of God are opened to His Son" (Testimonies to the Church, 8:268). This statement appears immediately following a quote from
Hebrews 1:1-5, where reference is made to the fact that
Christ after his ascension is "appointed heir of all things" and is "being made so much better than the angels." Her statement in this
context can be seen as an elaboration of the text in Hebrews which refers to Christ after his ascension.
11 Patriarchs and Prophets, 37.
12 Ibid, 38.
13 Another case of increasing light leading to a clearer understanding are her statements on the eating of pork. In 1858 she wrote, 'If God requires His people to abstain from Swine's flesh, He will convict them on the matter' (1T 207). At that time most Adventists ate pork. After
receiving more light on the subject, she wrote in 1868, 'You know that the use of Swine's flesh is contrary to His express command, given
not because He wished to especially show His authority, but because it would be injurious to those who should eat it.' (CD 392).
14 Fundamentals of Education, 536; Counsels To Parents, Teachers, and Students, 13; Letter 64, 1909 (Mind, Character, and Personality,
1:352).
15 Selected Messages, 1:247.
20 Signs of the Times, April 8, 1897.
21 Quoted in Selected Messages, 1:296.
22 The Desire of Ages, 469-470.
23 Ibid., 530.
24 Manuscript 101, 1897; Manuscript Release, 12:395.
25 1919 Bible Conference Transcripts, July 6, 1919, 57.
26 Ibid., 62.
27 Ibid., 64.
