Many people speak loosely of the ‘omega of apostasy’ without realizing that the term ‘omega’ was used by Ellen G. White in relation to a particular change of doctrine that would be embraced within the church on account of which the earlier foundation would be rejected.  The following statements speak for themselves.

FOUNDATIONS OF SDA FAITH – LET THE PROPHET SPEAK

“Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, Elder Hiram Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure… When they came to the point in their study where they said, ‘We can do nothing more,’ the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me.” (Ellen G. White, Selected Messages Vol. 1, p. 206.)

In 1904, Ellen White writes, “For the past 50 years every phase of heresy has been brought to bear upon us… Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists, to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayer, study, and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord.” (Special Testimonies, Series B #2, p. 59)

She also said in 1905: “the past fifty years have not dimmed one jot or principle of our faith as we received the great and wonderful evidences that were made certain to us in 1844, after the passing of the time. . . . Not a word is changed or denied.  That which the Holy Spirit testified to as truth after the passing of the time, in our great disappointment, is the solid foundation of truth.  Pillars of truth were revealed, and we accepted the foundation principles that have made us what we are – Seventh-day Adventists, keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Jesus.” – Ellen G. White, Special Testimonies Series B, – 57, Sanitarium, Cal., Dec. 4, 1905.

SCHEME TO CHANGE THE FAITH

“In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given.  (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, pp. 49, 50)  {1SM 200.2}19

“”Living Temple” contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. I knew that I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God.” (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, p53)  {1SM 203}20

“The spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy.” (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, p53)  {1SM 203} 21

“In a vision of the night I was shown distinctly that these sentiments have been looked upon by some as the grand truths that are to be brought in and made prominent at the present time. I was shown a platform, braced by solid timbers,– the truths of the Word of God. Some one high in responsibility in the medical work was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting this platform. Then I heard a voice saying, “Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Masterworker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come to take decided action.

The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced.”  (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, pp 54, 55)  {1SM 204}22

These statements were made around the year 1904.  Therefore, the points of truth to which reference has been made (“the last fifty years”) would largely have been those that were held within the period 1854 to 1904 and articulated in the statements of faith of 1874, 1889 and 1894.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING

1. When people were being warned not to engage in any controversy concerning the presence and personality of God, considering the error that was seeking to intrude, what was then the accepted belief in the church concerning the nature and personality of God? Was it a Trinitarian view?  The answer is no.  Therefore, she was not urging that the then accepted position be changed.  Quite the opposite, she was cautioning against an attempt to change it.
2. The “alpha of deadly heresies” was being resisted and it had to do with the presence and personality of God. She said, “the omega would follow in a little while” and “will be received”.  What doctrine, that had to do with the presence and personality of God, was “received” by the church “in a little while” after the statement was made in 1904?  There is only one doctrine that fits the description – the Trinity doctrine.  In 1931, after the prophet had died, the first Trinitarian statement of faith was published by the Seventh-day Adventist Church (1931Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination (Washington, D.C.: R&H 1931, p. 377), 23 which marked a distinct shift from all others that were previously published.
3. She further indicated what would be the result of the acceptance of that particular heresy: “The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error” ; “A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced” ; people would “deny the past experience of the people of God” and this would result in “giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith”. Which other doctrine but the Trinity doctrine fits the description?  The acceptance of the Trinity is the only major change of doctrine that has occurred within the Seventh-day Adventist church since the pioneers fell asleep.  Other changes have taken place, but not on a scale such that a doctrine which the pioneers actively campaigned against, as a pagan and papal heresy, becomes accepted as truth, and on account of which the pioneers are being discredited. So significant is the change that George Knight, Andrews University Seminary Professor said: “Most of the founders of Seventh-day Adventism would not be able to join the church today if they had to subscribe to the denomination’s Fundamental Beliefs.  More specifically, most would not be able to agree to belief number 2, which deals with the doctrine of the trinity.” (Ministry, October 1993, p. 10)
4. “The Fundamental Principles of Seventh Day Adventists”, as upheld by the SDA Pioneers, was presented in the 1889 Yearbook of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1889.pdf). This reflects the defining Statement of Beliefs of the Seventh Day Adventist Church from 1888 to 1930. These beliefs reflect what Ellen White, James White and the Seventh-day Adventist Church as an organization advocated and believed up until 1930, 15 years after the death of Ellen White.  In the 1889 Yearbook, E. G. White is even listed as one of the Ministers along with several other notable pioneers. Some of them, such as James White, Joseph Bates and J. N. Andrews had already passed off the scene.
5. There was no formal declaration that whereas the church previously held a non-trinitarian position it was now adopting the Trinity as official belief. This was not formally done until 1980 when the 27 Fundamental Beliefs were adopted en bloc without any focussed discussion on whether the church should change its belief.

HIERARCHY IN HEAVEN – A DIRECT REVELATION

It is clear, from the report of the vision, as given by Ellen G. White that there was a hierarchy in heaven in which God, the Father was supreme and regarded as the Sovereign, His Son, Jesus Christ was next and then Lucifer was third.  Lucifer was a created being while Jesus Christ was Divine, being of the same nature as God, the Father.  One might query whether the omission of any mention of a third divine being necessarily precludes the existence of such a person.  In this case, it is more than mere omission that is evident in the report, it is a definite exclusion.  When Christ, for example is referred to as the “only being” that could enter into the counsels and purposes of God, there is a definite exclusion of any other being.

In other places where the same vision was reported, the idea is the same, for example, in the Story of Redemption it is reported as follows:

“Lucifer in heaven, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son…. Christ, God’s dear Son, had the pre­eminence over all the angelic host. He was one with the Father before the angels were created.  Lucifer was envious of Christ, and gradually assumed command which devolved on Christ alone.

The great Creator assembled the heavenly host, that He might in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon His Son…. The Father then made known that it was ordained by Himself that Christ His Son, should be equal with Himself; so that wherever was the presence of His Son, it was as His own presence. The word of the Son was to be obeyed as readily as the word of the Father. His Son He had invested with authority to command the heavenly host.” (Ellen G. White, the Story of Redemption, p.13.)

NEW BELIEF IN THE TRINITY REJECTS THE MOST NOTABLE PIONEERS

The SDA church has since embraced the Trinity, citing statements by Ellen G. White concerning a three-person Godhead as a primary basis for doing so.  In that view, the Father is not inherently the Supreme Being; He is simply a co-equal among three Persons.  The representation of the Father as Supreme, by that view, should only be understood as an arrangement based on assumed roles.  Jesus is represented as Sovereign who obeys no one.  And the Holy Spirit is represented as a co-equal Divine Being who is as much entitled to be worshipped as the Father Himself. That perspective is contrary to Scripture and contrary to direct revelations in the Spirit of Prophecy.  The question is now being asked, where is the vision to back up the change?  Further, by what authority has a view of God, that was backed up by vision given more than once, been changed to a concept that was once labelled as pagan and unscriptural by the founders of a movement that God raised up, as attested to by prophecy (Dan. 8:14)?

There is nowhere in the Bible that says God is three-in-one or triune.  This concept is at best an assumption, yet it is stated in most church creeds as a required belief, even while many of the churches claim sola scriptura – the Bible, and the Bible alone.  Where did that belief come from?  – From Paganism, and brought into Christianity by Rome through a series of deliberations starting at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.  The Jews had no such concept of God but the pagans around them did.  The early Apostles had no such concept, but the pagans around them did.  The early Adventist pioneers had no such concept but the churches around them did.

Historic Seventh-day Adventism rejected the Trinity as being unscriptural and pagan in origin.  A sample of the view that was taken by the historic Seventh-day Adventists is seen in the following answer that was given in a Review article by J. N. Loughborough to the question, “What serious objection is there to the doctrine of the Trinity?”  The answer was:

“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.” (J. N. Loughborough, Review and Herald, Nov. 5, 1861).

Other pioneers spoke similarly, as follows:

“The greatest fault we find in the Reformation is, the Reformers stopped reforming.  Had they gone on, and onward, till they had left the last vestige of Papacy behind, such as natural immortality, sprinkling, the trinity, and Sunday-keeping, the church would now be free from her unscriptural errors.” (James White, Review & Herald, Feb. 7, 1856).

“The doctrine of the Trinity was established in the church by the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325.  This doctrine destroys the personality of God, and his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (J. N. Andrews, Review & Herald, March 6, 1855).

Some scholars today question the scholastic acumen of the early pioneers.  But I would challenge them to show me a scholar today who was as gifted as J. N. Andrews, who also clearly rejected the Trinity.  James White was not only the husband of the prophet Ellen G. White, but the one who above all others could have been viewed as “the Apostle Paul” of early Seventh-day Adventism.  Ellen G. White herself never once used that expression to describe God; and she remained a faithful member of the church during her entire lifetime during which the SDA Church held a non-trinitarian view of God, as was upheld by the other SDA Pioneers and as was reflected in “The Fundamental Principles of Seventh Day Adventists”, published in the 1889 Yearbook of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

ROMAN EDICT TO PERSECUTE THOSE WHO REJECT THE TRINITY

In contrast to the Jews, the early Apostles and the Seventh-day Adventist Pioneers who did not hold a Trinity concept of God, the Roman emperors, who had a tradition of persecuting Christians, made the Trinity their basis for continuing to persecute God’s people. These pagan emperors, who claimed to have accepted Christianity, showed their lack of conversion by continuing to persecute those who did not accept the form of Christianity that they claimed to have embraced. The form of Christianity that they embraced was identified by belief in the Trinity – and this they made a standard requirement for all who fell within their dominion. As declared in the Edict of Thessalonica, all who rejected the Trinity were to be persecuted; and history bears record of the fact that faithful Christians were driven into the wilderness and into the desolate parts of the world, fleeing from persecution, because they refused to accept the Trinity.

The Edict of Thessalonica was issued in 380 AD by the three reigning emperors of Rome, and gave the formal declaration that belief in the Trinity defines who is Catholic and authorized persecution of all those who did not believe in the Trinity. The Edict was as follows:

“EMPERORS GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN AND THEODOSIUS AUGUSTI. EDICT TO THE PEOPLE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict.

GIVEN IN THESSALONICA ON THE THIRD DAY FROM THE CALENDS OF MARCH, DURING THE FIFTH CONSULATE OF GRATIAN AUGUSTUS AND FIRST OF THEODOSIUS AUGUSTUS

CODEX THEODOSIANUS, XVI.1.2”

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Thessalonica, retrieved July 21, 2019).

If for no other reason, certainly the history of the Trinity doctrine, as an instrument of persecution of God’s faithful people who had to flee into the wilderness and remain there for 1260 years, as was prophesied (Rev. 12:6, 14), should be enough reason to cause any sincere Christian to reconsider whether the Trinity concept is of God. Instead, we are hearing such superficial queries as to whether everything that is practiced or believed by Rome is wrong; and whether the pioneers were beyond being in error. At the very minimum, it is hardly likely that the persecutors of God’s people would have been more enlightened to the truth about God than the people that God Himself had raised up.

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com

The Bible teaches that there are three powers in heaven: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But it did not say that together, they are the one true God, or that they are co-equal. The concept of God as a Trinity has been prevalent in pagan religions and cultures but entirely absent from the religion of ancient Israel, the apostolic religion and even the religion of Seventh-day Adventist pioneers such as James White, Joseph Bates, J. N. Andrews, J. N. Loughborough, J. H. Waggoner, and others. It is a well-established fact of history that the concept of God being a Trinity was first formulated within Christianity after the Council of Nicea (325 AD) and was gradually refined and adopted by the Council of Constantinople (381 AD).

The Seventh-day Adventist church now requires that persons wishing to become members make a vow to believe in “one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons.” whereas the Bible does not explicitly teach that. The previous vow that persons took prior to 1980 was belief in “God the Father, in His Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit”, which the Bible clearly teaches. The church has not allowed views like those of the pioneers to be expressed in the church and has disfellowshipped or sidelined those who hold similar beliefs as the pioneers on this matter.  The church then accuses those very persons whom they forced out of the church and who then operate outside of the church, of causing division or calling people out of the church.  Is that fair? Or is it a repeat of Ahab’s accusation against Elijah?

A few of the popular arguments for the Trinity are now addressed below.

1. Assertion: SDA pioneers only objected to the Catholic version of the Trinity.

Response: The pioneers of Seventh-day Adventism fully understood the doctrine of the Trinity and rejected it as error.  Later, some persons such as John Harvey Kellogg and S. N. Haskel spoke favourably of the Trinity but earlier pioneers who Ellen White described as laying the foundations of our faith consistently objected to the Trinity. There is a common definition of the Trinity that is shared by all Trinitarians, whether Catholic or otherwise, even though explained differently by various bodies.  This definition as given in the dictionary is that the one God of scripture is three co-equal persons. The SDA Church expresses its trinitarian belief that “There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons.” (SDA Fundamental Beliefs number 2).  The definition of who is Catholic, as given in the Edict of Thessalonica expresses the same idea as follows: “let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics” (Edict of Thessalonica issued 380 AD).  This definition of who is Catholic and who is heretic was used as the basis for persecuting God’s people during the dark ages and continues to define what is considered Christian orthodoxy by the World Council of Churches (WCC).  The Basis of the WCC speaks of “one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” (Basis of the WCC, adopted by the Third Assembly (New Delhi 1961).  The Bible teaches otherwise, as Jesus, in praying, stated that the one true God is His Father – “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3).

• Assertion: The Hebrew word for “one” that describes God really means “united”.

Response: The Bible says that God is one (echad).  The word echad is the first counting number in Hebrew, as with the numeral one.  In other places of the Bible God is described using similar words such as “only” (quoted above in Jesus’s prayer), “none else”, “no other”, “He”, “none like me”.  The Jews themselves, in whose language the word echad is used to describe God, understood it to mean one individual.  The one God (one supreme Being) of the Bible is Jesus’s Father – “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3:14, 15).  The Father has no co-equals. He is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Tim. 6:15, 16). There aren’t three supreme beings, only One. All other beings are subject to Him. Another word that Trinitarians appeal to is Elohim, where God (Elohim) said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26).  They assume that God (Elohim) is three persons.  The Bible does not say that.  Ellen White explains, “I saw that when God said to his SON, Let us make man in our image, Satan was jealous of JESUS.” (Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 1, pp. 17, 18).  God (the Father of Christ) was speaking to His Son only.  His Son is “the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3).  Ellen White speaks again explicitly in the following words: “The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate – a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes”. “Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father – one in nature, in character, in purpose – the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.” (E. G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34).

• Assertion: Jesus is co-equal with the Father.

Response: Jesus never claimed full equality with God, His Father, at any point in His existence – neither before He came to earth, during his time on earth, nor after.  Before He came to earth, His Father anointed and appointed Him – “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” (Heb. 1:9). See also verse 2 – “His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things” (Heb.1:2). While He was on earth, He said “my Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). After sin is finished, He will still be subject to His Father – “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:28).

• Assertion: The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father.

Response: The Bible does not speak anywhere of a third God-Being who has the image or likeness of God or “the similitude of God.” (James 3:9).  There is no denying that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, sent at Pentecost is a person – only not a God-being to be worshipped. Like the Angel of Revelation 18, the Comforter carries out a work of worldwide extent and is aided by other heavenly beings.  Ellen G. White describing the latter rain speaks of a mighty angel from heaven being sent to do this work and further said, “Angels were sent to aid the mighty angel from heaven” (Ellen. G. White, Story of Redemption, p. 399).  The language of John 14-16 speaks of someone whom Jesus would ask the Father to send.  That Person would not speak of himself but would speak only what He hears and would bring back to the minds of the disciples the things that Jesus would have told them – “he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak” (John 16:13).  The three powers of heaven are God, Christ, and holy spirits (angels).  There are many such references; for example: “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things” (1 Tim. 5:21).  These are the same ones who were present at the creation – “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? …. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).  Again, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ” (Rev.1:4, 5). These seven spirits are later described as “seven lamps of fire” (Rev. 4:5) and as “the seven angels which stood before God” (Rev. 8:2).  This is consistent with the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma that are translated in the Bible as spirit. These words are also translated spirits, thus indicating that the Holy Spirit need not be seen as one individual being who is omnipresent but many spirit beings representing God everywhere.

• Assertion: Ellen White led the church into a Trinitarian understanding of God. 

Response: Ellen White never used the term Trinity to describe God.  She spoke of three persons of the godhead, which is consistent with the view expressed here that the Holy Spirit is a person, just not someone co-equal with God or to be worshipped.  Regarding Ellen White’s statement that “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived” (Desire of Ages, p. 530), the full statement shows that it is not Jesus Himself that is being described, but rather, life – which Jesus has and is able to impart.  Here is the full statement as it was originally published in Signs of the Times: “In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived.  This life is not inherent in man.  He can possess it only through Christ.”  (The Signs of the Times, April 8, 1897; also Selected Messages, vol. 1, pp. 296, 297).  Being described is the nature and quality of this life and not the origin of it.   Original – not a pattern or copy, but something genuine, authentic.  Unborrowed – does not have to be returned.  Underived – not being drawn from a source; He has it in Himself.   How He came in possession of it?  It was given to Him by His Father. Jesus said: “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:26).

The Trinity denies the most fundamental truth of the gospel that God loved us to the point of giving His only begotten Son to die for us (John 3:16).  It was not an eternal God who cannot die, but the literal Son of God who did die and was raised from the dead by His Father (Gal.1:1).

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15).

For further information, please visit Patience of the Saints at http://thecommandmentsofgodandthefaithofjesus.com/

Questions and comments may be sent by e-mail to: commandmentsofgodandfaithofjesus@yahoo.com