THE DOCTRINE OF THE
TRINITY IN THE SEVENTHDAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
.
Bible Conference, 2015
Gil Valentine
Pioneers and Anti-Trinitarian
Beginnings
Connectionist Roots

Trinity was “unscriptural”
 Believed
in “one living and true God, . . .
who is un-originated, independent, and
eternal”. Christ was not.
 Holy
Spirit - “the power and energy of
God . . . holy influence”
Joshua V. Himes,
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1835) 363
Sabbatarian Anti-Trinitarians
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James White
Joseph Bates
J.N. Andrews
M.E. Cornell
J.H. Waggoner
J.N. Loughborough

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Uriah Smith
A.C. Bourdeau
D.T. Bourdeau
R.F. Cottrell
A.T. Jones
W.W. Prescott
“Did all the Fathers sin?” (A. W. Spalding
to L. E. Froom, 1947)
Sabbatarian Pioneers - I
James White




“old unscriptural trinitarian creed” (1846)
“the old trinitarian absurdity that Jesus
Christ is the very and Eternal God” (1852)
“inexplicable trinity” (1877)
16th C reformers should have continued to
reform and included Trinity in cleanup
(1856)
Sabbatarian Pioneers - 2
John N Andrews
“the Son of God . . . At some point in the
eternity of the past” had a “beginning of
days.” (1869)
 Christ’s immortality was “derived” (1874)

M E Cornell

“a fruit of the great apostasy”
Sabbatarian Pioneers - 3
Uriah Smith – semi-Arian



“first created being . . .before any
other created being” (1865)
“God alone” is “without beginning”.
(1898)
Christ appeared due to “some divine
impulse or process.” (1898)
Fundamental Beliefs (1980)

2. The Trinity
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a
unity of three co-eternal persons.

4. The Son
God the Eternal Son . . . Forever truly God . . .

5. The Holy Spirit
God the Eternal Spirit . . . He . . .
Students of the Development
Erwin Gane (1963)
 Russell Holt (1969)
 LeRoy Froom (1971)
 Merlin Burt (1996)
 Woodrow Whidden (1998)
 Jerry Moon (2003)

Ellen White
An Episcopalian Methodist
Articles of Religion 1: Of Faith in the Holy Trinity.
“There is but one living and true God . . . And in
unity of this God-head, there are three persons of
one substance, power, and eternity;—the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church in
America ~ (1798) (Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury)
Ellen White’s Difficulty
“There is but one living and true God,
everlasting, without body or parts, . . .
And in unity of this God-head, there are
three persons of one substance,
power, and eternity;— Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost.”
(Articles of Religion 1: Of Faith in the Holy Trinity).
Reasons for Rejecting Trinity


Spiritualized God too much –
made God “unreal”
How could “immortal” God die
on Cross and still be immortal?
More Reasons . . .



Thought the Trinity made the
Father and the Son identical.
Misconception that “Trinity” means
the existence of three Gods.
“Son” of God means more recent
origin for ‘Son.”
The Ambiguous Ellen White



Troubled by “without body or
parts.”
Anti-creedal.
No explicit anti- or semitrinitarian statements.
The Ambiguous Ellen White
No traditional trinitarian
expressions.
No “trinity.”
No “unity of the God-head.”
 Statements can be read
either way.

EGW Godhead Terminology



The three great powers of heaven.
Three living persons of the
heavenly trio.
Three holy dignitaries of heaven.
(Evangelism 616)
Our Question
Why and How did things
change?
In stages.
Gil’s View of the Stages
1.
Dominant Anti-T: 1846-1888
2.
A paradigm shift at the core: 1888 -1898
3.
Widening Realignments: 1898-1913/14
4.
Slow Decline of Anti-T 1913-46
5.
Dominance of Trinitarianism 1946-80
1888 - A Watershed
“A Paradigm Shift”
Jesus at the Center of
Adventist Theology
Not law!
The “Paradigm Shift”
How? Who?
When?
How ?
Ellen White?
or ?
A Story of How and Why
1888
1893
Adventist Preaching meets
Jesus
The Letters . . .
L. E. Froom & A. W. Spalding ask
H. Camden Lacey
(1945 & 1947)
Corroborated by W. W. Prescott,
A. G. Daniells & W. C. White
(1893 – 1897)
1895 Developments
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

Prescott travels to Australia.
Assignment: A year-long SS
rd
lesson series – to begin 3 Qtr
1996.
Studies Gospel of John.
1895 Developments
Prescott reads Neander
 Preaches gospel-centered sermons
in Melbourne

Apologetics and Christology
Semi-arianism offends.
SDAs perceived as “cult.”
1895 Developments

Workers Meetings - Melbourne

Study of Holy Spirit
1896 Developments



Two strands of development
converge.
Melbourne to Cooranbong
An “Institute” – March/April
1896
1896 Developments



Literary Project
Difficulties with “The Life of
Christ”
Prescott to read “critically”
Change Agents
Cooranbong 1896
Clearer Views of Jesus
“It was Christ who from the bush on Mount
Horeb spoke to Moses saying, "I AM THAT I
AM. . . . Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto
you." Ex. 3:14. This was the pledge of
Israel's deliverance. So when He came "in
the likeness of men," He declared Himself
the I AM. . . .
Clearer Views of Jesus
And to us He says: "I AM the Good
Shepherd." "I AM the living Bread." "I AM the
Way, the Truth, and the Life." "All power is
given unto Me in heaven and in earth." John
10:11; 6:51; 14:6; Matt. 28:18. I AM the
assurance of every promise. I AM; be not
afraid. "God with us" is the surety of our
deliverance from sin, the assurance of our
power to obey the law of heaven.” (DA 24.3)
Clearer Views of Jesus
“Jesus declared, "I am the
resurrection, and the life." In Christ is
life, original, unborrowed, underived.
"He that hath the Son hath life." 1 John
5:12. The divinity of Christ is the
believer's assurance of eternal life.”
(DA 530)
John Cumming
Sabbath Evening Readings on the New
Testament: St John (1854).
Cumming was minister of a Church of
Scotland congregation in Convent
Garden, London.
Published approximately 180 books
during his lifetime. One of the most
virulent anti-catholic preachers of his
day.
Clearer Views of Jesus
1898
Andrew Murray
The Spirit of Christ (1888)
Andrew Murray
“It is generally admitted in the Church
that the Holy Spirit has not the
recognition which becomes Him as
being the equal of the Father and the
Son, the Divine Person through whom
alone the Father and the Son can be
truly possessed and known . . .”
The Spirit of Christ p 20
The Spirit as “Person”

Institute Bible Studies
(March/April 1896)

“Holy Spirit in our Schools.”
EGW
first time in print uses “He”
(May 10, 1896)
Clearer Views of the Spirit
“The prince of the power of evil
can only be held in check by the
power of God in the third
person of the Godhead, the
Holy Spirit.”
Special Testimonies for Ministers and
Workers, 25, 37(1897).
Clearer Views of the Spirit
“The mighty agency of the Third
Person of the Godhead, who
would come with no modified
energy, but in the fullness of
divine power.”
Desire of Ages. 671 (1898)
Clearer Views of the Spirit
“We need to realize that the Holy
Spirit who is as much a person
as God is a person, is walking
through these grounds.”
[Avondale] (MS 66 1899.)
Implementing a New Consensus
New Summary of Beliefs
 F. M. Wilcox – 1913 - Inclusive
Revising the books – 1914-15
Bible Readings
 Thoughts on Daniel/Revelation

Implementing a New Consensus
Theology and Adventist Hymnody
 1941 Hymnbook:
 No
73: “Holy Holy Holy” but no “Trinity”
 No 45 “The Sun is on the Land and Sea”
 last
stanza “All Glory to the Trinity”
Implementing a New Consensus
Theology and Adventist Hymnody
 1985 Hymnbook:
 No
73: “H, H, H,” with “Blessed Trinity”
 Six others on theme of Triune God
The Processes of Change

Encounters with God – love and grace

Clearer views of Jesus

Apologetics

Study of Scripture

Inadequacy of previous explanations

Change Agents
CLEARER VIEWS OF JESUS
Enriched our understanding of God
Enlarged our horizons of mission
Are still the need of the church
End
Sources
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Jerry Moon. “The Adventist Trinity Debate, Part 1: Historical Overview” (AUSS
[41:1] Spring 2003, 113-129); and “The Adventist Trinity Debate, Part 2: The
Role of Ellen G. White” (AUSS [41:2] Autumn 2003, 275-292).
W. Whidden, J. Moon, J.W. Reeve. The Trinity: Understanding God’s love, His
plan of salvation, and Christian relationships (RHPA 2002), 190-231.
Gilbert Valentine. “A slice of history: How clearer views of Jesus developed in
the Adventist Church” Ministry , May 2005, 14-19
Gilbert Valentine W. W. Prescott (RHPA, 2005) 119-124; 277-284.
Merlin Burt, “Demise of Semi-Arianism and Anti-Trinitarianism in Adventist
Theology, 1888-1957.” Unpublished Paper, Andrews University Research
Center (1996)
Correspondence: H Camden Lacey to L. E. Froom, 1945, H Camden Lacey to
A. W. Spalding, 1947. General Conference Archives.
George Knight, Search for Identity, (RHPA, 2000) 17-32, 110-117, 152-154,
196
2nd Gen Adventists
E. J. Waggoner

Christ in position of equality with
Father but there was a time when he
“proceeded forth” from the father.
(1890)
Stages in Development
1.
Dominant Anti-T: 1846-1888
2.
Dissatisfaction with Anti-T: 1888 -1898
3.
Paradigm shift: 1898-1915
4.
Decline of Anti-T: 1913-46
5.
Dominance of Trinitarianism 1946-80
Jerry Moon