Miscellaneous Writers
BRO. E. Everts writes from Round
Grove, Whiteside Co., Ill.:- “We find some who have ears to hear, some who
acknowledge the truth as we present it, and some half dozen have decided to keep all the
commandments. We find more who are looking for the coming of the Lord than we expected;
and we find some who were keeping the Sabbath, who appear to delight in so-doing; but O
how deformed they appear with their errors, of the “Spirit-Land,” the conscious,
living dead, and a “Triune God.” How incomprehensible to attempt to
comprehensible to attempt to comprehend living dead men; and, Father and Son, one person! (March
20, 1856, Review & Herald, vol. 7, no. 25, page 199)
Did Christ die? All
readily admit, that his body did, and the Scriptures expressly say, that his
“soul” was made an “offering for sin” - that “he poured out his
soul unto death” - that his “soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death”
- and that “his soul was not left in hell,” or, correctly, the grave. That the
very same Jesus that died, was raised from death to life, is evident from his own words.
After his resurrection, he said to his disciples, “Behold my hands and my feet, that
it is I, MYSELF.” Luke 24:39. This word, myself, is full of meaning and interest. It
clearly and incontrovertibly identifies Jesus after the resurrection, with Jesus before
the crucifixion: they are one and the same person, I, myself, with no other difference
than he was mortal before death, but immortal after death: “he dieth no more,”
“but ever liveth.” (July 4, 1854, Review & Herald, vol. 5, no. 22,
page 169)
The Sunday God
We will make a few extracts,
that the reader may see the broad contrast between the God of the Bible brought to light
through Sabbath-keeping, and the god in the dark through Sunday-keeping. Catholic
Catechism Abridged by the Rt. Rev. John Dubois, Bishop of New York. Page 5. Ques. Where is
God? Ans. God is everywhere. Q. Does God see and know all things? A. Yes, he does know and
see all things. Q. Has God any body? A. No; God has no body, he is a pure Spirit. Q. Are
there more Gods than one? A. No; there is but one God. Q. Are there more persons than one
in God? A. Yes; in God there are three persons. Q. Which are they? A. God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Q. Are there not three Gods? A. No; the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost, are all but one and the same God.
The first article of the
Methodist Religion, p. 8. There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body
or parts, of infinite power, wisdom and goodness: the maker and preserver of all things,
visible and invisible. 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.
In this article like the
Catholic doctrine, we are taught that there are three persons of one substance, power and
eternity making in all one living and true God, everlasting without body or parts. But in
all this we are not told what became of the body of Jesus who had a body when he ascended,
who went to God who “is everywhere” or nowhere. Doxology.
“To God the Father, God the
Son, God the Spirit, three in one.”
Again.
“Warms in the sun,
refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees. Lives through all
life, extends through all extent, Spreads undivided and operates unspent.” - Pope.
These ideas well accord with
those heathen philosophers. One says, “That water was the principle of all things,
and that God is that intelligence, by whom all things are formed out of water.”
Another, “That air is God, that it is produced, that it is immense and
infinite,” &c. A third, “That God is a soul diffused throughout all beings
of nature,” &c. Some, who had the idea of a pure Spirit. Last of all, “That
God is an eternal substance.”
These extracts are
taken from Rollin’s History, Vol. II, pp. 597-8, published by Harpers. We should
rather mistrust that the Sunday god came from the same source that Sunday-keeping did.
“Sunday was a name given by the heathens to the first day of the week, because it was
the day on which they worshipped the sun.” - Union Bible Dictionary. Afterward
modified by the Roman Catholic Church, in the form we now find it taught through the land.
(J. B. Frisbie, The Review and Herald, March 7, 1854)
Heathen and Orthodox Christian
A WRITER undertook to give his
friends at home some idea of the trials and difficulties which the missionaries found in
their efforts to instruct the heathen in the “evangelical” doctrines of
Christianity. He related that, on an occasion when he had been earnestly laboring to
enforce the holy doctrine of the trinity and vicarious atonement upon a goodly
audience assembled in a grove, one of their leading men came forward and
confronted him thus:
Hindoo. You say that Jesus
Christ was God?
Missionary. Yes.
H. What, and Jesus Christ die?
M. Yes.
H. Then Jesus Christ
couldn’t be God; for God never died.
I then, says the missionary,
explained to him the mystery of the incarnation of Christ, his double nature, how that God
took on himself the nature of man, being born of woman, and that nature suffered and died
- when the dialogue was thus renewed:
H. Then you say that Jesus
Christ was born of a woman?
M. Yes.
H. Then Jesus Christ
couldn’t be God, for God was never born of a woman.
M. That wouldn’t follow, of
course, for many of your gods were born of women, and some of them died.
Then, says the missionary in his
letter referred to, they all squalled out, He don’t know nothing! he don’t know
nothing!
And sure enough the letter
itself betrays the fact that the missionary “didn’t know nothing.” The
Hindoos had the most common sense on religious matters in general, and they saw he was
ignorant of their mythology. They believe in self-existent, supreme, unchangeable deity,
who appoints subordinate petty gods over different departments of the world’s
affairs. And these petty-deities were they whom their mythological writings regard as
having been born of woman, or begotten by other methods, and having passed through the
change called death, and the like. But they understood the missionary’s God that he
was preaching to them, to be the supreme God. It was so. And of course, this attempt to
parry the force of their objection to his theory of God born of a woman, and dying, by
referring to their fables concerning their subordinate deities, was either a piece of
stupidity, or else of criminal evasion. And the Indians were right in squalling out, He
don’t know nothing! he don’t know nothing! (August 19, 1858, Review &
Herald, vol.12, no. 14, page 106-107)
On the subject of
immortality in this life, I never believed we had it here. I was brought up by Methodist
parents, but never believed in creeds, nor the doctrine of the trinity. When I came
from the State of New York I was twenty years of age. I came to Ohio, and after two or
three years joined the Huron Christian Conference, was ordained by that body, and preached
in Ohio six years. I came to this place two years ago this Fall. (Bro. Rockwood, October
29, 1857, Review & Herald, vol.10, no. 26, page 207, par. 10)
Importance of a Correct System of Belief
[SINGULAR as it may seem, the
writer of the following article is a believer in Sunday-keeping, Immortal-soulism, Infant
Sprinkling, the Trinity, Reward at death, &c., &c. How can he harmonize
all these with the sound remarks presented below?] (Editorial Note, October 7, 1862, Review
& Herald, vol.20, page 150, par. 4)
If it be said that the Spirit
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost is one Spirit, with this we all agree. But
if it be said that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three persons in one
person, making in all one God without body or parts, with an idea so inconsistent we
cannot agree.
The oneness of Christ with the
Father may be plainly seen by any one who will refer to John 17:22. “That they (that
believe) may be one, even as we are one.” Who could believe that Christ prayed
that his disciples should be one disciple? Yet this would be no more inconsistent than
the idea of some that Christ and his Father are one person.
In accordance with the
doctrine that three very and eternal Gods are but one God, how may we reconcile Matt.
3:16, 17. Jesus was baptized, Spirit of God descended like a dove, and the
Father’s voice heard from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, &c. The Father
in heaven, the Son on earth, the Spirit of God descending from one to the other. Who
could ever suppose for a moment that these three were one person without body
or parts, unless it was by early training. See other texts which appear equally absurd, if
such doctrine be true. Matt. 28:18; Acts 10:38. “How God anointed Jesus with the Holy
Ghost,” &c. First person takes the third person and anoints the second
person with a person being at the same time one with himself.
“That three are one, and
one are three,
Is an idea that puzzles me;
By many a learned sage ‘tis
said
That three are one in the
Godhead.
The Father then may be the Son,
For both together make but one;
The Son may likewise be the
Father,
Without the smallest change of
either.
Yea, and the blessed Spirit be
The Father, Son and trinity;
This is the creed of Christian
folks,
Who style themselves true
orthodox,
All which against plain common
sense,
We must believe or give
offense.”
(J. B. F. March 12, 1857, Review
& Herald, vol.9, no. 19, page 146, par. 20-25)
Jesus asked the Jews, Why do ye
also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Now if the fourth commandment
has been changed, or abrogated, the record of it must be in the New Testament; and if so,
it can be found. But in vain have we searched for it; it is only inferred; and who can
draw an inference that will do away with an express command of God and make it of none
effect? Some say the day was changed by Constantine; but read the following testimony from
the Doway Catechism, p. 143:
Question. “What is
Sunday, or the Lord’s day in general?
Answer. “It is a day
dedicated by the Apostles to the honor of the most holy Trinity, and in memory that
Christ rose from the dead on Sunday, sent down the Holy Ghost on a Sunday, and therefore
it is called the Lord’s day. It is also called Sunday from the old Roman denomination
of Dies Solis, the day of the sun, to which it was sacred. (August 19, 1858, Review
& Herald, vol.13, page 30)
This is the first
instance we find on the pages of history of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul
being taught. It was the first god that was deified after they had set aside the doctrine
of Noah, who was a teacher of righteousness. From this point we can trace this corrupt
doctrine that fills the church. The immortality of the soul - the transmigration of
the soul - and the trio of gods - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost;
and that of the spirits of holy men coming and dwelling in men in the millennial state, to
convert the world. It is all Paganism from beginning to end. (Mark E. Green,
January 29, 1857, Review & Herald, vol. 9, no. 13, page 98)
Protestants not Guided by Scripture
“Ques. HAVE you any other
proofs that they are not guided by the Scriptures? Ans. Yes; so many that we cannot admit
more than a mere specimen into this small work. They reject much that is clearly
contained in Scripture, and profess more that is nowhere discoverable in that Divine Book.
Q. Give some examples of both?
A. They should, if the Scripture were their only rule, wash the feet of one another,
according to the command of Christ, in the 13th chap. of St. John; -
they should keep, not the Sunday, but the Saturday, according to the commandment,
‘Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath-day;’ for this commandment has not, in
Scripture, been changed or abrogated.
Q. Have you any other way of
proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? A. Had she not such
power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; - she
could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the
observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural
authority.
Q. Do you observe other
necessary truths as taught by the Church, not clearly laid down in Scripture? A. The
doctrine of the Trinity, a doctrine the knowledge of which is certainly necessary to
salvation, is not explicitly and evidently laid down in Scripture, in the Protestant
sense of private interpretation. (February 24, 1859, Review & Herald,
vol.13, page 107, par. 11-14)
THE Dr. next considers the
doctrine of the Trinity, and frankly admits it to be a “doctrine of faith”
[credulity], “not of comprehension.” The Dr. is very positive that we are wrong
and he right, but does not bring forward his proof. I will not stop to make assertions,
but will inquire what God does say of the “manner of his own existence.” (S. B.
Whitney, March 4, 1862, Review & Herald, vol.19, page 110, par. 7)
BRO. DANIEL BAKER
writes from Tioga Co., Pa.: “After contending against the Trinitarian doctrine and
all sectarian disciplines for about sixteen years, and against the doctrine of the
soul’s immortality eight years, and for the seventh-day Sabbath three years, it is
truly refreshing to find in your paper the same views proved by Scripture. I therefore
enclose,” &c. (March 13, 1856, Review & Herald, vol.7, no. 24, page
190, par. 37)
Proved by Butler’s Catechism
NOT long since, during an
interview with a Papist, he made a statement of what he regarded as being the true
definition of the word, soul, and of what he believed would be its condition after death,
and after the judgment. These views did not differ materially from the popular theology of
the day. In vindication of which, he added, “And if you have read Butler’s
Catechism, you have found it there.” I remarked that the Bible did not endorse
such sentiments. “I know that” said he, “neither can you prove the Trinity
from the Bible.”
Here then, thus far, we have an
acknowledgment or confession of the faith of the Romish Church, for which its advocate
laid no claim to any scriptural proof. Neither do Romanists regard the Bible as a
sufficient rule of faith. But contrariwise: “The Bible does not contain all things
necessary to salvation, and, consequently, can not be a sufficient rule of faith.”
Sure Way. (E. R. Seaman, August 15, 1854, Review & Herald, vol. 6, no.
1, page 4, par. 27, 28)
The following is a copy of
three statements of beliefs from 1889, 1931, and 1981. It is clear that the Adventist
church no longer believes the truths that were laid out in the first fifty years of her
existence.
Fundamentals Beliefs of SDAs in 1889, 1931, and 1981 Yearbooks
Fundamental Beliefs of
Seventh-Day Adventists [1889
Yearbook]
As elsewhere stated, Seventh-day
Adventists have no creed but the Bible; but they hold to certain well-defined points of
faith, for which they feel prepared to give a reason “to every man that asketh”
them. The following propositions may be taken as a summary of the principal features of
their religious faith, upon which there is, so far as we know, entire unanimity throughout
the body. They believe,—
I. That there is one God, a
personal, spiritual being, the creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal;
infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and mercy; unchangeable, and
everywhere present by his representative, the Holy Spirit. Ps. 139:7.
II. That there is
one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, the one by whom he created all
things, and by whom they do consist; that he took on him the nature of the seed of Abraham
for the redemption of our fallen race; that he dwelt among men, full of grace and truth,
lived our example, died our sacrifice, was raised for our justification, ascended on high
to be our only mediator in the sanctuary in heaven, where, through the merits of his shed
blood, he secures the pardon and forgiveness of the sins of all those who penitently come
to him; and as the closing portion of his work as priest, before he takes his throne as
king, he will make the great atonement for the sins of all such, and their sins will then
be blotted out (Acts 3:19) and borne away from the sanctuary, as shown in the service of
the Levitical priesthood, which foreshadowed and prefigured the ministry of our Lord in
heaven. See Lev. 16; Heb. 8:4, 5; 9:6, 7; etc. (Fundamental Principles Of Seventh-Day
Adventists no. 1, page 147) [This
statement is clearly not a trinitarian statement, and is the belief that the entire church
was in unity upon, including Ellen White.]
Fundamental
Beliefs of Seventh-Day Adventists [1931 Yearbook]
Seventh-day Adventists hold
certain fundamental beliefs, the principal features of which, together with a portion of
the scriptural references upon which they are based, may be summarized as follows:
1. That the Holy Scriptures of
the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, contain an all-sufficient
revelation of His will to men, and are the only unerring rule of faith and practice. 2
Tim. 3:15-17.
2. That the Godhead, or
Trinity [this
is the first time this term was ever used to define the Seventh-day Adventists’
beliefs], 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. (Text in brackets supplied)
3. 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. (Fundamental
Beliefs Of Seventh-Day Adventists no. 2, page 377)
Fundamental
Beliefs of Seventh-Day Adventists [1981 Yearbook]
Seventh-day Adventists accept
the Bible as their only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of
the Holy Scriptures. These beliefs, as set forth here, constitute the church’s
understanding and expression of the teaching of Scripture. Revision of these statements
may be expected at a General Conference session when the church is led by the Holy Spirit
to a fuller understanding of Bible truth or finds better language in which to express the
teachings of God’s Holy Word.
1. The Holy Scriptures
The Holy Scriptures, Old and New
Testaments, are the written Word of God, given by divine inspiration through holy men of
God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. In this Word, God has
committed to man the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are the
infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of
experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of
God’s acts in history. (2 Peter 1:20, 21; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; Ps. 119:105; Prov. 30:5,
6; Isa. 8:20; John 17:17; 1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12.)
2. The Trinity
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. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph.
4:46; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 17; Rev. 14:7.)
3. The Father
God the Eternal Father is the
Creator, Source, Sustainer, and Sovereign of all creation. He is just and holy, merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. The
qualities and powers exhibited in the Son and the Holy Spirit are also revelations of the
Father. (Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11; 1 Cor. 15:28; John 3:16; 1 John 4:8; 1 Tim. 1:17; Ex. 34:6,
7; John 14:9.)
4. The Son
God the eternal Son became
incarnate in Jesus Christ. Through Him all things were created, the character of God is
revealed, the salvation of humanity is accomplished, and the world is judged. Forever
truly God, He became also truly man, Jesus the Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary. He lived and experienced temptation as a human being, but
perfectly exemplified the righteousness and love of God. By His miracles He manifested
God’s power and was attested as God’s promised Messiah. He suffered and died
voluntarily on the cross for our sins and in our place, was raised from the dead and
ascended to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in our behalf. He will come again in glory
for the final deliverance of His people and the restoration of all things. (John 1:1-3,
14; Col. 1:15-19; John 10:30; 14:9; Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; John 5:22; Luke 1:35; Phil.
2:5-11; Heb. 2:9-18; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4; Heb. 8:1, 2; John 14:1-3.)
5. The Holy Spirit
God the eternal Spirit was
active with the Father and the Son in Creation, incarnation, and redemption. He inspired
the writers of Scripture. He filled Christ’s life with power. He draws and convicts
human beings; and those who respond He renews and transforms into the image of God. Sent
by the Father and the Son to be always with His children, He extends spiritual gifts to
the church, empowers it to bear witness to Christ, and in harmony with the Scriptures
leads it into all truth. (Gen. 1:1, 2; Luke 1:35; 4:18; Acts 10:38; 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Cor.
3:18; Eph. 4:11, 12; Acts 1:8; John 14:16-18, 26, 27; 16:17-13.) (Fundamental Beliefs
Of Seventh-Day Adventists no. 3, page 5)