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The Arian or Anti-Trinitarian
Views Presented in Seventh-day Adventist Literature and the Ellen G.
White Answer

by Erwin Roy
Gane

C H A P T E R   X

A CHANGE AFTER 1898

It was after 1898 that the Adventist Church began publishing
Trinitarian sentiments with increasing frequency. Ellen G. White�s
book, The Desire of Ages appeared in this year with its
unequivocal definition of Christ�s place as equal in power and
authority with the Father, and of the Holy Spirit as "the third
person of the godhead."1
The markedly Arian or anti-Trinitarian conceptions which continued
to be published in Adventist literature after this point, appeared
only in those works written at an earlier date, or in 1898 before
Desire of Ages had made its impact. It is true that certain
members of the Church at various times since then have adhered to
and circulated Arian views, but for the most part these have not
been published by the Denomination.

KING�S MESSENGER ARTICLES

In 1898 and 1900 the Review and Herald printed three
articles from "The Kng�s Messenger," all of which were clearly
Trinitarian in teaching. The first appeared in 1898 and was
entitled, "The God-man."2
It said, "the God-man is Immanuel, God with us,�God with us in the person and presence of the Holy
Ghost." Here the Holy Spirit is a divine person. The second article,
appearing in January 1900, deprecated the fact that Christians
worship the Father and the Son, but "will not give the place of
power and authority to their representative, the blessed Holy
Ghost."3
The pronoun "he" is used throughout in reference to the Holy
Spirit.

The third article, appearing in April 1900 is even more
convincing as evidence of the changed tenor of thinking among
Seventh-day Adventists. The Holy Spirit is spoken of as "one with
and sent by the Father and the son."4
He possesses personality for, "he would make us know his
personality, but ever in living connection with Christ."5
And finally the reader is admonished, "Let him make you know,
beloved, how surprisingly beautiful are the blended personalities of
our triune God, manifested by the personal presence of the Holy
Ghost."6
Then after so many years of opposition to the doctrine, the
Church now possesses a "triune God," while the Holy Spirit is
accepted as a Person and a member of the Deity.

J. Edson White wrote of Christ in 1898 as, "standing equal with
the Father in the realm of Heaven, and in all the created
universe."7
R. A. Underwood in the same year indicated that his view of
the Holy Spirit had changed. He wrote, "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."8

He continues by explaining Satan�s design of destroying faith in
the personality of the Godhead,�"the Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost�"9
S. N. Haskell, in 1900, spoke of Christ as "the Son of God, equal
with the Father."10
In 1903 Haskell stressed that God and Christ possess distinct
personality and form.11
J. M. Cole in 1929 wrote, "Our Lord Jesus Christ is to His people an
Eternal Father, because He is eternally the same, �the same
yesterday, and to-day, and forever.�"12

ROBINSON LEAVES A DOUBT

A. T. Robinson writing for the Review and Herald in 1929,
leaves a doubt in the reader�s mind as to his true position. He
states, "there is �one God� to whom the sinner must be reconciled,
or else go down to eternal death. there is �one mediator,� through
whom alone such reconciliation can be effected."13
His article is headed "One God and One Mediator," and, whether
intentionally or not, he gives the impression that the one God is
the Father only. He is to become the Supreme Ruler of the universe.
"When the Plan of Salvation is completed, there will be a reunion of
the �whole family in Heaven and earth,� over whom one Supreme Father
will precede."14
As proof he quotes 1 Cor. 15:28. The reader cannot do otherwise than
receive the impression that in the mind of the writer there lingers
the doctrine of the subordination of the Son to the Father.

F. M. WILCOX A TRINITARIAN

F. M. Wilcox in 1931 left no doubt as to his meaning when he
wrote, "on the contrary, the bible represents Christ as very God, as
deity itself; he partook of the very nature and essence of the
eternal Father."15
Wilcox then proceeded to define the current position of the Church
on the subject:

We recognize the divine Trinity,�the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,�each
possessing a distinct and separate personality, but one in nature
and in purpose, so welded together in this infinite union that the
apostle James speaks of them as "one God." James 2:19.16

Wilcox quotes the 1931 Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook in
support of his statement. This was the first year in which a
Trinitarian formula of belief was inserted into the Yearbook.
It read as follows:

2. 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

3. That Jesus Christ is very God, being of the same nature and
essence as the Eternal Father.17

This is the official belief of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. The 1962 Yearbook repeats this statement of
faith in substantially the form in which it first appeared in
1931.18

ENDNOTES

1E. G. White,
The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Cal.: Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1898), p. 671.

2The King�s
Messenger, "The God-man," Review and Herald, LXXV (September
20, 1898), 598.

3The King�s
Messenger, "The Third Person," Review and Herald, LXXVII
(January 16, 1900), 35.

4The King�s
Messenger, "Blended Personalities," Review and Herald, LXXVII
(April 3, 1900), 210.

5Ibid.

6Ibid.

7J. E. White,
The Coming King (Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald
Publishing Co., 1898), p. 15.

8R. A.
Underwood, "The Holy Spirit a Person," Review and Herald,
LXXV (May 17, 1898), 310.

9Ibid.

10S. N.
Haskell, "Christ in Holy Flesh, Or a Holy Christ in Sinful Flesh,"
Review and Herald, LXXVII (October 2, 1900), 634.

11S. N.
Haskell, "The Personality of God," Review and Herald, LXXX
(October 8, 1903), 9.

12J. M. Cole,
"The Everlasting Father," Review and Herald, CVI (January 31,
1929), 19.

13A. T.
Robinson, "One God and One Mediator," Review and Herald, CVI
(October 31, 1929), 6.

14Ibid.

15F. M.
Wilcox, "Christ Is Very God," Review and Herald, CVIII
(October 29, 1931), 3.

16Ibid.

17"Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists,"
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, (Washington, D.C.: Review and
Herald Publishing Association, 1931), p. 377.

18Ibid., 1962, p.
5.

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