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by
Bruce
Bivens
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Dear Reader, What follows is the preface to Bruce Bivens’
new book on the Holy Spirit. The entire book is available from: Xlibris Corporation 1-888-795-4274 Orders@Xlibris.com All emphasis by way of emboldened parts are
as they appear in Bruce’s book. Preface __________ A Brief
History of the “Trinity” Doctrine’s Entrance into the Seventh-day Adventist
Faith |
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This preface has been added in order to
give readers a brief overview of the “Trinity” doctrine’s entrance into the
Seventh-day Adventist Church and to provide impetus for you to dig into the
study that follows in this book. I have found that a surprising number of
Seventh-day Adventist[s] have practically no knowledge of how we have come
to believe in the Trinity and even believe that this doctrine was one of the
“Fundamental” beliefs of our founding pioneers and of Ellen White herself. I
was not. I myself was not aware of its complete history within our
denomination nor the surprising fact that “one man” was primarily responsible
for its induction into the SDA Church until this book was nearing completion.
It will become clear why this doctrine is dangerous and why we need to
“reconsider” our belief in it. It is my hope that this information will be
helpful in creating a better-informed audience and provide a “reason” for our
looking into this study of the Godhead—and more specifically, the Holy
Spirit.
It is important for us to note that the Catholic
Church considers the
doctrine of the Trinity to be the “central doctrine” of their faith: “The
mystery of the trinity is the central doctrine of the Catholic faith. Upon it
are based all other teachings of the church.” (Handbook for Today’s Catholic, pg. 16).
So how did the “central doctrine” of the
Catholic Church make its way into, and end up as a central doctrine of the
Seventh-day Adventist faith? It may come as a surprise to many that LeRoy
Froom (perhaps our Church’s most prominent historian) was primarily
responsible for introducing the Trinitarian doctrine to the Seventh-day
Adventist Church, and very purposefully set about to promote its acceptance
and institute it into the beliefs of the Church.
In his book “Movement of
Destiny,” which was
published in 1971, he tells us how he came to write about the Holy Spirit and
how he came to believe in the “Trinity.” His brief account of this is very
enlightening in
terms of both his history and his method. Here is what he has to say
concerning this:
“May I here make a frank, personal
confession? When back between 1926 and 1928 I was asked by our leaders to
give a series of studies on “The Holy Spirit” . . . I found that aside from
priceless leads found in the Spirit of Prophecy, there was practically
nothing in our literature setting forth a sound, Biblical exposition in this
tremendous field of study.
There were no previous pathfinding books on the question in
our literature.”
“I was compelled to search out a score of
valuable books written by men outside of our faith . . . . for
initial clues
and suggestions, and
to open up beckoning
vistas to intensive personal study. Having these, I went
on from there.
But they were decided early helps. And scores, if not hundreds, could confirm
the same sobering conviction that some of these other men
frequently had a deeper insight into the spiritual things of God than many of
our own men had on the Holy Spirit and the triumphant life. It was still a largely obscure
theme . . . .”
“It was then that I again saw the peerless
pre-eminence of the Spirit of Prophecy portrayals that not
only supported
but greatly enhanced the choicest gems of truth glimpsed in part
by these other writers
. . . .”
“Mr. Froom then exuberantly exclaims:
“Thank God, that time of reticence and misunderstanding
has passed . . . . This
is the supreme hour
. . . . Thank God, that final awakening is definitely underway. (Movement of
Destiny, p. 332: Review & Herald Publishing Association, 1971; Used by
permission; Emphasis Mine).
Froom goes on to state that the “Truth of
the Trinity” was an inevitable evolution in our theology stemming from the
1888 Conference and message: “When once the sublime truth of the complete
Deity of Christ . . . was affirmed by a growing number at and after the
Minneapolis session, emphasis on certain inseparably related
truths followed inevitably.”
“Thus the Truth of the
Trinity was set forth in
Tract form by the Pacific Press . . . in February, 1892 . . . . It was
not written by one of our own men, but by “the late Dr. Samuel Spear.” . . . .This sound
and helpful
tract by Spear . . . .
was simple, but adequate, as
the first step in recognition and declaration. It was the logical aftermath
of 1888.”
Mr Froom concludes his brief account by
claiming that the book “The Desire of
Ages” presented an “inspired depiction” of the trinity doctrine and
because of this it has become our denominations’ “accepted position.” Froom
also boasts that the “Desire of Ages” was even publicized in the prominent Catholic journal (as if this adds credibility to the book). Here it is in
his own words: “. . .The Desire of Ages, of course,
presented an inspired depiction, and was consequently destined to become the
denominationally accepted position . . . . The
Desire of Ages . . . . is one of the most highly
esteemed books of the Denomination—a recognized classic, even
publicized in such a Catholic journal as the “Universal Fatima News” for
September 1965.” (Movement of Destiny; pp. 323, 324) I
must admit that the reason for Mr. Froom’s obvious pride in its endorsement
and publicity in a “Catholic Journal” puzzles me. One can hardly conclude
that this inclusion adds anything to the credibility of the book, or proves that
the Desire of Ages supports the doctrine of the Trinity!
The very first thing I would like to note
about LeRoy Froom’s account of how he came to believe in the Trinity
is the method
he
Obviously employed in arriving
at his conclusions.
Mr. Froom did not start his study with the Bible and then move on to the
writings of Ellen White before turning to “outside” sources. Indeed, Mr. Froom
did his study in the exact opposite order! He began with the writings and
theologies of “men outside our faith” and worked his way back to the
writings of Ellen White in order to find support for his conclusions. Even if
Ellen White had been alive and had agreed with his conclusions, I believe
that she would NOT have approved of his method in arriving at his position.
Our denomination would most certainly never have been brought into existence
if we had begun our study of such topics as the Sabbath, the State of the
Dead, the Sanctuary, and others if we had conducted our study of these
subjects in the manner that Mr. Froom employed! And when it comes to the
Trinity Doctrine the fact is that Ellen White never used the term “Trinity” in any
of her writings,
and as we will see, she did not actually support this doctrine.
The REASON LeRoy Froom could not find anything he
considered “Pathfinding” written by any of our Pioneers—or by men
within our faith
on the subject of the Holy Spirit; is NOT because there had been nothing written on the subject but
because NONE
of our pioneers were “Trinitarians” and therefore did not agree with Elder
Froom’s conclusions or opinions! Mr. Froom states that even the Spirit
of Prophecy had only
“priceless leads”
to offer him as he began his study. Yet he later declares that The Desire of Ages set forth an
“inspired depiction” of the Trinity. If the Desire of Ages truly sets forth
an inspired depiction of the “Trinity” and was the “Denominationally
accepted position”
of the Trinity, why didn’t Mr. Froom acknowledge this to start with as he
began his study of this subject in 1926? And if Mrs. White had truly set
forth an inspired depiction of the Trinity as far back as 1898, why couldn’t
He find much
more material
to support his position within the rest of the pages of the Spirit of
Prophecy? If Mr. White truly believed in the doctrine of the Trinity, why is it
that she NEVER used the term “Trinity” to describe the Godhead in any of her writings?
The fact is that LeRoy Froom “discovered” what he
believed was the “truth of the Trinity” and the Holy Spirit from writers “not
of our faith,”
and then set out to support it with [selected] statements from the Spirit of
Prophecy. LeRoy Froom wrote a book called, “The Coming
of the Comforter”
as a result of, and shortly following his study during 1926-1928.
Mr. Froom, talking about the publication of his
book in a letter to Dr. Otto H. Christiansen on October 27, 1960; stated
that: “May I state that my book, The
Coming of the Comforter, was the result of a series of studies that I
gave in 1927-28, to Ministerial institutes throughout North America. You cannot imagine how I was pummelled by
some of the old-timers . . .” and speaking of his Trinitarian views he states:
“Some men denied that . . . still deny it, but the book has
come to be generally accepted as standard.” It should be noted that this book is still
widely used and is available in our ABC bookstores.
In 1969, Russell Holt, in a term paper entitled
“The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination: Its
Rejection and Acceptance” (Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary),
divides our denominational history on the subject of the Trinity into three
periods: During the first period, which he delineates as 1844-1890, he says:
“The field was dominated by those who saw the trinity as illogical,
unscriptural, pagan and subversive of the atonement . . . . anti-trinitarianism is the evident denominational stance.”
He next refers to the time period of 1890-1900,
saying: “Roughly within this period, the course of the denomination on the
trinity was decided by statements from Ellen G. White.” (Ibid.
Emphasis Mine).
Finally, He states of the period between 1900-1930: “This period saw the death of most of
those pioneers who had championed and held the anti-Trinitarian position.
Their places were being taken by men who were changing their
thinking, or had never opposed the doctrine . . . .” (see—http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/trinity/moon/moon-trinity1.htm,
all Emphasis Mine).
Russell Holt, commenting on Froom’s publication of
“The Coming of the Comforter (and
the subsequent writing of other’s) states that: “The trinity
began to be published,
until by 1931 it
had triumphed,
and had become the standard denominational position.
Isolated stalwarts remained who refused to yield, but the outcome had been
decided.” (Emphasis Mine).
In 1931, F.M. Wilcox included the term “trinity”
in the S.D.A. Yearbook’s 22-point “Statement of Beliefs” and this was the first
time that this term
was seen in any Adventist Statement of Beliefs. Immediately following, in
1932, this pro-trinitarian Statement of Beliefs was added to the first “Church
Manual” and all
succeeding “Adventist Yearbooks” and began to appear in nearly all
the Church books.
It had not
been voted on by the Church at large, by the
General Conference,
nor even by a representative body
of the leaders of the S.D.A. Church.
Note by Ron: This is a classic example of when
Ellen White said that the General Conference is no longer the voice of
God—when a few men acting on their own, enact things that aren’t even voted
on by the General Conference in World Session, to wit:
General Conference as the Voice of
God: "God has ordained that the
representatives of His church from all parts of the earth, when assembled in
a General Conference, shall have authority. The error that some are in danger
of committing is in giving to the mind and judgment of one man, or of a small group of men, the full measure of
authority and influence that God has vested in His church in the judgment and
voice of the General Conference assembled to plan for the prosperity and
advancement of His work. When this
power, which God has placed in the church, is accredited wholly to one man,
and he is invested with the authority to be judgment for other minds, then the true Bible order is changed....Let
us give to the highest organized authority in the church that which we are
PRONE to give to one man or to a small group of men." E.G. White, Testimonies,
vol. 9, 261. IS THE CONFERENCE THE VOICE OF GOD? Some Adventists believe the
conference will always be the voice of God.
In the early years Mrs. White described the opinions handed down by
the conference in session as "the voice of God." If we look at later statements by her, we
will find she changed her opinion over time as the conference changed and
became less obedient to God. If the
conference was a faithful organization, making Bible-based decisions, not
popularity-based decisions, not following the world, we would be able to
consider it to be the voice of God: 1899 "Let those in
America who suppose the voice of the General Conference to be the voice of
God, become one with God before they utter their opinions." Testimony to
Elder S.N. Haskell 11-16-99 1899 "It has been some
years since I have considered the General Conference as the voice of
God." GCD 2-24-99 1901 "That these men
should stand in a sacred place to be the voice of God to the people as we
once believed the General Conference to be, that is past." GC Bulletin
1901, 25 1901 "It is working
upon wrong principles that has brought the cause of God into its present
embarrassment. The people have lost
confidence in those who have the management of the work. Yet we hear that the voice of the
Conference is the Voice of God. Every
time I have heard this, I have thought that it was almost blasphemy....We
have reached the time when the work cannot advance while wrong principles are
cherished." Man. 37, 1901 1901 "Year after year
the same acknowledgment was made, but the principles which exalt a people
were not woven into the work. God gave
them clear light as to what they should do, but they departed from that light
and it is a marvel to me that we stand in as much prosperity as we do
today." GC Bulletin, 1901, 23 1909 "Every individual
soul has a responsibility before God, and he is not to be arbitrarily
instructed by men as to what he shall do, and what he shall say, and where he
shall go. We are not to put confidence
in the counsel of men and assent to all they say unless we have evidence that
they are under the influence of the Spirit of God." RH 7-1-09. End note
by Ron. “The 1931 Statement of
Beliefs read as follows: “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.” (Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists, “Seventh-day Adventist Year Book,
[Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1931], 377). Holt comments on this change
in our fundamental beliefs by noting: “A
comparison of statements of faith issued at various times by the denomination
shows a marked change in the opinion of the church concerning the trinity . .
. .” He observes that: “. . . Separate
statements appeared in 1874, 1889, 1894 and 1931. The first three of these
are, for all practical purposes, identical in the articles dealing with the
deity. A comparison of the statements of 1894 and 1931 shows the change.” Please note that there was
no change in the Statement of Beliefs in regard to the “Trinitarian”
viewpoint while Ellen White was alive. J.S. Washburn (1863-1955; a retired Adventist
minister and contemporary of Ellen White—He was converted by JH.N.
Andrews at 11, baptized by James White at 12 and
began preaching Adventism at 21), opposed this change in the strongest
possible terms writing: “The doctrine of the trinity is a cruel,
heathen monstrosity, removing Jesus from His true position of Divine Saviour
and mediator. . . . This monstrous doctrine transplanted from heathenism into
the Roman, papal church is seeking to intrude its evil presence into the
teachings of the Third Angel’s Message.”
Washburn goes on to say: “If
we should go back to the immortality of the soul, purgatory, eternal torment
and the Sunday Sabbath, would that be anything less than apostasy? If however
we leap over all these minor, secondary doctrines and accept and teach the
very central, root doctrine of Romanism, the trinity, and teach that the Son
of God did not die, even though our words seemed to be spiritual, is this
anything else and anything less than apostasy and the very omega of
apostasy?” (See Judson
Washburn, “The Trinity,” 1929. Emphasis mine).
Benjamin Wilkinson, the man who wrote the book
entitled “Truth Triumphant,” wrote a letter to Dr. T.S. Teters in 1936,
saying: “Replying to your letter of October 13 regarding the doctrine
of the Trinity, I will say that Seventh Day Adventists do not, and never have
accepted the dark, mysterious, Catholic doctrine of the Trinity.”
In 1941, the Baptismal Vow was revised to include
the Trinitarian statement (Mr.
Froom was involved in this action as well). So that, NOW, in
order to become a Seventh-day Adventist, you have to agree to belief in the
trinity.
In a letter written to Roy Allan Anderson, J.L.
Schuler, Denton Reebok, A.W. Peterson, W.G. Turner and J.E. Weaver; November
22, 1966; LeRoy Froom says: “I am writing to you brethren as a group for you
are the only living members of the original committee of 13, appointed in 1931 to frame a uniform baptismal
covenant. Elder Branson was the chairman and I was Secretary. The
task of this committee was to formulate a uniform baptismal covenant and vow
based on the 1931 Fundamental Beliefs statement in the yearbook and Manual. .
. to point up a
bit more sharply, the first, second and third persons of the Godhead.” (Emphasis mine).
In 1945, all the standard Adventist books were edited, and all the
anti-trinitarian statements taken from them. In his book Movement of Destiny, LeRoy Froom states: “The next logical and
inevitable step in the implementing of our unified fundamental beliefs involved
revision of certain standard works, so as to eliminate statements that
taught, and thus perpetuated erroneous views on the Godhead. Such sentiments
were now sharply at variance with the accepted fundamental beliefs set forth
in the Church Manual.” (Movement
of Destiny, page 422 Emphasis mine).
The “official” acceptance of the “Trinity” into
our fundamental beliefs did not come until 1946. According to Dr. Jerry A.
Moon (in “Andrews University Seminary Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1, 113-129”):
“when the statement had gained general acceptance, the General Conference session
of 1946 made it official, voting that “no revision of this Statement of
Fundamental Beliefs, as it now appears in the [Church]
Manual, shall be made at
any time except at a General Conference session.” [See Fifteenth Meeting,
General Conference Report No. 8, Review
and Herald, June 14, 1946] (Emphasis mine).
In 1946 the book Evangelism was compiled from the writings of Ellen White.
LeRoy Froom (along with others) was instrumental in the choice and
compilation of statements from Ellen White’s writings, which seemed to support the Trinitarian
viewpoint. This book contains the quotes most often used now (from the writings of Ellen
White), to support the trinitarian doctrine within our denomination.
Here’s what Froom had to say about this is a
letter he wrote to Roy Allan Anderson on January 18, 1966: “I am sure that we
are agreed, in evaluating the book Evangelism,
as one of the great contributions in which the Ministerial
Association had a part back in those days. You know what it did with men
in the Columbia Union who came face-to-face with the clear, unequivocal
statements of the Spirit of Prophecy on the deity of Christ, the personality
of the Holy Spirit, the trinity and the like.” “They
either had to lay down their arms and accept those statements, or else they
had to reject the Spirit of Prophecy. I know that you and Miss Cluser
and I had considerable to do with the selection of those things under the encouragement of men
like Elder Branson, who felt that the earlier concept
of the White Estate brethren on this book on evangelism was not adequate.”
Note: I fear that this is still the attitude of
our Denomination and that it is based largely on the Ellen White quotes that
were chosen to be included in the book Evangelism.
The book you now hold in your hands will seriously challenge the
assumptions that have been made because of the narrow and carefully selected
use of Ellen’s writings on this subject.
In 1955 there were meetings of the leaders of the
Adventist Church with Dr. Walter Martin and Dr. Barnhouse, two evangelical
theologians who felt that the Seventh-day Adventist Church was a cult, and as
a result of these meetings the book “Questions on Doctrine” (a book in which LeRoy Froom played a leading
role) was produced in
1957 in an attempt to show that SDA’s were not a cult and that we were quite
“mainstream” in our beliefs—including the doctrine of the Trinity. [This
book, unfortunately, also contained statements that we do not believe the
atonement is taking place in Heaven right now, that Christ came with an
“unfallen” human nature, and other untrue and misleading
statements regarding Seventh-day Adventist beliefs].
In 1980, the General Conference voted on a new set
of “27 Fundamental Beliefs” in which the Trinity Doctrine was upheld.
Fundamental belief number 2 now read: “2. The Trinity[.] There is one God: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal
Persons.” (Emphasis
mine).
The concept delineated here, that there are “three co-eternal
Persons,” is in
complete harmony with the Catholic Church’s teaching regarding the “Trinity”
and, as we shall see, is incorrect (http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/trinity/moon/moon-trinity1.htm; note 60).
In 1988 the book “Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . A Biblical Exposition of 27
Fundamental Beliefs” was published and included the doctrine of the
Trinity. This book was highly promoted for use as an evangelistic tool to
explain to non-Adventists what we believe our core doctrines to be.
It seems clear to me that as I review the history
of the “Trinity” doctrine and its acceptance into the Seventh-day Adventist
Church that something has gone seriously amiss within our denomination. We
have not critically considered the “Truth” (or non-Truth) of this doctrine in
light of the Great Controversy, and we have certainly not considered the serious
implication this doctrine
has on the sacrifice, mediation, and ministry of Jesus Christ! Indeed, the
doctrine of the Trinity—with its focus on the Holy Spirit as a “third
co-eternal person” of the Godhead—has successfully caused us to lose our
focus on Christ, His Sacrifice, and His ministry in the lives of all
believers since the Cross. It effectively limits Christ’s ministry to that of
“Justification” only, while leaving the work of “Sanctification” to the
“Third” person of the Godhead—the Holy Spirit. This is, frankly,
unbiblical—and is why we must earnestly examine this subject. I pray that you
will find, as a result of your prayerful consideration of this book, that your
focus is returned [to]
The person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
and that your understanding of His great sacrifice in the plan of redemption
will be broadened and enriched beyond words.
This is, in fact, a book about Jesus Christ and
the Holy Spirit and is not meant to be a refutation [of] our denomination’s
“Trinity” doctrine per se, but rather a book that will open up to you the
enormity of the sacrifice of Christ on your and my behalf. A clear
understanding of this sacrifice will enable you to refute quite adequately
the “Trinity” doctrine on your own.
Having said all this, let me state that I do believe that there are “three” persons in the Godhead. How
there came to be three is the subject of the rest of this book. The
“TRUTH” about the Holy Spirit will astound you! It is a beautiful and important truth for God’s Remnant
people. My promise to you is that, by the time you have finished this book,
you will understand why an understanding of all this is vitally
important. You will clearly
understand “who” the
Holy Spirit really is and where He came from. You will have a much deeper
appreciation of the “inconceivable” sacrifice made by Jesus Christ
in order to redeem you and me. And you will be able to intelligently “pray with understanding” for the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit in Latter Rain power. That said; I invite you now to delve into a
careful, and
prayerful study of the remainder
of this book . . .
Bruce Bivens
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