The Danger of False
Views About God
The following letter was written to oppose the
false teachings of John Kellogg on the Godhead. It is addressed to Dr. Ellet J.
Waggoner, of 1888 fame. He and A. T. Jones were deceived by Dr. Kellogg because
they greatly admired his high degree of intelligence. I was shown that this
very same irony is in high operation in the case of Professor Walter Veith.
Because of his intelligence in some secular matters, he is overly respected as
an authority on everything he teaches, and unfortunately that is a prime factor
in his ability to advance error to God’s people.
I was shown that Mr. Veith does not
intentionally deceive, but that he holds serious erroneous views on the below
listed issues, and that because of his knowledge in other areas, folk are the
more willing to believe his errors. The very same situation occurred with Dr.
John H. Kellogg. Men as intelligent and once godly as Jones and Waggoner were
deceived by Kellogg’s erroneous views on the Godhead, because they were
impressed with his keen intelligence.
The Trinity Doctrine error alone sweeps away the entire Christian economy, and Walter Veith supports that teaching and all who follow him in this error are corporately responsible for antichrist doctrine. Any false teaching on the issue of the Godhead is antichrist. There are men spending precious means for travelling all over the world who are not teaching the full truth regarding the following issues:
1.
A correct response
to the apostasy of the new movement.
2.
A correct teaching
on overcoming sin that will inspire the bride of Christ to make herself ready
with the aid of Christ’s Divine Nature Holy Spirit.
3.
They are not
teaching the truth on the Godhead. They are teaching the Trinity Doctrine which
sweeps away the entire Christian economy.
4.
A correct teaching
on corporate responsibility for the apostasy of the new movement.
5.
They are crossing
sea and land to make proselytes, whom they make twice the child of hell than
they are, Matt. 23:15, by instructing that God’s people should SUPER GLUE themselves
to a pew at the omega of apostasy new movement, where they will remain until
the next literal slaughter of Ezekiel 9, which begins at His church, His
Sanctuary, the House of Jacob, Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 211.
6.
Some point to numbers and
facilities as evidence of God’s blessing: "If you lower the standard in order to secure
popularity and an increase of numbers, and then make this increase a cause of
rejoicing (celebration), you show great blindness. If numbers were an evidence of success, Satan might
claim the preeminence for, in this world, his followers
are largely in the majority... It is the virtue, intelligence, and piety of the people
composing our churches, not their numbers, that should be a source of joy and
thankfulness.” Counsels to Teachers, p. 94.
7.
Were they teaching
ALL THE TRUTH that would be another matter. Because they are not, Matthew 23:15
accrues.
The Lord clearly showed me that the following
statement applies to Walter Veith, because of the light he has. He can thus
more easily deceive and lead many astray on all of the
issues enumerated above. I was shown that some folk are worshipping at his feet
because of the knowledge he possesses, and this makes them more susceptible to
be deceived.
“It
is those who have had the most light that Satan seeks
the most assiduously to ensnare. He knows that if he can deceive them, they can, under his control,
clothe sin with the garments of righteousness, and lead many astray. God
grant that our teachers may see and understand this, their great danger, and
that they may recover themselves from the snare of Satan,
and put forth redoubled efforts to save others who are exposed.” {21MR 172.7}
The omega heresy was to be a far worse and
more widespread error on the personality of God and Christ. That is fulfilled
to the letter in the false Trinity Doctrine, which is Rome’s Central Doctrine.
It is a very foolish virgin act on the part of professing Seventh-day
Adventists to not see this fact and study it out thoroughly.
Now Ellen White’s letter to Ellet J. Waggoner.
MR No. 1534—The Danger of False Views
About God
(Written October 2, 1903, from “Elmshaven,”
Sanitarium, California, to Dr. Ellet J. Waggoner. Portions of this manuscript
appear in Manuscript Release No. 201 and in Through Crisis to
Victory.)
I beseech you
by the mercy of God to be on your guard. To you and to other ministers and
teachers the Lord says, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” The
world is full of speculation and false theories regarding the nature and
character of God. The enemy of our souls is earnestly at work to introduce among
the Lord’s people pleasing speculation and incorrect views regarding the
personality of God. {21MR 171.1}
The fables that
are being accepted and taught by some of our medical writers are not to be
accepted as the truth of God. It will soon be discerned that they originate
with the great apostate, who works as an angel of light, influencing minds by a
deception so subtle that he would deceive, if possible, the very elect. {21MR 171.2}
I am authorized
to say to you that some of the sentiments regarding the personality of God, as
found in the book Living Temple, are opposed to the
truths revealed in the Word of God. Yet many physicians and teachers are
inclined to accept these fanciful ideas of God. To these I say, Awake to a
sense of your danger. {21MR 171.3}
It has been
presented to me that Satan is working in ways that man does not expect. At
times he puts on the robes of an angel of light, and many receive him as such a
being. If we will link
ourselves closely with Christ, Satan will have no power to overcome us. As we draw near to God, He draws
near to us and lifts up a standard for us against the
enemy. {21MR 171.4}
I have been
shown that some, even of those who are teachers of the Word of God, are in
great danger of being overcome. I saw some linking their arms in the arm of
Satan, while he talked most earnestly with them, telling them of the many
things that needed to be changed in the church. Afterward his words were
repeated by those to whom he had talked. They were delighted with what seemed
to them to be clearer perception and better methods of working. {21MR 171.5}
I say to all,
Be on your guard, for as an angel of light Satan is walking in every assembly
of Christian workers, and in every church, trying to win the members to his
side. I am bidden to give to the people of God the warning, “Be not deceived;
God is not mocked.” {21MR 171.6}
Had God desired
to be represented as dwelling personally in the things of nature—in the flower,
the tree, the spear of grass—would not Christ have spoken of this to His
disciples? To take the works of God, and represent them to be God, is a fearful
misrepresentation. This misrepresentation of God I was called upon to oppose at
the beginning of my work, when the Lord sent me forth to proclaim the message
that He should give me to speak. {21MR 172.1}
My labors on
this line began when I was seventeen years old, and since then I have been over
the ground again and again. Case after case has been presented to me, and the
power of God has rested on me as I have stood before large assemblies and called out the names of those
who were entertaining false views, telling them where such views would
lead them if they did not change. {21MR 172.2}
I have seen the
results of these fanciful views of God in apostasy, spiritualism, free-lovism. The free-love tendencies of these teachings were so
concealed that it was difficult to present them in their real character. Until
the Lord presented it to me I knew not what to call
it, but I was instructed to call it unholy spiritual love. {21MR 172.3}
I am warned
that we are not to talk of God as He is spoken of in Living Temple. The sentiments there expressed are a dishonor
to His greatness and His majesty. God forbid that our ministers should
entertain these ideas. For myself, I take my stand firmly against them. And I
entreat you to accept the message that I bear to you. I ask you to arouse to
your danger. Who by searching can find out God? {21MR 172.4}
The theory that He is an essence, pervading everything,
is one of Satan’s most subtle devices. I warn you to beware of being led to accept
theories leading to any such view. I tell you, my brother, that the most spiritual-minded
Christians are liable to be deceived by these beautiful, seducing, flattering
theories. But in the place of honoring God, these theories, in the minds of
those who receive them, bring Him down to a low level, where He is
nothingness. {21MR 172.5}
We have a
compassionate God, but He will not be trifled with. He will not be dishonored, and make no sign. May the danger into which some
of our teachers have fallen lead them to guard their feet carefully, that they
shall not wander again upon Satan’s ground. Let them walk humbly with
God. {21MR 172.6}
It is those who have had
the most light that Satan seeks the
most assiduously to ensnare. He knows that
if he can deceive them, they can, under his control, clothe sin with the
garments of righteousness, and lead many astray. God grant that our teachers
may see and understand this, their great danger, and that they may recover
themselves from the snare of Satan, and put forth
redoubled efforts to save others who are exposed. {21MR
172.7}
My
brother, do not try to reason in regard to the errors that the enemy
presents. If you will receive the testimony of the Lord, reading His Word with
a teachable heart, and refusing to put Scripture on the side of error to
maintain falsehood, you will believe that I speak the truth, as a messenger of
God. But if you allow the author of error to get between you and the Word, your
mind will bear his impress. {21MR 173.1}
If you will
believe the message that I bear you, you will see your danger. You can then put
on the gospel shoes and walk in the pathway of truth, following the true
Shepherd, who knows His sheep by name and calls them to follow Him. {21MR 173.2}
There is a strain of spiritualism coming in among our
people, and it will undermine the faith of those who give place to it, leading
them to give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. I have seen
the arch-deceiver tempting several of our ministers, teachers, and medical
workers, presenting fanciful theories to them in a most subtle and charming
manner, to wean their affection from those whom they should love and cherish.
He shows them charming pictures of women whom they have found congenial,
suggesting that in the future life they will be united to the one who is so
congenial and whom they will ever love throughout the ages of eternity. {21MR 173.3}
My message to
our teachers is, If you hold such views you need to be taught the first
principles of the truth. You
need to stand where you know that you are not departing from the faith and
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. When you break
the spell that is upon you, and become teachable, you will escape from Satan’s
snare. Through humility and reconversion you will
again be adopted into the family of God. {21MR 173.4}
To all who are
thus tempted I would say, I want to see you standing free before God. I want to
see you sound in the faith, holding the beginning of your confidence firm unto
the end. Leave every false issue alone. We cannot do our seed-sowing too
carefully, for we are sowing for eternity.—Letter 230, 1903. {21MR 173.5}
Ellen G. White Estate
Silver Spring, Maryland,
December 13, 1990.
Entire Letter.