Dear Reader,
There are two prime statements which seem to convince some Adventists of the trinity doctrine. They are:
Argument Made by Some SDA Trinitarians:
"Note that the three heavenly dignitaries God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. Ellen White says they are eternal, and they are dignitaries. To be a dignitary means you have to be a person."
"Also digest this statement. The Godhead was stirred with pity for the race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption."--Counsels on Health, p. 222. {7ABC 442.1}
Ron Beaulieu Commentary:
In connection with the above statement, I have quoted another where Ellen White included ONLY THE FATHER AND THE SON as working out this agreement. Here is that statement again:
"As the divine Sufferer hung upon the cross, angels gathered about Him, and as they looked upon Him, and heard His cry, they asked, with intense emotion, 'Will not the Lord Jehovah save Him?' ... Then were the words spoken: 'The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent. FATHER AND SON ARE PLEDGED TO FULFILL THE TERMS OF THE EVERLASTING COVENANT. God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Christ was not alone in making His great sacrifice. It was the fulfillment of the covenant made between Him and His Father before the foundation of the world was laid. With clasped hands they had entered into the solemn pledge that Christ would become the surety for the human race if they were overcome by Satan's sophistry." E.G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 76.
Naturally the Covenant was all planned and thought out, so that it was agreed that the Holy Spirit life and Soul of Christ would be sacrificed, and that the Holy Ghost of that Spirit would become His successor on earth, because His Divinity was encumbered by humanity for one thing, and because He had to give up His original life to meet the demands of the Everlasting Testator Covenant. As I have said, three days on the cross does not satisfy the Testator Agreement.
To make her two different statements about the parties to the Covenant interpret so that nothing contradicts, I would have to conclude that The Father, the Son, and their ONE ETERNAL HOLY SPIRIT, agreed to the Everlasting Covenant. In other words, they obviously agreed that the Spirit of Christ, would become His successor on earth after the Incarnation, and this is the sense in which she means that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. Naturally, the element of Christ laying aside His original and personal life (Holy Spirit) as His successor, was part of the plan, because Divinity cannot die--it can however be laid aside, which is as good as death to that state of Being.
These statements have to be interpreted with the ones I give so that nothing contradicts. Ellen White is obviously speaking of the heavenly trio after it became a heavenly trio--after the Incarnation. All three are eternal dignitaries--ALL THREE involve eternal persons.
1. Christ the Father
2. The Holy Ghost (Spirit) of the Son's Original Life which was eternal which became the successor to Christ as His representative on earth after His incarnation.
3. Jesus Christ glorified in the form of full divinity and full humanity forever.
These are the three heavenly dignitaries, that have existed FOREVER, without any need for a third person Holy Spirit existing from eternity.
Will you please do me a sincere favor? Will you print this post and read it before asking the same questions over and over, thinking that you have a point, when you do not. I am not asking your agreement. I am asking you to prove the above scenario wrong. It cannot be done, but I will read and pray over any rebuttals.
Another Statement:
The eternal heavenly dignitaries--God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit--arming them [the disciples] with more than mortal energy, . . . would advance with them to the work and convince the world of sin.--Evangelism, p. 616. {7ABC 442.4}
The above statement does not prove that the Holy Spirit existed as a third person from eternity whatsoever. It proves that the Father, the Original Holy Spirit life of the Son, which became His successor on earth at the Incarnation, and the Incarnated life of the Son were and are three persons that exist eternally.
Sincerely,
Ron Beaulieu