------------- Last updated : March 9, 2002
Changes in Doctrine - 1
Changes in Doctrine - Part 1
by Bob Vun Kannon
The Doctrine that the Remnant is a "Church"
In this series of articles I will present evidence that after the death of James White in 1881, the doctrines of Adventism were changed. Furthermore, I will show through the identification of paragraphs and statements which were inserted into the Testimonies, that these new doctrines were written by Conference leaders and passed off as the words of Ellen White.
1. The Doctrine of the Remnant Church
The description of the remnant in the Bible is strongly contrasted with the concept of a church. The "remnant" in Rev. 12:17 is stated to be the "remnant of her seed." The word "her" refers to the woman or church which goes before the remnant. That church is readily identifiable in the Christian churches that existed during the 1260 year reign of the Papacy from 538 to 1798 A.D. The remnant is nowhere called a woman or a church, and by contrast with the symbol of a woman used to describe the foregoing organizations must be understood to be something other than a church.
Thus any reference to a "remnant church" must be wrong and contrary to the Bible. This exact phrase, the remnant church, occurs many times in the writings published as the work of Ellen White, but not one of them occurs before the death of James White. After his death, the Conference gained control of the publication of her works and, as we will shortly see, fabricated a new theology.
Examples of the use of the phrase "remnant church" abound in Conference-controlled publications, see ST 11-22-83 para. 02; RH 08-28-83 para. 13; ST 02-03-88 para. 05; ST 06-18-94 para. 10; RH 03-20-94 para. 5; RH 03-20-94 para. 8; RH 04-14-96 para. 7; RH 11-12-03 para. 1; RH 06-14-06 para. 16, RH 01-09-08 para. 1; Pacific Union Recorder 12-31-08 para. 02; RH 03-24-10 para. 8; RH 07-01-15 para. 16; and many other places.
You can easily find all of these locations where the treacherous phrase, "remnant church," exists by simply looking in Whitespeed for "remnant_church". What you won't find, is a single instance of that phrase before 1883. James White died in 1881.
There are even clearer proofs of the manipulation of the writings of Mrs. White by the conference leaders and editors. I refer to the nine volumes of the Testimonies which were published under the direction of Uriah Smith after James White died. Prior to his death, James White had jointly published 30 small volumes of Testimonies with his wife. These volumes were published independently by the couple up until his death. After that time, Uriah Smith undertook to republish all of the Testimonies, regrouping the works into fewer volumes.
The phrase "remnant church" occurs throughout the Conference version of the Testimonies. In volume five I find, "Zechariah's vision of Joshua and the Angel applies with peculiar force to the experience of God's people in the closing up of the great day of atonement. The remnant church will be brought into great trial and distress. Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects, he has gained control of the apostate churches; but here is a little company that are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. As he influenced the heathen nations to destroy Israel, so in the near future he will stir up the wicked powers of earth to destroy the people of God. All will be required to render obedience to human edicts in violation of the divine law. Those who will be true to God and to duty will be menaced, denounced, and proscribed. They will 'be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends.'" Testimonies for the Church, Volume Five, p. 472, Chap. 54, Para. 2.
I cannot find the phrase "remnant church" anywhere in the original Testimonies as published by James and Ellen White. For proof of this, search Whitespeed for "remnant_church" and specify "OT" for the books to search. You will come up with zero paragraphs because the phrase does not exist in the original works.
Worse yet, the entire paragraph cited above from 5T does not seem to occur anywhere in the original testimonies. It seems to be a pure invention of the Conference men.
In like manner, the following paragraph from volume 6 contains the same unbiblical phrase and I cannot find any paragraph in the original works which corresponds.
"Their only hope is in the mercy of God; their only defense will be prayer. As Joshua was pleading before the Angel, so the remnant church, with brokenness of heart and earnest faith, will plead for pardon and deliverance through Jesus their Advocate. They are fully conscious of the sinfulness of their lives, they see their weakness and unworthiness, and as they look upon themselves they are ready to despair. The tempter stands by to accuse them, as he stood by to resist Joshua. He points to their filthy garments, their defective characters. He presents their weakness and folly, their sins of ingratitude, their unlikeness to Christ, which has dishonored their Redeemer. He endeavors to affright the soul with the thought that their case is hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes to so destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations, turn from their allegiance to God, and receive the mark of the beast." Testimonies for the Church, Volume Five, p. 473, Chap. 54, Para. 1.
And again, in volume 6 I find the strange phrase in a paragraph that does not seem to occur in the original works.
"Mysteries into which angels desire to look, which prophets and kings and righteous men desired to understand, the remnant church will carry in messages from God to the world. The prophets prophesied of these things, and they longed to understand that which they foretold; but to them this privilege was not given. They longed to see what we see, and to hear what we hear; but they could not. They will know all when Christ shall come the second time; when, surrounded by a multitude which no man can number, He explains the deliverance wrought out by the great sacrifice He made." Testimonies for the Church, Volume Six, p. 19, Chap. 1, Para. 4.
I have not attempted to quote every occurrence of the phrase "remnant church" because there are simply too many. After its first creation in 1883, it seems to have been a popular catch phrase which was repeated over and over in the Conference literature.
One more example is perhaps worth mentioning. Two years after the death of Mrs. White, the Conference published the book Prophets and Kings in 1917 with her name on it. It is practically certain that she never had anything to do with that book. I have never found any reference in her writings, including her diaries, where she ever referred to preparing a manuscript for this book.
Little wonder then that we find the contradiction with the Bible in this book also. "Zechariah's vision of Joshua and the Angel applies with peculiar force to the experience of God's people in the closing scenes of the great day of atonement. The remnant church will then be brought into great trial and distress. Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects; he has gained control even of many professing Christians. But here is a little company who are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. As he influenced the heathen nations to destroy Israel, so in the near future he will stir up the wicked powers of earth to destroy the people of God. Men will be required to render obedience to human edicts in violation of the divine law." Prophets and Kings, p. 587, Chap. 47, Para. 2.
This paragraph, just quoted, contradicts a statement on page 1 of Spaulding and Magan. It is my understanding that the Spaulding and Magan volume was published outside of Conference control and that the letters which comprise that volume were also held outside of the E. G. White Estate.
In the following quote from that uncorrupted volume, we can clearly see that she foresaw two very distinct groups of Adventists, one of whom she called nominal Adventists and nominal Church. The nominal Adventists (or Conference) were those who would turn out to hate the second group because the second group, (the remnant), would continue to keep the seventh-day Sabbath and the nominal Adventists could not disprove that doctrine.
"I saw the nominal church and nominal Adventists, like Judas, would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come against the truth. The saints then will be an obscure people, little known to the Catholics; but the churches and nominal Adventists who know of our faith and customs (for they hated us on account of the Sabbath, for they could not refute it) will betray the saints and report them to the Catholics as those who disregard the institutions of the people; that is, that they keep the Sabbath and disregard Sunday. [Cf: Spaulding-Magan Collection p. 1 para. 05]" 1852 Manuscripts, p. 13, Para. 2.
Here, in the original writing of Sr. White, we find that she clearly recognized a difference between church Adventism and the remnant. The Adventist church is shown to be a persecuting power which persecutes the other group of Adventists. Furthermore, this church is stated to be the "nominal church". "Nominal church" can only mean Seventh-day Adventist Church because that is the only church with the name. The second group is not described as a church, just as the Bible does not describe the remnant as a church or woman.
We have clearly seen now two different theologies presented. Mrs. White presents the remnant as a non-church who are persecuted by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Conference materials present the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a "remnant church," which will be persecuted. We have seen entire paragraphs with false theology passed off as the writings of Sr. White.
The only possible conclusion is that the Conference changed at least one doctrine in order to cause Adventists to continue to cling to their church. The Testimonies, as published by the Conference, are corrupt and are not generally usable for doctrine. They have been shown to repeatedly disagree with the Bible.