The Folly of
the Positive—Negative Pole Theory
Used to Interpret Ellen White and Scripture
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Why would anyone implement such a
foolish system as the positive/negative pole theory? A very possible and
probable answer is that they would not like the answer they would arrive
at if they chose the weight of evidence formula as instructed by Ellen G.
White! Click to go to our Home Page
SDA Pastor A. Leroy Moore has come up with a most fallacious theory
for dealing with Ellen White's statements. He calls it the positive and
negative pole theory. He takes a negative statements and juxtaposes them with
positive statements and chooses the positive. How ignorant can one get? In a
statement I read by him, he juxtaposes a positive and negative statement by
Ellen White and then asks the question: "Which
do you prefer, the positive or the negative pole?” Then he goes on to imply that it is too
difficult to decipher the truth between the negative and positive statements. He totally
neglected very qualifying words in the positive statement referring to not
withdrawing from those who "believe" the three angel's message, not
considering that it is manifest unbelief
for the church leaders to violate the second angel's message and the
Midnight Cry which gave power to that message, by its liaison with Babylon's
Ministerial Associations, Counsels, Councils, Girdings,
and Confederacies. Further to that, in Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211, Ellen White indicts the watchmen with unbelief and A. Leroy Moore is one of
those “watchmen.” Moore’s man
conceived theory is not according to the weight of evidence formula. That
formula says to interpret all statements so that nothing contradicts. He and
his followers are not adept at discerning the many qualifying words and
phrases, so they can't take all the evidence and interpret it so that it does
not contradict. They just pit the positive against the negative and choose
what they wish. That’s what happens when man depends upon man’s theories
rather than the Spirit of Prophecy and the Holy Spirit. 1.
Weight of Evidence Formula: "1. Every word must have its proper
bearing on the subject presented in the Bible 2. All Scripture is necessary,
and may be understood by diligent application and study 3. Nothing revealed
in Scripture can or will be hid from those who ask in faith, not wavering 4.
To understand doctrine, bring all the scriptures together on the subject you
wish to know, then let every word have its proper influence and if you can
form your theory without a contradiction, you cannot be in error 5. Scripture
must be its own expositor, [interpreter] since it is a rule of itself. If I
depend on a teacher to expound to me, and he should guess at its meaning, or
desire to have it so on account of his sectarian creed, or to be thought
wise, then his guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom is my rule, and not the
Bible." E.G. White, Second Advent Review and Herald, 11-25-34, pr. 24. But
should we expect any more if we believe God’s instruction concerning the
watchmen in Isaiah 56:10-12. Church Leader Styled Shepherd
Watchmen as Compared to the True Watchmen (Prophet Messengers) on the Walls
of Zion In Isaiah
56:10-12, God describes the shepherd watchmen who should be the true
watchmen, and in Isaiah 62, he describes the true watchmen on the walls of
Zion. The distinctions are very dramatic. Please notice: "His WATCHMEN are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot
bark sleeping, lying down loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which
can never have enough, and THEY ARE SHEPHERDS that cannot understand:
they all look to their own
way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will
fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink and tomorrow shall
be as this day, and much more abundant." Isaiah 56:10-12. Ellen White
included professing Seventh-day Adventist shepherds in the class of dumb dogs
that will never bark again: "Here
we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the
stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given
great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the
people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need
not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in
former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and
they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too
merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus 'Peace and safety" is the
cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show
God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the
ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little
children all perish together." E. G. White, Testimonies,
Vol. 5, 211. Leaders:
"Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against
the pastors that feed my people Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them
away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of
your doings, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 23:1, 2. "Son
of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto
them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds Woe be to the shepherds of
Israel that do fee themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye
eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed but
ye feed not the flock." Ezekiel 34:2, 3. "They
shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they
do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me." John 16:2,
3. The False Watchmen Hate the True "Blessed
are ye, when men shall hated you, and when they shall separate you from their
company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son
of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your
reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the
prophets.... Woe unto
you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the
false prophets." Luke 6:22, 23, 26. The True Watchmen on the Walls of
True Zion Now
notice the characteristics of the true watchmen on the walls of Zion who are
called and chosen directly by God, as the bride for His Son Jesus: Zion is
the church triumphant which has always existed to come to the aid of any
valid church militant in any and every age: "The
members of the church triumphant--the church in heaven--will be permitted to
draw near to the members of the church militant, to aid them in their
necessity." E. G. White, The Southern Watchman, Sep. 8, 1903. "The
church is God's fortress, his city of refuge, which he holds in a revolted
world. Any betrayal of her sacred trust is treachery to him who has bought
her with the precious blood of his only begotten Son. In the past, faithful
souls have constituted the church on earth, and God has taken them into
covenant relation with himself, uniting the church on earth with the church
in heaven. He has sent forth his holy angels to minister to his church, and
the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against it." E. G.
White, Review and Herald, 12-04-1900. The Church in Heaven is the Church
Triumphant of Men Made Perfect – It has Earthly Representatives "But
ye are come unto mount Sion [Zion], and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly
and CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN, which are written in heaven, and to God the
Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men MADE PERFECT." Hebrews
12:22, 23. Further
Distinctions Between the Bride and the Ten Virgin Guests--The Ten-Virgins are
Awakened by the Voice of the Bride "Lingering
near [not at] the bride's house are ten young women robed in white. Each
carries a lighted lamp and a small flagon for oil. All are anxiously watching
for the appearance of the bridegroom. But there is a delay [since 1844]. Hour
after hour passes the watchers become weary and fall asleep. At midnight the
cry is heard, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him.' The
sleepers [all ten slept Matt. 25:5], suddenly awaking, spring to their feet.
They see the procession moving on, bright with torches and glad with
music. They hear the voice of
the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. The ten maidens seize
their lamps and begin to trim them, in haste to go forth, But five have
neglected to fill their flasks with oil [character]. They did not anticipate
so long a delay, and they have not prepared for the emergence." E. G.
White, Christ's
Object Lessons,
pp. 405, 406. If the
voice of the bride awakens the 10 virgins, then the bride is a separate
entity, who is awake before the awakening of the 10 virgins. This is attested
to in Isaiah 62:11, where the mother, Zion, says the same thing, in similar
words to her daughter. Only
Zion, Philadelphia, New Jerusalem, the Bride, the 144,000, the Firstfruits
[Firstborn] go into the Temple on Mt. Zion. "Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar IN THE TEMPLE of my God, and he shall go
no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of
the city of my God, which is NEW JERUSALEM, which cometh down out of heaven
from my God and I will write upon him my NEW NAME." Rev. 3:12. Conclusions: Zion
consists of the earthly representatives of the heavenly church of Hebrews
12:22, 23. They are like heavenly messengers who awaken the 10 virgin church
militants of guests. Only Zion goes into the Temple on Mt. Zion, as only the
priests of the earthly Sanctuary, went into the Temple: (Rev. 3:12--made a
pillar--leaders-in the Temple) and: "And
as we were about to enter the holy temple, Jesus raised His lovely voice and
said, 'Only the 144,000 enter this place," and we shouted,
'Alleluia." E. G. White, Early Writings, 19. "I
have set WATCHMEN upon thy walls, O [NEW] Jerusalem, which shall never hold
their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not
silence, And give him no rest, till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a
praise in the earth.... Go through, go through the gates prepare ye the way
of the people [the guests] cast up, cast up the highway gather out the stones
lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the
end of the world, Say ye to the daughter [guests] of Zion, Behold, thy
salvation cometh behold, his reward is with him, and his work before
him." Isaiah 62:6, 7, 10, 11. How do we
know Isaiah means NEW Jerusalem? Because verse two says: "...thou shalt
be called by A NEW NAME, which the mouth of the Lord shall name," and
Revelation 3:10-12, says that it is Philadelphia, who is kept through the
time of temptation that is to come upon all the world, who gets the NEW NAME,
and that the NEW NAME is NEW JERUSALEM. Church
militants are like OLD JERUSALEM in that they are comprised of wheat and
tares, or wise and foolish virgins. But earthly representatives of the
Heavenly Kingdom Church triumphant comprised of "perfect men" (Heb.
12:22, 23) are always present as true reformers to aid the church militants
who will receive their aid: "The
members of the church triumphant--the church in heaven--will be permitted to
draw near to the members of the church militant, to aid them in their
necessity." E. G. White, The Southern Watchman, Sep. 8, 1903. "Characteristics of True
Reformers.--Here
[Isa. 58:11-14] are given the characteristics of those who shall be
reformers, who will bear the banner of the third angel's message, those who
avow themselves God's commandment-keeping people, and who honor God, and are
earnestly engaged, in the sight of all the universe, in building up the old
waste places. Who is it that calls them, The repairer of the breach, The
restorers of paths to dwell in? It is God. Their names are registered
[written--Heb. 12:22, 23] in heaven as reformers, restorers, as raising the
foundations of many generations." E. G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, 1151. Zion, the Mother, the True
Watchmen, Never Sleep Day nor Night "I
have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their
peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not
silence." Isaiah 62:6. Zion the Holy, Righteous Mother or
True Shepherd of God's People, Versus the Daughter of Zion, the 10 Virgins
Who All Slept "While
the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." Matthew 25:5. "The
people of God, symbolized by a holy woman and her children, were represented
as greatly in the minority. In the last days only a remnant still existed. Of
these John speaks as they 'which keep the commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ." E. G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, 972. "The
leaven if godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the time when the
danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little company who are standing in the light will be sighing
and crying for the abominations that are done in the land. But MORE
ESPECIALLY will their prayers arise in behalf of the church because ITS MEMBERS are doing after the
manner of the world." Testimonies,
vol. 5, 209, 210. The True
Reformers can implement the weight of evidence formula interpreting all the
evidence so that nothing contradicts. This is the only way one can know
he/she is not in error. The positive/negative pole theory is about as foolish
a plan as could be devised. It is like taking the preponderance of
evidence or choosing the pleasant positive evidence over the weight of
evidence formula to interpret so that nothing contradicts. So why
would anyone implement such a foolish system as the positive/negative pole
theory? A very possible and probable answer is that they would not like the
answer they would arrive at if they chose the weight of evidence formula as
instructed by Ellen G. White! —rb |