Review of Glyn Parfitt’s manuscript:

The Trinity, What Has God Revealed.

A Collaborative Effort
Edited by Brendan P. Knudson

Contents

Pulling the Trinity out of a Hat, Part 1: 1

Hermeneutricks
Brendan Knudson

Examine Yourselves, Whether You Are In The Faith 12

Caroline Andrew

The Remnant & the Latter Rain 17

Blair Andrew

What Has God Revealed? 21

Blair Andrew

Pulling the Trinity out of a Hat, Part 2: 30

Myths and Fables
Brendan Knudson

Begotten or Not Begotten 36

Terry Hill

Christ our God 62

Blair Andrew

The Holy Spirit 70

Margaretha Tierney

What is Truth? What does it Weigh? 75

Blair Andrew

Pulling the Trinity out of a Hat, Part 3: 80

Arithmagic
Brendan Knudson

Appendix: When Trinity Doesn’t Mean Trinity 86

Brendan Knudson

1st Oct, 2008

 Pulling the Trinity Out of A Hat, Part 1:
Hermeneutricks
Brendan P. Knudson

This being the first paper of review for Glyn Parfitt’s forthcoming book, The Trinity,
What Has God Revealed? Objections Answered (hereafter TT:WHGR), I would like to
here introduce the project and the motivation behind it. Over the past few years, I
have come to know the author, mostly in the context of the Trinity discussion. He was
initially sent my way by a mutual friend, Allan Lindsay, who hoped that I might be
edified. I certainly have been.

While we disagree in some of our conclusions, we have found that we agree more
often than not, and I consider Glyn to be personal friend and respect him for his
convictions. My participation in this review should thus be read in the context of the
high esteem I hold Glyn in, as a friend, scholar and fellow Christian. The titles for my
papers are not meant to belittle him, nor to cast judgement on his intentions, but
reflect how I perceive the subject matter has been dealt with in order to uphold a
Trinitarian conclusion. I hope that the examples I provide are enough to substantiate
the title choice.

This review project came about after the book became available on CD, prior to being
printed. After procuring and perusing a copy, I immediately contacted the author.
While there are some definite strengths, which I will outline shortly, I felt that the
author had opened himself up to rebuttal in many areas and offered to head up a team
of those who held different conclusions to prepare this pre-publication review. My
concerns were for the author himself, that he was going to be investing money in this
book, and also for the church at large, for I feel this book could further widen the gulf
between Trinitarian and non-trinitarian Seventh-day Adventists.

I was glad that Glyn accepted the offer and am grateful that he has delayed printing so
that this review had adequate time to be prepared. All of the participants in the review
have been non-trinitarians for some time, and have written on the topic from that point
of view. I was personally involved in ministry and research within the non-trinitarian
“movement” for a couple of years, before returning to the Conference and submitting
to the appropriate channels. I believe this experience, as well as my friendship with
Glyn, qualify me to contribute to and edit this collaborative effort. My hope, beyond
the personal benefit to Glyn Parfitt of having this review, is that this might help pave
the way to dialogue and reconciliation between those who hold to the historic and
modern beliefs about God within Adventism.

Before moving on, I would like to thank also those who have contributed to this
project and introduce their efforts. Blair Andrew has written four contributions on
various aspects of the book. In some instances he parallel’s my own thoughts from a
different angle, and at times he gives a succinct perspective of the historic belief of
Adventism which Glyn failed to adequately represent. Caroline, his wife, has written a
thoughtful contribution dealing with where bias comes from and challenges all to
examine whether we hold to certain biases in our conclusions. Terry Hill has
responded more on the Christological content of Glyn’s book, reviewing from the

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point of view of the “begotten” issues. Margaretha Tierney has focused more on the
Pneumatology of Glyn’s book and appeals that there can be more than one way of
looking at evidence. I am grateful that each of these members of the review team
made time in their busy schedules to fit this in and that they wrote in a Christian,
though at times passionate, way.

Strengths

I want to mention here three of what I consider to be the greatest strengths of Glyn
Parfitt’s (hereafter GP) contribution to the Trinity discussion. While I might qualify
the extent of these strengths, I do not wish to be seen as giving a backhanded slap to
the author in this section. He is to be commended for these areas where I believe he
has surpassed others who have written from the same point of view in the past.

The first strength is the extensive research he has engaged in. While this has mostly
been done to support the Trinitarian position, both parties should welcome fresh
evidence for consideration. Of particular note are the Avondale Press statement of
beliefs and the studies in Hebrew word families, which bear further reflection.

The second, and to me more important strength of GP’s work is the genuine attempt
that has been made to engage and interact with the non-trinitarian position. While it is
not explicitly stated in his book, I feel he treats non-trinitarians with respect as people
and Christian brethren, as opposed to previous works which seem to either ignore the
human component (in zeal to defend a doctrine), or malign the motives of those who
disagree with them. He refrains from using emotionally charged labels such as
“Arian,” “Semi-Arian” and even “Anti-Trinitarian” and acknowledges that there is
actually agreement in certain places which have not been conceded before, for
instance:

"The full Deity of Christ has never been a matter of contention among
Seventh-day Adventists. To my knowledge, all who mentioned the subject
claimed to believe in it. Nevertheless, there may be some readers for
whom information on this subject may be helpful. A brief exposition of
the Deity of Christ has therefore been included, together with statements
from the pioneers affirming it." – TT:WHGR, p. 19.

It is heartening to see statements as the above in the author’s book. While I deal with
some inconsistencies regarding his statements on the deity of Christ later on, I am
pleased to see his fair and honest appraisal on this matter. The author also concedes
that non-trinitarians do not hold to their position without intelligent reason:

"I freely admit that, when dealing with the subject of the Trinity, we will
find some pieces of evidence for which the most natural explanation is a
non-Trinitarian position. It will be up to the reader to judge where the
weight of the evidence lies after considering all the information available."
– ibid, p. 20

The strengths above culminate in the third – that this should be acknowledged as the
best critique of the non-trinitarian position. I think all non-trinitarians would do well
to read this book, for there are some minor positions which I believe we have held to

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extremes. GP’s book provides an opportunity to re-evaluate some of these and let go
of those things which are untenable. Some of this has already occurred, as will be
mentioned below, others need to be further assessed by individuals and thought
leaders that represent the non-trinitarian position today. I believe that in setting aside
and repudiating errors which can be clearly shown, non-trinitarians can make their
own steps towards positive dialogue and hopefully reconciliation with the church at
large.

To conclude this section, I hope that all parties can be benefited from the new
evidence in TT:WHGR and that all parties can emulate the Christian way in which the
author approaches those who hold opposing points of view.

Hermeneutic considerations

It is not the purpose of this paper to defend the non-trinitarian position, but to
highlight oversights which are more readily apparent by one reading from my
perspective. What follows are nine different areas where I believe that GP could
improve in, with specific regards to hermeneutic. My contribution, beginning in this
paper will be continued by part 2, which will look more at historic considerations and
concluded by a paper which examines the innovative mathematical “weight of
evidence” concept in TT:WHGR and gives final recommendations of the review
project.

1. Seeming confusion over some issues

We saw earlier regarding the deity of Christ that GP conceded that non-trinitarians
agree on this. He further gives a list of quotes from pioneer SDA’s as well as modern
non-trinitarians which affirm the deity of Christ (found on pages 104, 105). Despite
this, in the final calculation, on pages 382 and 383, the deity of Christ is given weight
only on the side of the Trinity. If the author is to follow through on his statements
regarding the deity of Christ, he should assign this weight to both sides, or not assign
it at all, since it is a crucial part of both Trinitarian and non-trinitarian Seventh-day
Adventism.

The same might be said for the “eternal existence of the Holy Spirit,” which GP states
“is not particularly controverted.” p. 382. This issue is likewise agreed upon by both
parties. I would personally add that non-trinitarians agree that the Holy Spirit is
divine, and since GP has included the deity of the Spirit as a separate category to the
distinctness/personhood1 of the Spirit, would put forth that these are all worthy of
being given weight on both sides (or to cancel each other out). These comments do
not reflect agreement with the GP’s method of assigning weight, but have to do more
with the consistency of such.

2. Failure to truly walk in non-trinitarian shoes

Not to detract from what I said earlier about the author’s respect for non-trinitarians
and their beliefs, there are limitations to the extent that GP has done this. There are
two things that are most readily apparent regarding this point. Firstly, GP seems to
deal solely with how non-trinitarians have expressed themselves in writing. By this I

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mean that he sometimes gets sidetracked with the way that an author has expressed an
argument, rather than looking at the principle behind that argument.

Extending from this is the fact that GP uses seriously outdated writings in answering
his objections. I understand that there may be some who still (according to private
conversation with GP) distribute Fred Allaback’s No New Leaders, No New Gods,
but, this would certainly be a small minority of individuals. Allaback’s book appears
to have begun the resurgence of non-trinitarian Seventh-day Adventism, but as with
the beginning of many movements, it is riddled with extreme statements and positions
which have been backed away from by most non-trinitarians today (though some may
yet need relinquishing). GP’s use of Allaback’s thoughts on the Holy Spirit being the
angels, and his explanation of the term Godhead are really straw men in the modern
discussion, 13 years on from the printing of this book.

Allen Stump’s Foundation of our Faith, is still distributed in some places, but it is in a
later revision to that used by GP (now it’s 6th). Sherlene Turner, who I personally
know, also does not reflect more than a small minority position. While the small
weights assigned their objections are justified, inclusion of such objections might only
serve to give the impression that all non-trinitarians hold to such positions, when I
know many to be moderate and balanced.

While in some places the author does seem to grasp the impetus behind non-trinitarian
perspectives, there are many places where he doesn’t seem to have looked at things as
a non-trinitarian would. I believe this to be a more fatal flaw than any other, for it
leads on to some of the others yet to be mentioned. I say this because I believe that the
direction the author headed in, in engaging non-trinitarians, is the right one, and that
the more that can be done in this regard, the greater the results will be. The same is
true of non-trinitarians engaging Trinitarian perspectives on passages.

3. Relying on previous theories without critically examining them

This consideration will be more prominent in my second paper on the historical parts
of TT:WHGR, but basically there are certain assumptions or ideas presented by
previous authors, which GP perpetuates. One that bears on hermeneutic, and which
may appear minor, is that of Dale Moody’s statement that Tyndale did not translate
monogenƝs as “only begotten”. GP’s treatment of this is found on page 154. It is true
that Tyndale did not translate the word as “only begotten” in John 3:16, 18, however,
a search of the other Johannine uses (which can be done in many places on the web)
will show that it was translated by Tyndale as “only begotten” in John 1:14, 18, and 1
John 4:9.

This concludes the more general principles. The next six points will hold more in the
way of examples.

4. Leaving out information/disconnecting from context.

On pages 95 and 96, GP addresses the clause “the Word was God” from John 1:1. GP
appears to only examine whether the clause should be translated with an indefinite
article or not. He does not at all address the third option, that the clause is qualitative.
This treatment can be found in other books on the trinity, including that by Moon,

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Widden and Reeve, The Trinity, pp. 58-65 (also in Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar
Beyond the Basics, pp 256-270).

On page 101, GP deals with the “Thy throne O God is for ever and ever,” from Heb.
1:8. However, he does not examine verse 9, where the Father (who is speaking to the
Son) calls Himself “Thy God” or the God of the Son. These considerations do not
necessarily detract from the deity of Christ, but may clarify our understanding of His
divinity.

In the section dealing with the Holy Spirit as “He” in John 14-16 (TT:WHGR, pp.
245-248), GP doesn’t mention that there is at least one leading Greek scholar who has
not seen John as breaking the rules of grammar in this instance (Daniel Wallace, op
cit, pp. 331, 332). I have personally made this material known to GP, so know that he
had access to it.

In the section “another Comforter” (TT:WHGR, pp. 249-252), GP does not look in
depth at the word “allos,” and show that on at least one occasion (1 Sam. 10:6 LXX),
this word has been used of the same individual. Nor does he deal with the full context
of this quote. Two verses on from “another Comforter”, many non-trinitarians point
out that Christ says, “I will come to you.”

In the list of activities which only a person can do (ibid, pp. 252-254), no mention is
made of the fact that a similar list can be made up for man’s spirit. Neither is this
counter-balancing evidence brought up as an objection. This seems strange, given that
GP gives this section a 90% weight in favour of the personality of the Holy Spirit (as
he understands it).

Finally, on page 274, GP deals with the objection that we are never told to pray to the
Holy Spirit. GP, dealing with the wording of Fred Allaback, states that there is no
command to worship Christ. However, if we are to honour the Son as we honour the
Father, this would include worship (John 5:22-23). Also, there is the issue of example.
There are many examples of worship to Christ, and a few of prayer to Him (eg. Acts
7:59) GP only deals with the examples of worship in parenthesis and footnote. In an
attempt to show that the Holy Spirit is to be loved, GP’s use of Ellen White is a
stretch at best, since the word “cherished” was often used of abstracts and inanimates,
such as a “cherished doctrine,” for instance.

5. Hermeneutic double standards

This pitfall is seen most forcefully in the section regarding the “Himself Divested”
quote on pages 337-342. In this section, GP attempts to demonstrate a different
meaning for “divested”. To do so, he brings as evidence a situation where Ellen White
used “divested” alongside “free”. Next, he argues a rigid difference between “free”
and “freed” and that since Ellen White did not use “freed” then divested must not
necessarily mean that the Holy Spirit had humanity before being “divested”.

"Here the word 'divested' is used in parallel with, and synonymously with
the word 'free.' Now the word 'free' is different from 'freed'. The word
'freed' implies previous bondage but the word 'free' does not imply this. I
am a free man, but I have never been in prison. Likewise, the expression

5
 'free from affectation' does not imply that the person was previously
subject to this habit.

"The coupling of the word 'free' with the word 'divested' in this way
indicates that the word 'divested,' as used by Ellen White need not
necessarily imply that the attribute or thing was previously possessed." –
TT:WHGR, p. 339, emphasis in original

This is a lot of effort to explain a statement in a Trinitarian context. The double

standard can be seen in the fact that Glyn does not at all establish the rigid difference
between free and freed. In fact, of the 4492 occurrences of “free” on the Complete
published Ellen White writings CD, 7 of the first 10 instances of the word mean what
GP suggests “freed” exclusively means.

GP manages to find a 12 volume dictionary to suggest the possibility of “divested”

meaning “devoid”. It contains two references in support of this. It is interesting that
GP consults a dictionary written after Ellen White’s death, which references two uses
of the word that were written before her birth to establish how she herself used the
word, even saying that she was in “good company.” Of the two examples, I have
managed to find one of the books (W. H. Ireland, Scribbleomania) in context and
there is a suggestion of the normal meaning of the word. The other, going only by the
section as quoted by GP, is ambiguous as to the meaning, without the greater context.

Finally on this argument, GP argues that Christ has retained humanity so the quote
could not refer to Him, because He isn’t divested of it. This is founded upon an
unestablished myth that Christ, in retaining humanity, is still limited by it. The quote
is speaking of the encumbrances of humanity, not humanity itself. When Christ was
here on earth, He did not use His own power, but relied upon His Father’s. Also, He
was limited by a human body. After His resurrection, He was able to change/conceal
His real appearance, become invisible, and possibly walk through objects. These are
definitely not normal for humans. The Bible speaks of Christ as filling all things and
becoming a life giving spirit upon His ascension (Eph. 4:10, 1 Cor. 15:45).

As well as this, GP fails to examine the subject of the entire paragraph in question. He
makes the assertion that the “is himself” refers to the Holy Spirit and not to Christ.
However, the subject in the sentences preceding and following is Christ, with all
personal pronouns referring to Him.

6. Giving only two choices (a subtle straw man)

One of the most difficult things for a Trinitarian to express is the harmony between
“One God” and “three Persons.” There is a similarly difficult paradox for those who
hold to the pioneer understanding of the Godhead. The sovereignty of the Father is
often stated as being the “One God” or “Only True God” (John 17:3), yet it is also
acknowledged that Christ is called God. GP, in commenting on the issue, states:

"As with ’echƗd (259) in the Old Testaement, those who take the view that
this is the meaning in those verses describing God as 'one' in the New
Testament will find that it proves too much and in two ways. Not only
does it deprive Jesus of any kind of Deity, it also deprives the Father of

6
 being Lord, for there is only 'one Lord Jesus Christ' according to this
view." – TT:WHGR, p. 52

GP gives the impression that non-trinitarians prove too much with their argument that
the Father is the “one God” mentioned in Scripture. This is in fact a subtle straw man,
for it presents the reader with only two options – the understanding he proposes, or
the understanding he SAYS that non-trinitarians have, and what it leads to. There is a
third option, which while some have had difficulty expressing, does resolve the
paradox nicely.

Another instance where only two options are given is regarding the Holy Spirit, where
GP states:

"Is the Holy Spirit just a power or an influence, the Spirit of Christ or the
Spirit of the Father that emanates or is sent from Them to convict (sic)
guide (sic) direct (sic) and empower us? Or does the Holy Spirit have an
individuality and a personality all His own?" – ibid, p. 244

Here again, GP subtly presents a straw man that non-trinitarians believe the Holy
Spirit to be “just” a power or influence. Again, this is a matter of paradox to a non-
trinitarian, with a third, harmonising option quite sufficient to explain the seeming
contradiction. As an introduction to the personality of the Spirit, this plants in the
mind of the reader a bias against the non-trinitarian view, as they are not given the
opportunity to understand it first.

More serious straw men appear in the next section.

7. Misdirecting the reader’s attention

Regarding the non-use of “trinity” by Ellen White, GP appears to misdirect onto the
“Trinitarian sounding” statements as a way to lower the weight of this argument. In
doing so, he misdirects from the fact that she appears to deliberately not use it (GP is
aware of at least one instance where this is the case, as brought out in my research on
“heavenly trio” statement). Also, if he was going to use “Trinitarian sounding”
statements that were not yet hermeneutically established, it would only be fair to
counter this with non-trinitarian sounding statements, which he readily admits exist
(as quoted earlier from page 20).

In the section on “one God” in the Old Testament, GP fails to comment that after
Christ’s quotation of the Shema, He states that “there is none other but He.” This
reflection is made by most non-trinitarians who have commented on that passage.
This seems to indicate a singular person (other than Christ), and not a collective
group.

In the section on “was made in the express image” (pp. 217-222), GP rightly enquires
about Ellen White’s use of Hebrews 1:3. He separates uses into pre-incarnate,
incarnate, post-resurrection and indefinite time. What he fails to do is treat the
different contexts for the way in which it is used. For instance, the incarnate refer to
the hidden or veiled divinity of Christ while here on earth, but not his outward
appearance. Therefore it is in a qualified sense that it is used in the incarnation.

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The smokescreen created by this classifying actually does GP’s final explanation
some harm. He intends to relegate the “made in the express image” to the incarnation.
However, if GP already acknowledges that was in this state before the incarnation,
then why did he have to be remade in this way? To make his case, GP misdirects onto
how “made” is used in the New Testament, failing to comment on the original Greek,
which is ginomai and which allows for many more instances of different translation
which may be pre-incarnate (such as John 1:15). In all, GP’s treatment of this quote
leaves much to be desired.

Equally disappointing is GP’s treatment of the objection which follows, “A Son

begotten (pp. 223-225). Apart from leaving out the fact that this statement very
closely resembles one from E. J. Waggoner in Christ and His Righteousness (he
separates this fact from consideration by dealing with it separately), GP argues that it
refers to Christ in the incarnation. He again confuses the uses of “express image” and
gives an example of “the brightness of divine glory” from an incarnate looking
statement to argue that this quote is likewise referring to that period. Here is the quote
as he emphasises it:

"Looking upon Christ in the flesh, we look upon God in humanity, and
see in Him the brightness of divine glory, the express image of God the
Father. (Selected Messages, Book 3, pg 127, 128)." – TT:WHGR, p. 224

This quote actually comes from a Youth Instructor article called “Child Life of Jesus –
No. 1” (21-11-1895). This short article begins by speaking about how Christ did not
come in any visible manifestation of glory or beauty, but that He laid this aside. In
this sentence, GP fails to highlight that the “brightness of divine glory” was “in Him.”
This is again qualified and in a way not shared by the ST statement in question. In the
end, GP makes the case that the new sense of Sonship was begotten, but that He
wasn’t begotten before this, however, GP doesn’t explain the context of the pre-
incarnate Sonship to state what the “old sense” was. Again, this is confused through
misdirecting the reader’s attention from those things which might serve to explain the
context.

Many more could be given in example of this point, but the last one, which is used
quite a lot, will have to do for space concerns. The Allaback argument linking the
Holy Spirit and the angels, which has few, if any, current proponents, is used often in
the Holy Spirit section, with a whole objection dealing with it. While it is justifiable to
deal with this objection, to continually bring it up tends to reinforce bias where there
is no need to do so.

8. Speculation

The major examples of speculation we shall consider all come from the section “God
gave His Son” on pages 200-203. In here we find many elements of speculation,
which are almost admittedly so by GP. Here, GP tries to validate the term Son of God
as applying to Christ before the incarnation without any of the trappings of what that
means. He speculates briefly about the nature of eternity (something he does not
clearly define anywhere in his book). However, the major point of speculation is as to
the term “Son.”

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To undermine the subjective reasoning of non-trinitarians, whereby the love of God is
shown in the fact that God and Christ are Father and Son, and that the sacrifice was
great, GP focuses on the modern practice of embryo cloning and puts a negative light
on the matter, saying that the Father could be accused of merely bringing forth a
convenient other to die in His place. Apart from being insulting, it is completely
irrelevant. Non-trinitarians understand that it was impossible for God the Father to
have been the one to come and die, since He was the absolute source of all existence.
Christ, being both divine and begotten, could do this though, and that was what was
agreed upon. GP leaves out the fact that in Early Writings (p. 127), an angel told Ellen
White that it was a struggle for the Father to allow His Son to accept the part of man’s
redeemer.

GP perpetuates the argument that “sonship” statements prior to the incarnation are
anticipatory. This he does without looking specifically at any of the relevant passages,
as in the Early Writings one above, as well as the early chapters of Patriarchs and
Prophets, Spiritual Gifts and Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 1.

9. Assumptions based on ambiguous facts and faulty logic

The major point to be looked at here has to do with the threeness of the persons of
God, especially in GP’s treatment of the Great Commission. Most, if not all,
Trinitarians imply the trinity from various “triads” in Scripture. These are either seen
as lists of the three, as in Matthew 28:19, or merely mention of the three within close
literary proximity. Yet not one of these lists defines three co-equal, co-eternal persons
in one God.

GP has this to say about the verse in Matthew:

"Here in Matt. 28:19, the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit) is linked with the
Father and the Son on equal terms. Since the Father and the Son are
personal beings with individual identities, it would be strange if the Holy
Spirit was not also a personal being having individuality. That this is so
can be seen from the following.

"Whenever things or people are grouped together in a list, the grouping

shows that there is something common to each member of the group.
Thus, Peter, James and John form the inner circle of Jesus' disciples. Paul
and Barnabus were missionaries to the Gentiles. Gold, frankincense and
myrrh were gifts brought to Jesus by the wise men. etc. We never read
about Peter, James and Paul. Nor would we even think of saying Peter
(sic) James and myrrh. Likewise we would not think of listing the Father,
the Son and Peter together, or Father, Son and Gabriel. Certainly, to list
the Father, the Son and gold would be most inappropriate.

"From these examples we can see that the items in a list must be on the
same level of existence, and they must have at least one common element
which causes them to be grouped together. These considerations lead us to
conclude that the Holy Spirit must be of the same nature and dignity as the
Father and Son. There must also be something they have in common

9
 which causes them to be listed together." – TT:WHGR, p. 244, emphasis in
original

What is seen above is very faulty logic. Yes, it is logical that if items or persons are
listed together, there must be a commonality between them. However, to insist that
this commonality is the “same level of existence” goes beyond logic, and if the
commonality is not specified in the immediate context, it is an assumption to insist
upon one for any other reason.

Take Peter, James and John, for example. The commonality is, as the author suggests,
that these were the inner core of disciples. This comes from the fact that these three
witnessed some of the major scenes of Jesus’ earthly experience. However, to assume
more than this would be dangerous. One could, for example, assume that all three
were brothers, based on the fact that James and John were brothers. The fact that two
are explained to be brothers does not mean that anyone else listed with them should be
considered to share that same relationship. Likewise, it is going beyond the facts to
assume that the Holy Spirit shares all that the Father and Son do, based upon a mere
list.

While I do not believe that the Angels are on an equal footing with the Father and
Son, there is a list in Scripture of “God,” “Christ” and the “elect angels” (1 Tim.
5:21). If GP is insisting upon the “same level of existence,” he would have a problem
here. In Matt. 28:19, we learn nothing more than that there is one (singular) name
which covers “Father,” “Son” and “Holy Spirit.” We learn nothing specific about the
nature of these three, or their interrelatedness from this verse.

"Since the Father and the Son are each Divine Beings, having distinct,
individual (sic) personal identities, we must therefore conclude that the
Holy Spirit is a Divine Being with a distinct (sic) personal (sic) individual
identity. It would not be appropriate to list the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
together if the Holy Spirit was merely a power or an influence, or even a
part of the Father and/or the Son." – TT:WHGR, p. 245.

This conclusion is seen then to be unsupported. Even the grammatical consideration

which follows is inconclusive, and doesn’t demand that there be three beings or
persons of equal nature in the way the trinity implies. Again, GP speaks of “merely a
power or influence.” This misrepresents the non-trinitarian position. Perhaps he would
be correct if this was the case, but non-trinitarians do acknowledge that the Holy
Spirit has a distinct economic function to the Father and Son, though not having a
separate individual identity. This passage would fit such an explanation. In the end,
there is no reason for the large weight assigned this passage, nor the author’s
concluding words:

"If this passage were the only Scriptural statement bearing on the subject,
it would, I think, be sufficient to settle the matter for most people." – loc.
cit.

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Summary Judgement on Hermeneutic

Based upon the above sample of issues, which is by no means exhaustive, I believe it
has been demonstrated that TT:WHGR fails to meet an objective evidentiary standard.
While going beyond previous authors in seeking to engage non-trinitarian
perspectives, Glyn fails in consistency and maintains a subtle bias, which affects his
treatment of key texts and will flow on to any readers.

The lack of carefulness regarding the research and the assumptions made contribute to
a poor balance in the final weightings, which will be explained in the final part of my
contribution. More examples of some of these fallacies will be further demonstrated in
part 2 of my contribution, dealing with historical considerations.

I believe that the shortfalls in hermeneutic are serious enough to expose Glyn Parfitt
to easy rebuttal and should be resolved before going to print with these things. I
believe that if Glyn was more consistent in applying his exacting enquiries into the
words, texts and quotes commonly used by Trinitarians, or into his own explanations,
he would come up with a very different picture.

1
GP tends to use “personality” and “personhood” synonymously. Non-trinitarians actually have no
problem with the Holy Spirit having or being personality, and it is a major part of their belief.

11
 Examine Yourselves, Whether You are in the Faith
Caroline Andrew

Like any good movie or book, the Bible is chock full of ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’.
Wearing the white hat and riding on the white horse are the humble and obedient
children of the Most High God – faithful to the commission that the Lord gave them
during their lives. And on the other hand are the bad guys (wearing the black hat, of
course!) – the ones with their own agendas, trying to manipulate those around
them…even God in some cases…to achieve their desires.

Let’s narrow it down and look at the life of Jesus. Yes, He’s the good guy and
surprisingly, everyone else is a potential bad guy. At the outset of the story it’s not
clear who will take a stand on the side of Jesus and who won’t, but it doesn’t take
long for a familiar pattern to emerge; many of those who were entrusted with the role
of being spiritual guides to the people opposed Jesus actively to the point of planning
his death. Of course, they weren’t his only opponents, but because of their position
and influence, their opposition was all the more effective.

You would think that if you found yourself in the place where you were basically
planning to murder someone, that somewhere deep in your heart an alarm bell might
start to ring, and you might just stop for a minute or two to consider, “Isn’t this
somewhat contradictory to my beliefs and profession?” Fortunately, some did have
that experience, and those men eventually did make their stand for Jesus.

But what about those who didn’t? What misplaced zeal led them to kill the Son of
God? John records the following concerns that the chief priests and Pharisees
expressed:
“What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this,
everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our
place and nation.” Caiaphas went on to rebuke the nay-sayers to this plan with this
reasoning – by killing Jesus they would prevent the whole nation from perishing.

Wow – these guys really thought that the nation of Israel was really important, didn’t
they!

Unfortunately, these people fell into a common trap, where the institution of the
nation’s religious office became the master to be served, instead of being the vehicle
of service - a way of serving God and the people. It was therefore inevitable that
when God should ordain that the services of the Sanctuary be superseded by the One
they pointed to (Jesus), that those who placed all their hopes in their ‘church’ would
actually end up opposing God.

Jesus warned his disciples (and us) of this spirit of misplaced religious zeal in these
words:
“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They
will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will
think that he offers God service.” John 16:1, 2.

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Has anything changed in 2,000 years? I can testify from personal experience that it
hasn’t! And the sore point which prompts this reaction is the same now as then:
anything that threatens the smooth, continued operation of the prevailing religious
institution is the enemy which must be defeated at all costs.

So, let me tell you about my experiences. After 7 years as a faithful church member,
the Lord led my husband and me to discover the original teachings of our church on
the Godhead, and to understand that the Trinity doctrine had only been officially
adopted by the church in the previous 20 years. That in itself was a big enough shock,
but as the evidence mounted I had another lesson to learn; the inability of the majority
of people to fairly evaluate the idea that the Trinity is incorrect. By that I mean, not
jumping to conclusions, or getting tripped up by what they perceived to be the results
of not believing the Trinity doctrine. I understand why this can be hard, because I
myself had to avoid doing so when I first faced this issue.

Two of the first hurdles for me were, “But all religions that don’t believe the trinity
are a cult,” and “Everyone knows that the Trinity is the truth.” However, since I
hadn’t been trained to take verses out of context and make them fit the Trinity mold,1
when I studied the subject from the Bible I could see clearly what every honest Bible
scholar has freely admitted: The Bible does not teach explicitly that there is a Trinity2.

Initially, my ability to quickly “see” what I did made me naively think that others
would see it just as quickly. Was I in for a shock! What I encountered was other
people’s hurdles that were somewhat similar to mine, but there were more of them.
Their objections led to this thought, “But if you believe that the church is wrong in
accepting the Trinity doctrine, then you must believe the church is Babylon/in
apostasy… and if that is the case, you would have to leave the church.”

Bingo – there’s that sore point again! This thought seemed sufficient for them to
dismiss any other evidence presented as invalid. It was almost like an intellectual
‘Restricted Zone’ that eliminated the need for all other questions, and negated all
evidence presented. There is something about questioning church doctrine which
immediately places you under investigation for condemning the church.

Proud to be an Adventist?
When I became an Adventist, there was one thought that was promulgated repeatedly
to me, and emphasised quite strongly (which I will attempt to summarise as follows,
and refer to hereafter as the “Remnant Church” concept):
The Adventist Church is the only church that believes the whole Bible, and for
that reason if you want to serve / follow / know God you should become a
Seventh-day Adventist. The book of Acts speaks of God restoring all things and
the Advent movement is the vehicle God is using to restore all of the truths in
the Bible and set them in the right light ready for the return of Christ. Ellen
White repeatedly reaffirmed our role in the world to do this very thing. A part
of that message is to declare the Three Angel’s messages, which includes
exposing the popular churches to be a part of Babylon, and its false doctrine
which the Bible calls the “wine of Babylon”.

I’m sure that’s the understanding that Seventh-day Adventists had in 1865, and for the
most part it’s the same we promote today. Uno problemo – our church doesn’t have

13
the same doctrines as in 1865, or even 1895! Because our denomination has done a
180 degree turn over the last 80 years on at least one major doctrine (i.e. the Trinity),
and yet still promotes the same understanding of “God’s Remnant Church”, there a
couple of significant problems to deal with:
• How can the church preach the above message of restoration of truth and
coming “out of Babylon”, when it has adopted a doctrine which firstly can’t be
proved conclusively from the Bible, and secondly is claimed by the Catholic
Church to be the foundation of all its doctrines?

• By emphasising that the Seventh-day Adventist church is commissioned to

give the 3 angel’s messages, you are in a catch-22 situation the moment you
find that you disagree with any of the church’s doctrine. By emphasising the
necessity of pure doctrine, to find fault with the church’s doctrinal position
must therefore mean that the church is part of, or influenced by, ‘Babylon’.

If that is the case, what can we do? Believing the “Remnant Church” concept was safe
to do 120 years ago, before any major changes were made to the church’s beliefs. If
the steps our church leadership took over the last 80 years were steps in the wrong
direction, how can we turn things around?

Moreover, if this 180 degree turn is regarded as progress, and admitting that this was a
mistake threatens the denomination in some way, how is it even possible to turn
things around? The Jews were so incensed at the threat Jesus posed to their church
that they were prepared to kill Him rather than submit to God’s plan. How would you
react?

Could our church leaders, if necessary, summon the courage to recant their stand on
this Fundamental and universally accepted doctrine if it was shown conclusively to be
wrong? In our own day, we have the experience of the World Wide Church of God as
an example of what could happen. Only recently, their denomination decided to
accept Sunday keeping and reject their non-Trinitarian position. As a result, the
church has split. Are our church leaders so committed to following truth that they
would, if need be, stand for the right “though the heavens fall?”

Is the Ship Taking a Detour?

If the adoption of the Trinity doctrine is not of God, then as Gamaliel noted in Acts
5:38, “… it will come to nothing.” In that instance, the church denomination is
destined to eventually have a head on collision with God’s truth, for as Peter noted in
Acts 3:21 the time is coming where all truth will be finally restored.

We know God’s church will ultimately triumph…but does that mean our
denomination will go from strength to strength right up till the return of Christ? The
Jews anticipated triumph in their day – why, it was prophesied! Certainly, I am sure
that God is guiding our denomination, but I see that God’s leading, as always, is
rather in spite of His human representatives and not because of them.

In physics the larger a moving object is, the more force is required to stop it, and the
greater the mess when it hits another immovable object. If the denomination is off-
course, I anticipate that it would take a colossal event (or series of events) to correct
it. At present, the Seventh-day Adventist church is fuelled by the thought that “the

14
church is going through” and is confident that God’s stamp of approval is placed over
all of the church’s decisions and developments. The reports of thousands of baptisms
happening world-wide are cited as confirmation of the church’s forward progress, but
is this a correct interpretation?

Of course, faithful church members get edgy when such thoughts are expressed. Any
suggestion that the church denomination is somehow in error is akin to blasphemy for
many people. How easily we forget the weakness of our own humanity! It wasn’t just
the Pharisees in Jesus’ time that got caught up in pipe dreams and agendas. Even the
disciples were victims of their own nationally-instilled delusions of grandeur. How
many times did Jesus say point blank, “I am going to be delivered to the chief priests
and will be killed,” and yet their understanding of a Messiah who would subdue the
Romans and restore Israel once more as a powerful nation prevailed.

Bias Binding
If the disciples, who lived and worked with Jesus Himself, in the flesh and face to
face for over 3 years, were still heavily influenced by misconceptions, how dare we
think ourselves immune from such failings? Bias (i.e. an understanding which is
inculcated through education or absorbed by osmosis from those with whom we are in
contact) is one of those things which normally just doesn’t show up on our internal
radar. It is accepted without question. Rather, it is placed in a position which defies
questioning. All facts and all evidence to the contrary will be dismissed rather than
question that which “we know” to be true.

The point of these reflections is this: Life is not the same as a movie, and while we are
here in the midst of the drama it is not clear cut as to who the good guys and bad guys
really are. It’s not as simple as who believes what doctrine. The best we can do is
check our own inner motivation and pray to be released from the power of bias and
religious zeal. We all suffer from it. Those two elements inherently carry with them
the potential to make us work against God while we profess to serve him. They are
not doctrine/religion/race specific. If you are a human being, you are vulnerable.

At this time, more than ever, we need to be conscious that Jesus Christ alone is the
head of the church and that He, as always, is not afraid to lead His people in ways that
cause us to confront our mistakes and weaknesses. As a matter of fact, I suggest you
expect it. He does this with individuals and will do it with organisations as well.
Consider Peter, a broken man, weeping that he should deny Jesus so easily rather than
risk meeting the same fate as His Lord. Consider the size of the immovable object that
the Jewish nation hit in 70 AD – their pride and confidence in their nation’s
infallibility went head-to-head with the Roman Empire, with catastrophic results.

In both cases, those involved were destined to be confronted by reality. Peter “fell on
the rock and was broken” but arose to fulfil his role in proclaiming a risen Saviour.
The Jews however, in rejecting the Messiah because He didn’t meet their
expectations, were destined to be “ground to powder” (Matt 21:44).

In the whole scheme of things, the Trinity vs Godhead debate serves as a litmus test
whereby it is revealed where one’s confidence lies, and to show how deep our
Christianity goes. We may not be able to see the results of that test, but it is a sure
thing that the Lord Himself does. And while we love being a part of a denomination

15
that does many good works and effective ministry, we must never lose sight of the
fact that placing our confidence in anything besides Jesus Christ places us on
dangerous ground.

May the Lord help us to be set free from the spirit of misguided religious zeal and the
blindfold that it wraps around our spiritual eyesight. Only then is there a chance that
we might know the truth and be truly set free.

Endnotes:

1. I have noticed that people who study the Bible for themselves, even baptised church members who
profess to be Trinitarian, usually do not in reality believe in the Trinity doctrine. They can usually
recite the necessary words and the theory, but if the Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God, they
believe it to be so and relate to Him as such, instead of viewing Jesus as a part of God who took on the
role of, or pretended to be the Son. Only those who decide to study and actively defend the Trinity
doctrine normally end up advocating strong Trinitarian dogma.

2. The most commonly accessed Encyclopedia on the Internet, Wikipedia, states: “The consensus of
Modern exegetes and theologians is that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of Trinity
(even though in the past dogmatic tracts texts like Gn. 1:26, Gn. 3:22, 11:7, Is. 6:2-3 were cited as
proofs). Further, modern exegetes and theologians agree that the New Testament also does not
explicitly contain the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity was thrashed out in debate and treatises as
a result of continuous exploration of the biblical data, and was eventually formulated at the Council of
Nicaea in 325 CE.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity (Yes, I
know this is somewhat hypocritical, quoting a secular encyclopedia because it supports my position.
But then, our church Pioneers also confirm that the Trinity cannot be proven from the Bible, and Ellen
White never wrote anything explicitly stating that the Trinity could be proven from the Bible, so I feel
justified in quoting the above.)

See also The Oxford Companion to the Bible: “Because the Trinity is such an important part of later
Christian doctrine, it is striking that the term does not appear in the New Testament. Likewise, the
developed concept of three coequal partners in the Godhead found in later creedal formulations
cannot be clearly detected within the confines of the canon.” TheOxford Companion to the Bible,
1993. Art. Trinity, by D.N. Schowalter. p.782-3. Editors, Bruce M. Metzger, Michael D.Coogan.

16
 The Remnant and the Latter Rain
Blair Andrew

Background
Over the last 15 or so years I have been intimately involved in the discussions over
the concept of the trinity within Adventism. Although once a Trinitarian, I have
changed my position and at the outset feel I must emphasise that there is a great deal
of misinformation and stereotyping about what constitutes a non-belief in the doctrine
of the Trinity.

Having communicated briefly with Glyn Parfitt, and being asked to take part in the
review process on his upcoming book, I enjoyed hearing Glyn speak on the topic
recently at the South East Queensland Convention 2008. I had not heard him speak
before, and was encouraged that he attempted to put himself in our position, - a
difficult thing to do - and analyse an understanding of God from that perspective.

Unlike others I have communicated with, he was not dogmatic, and handled well the
questions I raised with him. Although we are not in agreement, I am impressed that he
has taken the time to try to understand our position. In this paper, I will attempt to
briefly give some of the reasons I have for being a non-Trinitarian for 15 years, and
also point out some of the areas of concern I have for Glyn and his work.

The Remnant and the Latter Rain

Adventism is unique. The truths that we hold form an intricate structure whose
simplicity and integrity exceeds anything to be found in the broader Christian world.
More than this, there is a consistency of doctrine and experience that harmonises with
that of the early Church in a way that no other branch of Christianity can claim.
Seventh-day Adventism traces its roots back through the nineteenth century Great
Second Advent Movement, through the Protestant Reformation and the “Church in
the wilderness” to Apostolic times.

As such it is the latest phase in the restoration of that which was lost during more than
a millennium of theological digression. Spanning the period of the Judgment of this
world,1 its purpose is to prepare a people to stand securely in the simplicity of God’s
Word though the heavens fall.

As one Adventist writer noted;

“From their inception Seventh-day Adventists have felt themselves to be the
legitimate successors of the Advent message, popularly known as Millerism. With
this belief has come the conviction that the Seventh-day Adventist church is God’s
remnant church, destined to fill a unique function in the end-time of earth, that to
her has been entrusted the messages of the three angels of Revelation 14. This
involves a restoration of neglected and forgotten and rejected truths. Seventh-day
Adventists have never surrendered this self concept.” 2.

17
We believe that Christ would have come before this, had His people been ready. Our
own church history tells us that at Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1888, God sent the
beginning of the loud cry message through his messengers, Elders Waggoner and
Jones. He had purposed for that message to swell with the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit in latter rain power. That Loud Cry message was intended to lighten the earth
with its glory.

However, it was not allowed to do its job. Through pride the Holy Spirit was resisted
and the message rejected. According to Ellen White it was God’s purpose to end the
world’s misery prior to the twentieth century, but that our lack of faith has caused its
delay. It does not take much to see that if we had the message, and we had been
giving it to the world, we would not be here today. 3.

We have wandered in the wilderness for one hundred and twenty years since that
event, but now what? There are millions of us now, and our growth as a denomination
is expanding. But, deep in our hearts, we sense something is missing. Our message
lacks life changing power. The Spirit-filled victory alluded to back in 1888 still eludes
us.

Study this paper prayerfully, for I believe it unravels key elements that will enable us
to understand why this is so.

Let me sketch for you a brief outline of the phases of change within the history of
Seventh-day Adventism that have relevance to the topic at hand.

Stage 1. The Missionary Phase

The Pioneers of the Movement were on the offensive, they were charged with a
message to enlighten the world in order to prepare it for Christ’s soon return. They
were not afraid, for they knew they had a commission, and that the power of the truth
would win the day.

Stage 2. The Apologetic Phase

Adventist evangelists, pastors and scholars from the 1920’s to the 1950’s were on the
defensive. This could be described as boundary establishment and control. It was an
attempt to:
Substantiate Seventh-day Adventism in the eyes of the other Christian
denominations;
Extinguish fires started by those who left the denomination;
Write books defending Adventist doctrines;
Set up Defence Committees to aid this work.

Stage 3. The Shared-Identity/Compromise Phase

From the 1950’s we have attempted to win acceptance from the Christian
establishment by looking at where we can agree. We thereby gain some identity for
ourselves in the eyes of the world. It’s a kind of Adventist ecumenism, for while we
can agree on some points there are fundamental differences between Adventism and
Catholicism, and Adventism and Protestantism. We believe Adventism was divinely
instigated as a reformation of both branches of Christianity – a movement to continue
the cause from which they had digressed. To actively seek their endorsement or
favour runs the risk of abandoning our reason for existence.

18
If we look objectively at Roman Catholicism, it is very difficult to find even one
doctrine that is solely Scriptural. The same applies to contemporary Protestantism.

The Protestant churches originated with godly men and women who sought to restore
Biblical truth, and thereby accomplish the reformation of Christianity. But after
hundreds of years that spirit has mostly been lost and with it the pre-eminence of the
Bible as the sole arbiter of sound doctrine. When the reformers died, their churches
had not wholly broken with Rome’s teaching: after entering the Promised Land many
fortresses of error still remained. Yet their spiritual descendants were content to
proceed no further in conquest than their forebears. As time passed they became
wedded to the seductive but unscriptural doctrines still inhabiting the land and their
purity of faith was lost.

Adventism, like the prophets of old, was sent to arrest this decline by recapturing the
spirit of reform. As a result it necessarily stood alone in its early years, distinct in its
truths and calling. Sadly, the seductive influences so successful in staying the progress
of reform in earlier times began to influence Adventism. Just as Protestantism settled
into benign conventionality and stretched out its hands to grasp those extended by
Catholicism, so Adventism runs the very real risk of doing the same, especially with
contemporary Protestantism.

It took 300 years for the Apostolic church to become the church of Rome. It took the
same time for the Reformed churches to be themselves in need of reform. Adventism
began with no greater outpouring of God’s Spirit than these two worthy endeavours
and so we ought not to think that it immune from a similar fate within as short a time.
Thus it is imperative that we be on our guard lest we find ourselves after 150 years
being halfway to apostasy.

Some have argued that “the dynamic nature of Seventh-day Adventist theology”3.
justifies change and new understandings of scripture. We would agree, but argue that
any new light will not negate the old.

In saying this, I acknowledge the work Glyn Parfitt has put into his manuscript, but
we see therein serious underlying assumptions and misconceptions of the issues at
hand. Before reading Glyn’s manuscript I, and others like myself, once again faced
the possibility that we might be wrong in our understanding. We were somewhat
apprehensive and yet truly wanting to know if there was indeed some stone that we
had left unturned in our search to understand the truth on this matter. It was with
sadness that we discovered that once again, another author had not fully understood
the issues.

We have been relieved that Glyn has been open to us reviewing his work, which we
have tried to do in a respectful way. The opportunity to review opens the door for
those interested in defending the Trinity doctrine to perhaps get a fuller understanding
of the problems we have found – something that no one else has adequately done till
now.

Having not found anything in Glyn’s research to fully answer our Scriptural
objections, we believe that the Trinitarian framework and Christology are erroneous.

19
We see the adoption of these doctrines as symptomatic of the Laodicean condition,
having detoured further and further from the message of Righteousness by Faith
delivered to us in 1888. If the non-Trinitarian understanding of God was as integral to
the 1888 message as we believe, then a denial of that doctrine could well be holding
us back from receiving the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit, and giving the Loud Cry to
a dying world. 4.

The real proof of any theory is in its results. The fact that we have not entered the
kingdom and still wander in an experiential wilderness of sin and failure after having
rejected the fundamentals of the 1888 message should tell us something about the
veracity of our beliefs.

My premise, therefore, for this review, is that if we continue to reject the 1888
Message, and its Scriptural understanding of the Godhead, we are steering the Church
away from the necessary preconditions for the reception of the Latter Rain.

To the best of our understanding the Trinity doctrine has no purely Scriptural backing.
Indeed there is a remarkable logistical similarity between defending it and defending
the doctrine of Sunday sacredness. Neither can be proved from Scripture and both
were established by ecclesiastical decree. Yet strangely, every attempt is made to
demonstrate their validity from Scripture. In the process the protagonists merely
succeed in reinforcing their own opinions because there is no equally respected
authority. In the end it isn’t a purely Scriptural argument on the Trinitarian side and
that is the real issue that needs to be addressed.

Let me say it again; by accepting the Trinity doctrine, we fear that we have
unknowingly continued down the path of rejection of the Message of 1888, and have
moved away from our calling in giving the Three Angel’s Messages. - messages
which are non-trinitarian in nature, for they are a call to give the true “everlasting
gospel”, and return to the worship of the one true God. Included with the ‘everlasting
gospel’ is the call to “come out of Babylon”, and to avoid the sign of her worship.
This is the message we are specifically called to give to a dying world; a world drunk
on the “wine” of Babylon.

The Adventist, non-Trinitarian position, is a simple, Scriptural understanding. As such

it is a welcome alternative to the two opposite extremes of Trinitarianism and
Arianism. It is what the early Church believed, what the Church in the Wilderness
upheld for centuries and what the Advent Pioneers re-discovered. It is the same
message about God found in both the Old and New Testaments and it lies at the heart
of the 1888 Message. It removes the contradictions and paradoxes of Trinitarian
theology and gives the Gospel a power that changes lives: restoring the love of God in
the heart and empowering believers in their battle with sin.

_____________________________________________________________________
1. Rev. 14:6.
2. Holt, Russell. The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination: Its rejection and
acceptance. 1969. p.1.
3. EGW. TM p.91-97. 5BC p.1131. 1893 GCB. p.419.
4. EGW. R&H Nov 22, 1892.
5. Burt, Merlin D. History of Seventh-day Adventist Views on the Trinity. 2006. p.1.

20
 What Has God Revealed?
Blair Andrew

The first point that raises itself upon reading Glyn Parfitt’s work, The Trinity, What
Has God Revealed, (TT WHGR) is the lack of a clear definition of the term Trinity.
This needs to be defined, for there are a variety of views circulating within
Adventism, and unless it is clearly defined at the outset, you cannot clearly see what it
is you are opposing, or accepting. Variations of trinitarianism range through the
whole church. There are those who uphold the Nicene Creed as their foundation, there
are others who believe in Christ being “begotten” of the Father, but still advocate the
Orthodox Trinitarianism, others tell me we have two mediators between God and
Man, the Spirit and Christ, still others tell me the Holy Spirit is the Father of Christ, or
is an emanating force or power, and yet all uphold the Trinity doctrine. The word
trinity has such a wide variety of interpretations, from the early Nicene and Post-
Nicene writers to the different uses of the word made by Adventist Pioneers. The lack
of defining the term and its use leaves the door wide open to speculative ideas. In any
discussion of theology, by laying down the meaning of words and terms from a
Biblical foundation at the beginning of the work, any misunderstandings in the
discussion may be alleviated.

Glyn makes a very true statement on page 46 of his work; “Most of the confusion is
caused by trying to understand the statements of finite men trying to explain the
mysteries of an infinite God. If we would keep to what is revealed and accept it by
faith without trying to explain it any further, many of the difficulties would
disappear.” (TT WHGR p.46). But without defining what he believes himself, Glyn
leaves the door open for misinterpretation. He does make a very generalized
statement; “my beliefs fall within the range of beliefs generally regarded as
Trinitarian,” (TT WHGR p.19) but we should point out that his views are at variance
with other Australian authors, such as Pastors Max Hatton and Lloyd Grolimund.

Let us take a brief look at what God has revealed in regard to the Trinity doctrine,
before beginning our review of Glyn’s work.

Current Explanations and definitions:

“There is one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons.
God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite
and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. He is
forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation.” Seventh-
day Adventists Believe … A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines, 1988.
R & H. p.16.

From this, one of our current definitions of the trinity doctrine, (published by the
Ministerial Assoc) we learn that there is one God, and from the first line we see that
this God has three names, and as well as this, our Divine God is made up of three co-
eternal persons: and “He” is male. “He” is a singular term, and you can use that to
apply to any “one” of the “three” “Persons”. So, the question arises, in the context of
the above quotation, who is the “He” referring to? What about the word “Persons”

21
which obviously is plural. Is “He” still “one”? So far, we have more questions than
answers. Let us read on.
"In contrast to the heathen of surrounding nations, Israel believed there was only one
God (Deut.4:35;6:4; Isa.45:5; Zech14:9). The New Testament makes the same
emphasis on the unity of God . . . This monotheistic emphasis does not contradict the
Christian concept of the triune God or Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit; rather it
affirms that there is no pantheon of various deities. Although the Old Testament
does not explicitly teach that God is triune, it alludes to a plurality within the
Godhead" . . . "While the Godhead is not one in person, God is one in purpose, mind
and character. This oneness does not obliterate the distinct personalities of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Nor does the separateness of personalities
within the Deity destroy the monotheistic thrust of Scripture, that the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit are one God." Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . A Biblical
Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrine, 1988. R & H, pp 22-23. (emphasis supplied)

Several points come out of this statement. We know that the word God means deity,
or divine; and we see no problem with our Father being called God, and Jesus being
called God, because they both are divine, and are related, just as your earthly father
and you are related; ie. family. But “mono” mean one. And “tri” means three. So, if
God is one, and yet is three divine persons, that again seems to contradict logic. And
yet it says that “this monotheistic emphasis does not contradict the Christian concept
of the triune God or trinity.” As well as this, it states that the Old Testament does not
teach that God is triune, but alludes to a plurality. We need more evidence than
alluding to something to build our faith on. All of Adventist’s other doctrinal beliefs
are based on clear scriptural exegesis. But it would seem from the above statement
that we do not have this for the trinity doctrine. As Glyn said “If we would keep to
what is revealed and accept it by faith without trying to explain it any further, many of
the difficulties would disappear.” (p.46) Let us turn for a moment to another official
Adventist source, and see if they can shed more light on the topic.

Adventist Review:
“While no single scriptural passage states formally the doctrine of the Trinity, it is
assumed as a fact by Bible writers and mentioned several times. It is implied in
Genesis 1, where God and the Spirit of God are portrayed acting in Creation. . . . Only
by faith can we accept the existence of the Trinity. Nevertheless, reason supplies
evidences that support our belief in God. Through the ages theologians have
developed what have become known as the traditional proofs of God. . . . ” Adventist
Review, Vol. 158, No.31. July 1981.p.4.

So, we have no scriptural passage stating the trinity doctrine, again it is “assumed”,
but now we are told it is “assumed as a fact by Bible writers and mentioned several
times” by Bible writers. Evidence is not presented in the Review to support this
statement, and I have searched elsewhere for it, without success. I cannot find
anywhere in Scripture where the doctrine of the Trinity “is assumed as a fact” by any
Bible writer. As well as this, I cannot find it “mentioned several times”, but I do
agree that there is much we can “only accept it by faith”. The question begs to be
asked though, should not our faith rest on evidence? For years we have been known as
“the people of the Book”, who can present and defend our positions on any doctrine.
Has God revealed enough evidence about His nature to support the Trinity doctrine?
Let us turn to Andrews University and see what their scholarship can produce.

The Reign of God, by Richard Rice:

22
 “The role of the trinity in a doctrine of God always raises questions. One reason is
that the word itself does not appear in the Bible, nor is there any clear statement of the
idea. But the Bible does set the stage for its formulation, and the concept represents a
development of biblical claims and concepts. So even though the doctrine of the
trinity is not part of what the Bible itself says about God, it is part of what the church
must say to safeguard the biblical view of God.” The Reign of God, An Introduction
to Christian Theology from a Seventh-day Adventist Perspective. by Richard Rice.
1985. Andrews Uni Press.

This statement poses some interesting thoughts. Obvious contradictions abound. Rice
is saying that although something is not found in Scripture, we should defend it to
safeguard it as the Biblical view of God. We may not be academics, but that type of
circular reasoning defies logic, and should never have been put in print, let alone in an
Adventist text book for University level theology students.

Ekkehardt Mueller, BRI.

“We do not believe in three Gods but one God in three persons. These three
personalities participate in one substance. In the divine unity there are three coeternal
and coequal persons, who, though distinct, are the one undivided God. This doctrine
of God is a biblical doctrine. However, it surpasses our understanding.” – Ekkehardt
Mueller, Reflections, BRI Newsletter, July 2008.

Mueller is attempting again to explain the doctrine, and speaks of three “co-eternal,
coequal persons who are distinct, and yet are one undivided God. He then states that it
is a Biblical doctrine. Although I agree with much of Mueller’s article in Reflections,
he presents no evidence for the co-eternal, coequal part of the Trinitarian formula
from scripture. God does not expect us to believe something that defies the very logic
he has imbued us with. God is a God of order and consistency, He never expects His
children to believe something without clear evidence.

The Trinity, by Moon, Whidden & Reese, Andrews University.

“Probably the strongest clues to such a divine triunity occur in the famous gospel
commission that Jesus gave the church in its baptismal formula: ‘Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matt. 28:19).” The Trinity, by Jerry Moon, Woodrow
Whidden, & John W. Reese, published by R & H 2002, p.32. (Chapter entitled “The
Strongest Biblical Evidence for the Trinity”) (emphasis supplied)

We are now told by our three well respected academics that Matthew 28:19 is the
“strongest clue” that we have to prove the trinity, when it is not even a text laying out
a doctrinal position on the nature of God! Christ is making a statement on Baptism,
and we do not find the early church using it in these words anywhere in Scripture.
But, it is “strongest clue” we have. Is that the best that God has revealed for us, His
remnant people, as the foundation of our faith, in regard to the God whom we
worship? Let us look further at some other well known authors.

Questions People have Asked Me, by Francis D. Nichol:

The Mystery of the Trinity
“I confess frankly that I cannot explain how there is but one God and yet three
persons in the Godhead. Nor have I ever heard anyone explain it satisfactorily. Yet I
believe it.” – Questions People have Asked Me, - F.D. Nichol, p.275. 1959. R & H.

23
Getting Acquainted with God, by Otto H. Christensen:
“The word trinity is not in the Bible, but the plurality of the divine triad can be
inferred, some think, from the Sacred Record from the very beginning.” Getting
Acquainted with God, Otto H. Christensen. p.70. 1970. R & H.

No comment is necessary here. Both authors go on to defend the Trinity doctrine,

neither presenting Biblical evidence for its existence.

Let us now check whether or not there are any scholarly sources outside of Adventism
who can give us a clear scriptural basis for the trinity doctrine.

The most commonly accessed Encyclopedia on the Internet, Wikipedia, states:

“The consensus of Modern exegetes and theologians is that the Hebrew Bible
does not contain a doctrine of Trinity (even though in the past dogmatic tracts texts
like Gn. 1:26, Gn. 3:22, 11:7, Is. 6:2-3 were cited as proofs). Further, modern
exegetes and theologians agree that the New Testament also does not explicitly
contain the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity was thrashed out in debate and
treatises as a result of continuous exploration of the biblical data, and was eventually
formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity (emphasis supplied)

So, a “consensus of Modern exegetes” tell us that both the Old and New Testaments
do not clearly, explicitly, contain the doctrine of the trinity. It came into Christendom
from another source, outside of scripture. Maybe the compilers of Wikipedia were
biased, possibly being non-Christian authors, so we will check some other sources to
see what confirmation we can find.

The Encyclopedia Brittanica:

“Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New
Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Old
Testament: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord’ (Deuteronomy 6:4). . . .
The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many
controversies. . . . It was not until the 4th Century that the distinctness of the three and
their unity were brought together in a single orthodox doctrine of one essence and
three persons.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol 11, art. Trinity. 15th Edition.

Brittanica says basically the same thing as the Wikipedia. Both these credible sources
tell us that the idea of the trinity came after scripture, and from sources outside of
scripture, and sources that Seventh-day Adventism has never recognized as inspired,
reliable, sources.

The Oxford Companion to the Bible:

“Because the Trinity is such an important part of later Christian doctrine, it is
striking that the term does not appear in the New Testament. Likewise, the
developed concept of three coequal partners in the Godhead found in later
creedal formulations cannot be clearly detected within the confines of the
canon.” The Oxford Companion to the Bible, 1993. Art. Trinity, by D.N. Schowalter.
p.782-3. Editors, Bruce M. Metzger, Michael D.Coogan. (emphasis supplied)

24
So, what are they saying here? Is it there or not? “Cannot be clearly detected within
the confines of the canon”? Is that a nice way of saying that the Bible does not
actually teach the Trinity doctrine?

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia:

“Trinity [Lat.,= threefoldness], fundamental doctrine in Christianity, by
which God is considered as existing in three persons. While the doctrine is
not explicitly taught in the New Testament, early Christian communities
testified to a perception that Jesus was God in the flesh; the idea of the
Trinity has been inferred from the Gospel of St. John.” The Columbia
Electronic Encyclopedia, Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
(emphasis supplied)

Again, we are lacking an explicit teaching of the Trinity doctrine in scripture, and we
can only infer it from the writings of John.

The Encarta Encyclopedia has this to say about the origin of the Trinitarian doctrine:

“Trinity (theology)

In Christian theology, doctrine that God exists as three persons—Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit—who are united in one substance or being. The doctrine is not taught
explicitly in the New Testament, where the word God almost invariably refers to the
Father; but already Jesus Christ, the Son, is seen as standing in a unique relation to
the Father, while the Holy Spirit is also emerging as a distinct divine person.

The term trinitas was first used in the 2nd century, by the Latin theologian Tertullian,
but the concept was developed in the course of the debates on the nature of
Christ. In the 4th century, the doctrine was finally formulated; using
terminology still employed by Christian theologians, the doctrine taught the
coequality of the persons of the Godhead. ... For an adequate understanding of the
trinitarian conception of God, the distinctions among the persons of the Trinity
must not become so sharp that there seems to be a plurality of gods, nor may
these distinctions be swallowed up in an undifferentiated monism.” – Encarta.
Art. Trinity. (emphasis supplied)

The question begs to be asked, can we base our faith purely on inference alone? If it is
a fundamental doctrine in Christianity, it should surely have enough evidence to have
actually become a doctrine! Read on.

The Encyclopedia of Religion:

“Exegetes and theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not
contain a doctrine of the Trinity, even though it was customary in past dogmatic
tracts on the Trinity to cite texts like Genesis 1:26, “Let us make humanity in our
image, after our likeness”(see also Gn. 3:22, 11:7, Is. 62-3) as proof of plurality in
God.” - Encyclopedia of Religion, Art. Trinity, Volume 15, page 54, 1987. (emphasis
supplied)

Further on we read;

“Further, exegetes and theologians agree that the New Testament also does not
contain an explicit doctrine of the trinity.” (Ibid)

25
In the next a paragraph it says regarding ‘trinity language’;

“In the New Testament there is no reflective consciousness of the metaphysical

nature of God (“imminent trinity”), nor does the New Testament contain the
technical language of later doctrine (hupostasis, ousia, substantia, subsistentia,
prosopon, persona).”… “While it is incontestable that the doctrine cannot be
established on scriptural evidence alone, its origins may legitimately be sought in
the Bible, not in the sense of “proof-texting” or of finding metaphysical principles,
but because the Bible is the authoritative record of God’s redemptive relationship
with humanity.” (Ibid)

“What the scriptures narrate as the activity of God among us, which is confessed in
creeds and celebrated in liturgy, is the wellspring of later trinitarian doctrine.”
(Ibid)

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology:

“Primitive Christianity did not have an explicit doctrine of the Trinity such as
was subsequently elaborated in the creeds.” - The New International
Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Art. Trinity.

These standard works all seem to agree – something is fundamentally wrong, when
the Bible doesn’t teach something, it must have come from somewhere! To have
come at a later time in the creeds of Christendom is not enough, for they come too
late. The Canon was compiled before that, and logically, anything after that which
was not given through the gift of prophecy can only be invented by man, either as
traditions or as false teachings. Which is it going to be? Reading on, we find this
interesting piece;

The International Standard Bible Dictionary:

“The doctrine of the Trinity lies in Scripture in solution; when it is crystallized from
its solvent it does not cease to be Scriptural, but only comes into clearer view. Or, to
speak without figure, the doctrine of the Trinity is given to us in Scripture, not in
formulated definition, but in fragmentary allusions; when we assemble the
disjectamembra into their organic unity, we are not passing from Scripture, but
entering more thoroughly into the meaning of Scripture.” The International Standard
Bible Dictionary, Art. Trinity. (emphasis supplied).

“Fragmentary allusions” – I will leave the reader to define the word “Allusion”, for to
allude to something, it really needs to have been found and defined before.

Let us now go to the authority which states that it is the source of the idea, and see if
the definition found there has any Biblical basis.

“The trinity of God is defined by the Church as the belief that in God are three
persons who subsist in one nature. The belief as so defined was reached only in the
4th and 5th centuries AD and hence is not explicitly and formally a biblical belief.
The trinity of persons within the unity of nature is defined in terms of ‘person’ and
‘nature’ which are Gk philosophical terms; actually the terms do not appear in the
Bible. The trinitarian definitions arose as the result of long controversies in
which these terms and others such as ‘essence’ and ‘substance’ were erroneously

26
 applied to God by some theologians.” Dictionary of the Bible, by John L.
McKenzie, S.J. p.899. (emphasis supplied)

This Roman Catholic source is clear as to the origin of the trinity doctrine. We could
continue, with many more quotations to clarify the issue, but, to any unbiased reader
the evidence is clear. Scripture does not clearly present the idea of the trinity doctrine,
it is a doctrine which came after the canon of Scripture was closed, developed in the
4th and 5th centuries. Inspiration was obviously not involved in the formulation of the
doctrine.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia puts it this way;

“The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the OT. In the NT the oldest
evidence is in the Pauline epistles, especially 2 Cor 13:13 and 1 Cor 12:4-6)”
(New Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14 page 306, ‘Trinity, Holy (in the Bible)

Here is the point blank denial of the trinity doctrine being found in the Old Testament.
This is even though some trinitarians maintain that there is evidence of it there. Notice
here that what is said to be found in the New Testament is not the trinity doctrine
itself but “evidence” of it. And note; this is the Roman Catholic Church telling us
this, the Church that can trace its beginnings to the Ecumenical Councils of the 4th
Century. As we shall now see, the same is said with regard to this teaching being
found in the gospels, as Moon, Whidden, & Reese stated above.

The encyclopaedia continues;

“In the Gospels, evidence of the trinity is found explicitly only in the baptismal
statement.” (Ibid)

In closing this section, we would like the reader to consider the following statements;
the first from an outside source, that you may consider how non-Christians look at the
professedly Christian world, and its idea of God.

“Rivers of medieval ink, not to mention blood, have been squandered over the
‘mystery’ of the Trinity, and in suppressing deviations such as the Arian heresy. Arius
of Alexandria, in the fourth century AD, denied that Jesus was consubstantial (i.e. of
the same substance or essence) with God. What on earth could that possibly mean, you
are probably asking? Substance? What ‘substance’? What exactly do you mean by
‘essence’? ‘Very little’ seems the only reasonable reply. Yet the controversy split
Christendom down the middle for a century, and the Emperor Constantine ordered that
all copies of Arius’s book should be burned. Splitting Christendom by splitting hairs –
such has ever been the way of theology.

Do we have one God in three parts, or three Gods in one? The Catholic Encyclopedia
clears up the matter for us, in a masterpiece of theological close reasoning:

In the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. Thus, in
the words of the Athanasian Creed: ‘the Father is God, the Son is God, and the
Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.’

27
 As if that were not clear enough, the Encyclopedia quotes the third century theologian
St Gregory the Miracle Worker:

There is therefore nothing created, nothing subject to another in the Trinity: nor
is there anything that has been added as though it once had not existed, but had
entered afterwards: therefore the Father has never been without the Son, nor the
Son without the Spirit: and this same Trinity is immutable and unalterable
forever.

Whatever miracles may have earned St Gregory his nickname, they were not miracles
of honest lucidity. His words convey the characteristically obscurantist flavour of
theology, which – unlike science or most other branches of human scholarship – has not
moved on in eighteen centuries. Thomas Jefferson, as so often, got it right when he
said, ‘Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.
Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct
idea of the trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks, calling themselves
the priests of Jesus.’” Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion, p.34-35. 2006. Bantam
Press.

The second illustration is from a well known Anglican Bible scholar, David Pawson,
in his Video series entitled “The Challenge of Islam to Christians”. In this brilliant
series, Pawson makes the observation that:

“We say that God is three persons, and yet you must not call God ‘them’ you call them
‘Him.’ And yet the trinity is one of the biggest blockages, not just to Muslims, but to
hosts of people. They say, ‘I can’t understand that. How can God be three, in one, at the
same time?’ We are neither polytheistic, which is the belief in many gods, nor are we
monotheistic, which is the belief in one person called God. We are triune-theistic, and
we have somehow got to get that across. … And then when we get to God the Holy
Spirit, this really is confusing. The two things that divide Christianity from every other
religion, are the Deity of Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit. What a
complicated faith to confront people with. And then admission to Christianity is so
complicated. It involves moral, verbal, and ritual action. It involves four basic steps.
You repent of your sins to God the Father. You believe in God the Son. You receive
God the Spirit, and you are baptised in water in the name of the Father, Son and the
Holy Spirit. And then you’ve only got started. How much more complicated our faith
is!” – David Pawson, Video 2, “The Challenge of Islam to Christianity.”

From the above two academic sources, one Christian and one atheist, it is evident that
the professedly Christian world have done what we have been forbidden to do. They
have added to the Word of God, and this is the first point upon which the Trinity
doctrine falls. Evidence from scripture has not been forthcoming, for we cannot base
any doctrine on purely one “proof text”, Matthew 28:19. The confusion of the trinity
may be touched on in later sections of this paper, but it is clear that the beauty of the
gospel has been marred and well nigh obliterated by the Trinity, as pointed out
Trinitarian author David Pawson. May we all heed the words of the wise: “Do not add
to His Words, lest He reprove you and you be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:6.

We should know what we believe and why we believe it, and we should be able to give
an intelligent reason for our religious convictions.

“Believers are not to rest in suppositions and ill-defined ideas of what

constitutes truth. Their faith must be firmly founded upon the word of God so that

28
 when the testing time shall come and they are brought before councils to answer
for their faith they may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in them, with
meekness and fear.” – 5T, p.708. (emphasis supplied)

We are to have an intelligent faith, and an intelligent knowledge of our God. I believe
that the evidence in scripture fits the non-trinitarian model in a far more consistent way
than the Trinitarian model. We will cover some of this as we continue later in our
review.

29
 Pulling the Trinity Out of a Hat, Part 2:
Myth and Fable
Brendan P. Knudson

In this part of the review, I will be dealing with the research and conclusions of Glyn
Parfitt (hereafter GP) in terms of his historical statements. Many of these will involve
similar principles as my previous paper. As with the hermeneutic, I will not be dealing
with every perceived problem, and these are merely taken as representative. Not a few
of these come from the early section where GP deals with what he sees as the major
objections of the trinity.

History is often more difficult to get a read on than the study of someone’s writings.
An understanding of history is affected by so many considerations. We can never
truly say what a person was thinking, for instance. The best we can do, is compile as
much of an historical context as we can for something we are examining and find the
best conclusion which fits the facts. These conclusions also need to be flexible enough
to change as new facts come available. Outside of facts I have specifically shared with
GP, I cannot determine whether he knew of these facts, therefore, I cannot comment
on his honesty or integrity in presenting his take on things. However, if his
conclusions fail to take into account all of the evidence he provides, or if he could
easily have had other pertinent information at hand, it can reflect on his research
skills.

It is apparent from some of the new evidence in favour of the trinity GP presents, that
he has adequate research skills, for I personally only discovered the Avondale Press
statement because someone at Avondale mentioned that GP had discovered it first.

James White and his position on the Trinity

The first matter we shall look at is GP’s statement about James White. He says on
pages 28 and 29:

"James White appears to have softened his anti-Trinitarian stand in his

later years. This may have resulted from his contacts with the Seventh-day
Baptists...

"This statement was made in the context of cordial relations that were
being established between the two churches at this time. This included the
exchange of preachers, etc. James White was not expressing merely his
personal view, but seemed to be saying that the position of Seventh-day
Adventists, as a whole, on the matter of the Trinity, was now so close to
that of the Seventh-day Baptists, that he did not expect them to raise any
objection to the views of Seventh-day Adventists on this matter."

The relevant part of the statement which GP quotes, says, “The principle difference
between the two bodies is the immortality question. The S. D. Adventists hold the
divinity of Christ so nearly with the trinitarian, that we apprehend no trial here.”
There is nothing in this to suggest that the church shifted its position on this matter.

30
Also, contrary to what GP attempts to highlight, it is the divinity of Christ, not the
“matter of the Trinity,” which James White was saying was close to the Seventh-day
Baptists.

GP then quotes an entire article, titled Christ Equal With God, where James White
says that Christ is equal with God. This is in evidence that he “softened” his views on
the trinity. However, this is reading into things what is not there. Non-trinitarians did
not believe Christ’s “equality” to include “co-eternal” pre-existence. They could
believe that Christ was begotten, and also that He was fully divine. It is interesting
that GP does not quote the following, from the year White died: "The Father is the
greatest in that he is first. The Son is next in authority because He has been given all
things." (RH, 4-1-1881) This quote was available to GP, for it has appeared in Living
Voice of the Lord’s Witnesses, a book which he quotes from later on.

There is no evidence whatsoever for the assertion that James White “softened” his
views on the trinity, based upon the evidence GP has presented, and his reasoning
behind that assumption is not faithful to the evidence he had at hand.

Doubt about some early “non-trinitarians”?

Glyn states also on page 28:

"Not all those generally regarded as non-Trinitarian were necessarily of

that persuasion. They may have been merely reflecting a Trinitarian view
such as that of Tertullian, one of the early 'orthodox' Christian writers, and
one of the first to use the term 'Trinity.' Included among these early
Adventist writers would be J.G. Mateson, A.T. Jones, E.J. Waggoner,
C.W. Stone, and J. Edson White."

GP tries to allow for these guys to be Trinitarians who just believed that Christ was
begotten. However, in his introduction, GP states:

"To me, the whole matter revolves around two key issues:

"1. Did Christ have a beginning? Was there some point in the remote past
when he was literally 'begotten' from the Father?" – p.19.

If this question is one of the key issues concerning the trinity, it seems interesting that
he would attempt to argue that these men were actually Trinitarians in the same way
as Tertullian. There is no evidence for or against that point of view for most of them,
and so it is really pure speculation. In truth, they disagreed enough to be considered
“non-trinitarian” according to the Trinitarian definition of the book, so why try the
double talk?

Small Insinuations

In some instances, GP assumes or insinuates much from a small quotation. For

instance, on page 26, he hints that the non-trinity belief was not agreed upon by all
early pioneers by a statement where James White says, “As a people we are brought
together from divisions of the Advent body, and from various denominations, holding

31
different views on some subjects...” He offers no evidence that the Godhead was one
of these subjects.

GP insinuates (p. 34) that the non-trinity belief of the pioneers was not a pillar in 1889
when Ellen White listed the cleansing of the sanctuary, the three angel’s messages, the
commandments of God and faith of Jesus, the sanctuary, the law, the Sabbath and the
non-immortality of the wicked. He underlines where she states, “I can call to mind
nothing more that can come under the head of the old landmarks.” He explains that
Ellen White “add[ed]” the “personality of God [and] of Christ” later, only after the
Kellogg crisis. He attempts to distance the “personality” spoken of in these quotes
from the “personality of God” which was published about in the early days of the
message, despite the “50 year” statements made at the same time which link the two
time periods.

In the comments on the Froom-Lacey correspondence (Appendix C, pp. 519-527) GP

makes out that Ellen White commended Prescott’s talks on the I AM. Interestingly,
the letter of Ellen White referred to is Nov. 18, at the time of the Armidale talks,
which GP establishes as not being the convention Lacey refers to. It is interesting that
he would suggest they refer to the convention, when the more natural conclusion is
the Armidale camp meeting talks.

M. L. Andreasen’s account taken as fact

This particular point surrounds the statements made by M. L. Andreasen on the quote
“original, unborrowed, underived. Many authors have referred to Andreasen’s
comments that this caused “great concern to the denomination theologically.”
However, there is no corroborating evidence that this occurred in the decades
immediately following the Desire of Ages. In a paper I am writing at the moment, I
show that the statement caused no problem for those who held to the pioneer position
and does not need to be understood as the Trinitarian insists.

The more periodicals that are made available by the site www.adventistarchives.org,
the more I look to find any discussion on this quote. The earliest I can seem to find is
in Ministry Magazine, in the 1940’s. It might be true that it caused concern in M. L.
Andreasen’s immediate circle, but without corroborating evidence, GP is merely
perpetuating a myth here.

1919 Bible Conference Sidestep

Seventh-day Adventist Trinitarian’s are continually reaching for the earliest date for a
change to the trinity. As more evidence becomes available, this hope is slipping
through their fingers. Froom’s claims in Movement of Destiny that it was only a vocal
Arian minority in early Adventism have been long given up, and later remnants of
non-trinitarianism have been acknowledged by Merlin Burt in Demise of Semi-
Arianism and Anti Trinitarianism in Adventist Theology, 1888-1957. GP appears to
try and sweep aside any late entry of Trinitarianism, and so when it comes to the 1919
Bible conference, he ignores the implications of those who opposed the trinity by
focusing only on those who supported it.

32
The fact is, that Prescott himself still held to a view that Christ was derived, being
confused over the issue at the conference, yet still declaring Christ to be derived a
year later in the book The Doctrine of Christ, saying:

“We may conceive the Father existing from eternity and possessing
infinite powers, simply because he wills so to exist, without any cause
external to himself, eternal and infinite and underived; and of the Son
existing with the Father from eternity, and possessing to the ful the
Father's infinite powers, but these received from the Father, existing
because the Father wills him so to exist, eternal and infinite and derived.
This conception will account for the entire language of the New Testament
about the Son of God.

The Son is equal to the Father in everything except that which is conveyed
by the terms Father and Son. He is equal to the Father in that he shares to
the full the Father's existence from eternity and his infinite power and
wisdom and love. But in asmuch as the Father possesses these divine
attributes from himself alone, whereas the Son possesses them as derived
from the Father, in this real sense and in this sense only, the Father is
greater than the Son.

Evidently in an eternal Father and an eternal Son the ideas of older and
younger can have no place. As we lift up the conception of son ship out of
time into eternity, these elements of it, every present in human fathers and
sons, at once disappear. When they fall away, does any conception
essential to our idea of son ship remain? Yes; there still remains the chief
idea, viz., personal existence and powers derived from another person.
And this idea is plainly embodied in John 5:26, and in other express
assertions from the lips of Christ describing his own relation to God.” –
page 12 of the electronic Pdf edition available at
www.maranathamedia.com

While there are some small differences between this and the pioneer position, this
might be attributable to the fact that Prescott indicates a different understanding of the
nature of Eternity to the pioneers (see part 3 of my review). This understanding
continued to be presented in Sabbath School quarterlies of the 1930’s and 40’s
according to new research by Terry Hill and others. (see the end of section six for
further information)

Dodging conspiracy

While I might not be as paranoid as others who have written on the subject, I use the
term “conspiracy” because GP does, referring to the way in which the change in belief
came about. While there is still much more work to be done in this area, from Fred
Allaback through to current writers, there is much that has been written demonstrating
the alternative hypothesis about how the trinity came into the church. We claim, of
course, a later date of inception, and largely due to a few people, not the majority.

Allaback did tend to show a little too much in the way of paranoia when he spoke of
this topic. Whether or not there was a well orchestrated plan to change the

33
denominational belief may never be provable, but there is evidence that certain
individuals pulled strings. Chief among them is L. E. Froom. GP deals with this on
pages 63-74.

In the first of these two sections, GP looks at whether there was a “conspiracy” to
change fundamental beliefs. He concludes, based upon the 1913 statement by F. M.
Wilcox, that there were already Trinitarian statements of belief from that date.
However, I believe that GP assumes too much from the word “trinity” in this instance.
I will append an article I wrote called “When Trinity Doesn’t Mean Trinity” to this
review. The evidence in there will show that the 1913 statement was not “decidedly
Trinitarian” as GP states.

In this section regarding statements of belief and baptismal vows, GP is ignorant of

the changes to the baptismal vows that have occurred since 1980. He also claims that
the 1874 statement is “neutral” on the trinity. In this, he seems to assume the meaning
of the statements based upon a modern day understanding, and not how the wording
would have appeared in its historic and cultural setting. In this he is at variance with
many historians and scholars, such as C. M. Taylor and the NAD book Issues: The
Seventh-day Adventist Church and Certain Private Ministries (both of these resources
are quoted elsewhere by GP). I cover the historical context of this statement of
belief’s wording in my paper, The Alpha and Omega of Deadly Heresies: A Treatise
on the Cause and Effect Relationship in the Teachings of Kellogg and Ballenger.

It is more in dealing with the next section, regarding whether or not the trinity was
introduced to avoid “cult” status where GP completely ignores the issues. GP lists a
number of things which L. E. Froom was claimed to have done, and all of which I
believe there to be ample evidence to back up. The way GP dodges this is artful. He
does not at all address the specific accusations levelled at Froom, nor the interaction
regarding the trinity that occurred during the evangelical conferences. Instead, he
quotes from an article in Colliers Encyclopedia which he claims was written by
Froom.

While I do not doubt that much of it was written by Froom, there was clearly editing
which occurred to this article after Froom’s death. The article includes statistics of
church membership from 1982, which would have been hard for Froom to write,
being dead 8 years. GP highlights that Froom didn’t mention the trinity in the short
article for the encyclopedia and therefore dismisses any agenda Froom had to
introduce trinitarianism to make Adventism evangelically acceptable. Terry Hill and
Margaretha Tierney have both written on this subject and present very good research
as to Froom’s role in the process. Even M. E. Burt’s paper, Demise of Semi-
Arianism…concedes, “One is left with the impression that Froom chose not to present
the facts, possibly either out of fear that it might undermine someone's faith or of
jeopardizing the Church's evangelical standing.” (p. 47).

I believe that this treatment of this historical issue (which is very important) is the one
which GP is most culpable for, since it does little to answer the matter, even as
presented by Allaback, and yet assigns a weight of 0. Should GP examine this matter
more carefully, he might learn a bit more where modern Adventism has inherited its
biased hermeneutic, specifically when it comes to the writings of Ellen White on the

34
Godhead. (Froom was involved in the first compilations of her writings which
supposedly support the Trinity and which are used to this day.)

Summary Judgement on Part 2

I believe that this section of the review shows some severe deficiencies in Glyn’s
coverage of the historical data. He appears to have only engaged scholarship where it
has supported his case, and ignored some of the concerns of non-trinitarians on some
important issues.

Throughout, and this has not been brought out in the review, the author makes
statements which are unknowable. For example, he suggests that the history of the
church may have been different if the early Adventists had sat down and studied the
trinity in the same way as other doctrines (p. 37). Apart from arguing from silence, he
is presenting pure conjecture, for we cannot possibly know alternative histories.
Commentary like this, which is scattered all through his book, is therefore unscholarly
and serves only to bias the reader.

While Glyn should be commended for bringing to light certain evidences that have
not before been available for consideration, his overall treatment of historical matters
leaves a lot to be desired. There is little doubt that as it stands, this book will invite
rebuttal on this point, especially where it sidesteps concerns of non-trinitarians. It
would be recommended that much more work be done on revising these sections and
performing more adequate research.

35
 Begotten or Not Begotten:
A brief response to Glyn Parfitt’s book
‘The Trinity, What Has God Revealed?
Objections Answered’

Terry Hill

As I reviewed Glyn Parfitt’s unpublished manuscript (which I have been

requested to do), it became apparent that much of the thrust of it was to show
that Christ is not really the Son of God. This begs the question – “If Christ is
not the Son of God then who is He”?

The Seventh-day Adventist Church answers that He is simply another divine

person who is identical to the one who is called the Father, although having
said that, they also maintain that ‘the Father’ is not really a father and ‘the
Son’ is not really a son. They say instead that they are co-equal and co-
eternal divine beings (all role-playing a part), neither of whom have their
source in the other.

To the contrary, those who oppose this teaching (usually the non-trinitarians),
say that Christ is begotten of the Father therefore the relationship between the
two is that of a Father and a Son. This begotten concept (they say) confirms
that Christ is none other God Himself (in the person of His Son).

As many Seventh-day Adventist will probably realise, in dealing with this

concept of a begotten Christ (His Sonship) we are dealing with a
denominational ‘hot potato’. We need to continue therefore with this
realisation in mind.

Whilst much has been said concerning this passionately debated subject, we
can also be sure that much more will be said in the future. What we need
today is a balanced consideration of this subject and not an extreme view
which is ‘hell bent’ (without due consideration being made to all the available
data) on arriving at one particular hypothesis.

So where shall we begin in acquiring this balance? I believe a good place to

begin would be with the early Church.

Early Christianity
The begotten concept concerning Christ (Christ a true Son) is not new to
Christianity. Since its beginnings it has been the historical view of the church.
This can be seen from the writings of the early church fathers.

Whichever of these writings is investigated, ‘Christ begotten’ (Christ the literal

Son of God) is the norm. Even those who translated these writings into other
languages (such as Latin) and spoke in other languages said exactly the

36
same. So where did all of these early Christian writers get this idea of a
‘begotten’ Christ?

The obvious answer is that they acquired it from reading the Scriptures, also
from the testimony handed down of the apostles (like James, Peter and John
etc). Some may object to this idea but what is the alternative answer? Did
they acquire it from paganism as Glyn Parfitt in his book suggests may have
been the case (see page 153)?

These early Christian writers were speaking on behalf of the church. Whilst
they did write in opposition to the many heresies that were then being
attempted to be brought into Christianity, the fact is that none of them
objected to the concept of a begotten Christ. Can it be said that they all had it
wrong? Can it be said that they were all deceived into accepting pagan
concepts of divinity?

The truth of the matter is that they all upheld the begotten concept. As to yet, I
have not come across one early Christian writer who objected to it. Is this
telling us something today (we shall refer to some of their writings later)?

We must also remember that the majority of these Christian writers were
Greek speaking. This means that it was not necessary for them to translate
the New Testament Scriptures from one language into another like we
(speakers of a language other than Greek) need to do but were reading them
in their own everyday tongue (we are talking here in terms of linguistics rather
than theology). They were also obviously conversant with the Septuagint (a
Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures)

In our understanding of this ‘begotten debate’, this linguistic data must be

taken into consideration. Obviously it is very important. This is because much
of the argument over this ‘begotten concept’ does concern the meaning of
Greek words (in particular ‘monogenes’). So what better place can we go to
understand this issue than to the people in whose language the New
Testament Scriptures were originally written?

Here is another consideration.

Much of the trinity debate finds its roots in the controversy that brought about
the Council of Nicaea (AD 325). Whilst it is not the purpose of this critique to
go into all the details here, suffice to note that at this council (remember here
that this was less than three hundred years after the beginnings of
Christianity, also only 200 or so years after John wrote his gospel), the
begotten concept was the norm. In other words, during the first centuries of
the Christian era (also for centuries beyond) no one disagreed with it. The
entire church accepted it.

To put it another way again, the begotten concept, in early Christianity, was
not a debated issue. What was debated (during the 4th century) was whether
this begetting was from all eternity (from everlasting) as was said by the up
and coming trinitarians or was it from a point in time (as said the Arians or

37
semi-Arians). Up to that time period there had been no controversy at all over
it. What is that telling us today?

Glyn Parfitt says that some Christian creeds do “mention” (as he puts it) the
begotten concept (see page 142) but the truth of the matter is that all the main
(important) creeds are 100% based on the concept. I cannot recall any that
are not. Without this concept they would be all null and void.

The vast majority at the Council of Nicaea were all Greek speaking, meaning
that they read the New Testament Scriptures in their own language. We must
ask therefore, did they all have a misunderstanding of the Greek language
(even the Christians who made no objection to this concept) whilst our
theologians today who say that the begotten concept is wrong have it correct?
This would be a very pompous (conceited) and very narrow minded way of
looking at it. Surely those who were Greek speaking (which was most) would
have no problems understanding their own language.

The above data therefore, if we are to have a happily balanced understanding

of this begotten discussion, must be taken into consideration.

Take for example the Bishop Alexander’s statement when speaking of his and
his followers beliefs concerning Christ (at the time of the Council of Nicaea,
Alexander was the Bishop of Alexandria and was deeply involved in the
controversy).

He said;

“We have learnt that the Son is immutable and unchangeable, all-sufficient
and perfect, like the Father, lacking only His “unbegotten.” He is the exact
and precisely similar image of His Father. For it is clear that the image fully
contains everything by which the greater likeness exists, as the Lord taught
us when He said, ‘My Father is greater than I.” (The ecclesiastical history of
Theodoret, Book 1, Chapter 3, page 39 ‘The Epistle of Alexander, Bishop of
Alexandria to Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople’)

According to Alexander’s reasoning, the only difference between the Father

and Son is that the Son is not unbegotten meaning that the Son is begotten
of the Father. Notice too that this bishop says that the Father is “the greater
likeness”. In other words (he is saying), the Son has His source in the Father
therefore in this sense alone, the Father is the greatest. Or to put it another
way again, apart from one being unbegotten and the other begotten of the
unbegotten, there is no difference between the two divine personalities.
According to the early church fathers, this was the faith of early Christianity. It
was the faith that the Son of God was the express image (exact likeness) of
the ‘substance’ of the Father. Later on I shall briefly comment on this
‘substance’.

With respect to Christ’s pre-existence, Ellen White wrote;

38
“From eternity there was a complete unity between the Father and the
Son. They were two, yet little short of being identical; two in individuality,
yet one in spirit, and heart, and character.” (Ellen G. White, Youth’s Instructor
16th December 1897)

Here we are told that from the very beginning, although the Father and Son
were in complete unity with each other, there was a difference between them,
albeit it was one that was very small. This tells us that in His pre-existence,
the Son was not 100% identical to the Father. Could it have been here that
like Alexander, Ellen White was saying that the only difference is that the
Father is unbegotten whilst the Son is begotten? As we shall see later, this is
more than likely.

Alexander continued in his letter (this was in defense of the belief that the Son
was eternally begotten – not begotten at a point in eternity);

“And in accordance with this we believe that the Son always existed of the
Father; for he is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His
Father’s Person.” (Ibid)

Alexander was quoting from Hebrews 1:3. It is reasonably obvious, seeing

that he said that the Son is not unbegotten, that he is saying that the Son was
begotten in “the express image of His Father’s person”. This was with
reference to Christ’s pre-existence, not the incarnation. We shall return to this
thought later.

This bishop then said;

“But let no one be led by the word ‘always’ to imagine that the Son is
unbegotten, as is thought by some who have their intellects blinded: for to
say that He was, that He has always been, and that before all ages, is not to
say that He is unbegotten.” (Ibid)

Alexander was stressing that Christ ‘always existing’ did not stop Him being
begotten of the Father. He was not saying that Christ is another God from the
Father.

It is also very apparent that Alexander was not very impressed with those who
said that Christ was not begotten (unbegotten). In fact in one rendition
(translation) of this statement he said that those who believe that the Son is
unbegotten are “deficient in intellectual power" (this is as quoted in A. T.
Jones ‘The Two Republics’ Page 333).

There is an obvious reason why Alexander used such strong wording.

He knew only too well that the Scriptures were clear that Christ was God
Himself (Jehovah) manifest in the flesh yet he knew also that this divine
personage was not the Father but the Son of God. This did not mean to
Alexander (or anyone else who believed that the Son was of the Father) that

39
the Son was a lesser god than the Father but rather was Jehovah Himself in
the person of His Son. This is the begotten concept.

This was also believed by Ellen White, although she took great care to
delineate between the Father and the Son.

This was when she said such as;

“The One appointed in the counsels of heaven came to the earth as an

instructor. He was no less a being than the Creator of the world, the Son of
the Infinite God.” (Ellen G. White, Special Testimonies on Education, page
173, 1897)

Here, as she does in over a hundred different places, Ellen White clearly
distinguishes between the “Son” of God and the “infinite God”. She regarded
them as two different divine personages.

Nine years after the publication of her supposedly trinitarian ‘The Desire of
Ages’ she continued to say (note the title of the article);

“The Son of the infinite God came to this earth, and honoured it with His
presence.” (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, 6th June 1907, ‘No other Gods
before me.’)

As will be seen in an overall review of Ellen White’s writings, she always

spoke of Christ, in His pre-existence, as being a true Son (the Son of God).
She did not speak of Him as the infinite God, at least not in personality. We
shall also return our thoughts to this later.

From the writings of the early church fathers, it can be seen that without a
doubt, the faith of the early Christian Church was that Christ was begotten of
the Father. They knew this had to be true because they realised that Christ
could not be ‘another God’ other than Jehovah. No objections can be found in
the writings of the early Christians regarding this concept. It was the accepted
norm (accepted faith) of the church. It was believed that the Son was no one
less than Jehovah yet He was not the Father.

When deliberating this begotten concept, this historical data, even though it
does not actually ‘prove’ it to be correct, must be taken into consideration. It is
obviously very relevant and very important.

An unwarranted and unjustifiable conclusion

In his book, Glyn Parfitt (as do others) suggests that one of the main reasons
(perhaps the main one) why the word ‘begotten’ (and the thought) found its
way into English translations of the Scripture is because of a mistranslation by
Jerome (it was Jerome who compiled what we know today as the Latin
Vulgate). This implies that this is the reason why some think even today in
terms of a begotten Christ.

40
This without doubt is an unwarranted and unjustifiable conclusion. It has to be
so because Jerome was not even born when the early church fathers wrote
that Christ was begotten of the Father. This means that this begotten concept,
when Jerome was born (c. 347), had been the established faith of the
Christian church for over 250 years. In his translation of the Scriptures,
Jerome was using what he believed was the wording that correctly portrayed
the Hebrew and Greek. He was not even born at the time of the Council of
Nicaea (AD 325)

For the above reasons Jerome cannot be nominated as the only one who led
the English translators to portray Christ as begotten of the Father. This
concept had been well and truly established before he was born. This is an
undeniable fact.

Another unwarranted and unjustifiable conclusion

Glyn Parfitt maintains that when the early Church fathers spoke of Christ
being begotten they were often simply saying that Christ was ‘unique’ or
‘special’ (see pages 145-146, 149-150, 153-154, 165, 641 and 810). Whilst no
one will argue with the uniqueness of Christ (or His specialness), to say that
the early church fathers meant ‘begotten’ to mean this I find is totally
unjustifiable.

Along with that which Alexander wrote (as above), take a look at other early
Christian’s writings See how they read when ‘unique’ or ‘special’ is
substituted instead of literally begotten.

Alexander said;

“We have learnt that the Son is immutable and unchangeable, all-sufficient
and perfect, like the Father, lacking only His “unbegotten.” He is the exact
and precisely similar image of His Father. For it is clear that the image fully
contains everything by which the greater likeness exists, as the Lord taught
us when He said, ‘My Father is greater than I.” (The ecclesiastical history of
Theodoret, Book 1, Chapter 3, page 39 ‘The Epistle of Alexander, Bishop of
Alexandria to Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople’)

Can we say that what Alexander was actually saying was that the Son was
lacking in His Father’s ‘un-specialness’ or ‘un-uniqueness’? This would be a
nonsensical way to understand what Alexander was saying. It is obviously that
he is using this begotten concept as Christ having His source in the Father.

Arius, who represents the opposition to the theology of Alexander, wrote in

similar letter regarding his and his follower’s beliefs;

“But we say and believe, and have taught, and do teach, that the Son is not
unbegotten, nor in any way part of the unbegotten; and that He does not
derive His subsistence from any matter; but that by His own will and
counsel He has subsisted before time, and before ages, as perfect God,

41
only begotten and unchangeable, and that before He was begotten, or
created, or purposed, or established, He was not. For He was not
unbegotten.” (The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret, Book 1, Chapter 3,
‘Letter of Arius to Eusebius of Nicomedia’)

Again this being begotten was regarded as a ‘happening’ (an event). It was
not just saying that Christ was ‘special’.

As another example, take the writings of Ignatius. He spoke of those he

termed ‘Christ betrayers’. Amongst other things he said that;

“They [the Christ betrayers] also calumniate His being born of the Virgin; they
are ashamed of His cross; they deny His passion; and they do not believe His
resurrection. They introduce God as a Being unknown; they suppose Christ
to be unbegotten; and as to the Spirit, they do not admit that He exists.
Some of them say that the Son is a mere man, and that the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit are but the same person, and that the creation is the work
of God, not by Christ, but by some other strange power.” (Ignatius, Epistle
of Ignatius to the Trallians, Chap. VI)

This was written by Ignatius around AD 107. He was writing to the early
Christians urging them to maintain their faith. There were no objections to his
begotten concept of Christ. In fact here (like Alexander did over 200 years
later) he condemns those who say that Christ is unbegotten.

Ignatius is said to have been born very soon after the death and resurrection
of Jesus. Some say that it was as early as AD 35, although others maintain it
was a few years later (the death and resurrection of Jesus was in AD 31).
Whichever date of his birth is assumed, Ignatius certainly lived during the time
of the ‘acts of the apostles’. This would have been in the time of such as
Peter, Paul, James and John etc. This is something that for very obvious
reasons we need to remember. They would have handed down their beliefs
personally to those like Ignatius. It is also said that Ignatius was a convert and
disciple of John the gospel writer (John is the one who used ‘monogenes’ in
respect of Christ). If this is true then he would have known exactly what John
believed concerning Christ. He may have even read John’s gospel as it was
originally written.

Ignatius also wrote to the Ephesians;

“But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and
unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-
begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the
Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who
afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin.” (Ignatius, Epistle of Ignatius
to the Ephesians)

Again there is no way that anyone who is honestly seeking the truth can say
that all that Ignatius was saying here of Christ was that He was unique or
special.

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Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho (or Tryphon) wrote (this was with reference
to Christ being the wisdom of Proverbs chapter 8);

“And it is written in the book of Wisdom: 'If I should tell you daily events, I
would be mindful to enumerate them from the beginning. The Lord created
me the beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He
established me in the beginning, before He formed the earth, and before
He made the depths, and before the springs of waters came forth, before the
mountains were settled; He begets me before all the hills.' When I repeated
these words, I added: "You perceive, my hearers, if you bestow attention, that
the Scripture has declared that this Offspring was begotten by the Father
before all things created; and that which is begotten is numerically
distinct from that which begets, any one will admit.” .”(Justin Marty,
Dialogue with Trypho, chapter CXXVI, ‘The various names of Christ’)

This very same reasoning can be found throughout the entirety of the early
church father’s writings. Masses more could be quoted but they would all say
the very same thing. That is that Christ is begotten of the Father therefore He
is truly the Son of God. That Christ is the wisdom of Proverbs chapter 8 is also
prevalent in the writings of the early Christian writers.

These early church fathers all believed and taught that the Son has His
source in the Father therefore they described the Father as the unbegotten
and the Son the begotten. This is what made the Son, according to their
reasoning, God (Jehovah) Himself.

It must also be said here that if the word ‘begotten’ (as used by the early
Christians) only means unique or special, then why is not this concept applied
in the Scriptures to the Father or the Holy Spirit? Are they not unique? Are
they not special? Are they not co-equal? Why apply it to only the Son?

In summary of the above, it must be said again that even though all these
church fathers wrote about the Father being unbegotten and the Son being
begotten it brought about no objections from early Christians. This begotten
concept appears to have been the predominant faith of early Christianity. In
other words it was the norm.

Why I bring this to your notice is because the majority of these early
Christians were Greek speaking. If they had thought that these early Christian
writers were speaking antagonistically to the New Testament Scriptures would
they not have objected? After all, they would have been reading the New
Testament Scriptures in their own language.

When debating this begotten concept therefore we need to give this serious
consideration. In other words we must ask why they did not object to it. It can
only be reasoned that on an issue as big as this one (the deity of Jesus
Christ), they believed that what the church fathers wrote was in accordance
with the Scriptures. I cannot see that there can be any other conclusion.

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If I were using Glyn Parfitt’s method of ‘weight of evidence’ analysis (which I
am not) I would probably give this at least a + 5 or even more in favour of the
begotten concept. Even though it does not ‘prove’ the concept, it is still a
major part of the puzzle.

Ellen White and the begotten concept

There can be no doubt that whilst Ellen White was alive, just like early
Christianity, the faith of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was that Christ was
literally begotten of the Father, therefore He was the literal Son of God.

At the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference, it was this ‘begotten faith’ that
was the underlying factor of Ellet Waggoner’s message. It was this message
that Ellen White endorsed as coming from God. We must reason therefore
that if there had been anything seriously wrong with this message, she would
not have given it the approbation that she did. We can also reason that if she
had thought regarding this issue (the begotten concept) there was something
wrong with the faith of Seventh-day Adventists she would have spoken of it.
As it was she made no objections. Throughout her ministry she allowed the
church to teach it world-wide as being the truth about the Son. Should that be
telling us something today?

In his book ‘Christ and His Righteousness’, which is said to depict Waggoner’s
message at Minneapolis, Waggoner wrote such statements as;

“It is not given to men to know when or how the Son was begotten; but we
know that He was the Divine Word, not simply before He came to this earth to
die, but even before the world was created.” (E. J. Waggoner, ‘Christ and His
Righteousness’, page 9, 1890)

“There was a time when Christ proceeded forth and came from God, from the
bosom of the Father (John 8:42 and 1:18) but that time was so far back in
the days of eternity that to finite comprehension it is practically without
beginning. But the point is that Christ is a begotten Son and not a created
subject.” (Ibid pages 21-22)

“This name [God] was not given to Christ in consequence of some great
achievement but it is His by right of inheritance Speaking of the power and
greatness of Christ, the writer to the Hebrews says that He is made so much
better than the angels, because “He hath by inheritance obtained a more
excellent name than they.” Heb. 1:4.” (Ibid pages 11-12)

“A son always rightfully takes the name of the father; and Christ, as “the
only begotten Son of God,” has rightfully the same name. A son, also, is, to a
greater or less degree, a reproduction of the father; he has to some extent the
features and personal characteristics of his father; not perfectly, because
there is no perfect reproduction among mankind. But there is no imperfection
in God, or in any of His works, and so Christ is the “express image” of the
Father’s person. Heb. 1:3. As the Son of the self - existent God, He has by
nature all the attributes of Deity.” (Ibid)

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This was the basis of Waggoner’s Minneapolis message (1888). It was the
belief that in eternity, Christ was begotten of the Father.

I would ask you to note just one more statement. This is when Waggoner said;

“It is true that there are many sons of God, but Christ is the “only begotten
Son of God,” and therefore the Son of God in a sense in which no other
being ever was or ever can be.” (Ibid, page 12)

He then added;

“The angels are sons of God, as was Adam (Job 38:7; Luke 3:38), by
creation; Christians are the sons of God by adoption (Rom. 8:14, 15), but
Christ is the Son of God by birth. The writer to the Hebrews further shows
that the position of the Son of God is not one to which Christ has been
elevated but that it is one which He has by right.” (Ibid)

Waggoner here is explaining the reason for Christ’s divine sonship. He said it
was not because He was created, neither was it because He was adopted,
but that He was a son by “birth” (meaning birthed in His pre-existence).

Parfitt says that it could be argued that there is nothing in this statement to
indicate that Waggoner was not referring to the incarnation (see pages 226-
227).

In response to that observation may I say this much. Anyone who upon
reading what Waggoner says prior to as well as following that quotation and
then draws the conclusion that he was referring to the incarnation, has without
doubt stepped into the realms of total absurdity.

Waggoner titled the section in which this statement is found “Is Christ God”?
The whole point of the discussion in the section is to prove that Christ, in His
pre-existence, is God. The emphasis was not concerning the incarnation. In
fact when Waggoner gets to the end of the section he says;

“Note the expression, "the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father." He has His abode there, and He is there as a part of the Godhead,
as surely when on earth as when in heaven. The use of the present tense
implies continued existence. It presents the same idea that is contained in the
statement of Jesus to the Jews (John 8:58), "Before Abraham was, I am." And
this again shows His identity with the One who appeared to Moses in the
burning bush, who declared His name to be "I AM THAT I AM." (E. J.
Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, ‘Is Christ God?’ 1890)

I would now ask you to compare the penultimate statement with something
Ellen White wrote just 7 years after Minneapolis, also as ‘The Desire of Ages’
was being prepared for publication. By this time she had been God’s chosen
messenger for over 50 years and was drawing on that same amount of
revelation from God.

45
As is commonly known, her lack of education saddened her. This is because
she knew it was as a ‘stumbling block’ to her finding the adequate words to
describe what God had shown her. To overcome this handicap, she often
resorted to using what other people had written.

Bearing this in mind, compare this next statement of hers with the one
previously quoted from Waggoner. Note this was 5 years after Waggoner had
published his book. As we shall see, she must have read Waggoner’s
statement and modified it.

She wrote;

“A complete offering has been made; for "God so loved the world, that he
gave his only-begotten Son,"-- not a son by creation, as were the angels,
nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the
express image of the Father's person, and in all the brightness of his
majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine
perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Ellen G.
White, Signs of the Times, 30th May 1895, ‘Christ our complete salvation’)

Regarding the sonship of Christ (why Christ is the Son of God), how much
difference is there between this statement and what Waggoner had written
(see above)? The answer is very little. The only noticeable difference is that
Waggoner used the word “birth” with reference to Christ’s pre-existent sonship
whilst Ellen White used the word “begotten”. Both said that Christ was not a
Son by creation (as were angels). Both said that He was not a Son by
adoption (like us Christians). Waggoner said that Christ was a Son by “birth”
whilst Ellen White said that He was “a Son begotten in the express image of
the Father's person”. This primarily is the only difference between the two
statements.

It is clearly evident, although she did not use exactly the same words, that
Ellen White used Waggoner’s statement and modified it. This shows us clearly
that as regards to this begotten concept of Christ (His divine Sonship), Ellen
White was in harmony with Waggoner. It also shows us that she was in
harmony with Seventh-day Adventists in general because this was their
predominant faith. Never did she say that their begotten concept of Christ was
wrong. This must be telling us something today.

Glyn Parfitt says that this statement of Ellen White, like Waggoner’s similar
statement (see above), is made with reference to the incarnation. I would
regard this, as I believe would most people, as being totally impossible. The
statement only has to be read in context for this to be realised. It must have
been made with reference to Christ’s pre-existence. The words begotten “in all
the brightness of his majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority,
dignity, and divine perfection” are enough to tell us this much.

Glyn Parfitt also says (page 227) that there is no evidence that Ellen White
supported Waggoner’s begotten concept regarding Christ. He says that she

46
only supported his reasoning of righteousness by faith. The above evidence
proves completely otherwise. Without a doubt, regarding Christ, Ellen White
clearly supported Waggoner‘s reasoning.

Now note that 6 weeks later Ellen White wrote in principle an almost identical
statement.

She said;

“The Eternal Father, the unchangeable one, gave his only begotten Son,
tore from his bosom Him who was made in the express image of his
person, and sent him down to earth to reveal how greatly he loved
mankind." (Ellen G. White, Review & Herald 9th July 1895 ‘The Duty of the
Minister and the People’)

Ellen White this time substitutes the word “made” instead of “begotten” but the
principle is the same.

I cannot accept how Glyn Parfitt deals with this passage on page 217 of his
book, although like everyone else he is entitled to his opinion. Like the above
statement, he maintains that the “made in the express image of His person” is
probably with reference to the incarnation although he does not seem very
sure of himself. He appears to ‘waffle’ a lot. This to me, if it is interpreted this
way, is a total disregarding of the grammatical sequence of events in the
statement. This is that (1) “The Eternal Father, the unchangeable one, (2)
gave his only begotten Son, (3) tore from his bosom Him who was made in
the express image of his person, and (4) sent him down to earth to reveal
how greatly he loved mankind”.

The obvious understanding of this statement is that the ‘tearing from His
bosom’ is God giving up His Son who was already “made in the express
image of his person. In other words, to reveal how greatly he loved mankind,
God sent to this earth His only begotten Son who had been (previously) made
in His image. I believe that the statement cannot be honestly read in any other
way.

As Ellen White also wrote;

“Before Christ came in the likeness of men, he existed in the express

image of his Father”. (Ellen G. White, Youth’s Instructor, 20th December
1900 ‘Christ’s humiliation”)

There is no doubt in my mind that the above “begotten” and “made” in the
‘express image of God’ statements are with reference to Christ’s pre-
existence yet in his book, Glyn Parfitt says that they are probably both with
reference to the incarnation.

One may argue here that Ellen White had her theology wrong but to say that
she wrote these statements with reference to the incarnation (as does Glyn

47
Parfitt) is not reasonable exegesis – at least I do not believe it to be so.
Without going against my conscience I could never make such a claim.

Another comparison
I would also bring to your attention another comparison of statements.

In his book ‘Christ and His Righteousness’ (which as we noted above Ellen
White used and modified from), Waggoner wrote such as;

“The Word was “in the beginning”. The mind of man cannot grasp the ages
that are spanned in this phrase.” (E. J. Waggoner, ‘Christ and His
Righteousness’, page 9, 1890)

“We know that Christ “proceeded forth and come from God” (John 8:42) but it
was so far back in the ages of eternity as to be far beyond the grasp of
the mind of man.” (Ibid)

Waggoner was simply saying that it is not revealed when Christ was
begotten.

Now compare what he said with a statement from Ellen White. She wrote this
the year after ‘The Desire of Ages’ was published. It was with reference to
Christ saying “Before Abraham was I am”.

She said;

“Here Christ shows them that, altho they might reckon His life to be less than
fifty years, yet His divine life could not be reckoned by human
computation.” (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times. 3rd May 1899 ‘The Word
made flesh’)

She then added;

“The existence of Christ before His incarnation is not measured by figures.”

(Ibid)

Again it must be asked: - how much difference is there between this and Ellet
Waggoner’s statements (see above)? Again we must answer: - there is no
difference at all, at least not in principle. Ellen White said exactly the same as
did Waggoner, again wording it differently.

We can only conclude therefore that Ellen White reasoned exactly the same
as did Waggoner. He believed that Christ was God (Jehovah) in the person of
His Son and so did Ellen White. They both reasoned also that the Son was
begotten of the Father in eternity - a time unknown and incalculable to the
human mind. This, like the faith of early Christianity before the trinity doctrine
was introduced, was then the faith of Seventh-day Adventists. These are the
facts of history.

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In his book, Glyn Parfitt disagrees with this reasoning. He says that along with
the Scriptures, Ellen White never speaks of Christ as having His origins in the
Father. In other words he says that along with Ellen White, he believes that
Christ is not begotten of the Father therefore He is not in reality the Son of
God. My belief is, after reading volumes of what Ellen White said regarding
this matter, that she believed that Christ is the begotten Son of God.

In the express image of God’s person

In all of the early Christian father’s writings, also in Ellen White’s writings, also
in the writing of many of this world’s top theologians (including those of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church), I cannot remember seeing it claimed that
when the writer of Hebrews said that the Son of God was the ‘express image
of God’s person’ (see Hebrews 1:3) that reference was made to any time
period except the Son’s pre-existence. Certainly I have not read of any of
them that it is with reference to the incarnation. Glyn Parfitt in his book
suggests that the period of time to which this refers is not known (see page
218).

The verse in question says (in its context);

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Being
made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a
more excellent name than they.” Hebrews 1:1-4

It is reasonable to believe here that when referring to the Son “upholding all
things by the word of his power” it can only be with reference to His pre-
existence. By those who think differently this may be a matter of conjecture
but personally I cannot reason it any other way. Others like Glyn Parfitt
obviously are able to do so.

The Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia also relates this “express image”

passage of Scripture to Christ’s pre-existence.

It says in the commentary with reference to Hebrews 1:3 (emphasis as the

original);

“God’s glory is His character … Christ did not become the brightness of God’s
glory. He already was, and always had been (see on John 1:1) … This
constitutes the essential and eternal ground of His personality.” (Seventh-day
Adventist Encyclopedia, volume 7, page 397)

Whilst an explanation of “express image” (Gr. charakter) and ‘person’ (Gr.

hupostasis) would be too much to go into in detail here, the clear meaning is
that the Son was the exact likeness (image) of the Father’s inner being (inner

49
person). This is because the word ‘hupostasis’ means ‘substance’ (what
constitutes someone or something). In other words, everything that God is
(what makes God, God) so is the Son.

As the New English Bible translates John 1:1;

“When all things began, the word already was. The word dwelt with God and
what God was, the word was.” John 1:1 New English Bible.

The Son therefore, according to this reasoning, is the perfect (absolute)

representation of the Father yet a separate personage from Him.

As Ellen White put it with reference to Hebrews 1:3 (I will quote these
“express image” statements without individual comment);

“Christ Himself is the pearl of great price. In Him is gathered all the glory of
the Father, the fullness of the Godhead. He is the brightness of the Father's
glory and the express image of His person. The glory of the attributes of
God is expressed in His character.” (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons.
Page 115

“As a personal being, God has revealed Himself in His Son. Jesus, the
outshining of the Father's glory, "and the express image of His person"
(Hebrews 1:3), was on earth found in fashion as a man.” (Ellen G. White,
Testimonies Volume 8, page 265)

“Taking humanity upon Him, Christ came to be one with humanity, and at the
same time to reveal our heavenly Father to sinful human beings. He who had
been in the presence of the Father from the beginning, He who was the
express image of the invisible God, was alone able to reveal the character
of the Deity to mankind. He was in all things made like unto His brethren. He
became flesh even as we are.” (Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, page 422,

“Man was to bear God's image, both in outward resemblance and in

character. Christ alone is "the express image" (Hebrews 1:3) of the
Father; but man was formed in the likeness of God. His nature was in
harmony with the will of God. (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, page
45

“In the work of creation, Christ was with God. He was one with God, equal
with him, the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, the
representative of the Father. He alone, the Creator of man, could be his
Saviour.” (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times 13th February 1893

All of these and other of Ellen White “express image” statements speak of
Christ as being in this condition in His pre-existence, yet Glyn Parfitt says
that this can be with reference to the incarnation. How this can be I cannot
fathom. As of yet I cannot find anywhere where Ellen White expresses this
sentiment. Obviously she says that when on earth He represented the
express image of God. This is because He was this in His pre-existence.

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Monogenes
We now need to move on to the word which is very much at the centre of the
begotten debate. This is the Greek word that we transliterate ‘monogenes’.

Whilst this word needs far more explanation that can be given to it in this
review, enough will be said to show that it must mean that at some specific
point of origin, a person (or personality) was acquired (brought into being).

Take for example all the places in the New Testament Scripture where this
word is used.

These are;

Luke 7:12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was
a dead man carried out, the only son [monogenes] of his mother, and she was
a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

Luke 8:42 For he had one only [monogenes] daughter, about twelve years of
age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.

Luke 9:38 And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I
beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only [monogenes] child.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten [monogenes] of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten
[monogenes] Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
[monogenes] Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
only begotten [monogenes] Son of God.

Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and
he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [monogenes]
son,

1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that
God sent his only begotten [monogenes] Son into the world, that we might live
through him.

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From the above texts, we can see that it was only three New Testament
writers who used the word ‘monogenes. These were Luke and John, also the
writer of Hebrews whom many believe to be the apostle Paul.

Luke clearly uses the word to mean ‘the only child of’. Obviously to the
parents, this child is special. He or she is the only one of its kind. In the case
of Paul’s use of this word, Isaac was not Abraham’s only son but he was the
only son of the relationship of Abraham and Sarah. Isaac is the only one
recognised by God as fulfilling His promise to Abraham. All were brought into
being at some time.

John is the only Bible writer to use ‘monogenes’ in respect of Christ. He does
not use it on any other occasion.

As I see it, the question here is not simply what does the word mean but what
did the users mean by their employment of it.

Perhaps the most well used Scripture where ‘monogenes; is employed is John
3:16. This is where Jesus said to Nicodemus;

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten [monogenes] Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16

I would ask a question here. John is recording the words of Jesus. Under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit he is communicating them as the Holy Spirit led
him to do so albeit Jesus would probably have spoken to Nicodemus in
Aramaic.

So the question is not so much what did John mean (as Glyn Parfitt says on
page 142) but what did Jesus intend Nicodemus to believe concerning what
He had told him.

If I were in the shoes of Nicodemus (assuming John quoted Jesus correctly), I

would say that Jesus meant me to believe that God had given to this world His
one and only (beloved) Son. What else could I take it to mean? Never could I
think that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. Why would that thought cross
my mind?

Take for example when Luke used this word (monogenes) with respect to the
widow’s son, also with reference to the daughter of Jairus and the demon
possessed boy. Are we to take it that he was using this word in some
metaphorical sense and not literal? Obviously not. So why would we do it with
respect to Christ talking to Nicodemus (we must remember here that John
was supplying a Greek word, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to explain
what Jesus probably said to Nicodemus in Aramaic)?

How about the writer of Hebrews: was he using the word metaphorically?
Again, I would answer definitely not. Isaac was a literal child of literal parents.
All these children were literal children. Paul was simply using the best Greek

52
word he knew to reflect God’s description of Isaac which was “thine only” (see
Genesis 22:1-2, 12 and 16). After all, he was writing to Hebrew Christians.

Regarding these children, they all had one thing in common. This is that they
were all ‘one of a kind’. This, according to Strong’s concordance, is exactly
what ‘monogenes’ means.

Strong’s says that ‘monogenes’ is compounded of two separate words,

namely ‘monos’ and ‘ginomai’.

It says;

“3439 … Monogenes … from 3441 and 1096; Only-born, i.e. sole - only
(begotten, child) (James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible, New Strong’s Concise Dictionary of the words in
the Greek Testament, page 59)

Whilst ‘mono’ (one only) is easily understood, the other transliterated word
‘ginomai’, has a more varied application.

By the gospel writers alone it is translated ‘done’ over 50 times and ‘came’ (as
in ‘came to pass’) also over 50 times. It is also translated, ‘come’, ‘become’,
‘made’ and ‘fulfilled’. Strong’s describes it as a word that is translated in the
KJV as ‘be assembled’, ‘be’ (come), ‘be’ (brought to pass), ‘arise’, ‘continue’
etc.

Strong’s also describes this word as;

“A prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; ‘to cause to be’
(“gen”-erate) i.e. reflexively to become (come into being)” (see The New
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, New Strong’s Concise
Dictionary of the words in the Greek Testament, page 19).

If this is a correct understanding of ‘monogenes’, this would mean that when

applied to an individual person (as it always does in Scripture), it means that
the person ‘caused to be’ is the only one of a kind. This is obviously what
Luke meant by his use of the word, as did the writer of Hebrews. Regarding
the latter, Isaac was the only child of Abraham and Sarah therefore he was
definitely ‘the only one of his kind’. He was obviously also very special. He
existed by the promise of God. His birth was a miracle.

We must ask another question here. What did John mean by his use of the
word? He was the only one to use it with reference to Christ. Even more
importantly what did Jesus mean when speaking to Nicodemus? John used it
twice when recording this conversation.

I cannot see that John would expect anyone to understand it any differently
than Christ saying that He was God’s one and only Son (one of a kind). Why
would anyone think any differently? This is exactly what the word means.

53
There is another point here. Some will say that ‘monogenes’ means ‘unique’.
Whilst to an extent this is true (an only child of one set of parents would be in
one sense unique) it must be asked if Christ is unique (one of a kind) then
what makes Him such? The reason why I ask this is because it is a fact that
for the one and the same reason, it is impossible to have two or more
uniques. This is why the word ‘unique’ can only be used in the singular.

Look at it this way. If Christ is unique, then what makes Him different to the
Father and the Holy Spirit? I ask this because to be unique He must be
different from these other two divine personalities. If it says that He (the Son)
is unique because He is God’s only Son then it must be accepted that He is a
son. This brings us back in a full circle to Christ being begotten of the Father.
This is because He is either a son or He is not. It cannot be said in one breath
that He is unique because He is a son and then say in another breath that He
is not a son.

If He is said not to be a son (meaning not God’s one and only son) then in
what sense is He unique? The questioners of the begotten concept (like Glyn
Parfitt) must answer this question.

It is reasonably obvious that it cannot be said that He is unique (one of a kind)

because He is a son metaphorically. This would not only be an abuse of the
English language but also an abuse of anyone’s intelligence.

On page 165 of his book, as he does in other places (see above for page
references), Parfitt says that ‘monogenes’ simply means “only” or “very
special” but this is very much an over simplification of the problem. The word
itself and its meaning, as its two parts ‘monos’ and ‘ginomai’ suggest, is far
more complex. If it was that simple (as Parfitt suggests) there would be no
dispute over it.

Whilst there may be reservations over this begotten concept, also questions
that are unanswerable this side of eternity, I cannot see that there is any other
explanation of how Christ can be God (Jehovah) and yet not be the Father.

An explanation of this is noticeably absent in Glyn Parfitt’s book therefore

before it is published (assuming it will be published), this issue must be
addressed. If it is not addressed then this book will just be another
meaningless collection of words that does not lend itself to answering the real
questions concerning Christ. In other words, regarding this begotten issue, I
believe this book will only add to the confusion that already exists within
Seventh-day Adventism.
John 8:42
By those who support the begotten concept, there are some who say that in
His conversing with the Jews, Jesus alluded to this event.

This is where it is recorded;

54
“Ye [Jews] do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born
of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God
were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from
God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. John 8:41-42

Glyn Parfitt makes a great deal out of understanding the Greek word
‘exerchomai’ (translated proceeded) that Strong’s says means “issued”. Parfitt
says that Jesus was referring to the incarnation (see page 163) but this is
extremely doubtful (it seems that Parfitt says that most of the evidence that
those use who believe in the begotten concept refers to the incarnation and
not Christ’s pre-existence).

Although the Jews were alluding to the circumstance of His birth (see John
8:41), Jesus was saying very clearly here that they (the Jews) were of their
Father the devil whilst He, having God as His father, had ‘issued forth’ from
God. Whether Jesus was referring to His pre-existent origins may be a matter
of conjecture but certainly He was not referring to His entry into this world
through Mary. The context does not allow this statement to be interpreted this
way, although Parfitt seems to think that it does. Jesus was here referring to
spiritual ancestry not to human genealogy. Read the discourse between the
Jews and Jesus and you will see what I mean.

The wisdom of Proverbs chapter 8

Parfitt maintains (see pages 164-170) that Proverbs 8:22-31 is simply “the
personification of wisdom” (page 165).

Whilst he acknowledges that Ellen White does say that this passage of
scripture does refer to Christ, he obviously does not take this to mean that she
meant it literally - hence his remark concerning ‘personification’. He accents
mainly on the words “brought forth”. He says that this was just a literary device
used by the Bible writer which is not meant to be taken literally (see page
167). This is in opposition to those who uphold the begotten concept who say
that it refers to this event.

Parfitt quotes Ellen White where she uses this passage in ‘Patriarchs and
Prophets’ (page 34) and remarks that she omitted what he terms “the
contentious part”. This is where it says in Proverbs 8:24-25 that wisdom is
“brought forth” which those of the begotten concept see as the begetting of
Christ. It is the “brought forth” that Parfitt says is contentious.

Strange to relate though, if Ellen White did believe it to be contentious (as

Parfitt maintains), why did she include it in an article in the Review and Herald
in 1906 called ‘The Word made Flesh’?

This is when she said;

“The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a
distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of
heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the

55
adoring homage of the angels was received by him as his right. This was no
robbery of God. "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way," he
declares, "before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought
forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the
mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth; while as yet he
had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the
world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass
upon the face of the depth." (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald 5th April
1906, ‘The Word made Flesh’)

Notice Ellen White said here that the Son of God “existed from eternity”, also
that He was “brought forth”. As we shall see later, her use of “eternity” does
not necessarily mean that she meant from everlasting.

Ellen White made it very clear that this passage of Scripture is not simply a
personification of wisdom but is referring to Christ Himself. This can be seen
very clearly in the above quote but she also said in the Signs of the Times in
1900;

“Through Solomon Christ declared: "The Lord possessed Me in the

beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was
brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before
the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. . . . When
He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters should not pass His
commandment; when He appointed the foundations of the earth; then I was
by Him, as one brought up with Him; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing
always before Him." (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, 29th August 1900,
‘Resistance to light No. 3)

I notice here, as well as the inclusion of the “contentious part” (brought forth),
the “Me” in “The Lord Possessed Me” is capitalised, even though in the KJV it
is not. This was done the same in Patriarch and Prophets (page 34)

This is when she wrote (according to Parfitt omitting the contentious ‘brought
forth’ part):

“The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He
had an associate--a co-worker who could appreciate His purposes, and could
share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in
the beginning with God." John 1:1, 2. Christ, the Word, the only begotten of
God, was one with the eternal Father--one in nature, in character, in purpose--
the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. "His
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6. His "goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2. And the Son of God declares concerning
Himself: "The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His
works of old. I was set up from everlasting. . . . When He appointed the

56
foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I
was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." Proverbs 8:22-30.” (Ellen
G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 34, ‘Why sin was permitted’)

In the Signs of the Times of 1899 Ellen White also wrote (note the
capitalisation of “Me” again);

"The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of
old," Christ says. "When He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters
should not pass His commandment; when He appointed the foundations of
the earth; then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him; and I was daily
His delight, rejoicing always before Him." But the only-begotten Son of
God humbled Himself to come to this earth. He took the sinner's place; the
guiltless suffered for the guilty. This was the hiding of His glory. "Forasmuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise
took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the
power of death."” (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, 22nd February 1899,
‘The Measure of God’s love’)

It is very clear that Ellen White did not just regard Proverbs 8:22-31 as simply
the personification of wisdom. She says that it literally refers to Christ. I cannot
see how that can be argued about, but Glyn Parfitt disputes it.

Interesting also, as we have seen earlier in this appraisal, is that the early
Christian writers, just as did Ellen White, regarded Proverbs 8:22-31 as
directly referring to Christ.

Interesting is that Justin Martyr (c.100 – c.165) in his dialogue with Trypho
says that this wisdom is Christ but then quotes this passage from Proverbs a
little bit differently than we have it today in the KJV.

He says;

“And it is written in the book of Wisdom: 'If I should tell you daily events, I
would be mindful to enumerate them from the beginning. The Lord created
me the beginning of His ways for His works. From everlasting He
established me in the beginning, before He formed the earth, and before
He made the depths, and before the springs of waters came forth, before the
mountains were settled; He begets me before all the hills.' When I repeated
these words, I added: "You perceive, my hearers, if you bestow attention, that
the Scripture has declared that this Offspring was begotten by the Father
before all things created; and that which is begotten is numerically
distinct from that which begets, any one will admit." (Justin Martyr,
Dialogue with Trypho, chapter CXXVI, ‘The various names of Christ’)

As I am sure you will agree - this is very interesting. This admits the begotten
concept.

Tertullian also reasoned the same way. He said (quoting Proverbs 8:22-25);

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“Listen therefore to Wisdom herself, constituted in the character of a Second
Person: "At the first the Lord created me as the beginning of His ways,
with a view to His own works, before He made the earth, before the mountains
were settled; moreover, before all the hills did He beget me;" that is to say,
He created and generated me in His own intelligence.” (Tertullian against
Praxeas, chapter six)

In chapter seven Tertullian said of this generating;

“Thus does He make Him equal to Him: for by proceeding from Himself He
became His first-begotten Son, because begotten before all things; and His
only-begotten also, because alone begotten of God, in a way peculiar to
Himself, from the womb of His own heart -- even as the Father Himself
testifies: "My heart," says He, "has emitted my most excellent Word." (Ibid,
chapter seven)

The early Christian writers had no problems equating Christ with the wisdom
of Proverbs chapter 8. They regarded it as revealing the begetting of the Son.
How interesting is that?

From the days of eternity

At the risk of making this appraisal very lengthy, it would not be possible to
finish it without some reference to a phrase often attributed to Ellen White
when referring to Christ. That phrase is “from the days of eternity”.

Most would see this as her meaning to say ‘from forever’ or ‘from everlasting’
but I would disagree.

In his book, Glyn Parfitt, in his denial of the begotten concept, seems to place
a great deal of emphasis on the word ‘everlasting’ as used in Micah 5:2. This
is where it says with reference to the coming (promised) Christ;

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting [Heb. Olam].”
Micah 5:2

In Micah 5:2 (KJV), as in other places in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word
that is translated ‘everlasting’ (‘owlam’ or ‘olam’) does not actually mean
‘forever’ (meaning never having a beginning). It actually means ‘time out of
mind’ or ‘the vanishing point’ (i.e. that which is hidden from human
understanding). It also has as its root a word that literally means ‘hidden’ or
‘concealed’.

This same Hebrew word ‘owlam’ suggests, as we would say today, ‘sometime
so far back in eternity that it is beyond human understanding’. It is just like
saying that which is ‘beyond the horizon’, ‘something that cannot be seen’,
‘time out of mind’ or ‘beyond human comprehension’ (as Ellen White said,
Christ’s existence before the incarnation is beyond human computation).

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Although space denies me quoting the entire verse, other translations have
“from ancient times” (New International Version (footnote ‘days of eternity’),
“from old, from the days of eternity” (Green’s Literal Translation), “from long
ago, From the days of eternity" (New American Standard), “from the
beginning, from the days of eternity” (Douay-Rheims Translation), “whose
origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Revised Standard Version), “whose
origins go back to the distant past” (The New Jerusalem Bible [1985]). Other
translations have very similar renderings.

Very interesting is that when Ellen White used this verse in ‘The Desire of
Ages’, also in ‘Prophets and Kings’ she quoted from the KJV but instead of
using the word ‘everlasting’ (as in the KJV text) she substituted the margin
notes. These notes said ‘from the days of eternity’.

Here are the instances;

“Silence fell upon the vast assembly. The name of God, given to Moses to
express the idea of the eternal presence, had been claimed as His own by
this Galilean Rabbi. He had announced Himself to be the self-existent One,
He who had been promised to Israel, "whose goings forth have been from of
old, from the days of eternity." Micah 5:2, margin. (Ellen White, The Desire
of Ages, page 469, ‘The light of Life’)

She had also said earlier in the book of Mary the mother of Jesus:

“She is of the lineage of David, and the Son of David must be born in David's
city. Out of Bethlehem, said the prophet, "shall He come forth . . . that is to be
ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of
eternity." Micah 5:2, margin.” (Ellen G. White, ‘The Desire of Ages, page 47,
‘Unto you a Saviour’, 1898)

She also did the same in ‘Prophets and Kings’. This is when she said;

“The Son of David must be born in David's city. Out of Bethlehem, said the
prophet, "shall He come forth ... that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth
have been from of old, from the days of eternity." Micah 5:2, margin.”
(Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, page 697, ‘The coming of a Deliverer’)

Needless to say, Ellen White must have had a very good reason for doing this
because if she wanted to depict the existence of Christ as never having a
beginning (everlasting or forever), then what better choice of words could be
used from the English language than “from everlasting”? As it was though, on
these three occasions, she refused to use them. As has been said, there must
have been a very good reason for her not doing it. I believe it is because it did
not fit in with what God had shown her, which was that Christ, sometime in the
distant past that is beyond the computation of the human mind, the Son
proceeded forth (was begotten) of the Father. She chose those words
knowing that these books would go to the public in general.

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Again this shows that she was in harmony with Ellet Waggoner of Minneapolis
fame because he said in his book ‘Christ and His Righteousness’;

“There was a time when Christ proceeded forth and came from God, from
the bosom of the Father (John 8:42 and 1:18) but that time was so far back in
the days of eternity that to finite comprehension it is practically without
beginning. (E. J. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness, page 21-22, ‘Is
Christ a created being?’

He also said (using Micah 5:2);

“The Scriptures declare that Christ is "the only begotten son of God." He is
begotten, not created. As to when He was begotten, it is not for us to
inquire, nor could our minds grasp it if we were told. The prophet Micah tells
us all that we can know about it in these words, "But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth
have been from of old, from the days of eternity." Micah 5:2, margin.”(Ibid,
page 21 ‘Is Christ a created being?’)

Regardless of what Glyn Parfitt says (see page 227), it is blatantly obvious
that Ellen White did agree with Waggoner’s begotten concept of Christ.

Whilst in his book Glyn Parfitt does acknowledge that ‘olam’ does not
necessarily mean ‘everlasting’, I cannot find anywhere where he points out
that Ellen White made this substitution of the margin notes (or where she
parallels Ellet Waggoner). Perhaps he does not know about it, or perhaps he
does know and for some reason simply refrained from saying so.

Final remarks
Much more could be said regarding Glyn Parfitt’s objections to the begotten
concept but space is limited. This is why I must end here.

After reading his work, the one thing that I have come to realise is that it is
only too easy to accent on the negatives. It is something else to provide some
positives. All it seems to me that Glyn is doing in his book is the former.

If this book is published I will consider it a very sad day for Seventh-day
Adventism. This is because I regard it as only ‘tearing down’ instead of
‘building up’. It seems to me that it is simply a case with Glyn of deny, deny,
deny, no matter what reason is given for this denial (in other words, any
reason is better than none). In light of the evidence I have just provided, I
cannot see how some of his reasoning can be considered justifiable.

This critique was not meant to be a ‘blow by blow’ analysis of his book but
was a very brief examination of it regarding his ‘begotten reasoning. Perhaps
a more detailed analysis would serve to critique it more thoroughly – perhaps
after it is published.

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For those who wish to study my views of the begotten concept, or for those
who feel compelled to offer a critique, they can be found at
http://theprophetstillspeaks.co.uk Please feel free to email me. I will only be
glad to hear from you.

Christian regards

Terry Hill
England

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 Christ our God
Blair Andrew

There are times, in reading works criticising non-trinitarians, I shake my head and
wonder if their authors really read any of the non-trinitarian material in print, or if
they only read it to prove it wrong. I know I have been guilty of doing this very thing
when, as a Trinitarian, I was first asked to rebut a non-trinitarian author’s attempt at
writing out his views. And then, later on, I attempted to review another book, this time
on the Trinity, and me, writing as a non-trinitarian. Either way, it is very hard to
succinctly get your understanding of God out onto paper, without letting “self” get in
the way, and turn the reader off, and/or emotionally attack them for their blindness in
not understanding what to you, is so obvious.

So Glyn, please don’t take my words as a personal attack on you, I am just as human
as you, and have the same failings. I am often too analytical, too critical, too
impatient, or too slow to understand.

But on the topic of the Deity of Christ, and His pre-existence, Trinitarians and non
trinitarians are not that far apart. Of course, there are differences, but it is often only
seen when we step back from our work and try to see the Big Picture, the whole
package, and understand where all the pieces fit together.

The whole scenario is explained by Ellen White in one beautiful statement, which
summarizes this part of the picture for us.

“‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.’ – 2nd Cor. 5:19. Christ was
the foundation and center of the sacrificial system in both the patriarchal and Jewish
age. Since the sin of our first parents there has been no direct communication between
God and man. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that
through His mediatorial work He may redeem man and vindicate the authority
and holiness of the law of God. All the communion between heaven and the fallen
race has been through Christ. It was the Son of God that gave to our first parents the
promise of redemption. It was He who revealed Himself to the patriarchs.” – PP.
p.366. (emphasis supplied).

So this clarifies what all non-trinitarians believe, that it is Christ, throughout the Old
Testament, who led His people, Israel, and worked on their behalf, and on behalf of
His Father.

“It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets. The apostle Peter,
writing to the Christian church, says that the prophets ‘prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:10,11. It is the voice of Christ that speaks to
us through the Old Testament.” – PP. p.366-367. (emphasis supplied).

“However much a shepherd may love his sheep, he loves his sons and daughters more.
Jesus is not only our shepherd; He is our ‘everlasting Father.’ And He says, ‘I know
Mine own, and Mine own know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the

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 Father.’ John 10:14,15. R.V. What a statement is this! – the only begotten Son, He
who is in the bosom of the Father, He whom God has declared to be ‘the Man that
is My fellow’ (Zech.13:7), - the communion between Him and the eternal God is
taken to represent the communion between Christ and His children on the earth!”
- SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A page 438. (emphasis supplied)

I love these statements, they make it all so simple. They really need no comment, they
clarify all the thoughts that Glyn has tried to annunciate through pages 118-239 of his
book, and they clarify so much that is misunderstood.

Adventists have always understood, that it was the Son of God, sometimes called an
angel, “The angel of the Lord” (eg. Gen. 22:15), in the Old Testament, representing
His Father to humanity. Christ speaks for, and on behalf of His Father, and acts as His
representative throughout the Old Testament. Christ explained this to the Jews.

“Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these
are they which bear witness of Me.” – John 5:39.

In Deut. 32:4-6 we read of “the Rock, his work is perfect: For all his ways are
judgment: … Is not He thy father that hath bought thee? Hath He not made thee, and
established thee?” Paul tells us in 1st Cor.10:4 that “that spiritual Rock that followed
them:” was Christ. Jesus confirmed this again in John 5:46-47, and Peter understood
this in 1st Peter 1:10-11. Luke speaks of it in Luke 24:27. We know also that it is
Christ, (the Rock of our Salvation, our Creator), to whom all judgment has been
given. God the Father was represented in Jesus, and it is Jesus who is the Father of the
Israelites - speaking and leading His people throughout the Old Testament. Christ is
the Father of His creation. As the second Adam, He is the “Father of everlasting”, or
the “everlasting Father”, not of Himself, not of His own Father, but of His children,
for He speaks of “the children which God hath given Me.” – Hebrews 2:13. (See also
Exodus 14:19,24; 23:20-23; 32:34, Isaiah 63:9.)

There is no contradiction here. We see that the Father and the Son were one in man’s
creation. The Father said to His Son, “Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness.” – Genesis 1:26. (see Patriarchs & Prophets. p.36.) Did God say to an
inferior being, “Let us make man in our image? No. I am not an Arian or Unitarian,
who believes Christ is an inferior being to the Father. Here we see the Word, and God,
two individuals, who existed before creation took place, and the Word created all
things. And we know who the Word is; - the Son of God.

So, we see from above that whatever the Father does, Christ does, because God does
it through him. Whatever Christ does, God does, because Christ does it by him. God's
words are Christ's words, because God speaks by him; and Christ's words are God's
words, because Christ receives them from Him. Thus Paul says:

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets... hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” - Heb.1:1,2.

And Christ himself testified that His works were the works of Him that sent him, and
that His words were not His own, but such as He had received of His Father. (John
14:10,24). The unity of the Father and the Son does not detract from either, but

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strengthens both. The Adventist Pioneers and Ellen White explained this in many of
their books.

John 1:1 tells us that “the Word was God”. Paul states it a little differently, saying that
the Son is “equal with God.” – Philippians 2:6. How, and why is He equal with God?
Comparing Scripture with Scripture, we read of Christ, that “God also hath highly
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, … and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Phil 2:9-11. It “pleased the Father”
(God) and He has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name.

We also find that this Son, the Word, has been “appointed heir of all things,” and is
the “express image” of God, and “by inheritance” has “obtained a more excellent
name” than the angels. – Hebrews 1:1-5. What name is that, that is more excellent
than the angels? “But unto the Son He saith, ‘Thy Throne, O God, is forever and
ever: …Therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows.” – Hebrews 1:8-9. It is the name of His Father, God, is that name.
Just as my son inherits my family name, so it is with God and His Son. Is my son any
less human than I am, because he came after me? No, he is still my flesh and blood,
and he is still my son. He may be given other names, but as soon as he existed and just
because he exists, he has my name.

The parallel is the same with God and His Son, regarding their divinity. This is a
simple concept to understand, and follows logically. So we see that Christ is equal
with His Father, because His Father has chosen to elevate Him to that position of
equality. This contradicts the trinity position in so many ways. If Jesus were the
second person of a trinity, why would God exalt Him, give Him an inheritance of a
more excellent name, and why would Paul in Hebrews talk of the Son being exalted
above all others? For a Trinity of three co-eternal, co-equal persons, this would seem
contradictory and completely unnecessary. The Father has no reason to do this, if
Christ is already part of a Trinity. These plain, simple texts are a contradiction to
Trinitarian theology, as well as a rebuke to Arian thinking. The Bible is God’s Word,
written to reveal things about Himself to humanity, His creation. If God is a Trinity,
don’t you think it would have been part of the revealed will of God to show us this, in
no uncertain terms? God is not the author of confusion.

“All that is attributed to the Father himself is attributed to Christ.” – EGW, R & H
May 19th, 1896.

So, from all of the above, we know that we have: God the Father; Who has a Son,
who shares all His attributes, who is His express image, and shares His name. These
divine capabilities, (immortality, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, etc) make
Him equal to His Father in nature. God also invested His Son with His authority. He
is therefore worthy of worship, as His Father is. “And since He is the only begotten
Son of God, He is the very substance and nature of God, and possesses by birth all the
attributes of God, for the Father was pleased that His Son should be the express image
of His Person, the brightness of His glory, and filled with all the fullness of the
Godhead (deity or divinity).” – E.J. Waggoner, Christ & His Righteousness, p.5.

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Look at Proverbs 30:4 for confirmation of this. “Who hath ascended up into heaven,
… Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His
son’s name, if thou canst tell?” This text is speaking of past events, for it uses the
word “hath” in past tense. There are no symbols or figures in the text, so we can take
the text according to its obvious meaning. The chapter speaks of creative acts, which
we know occurred in the past. It attributes these acts to only two beings, one of them
being the Son of the Other. That makes a Father and a Son. We can argue over the use
of different words, their Greek, their Hebrew, their linguistic and grammatical use,
etc, etc. But ultimately, we need to acknowledge that God can and has preserved His
Word, the Scriptures, and special guidance through His Spirit via the Spirit of
Prophecy, and if He wants to use certain words to help us understand Him, we need to
accept what He says, and try not to get our human wisdom in the way. I have found
from the plain, simple Word of God, that Jesus Christ came to this earth, as the Divine
Son of God, to become sin for me, to step into my place, and die for my sins. If His
Father tells me that Jesus is His Son - really, literally - who am I to argue with Him?

As Glyn himself says,

“The above conclusion must mean that Christ is the God of the Old Testament,
Jehovah. This is not meant to say that Christ is the Father, or that the Father is
not Jehovah. The Father is clearly revealed in several places in the Old
Testament as a Being separate from Christ, and it is the Father who is there
called Jehovah. Both the Father and the Son, as Divine Beings, are entitled to
that name.” – TT WHGR p.135.

This much is true. But where Glyn misunderstands the simplicity of Scripture is
something that I misunderstood for years also. In his next sentence after the preceding
chapter, Glyn states: “Now, if Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, then
everything written there about His eternal existence in the past, applies to Jesus as
much as the Father.” (ibid).

This, together with the following statement, illustrates where I, when I believed the
Trinity doctrine, and Glyn, and all the other Trinitarian authors who have tackled this
subject, failed to understand. Read this next statement, and I will attempt to explain
what I mean.

“Everything that is said of the Father’s eternal existence is also said of Christ. If
the Son is not eternally existent in the past, we have no grounds for saying that
the Father is. But if the Father is eternally existent in the past, then so is the
Son.” – TT WHGR, p.125.

Herein lies the problem. As a Trinitarian, I would explain time and eternity with a
simple illustration. If I stand on the white line in the middle of a road with a bucket of
water, and drop one drop of water into that bucket, that represents the time in which I
live my life here on earth. The time it takes for that drop to fall, that is my life. The
bucket represents time as we know it on this planet, and the white line represents
eternity, stretching away from me in either direction – infinitely. As a Trinitarian, I
saw eternity and earthly time on the same line, with eternity running out on either
side, before me, and after me. I taught that eternity is the infinite extension of time,
although I had no evidence from Scripture to support the idea.

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Time is measured here on earth by the things that He created to delineate time for us,
His creation. The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, all have a part to play in measuring time
here on earth. (Gen. 1:14.) We understand that time, on another planet, would be
different in the way we would measure it. But God is outside of time, for He created it
also.

Time is a law, like any other. God is not controlled by time, He made it, and He
dwells in eternity, and eternity is a separate concept from time. One is not an
extension of the other. Once you see this, the whole issue of the eternal Sonship of
Christ becomes a non-issue, and fades into insignificance.

It is interesting that something as invisible and as intangible as time, has been

ordained of God to be a test of spiritual sight. By this I mean the final Sabbath test for
all mankind, for the Sabbath rest was ordained of God before one single page of
human history had been written, or a single act of Adam recorded. The Sabbath was
put in place before the Fall of Man, and therefore is part of the restoration of all things
spoken of in Scripture.

Time is part of the fabric of the visible universe, space and time are the two things
which make it work. Time is flexible, like a rubber band, but we cannot go back in
time. Time, not a specific place, is hallowed by God on this earth as a test for all who
might claim to be followers of God.

Christ, as the divine Son of God, was with the Father, begotten before time. He came
into existence in eternity. God exists in eternity, it is His domain. We exist in time, for
our Solar System determines the time for us. Outside of time as we know it, exists
eternity.

So when Glyn and other authors talk about the “eternal son of God”, it poses no
problem for me or any other non-trinitarian. We see that in the light of our
understanding of the word eternal, and what eternity is. Once you understand this, the
Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy are beautifully harmonized, and there is no
paradox, no contradictions, no misunderstandings. The same applies to the idea of the
“absolute deity of Christ”. I believe in the absolute deity of Christ, but a Trinitarian
would say I did not. According to his definition, based on his understanding of
eternity and the word eternal, I do not.

The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one absolute God and none beside Him
who is an absolute God. In 1st Corinthians 15, Paul teaches this doctrine so there can
be no doubt as to Christ’s subordination and submission to the Father. Paul says:
“Then cometh the end, when He (Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father; … For He (the Father) hath put all things under His (Christ’s) feet.
But that He (God) is excepted, which did put all things under Him (Christ). And when
all things shall be subdued unto Him (Christ), then shall the Son also Himself be
subject unto Him (God) that put all things under Him (Christ), that God may be all in
all.” - 1st Cor. 15:24-28.

Here Paul clearly teaches that God is not subject to Christ, but that Christ is subject to
the Father, who gave all authority to Him. Whatever Christ is, whatever authority He
has, whatever attributes He possesses, may be all in all and above all. Paul says, “Ye

66
are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” - 1st Cor. 3:23. Again says Paul: “But I would have
you know, that the head of every man is Christ…and the head of Christ is God.” - 1st
Cor. 11:3. Christ Himself said: “I go unto the Father; for my Father is greater than I.”
- John 14:28. Now at this point I am going to ask some simple questions, that I have
not had answered by other Trinitarians. Glyn, think about these carefully in light of all
that is in this review.

Question: How can a Trinitarian believer reconcile the above statements when they
fly in the face of the co-equal, co-eternal, co-substantial catch-cry?

Jesus said: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which
are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” - Mark 13:32. And in Matt. 24:36,
Jesus says, “but My Father only” knows that day and hour. Christ Himself admits that
the secret things belong to God, and that He Himself as the Son of God, does not
know the day and hour of His return to this earth the second time.

Question: Why or how would this be possible if God the Father, God the Son and God
the Holy Spirit are completely equal in all things? Would it even be possible for One
of the Triune God to know something that the others did not know?

Christ is equal with God

The Jews understood the implications of what Christ was saying when they sought to
kill Him, because He “said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with
God.” - John 5:17.

Question: Why do Trinitarians insist that Christ would be inferior to God if He was
begotten/born, when the Jews clearly understood that it made Him equal with God?

Paul also taught that Christ was “equal with God,” and that God Himself had
“exalted” Christ to that position. For he says, “Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation,
and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled Himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and
given Him a name which is above every name,” and therefore we are to “confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Phil 2:5-11.

Why are we to give the glory of Christ’s exaltation above every other name than the
name of God Himself, to God the Father, instead of to Christ in His own right?
Because it is God the Father who has thus exalted Him. Paul makes this great truth of
Christ’s dependence upon the Father still more evident when he said to Timothy: “I
give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things…who is the blessed
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor
can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting.” - 1st Tim. 6:13-16.

God “only hath immortality.” He alone is the only self-existent God. But He gave His
Son when He was Begotten the same life he had in Himself, therefore when Christ
offered His life as a ransom for the sins of the world, He and He only could make an

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atonement for all the sins of all the world, because he made “an infinite sacrifice,” and
it required an “infinite sacrifice” to atone for all the sins of mankind and angels who
had sinned, in order to satisfy the demands of the law of God and infinite justice.

Scripture tells us that Christ died for our sins, and that angels could not atone for our
sins. Angels were finite beings just like we are, but men are a lower order of beings.
Christ had unconditional immortality bestowed upon Him when He was begotten of
the Father. Angels had conditional immortality bestowed upon them when they were
created by Christ. Angels are immortal but their immortality is conditional. Therefore
angels do not die but live on after they sin just as Satan or Lucifer lives on in sin. But
since Lucifer and the fallen angels only have conditional immortality, they will
ultimately be destroyed and the gift of immortality which Christ bestowed on them
when He created them will be removed. Whatever God bestows he can take away
whenever He sees fit.

In the final resurrection, immortality will be bestowed upon every saint that is raised
to life through Jesus Christ. Then and not until then is eternal life bestowed upon the
Christian. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is
in His Son.” - 1st John 5:11. But this same eternal life is also in the Father. For John
says: “The Word of life…was manifested…that eternal life, which was with the
Father.” - 1st John 1:2,3. Here we are plainly told that the same eternal life, immortal
life, which is with the Father, was manifested in His Son, and will in the resurrection
be bestowed and imparted to all the saints in Christ. But we must never forget that it is
an imparted immortality. We thus see that eternal life and immortality can be
bestowed upon beings who were not co-existent with God. It is the same eternal life
that is in God, and when human beings are thus made immortal it is said of them that
they are “filled with all the fullness of God.” - Eph. 3:19.

But Christ, the only Begotten of the Father, made in the “express image” of the Father
in person; God appointed to be the Saviour of men, and He appointed Him “heir of all
things,” “being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said He (God)
at any time, Thou art My son, This day have I begotten thee?” - Hebrews 1:2-5. Here
we are told that the expression “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee,”
refers only to Christ and not to any of the angels. Then there must have been a time
when the Son of God was begotten by the Father. On that day, the Father saith unto
His only Begotten Son: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever…therefore God, even
thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of thine hands.” - Hebrews 1:8-10. Christ is shown clearly to be the Creator.
“For it pleased the Father that in Him (Christ) should all fullness dwell.” - Col. 1:19.
It pleased the Father. What does this statement tell us? God, the Father, bestowed His
own Deity fully upon His Son, for Hebrews 1:2-10 clearly portrays Christ, as a Son,
as a Prince, inheriting all things from His Father. Again, we are seeing a clear
relationship.

So we see in all of the above texts that Christ in His Word acknowledges that all He
possesses of wisdom, of power, of authority, and of life itself, all was given to Him
from the Father. His exaltation was from the Father. (John 13:3; John 8:42; John
9:35,37) Now that we have established the Deity of Christ, His submission to His

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Father, and His equality with His Father in the proper context, we still have no
evidence from the above texts that a trinity of persons exists.

And we can go on. Scripture is plain, and simple. The whole plan of salvation can be
understood by a child; but once you remove the Father and Son relationship,
confusion sets in, and theologians can spend their whole lives writing treatises and
thesis on the nature of God, forgetting the simplicity of the Gospel.

In closing this section, please think about this thought. God has always had a people
on the earth who believe the truth, but we do not see them in the majority.

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 The Holy Spirit

Margaretha Tierney

I have been asked to critique the above book, pages 243-500 on the Holy Spirit. I
thought it would be an unbiased book with “a few mistakes” or “misunderstandings”
about what non-Trinitarians believe, and perhaps the author might be willing to
change these ‘difficulties’ before it was printed.
Now that I have concluded my section I can see that this would be impossible, as
every point is written with a purpose – to weigh the non-Trinitarian position and see if
it stands up to the author’s scrutiny, after which the author weighs his evidence in
favour of the Trinity. Anyone who accepts this weighing cannot help but accept the
Trinity as truth, because not one finalising question gives less than 94-98+% in favour
of the Trinity.
We all have different personalities. Some do not know how to answer questions.
Others do not know how to ask questions. A few people know how to answer every
question. The latter appears to fit the author of this book, however, this does not
mean his answers are correct.

A personal experience just last week will serve as a demonstration.

When speaking to a brother, who believes the timeline prophecies will be repeated in
the future, I am always wrong.
For instance, my statement was ‘1844 is the end of prophetic time’, and the reply
given, ‘that doesn’t mean there can’t be literal time’.
Again, ‘Our message isn’t to hang on time’ – ‘it doesn’t because we don’t know when
any of the dates begin’.
And again, ‘The GC says 1844 is the last and longest prophetic time’ – its been
changed by Prescott. The 1884 and 1888 one doesn’t say that.’
And on and on, without me being right once.

My personal feeling when reading through the objections in ‘The Trinity’ is that the
author has given answers in the same way, pulling out a minute point from the
statement, and then gathering evidence from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy to prove
it. So, no matter what I say, I will be wrong. It may not be an ability when
speaking, only when writing. The author is not dishonest in doing this, but it makes
it difficult for the listener or reader to show that he has a thinking mind too.
I found that in reading the objections that at times the answer was so far from the non-
Trinitarian position that all I could do was sigh. Often there is a clear answer, but it
would take a great deal of explanation, because the whole premise is wrong. When
one begins with a faulty base, even if the progression is very logical, the conclusion
will be wrong. As a result, one must go back to the beginning and explain why the
foundation is wrong. This can take many pages of writing, and if the reader is not
willing to learn, it will be as if it had not been written.

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 As I said, the author of ‘The Trinity’ has finished his book, and although he might be
willing to learn beyond what he has written, it would not be practical to begin
changing his book at this stage.
I have chosen three objections to demonstrate that the author’s answers are not
necessarily correct, and in my opinion are entirely wrong.

1. The author of ‘The Trinity’ quotes a number of non-Trinitarians upon which to

base his objections. In some cases the person quoted does not speak for those
who take this position.
For instance – Objection 8. Fred Allaback says that where Ellen White writes of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit, it is interchangeable with the ministry of the angels. I do
not know anyone who believes this, so in actual fact, the author is correct when he
says that God works for us through the Holy Spirit and the angels.
However, using a false argument means that the objection is invalid and a straw man.
In this case, it is the basis of the argument that is wrong, which is something both
Trinitarians and non-Trinitarians would concur.

2. Objection 12. (Part) Again Fred Allaback is quoted where he says the Holy
Spirit is the Spirit of both the Father and the Son.
This is believed by all non-Trinitarians. The author of ‘The Trinity’ says, “This
cannot be the case. He could be the personal Spirit of one, but not of both. Person,
personal, personality contains the idea of identity. My personal spirit would mean my
own inner being, mind and nature.” The Trinity, p254.
This argument is using finite reasoning. Certainly ‘my spirit’ (yours and mine) could
not be the spirit of more than one person, but no one can say it cannot be so with God.
His Spirit is far beyond our understanding. The Father is the divine Source of the
Spirit and it is not up to us mortals to say God cannot do something that we do not
understand.
In a further objection (Objection 12 – Can a person be omnipresent?) the other side is
given.
The author’s objection is not important here, but he now argues for the infinite nature
of God. He says, “Why should it be difficult for an infinite personal being to be
everywhere present? Why do we think we must have a God whose infinite nature we
can comprehend with our finite minds?” The Trinity, p301.
Thus the author argues opposites, something he has charged non-Trinitarians with
doing. It is true the Holy Spirit is personal and not simply a force or a power. It is
God’s Spirit, and because Christ was begotten of the Father, He received by the
inheritance of birth all that belongs to the Father, including His omnipresent Spirit.
Answering ‘how’ in any way, is not possible. So of this aspect, as well as to the
nature of the Spirit, “silence is golden”, to quote the prophet.
3. Objection 15. Christ is the only being who can enter the heavenly councils.
The author of ‘The Trinity’ quotes Alan Stump and says his quotation is not the only
one he could have used, then proceeds to give a number of similar quotations,

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commenting that the Holy Spirit is not included. Then he says, “However, in 1899,
the Holy Spirit is included, even though the statement is brief…”
The full quotation is as given by the author.
“It is the glory of the gospel that it is founded upon the principle of
restoring in the fallen race the divine image by a constant manifestation of
benevolence. This work began in the heavenly courts. There God decided
to give human beings unmistakable evidence of the love with which He
regarded them. He ‘so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.’ John 3:16.
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. In order fully to carry out this plan, it was decided that
Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, should give Himself an offering for
sin. What line can measure the depth of this love? God would make it
impossible for man to say that He could have done more. With Christ, He
gave all the resources of heaven, that nothing might be wanting in the plan
for man’s uplifting.” Counsels on Health, p. 222.

When analysing this statement, it is easy to jump to conclusions that the word Godhead
is referring to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but the word ‘Godhead’ does not
necessarily mean that ‘the three’ were stirred with pity, which is the first reaction, but
if you read the first paragraph you will see that it is God (the Father) who is stirred
with pity for the fallen race, and this thought is continued to the end of the second
paragraph.
Another point is that the words “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave
Themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption”, can appear that they
worked out the plan together, however, this is not the only possibility, in fact, when
taking into account the numerous statements given by Sr White that it was the Father
and the Son who devised or worked out the plan of salvation, it is more than likely it
does not mean this. Below are some of these statements.
“The plan of salvation devised by the Father and the Son will be a grand
success.” Signs of the Times. Jun 17. 1903.
“Before the fall of man, the Son of God had united with His Father in
laying the plan of salvation.” Review & Herald. Sep 13.1906.
“A covenant has been entered into by the Father and by the Son to save the
world through Christ.” Signs of the Times. Oct 10 1892.
“In counsel together, the Father and the Son determined that Satan should
not be left unchecked to exercise his cruel power upon man.” Manuscript
31. 1911.

We must also include the Bible statement, “…and the counsel of peace was between
them both.” Zechariah 6:12.13. This could refer to Christ’s priesthood and kingship,
but Sr White says it means the Father and the Son. “In the plan to save a lost world,
the counsel was between them both; the covenant of peace was between the Father and
the Son.” Signs of the Times. Dec 23. 1897.

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So from Sr White’s statements we can see that the Father and the Son devised the plan
of salvation together, and seeing Christ is the only being who can enter into the
councils of God, this fits perfectly.
But what of the statement that includes the Holy Spirit?
Two points should be noted.
Firstly, the Spirit of God is always a part of God Himself, even though He can operate
by that Spirit elsewhere in the universe. So even though the Spirit is not mentioned in
most of the statements, God’s Spirit is always there as a part of Himself.
Secondly, ‘working out of the plan’ does not necessarily mean ‘devising or
formulating the plan’. It can also mean ‘fulfilling the plan’.
In the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, ‘work out’ means ‘to effect by labor and exertion’.
It does not mean ‘to devise a plan of labor’, but the actual working out of the plan
already formulated. A text given as a reference in the dictionary is Philippians 2:13.
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”. This does not mean to
devise a plan, but to co-operate with God in His plan. [Editor’s note: I did a quick
search of “working out” on the Ellen White CD Rom and found that most, if not all
instances are used in this way]
If you read the Ellen White reference again, you will see that the three great powers of
heaven “gave themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption”, a plan that
had been formulated by the Father and the Son in the councils of heaven prior to the
creation of the earth. At the fall of man, the working out of the plan began, and of
course, God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all a part of the
fulfilling of the plan. No one would argue with this, as we are clearly told that “It is
the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer.”
The Desire of Ages, p671.
I could spend many hours going over every point, however, I feel that the three brief
illustrations show simply that there is another way to look at each subject, and the
author is not always right. It seems rather pointless going through every objection
because it would not be possible for the author to change his position. His manuscript
is completed. At times a question answered one way will make a big difference to a
question answered further on. But more than that, he has weighed every answer
mathematically and then taken those figures to give a final figure. These are not things
that can be altered.
The author of ‘The Trinity’ has weighed the evidence according to how he feels each
answers weighs. He has tried to be lenient in giving credit at times to the non-
Trinitarian position, however, the end result is always in accordance with his own
position. Thus by a mathematical formula his conclusions are drawn:
The combined probability that the Holy Spirit is a distinct Being: 99.86%.
The combined probability of there being three fully divine Beings existing from all
eternity: 98.6%.
The combined probability that the Trinity is true: 94.3%.
The fact that non-Trinitarians are seen as totally wrong in every case will win some to
the Trinity cause, and it may make us look rather foolish, however, if anyone is willing
to submit to the Holy Spirit and listen to what God is saying, he/she will know the
doctrine, whether it is true or false.

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It is not mathematical equations that will convict the seeker for truth, but the Spirit of
God. This is the Bible standard, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6. Even when reading answers that attempt to prove the
Trinity 94-99% right, suddenly God’s omnipresent Spirit can speak, and make all
things clear. When Peter was asked by Jesus who he believed the Son of man to be, he
replied, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God’. Jesus blessed him and said
that this was revealed by “My Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 16:16.17. I do
not believe the glorious Father descended from the throne of heaven to whisper in
Peter’s ear, but that the Spirit of the Father spoke to him and identified His Son.
In the end, the controversy will be over two things – the day on which we worship and
the God who sanctified the day. Today, no matter on which side we stand, if we are
surrendered and committed to Jesus, we will know the true God and His Son, and in
our great time of need will be empowered to keep holy the seventh-day Sabbath by the
true Spirit. But if we do not know God, we will bow the knee to the idol Sunday and
its false god, and be lost. It is my prayer that all who read this critique will be in the
former group in that day.
Glyn Parfitt has spent countless hours on his book and no doubt is very anxious to have
it printed, together with the Biblical Review Committee and the Signs Publishing
Company. To all I would say -- with respect -- that this book is a misrepresentation of
the non-Trinitarian position. In the Forward by A. Leroy Moore, readers are
encouraged to "weigh the evidence", but when the evidence is incorrect, it is quite
obvious there will be a very lop-sided and wrong result. I give thanks on behalf of the
group of reviewers, for the time allowed to read through the book.
I would like to conclude with a Bible verse that gives me encouragement and
confidence whenever truth is made to appear as error. “We can do nothing against the
truth, but for the truth.” 2nd Corinthians 13:8.

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 What is truth? What does it weigh?
Blair Andrew

“Pilate saith unto Him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18:38). Pilate’s question echoes down
through the ages. Sadly, Pilate never waited to hear the answer. There is something
about the human mind which always wants to believe it is right, and often we will
stand for something, convinced we are correct, only much later to see the error of our
ways.

In some churches, tradition is taken as the higher standard by which we measure the
validity of any truth. Others rely on their Commentaries, the works of their Academia;
others upon the word of their Priest, Bishop or Pastor. In any case, they give up their
God-given ability to ascertain the truth for themselves under the guidance and
inspiration of the Spirit, and ultimately this leads to subjugation of their mind to that
of another man, and an example of where that can lead can be seen in the history of
the Papacy.

I have found that Adventists have generally fallen into several categories when
discussing and “weighing” “truth”, “new light” or “old truths” when they come across
their path.

1. Many judge any message that appears to be different or “new” by the type of
person it comes from. ie. Are they balanced, extreme, liberal left wing, new
theology, right wing fanatical or hard line. This is how some decide if something
is wrong or right.
2. Many judge by asking their minister, or someone (or something) they look up to
or respect, whom they think is more capable of making the decision for them
about the topic at hand. The Commentaries on the Word of God are a good
example here.
3. Many judge by looking up a few EGW statements on the EGW CDROM, and then
rest their case on them, as if that answers it for them.
4. Many judge by what they say are “the fruits of the message” and the people
believing it. They usually say its divisive, or its contrary to the 28 Fundamentals,
or it must lead to calling the Church “Babylon” and then to “separationism” or
“leaving the faith”, or it causes peoples’ marriages to fall apart, etc, etc, therefore
it is not of God.
5. Others begin to look at the topic, decide it is too big a challenge for them, and too
time consuming, (ie. not important enough) and go back to their comfort zone,
saying that if it’s good enough for the Church, it’s good enough for them.
6. Some judge by the Word of God, comparing Scripture with Scripture, looking
prayerfully at what God says and at the evidence available to them. They will
check their conclusions against “the lesser light”, seeking guidance there. Then
they walk in the light, as the scroll of Present Truth unrolls, no matter what the
consequences to them personally.

It is obvious to all that the final method, number 6, is the correct way in which we
should “weigh up” the truth we are considering. As we have seen in my previous
section “What is Revealed?” contemporary sources acknowledge that the Bible does
not explicitly teach the Trinity doctrine, but admits that it came after the Canon of

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Scripture was compiled. Due to this lack of Scriptural evidence, it therefore lacks
enough “weight” to include it as a doctrine that we should accept. Much more could
be said to reinforce this, and it behooves the reader to go back to the Word of God and
carefully study for themselves what God has revealed about Himself.

Apart from the six points listed above, there is something else that influences our
thinking and judgment.
“The spirit in which you come to the investigation of the Scriptures will determine the
character of the assistant at your side. Angels from the world of light will be with
those who in humility of heart seek for divine guidance. . . . But if the heart is filled
with prejudice, Satan is beside you, and he will set the plain statements of God’s
Word in a perverted light.” – TM, p.108. (emphasis supplied)

How careful we need to be. None of us want to allow Satan to delude us by setting
“the plain statements of God’s Word in a perverted light.” If I come to the topic at
hand with the wrong spirit, or attitude, or prejudice, I create the conditions for myself
to be deceived.

Over the years there have been numerous controversies within Adventism. There are
three areas in which disputes have generally fallen into:

(a) How we do things, ie. Worship, lifestyle.

(b) What we believe, ie. Theology/doctrine.
(c) How we manage the gifts God has given us, ie. Assets, funds, tithe, time.

The current controversy over the acceptance of Trinitarian thinking is found under (b).
ie. What you and I believe as Adventist Christians; our theology. But it also involves
worship, for our understanding of the God whom we worship is just as important as
how we worship Him, and when we worship Him.

So, how do we correctly judge the validity of the non-trinitarian position, or the
Trinitarian position?

Weight of Evidence (WoE)

As we have noted, Glyn has chosen to use the “weight of evidence” method as the
best means to arrive at a balanced judgment of the evidence for the Trinity doctrine.
This is harmony with the Spirit of Prophecy, where we are told:

“Satan has ability to suggest doubts and to devise objections to the pointed testimony
that God sends, and many think it a virtue, a mark of intelligence in them, to be
unbelieving and to question and quibble. Those who desire to doubt will have plenty of
room. God does not propose to remove all occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence,
which must be carefully investigated with a humble mind and a teachable spirit,
and all should decide from the weight of evidence.” - 3T, p. 255. (emphasis supplied)

So this is a good method, a God ordained method, but it is not foolproof. Brendan, in
Part 3 of his review, will deal largely with this area, but a few thoughts here in Glyn’s
methodology will reinforce Brendan’s analysis.

Truth is precious to us all, and the following formula given us by the Spirit of

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Prophecy aids us in using this method, and reminds us of our need to be humbly led
by the Holy Spirit as we study;
“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has
led us, and His teaching in our past history.” – LS, p.196. (emphasis supplied)

That formula is quite simple. God clearly raised up and led the Seventh-day Adventist
Church, and He has remained consistent in all His teaching in our past history. It is
miraculous that God has preserved the truth through thousands of years, without
contradiction. Truth has shone down through the Ages, from Abraham, right through
to the Advent Movement. So this formula tells us we can weigh up the evidence, and
compare it against the way God has led us in our past history. She clarifies this even
further in the following statements:

“One thing it is certain is soon to be realized, - the great apostasy, which is developing
and increasing and waxing stronger, and will continue to do so until the Lord shall
descend from heaven with a shout. We are to hold fast the first principles of our
denominated faith, and go forward from the strength to increased faith. Ever we are
to keep the faith that has been substantiated by the Holy Spirit of God from the
earlier events of our experience until the present time.” - Special Testimonies Series
B, No.7, p57. (1905). (emphasis supplied).

“The past fifty years have not dimmed one jot or principle of our faith as we
received the great and wonderful evidences that were made certain to us in 1844, after
the passing of the time. The languishing souls are to be confirmed and quickened
according to His word. And many of the ministers of the gospel and the Lord's
physicians will have their languishing souls quickened according to the word. Not a
word is changed or denied. That which the Holy Spirit testified to as truth after the
passing of the time, in our great disappointment, is the solid foundation of truth.
Pillars of truth were revealed, and we accepted the foundation principles that have made
us what we are - Seventh-day Adventists, keeping the commandments of God and
having the faith of Jesus.” - Special Testimonies Series B, No.7, p57-58. (1905).
(emphasis supplied).

From the above two statements we see that the truths that the Pioneers believed have
been substantiated by the Holy Spirit to be truth. Ellen White made these statements
in 1905, clearly showing that the doctrines that the Pioneers believed were the truth,
and were unchanged at the time of writing. At no time did she ever state that any of
the foundation doctrines of the pioneers had been incorrect, and needed to be revised.
“The past fifty years have not dimmed one jot or principle of our faith,” is a clear
indication of the time period and the amount of evidence we would need to examine
in the period that she is talking about. We can then use this “rule” to interpret any and
all doctrinal changes in Adventism since that time, for now we have a way of
“measuring” or “weighing” the evidence. We simply ask the question, is this belief in
harmony with the beliefs of our early Pioneers and the prophetess in the first 50 years
of our denomination, and if not, why not? We have a simple gauge, and with all the
data readily available in such places as the Adventist Pioneer Library CD, and the
Adventist Archives website, the EGW Estate CD, etc, we are able to weigh the
evidence. Of course, we must use our first method listed above, testing from the Word
of God, the Bible. But this second formula enhances what we have, and aids further in
assessing the evidence within Adventist history. But once I pass it through my filter,
or bias of interpretation, it comes unstuck. As Brendan has so ably done in his study
in Part 3, Arithmagic, we see that Glyn’s method of using probability has taken the

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data and wrested it away from objective reasoning, and taken it into the realm of
subjective analysis, away from the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Probability
Glyn, in his judgment of the samples of evidence he has taken in his study, has chosen
a unique method of using probability to ascertain the truth of his theological concepts.

“Probability is the likelihood or chance that something is the case or will happen.
Probability theory is used extensively in areas such as statistics, mathematics, science
and philosophy to draw conclusions about the likelihood of potential events and the
underlying mechanics of complex systems.” – Wikipedia. Art. Probability.

There is several problems with this method. Firstly, the accuracy of the outcome is
proportional to the size of the sample of data, or information he has available to him,
and how he has chosen the sample. If we were to apply probability principles of
interpretation to other areas of the Gospel, I wonder were we would end up. If I were
to analyse using probability in regard to humanity ever getting victory over sin,
(without taking into account the work of the Holy Spirit to work in the life of the
believer) I know the outcome would be devastating. If I were to apply probability to
the incarnation of a Saviour coming to the earth, (without taking into account the
existence of the God and the plan of salvation) there would be no Saviour. Without all
the data in the data pool, you are floating in a sea of chance. And I could go on and
on.

To establish authenticity by any other method than from the Word of God, is to place
that instrument or method above the Word. You are imposing a system of human
reasoning on the Word of God. We are in effect judging the Word, and the effect of
that is that God will judge us. As I have said, weighing the evidence is good, but great
care is needed because the assigning of weights is wide open to a high probability of
subjective interpretation, and hence arbitrary imposition. And then, to interpret that
data by mathematical probability, takes the outcome out of the realm of reality. This is
where Glyn’s work has come unstuck.

What is the probability that using probability in the case of the truthfulness of the
Trinity doctrine is correct? If the answer is probable, as indeed it must be as we have
already entered probability into the equation, closes the case. For faith is the antithesis
of doubt. Do we establish truth by mingling faith with unbelief? What this does is to
bring something else into the scenario. We rely on experts to ascertain the truth, and
then their decision, their method, their bias, their authority, is placed above scripture
itself. We defer our reason for our faith to them, and step away from our obligation to
find and discern the truth for ourselves. As I said at the beginning of this article, other
churches use tradition, Commentaries, Academic works, the word of their Priest,
Bishop or Pastor to assess the truthfulness of any doctrine. This is not God’s way.
And in Glyn’s work, if the line between truth and error is so uncertain that it has to be
reduced to a balance of probability, it has already lost its status as a truth.

We need to remember, almost every lesson of Scripture is of the majority being are
wrong, and the minority being right. The Christian world is largely Trinitarian in its
understanding of God, but that is no criteria for its acceptance into Adventism.

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The majority rejected the truth in the days of Noah and perished in the Flood. A flood
that public opinion said could never happen. History will be repeated.

"To act without clear understanding,

to form habits without investigation,
to follow a path all one's life - without
knowing where it really leads - such is
the behavior of the multitude."
- Mencius.

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 Pulling the Trinity Out of a Hat, Part 3:
Arithmagic
Brendan P. Knudson

In this final part of the review project, and the last of my own hat-trick of articles, I
will be summing up and focusing specifically on the weight of evidence principles in
Glyn Parfitt’s (hereafter GP) book The Trinity: What Has God Revealed (hereafter
TT:WHGR).

We have so far covered some serious problems in hermeneutic and historical

interpretation. These will all have a bearing on this conclusion. In the summary of the
first article, I mentioned that if GP had followed the same close scrutiny across the
board, testing his own evidence as he does the non-trinitarian, he may have come up
with very different weights.

Testing the Math

At first, it was difficult for me to get my head around GP’s mathematical reasoning.
Since it is such an innovative idea, there aren’t any other sources I can refer to in my
review. I will give first some thoughts of explanation for those who might not quite
understand how his probability system works.

I was at first confused as to why GP did not simply use a mean or average of weights.
His actual method is sort of a compound probability – that is, each additional evidence
given a weight in favour of a point will close the gap towards 100%. For example, if
you have 3 pieces of evidence which are all 50% in favour, the first would be 50%,
the second would be 50% of the remaining 50% (or 25%) and the last would be 50%
of the remaining 25% (or 12.5%). 50 + 25 + 12.5 = 87.5%.

This was easy enough for me to understand. However, it took a little longer to
understand the method of combining opposing probabilities. I still don’t fully
understand the why behind it, but I have tested it with a few different numbers and I
found this: If you have one probability as 99.99%, it makes very little difference to
this number whether the opposing probability is 10%, 50%, 90% or 99% (these results
would be 99.99%, 99.98%, 99.9% and 99% respectively). In fact, there is very little
impact until you get to about 99% versus the 99.99%. Yet if we had two such high,
mutually exclusive probabilities regarding something, we wouldn’t expect one to be
hardly affected by the other in this way.

I have merely added these explanations as ways of understanding the maths involved
so that this review will be more easily understood. I am not going to suggest that GP
should have used this equation or that equation instead of the one he chose. This is for
a number of reasons.

First, mathematics and probability is not my area of expertise. Second, I disagree

entirely with the idea of weighing this sort of thing mathematically to determine
which doctrine is correct. So while I will not suggest a better alternative in terms of

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maths, I will explain how this system can be self-serving to whosoever might want to
use it.

To begin with, in establishing the weights, all one would need to do would be to try
everything possible to bump up one’s own numbers and tear down the other side. It is
here that GP’s hermeneutic and historical inconsistency comes into play in this book.
When GP establishes his evidences for the Trinitarian point of view, he does so based
on the way a Trinitarian reads the text. In this way, he doesn’t spend much time
establishing the meaning, for instance, of Matthew 28:19. He assumes its strength for
his side, and gives it a high weight, without any cross-examination from any
opponents to question his assertions. For his positive proofs for his case, all he needs
is a few highly weighted pieces of evidence, for each additional evidence only closes
the remaining gap to 100%. If he assigns two pieces of evidence 90%, he has 99%
right there to begin with (90% + 90% of 10% = 99%).

On the other hand, when GP handles the evidence put forward by the non-trinitarians,
however much it might at first appear to support their case, all he has to do is suggest
enough doubt, or alternative explanation to lower the weight. It takes a lot more
evidence of smaller weight to close the distance to 100%.

And this is what I believe the hermeneutics that is found in GP’s book adds up to – A
one sided court case. As fair as GP claims to be in still assigning weight to the non-
trinitarians, there are no checks and balances to maintain objectivity. While he can
cross-examine every evidence that non-trinitarians put forth, he establishes his own
case with very little self-scrutiny, assuming much from a traditional reading of
favoured texts.

This is truly pulling the Trinity out of a hat. Beginning with smoke and mirrors when
examining the evidence, the issues become shrouded in confusion in the almost 850
pages of GP’s book. Then, when he has established high enough weights in favour of
his point of view, it doesn’t matter if the weights opposing him are 17% or 77%,
because it won’t make much difference either way. While GP’s method was highly
subjective, his concluding Biblical weight (94.3%) is arguably still well within
reasonable doubt. If 100 were divided into 12 (representing jurors) that is almost one
twelfth worth of doubt, which would be enough for a hung jury. Not bad for a court
room with only one side being properly represented.

Paradox instead of Probability

I do not suggest an alternate formula for calculating probabilities. Instead, I suggest an

alternative way of looking at the whole matter of a weight of evidence. There is one
particular problem that I have with GP’s philosophy regarding this that it took me a
while to put my finger on. GP sets “opposing” thoughts against each other, rather than
looking for a harmony between them.

It is interesting that Leroy Moore puts his name to this book. From what I have read
of his writings (Theology in Crisis and Adventism in Conflict) he speaks of the idea of
paradoxical truth. I have found this to crystallise the way I see the big picture on many
things. Truth is often of a paradoxical nature, with two seemingly clashing elements.
For example, ‘Law and Grace’, or ‘Divine Foresight and Human Free Will’. Error is

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often found in taking an extreme position on one element without the balancing of the
other which holds truth together in a harmonious tension.

I believe there are a number of paradoxes involved in the doctrine of God. The
Trinitarian understands this as far as explaining one God and three persons. While I
do not agree with the explanation, I highlight it as a common need to understand both
what the Scripture says monotheistically about “one God” and what it says about
more than one person being called God.

Before leaving this paradox, I would like to point out that GP does not adequately
address this problem. Adventism currently has a number of different definitions of the
Trinity. Max Hatton and Ekkehardt Mueller appear to advocate a more Athenasian
trinity (co-substantial) than does Moon, Widden and Reeve in The Trinity. GP tends
towards the latter in describing the three persons, and argues that the Trinity of
Adventism is different from Tritheism. However, he does not describe where the
difference lies. This is safe ground for the author as he doesn’t firmly take either side.
I would like to know what the actual differences are between the theology GP puts
forth and why it isn’t tritheism, nor a co-substantial view.

What GP sees as mutually exclusive regarding the nature of Christ has been seen as a
paradox since apostolic times. Not that the paradox has always been resolved
correctly. The Bible speaks of Christ clearly as divine and eternal, yet at the same
time, it speaks of Him as being a Son and (debatably for now) as begotten, and often
speaks of His pre-incarnate nature in the language of inheritance. Many word pictures
indicate this, including, but not limited to “Express Image” (comes after an original),
Prince, by Inheritance, Firstborn, Son, etc.

It is a trend new to the last century to deny one side of the paradox altogether and see
Christ as without any derivation. Origen’s attempt at harmony failed due to a Greek
understanding of eternity being infinite. The early SDA church was able to resolve
this paradox more easily as a result of their study of the nature of man, of all things.
Looking at the meanings of the words for “eternal” or “everlasting,” they found
implications for the Godhead. Their sensible understanding of eternity can be seen in
the following representative quotes:

“TIME, as distinguished from eternity, may be defined as that part of

duration which is measured by the Bible. From the earliest date in the
book of Genesis to the resurrection of the unjust at the end of the
millennium, the period of about 7000 years is measured off. Before the
commencement of this great week of time, duration without beginning fills
the past; and at the expiration of this period, unending duration opens
before the people of God. Eternity is that word which embraces duration
without beginning and without end. And that Being whose existence
comprehends eternity, is he who only hath immortality, the King eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only wise God.” – J. N. Andrews, History of the
Sabbath, p. 9, 1873

“To make this position of any force, the ground must be taken that Adam's
first day was the first day of time. Then all that went before was eternity.
God created the world and all things therein, not in the beginning, but in

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 eternity. But time as distinguished from eternity is duration measured,
eternity being unmeasured duration; and these days of creation are
measured off to us, and hence belong to time and not to eternity. What
blind presumption for men to set a point from which to reckon different
from that which the Bible has given us!” – U. Smith, The Biblical
Institute, p. 122

While both of these statements regarding time and its relationship to eternity are in the
context of the Sabbath, it just goes to further show how interwoven early Adventist
doctrine was. Today we hear about the Trinity in relation to the Atonement, but rarely
do we hear about it as it is connected to the nature of man (made in the image of God)
or the Sanctuary (where God and Christ physically reside at present, and which is the
pattern of the atonement). More on the definitions of Eternal can be found in Smith’s
Here and Hereafter, pages 291-298.

Basically, as eternity was seen to be that unmeasured duration, before time, Christ
could be seen as both begotten AND eternal. The confusion and later rejection of the
begotten element can be seen as the concept of eternity changed. Also, Ellen White’s
understanding of Eternal/Eternity appears to be compatible with this and results in a
resolution of the paradox. Unfortunately, not a lot of examination has gone into this
underlying issue since much of the debate has tended to centre on the issues that flow
out from this. As a result, there has been little agreement that has been reached
between parties.

There is also a paradox concerning the Holy Spirit. The paradox, as I understand it, is
between the personality of the Holy Spirit (the times where the Holy Spirit is spoken
of in a personal way) and the Holy Spirit as the presence, power, influence, etc. of
God and Christ. Again, it appears that the current view dismisses the one in favour of
the other, when the early Adventists took the harmony of the two.

When resolving paradoxes, we need to not just have the opposing statements, for
instance, “Jesus is eternal” and “Jesus is begotten,” but we must also expect to find a
linking statement which explains the paradox in a harmonious way. For instance, with
regards to the Law and Grace, we have statements in books such as Romans,
Galatians, James, etc, which speak of the two and begin to show how they relate to
each other. Legalism comes from leaning on the law to the expense of grace, while
antinomianism is the reverse. With regards the nature of Christ, passages which speak
of both would be Proverbs 8 and John 1 (I am writing a paper at the moment which
shows the latter to have a literary dependence upon the former). Regarding the Holy
Spirit, statements like John 14:16-18 and Ellen White’s commentary on this passage
resolve the paradox.

These solutions are impossible in a methodology where varying pieces of evidence

are weighed against each other. I know that Ellen White speaks of the weight of
evidence, and that there will always be hooks to hang doubts upon, but it is theories
which should be weighed, not evidence. Evidence needs to balance other evidence
and shape our theories, our theories shouldn’t dictate which evidence we accept and
which we don’t. In some places, GP has set in opposition two different yet related
evidences. For instance, in evidence for the eternal pre-existence of Christ, GP uses
John 1:1, and in the objections monogenes (coming from John 1:14, 18). Both of these

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are from the same prologue. Also, as mentioned earlier, Proverbs 8 may be relevant in
examining this section of Scripture.

As another example, GP pits the Holy Spirit as “He” against the Holy Spirit as “it.”
This removes the opportunity to enquire whether there is an instance where both could
validly apply. The non-trinitarian view, which sees a distinction in economy, but not
in individuality, is able to accept both “He” and “it” in this instance.

Concluding remarks and recommendation

I know that my review of this book might appear brutal at this point. I believe this is
necessary. There is a responsibility that is borne by all who teach publicly, whether
aloud or in print, to be honest to the facts and fair to those who might disagree. While
I believe that my friend Glyn has made honourable steps towards the latter, I do not
believe that he has succeeded in accomplishing the former. I do not mean to judge
motive, for I know that doctrine can be an emotional matter and that wars have been
fought over such things in the past.

As one who has previously been in the non-trinitarian movement, and who is now a
supportive part of the mainstream church seeking to regain my membership, I am glad
for this chance to dialogue and welcome the positive signs I have seen lately in this
area. I believe that we are reaching a point where dialogue is not only possible, but
crucial, if the current impasse is ever to be breached.

In terms of Glyn’s book, I believe that there are some very solid reasons presented in
all the papers written for this review to call for change, even if only in the area of the
weight of evidence and probability. I do not believe the hermeneutic problems could
be resolved by merely answering any of the comments of this review as “new”
objections or incorporating them into existing ones. I believe that the inconsistency in
how Glyn treats his belief and that of non-trinitarians runs through the entire
manuscript, and that it is beyond the ability to “tweak” and fix it.

I hope and pray that this review will not only be of practical value to Glyn, but to the
BRC. I have often been edified by reading reviews of my own material. I have not had
much formal training yet, and so had to learn not to make so many emphatic
statements (something I’m still working on) and not to assume that everyone takes the
same thing I do from a quote. I believe that the BRC could benefit from seeing how
we as non-trinitarians view some of the arguments put forth by Trinitarians, and hope
that they might give some closer scrutiny to books in support of the Trinity to see
whether they meet the standards of scholarship. I understand that books which are
already seen to uphold the church’s position might not be given as close a scrutiny as
those which are being examined as “new light.” I believe the standard should be the
same for both.

As Glyn’s book currently stands, it will definitely confirm many people in the trinity
doctrine. However, for the vast majority, it will not be because they have understood
the issues he presents clearly, nor because what they have read is a completely fair
and balanced treatment. Instead, they are more likely to be awed at the sheer size of
the book and accept its sentiments at face value. In a perfect world, people might go

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through and give their own weights, but we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a
world where there are pew warmers and spoon fed Christians.

And so my recommendation comes out of a question. Does the author of this book
(and those who have approved of it) mind if people accept what he believes even if it
is for the wrong reason? Is the end more important than the means in teaching what
we believe is truth? There are other questions that might bear asking, but I believe
these are the most pertinent. If you do not believe that the end justifies the means in
this matter, I would hope there would be pause, reflection and action taken on the
points collectively raised in these reviews before this book is printed and given wider
circulation than it already has.

In closing, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with all who read this review. Amen!

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 APPENDIX:
When Trinity Doesn’t Mean Trinity
By Brendan P. Knudson

Words only carry the meaning that is attributed to them, just like currency. The only
reason a small silver-coloured dodecagonal coin is worth fifty cents in Australia is
because we have placed that value upon it. Everyone in Australia would agree that
fifty cents is worth fifty cents. However, fifty cents Australian is not necessarily worth
fifty cents US. It is the same with words. While dictionaries are an aid to
understanding the meanings of words, this does not guarantee that everyone will
attach the same meaning to the same word.

For example, quite often, our understanding is shaped by our experience. A persons’
concept of a father might be different, depending upon whether they had a loving or
abusive experience with theirs. Other factors which determine our understanding of
words are culture and education. Culture is especially important when examining the
meaning of words written by those generations before us, for words change meaning
over time. In this study, we shall look at the early Seventh-day Adventist uses of the
term “trinity,” seeking for a harmonious understanding of the historical evidence.

From the Sabbath Bible Conferences of the late 1840’s to the 1890’s, the term
“trinity” was only ever used in a negative sense in Adventist literature. This era is so
well documented by other authors, that we will only look at one representative quote
here. J. N. Loughborough wrote an extended answer to a question in 1861 of which
this is the introduction:

“QUESTION 1. What serious objection is there to the doctrine of the Trinity?

ANSWER. There are many objections which we might urge, but on account of our
limited space we shall reduce them to the three following: 1. It is contrary to common
sense. 2. It is contrary to scripture. 3. Its origin is Pagan and fabulous.” (Review and
Herald, Vol. 18, No. 23, p. 184)

After 1888, renewed focus was given to the work of the Holy Spirit in both
conversion and living the victorious life as a result of the Latter Rain which began to
fall with that message. As part of this focus, attention was given to the personality of
the Holy Spirit and its relationship to God and Christ. This attention did not constitute
a change in direction on the teaching on the Holy Spirit, but it did result in more
prominence given to this agency and its role in the plan of redemption.

From it’s beginning, the Review had included writings from authors outside of
Adventism on topics of general agreement. During this decade, a number of writings
on the Subordination of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit were included from
other publications. Of note in this study are the paper The Subordination of the Son by
Samuel T. Spear, and certain articles from the King’s Messenger reprinted in the
Review and Herald, such as Blended Personalities (Vol. 77, No. 14, p. 210) and The
Holy Ghost (Vol. 78, No. 8, p. 116).

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While these freely use Trinitarian language, it must be noted that it is because they
were written by those outside of the denomination, who had their own theological
bent. Examination of other issues of this time period reveal a general editorial policy
of including such externally authored articles and news items unedited when it came
to minor points of expression.

In this climate of deeper study into the working of the Holy Spirit with the obligatory
interest in its personality and relationship with God and Christ, there inevitably came
a need for a group term to include Father, Son and Holy Spirit under one banner.

The term “Godhead” was not considered appropriate for this. Their understanding was
that this term referred either quantitatively (as a noun) for God the Father alone or
qualitatively to the attribute of divinity, which was possessed by Father and Son and is
descriptive of the Spirit. Deity and Divinity appear to have been used in a similar way.
Other terms such as Elohim (potentially a plural) do not appear to have been
considered.

Considering this vacuum and the relaxed position on seeing the term appear in official
publications, it is no surprise to see some of the leaders borrowing the term Trinity.
What needs to be determined is whether they also received with it the theological
baggage of the trinity doctrine itself. Those who have been found to have used this
term during this time period include M. C. Wilcox, Uriah Smith, S. N. Haskell and F.
M. Wilcox. We will examine the context of these original quotes, as well as the
conceptual views of these people in their wider contemporary writings.

M. C. Wilcox was found to use the term around the time that Signs of the Times
printed Samuel T. Spear’s article, as mentioned above. This article was later printed
under a different title, The Bible Doctrine of the Trinity, as part of the Bible Student’s
Library series. In commenting on this article in Signs, Wilcox wrote, “‘The
Subordination of Christ,’ by the late Samuel T. Spear, taken from the Independent. It
was so long that we found it necessary to divide it. We trust that this candid setting
forth of the Trinity will be read with care." (Signs of the Times, Vol. 18, No. 5, p. 80.)

Elsewhere, showing that the printing did not constitute complete agreement with the
article, Wilcox stated, “While there may be minor thoughts in this worthy number
which we might wish to express differently, on the whole we believe that it sets forth
the Bible doctrine of the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with a devout
adherence to the words of the Scripture, in the best brief way we ever saw it
presented.” (Signs of the Times, Vol. 18, No. 22, p. 352)

These facts alone might lead one to speculate what was or wasn’t agreed with in the
article, if it weren’t for other articles by Wilcox in the same decade. A few years later,
in 1898, Wilcox authored an article titled, “The Spirit—Impersonal and Personal,”
which appeared in a series of editorials on the Holy Spirit. In this article, he states,
“So the Spirit, the Comforter, brings to us Christ’s presence… the “eternal spirit”
comes to us as the life force and veritable presence of Jesus Christ; Redeemer,
Companion, King.” (Signs of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 33, p. 518)

In the previous issue to this (Vol. 24, No. 32), Wilcox had responded to a question on
whether the Holy Ghost was a person, saying, “The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the

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Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Spirit of Christ, are all one and the same
Spirit… This Spirit is the outflowing of the life of God in Christ, and has the power of
bringing to the child of God the personality and presence of Christ. In this way it may
be said to be a person, while as God’s life it is said to be shed forth, poured out, etc.
We cannot comprehend the infinite.”

From the above evidence it is abundantly clear that while M. C. Wilcox used the term
“Trinity” as a collective term for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he did not have in
mind either the orthodox Catholic Trinity or the current Trinity teaching of the
modern Seventh-day Adventist church.

The next person to use the term Trinity is Uriah Smith, whom no one would think of
as a Trinitarian. He wrote in answer to a question in 1896 on Worshiping the Holy
Spirit and the doxology, “We know of no place in the Bible where we are commanded
to worship the Holy Spirit, as was commanded in the case of Christ (Heb. 1:6), or
where we find an example of the worship of the Holy Spirit, as in the case of Christ.
Luke 24:52. Yet in the formula for baptism, the name “Holy Ghost,” or” Holy Spirit,”
is associated with that of the Father and the Son. And if the name can be used thus,
why could it not properly stand as a part of the same trinity in the hymn of praise,
“Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost”?” (Review and Herald, Vol. 73, No. 43, p. 685)

One has merely to read Looking Unto Jesus, Uriah Smith’s book on the life of Christ,
printed 1898, to see that he was clearly not a Trinitarian at this time. It is interesting
that the term is only used in connection as a collective term for Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, particularly in connection with Matthew 28:19.

S. N. Haskell was another one to so use this term. In his 1919 publication, Bible
Handbook, under the section, “Baptism,” he writes, “Matt. 28:19. In the name of the
Trinity. T., v. 6, p. 91.” He also used the term in the 1905 edition of his book, The
Story of Daniel the Prophet, where he wrote, “Gabriel was only an angel, upheld by
the same Power that sustained John, and he would not for one moment allow John to
be deceived by thinking he was a part of the great Trinity of heaven, and worthy of
the worship of mankind.” (pp. 132)

This thought is missing from the 1901 edition of the book and while it appears in this
expanded edition, it does not need to convey the ideas that come with the word. On
the contrary, many of Haskell’s works, both before and after this, show concepts in
harmony with the early Adventist understanding of God. His uses appear consistent
with the others who, at this time, were using the word as a collective label.

One of the final uses we will look at comes from the son of M. C. Wilcox. In 1913, F.
M. Wilcox was the editor of the Review and Herald when he wrote a statement of
beliefs which many have said was Trinitarian. The description, however, does not
conflict with what the early Pioneers believed:

“1. In the divine Trinity. This Trinity consists of the eternal Father, a personal
spiritual being, omnipotent, omniscient, infinite in power, wisdom, and love; of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the eternal Father, through whom the salvation of the
redeemed hosts will be accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the

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Godhead, the one regenerating agency in the work of redemption.” (Vol. 90, No. 41,
p. 21)

This article by Wilcox wasn’t meant to be a comprehensive set of beliefs of

Adventism. It leaves out many beliefs that have appeared on all our statements of
fundamentals from 1872 to today. It remains true to the original statement by James
White, differing only in emphasising the three powers of heaven, which had been
given more attention in the events surrounding Kellogg’s pantheism.

It is interesting to note that at this time when leaders within Adventism were
attempting to find a word to collectively connote the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Ellen White coined a term that was, to all knowledge, original to her in this context.
“Heavenly trio,” while often used as proof of Ellen White being Trinitarian, actually
was coined to be used instead of “trinity,” to avoid the theological baggage with
which the latter came.

And it is this very difficulty – the inability to separate a contextual meaning from a
loaded term – which has plagued Adventist historians of the past half century at least.
Many have made much of a few words here and there which they consider to uphold
their teaching rather than looking at the weight of evidence that the big picture
provides. As more historical resources are becoming widely available for researchers,
it would do well for all parties to re-evaluate the context of statements they have
placed so much weight upon.

_____________________________________________________________________
__

Suggested further reading: Is the Heavenly Trio a Trinity?

(by the same author) Ellen White, 1888, and the Christian Connexion
Examining “The Bible Doctrine of the Trinity”

Email: brendanpaulknudson@primusonline.com.au

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