I would like to respond to the paper submitted by Patricio Menéndez on the subject of why Ellen G. White should not be regarded as a prophet. I am also one who was raised in the SDA church, but have recently re-examined many assumptions. I now consider myself to be a Christian who chooses to fellowship with Adventist. I do not think that the SDA church is any better or worse than other Christian denominations. (More on that following.)

I believe Mr. Menéndez has raised several valid issues and is correct in many of his views. However, I believe he also has a misunderstanding of some of the positions Adventists take. For lack of another method, I will simply progress through the article, offering my thoughts as I go.

While it is true that Adventists use Revelation 19:10 as support for the divine calling of Ellen White, I believe Mr. Menéndez goes too far in suggesting that Adventists "Take Jesus out of that text and insert Ellen G. White...". As one who grew up steeped in the same Adventism as Mr. Menéndez , I have never heard the text applied in this manner, nor have I had anyone suggest this. Pat is unquestionably right to say that "the degree of blasphemy becomes apparent"; however, it is not done. Nor is it correct to say "The Spirit of Prophecy is Jesus Christ NOT Ellen G. White!!!". If Mr. Menéndez checks his text, he will find it actually says it is the testimony of Jesus that is the spirit of prophecy. This means it is the testimony about or from (the Greek is ambiguous here) Jesus. Adventists use this text to claim divine inspiration for Ellen White because her testimony comes from Jesus. (Whether or not this assertion is true is a separate question.)

On the other hand, when Pat claims that "There is NO text in the Bible stating that the remnant church has to have a prophet to be the true remnant church!!" I think he does not go far enough. There is actually no text in Scripture that gives authority to the idea of a remnant church. There is a remnant people, but not a remnant church. However, there indeed is a text telling us to believe the prophets, which is found in 2 Chronicles 20:20. "20And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." (KJV)

The entire concept of denominationalism is fundamentally un-Christian, as we are called to be united. Paul says in I Corinthians 1:13 "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?" Also in I Corinthians 12:24, 25 he states: "But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body," As Christians, we should be able to fellowship together without being side-tracked by minor differences of interpretation or belief. Denominations occur when sincere, believing Christians fall into the trap of isolating themselves from the world. As such it has nothing to do with "human pride", but it is a diversion encouraged by Satan.

Pat is completely correct when he points out the extremely lamentable and heartbreaking point that any quote from "Sister White" will immediately quench any discussion or inquiry, essentially shutting off every member's brain to pursuing Truth. We are unfortunately programed to interpret Scripture according to what Ellen White says it is saying rather than reading it for what it actually says. Once you lay aside the "White" colored glasses, and read God's word as it is written, Christianity (and life itself) takes on a glorious new meaning. It was for me the greatest step forward in my Christian walk.

I would like to have seen references to Fred Veltman's report in Ministry Magazine, or a link to where I could find the article, as well as a link to Dirk Anderson's article on the New Perspectives web site. To quote others or refer to their statements without citing sources is simply unscholarly, not to mention unconvincing. When statements such as: "you can read his statement on Desire of Ages that there was not one original thought of Ellen G. White expressed in that book." are made, one just naturally desires to check the sources to verify. To leave out the citation may imply an interpretation of the quoted author on the part of the quoter which is not supported by a close reading of the article itself. When "divergent thinkers" present their arguments it is critical to adequately support them, otherwise we risk presenting a posture of extremism or fanaticism. Statements like "It has been stated that there is not a single Bible prophet who had more than seven visions in their lifetime!!!!" fail the test of logical argument, since we are not told who stated this. Therefore it is a completely invalid statement.

As a last notation, I would like to comment on Mr. Menéndez's criticism of ADRA and its supposed "covert" proselytizing agenda. Mr. Menéndez is unaware of the fact that if his (unsupported) statement were true, and "...ADRA has been caught several times using humanitarian aid and funds to directly assist the evangelism efforts of the SDA church.", their status as an NGO, and their qualification for receiving matching government funds would be immediately revoked. Furthermore, they would severely jeopardize their eligibility to enter many of the countries where their work is most urgently needed. As a requirement for receiving tax dollars and status as a charity for charitable donations purposes, NO NGO, whether ADRA, UNICEF, United Way, or the Catholic Church, may favor one group of people over another, whether based on religion, gender, or color of skin. Unfortunately Mr. Menéndez, having never worked with ADRA or any other NGO, does not realize this.

The summary of my argument is this: if we are going to evoke any changes in the church we love, and have our assertions accepted seriously; if we are going to present an acceptable alternative to the interpretations we have traditionally grown up with, we MUST present them in an acceptable manner. This means that our sources must be cited and documented, our accusations must be supported, and our arguments must be presented in a scholarly manner. Otherwise we risk being ignored as off-shoots and argumentative fanatics.

Seeking Truth in Jesus

© 2005 Cedric Brannough

(P.S.: "Cedric Brannough", like "Patricio Menéndez", is a nom de guerre.)

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