The Development of the Doctrine of the Deity and Personhood of the Holy Spirit in Seventh-day Adventist History

Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief 2: Trinity

Pneumatology:

Seventh-day Adventist Doctrinal Development of the Deity and Personhood of the Holy Spirit Matthew L. Tinkham Jr., MDiv

“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.” (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 14:7.)

Modern Anti-Trinitarianism There is no triune Godhead or Trinity (one God in three Persons)  The Father is the infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal God. The Son is the divine begotten Son of God either derived from the Father or created by the Father in eternity past. The Holy Spirit is the impersonal force, power, influence, or presence emanating from the Father and/or the Son

Are the concerns of these antiTrinitarian individuals valid? What did the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church believe about the Godhead?

Purpose, Methodology, and Scope

How did we arrive at our current official doctrinal position on the Trinity?

Purpose, Methodology,   and Scope Purpose: To discover whether or not our current understanding of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit was developed on the basis of biblical study and is in harmony with the writings of Ellen G. White. Methodology: We will track together the development of the doctrine of the deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit in Seventhday Adventist literature from the time of our pioneers (1846) to the present and in the writings of Ellen G. White to see how they understood the Holy Spirit’s nature and to discern their process of discovery. Scope: We will restrict our study to the subject of the deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit and will only explore biblical evidences for the doctrine as they come up in Seventh-day Adventist history. We will not conduct a Bible study on the nature of the Holy Spirit.

Full Revelation  Framework

Progressive Revelation  Framework

Seventh-day Adventist History

Full Revelation Framework final revelation of the full package of truth

1844

Development of the Sabbath Sabbath and heavenly sanctuary linked (eschatological importance of the Sabbath)

Sabbath as the seal of God

1844-1846

1847

1848-1849

1855

Joseph Bates

O. R. L Crosier Joseph Bates Ellen White

Sabbath Conferences Joseph Bates

J. N. Andrews

discovery of the seventhday Sabbath

2015

“It is not safe for us as reformers to repeat the history of the Reformers in every particular; for after those to whom God gave light advanced to a certain knowledge, many of them ceased to be reformers. We must not for a moment think that there is no more light and truth to be given us, and become careless, and let the sanctifying power of the truth leak out of our hearts by our attitude of satisfaction in what we have already attained….  “It is a fact that we have the truth, and we must hold with tenacity to the positions that cannot be shaken; but we must not look with suspicion upon any new light which God may send, and say, Really, we cannot see that we need any more light than the old truth which

we have hitherto received, and in which we are   settled.”

Ellen G. White  Review and Herald   August 7, 1894

Ellen G. White  Review and Herald   August 7, 1894

static, punctiliar, and complete

time to begin/end the Sabbath is sunset

Progressive Revelation Framework never-ending progressive development of truth throughout history under the providential guidance of the Holy Spirit

1844

Present

Development of the Sabbath Sabbath and heavenly sanctuary linked (eschatological importance of the Sabbath)

Sabbath as the seal of God

1844-1846

1847

1848-1849

1855

Joseph Bates

O. R. L Crosier Joseph Bates Ellen White

Sabbath Conferences Joseph Bates

J. N. Andrews

discovery of the seventhday Sabbath

“We are to be sanctified through the truth. The word of God presents special truths for every age. The dealings of God with his people in the past should receive our careful attention. We should learn the lessons which they are designed to teach us. But we are not to rest content with them. God is leading out his people step by step. Truth is progressive. The earnest seeker will be constantly receiving light from Heaven. What is truth? should ever be our inquiry.”

Ellen G. White  Letter 156   1903

Ellen G. White  “The Stone of Witness,”   Signs of the Times   (May 26, 1881):

dynamic, progressive, and continual

time to begin/end the Sabbath is sunset

“I am instructed to say that the precious truth for this time is open more and more clearly to human minds. … There will be development of the understanding, for the truth is capable of expansion. The divine originator of truth will come into closer and still closer communion with those who follow on to know him. ... Our exploration of truth is yet incomplete. We have gathered up only a few rays of light.”

Ellen G. White  “The Stone of Witness,”   Signs of the Times   (May 26, 1881):

Ellen G. White  “Rejection of Light,”   Advent Review & Sabbath Herald   (January 5, 1886):

“Those who walk in the light will progress; they will grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. This is the result of sanctification through the truth, and this is what God requires of all. Truth is progressive; and those who are preparing for the last great day will go forward in accordance with the accumulated light which shines upon them from the prophecies and from the lessons of Christ and the apostles. No one will be condemned in the day of Judgment because of a lack of knowledge which he never had an opportunity to obtain. The light which never shone upon him will never be his darkness. The truth which God's messengers have presented by pen and by voice, the treasures of

Ellen G. White  Review and Herald   December 20, 1892

Uriah Smith  Review and Herald   April 30, 1857

“We have been enabled to rejoice in truths far in advance of what we then perceived. But we do not imagine that we yet have it all, by any means. We trust to progress still, our way growing continually brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. Then let us maintain an inquiring frame of mind, seeking for more light, more truth.”

the word of God which they have opened to the people, the light which has penetrated the darkened chambers of the mind, will, if rejected, be witnesses against them in the last great day. The testimony which will come with condemning power upon the sinner, and which will close his mouth before God and testify of his guilt, is the fact that he saw the light, but for various reasons in harmony with the carnal heart, would not receive it. He would not receive the truth that was given to save him. The greater the light, the greater the obligations.”

“There is no excuse for anyone in taking the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without an error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation.”

Progressive Revelation Framework

They “would change on other points of their faith if they could see good reason to do so from the Scriptures.”

James White  Review and Herald   February 7, 1856

never-ending progressive development of truth throughout history under the providential guidance of the Holy Spirit

1844

2015

dynamic, progressive, and continual

Historical Background Baptists

Historical Background

Methodists

Presbyterians

Christian  Connexionists

Millerite Movement (1833-1844)

Sabbatarian Adventism (1846-1860)

Seventh-day Adventist Church (1863-present)

etc.

“I believe in one living and true God and that there are three persons in the Godhead—as there is in man, the body, soul, and spirit. And if anyone will tell me how these exist, I will tell him how the three persons of the triune God are connected.”

Historical Background Millerite Movement (1833-1844) Joshua V. Himes 

Anti-Trinitarian Wesleyan   Christian Connexionist

Joseph Bates and James White


William Miller  Memoirs of William Miller   (1853), pp. 77-78

William Miller  Trinitarian Calvinist Baptist

Historical Background Millerite Movement (1833-1844) Joshua V. Himes 

Trinitarian Calvinist Baptist




Joshua V. Himes  Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge   (1838), p. 363

William Miller 

“That there is one living and true God, the Father almighty, who is unoriginated, independent, and eternal, the Creator…and that this God is one spiritual intelligence, one infinite mind, ever the same, never varying… That Christ is the Son of God, the promised Messiah and Savior of the world…That the Holy Spirit is the power and energy of God, that holy influence of God …”

Historical Background Millerite Movement (1833-1844) William Miller 

Joshua V. Himes 

Trinitarian Calvinistic Baptist


Three Phases of Development on the Holy Spirit’s Nature Phase I: Anti-Trinitarian Dominance (1846-1890) Phase II: Decline of Anti-Trinitarianism and Rise of Trinitarianism (1890-1946) Phase III: Trinitarian Dominance (1946-present)



Anti-Trinitarian Dominance  (1846-1890)

Christy M. Taylor  The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit   (1953), pp. 9-10

Phase I

“The literature produced by the early Adventists contains very little directly concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, or the personality of the Holy Spirit. Interest and enthusiasm over the newly found doctrine of the Advent, the Sabbath, the Atonement and the prophecies so absorbed the attention of the group that other doctrines were temporarily neglected.”

Pre-1890 Anti-Trinitarianism The Father is the infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal Almighty God. The Son is the divine begotten Son of God derived from the Father in eternity past.

Phase I

Anti-Trinitarian Dominance  (1846-1890)

The Holy Spirit is the impersonal force, power, influence, or omnipresent presence emanating from the Father and/or the Son.

The Co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Background of Joseph Bates and James White Joseph Bates

James White

Millerite Movement (1833-1844)


Joseph Bates  Autobiography of Joseph Bates   (1868), pp. 204-205

The Christian Connection Anti-Trinitarian

“But they embraced some points in their faith which I could not understand. I will name two only: their mode of baptism, and doctrine of the trinity….Respecting the trinity, I concluded that it was an impossibility for me to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, was also the Almighty God, the Father, one and the same being.”

“[W]hile James White rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, he did believe in the three great powers in heaven. The first Hymn book compiled by James White—in 1849—contains the Doxology, ‘Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.’”

James White  Review and Herald   December 11, 1855

Merlin D. Burt  Journal of the Adventist Theological Society (2006), p. 127

“Here we might mention the Trinity, which does away the personality of God and His Son Jesus Christ…”

Background of Ellen G. White Methodist Church Trinitarian

Phase I

Anti-Trinitarian Dominance  Ellen G. White Millerite Movement (1833-1844)


(1846-1890)

Other Early Leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

J. H. Waggoner  The Spirit of God   (1877), pp. 8-9

J. H. Waggoner  The Atonement   (1868), p. 173

“The Scriptures abundantly teach the preexistence of Christ and His divinity; but they are entirely silent in regard to a Trinity.”

D. M. Canright  The Signs of the Times   July 25, 1878

Uriah Smith  The Biblical Institute   (1878), p. 184

“In a word it may, perhaps, best be described as a mysterious influence emanating from the Father and the Son, their representative and the medium of their power.”

“There is one question, which has been much controverted in the theological world upon which we have never presumed to enter. It is that of the personality of the Spirit of God….We are not only willing but anxious to leave it just where the word of God leaves it. From it we learn that the Spirit of God is that awful and mysterious power which proceeds from the throne of the universe, and which is the efficient actor of the work of creation and of redemption.”

“The simple truth is that God is a real person, in bodily form; and the Holy Spirit is truly the Spirit of God, a divine influence proceeding from the Father and also from the Son, as their power, energy, etc. The Bible never in any case calls the Holy Spirit a person, though it frequently does both the Father and Son. … The truth is evident. The Holy Spirit is not a person, not an individual, but is an influence or power proceeding from the Godhead.”

D. M. Canright  Advent Review and Sabbath Herald   August 29, 1878

D. M. Canright  Advent Review and Sabbath Herald   August 29, 1878

“Jesus says that his Father is the only true God. But Trinitarians contradict this by saying that the Son and Holy Ghost are just as much the true God as the Father is.”

“This dear, blessed Spirit! It is our privilege to be led by it, to have it actuate all we do, and to constantly feel its influence….Those who have felt it cannot be more satisfied without it; and all who have it to any extent, long for more.”

Helen L. Morse  Review and Herald   March 18, 1884

Christy M. Taylor  The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit   (1953), pp. 22

“Most Seventh-day Adventist writers used the impersonal pronoun ‘it’ when reference was made to the Holy Spirit.”

“And then the Bible never uses the phrases, "trinity,” “triune God,” “three in one,” “the holy three,” “'God the Holy Ghost,” etc. But it does emphatically say there is only one God, the Father. And every argument to prove three Gods in one person, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, all of them of one substance, and every way equal to each other, and all three forming butone, contradicts itself, contradicts reason, and contradicts the Bible….The Bible says nothing about the trinity. God never mentions it, Jesus never named it, the apostles never did. Now men dare to call God, Trinity, Triune, etc.”

Dualistic Neo-Platonic Philosophical View of God J. N. Andrews R. F. Cottrell

J. B. Frisbie D. M. Canright

J. N. Loughborough

GOD

Notable Early Anti-Trinitarian Seventh-day Adventists

Timeless, Spaceless, Immaterial Realm Temporal, Spatial, Material Realm WORLD

Uriah Smith

James White

Joseph Bates

J. H. Waggoner

Fernando L. Canale  Handbook of SDA Theology   (2000), p. 149

“[S]ince early Adventists did not differentiate between biblical facts and their classical interpretation as conditioned by Greek philosophical ideas, an antitrinitarian sentiment was pervasive during the first decades of Adventist history.”

Polytheism Father

Son

Panentheism

Triune God

Holy Spirit World

Biblical Trinitarianism Father

Phase II

GOD

t no

is

is

no t

is

Decline of Anti-Trinitarianism Rise of Trinitarianism 

is

is Son

(1890-1946) Holy  Spirit

is not

“[A]lthough we claim to be believers in, and worshipers of, one God, I have thought that there are as many gods among us as there are conceptions of the Deity.”

Post-1890 Development

Deity of Christ Personhood of the Holy Spirit Triune Godhead

D. T. Bourdeau  Review and Herald   November 18, 1890

Righteousness  by Faith

“…with reference to the term ‘Holy Ghost’ or ‘Holy Spirit,’ it would seem to be impossible to conclude that a person is meant, or that any other idea is intended by these terms than that of an influence.”

(1890-1946)

T. R. Williamson  Review and Herald   October 13, 1891

Continued Anti-Trinitarianism Among Some Seventh-day Adventists

“Certainly, it would seem clear from these passages that no personality is ascribed to the Holy Ghost….The Holy Spirit, or Ghost (for the words are the same) is simply an influence from God, a manifestation of his power, that pervades this whole universe, even as the air covers the earth, and makes every atom of matter in every world, and all the limitless depths of space between the worlds, rife with the presence of Jehovah, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s glorious Son.”

“The Bible uses expressions which cannot be harmonized with the idea that it is a person like the Father and the Son. Rather it is shown to be a divine influence from them both, the medium which represents their presence and by which they have knowledge and power through all the universe, when not personally present.” Uriah Smith  Review and Herald   October 28, 1890

Decline of Anti-Trinitarianism Rise of Trinitarianism 

T. R. Williamson  Review and Herald   October 13, 1891

Phase II

Uriah Smith  Looking unto Jesus   (1898), p. 12-17

Uriah Smith  Review and Herald   March 23, 1897

“There are various expressions concerning the Holy Spirit which would indicate that it could not be properly considered as a person, such as its being ‘shed abroad’ in the heart, and ‘poured out’ upon all flesh.”

“Thus it appears that by some impulse, or process, not creation, known only to Omniscience, and possibly only to Omnipotence, the Son of God appeared. And then the Holy Spirit (by an infirmity of translation called the “Holy Ghost”), the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the divine afflatus and medium of their power, representative of them both (Ps.139:7), was in existence also.” “This union between the Father and the Son does not detract from either, but strengthens both. Through it, in connection with the Holy Spirit, we have all of Deity.”

“…when we speak of the Spirit of God we are really speaking of his presence and power.”

J. N. Loughborough  Review and Herald   September 13, 1898

Phase II

Decline of Anti-Trinitarianism Rise of Trinitarianism  (1890-1946) The Shift to Trinitarianism

Lee S. Wheeler  Review and Herald   April 21, 1891

Samuel T. Spear  “The Bible Doctrine of the Trinity”   (1892), p. 14

“It is noticeable that in this as in many other Scriptures, the Spirit as one, is referred to as distinct from the Father and the Son….Here inspiration would direct our attention to this mysterious agency the Holy Spirit, as the medium of communion with God and Christ.”

“He is spoken of as a personality, and treated as such. He is included in the apostolic benedictions, and is spoken of by our Lord as acting in an independent and personal capacity, as teacher, guide, and comforter. He is an object of veneration, and is a heavenly intelligence, everywhere present, and always present.” G. C. Tenny  Review and Herald   June 9, 1896

Samuel T. Spear  “The Bible Doctrine of the Trinity”   (1892), p. 14

“The doctrine of the Trinity, as elsewhere derivable from the Bible is here incidentally implied as existing in the apostle’s mind. Indeed the element of threeness, in some sense not contradictory of essential unity, is clearly taught in the Scriptures with reference to God.”

“…in the Bible is the basis of the doctrine of the Tri-personal God….This doctrine, as held and stated by those who adopt it, is not a system of tri-theism, or the doctrine of three Gods, but is the doctrine of One God subsisting and acting in three persons, with the qualification that the term ‘person’ though perhaps the best that can be used, is not, when used in this relation, to be understood in any sense that would make it inconsistent with the unity of the Godhead, and hence not to be understood in the ordinary sense when applied to men.”

S. M. I. Henry  The Abiding Spirit   (1898), p. 271

R. A. Underwood  Review and Herald   May 17, 1898

“The pronouns used in connection with the Spirit must lead us to conclude that he is a person,—the personality of God which is the source of all power and life.”

“Walking in the Spirit must ever be walking with the Spirit, for while he is atmospheric in his all-pervading presence, we must recognize his personality, and honor him by obedience to his commands. In other words, if we live in the Spirit, let us also talk in the Spirit.”

Reprint (no author)  Review and Herald   January 24, 1899

Ellen G. White  The Desire of Ages   (1898), p. 671

“…the Third Person of the Godhead…”

“The Holy Spirit is Christ’s personal representative in the field; and he is charged with the work of meeting Satan, and defeating this personal enemy of God and his government. It seems strange to me, now, that I ever believed that the Holy Spirit was only an influence, in view of the work he does….Satan's scheme is to destroy all faith in the personality of the Godhead,—the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,—also in his own personality; and when this is done, he would have men deify the state, and set that up as a personal god, to be worshiped and obeyed….Let us beware lest Satan shall lead us to take the first step in destroying our faith in the personality of this person of the Godhead,—the Holy Ghost.”

Alonzo T. Jones  Medical Missionary   March 27, 1907

“The Holy Spirit is not an influence; nor an impression, nor peace, nor joy, nor any thing….The Holy Spirit is a Person, eternally a divine Person.”

“But the fact that Jesus of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament must not be understood as eliminating the Father, or as a denial of the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Since the finite cannot comprehend the infinite, it were vain to attempt an analysis of the Godhead or to liken the perfect union of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to a triumvirate of men or even of angels. Neither must we think of that three distinct persons of the Godhead as subject to any of the limitations to which men are subject….Believe it we must, but explain it or even fully comprehend it, we cannot; and until we can, we should tread reverently as we approach the subject of the triune God…”

“It is evident that Prescott changed from a basically anti-trinitarian position in 1896 to an acceptance of the ‘triune God’ by 1929.”

Russell Holt  “The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination”   (1969), p. 19

W. W. Prescott  The Savior of the World   (1929), pp. 16-17

Alonzo T. Jones  Advent Review and Sabbath Herald   January 10, 1899

“God is one. Jesus Christ is one. The Holy Spirit is one. And these three are one: there is no dissent nor division among them.”

F. M. Wilcox  Review and Herald   October 9, 1913

“In 1930, the General Conference of Seventhday Adventists received a request from its African Division that ‘a statement of what Adventists believe be printed in the Year Book’ to ‘help government officials and others to a better understanding of our work.’ In response, the General Conference Committee appointed a subcommittee (comprised of M. E. Kern, associate secretary of the General Conference; F. M. Wilcox, editor of the Review and Herald; E. R. Palmer, manager of the Review and Herald; and C. H. Watson, General Conference president) to prepare a statement of Adventist beliefs. Wilcox, as the leading writer among them, drafted a 22-point statement that was subsequently published in

“Seventh-day Adventists believe,—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 all things were created, and through whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the one regenerating agency in the work of redemption.”

the SDA YearBook of 1931.”

Jerry Moon  Andrews University Seminary Studies, vol. 41, no. 1  (2003), 123

Denis Kaiser  Andrews University Seminary Studies   (2012), p. 31, 33 Jerry Moon  Andrews University Seminary Studies, vol. 41, no. 1  (2003), 123

“(a) a few writers promoted kinds of trinitarian subordinationism or modalism [“these views were minority positions in the published media”]; (b) the majority of authors wrote from a clear trinitarian perspective; and (c) [John Harvey] Kellogg, who constitutes an exception, promoted a panentheism veiled in trinitarian language.”

1931 Fundament Belief Statement, Point 2 “That the Godhead, or Trinity, consists of the Eternal Father, a personal, spiritual Being, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, infinite in wisdom and love; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, through whom all things were created and through whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be accomplished; the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of redemption. Matt. 28:19.”

“Jesus was the most marked and influential personality ever in this old world, and the Holy Spirit was to supply His vacated place. No one but a person could take the place of that wondrous Person. No mere influence would ever suffice.”

Trinitarian Dominance   (1946-present)

Leroy E. Froom  Coming of the Comforter  (1956), 41.

Phase III

Leroy E. Froom  Coming of the Comforter  (1956), 12.

“In preparation for the studies, following a close survey of every text in the Bible on the Holy Spirit, I read every reference thereto in the twenty-three volumes of the Spirit of prophecy, as well as many articles appearing in the past in our denominational journals from the pen of Mrs. E. G. White, and many testimonies still in manuscript. From this encompassing array of material the outstanding statements and principles were selected….Thus were formed the three divisions of this volume…”

Questions on Doctrine, 1957

Gerhard Pfandl  Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, vol. 17, no 1  (2006), 169

Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine  (1957), p. 30

“As to Christ’s place in the Godhead, we believe him to be the second person in the heavenly Trinity comprised of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are united not only in the Godhead but in the provisions of redemption.”

“Prior to the 1980 General Conference in Dallas, a proposed statement of 27 Fundamental Beliefs was sent to the world divisions. At the conference itself a revised version, incorporating the many suggestions from the world field, was discussed and eventually voted as an expression of the fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.”

Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief 2: Trinity “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.”

1941 Church Hymnal

1985 Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal

“God in three persons, Blessed Trinity”

“The Scripture reveals that the Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal force….The Holy Spirit has personality….Scripture views the Holy Spirit as God….Scripture associates divine attributes with the Holy Spirit….From eternity, God the Holy Spirit lived within the Godhead as the third member. The Father, Son, and Spirit are equally self-existent.”

Morris L. Venden  Your Friend, the Holy Spirit   (1986), pp. 8, 13

Seventh-day Adventists Believe  (2005), p. 70-71

(Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 14:7.)

“The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a separate Being. He is not simply an influence, an extension of the other members of the Godhead, such as the spirit of God or the spirit of Christ. Instead, He is the third Person of the Godhead, a separate person who is as fully God as God the Father and God the Son….So the Holy Spirit is a member of the Trinity, equal with the Father and the Son….He’s a real Person, and   He is your Friend today.”

“The Holy Spirit is just as real, just as much a Divine Person, just as much a Member of the Godhead as the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is not a thin, shadowy influence emanating from the Father. He is not an impersonal force, something to be vaguely recognized, or just an invisible principle of life.” Mark A. Finley  Revive Us Again   (2010), p. 33

Fernando L. Canale  Handbook of SDA Theology   (2000), pp. 134, 138

“[T]he Holy Spirit is a divine being but also… He is a personal being in the same way as the Father and the Son are personal beings….In Scripture God has revealed His transcendent nature as Trinity, namely three distinct divine Persons who act directly and historically in history and constitute the one divine Trinitarian being.”

Norman R. Gulley  Systematic Theology: God as Trinity   (2011), p. 3, 17, 19

Ron E. M. Clouzet  Adventism’s Greatest Need   (2011), p. 79

“The Godhead, then, is a divine fellowship. Not a group of Gods but a union of three Persons who practice and express perfect love in perfect humility….[T]he Holy Spirit is a person in the Godhead…”

“Scripture presents God as a relational Trinity, in which the three Persons of the Godhead experience an eternal divine, reciprocal love among themselves, which necessitates a temporal experience in the give-and-take exchange in their nature as a God of love. … [T]his is how the Father, Son, and Spirit have existed together forever….So   Scripture indicates that the   Spirit is a person and not   merely a power. … [T]he   Spirit has to be God.”

“[U]nlike her husband and most other early Adventist leaders she did not make explicit anti-Trinitarian or semi-Arian statements before the 1890s. Neither, however, did she openly disagree with the leaders of the movement. Her early statements were vague enough to be interpreted either way.”

(1844–1890)

George R. Knight  A Search for Identity   (2000), p. 115

Ellen G. White on the Nature of the Holy Spirit 

“Christ, the Great Teacher, had an infinite variety of subjects from which to choose, but the one upon which He dwelt most largely was the endowment of the Holy Spirit.”

Ellen G. White  Manuscript 20   1891

Ellen G. White  The Day-Star   March 14, 1846

“[L]ike Adventists generally, Ellen G. White understood the Holy Spirit in a practical and demonstrable sense.”

Merlin D. Burt  Ministry, vol. 84, no. 4   (2012), 18


“In fact, she refers to the Holy Spirit almost as often as Jesus.”

“[S]he used the pronouns It and He variously both before and after her explicit statements on the personality of the Holy Spirit.”

Ellen G. White on the Nature of the Holy Spirit 


(1890-1915) An Admonition of Caution

“The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them….Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.”


Ellen G. White  The Acts of the Apostles   (1911), p. 52

“The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery not clearly revealed, and you will never be able to explain it to others because the Lord has not revealed it to you….There are many mysteries which I do not seek to understand to explain; they are too high for me, and too high for you. On some of these points, silence is golden.”

“It is not essential for you to know and be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is.”

Ellen G. White on the Nature of the Holy Spirit  (1890–1915)


The Deity of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is Divine!  The Holy Spirit is…

 The Holy Spirit has…

“divine Spirit” “divine Presence” “divine Messenger” “divine influence” “divine comforter” “divine power” “divine person” “divine fullness”

“divine power” “divine influence” “divine illumination” “divine truth” “divine grace” “divine resources” “divine blessings”

Divine Attributes  I. Eternal Existence First, she attributed eternal existence to the Holy Spirit. He was named as one of the “eternal heavenly dignitaries” and is said to be one among those who compose the “eternal Godhead.” The Holy Spirit indwelling in the human heart is said to be a “life-giving Spirit” who is “the beginning of life eternal” and “life everlasting.” If she believed that He imparts eternal life, He Himself must have been eternally existent in her thinking.

The Holy Spirit is “all divine.”

“The Spirit came upon the waiting, praying disciples with a fullness that reached every heart. The Infinite One revealed Himself in power to His church. It was as if for ages this influence had been held in restraint, and now Heaven rejoiced in being able to pour out upon the church the riches of the Spirit's grace.”

Divine Attributes Secondly, Ellen White used the adjective “infinite” in relation to the Holy Spirit. He—like the Father and the Son—is an infinite power who was “sent by the benevolence of infinite love” and is “offered in infinite plentitude” “according to the infinite fullness of God” from which He flows. He is God’s “infinite power” who is “infinite in wisdom and strength” and possesses “infinite power.” Throughout her writings, Ellen White usually referred to the Father as the “Infinite One,” yet in The Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit is so closely aligned to this title that He seems to be identified with it. For her, the Holy Spirit is as infinite as is the Father.

Ellen G. White  The Acts of the Apostles   (1911), p. 38

 II. Infinity

Divine Attributes  III. Omnipotence Thirdly, related to His infinite quality is Ellen White’s description of the Holy Spirit’s omnipotence. She said that He is “an unseen agency, even an omnipotent power” who has “omnipotent power” to defend “every contrite soul” from Satan. Encouraging believers, Ellen White stated that “armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit” Christ’s followers are sure to “conquer in the contest with evil.” Hence, the Holy Spirit’s infinity is manifest in His omnipotence.

Divine Attributes  IV. Omniscience Fourthly, Ellen White ascribed the all-knowing quality of omniscience to the Holy Spirit. With the Father and the Son, she referred to Him as an “omniscient” power. Interestingly, in her March 10, 1903, article in the Review and Herald, Ellen White linked “the eye of Omniscience” watching over the affairs of men with “[t]he heavenly Watcher.” Elsewhere, she referred to the Holy Spirit as “a heavenly watcher” and “the holy Watcher” identifying the Holy Spirit with “the eye of Omniscience.”

Divine Attributes Finally, Ellen White claimed that the Holy Spirit possesses omnipresence. After quoting John 14:16-17, she stated that this particular passage referred “to the omnipresence of the Spirit of Christ, called the Comforter.” She also noted that it is “by His Spirit” that the “personal being” of God who’s “‘throne is in heaven’” is “everywhere present.” This is also true of Christ.


 V. Omnipresence

“Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent.”

Divine Attributes  V. Omnipresence

Ellen G. White on the Nature of the Holy Spirit  (1890–1915)

Finally, Ellen White claimed that the Holy Spirit possesses omnipresence. After quoting John 14:16-17, she stated that this particular passage referred “to the omnipresence of the Spirit of Christ, called the Comforter.” She also noted that it is “by His Spirit” that the “personal being” of God who’s “‘throne is in heaven’” is “everywhere present.” This is also true of Christ. Thus, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent. She said, “Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is there.”

The Personhood of the Holy Spirit

“Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is there, always a Presence, a Person connected with heaven, One given us in Christ’s place, to act in His stead. He is always at our right hand, to speak to us soothing, gentle words, to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer.”

Ellen G. White  Letter 89b   1897


“There is altogether too little made of the work of the Holy Spirit’s influence upon the church….The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, in Christ's name. He personifies Christ, yet is a distinct personality.”

“[W]e need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds unseen by human eyes, that the Lord God is our keeper, and helper.”


Ellen G. White  Letter 89b   1897

“When God’s people search the Scriptures with a desire to know what is truth, Jesus is present in the person of His representative, the Holy Spirit, reviving the hearts of the humble and contrite ones.”



“The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God….The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God.”

Ellen G. White on the Nature of the Holy Spirit  (1890–1915) Ellen G. White  Manuscript 20   1906

The Third Person of the Godhead



“Evil had been accumulating for centuries, and could only be restrained and resisted by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fulness of divine power.”

“The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, powers infinite and omniscient, receive those who truly enter into covenant relation with God. They are present at every baptism, to receive the candidates who have renounced the world and have received Christ into the soul temple. These candidates have entered into the family of God, and their names are inscribed in the Lamb’s book of life.”


Ellen G. White  Manuscript 27 1/2   1900

“Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have accepted the invitation…



“The work is laid out before every soul that has acknowledged his faith in Jesus Christ by baptism, and has become a receiver of the pledge from the three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

“In baptism we are given to the Lord as a vessel to be used. Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Self is by profession dead to a life of sin. The waters cover the candidate, and in the presence of the whole heavenly universe the mutual pledge is made. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, man is laid in his watery grave, buried with Christ in baptism, and raised from the water to live the new life of loyalty to God. The three great powers in heaven are witnesses; they are invisible but present.”

“All these spiritualistic representations are simply nothingness. They are imperfect, untrue. They weaken and diminish the Majesty which no earthly likeness can be compared to.”

Ellen G. White  Special Testimonies B, 07   (1905), p. 62


“When we have accepted Christ, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit have pledged ourselves to serve God, the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit— the three dignitaries and powers of heaven— pledge themselves that every facility shall be given to us if we carry out our baptismal vows to ‘come out from among them, and be ... separate, ... and touch not the unclean thing.’ When we are true to our vows, He says, ‘I will receive you.’”

“The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight.

are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ.”

“The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith

Ellen G. White  Special Testimonies B, 07   (1905), p. 62-63


“The Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested. The Word of God declares Him to be ‘the express image of His person.’…Here is shown the personality of the Father.



“Here is where the work of the Holy Ghost comes in, after your baptism. You are baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. You are raised up out of the water to live henceforth in newness of life—to live a new life. You are born unto God, and you stand under the sanction and the power of the three holiest Beings in heaven, who are able to keep you from falling. You are to reveal that you are dead to sin; your life is hid with Christ in God. Hidden “with Christ in God”—

wonderful transformation. This is a most precious promise.”

Ellen G. White  Sermons and Talks, vol. 1   (1990), p. 366-367

Ellen G. White  Sermons and Talks, vol. 1   (1990), p. 366-367

“Those who have been baptized can claim the help of the three great Worthies of heaven to keep them from falling, and to reveal through them a character that is after the divine similitude….


Ellen G. White on the Nature of the Holy Spirit

Are the concerns of antiTrinitarian individuals valid? Have Seventh-day Adventists abandoned a biblical understanding of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit? What did the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church believe about the Godhead? How did we arrive at our current official doctrinal position on the Trinity?

Pre-1890 She was silent on the Holy Spirit’s deity and personhood and focused on His roles and works in the life of the Christian. Post-1890 She called Him “divine” and ascribed divine attributes to Him: external existence, infinity, omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. She declared that He is a Person with a personality. She titled Him the third Person of the Godhead, one among “the heavenly trio.”

Early Seventh-day Adventists on the Nature of the Holy Spirit Pre-1890 Pre-1890 Seventh-day Adventists were so consumed in their proclamation of the Three Angels’ Messages that they did not take sufficient time to study out thoroughly enough, at that time, the nature of the Godhead and the Holy Spirit. Post-1890 Yet after God brought a renewed focus on righteousness by faith and the deity of Christ in 1888, Seventh-day Adventists were driven back to the Scriptures to explore the nature of the Godhead and the personhood of the Holy Spirit. From there, God providentially led us to affirm the triunity of the Godhead and the Holy Spirit’s full deity and personhood.

George R. Knight  A Search for Identity   (2000), p. 115

“[I]n the 1890s [Ellen White helped] her fellow church members realize the inadequacies of their understandings….she never developed major arguments on the topics of the Trinity, full equality of Christ with the Father, and the personhood of the Holy Spirit. Her writings merely assume them to be truths.”

Conclusion Ellen White’s clear post-1890 Trinitarian statements that asserted the deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit led Seventh-day Adventists to deeper Bible study of the topic. This Bible study and discussion led us to our current theological and thoroughly biblical stance on the triune Godhead and the Holy Spirit’s personhood and deity. We can rejoice, affirming that God has been active throughout our history. And we are where we are today, because of His providential leading. We still have much more to learn about the Godhead and the person and work of the Holy Spirit. But I believe we can declare with biblical and historical confidence that our one God is manifest in three Persons and that the Holy Spirit is fully divine and fully personal. He is the divine third Person of the Godhead!

Further Reading Books: Abrahamson, Karen K., and John T. Baldwin. “Holy Spirit.” In The Ellen G. White Encyclopedia. Edited by Denis Fortin and Jerry Moon. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2013. Knight, George R. A Search for Identity: The Development of Seventh-day Adventist Beliefs. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2000. Moon, Jerry. “Godhead.” In The Ellen G. White Encyclopedia. Edited by Denis Fortin and Jerry Moon. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2013. Whidden, Woodrow, Jerry Moon, and John W. Reeve. The Trinity: Understanding God’s Love, His Plan of Salvation, and Christian Relationships. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2002. White, Ellen G.. Evangelism. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1946. _____. The Acts of the Apostles. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1911. _____. The Desire of Ages. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1898.

Further Reading Articles: Burt, Merlin D. “Ellen White and the Personhood of the Holy Spirit.” Ministry: International Journal for Pastors 84, no. 4 (2012): 17-20. _____. “History of Seventh-day Adventist Views on the Trinity.” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 17, no. 1 (2006): 125-139. Clouzet, Ron E. M. “The Personhood of the Holy Spirit and Why It Matters.” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 17, no. 1 (2006): 11-32. Fortin, Denis. “God, the Trinity, and Adventism: An Introduction to the Issues.” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 17, no. 1 (2006): 4-10. Kaiser, Denis. “The Reception of Ellen G. White’s Trinitarian Statements by Her Contemporaries, 1897-1915.” Andrews University Seminary Studies 50, no. 1 (2012): 25-38. Moon, Jerry. “Heresy or Hopeful Sign?” Adventist Review (April 22, 1999): 9-13. _____. “The Adventist Trinity Debate Part 1: Historical Overview.” Andrews University Seminary Studies 41, no. 1 (2003): 113-129. _____. “The Adventist Trinity Debate, Part 2: The Role of Ellen G. White.” Andrews University Seminary Studies 41, no. 2 (2003): 275-292. _____. “The Quest for a Biblical Trinity: Ellen White’s ‘Heavenly Trio’ Compared to the Traditional Doctrine.” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 17, no. 1 (2006): 140-159. Pfandl, Gerhard. “The Doctrine of the Trinity Among Seventh-day Adventists.” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 17, no. 1 (2006): 160-179. Poirier, Tim. “Ellen White’s Trinitarian Statements: What Did She Actually Write?” Ellen White and Current Issues Symposium 2 (2006): 18-44.

Further Reading Other Academic Works: Burt, Merlin D. “Demise of Semi-Arianism and Anti-Trinitarianism in Adventist Theology, 1888-1957.” (research paper, Andrews University, 1996). Gane, Erwin Roy. “The Arian or Anti-Trinitarian Views Presented in Seventh-day Adventist Literature and the Ellen G. White Answer.” (master’s thesis, Andrews University, 1963). Holt, Russell. “The Doctrine of the Trinity in the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination: Its Rejection and Acceptance.” (term paper, Andrews University, 1969). Taylor, Christy Mathewson. “The Doctrine of the Personality of the Holy Spirit as Taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church up to 1900.” (bachelor’s thesis, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, 1953).

The Development of the Doctrine of the Deity and Personhood of the Holy Spirit in Seventh-day Adventist History

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