The authority of Ellen White...

[Gustave]

Could someone please explain this to me? 

 

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Bible Answers from the Question Corner of the Signs of the Times: 

 "Made Like unto His Brethren," Heb. 2: 14-17 Was it no special advantage to Christ that
He was of divine origin, "the only-begotten Son of God"? How can we who are born in sin be
what He was, when He knew no sin? Jesus was not only divine, but human. He was as truly
human as any man who walked upon the earth. Let us consider: I. He was one with the Father "before the world was," God's "Fellow," the One in whom "were all things created," the eternal Logos. John 17 : 5; Zech. 13 : 7; Col. I: 16; John I: 1-3. 2. "From the foundation of the world" Christ gave Himself,
"emptied Himself," that He might break the power of sin, unify God's broken creation, and save man. Rev. 13 : 8; I Peter : 20; Phil. 2:5-8. When He did this, He gave up all, "counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped ;" He "emptied Himself," laying aside His
Deity, "taking the form of a servant." 3. He, first, in the carrying out of His sacrifice, became an angel among the angels, Chief Angel, Archangel, only because He was the most devoted messenger of God. In this position He is called Michael, meaning "who is like God." Ex. 23 : 20, 21; Isa. 63: 9; Dan. to: 21; 12: I; Jude 9.
 

 

And this:

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Sign of the Times No. 3 Vegetarianism or Flesh Eating: 

The effects of the dire calamity of rebellion and sin were felt, not alone in our world; but with extreme keenness in heaven ; and a plaintive minor chord was touched by the fall of angels and of man, which reechoed throughout the universe. Thus not only did man need a manifestation of toysilty to God and a revelation of- His character in his sphere, but it was also needful that there should first be full demonstration of loyalty on the part of one member of the Godhead to the government of heaven, on
the plane of angels, and a revelation of the character of God to angelic beings in their sphere. Perhaps we can grasp the thought more readily in these words : To overthrow eventually and forever the charges- of Satan, and to bind all intelligences in the universe to Jehovah, it was necessary that Christ, in due course, take the very nature and live on the plane of each of the two highest orders of His created beings, namely, angels and men. Thus, in laying aside His glory and in humbling Himself to reveal the Father by a full manifestation of,His character in each of these spheres, Christ's first step
in His humiliation in laying aside His divinity, in giving up the throne which He held conjointly with Jehovah, in surrendering the equality which was His with the Father, in yielding His office as Creator and His exalted position of being worshiped by the angels, was to become one of the angels.

And,

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Signs of the Times, August 19, 1913: 

It was love on the part of the great Jehovah which moved Him to give His Son; it was love on the part of the Son which moved Him to give Himself, offering His own life for a race of sinners, and so demonstrate the love of God to men, and the holiness, the beneficence, the perfection of God's government. The purpose of 'God as well as the sacrifice of Christ was all-inclusive. It embraced
not only man and this earth, but all creation. From the time the Son of God gave Himself in that far-away beginning, there began His self-abnegation, His vindication of the divine government, His desire to save all. Therefore He became an angel among angels, - Michael the Archangel,- chief only because of more devoted service; demonstrating that angels could live for God. His next step brought Him to the human family, where He went to the very lowest depths, even death. That death was the climax of the sacrifice of the ages. But in all His experiences He faltered not, failed not, and so "became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." Heb. 5: 7-10.

According to what I'm reading Michael the archangel was essentially a newly created "husk" or Avatar which creature-christ operated? I did a search for "became an angel" and was able to pull up quite a bit of documentation on this concept. I was unaware that Seventh-day Adventism believed that Michael was not existent when the angels sinned but instead was created when Christ sloughed off his divinity and became an angel and while existing as an angel operated the Avatar called Michael. It's going to take me a long time to sort this out - but it is interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Hanseng]

Hobie, EGW wrote some good books, or had her name attached to them. Ministry of Healing, Education, Counsels on Diet and Foods [a compilation]. Great Controversy is good as an introduction to church history. Depending on how you count them, I've read 50-60+ of her book sin their entirety, made hundreds of note cards. If you want to read theology, try Cranfield's Shorter Commentary on Romans and Luther's commentary  on Galatians. In some of her works, EGW apparently  didn't know what she was talking about.  You can learn similar rubbish from ministries like Amazing Facts. Her emphasis tended toward legalism. In some cases, she was a flaming legalist. Some have said her righteousness by faith writings, preserved in Selected Messages, volume 1, are peerless. Much of the confusion in Adventism has its origins in what Sr. White said. She gave good practical advice on ministry. Problem is that the denomination ignores much of her practical advice.

[Asia Joe]

On 9/9/2026 at 9:31 AM, Gustave said:

It's going to take me a long time to sort this out - but it is interesting. 

It's very interesting. This is the first time I have seen this. Thank you for posting it. 

[Asia Joe]

On 8/13/2026 at 10:11 PM, Gregory Matthews said:

*  She is not and was never intended to be the ultimate, absolute authority as to doctrine and belief.

I have often wondered, if Ellen White was alive today, what would her opinion be about how people have treated her writings.  I think she would be shocked. 

[Kevin H]

On 8/8/2026 at 7:35 PM, Gustave said:

But God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) said unequivocally that Christ wouldn't sin. Why, because God CAN'T sin or God wouldn't be God. 

This is the point!!!!!!! Can God, even as a weakened creature, the the weakest point possible, facing true temptations, choose not sin. If he can, then it would prove that God is who God claims to be.  If this did not happen, then it would mean that God wouldn't be God. The entire universe would be thrown into chaos. 

Creatures needed to know whether God really is God, or just some sort of higher evolved creature of the same essence as we are. If God is God, is God all that He claims to be, especially in relation to his law of self sacrificing love/self renouncing love; and in the question in how he will treat sinners with the apparent contradiction of being both just and merciful. If he's just, sin needs to meet it's results. That would kill all sinners and that would not be merciful. For God to be merciful, he needs to be able to forgive and if he's forgiving and merciful then doesn't this go against his claim to be just. 

Gustave, what is say is what indeed the `issue is and why Jesus had to have the free choice to truly face temptation and the sin issue with the real risk of failure answers the question: is God truly God? If Jesus failed, then God wouldn't be God.  

[Kevin H]

On 9/11/2026 at 10:08 AM, Asia Joe said:

I have often wondered, if Ellen White was alive today, what would her opinion be about how people have treated her writings.  I think she would be shocked. 

She was in her day starting to meet this and was fighting this. She had different issues she had to deal with and put forth different amounts of effort on what was pressing at the time. The last issues was a tie about things that were starting to grow out of the first world war, and the proper use of her writings. This was her last great battle. She fought this battle as she was old and frail. Sadly, this is a battle she lost. 

Stephen Haskell was a very close friend of hers, so close that when they were both widowed that he proposed to her. Yet, they had one big, on going argument; how prophecy works. He had a much more fundamentalist view and insisted that Mrs. White's experience fit the view of the Fundamentalists. She held a much more liberal view of inspiration and what visions did and DID NOT do for her. Both were frustrated that they could not convince the other to their understanding, but remained close friends. 

After she died, he continued the same argument with Willie, where Willie gave the same ideas as his mother, but Haskell was far less cordial to Willie than he was to Mrs. White. 

I see the wisdom for her turning down his proposal (and finding another woman for him.) Marriage can change attitudes, especially with the role of men in the 1800s. Would he have remained cordial with their different views of inspiration? Could their differences on how inspiration worked ripped the church apart?

There were less friendly correspondence between the Whites and the pastors who's thought developed into what is called "Historic Adventism." 

Among their followers (I did not find this in their writings directly) there were people saying that Mrs. White no longer believed that she was a prophet. No, she did not give up believing that she was a prophet, she just had a different view of what a prophet was than what they insisted a prophet should be. 

Sadly, I'm not sure how "shocked" she would be since she really had to face these issues, but she would be greatly disappointed that she lost the battle. 

[Gustave]

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Kevin H said: This is the point!!!!!!! Can God, even as a weakened creature, the the weakest point possible, facing true temptations, choose not sin. If he can, then it would prove that God is who God claims to be.  If this did not happen, then it would mean that God wouldn't be God. The entire universe would be thrown into chaos. 

God (The Son) was never a weakened "creature". The Council of Nicaea was EXPLICIT that Christ was never a creature. Instead, the Council affirmed that Christ was Light from True Light, God from true God, begotten and not made CONSUBSTANTIAL WITH THE FATHER. And that according to the Scriptures His death and Resurrection was as sure of a bet as God being God. The point I'm attempting to make here is that according to Sacred Scripture, Christ sinning was an impossibility. That's the point. 

 

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Kevin H said: 

Creatures needed to know whether God really is God, or just some sort of higher evolved creature of the same essence as we are. If God is God, is God all that He claims to be, especially in relation to his law of self sacrificing love/self renouncing love; and in the question in how he will treat sinners with the apparent contradiction of being both just and merciful. If he's just, sin needs to meet it's results. That would kill all sinners and that would not be merciful. For God to be merciful, he needs to be able to forgive and if he's forgiving and merciful then doesn't this go against his claim to be just. 

Gustave, what is say is what indeed the `issue is and why Jesus had to have the free choice to truly face temptation and the sin issue with the real risk of failure answers the question: is God truly God? If Jesus failed, then God wouldn't be God.  

Jesus WAS truly tempted by Satan and likely all through His childhood as well as a teenager all the way to the Cross. What I'm saying is that ALL of these temptations were EXTERNAL. I realize that the following will sound crude and crass but hear me out. 

Kevin, IF you were on a business trip with your wife at home and a scalding hot woman came up to you and started flirting you would LIKELY be tempted because just like James 1 clear says you are ONLY tempted when your own lust starts pulling you towards the thing. Change things up a little bit and instead of a scalding hot woman flirting with you it's a man. If you are not gay and because you don't internally desire to sleep with a man you YOURSELF are not tempted (within yourself). It's an external temptation. 

This is what happened in Jesus' case, His temptations were all external because He didn't yearn or lust for sin.