Was Ellen White Really A False Prophet?

[woobadooba]

My only contention with Ellen White is that she had misinterpreted certain passages in the Bible.

But in all fairness to these misinterpretations, I want to point something out that I came across some time ago.

Peter said, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Act 2:16-21 KJV)

But is this what Joel had really said?

Let's take a look:

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
(Joe 2:28-32 KJV)

Now then, Peter used the expression: "And it shall come to pass in the last days"

And Joel said, "it shall come to pass afterward"

Thus it appears that Peter is interpreting this passage in its totality as referring to the "last days", when Joel doesn't appear to be designating it as such. For, he didn't use the words "last days", but "afterword".

Now we know that it has been almost 2000 years since Peter referred to this passage in this way.

So could it be possible that he misunderstood it to some degree?

If so, then we would have evidence that a prophet can misinterpret a passage from the Bible and still be a prophet of God. If not, what could this then mean?

For, Peter obviously didn't quote Joel word for word. Thus this indicates that he superimposed meaning on the passage which reflected his current belief that he was living in the "last days".

Now then, those who accuse Ellen White of not having the gift of prophecy because she misinterpreted certain passages in the Bible would have to do the same with Peter in order to be consistent with their own belief. Of course, this isn't necessary, because all one has to do is admit that a prophet is still human, and therefore subject to error.

I think it's best to look at the core message that a prophet inculcates, as well as the lifestyle that that person promotes, before ruling out that that person doesn't have the gift of prophecy. If we look at the core message of Ellen White, as well as the lifestyle that she demonstrated, it is quite evident that she had the gift, even though she made mistakes at times.

 

[truthmagnet]

My only contention with Ellen White is that she had misinterpreted certain passages in the Bible.

But in all fairness to these misinterpretations, I want to point something out that I came across some time ago.

Peter said, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Act 2:16-21 KJV)

But is this what Joel had really said?

Let's take a look:

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
(Joe 2:28-32 KJV)

Now then, Peter used the expression: "And it shall come to pass in the last days"

And Joel said, "it shall come to pass afterward"

Thus it appears that Peter is interpreting this passage in its totality as referring to the "last days", when Joel doesn't appear to be designating it as such. For, he didn't use the words "last days", but "afterword".

Now we know that it has been almost 2000 years since Peter referred to this passage in this way.

So could it be possible that he misunderstood it to some degree?

If so, then we would have evidence that a prophet can misinterpret a passage from the Bible and still be a prophet of God. If not, what could this then mean?

For, Peter obviously didn't quote Joel word for word. Thus this indicates that he superimposed meaning on the passage which reflected his current belief that he was living in the "last days".

Now then, those who accuse Ellen White of not having the gift of prophecy because she misinterpreted certain passages in the Bible would have to do the same with Peter in order to be consistent with their own belief. Of course, this isn't necessary, because all one has to do is admit that a prophet is still human, and therefore subject to error.

I think it's best to look at the core message that a prophet inculcates, as well as the lifestyle that that person promotes, before ruling out that that person doesn't have the gift of prophecy. If we look at the core message of Ellen White, as well as the lifestyle that she demonstrated, it is quite evident that she had the gift, even though she made mistakes at times.

Praise the Lord !! Someone with a brain and a conscience. Thanks so much.

 

[senor boogie woogie]

Ellen White is commanded by God in the Bible as a woman to keep silent and covered in church. According to God, no woman can teach or lead a congregation.

I like the Seventh Day Adventists in many ways. However, to be a true Bible believing church, you cannot follow Ellen White. If you have sexual hangups on who should be and not be a minister, take your argument with God, not me.

 

[Jon0388g]

Ellen White is commanded by God in the Bible as a woman to keep silent and covered in church. According to God, no woman can teach or lead a congregation.

I like the Seventh Day Adventists in many ways. However, to be a true Bible believing church, you cannot follow Ellen White. If you have sexual hangups on who should be and not be a minister, take your argument with God, not me.

Re-evaluate your opinion in light of the passage already quoted in this thread:

"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, ..."(Act 2:16-21 KJV)

Jon

 

[visionary]

Praise the Lord for what Ellen White was able to do, what she was able to see, and what she lived and believed, because of her, there is a strong foundation of truth taught. This nik pik over this and that is like finding fault with Moses, Paul, Martin Luther, Etc... you lose out on the message they brought. Like lampposts along the path of history, they shed light for their time and are a light for those in that spiritual need, which they help.

We are all finite... gifted with prophecy or not. Even Daniel was not given all the info. He was told that he will have to leave the book closed for another generation to open.

By the way,, Hi all.. forgive me for posting here, but I just had to stick up for her who was privileged to have visions, and burdened on trying to get us to see what she had come to understand.

 

[djconklin]

My only contention with Ellen White is that she had misinterpreted certain passages in the Bible.

May I suggest that with our feeble understandings of the Bible that it is more likely that what has happened is that EGW's statements contradict what we believe and so it looks like she was the one who misinterpreted. We never question if it should be our interpretation that might be in error. And then there's our looking at an exegesis of the text while she is speaking homiletically. And we forget the difference.

 

[djconklin]

Praise the Lord for what Ellen White was able to do, what she was able to see, and what she lived and believed, because of her, there is a strong foundation of truth taught. This nik pik over this and that is like finding fault with Moses, Paul, Martin Luther, Etc... you lose out on the message they brought. Like lampposts along the path of history, they shed light for their time and are a light for those in that spiritual need, which they help.

We are all finite... gifted with prophecy or not. Even Daniel was not given all the info. He was told that he will have to leave the book closed for another generation to open.

By the way,, Hi all.. forgive me for posting here, but I just had to stick up for her who was privileged to have visions, and burdened on trying to get us to see what she had come to understand.

You're welcome here any time!

 

[woobadooba]

May I suggest that with our feeble understandings of the Bible that it is more likely that what has happened is that EGW's statements contradict what we believe and so it looks like she was the one who misinterpreted. We never question if it should be our interpretation that might be in error. And then there's our looking at an exegesis of the text while she is speaking homiletically. And we forget the difference.

You can suggest it, but without a shadow of a doubt I can prove that she misinterpreted the Bible on several points, as clear as day.

 

[truthmagnet]

You can suggest it, but without a shadow of a doubt I can prove that she misinterpreted the Bible on several points, as clear as day.

That doesn't make her a false prophet.
...she saw herself as having twin roles: To the general public, an evangel of appeal and warning, and to the Adventists, a counselor-teacher.
"Why have I not claimed to be a prophet?--Because in these days many who boldly claim that they are prophets are a reproach to the cause of Christ; and because my work includes much more than the word 'prophet' signifies. .
If prophets primarily predict events, she wanted people to understand that definition did not apply to her role as God’s messenger.

 

[djconklin]

You can suggest it, but without a shadow of a doubt I can prove that she misinterpreted the Bible on several points, as clear as day.

email me

 

[woobadooba]

That doesn't make her a false prophet.
...she saw herself as having twin roles: To the general public, an evangel of appeal and warning, and to the Adventists, a counselor-teacher.
"Why have I not claimed to be a prophet?--Because in these days many who boldly claim that they are prophets are a reproach to the cause of Christ; and because my work includes much more than the word 'prophet' signifies. .
If prophets primarily predict events, she wanted people to understand that definition did not apply to her role as God’s messenger.

You do realise that I am the one who started this thread, right?

This is what I had said in the opening post:

Now then, those who accuse Ellen White of not having the gift of prophecy because she misinterpreted certain passages in the Bible would have to do the same with Peter in order to be consistent with their own belief. Of course, this isn't necessary, because all one has to do is admit that a prophet is still human, and therefore subject to error.

I think it's best to look at the core message that a prophet inculcates, as well as the lifestyle that that person promotes, before ruling out that that person doesn't have the gift of prophecy. If we look at the core message of Ellen White, as well as the lifestyle that she demonstrated, it is quite evident that she had the gift, even though she made mistakes at times.

 

[woobadooba]

email me

Actually, I think we already went over this before. Do you recall discussing her interpretation on Zec. 13:6, and the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, with me?

 

[tall73]

Yes, the parable of the wheat and tares is so simple anyone can see it. It is not something you can deny. Church and world are simply not the same.

I only see a few explanations for that:

a. she was just applying it differently--but never applied it the right way.
b. she was not a prophet
c. she was not a prophet all the time.

 

[djconklin]

Quote:
Originally Posted by djconklin
email me


Actually, I think we already went over this before. Do you recall discussing her interpretation on Zec. 13:6, and the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, with me?

No. Please email me.

 

[woobadooba]

No. Please email me.[/size][/color][/font]

I don't give out my email address so easily.

If you have something you would like to say to me, but feel that you don't want to talk about it in an open forum, why not just send me a PM?