Chapter Twenty Five
Implications for the future
It may be Adventists will one day thank those who opposed them on the internet and put out videos attacking our faith. Often the Christian church makes best progress when facing challenges that oppose them for it forces the church out of its complacency and makes it think more seriously about its faith.
This is what Ellen White seems to be saying when she states, "Whenever the people of God are growing in grace, they will be constantly obtaining a clearer understanding of His word. . . . This has been true in the history of the church in all ages, and thus it will continue to the end. But as real spiritual life declines, it has ever been the tendency to cease to advance in the knowledge of the truth. Men rest satisfied with the light already received from God's word, and discourage any further investigation of the Scriptures. They become conservative and seek to avoid discussion.
"The fact that there is no controversy or agitation among God's people, should not be regarded as conclusive evidence that they are holding fast to sound doctrine. There is reason to fear that they may not be clearly discriminating between truth and error. When no new questions are started by investigation of the Scriptures, when no difference of opinion arises which will set men to searching the Bible for themselves, to make sure that they have the truth, there will be many now, as in ancient times, who will hold to tradition, and worship they know not what."
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Re-education of church members needed
In the 1982
International Prophetic Guidance Workshop, Roger Coon presented a paper that called for the re-education of church
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membership in understanding the function of Ellen White's writings.
The first part of the paper sets out the problems listed, in part, here
A. The Crisis in Hermeneutic
1. Most Seventh-day Adventists probably have a seriously impaired view of inspiration/revelation.
a. Bias toward strictly verbal (mechanical dictation) position.
2. Danger when they discover factual data contrary to their view:
a. Instead of adjusting their theory to fit demonstrated facts, [sic]
b. Discard prophet [sic] instead of bad theory (throw out baby with bathwater)
B. The Crisis in Credibility:
2. Danger to Church member who hears the charges:
a. Credibility of EGW challenged
b. Credibility of high church leaders (past/present) challenged.
C. Methodological Approaches That Tend To Build Credibility:
1. Openness: total honesty/candor
a. Admit the honestly made mistakes of the past:
1. Putting EGW upon pedestal above Bible writers
2. Misuse of some statements ("the words that I speak . . . " etc.)
(a) Demonstrate her personal fallibility
(b) Demonstrate her personal vulnerability
a. Honestly face controversial issues; don't duck them:
2. b. Deal openly with the existence of some things "hard to be understood".
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The workshop where this paper and others were presented was a high point in the church's attempt to come to grips with the reality of the problems regarding Ellen White and her function and authority. Unfortunately, what Coon and others were advocating was not really taken up. As in the 1919 conference so in the 1982 conference. In both cases there was a determination to share the material with the membership at large, but in both cases the material was assigned to the too hard basket with the feeling that the membership could not handle the new information. So the bulk of the Adventist membership has little
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knowledge of the information that has come to hand over the past two decades and are left vulnerable when forced to face the evidence placed before them in a negative way.
This book has sought to show that not only are most Adventists unaware of the biblical expectations of a prophet, but those who share the information in a negative way are also, for the most part, lacking a true biblical understanding of the subject. If they were more aware of the biblical data they would see that their attacks could also demolish David, Paul and Peter.
Ellen White meets the biblical expectations of a true prophet. That is, she calls for holy living and obedience to God's Word. She upholds the good news about Jesus Christ and gives people a clearer understanding of what it means to accept and follow Him.
But she is also still, to some degree, a product of her culture. The general direction she led the church during its formative years was the right direction, but she was not infallible. She could make statements that were in harmony with the culture of her times, but were later shown to be incorrect. This should not cause concern if her role is seen as one in harmony with the statement made by Paul as to the function of prophets: "But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort" (1 Corinthians 14:3). Her gift can never have the authority of an apostle like Paul. The church must take seriously the counsel of Paul that a prophet must speak in harmony with his writings. (verses 36-38).
The church must also exercise the gift of discernment encouraged by Paul in verse 29, where they are told to "weigh carefully what the prophet says." Many will see this as providing a biblical basis for what is happening already. For many years now it has been recognised that the church cannot follow all of her counsel. This is demonstrated in the fact that her counsel on managing hospitals and colleges is almost financially impossible to follow in the 21st century. The church has for many decades followed Paul's advice—and not given her formal authority—that which comes with the office of the person. Instead she has been given intrinsic authority—that which comes because of the inner, compelling, logic of what is stated. The church needs to consider
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what she has written. The statements she makes need to be taken seriously. But in the end, the gift of discernment must be used to see if the advice is practical given today's circumstances.
This is in harmony with her counsel. An excellent example of how she understood her writings should be used is found in her statements made at a school board meeting. Previously she had made a statement that "the only teachers of their children until they have reached eight or ten years of age" should be the parents.
417 Some at the board argued in favour of maintaining that stance. Others felt the need of classes for smaller children. Ellen White seemed to go against her own counsel when she stated: "Mothers should be able to instruct their little ones wisely during the earlier years of childhood. If every mother were capable of doing this, and would take time to teach her children the lessons they should learn in early life, then all children could be kept in the home school until they are eight, or nine, or ten years old.
"But many who enter the marriage relation fail of realising all the sacred responsibilities. . . . God desires us to deal with these problems sensibly. . . . That is how it is, and my mind has been greatly stirred in regard to the idea, 'Why, Sister White has said so and so, and Sister White has said so and so; and therefore we are going right up to it.'
"
God wants us all to have commonsense, and He wants us to reason from commonsense. Circumstances alter conditions. Circumstances change the relation of things. . . . if there is a family that has not the capabilities of educating, nor discipline and government over children, requiring obedience, the very best thing is to put them in some place where they will obey" (emphasis added).
418 In saying this declares what Paul admonished in 1 Corinthians 14:29 and 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20 where believers are admonished to "test" and "weigh" the counsel given by prophets.
It is important to recognize that God does continually impart spiritual gifts to His church. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 12 that all the gifts are necessary if we are to have a healthy functioning church body. Willie White pled that this not be forgotten when the church tended to lean too heavily on his mother's gifts. He said, "I have several times said to our brethren who were giving Bible studies on the spirit of prophecy,
that I thought that subject could not be perfectly understood without a better understanding of all the other gifts in the church . . .for a long
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time I have been praying the Lord to take the burden that for years has rested upon Mother, and place it upon the seventy elders. . . . I wish you to assure our brethren. . . . they will have my sympathy and my prayers in their efforts to build up and strengthen the apostolic gift, and all the other gifts in the church"
419 (emphasis added).
http://sdanet.org/atissue/books/bradford/prophet-25.htm