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IN ADVENTISM?
By Derrick Gillespie
[1] Opponents to the orthodox Trinity, which consists of one Being with
three "persons" united in one substance, have also used the “tri-theism”
("three Gods") argument against the belief even when three separate beings
are not considered as objects of worship. This proves that it is all a matter
of perspective and is highly subjective.
Usually they try to escape this charge of worshiping two Gods by lamely
explaining that only the Father is God (i.e.supreme), and the Son merely
inherited divine equality (or divine supremacy) and the right to being
worshiped as God, but only by nature, and so that is not really polytheism.
But this is simply a case of “cock mouth kill cock”, and the "kettle calling
the pot black". You can’t have your cake and eat it. If polytheism is
worshiping and praying to more than one separate being as God, then using
their same weak tri-theism arguments against them one could easily
overturn their belief in the worship of Father and Son together. And their
appeal to ancient pagan religions of many gods being the pattern for
polytheism in Christianity does not help their cause either, since many
pagans worshiped gods in twos, as separate beings, with one being
coming from the other, and ancient pagan religions also worshiped groups
of three separate beings or individuals (even of different genders), often
with all originating from one god figure. To escape this similarity the anti-
Trinitarians in Adventism would have to admit that similarity does not
always mean source, and this equally applies to the Godhead ‘duo’ of
SDA anti-Trinitarians as well as to the ‘trio’ or ‘trinity’ of mainstream
Adventists as well. Otherwise they too would be guilty of polytheism,
even as they point the finger. Obviously the Bible's presentation of the
Godhead having more than one being deserving of highest worship is
not regarded in God's eyes as polytheism. That this truth has being
caricatured and counterfeited by paganism and false Christianity is
undoubtedly true. So what's new? So are other truths in Christianity as well.
Satan's plans to launch an attack against truth are long-ranging and more
deceptive than many of us realize.
What is true is that Adventism has good reason, from its pioneering
days, for believing in (as so potently stated by E.G. White) "three
holiest beings in heaven" or three "eternal heavenly dignitaries"
comprising the "threefold" "Eternal Godhead"; "holiest beings" who
all "gave themselves" to the "plan of redemption", who all deserve to
be called upon in prayer as the "three Great Worthies", and who all
deserve to be "served"...unless E.G. White is woefully wrong!! Yet
Adventism today is at fault in believing in three equally in-originate
role-playing beings, and in a Christ not begotten from all eternity, since
the biblical truth is that only the Father of Jesus is ultimately in-
originate, or unbegotten. What is also true is that while the SDA anti-
Trinitarians recognize certain errors in the present explanations of the
SDA trinity, yet they themselves deceive themselves into thinking that
they have all explanations of their Godhead "duo" correct, and they
themselves exhibit stubborn refusal to accept certain realities about the
"three holiest beings in heaven". Sadly both sides may never reach the
point where they both accept their shortcomings and come clean, and
so I must believe that God will always have a true "remnant in Israel"
who will be able to accept both sides of the truth!!
Finally I must say that this writer is comfortable with the basic premise as
written so clearly by an Adventist pioneer as early as 1909, when he said: