DID SDA PIONEERS USE THE WORD

TRINITY IN AN ACCOMMODATED/NON-
TRADITIONAL SENSE EVEN BEFORE 1915?
By Derrick Gillespie

In 1913 (I did not say 1931) a statement of some of the points of our SDA faith was published on
page 21 of the October 9 edition of the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. The following is the
section important for our study, revealing quite clearly how modern SDA anti-Trinitarians are
debunked (and continue to be debunked) by our own historical records regarding what Adventist 
came to believe WHILE MRS WHITE WAS STILL ALIVE:

"For the benefit of those who may desire to know more particularly the cardinal features of the
faith held by this denomination we shall state that 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..."

This accommodated or NON-TRADITIONAL use of the controversial term dates back as far as
1891. Here's the evidence of its progressive use that is undeniable

“We [Adventists] understand the Trinity, as applied to the Godhead, to consist of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit  ...  These supreme Beings we cannot comprehend or measure…There is
certainly nothing incongruous in the idea of the Spirit being a personal representative, hence
saying that the Spirit' is the representative of the Father and Son does not deny his
personality...He [the Spirit] occupies in our minds an exalted place with Deity …as a supreme
Being”
- Bible Echo & Signs of the Times (Australia), Vol. 7, April 1, 1892, p112

  “Where Satan cannot lead into absolute unbelief, he will endeavor to mystify so that the
belief remaining may prove ineffectual. From the confusing idea of ‘one God in three Gods’
[i.e. the traditional Catholic Trinity explanation, of a singular threefold organism/Being or
singular tri-personal substance]…the enemy gladly leads to what appears to be a more rational,
though not less erroneous idea – that there is no trinity, and that Christ is merely a created
being. But God’s great plan is clear and logical. There is a trinity, and in it there are three
personalities…We have the Father described in Dan. 7:9, 10…a personality surely…In Rev.
1:13-18 we have the Son described. He is also a personality… The Holy Spirit is spoken of
throughout Scripture as a personality. These divine persons are associated in the work of
God…But this union is not one in which individuality is lost…There is indeed a divine trio,
but the Christ of that Trinity is not a created being as the angels- He was the “only begotten”
of the Father…”

-          Robert Hare, Union Conference Record, July 19, 1909

  “God is one [person]. Jesus Christ is one [i.e. another person]. The Holy Spirit is one [the
third person of three]. And these three are one: there is no dissent nor division among them
[the expression ‘among them’ always indicates three or more beings involved; not just two].”

                      -A. T. Jones, Review and Herald, January 10, 1899, 24

[In the disputes leading up to Nicea] “There was no dispute about [notice, not about ‘the
opinion’, or ‘the teaching’, but] the *FACT of there being a Trinity; it was about the nature of
the Trinity. Both parties [supporting either Arius or Alexander] believed in precisely the same
Trinity, but they differed upon the precise relationship which the Son bears to the Father”

                  -A.T. Jones, The Two Republics, 1891, pg. 333

Fancy that!! A.T. Jones now admitting in writing that earliest Christians never debated "the
FACT" of whether a Trinity existed (since that was already a given); they simply debated the
nature of the Trinity. NO WONDER THEN SDA PIONEERS EVENTUALLY CAME TO
ASSENT TO THAT BASIC FACT BY 1913!!

“Seventh-day Adventists [not just myself] believe [now] in ...  the Divine *TRINITY. This Trinity
consists of the Eternal Father… the Lord Jesus Christ…[and] the Holy Spirit, the third Person of
the Godhead”

         - F. M. Wilcox (editor of Review and Herald), *Review and Herald, October 9, 1913

 “…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…We [Adventists] recognize
the divine Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each possessing a distinct and
separate personality, but one in nature and in purpose, so welded together in this infinite
union that the apostle James speaks of them as "one God." James 2:19. This divine unity is
similar to the unity existing between Christ and the believer, and between the different
believers in their fellowship in Christ Jesus…”
              - F.M. Wilcox, Christ is Very God, Review and Herald

COMMENTARY-

Trinitarianism is predicated upon the principle of a belief in “three

Persons” within the “one Godhead”. It is Biblical to affirm “three living
[literal] personalities” in the Godhead, and this is what “a trinity” is (as
EVENTUALLY attested to honestly before 1915 by SDA pioneers; seen
in the quotes above). Even the false trinities, triads and trios in pagan
religious – proclaim the true definition of “trinity”.
Once, by a Christian, “three persons” are affirmed in the Godhead,
whether as three separate persons (beings), or personalities, but all are
related and in union (which some mistakenly call tri-theism), or as three
personal “manifestations” of the one “existence” or reality (being), but
all related in “substance”, then that Christian is a Trinitarian (but can
either be an "orthodox" or "unorthodox" one). Some, unwittingly, are
Trinitarians (unorthodox one's of course), and believe in a “Trio” in the
Godhead, but resist and deny the label.

                J.H. Waggoner (a pioneer), a few years before the SDA church
affirmed three persons in the Godhead, stated that trinitarianism is
simply based upon the true definition of the word “trinity”, which
means “three [distinct] persons” who exist together by close
relationship; just like “trio”, “triplet”, “triad” and “triumvirate” – all
coming from the prefix “tri” [three]. Here are his words:

           

“A Trinity is three persons. To recognize [admit to] a

trinity [the true type], the distinction between the Father
and Son must be preserved.”

                             -J.H. Waggoner, 1884, The Atonement,

pgs. 167-169

Thus a TRUE trinity in not (supposed to be) a single person, personality,

or individual, or even a three-faced singular being, as critics rightfully
charge the Roman Catholics to be teaching!! But, if in Adventism, since
1892, and long before 1931, the three Persons in the Godhead, and in
fact basic/economic trinitariansim through Dr. Spear’s article (see
excerpts in the e-mail below) were directly affirmed by a leading editor
in the church, then as sure as trilogy, tricycle, triennial, triplicate, trident,
tripod, and tripartite all relate to “three” distinct, but related entities,
pioneering Adventism became supportive of a  “trinity” in the Godhead
(if even not by orthodoxy). In 1892 SDA pioneers were blunt about the
following article they SUPPORTIVELY published:
 “…The Godhead makes its appearance in the great plan
for human salvation. God in this plan is brought before
our thoughts under the personal titles of Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, with diversity in offices, relations, and
actions toward men. These titles and their special
significance, as used in the Bible, are not
interchangeable. The term “Father” is never applied to
the Son, and the term “Son” is never applied to the
Father. Each title has its own permanent application, and
its own use and sense. The distinction thus revealed in
the Bible is the basis of the doctrine of the tri-personal
God… The exact mode in which the revealed Trinity is …
must be to us a perfect mystery, in the sense of our total
ignorance on the point. We do not, in order to believe the
revealed fact, need to understand this mode. The
Christian doctrine of the Trinity—whether, as to its
elements, taken collectively or separately — so far from
being a dry, unpractical, and useless dogma adjusts itself
to the condition and wants of men as sinners…. The truth
is that God the Father in the primacy attached to Him in
the Bible, and God the Son in the redeeming and saving
work assigned to Him in the same Bible, and God the
Holy Ghost in his office of regeneration and
sanctification – whether considered collectively as one
God, or separately in the relation of each to human
salvation—are really omnipresent in, and belong to, the
whole texture of the revealed plan for saving sinners." 

- The Bible doctrine of the Trinity- Pacific Press, 1892

 

 Rather telling isn’t it? In fact, in 1892 and 1894 respectively here is
what SDA pioneers said glowingly about the same Spear article quoted
above:

        “… We believe that it sets forth the Bible doctrine of the trinity
of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with a devout adherence to the words
of the Scripture, in the best brief way we ever saw it presented."
             -Signs of the Times , Vol.18, No.22, 1892.

“…It presents the Bible view of the doctrine of the Trinity in the terms
used in the Bible, and therefore avoids all philosophical discussion
and foolish speculation. It is a tract worthy of reading."

                 -Signs of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 29, 1894.

And so what we see is a GRADUAL development of Adventist thought

regarding  the acceptance of a “threefold” Godhead, and yet this
development became a radical departure from traditional
Trinitarian thought because the Adventist explanation of the Godhead
has always maintained that in the Godhead individuality of the persons
is not lost (!!). This would explain Mrs. White’s later monumental
admission (quoted below) to there being “three holiest beings in
heaven”, while speaking of them collectively as “God”, and as being our
“Father” collectively, who all “pledged” to and henceforth subsequently
“receive” us as “sons and daughters” upon our baptism (a matter some,
especially the modern anti-Trinitarians in Adventism, find hard to come
to grips with even today):

"God says, [notice after this whom she means says this] "Come out
from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." [Now notice
carefully] This is the pledge of [not just one person, but] the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit [i.e. the *pledge to receive and be a Father to
you]; made to you if you will keep your baptismal vow, and touch not
the unclean thing…”
-E.G. White, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1901

 “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. . .”
                   -E.G. White, Manuscript Release, Vol.7, pgs. 267, 268
 

 How very telling, in terms of how well this compares with what the
Presbyterian Trinitarian minister Samuel Spear said in his Trinitarian
article way back in 1889; an article which was directly affirmed by
Adventist pioneers in 1892, and said to be “a devout adherence to the
words of the Scripture” about “the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit”. There is no escaping this reality, no matter how much some
anti-Trinitarians today in Adventism would like to cover up or ‘escape’
this fact!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADVENTISM'S FIRST ENDORSEMENT

OF A TRINITY ANALYSED

HOW CAN SOMEONE LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING QUOTE

FROM SPEAR'S 1889 ARTICLE (AS ENDORSED AND
PUBLISHED BY ADVENTIST PIONEERS IN 1892) AND, AS YOU
HAVE SADLY DONE "T.H.", COME TO THE AMAZING
CONCLUSION THAT THE AUTHOR WAS NEITHER
TRINITARIAN, NOR SPEAKING OF THE TRINITY DOCTRINE AS
IT SHOULD BE BELIEVED?
"To the Corinthians the apostle said: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.
Amen.” 2 Cor; 13:14. Who finds fault with *the Trinity of the Godhead as
set forth in this benedictive prayer? To the same church he also said: “But
to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in
Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” I
Cor. 8:6. The phrase “of whom are all things, and we in Him,” as applied to
the “one God the Father,” and the phrase “by whom are all things, and we
by Him,” as applied to the “one Lord Jesus Christ,” differ from each other;
and this difference in the preposition used implies a distinction between
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father appears in this
language as the primal source, and Christ appears as the medium. So,
also, the apostle said to the Ephesians “And be ye kind one to another,
tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath
forgiven you.” Eph. 4:32. Here the forgiveness comes from God, who is one
of the personalities of the Trinity, but it comes “for Christ’s sake,” and
through Him, who is another personality in the same Trinity. Who has
any objection to the doctrine as thus appearing? Who cavils with it when he
asks the Father to forgive him for Christ’s sake?

 The truth is that God the Father in the primacy attached to Him in the
Bible, and God the Son in the redeeming and saving work assigned to
Him in the same Bible, and God the Holy Ghost in his office of
regeneration and sanctification – whether considered collectively
as one God, or separately in the relation of each to human salvation—
are really omnipresent in, and belong to, the whole texture of the revealed
plan for saving sinners. In this plan there is nothing superfluous, and
nothing that is not adapted to the felt wants of man. The simple-minded
Christian, when thinking of these wants, and contemplating
the divine Trinity, as he finds it in the Bible, has no difficulty
with the doctrine. It is a light to his thoughts, and a gracious power in
his experience. Content with the revealed facts, and spiritually using them,
he has no trouble with them. He does not attempt metaphysically to
analyze the God he worships, but rather thinks of him as revealed in His
word, and can always join in the following Doxology:

 “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him, all creatures here below!

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!”

 It is only when men speculate outside of the Bible and beyond it, and seek
to be wiser than they can be, that difficulties arise; and then they do arise
as the rebuke of their own folly. A glorious doctrine then becomes their
perplexity, and ingulfs them in a confusion of their own creation. What they
need is to believe more and speculate less."

  -Rev. Samuel T. Spear, 1889

PROOFS THAT THE AUTHOR WAS
TRINITARIAN:
1. Firstly, it must be observed that the author of the above quote was the
famous writer Rev. Samuel T. Spear, who was a bona fide ordained
minister of the Presbyterian Church in America for very many
years. The Presbyterian Church was and has remained a
Trinitarian Church. Spear never had any internal wrangling with his
Church over an acceptance of what he terms "the divine" Trinity until
the day he died. This is the first clue that the above quote is about
nothing less than, according to the author, basic and unexplained
Trinitarianism as it appears in the Bible; not according to the explained
ontological Trinity of the Papacy. This is why this article was adopted
by SD Adventism as THEN representative of what Adventism had
come to believe in 1892 (despite it's staunch anti-Trinitarianism of the
past), and hence Adventism even re-titled the article as "The Bible
Doctrine of the Trinity". Rather telling isn't it? Thus the reason why 21
years after this event in Adventism the chief editor of Adventism's
Review and Herald declared in no uncertain terms that:

"Seventh-day Adventists [now] believe in the divine Trinity..." - F.M.

Wilcox, Oct. 1913

2. Spear, the author in the above quote, even supportively quotes the
words of a traditional Trinitarian song, which no TRUE anti-Trinitarian
church would ever allow to be sung in it's worship services. "Praise God
from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below" is
what the song announces. But who is this "God" that the "Him" is in
reference to, that Spear has no problem  praising by way of this song?
"Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost" is the answer in the same song!!
Only Trinitarianism regards "God" as "Father, Son and Holy Ghost"
together and proceeds to call all three "Him", and not "them"; just like
how Man is generically and collectively called "him" despite distinct
persons are involved (compare Psalm 8:4-8 with Gen. 3:22-24 and Gen.
5:1,2). Spear then goes on to freely use the traditional Trinitarian
expressions "God, the Son", and "God, the Holy Ghost" as further
proof he is a Trinitarian plain and simple (if even he prefers to not
speculate about matters not revealed). Spear then capsules his FULL
COMFORT with the "Trinity of  the Godhead" considered as the "one
God" when he said:

"The truth is that God the Father in the primacy attached to Him in the
Bible, and God the Son in the redeeming and saving work assigned to Him
in the same Bible, and God the Holy Ghost in his office of regeneration
and sanctification – whether considered collectively as one God, or
separately in the relation of each to human salvation—are really
omnipresent in, and belong to, the whole texture of the revealed plan for
saving sinners. In this plan there is nothing superfluous, and nothing that is
not adapted to the felt wants of man."

This is Trinitarianism plain and simple. Need I say more? But I will.

3. 2 Cor. 13:14 has always been one of the prime 'proof text's used by
Trinitarians to establish "a Trinity of the Godhead", and Samuel Spear
asks who would ever object to this being a Trinitarian text? Obviously
only one who does not believe it does indicate three persons in the one
Godhead, or someone who is an anti-Trinitarian would object to its use
this way. This is further proof that the author is IRREFUTABLY a
Trinitarian who has no issue with the basic Biblical data that could be
appealed to in order to establish "a Trinity of the Godhead" (as Spear
puts it).

4. The author then shows his full comfort in the fact that Jesus is
subordinate to (i.e. led by and answerable to) the Father who holds a
certain "primacy", with him being the "medium" of all the blessings
coming from the Father as "Head". Trinitarianism, probably more than
any other doctrine, has been attacked for preaching what is called
subordinationism. Historical Trinitarians have always seen a certain
"primacy" in the Father, despite equally accepting that Jesus is equal in
nature to Him. No one who has properly studied historical documents on
Trinitarianism would ever deny this. This is further proof that the author
has no problems with the basic tenets of Trinitarianism.

5. Finally, the author shows that his only objections to any teaching on
what he deems the Biblical Trinity is to "METAPHYSICALLY
speculate beyond what the Bible speaks about directly. This shows that
Spear clearly believed that one can be a Trinitarian without of
necessity accepting how the Papacy painstakingly explains the
oneness of the Godhead, for instance.This does not in any way denies
that the author accepts what he still calls "a Trinity of the Godhead".

CONCLUSION:

And remember, the leading above quote was just a very small portion of
the whole article which wreaks all over with Trinitarian language and
Trinitarian undertones. Was Samuel Spear a Trinitarian? You bet!!
Only someone who dabbles in sophistry, or has painful issues he
cannot bring himself to accept about Adventism's history of
accepting basic Trinitarainism before 1915, would deny the MORE
THAN OBVIOUS!! Like the Sabbath doctrine, Adventism initially
used the writings of an outsider to be the starting point to help in
establishing the Trinitarian teaching among it's ranks. That is the
truth plain and simple. None can hold the truth captive to their puny
surmisings for too long. And I will allow none to insult my intelligence
and literacy to lead me to believe otherwise than the above conclusion
borne out here by the MORE THAN ABUNDANT EVIDENCE!!