How was the SDA Church Changed to Think the Holy Spirit is a Person?

It is claimed that Ellen White became a Trinitarian 20 years before her passing. This erroneous claim is based on a handful of quotes that LeRoy Froom set out to search for that he rightly figured would be misunderstood. He searched over 100,000 pages of her writings (25,000,000 words) and found a few quotes that on the surface appeared to fit the Trinitarian concept on the Holy Spirit. But only if you choose to read them as such, and at the expense of the “tens of thousands” of non-Trinitarian statements she wrote.

Note that Froom was labelled as being the most dangerous man in the SDA Church and is now suspected of being a Jesuit. On the 14 December 1955, Leroy Froom in a letter to Reuben Figuhr wrote, “I was publicly denounced in the chapel at the Washington Missionary College by Dr. B. G. Wilkinson as the most dangerous man in this denomination.”

The claim that Ellen White was given light which resulted in her becoming a Trinitarian means God would have been lying to her for many decades. This claim is obviously false! New light CANNOT contradict old light or the old light was a LIE from God. A change from non-Trinitarian to Trinitarian is a total backflip and can NEVER be called progressive truth.

Sadly, Froom eventually managed to convince the SDA Church with these misunderstood quotes that Ellen White had become a Trinitarian. But he had to wait until the death of Ellen White and all the pioneers as he could never have achieved this change while they were still alive.

The deception of Froom was so successful that many believe that the quotes called “EV” or “Evangelism” are from a book written by Ellen White. But it was written and compiled by Froom in 1946 which was 30 years after the death of Ellen White. Note that the headings, subheadings and bolded texts before the quotes in this book are NOT her words, and some included the word “Trinity” which she never wrote!

These quotes are typically called EV 615-EV 617 or Evangelism 615-617.

Ellen White actually taught that the “Holy Spirit” is the “Spirit of God” coming to us through His Son, and hence she frequently wrote the Holy Spirit is the “SPIRIT OF CHRIST.” For example, “We want the HOLY SPIRIT, which is JESUS CHRIST.” — (EGW, Lt66, April 10, 1894)

But many today are so indoctrinated with a Trinitarian mindset, that they mistakenly believe that the quotes Froom compiled and put in one place imply the Holy Spirit is a third being. But Ellen White was referring to the “SPIRIT OF CHRIST,” not a third being.

She was 100% consistent in all that she wrote. And since she wrote, “The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ,” she also wrote:

The Comforter is the SPIRIT OF CHRIST,

the Spirit of truth is the SPIRIT OF CHRIST,

the third person is the SPIRIT OF CHRIST,

the third great power is the SPIRIT OF CHRIST,

the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost was the SPIRIT OF CHRIST,

the Holy Spirit Jesus breathed on His disciples was HIS own SPIRIT,

the Holy Spirit Christ sent to represent Himself was HIS own SPIRIT,

the heavenly dignitaries are the Father, Son and SPIRIT OF CHRIST,

the Heavenly trio is the Father, Son and SPIRIT OF CHRIST,

and she reveals over and over again that there are only two beings.

There are literally thousands of quotes from Ellen White that confirm the above facts. But since size is an issue, just one quote will be provided that confirm all of the above. The first covers almost all of the above points.

For instance: “THIRD PERSON,” “THIRD GREAT POWER,” “HEAVENLY DIGNITARIES” and “HEAVENLY TRIO.” —<>— “They have ONE God and ONE Saviour; and ONE Spirit--the Spirit of Christ--” — (EGW, 9T 189.3, 1909)

ONE + ONE + ONE = “the SPIRIT OF CHRIST”

THIRD GREAT POWER —<>— “CHRIST has given HIS SPIRIT as a divine POWER.” — (EGW, RH, Nov 19, 1908)

COMFORTER —<>— “This refers to the omnipresence of the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, called the COMFORTER.” (EGW, 14MR 179.2)

SPIRIT OF TRUTH —<>— “JESUS comes to you as the SPIRIT of TRUTH;” (EGW, 2MR 337.1)

SPIRIT JESUS BREATHED ON HIS DISCIPLES —<>— “And when He had said this, He [Christ] breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: ... Before the disciples could fulfill their official duties in connection with the church, CHRIST breathed HIS Spirit upon them.” (EGW, DA, p. 805)

SPIRIT GIVEN AT PENTECOST —<>— “The promise of the HOLY SPIRIT is not limited to any age or to any race. CHRIST declared that the divine influence of HIS SPIRIT was to be with His followers unto the end. From the Day of PENTECOST to the present time, the COMFORTER has been sent to all who have yielded themselves fully to the Lord and to His service.” (EGW, AA, 49.2)

SPIRIT THAT REPRESENTS CHRIST —<>— “CHRIST came to our world, but the world could not endure His purity. He has gone to His Father, but HE has sent HIS Holy Spirit to represent HIM in the world till he shall come again.” — (EGW, Ms1, Jan 11, 1897)

TWO BEINGS ALONE —<>— “The Father and the Son ALONE are to be exalted.” — (EGW, YI, July 7, 1898)

And since Ellen White wrote that the Holy Spirit is the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, for any quote Froom used regarding the Holy Spirit that has been misunderstood, replace the words “HOLY SPIRIT” with “SPIRIT OF CHRIST” or “CHRIST BY HIS SPIRIT” and read it again. I quite assure you that it can no longer be mistaken as a Trinitarian quote!

For example: “We need to realize that the holy spirit [CHRIST BY HIS SPIRIT], who is as much a person as God is a person, is WALKING through these grounds, UNSEEN by human eyes.” — (EGW, 2SAT 136.6, [Evangelism p. 616.5], 1899)

And for further clarity on this quote, “How few realize that JESUS, UNSEEN, is WALKING by their side!” — (EGW, 14MR 125.3)

And, “He [CHRIST] is an UNSEEN presence in the PERSON of the HOLY SPIRIT,” — (EGW, DG 185.2, 1897)

Who is UNSEEN? Christ! And why is Christ UNSEEN? Because it is by HIS HOLY SPIRIT.

The early pioneers had no problem with the few quotes that Froom searched for because they knew who the Holy Spirit is and would never read them the wrong way. But if your belief is that the Holy Spirit is another being, then that is what you will see when you read them.

Picking out statements from Ellen White’s writings that would fit into a Trinitarian concept of God while ignoring her statements that do not fit the Trinitarian concept of God is a dishonest way to use her writings. To understand correctly what God has revealed through Ellen White, and find out what her beliefs were on this topic, it is necessary to quote all that she wrote on this subject, not just be selective in what we quote to suit our own agenda. That would be tantamount to deception.