“While the Bible is infallible and is the basis of all Christian faith, it needs to be infallibly interpreted to avoid confusion and division.” – R. S. Owen
Each year inevitably brings a crop of prophetic predictions telling us what we should expect in the coming year. I don’t usually bother to read what the prophets are predicting for this year. It is much more interesting to dig out their prosaic pronouncements from twelve months prior, find any specific, measurable claims, and see if they came even close to happening. Reading year-old prophetic blunders was an amusing parlor game in our family, so each year we would look in junk shops for old magazines promoting the exciting new prophecies of the last year.
Thanks to Google, Brave, and DuckDuckGo, it now takes milliseconds to find and check last year’s wildly varying, sometimes baffling, and generally vague predictions. Most 21st-century prophets are smart enough not to make quantifiable predictions, relying almost entirely on vague claims that may be fulfilled by almost any event and esoteric promises that by their very nature can’t be proved wrong because they can’t be seen or heard. Either way, the famous prophets can claim their prophetic gift lives on because it is impossible to disprove there are fairies at the bottom of the garden.
As an added bonus, some prophets throw in a few relatively obvious predictions. These might refer to events that a groundhog or octopus has a high chance of predicting, or reliably obvious predictions with a high probability of success in any given year. A recent development appears to be peculiar to Christian prophets in the USA, amongst whom religion and politics are apparently inseparable functions of Christian nationalism. Viewing the longstanding claim of the USA to be a “Christian nation”N1
The Seventh-day Adventist Church self-identifies as the “Remnant Church” and believes it has a prophetic messenger with divine inerrancy. In 1980, the church codified fundamental beliefs, including the authority of Prophet Ellen G. White; “One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. As the Lord’s messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth that provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction.”
The Church takes this fundamental belief no less seriously than its belief in the authority of the Bible as the eternal Word of God. The claim of authority for Ellen G. White parallels the Biblical claim of authority for Scripture: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”- 2 Timothy 3:16
Biblical prophets were often ostracized, treated harshly, exiled, or killed for delivering the message God gave them. They lived humbly, often in trying conditions, following whatever path God set before them. They were not distracted by the accumulation of wealth. Often, they had only the most basic living conditions, sometimes completely homeless for long periods of time. Jesus spoke of them in parables, illustrating the sordid history of murdered prophets and pointing to His own death while proclaiming the good news of hope for everyone.
Modern prophets are undoubtedly the superstars of “christian” churches. Their elite status brings them lifestyles of the rich and famous. They are masters of the psychology of group behaviour, allowing them to manipulate followers and achieve unquestioning loyalty. They command adulation, devotion, wealth and fame, and publicly disparage dissenters. Crowds flock to hear their utterances and praise their brilliance. Within the group they command, they are treated as apostles and pseudo-popes.
The sardanapalian life of a modern apostle/prophet includes the veneration of great crowds, a life bracketed by opulence, luxury travel, and ownership of ever larger mansions resplendent with staff waiting to meet their every demand. Often they dabble in politics and populism, seeking to satiate their ego by attention from a wider audience. They know the importance of media to manipulate a compliant congregation, networking wherever might enhance their image, extend their reach, and increase their income.
Something has changed. Is it the message, or the messengers?
Seventh-day Adventist Church president Ted N C Wilson regularly reinforces the claim that Ellen G White, is the “Spirit of Prophecy” N2.
Consequently the prophet was a prolific producer and promoter of her own written material, much of which can still be examined. Although there is a significant amount of repetition and duplication, her “literary production” totals over 100,000 pages.
Elder Wilson, the third Wilson generation to hold key management positions in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, states unequivocally that E G White and the Bible are of equal status; “The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are absolutely trustworthy and accurate… I stand here today to state that both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are absolutely reliable and are inspired by the Creator Himself.”N3
“The Spirit of Prophecy was given to nurture and assist God’s last-day movement with instruction from heaven… I fully believe that the Spirit of Prophecy is inspired by the same heavenly inspiration as that of the Bible since it is the testimony of Jesus… The Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy both are products of heavenly inspiration and are thus accurate accounts… The Spirit of Prophecy is as relevant today as it was when it was written. It is accurate, uplifting, instructive and powerful as it points to Christ and to the Holy Bible. It is truly the testimony of Jesus and that’s why I believe in the prophetic ministry of Ellen White.”N4
Elder Wilson’s claim is predicated on statements of authority made by Ellen White herself as pen and voice of the testimonies of His Spirit. Facing questions about the authenticity of her gift, she rhetorically insisted that there is absolutely no room for doubt that her work is the divinely inspired and accurate word of God; “My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or of the devil. In arraying yourself against the servants of God you are doing a work either for God or for the devil.”N5
Elder Wilson’s statement, confirming the authority of Ellen G White as the Spirit of God, is not without precedent. His father and grandfather defended the official church position during their influential tenures, and senior executives before them had regularly done the same. At the ninth annual session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, convened in Battle Creek, Michigan, Feb. 7th 1871, the seventeen delegates present voted “that we reaffirm our abiding confidence in the Testimonies of Sister White to the church, as the teaching of the Spirit of God.” The most senior delegate presiding at that meeting was James Springer White, undoubtedly in a position to know Sister White better than any other Seventh-day Adventist leader.
Previous GC Presidents were also forthright about the divinely inspired messenger of God. G I Butler wrote in 1883; “Our position on the Testimonies is like the keystone of the arch, take that out and there is no logical stopping-place till all the special truths of the message are gone…. Nothing is more sure than this, that this message and the visions belong together, and stand or fall together… We firmly believe the visions of Mrs. White are a genuine manifestation of spiritual gifts. They bear every test the Bible gives to distinguish between true and spurious manifestations.”N6
“It is from the standpoint of the light that has come through the Spirit of Prophecy (Mrs. White’s writings) that the question will be considered, believing as we do that the Spirit of Prophecy is the only infallible interpreter of Bible principles, since it is the Christ, through this agency, giving real meaning of his own words.”N7
Notes:
- While observing their actions, has contributed to a shrinking interest in Christianity amongst other developed nations. Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457 (1892), Supreme Court of USA, “These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation.”
- “the Lord’s Messenger” is inerrant, insisting that personal study of her writings must be undertaken by all members as a necessary step in growing piety. Inerrancy is a very tall claim, as income from books and articles by “Sister White” was essential to fund her lifestyle. Consequently the prophet was a prolific producer and promoter of her own written material, much of which can still be examined. Although there is a significant amount of repetition and duplication, her “literary production” totals over 100,000 pages. https://whiteestate.org/about/issues1/about-egw/writings/literary-productions/how-many-books/ (“Spirit of Prophecy” “The Lord’s Messenger” and “Sister White” are titles applied by E G White to her work and herself)
- Transcript of SDA President Ted N.C. Wilson opening of a 10-day International Conference on the Bible and Science in Las Vegas, Nevada, Aug. 15, 2014) https://old1.adventistreview.org/affirming-creation/god-s-authoritative-voice/
- https://www.pastortedwilson.org/why-adventist-church-leader-supports-the-bible-and-ellen-white/
- Testimony for the Church, Pamphet No. 27 p.129, 1876
- The Visions : How they are held among S. D. Adventists. Elder. G. I. Butler. Review and Herald Supplement, August 14, 1883. In the same supplement Butler also said, “Our enemies try very hard to make it appear that we make the visions a test of fellowship. It would be most absurd and impossible to do so, even if we would do it. With people in all parts of the world embracing our views who never saw Sister White or heard of her, how could we make them a test of fellowship?…. They claim that there are many among us who do not believe the visions. This is true; yet these are in our churches, and are not disfellowshipped. They have claimed…that Elders Smith, Canright, and Gage did not believe the visions; yet all of them are members of our churches, two of them hold credentials as ministers, and one of them holds very important offices….No, we do not make the visions a test, and never have.” (Review & Herald, Vol. 60, No. 33, pg. 12)
- G. A. Irwin, General Conference President, from the tract The Mark of the Beast, p. 1.
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