One of the untruths anti-Trinitarians often repeat is that the church was Arian historically and that they went Trinitarian only after Ellen White’s death. The church has never officially taken an Arian position. They also claim Ellen White did not believe in the Trinity or the Personhood of the Holy Spirit. Ellen White clearly teaches in the book Evangelism, pp. 616-617, that the Holy Spirit is a PERSON, AS MUCH A PERSON AS THE FATHER AND THE SON. The White Estate has an excellent pamphlet available on this subject. In her own words Ellen White believed and taught the Trinity. Just read them here:
“The prince of the power of evil can only be held in check by the power of God in the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit.”
Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 10, p. 37 (1897); Evangelism, p. 617
“We are to co-operate with the three highest powers in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these powers will work through us, making us workers together with God.”
Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, p. 51 (1905); Evangelism, p. 617
“We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds.”
Manuscript 66, 1899 (from a talk to the students at the Avondale School); Evangelism, p. 616
“The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that we are the children of God...”
Evangelism, p. 616
“The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. ‘For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.’”
Manuscript 20, 1906; Evangelism, p. 617
The eternal deity of Jesus Christ, and the fact that the Holy Spirit is a Person, not just the influence of the Father, is clearly taught by Ellen White. The heretical teachers tell that the “Trinity was added after Ellen White died.” That is a lie. She died in 1915. Notice the dates (1897; 1899; 1905; 1906) in her own words quoted above. Even though many in the early church had the Arian view (including her husband, James White), years after he had passed away, Ellen White came out strongly on the Trinity, making her views very clear as early as 1897. She helped steer the church out of the heresy of Arianism and avoid becoming shipwrecked on the rocks of false doctrine. We need to ignore the false teachers seeking to drag us back into the errors of the past in the name of “Historical” Adventism. The church is biblical in its Trinitarian teachings and is clearly supported in the Spirit of Prophecy.
Pastor Tom Hughes
Newark/Zanesville SDA Churches