Ohioman,

Great post and excellent question.  My honest answer is I don’t know how to fully reconcile this for you except to say the 18th belief makes an attempt at explaining EGW’s role but I believe is poorly worded.  Anyone who has the gift of prophecy and/or has truly been inspired by God to say something is “authoritative”, small “a”.  In that I mean they have a message we should heed.  Only the Bible is Authoritative, capital “A”, meaning you must conform your life around its message and directives.  The Bible says a wise person listens to counsel: “Prov 1:  5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, 6 To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Why do we listen to sermons?  Because we hope that there will be wise instruction and insight from God’s Word that will convict us, change us, and compel us to understand who God is, how we can be more like Him, and what He wants us to do.  Is the pastor or elder or whomever delivering the message “A"uthoritative?  No.  Then why listen?  Because they, hopefully, are led by God to expound on His Word.  And if they are led by God to expound on His Word then the message should be heeded.  EGW was led in a very special way by God to expound on His Word.  Would we be wise to listen to what she has to say?  Yes.  Should she or any other messenger of God’s Word be put on the same level as Biblical Authority?  Certainly not!

Belief # 1 says, “The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the test of experience, the authoritative revealer of doctrines, and the trustworthy record of God’s acts in history.” This is a lot different than #18 saying, “As the Lord’s messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested.” Can’t we make same or similar statements about any true servant of God?  But only the Bible is the ultimate test of all faith, experience, teaching and truth.

Thanks & God bless!

Pastor Steve,

Thanks for your quick answer.

I’m new to the Adventist community. This question I posed to you is one that I constantly debate in my mind as well as with other friends. It seems there are various degrees of appreciation for Ellen White...some churches never quote her while others quote her frequently. It would benefit the church as a whole to revisit belief 18 and re-word this in a less controversial way. When one says authoritative....it has many meanings and ramifications. You..nor any other Pastor should have to waste 2 seconds defending Ellen White...rather spend all your energy on defending Jesus. I really wish the General Conference would change the belief...but then those who hold her in such a high regard would be upset...hence...here we go again with the Ellen White equal to the Bible stuff. Let me say this...I was attracted to the Adventist church because I felt like this church knew more about the bible than any other denomination. In my estimation, they take a stand for Jesus. Yes..there are controversial beliefs such as the IJ and soul sleep but the church works hard to back these up with biblical verses. Really...who can say what is right or wrong...everyone interprets scripture differently but the main thing...is the main thing...Jesus...no one can deny him. There is a Pastor I met and he has just recently left Walla Walla Church(Karl Haffner)...this guy helped me more than anyone else find answers to my biblical questions. I used to ask him point blank questions about all the Adventist doctrines and he was always humble and not judgemental in his answers. He basically said that we are at differing levels in our spirtual life and need not be so dogmatic/legalistic on certain beliefs. For example, he told me the Sabbath was awesome but that we are saved by Jesus...not by adhering to the Sabbath in a legalistic way. I know I’m rambling but things like this need to be thought about if the Adventist church wants to grow and attract young folks like myself.

Thanks for listening.

Pastor,
you do not answer me on the topic, because you do not have arguments for more discussion ...
My be I am anger, but why you put this topic online if you are not prepared to talk it true? 
If you read Spirit of prophecy than you can know that Ellen said that in the end time in SDA will be peoples who will be very hurt by the lawless deeds of believers and leaders “those whose light you admonish”. AND THAT you can not find in Bible also!
So I have problem with anger and I am lunatic but you are happy pastors who pity me…
Who counts the believers life? Is not you pastors to be our Christian counselors ?
So when I must give money You will hear me , and when I need help you will sent me to psychiatrist ?!

Ones more I must post,
sorry for that , but it is not good that I stay silent to your “white lie” on my account. You said that I do this in my post-quote of yours post to me:"you again need to make statements about the evil pastoral/church conspiracies to lie, steal, cheat, deceive… “
Where do you see that I wright something like that? In what post of mine???
This is not true. I did not say that!

Goran,

May I speak with your confidence that I am telling you the truth.

I tell you the truth because you are a human. You deserve the truth because you are one of Gods treasured creations (like I am). Goran even though I don’t know you personally, I do care about you...a lot, It makes me sad that you are having some small conflict. But at the same time it is healthy to have questions.

I personally have never read more than a couple chapters of ANY Ellen White book. I have only STARTED reading “Steps to Christ” “Great Controversy” and “End Time Events” So I am not well read in her books.

I am not a pastor. I tell you this because if what I am saying sounds like something you think a pastor would say, that you realize that the message you are hearing cannot be biased by receiving money.

Goran, You know that Satan exists. You know that it is in his best interest to create things that draw people seeking a relationship with Christ away from him. Please consider (while you are reading this letter) the idea that “White Lie” is one of these devices. There is not a moment of our lives that we are not experiencing the tug of war on our bodies, spiritual war is very real.

You said in a past post “life decant me” ... Goran… I request that you tell us the story of HOW life (spiritual war) has decanted you. Goran if you are doubting Jesus, or the things your hearing, or finding yourself wanting to hear easier ideas, there is just one thing to do. Ask God to show you the truth. Pray. You will find people talking to you, you will discover new things in your Bible, you will talk with God more.

Goran, I was baptized when I was 10. Then through school I was “decanted”, I disliked church, I stole from stores, I was perverted sexually, I hurt animals and I even was interested in witchcraft. Near the end of high school Matthew Gamble (our pastor) came to our church and showed me Jesus love for me. the next year I got re baptized. I have changed so much that it makes me emotional when I think about it. Goran growing close to Jesus REALLY deeply changes who we are. I want to see you in heaven. I want to see you run and hug God our father and weep with joy. Our earth is showing all the signs of God’s appearing. In some parts of the world the latter rain has begun. Goran these times are the most challenging times spiritually. I beg you. Pray, and study! Remember Gods Golden rule and all you have to do is ask for forgiveness when you find you have sinned. Yes we all sin. We must humble ourselves and admit that we aren’t already perfect.

Goran, if you are truly seeking God you will find him. That is in the Bible. I am NOT making an appeal for you to settle for what your pastors are saying. Many conferences and churches have the plague of a pastor who is not in love with God. Goran pray and ask God to provide a small group of people who WANT to get to know God, he will. Pray that you can lead or find a group who will pray together and devote themselves to the apostles teachings. Pray for a God Loving community.

Goran I have put you on my prayer list, I am part of a prayer team in USA and we are praying for you. I hope that not all of your church authorities in Croatia are as hollow as you say they are, but don’t leave it up to your leaders to show you the path to God. The path to God, to heaven, to truth...is Jesus.

Goran, I admire you. Please keep coming back here to this forum, I want to hear about your life.

Hey Goran. I’ll be praying for you too. As a follower of Jesus..this is what it’s all about. I’m not perfect either and while I’m praying for you...please pray for me....I need it.

Thanks for yours affections but I do not know why so much emotions… I just want to talk about the Topic...I hope that you expose yours true emotions and not just new approach. Anyway .... (for Jesse: Is it not strange that you did not read books of Ellen and in the same time open this Topic with evidence that she is 100% prove as prophet?)

OK, I am a pastor and I hope that my word will be author(it)ative We are entering into an endless discussion. Let Goran be with his questions. He is honestly seeking the truth. As for EGW, there is no way to settle this question. THe problem is deeper, it is a matter of the (doctrine of) inspiration, it is also a theological/sociological problem (what a church should do, when a prophet is dead and there is no new one to lead) and also psychological. People crave for certainty. They would rather have all the answers, even wrong ones than not have them. That is why we are fascinated with the keeping of law. We want to have some certainty that we will be saved in times when doubt overshadows our faith (and that happens sometimes). Other problem is people’s desire to show that they know something that matters. In the SDA Church the knowledge of the vast writings of EGW is important (to be honest I tried to read much EGW, but transferred few years ago to Karl Barth, and his writings are also voluminous).
To end… Ohioman is right. GC made a mistake by putting some words with ambiguous meanings. EGW is authoritative. What the heck is that. It doesn’t help to put small and big “A’s” here. There is no difference if I say that my name is igor and Igor/ That’s only a social convention. We will put capital letters for the names. So, it means nothing to say that this is authoritative and that is Authoritative, or even that something is AUTHORITATIVE. It is just dead letters.
So whoever thinks that EGW is prophet, let him be, and let the others be. As for me, I think that EGW was leading prophetically the SDA church in the beginning and her role stops there. There are some good readings by her but, I am also a good and inspired writer sometimes, and I bet that you also are. So… that’s it.
God bless you all and merry Christmas.

Ohioman & ID,

Again, I’m of the same mind with the wording “authoritative” in belief # 18.  It would be nice if this was clarified.  But perhaps the re-wording would only slightly lessen the debate.  Each person will ultimately have to seek God’s guidance and look for truth independent of what others tell us we should believe.

Yes, Steve. Let everyone decide for himself, but the GC is not allowing that by putting an Authoritative statement on the Authority of EGW. I do not mind that, they can write whatever they want (and, being postmodern, I’ll interpret it however I want ) but, as ohio said, that might eventually bring a split in the church or, at least bring a tension as big as the Andreasen one (I do not know if people are familiar with Andreasen’s Letters to the Church and Jesus’ human nature problem in the Questions on Doctrines book). I hope that everything will be fine at the end.
Blessings to you all.

Revelation 14:12 “This call for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus”

This verse comes from the centre of the book of revelation in a section that immediately follows a description about what will happen to those who ‘follow’ the beast power. It is no coincidence that this verse is written directly after a discussion of the beast power. It is clear that in the last days of this world Satan will do his best to persuade us that a relationship with Jesus and following his commandments are pointless and a waste of time. But we are reminded that the most important thing we should have is a strong faithful relationship with Jesus, and be prepared to stand against Satan and follow God’s commandments. (One of these being keeping the Sabbath)

I pray that through Jesus’s power we will all have the patience and endurance to live a life for Jesus.

Thanks heaps for the comments and ideas posted throughout this website. They have strengthened my own viewpoints and relationship with Jesus.

Amen leighton,

I’m thrilled you’ve joined in the conversation and that the discussions have helped you.

God bless!

Is EGW an issue? Yes she is! Should she be an issue? You bet she should! Because if she is a prophet, her role is not to make the people of God comfortable but to challenge it. God never sent prophets to tell His people how good , how nice and smart they were. In the contrary, they are sent to exhort, warn, challenge, rebuke. Of course, in the middle of all of this, there are messages of hope and comfort but the primary purpose of God is to lead His people to the “Promise Land” in spite of all the dangers and troubles.

Why do you think ancient Israel killed the prophets sent by God? Because they [the prophets] were
thorns in its flank. Why did they killed John the Baptist or Jesus? For the same reasons.

Let’s suppose EGW was a prophet . Can we imagine there would be no criticism again her? Not at all. We know from the Bible that the prophets of God were persecuted and they had the truth, right? Jesus himself was criticized and He was the Word of God, wasn’t He? And why that? Because Satan cannot stay without doing something to suppress the truth.

Now, the current situation is that there are doubts concerning EGW and her gift. How to solve the issue?
For example:
. Some people bring charges of plagiarism and her lacking of giving credits. Well, besides the fact there are exagerations in the accusations (the law was different at the time and also some of her accusers copied themselves the work on other writers showing it was a practice more current in the past that we think) if it is true that she used some lines from other authors, we can also say the same from biblical writers. In the Bible, we see several writers using the same texts from other authors and without mentioning and giving any credits. We didn’t see anybody complaining about it. Why? Because the purpose of these writers was not to make a work of art to be sold but to warn and instruct the people of God so that they can be saved. When a doctor gives a prescription, he doesn’t care if another doctor has already used the same words in the same order because his purpose is not to make a work of art but to help.  If EGW was a prophet, we could expect her to act in the same manner (now the situation is different. When there is something written or made, there is often a copyright or a patent).
. Some people think that she was epilectic and/or having visions due to the stone that hurt her when she was a child. This may be true but how to prove that? After all, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit, some people thought they were drunk.
. Some people said that some of her doctrines are problematic (i.e. the shutdoor) and/or that she contradicted helself. Well, the same has been said of the Bible. But the problem lies more with the readers than with the Bible. And it is true that there are difficult texts (in both the Bible and in some writings of EGW) but these difficult texts of EGW should be studied more before dismissing EGW as a prophet.

If I gave these examples, it is to show that if we want to find a fault, we will always find it, either in the Bible or in the writings of EGW. But often what we consider a fault is more the result of our lack of understanding or our mindset that anything else. Before concluding that EGW is not a prophet, we have also to consider what she said which was proven true. For those who have read the Great Controversy, it is very interesting to see the rise of the Catholic church in America. If you remember how despised the catholics were in the past, now they are the most important religious group in the US. They are the majority in the Supreme Court and the Protestant denominations are trying to get closer to Rome. This is something that EGW spoke about more than a century ago. Also, it is interesting to notice that during the 2004 presidential election, there were several bishops who publicly said that whoever voted for John Kerry would not receive the communion. Maybe that doesn’t ring a bell but it is how the Catholic church ruled over Europe for centuries, but threatening the kings to turn their people (who were afraid of excommunication) against them if they didn’t obey the Pope (in fact, several congressmen wrote a letter of protestation against the church meddling in an electoral process). This also was predicted by EGW when she spoke of Rome regaining power.

So, was EGW a prophetess? The apostle Paul said to seek after the gifts of the Spirit, above all the gift of prophecy (proving that the gift of prophecy is not dead). So, for a Bible-believing christian, considering EGW a prophet should at least be in the realm of possibilities.

Often, a prophecy is proven right only when we act. It is because they were actively looking for the Savior that the wise men found Jesus while the Jewish leaders missed Him (when they were not trying to kill Him). If we try to live according to God’s will, a lot of things that EGW said will make sense.

But in doubt, let’s not rely on our own understanding only. Let’s keep searching under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not men’s.

Well said....thanks for the comments.

Nice explanation. I wonder if anyone has been effected by this conversation? I remember that Ellen White predicted that her words would be made to “None effect” somewheres, so we can expect a lot of the “Church” to discredit her. Then I beleive there will be a shaking, and many of those people will fall away. This is just my own opinion, please prove me wrong if you like, but I see people reading her writings only around the areas where I am seeing spiritual revival (personal experience, not an absolute)

Wow Still,

Very awesome post!  I truly hope you can share more with us in the future.

God bless!

Hi everyone…

Just wanted to interject with my input. First off, I am not a SDA, although much of my family is. I do, however, believe in keeping the Sabbath, and of obeying the 10 commandments. But my reason for not being able to become a SDA is quite simply, E.G. White. I have many reasons for not believeing that she was a prophet - but I think that one very basic fact sums it up rather nicely… Her belief that the Sabbath is what separates believers from non-believers, and that the 4th commandment was of the most importance to God. Jesus himself said that Love is most important, and that in following this ONE command we would be fulfilling the whole of the law… because it encompasses everything else. This is what Jesus was all about. He was not all about the Sabbath, not by any means. Based on the whole message of the gospel, I personally am convinced that if anything would be aglow in the a vision to show it’s utmost importance, it would be concerning Love. As I said, I have many other reasons for my doubts concerning EG White, but this is the one which I think has the most meaning. What separates the remnant from the apostate church will be this: do we have LOVE (Jesus) in our hearts? Everything else will fall into place IF we truly have LOVE. I think that Adventists put too much emphasis on EG White, and also on the Sabbath. I think ALL of God’s laws are important and that if we know Him and have Him in our hearts and lives, that we will have His law on our hearts, and therefore follow his commands.... all of them.

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  Mark 2:27

You said Ellen White is the only reason you aren’t an Adventist. That says to me that you are doing the thing that a true believer of God does, check on what you beleive and you don’t simply accept what you hear as the solid truth until you have researched it, I commend you.

Acts 17:11
11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

It sounds like you disagree with the idea that Adventists (only Adventists) will be saved at Christs second coming and understand that Ellen White may say that.
She does not say exactly that and the difference is important. She says…

“I saw that the holy Sabbath is, and will be, the separating wall between the true Israel of God and unbelievers.” (Early Writings, pp. 32-33)

She does not say “Members of the church” or “those on the books” or “people who have read and accept all of the (nonexistent at the time) fundamental beliefs” are the only ones to be saved. That would imply that it requires allegiance to an organization or a religion to be saved and she thankfully didn’t say that anywhere that I could see (insert hours of research at ellenwhiteestate.org here).

Truly it is the act of...not keeping the ten commandments, that will separate those who love and fear God from those who don’t. If someone is willfully breaking any of them they aren’t keeping Gods whole law. If we disobey God at all, even about the smallest lie, its a sin. Big deal though, sin is easily forgiven by God (thank God), our job is to LOVE HIM, which will of course convict us to keep them all. This is one of the beautiful truths about God, that he loves justice, and helps us to love it too. The apostate church would have still been apostate if it were the first commandment, or the eighth that they didn’t keep, but kept all of the others.

Luke 10:27
He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Here is the verse you would have quoted. And I’ll add in others about how important to God it is that we keep his commandments as well.

Exodus 20:6
but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

EricaDraven - 20 November 2007 08:07 PM

I’m new to this site, but it sounds like a great place.
I have some questions that maybe you could answer.

2. In Paul’s writings he says that women are to sit quietly in church, not teach, or preach. Is that true for today or is it just a cultural thing for that time? I have no problem either way I guess, but Shane & I were discussing it. He thinks that it was a cultural thing or that Paul put his feelings in there and it’s what Paul felt was best. I said that the Bible was not a place for someone opinion. If there’s opinions in the Bible, then how are we to discern the difference?

Maybe this seems silly, but its important to me. I like to question things so that I know what I think I know. There’s no hurry in answering, I am patient & understand that you are very busy. Thank you!!

Sincerely,
Heidi Greet
Buffalo WY SDA church

I believe there was a lot of wisdom behind the reasons for having the women be quiet in church that we are blind to today.

Men and women are of course different.  The reason for this stems from the womb.  When the fetus starts developing into a boy, the right hemisphere of the brain, and the connections between the right and left brain are damaged.  So you could say that all men are brain damaged However one thing you’ll notice when dealing with “developmentally disabled” people is that the parts of the brain that aren’t damaged are actually smarter than those same parts of the brain of someone who is normal.  Idiot Savants are an easily visible example of this, but if you spend a lot of time with anyone who is “developmentally disabled” then I believe you will see there idiot savant side eventually.  So let’s try the perspective of applying that to all men.  What if I’m right that men are brain damaged in a way that makes it harder for them to connect to there right brains (emotions, language, and art)?  If it’s true then they would have simpler emotions, there language would be simpler, and there art would be simpler woman.  That’s pretty evident right?  I believe for this reason Jesus uses parables to explain things, because it is easier to reach a man’s emotional and language level through stories, and women would of course understand the parables as well.  Stories are a common ground for men and women where it is hard to misunderstand the other person.

Now let’s take the perspective that men are in a way all idiot savants, because there left brain has to be used more in order to cope with the deficiencies of there right brain.  This would match up with what the Bible says about women when Adam said “for this reason shall a man leave his parents”.  Without a mother figure in a man’s life he would be incomplete, because he would lack a right brain.  Men who live alone generally tend to become slobs, am I right?  And it is harder for a man to take care of himself financially without the encouragement that womanly love and nurturing provides.  Although thanks to telephones, and cars, and planes, it is easier for men to leave home now without completely leaving home.

Now what if men are predominantly left brained, how else would this affect them?  Would it generally make them better at math?  Would it generally make them better at logical thinking?  Would it generally make them blind to emotional language?  Could that be why men role there eyes when women take 5 minutes to say something that men could say in 5 seconds?  Could the difference be because men aren’t hearing everything the woman is truly saying?  Have you ever tried telling a man what it is that you heard them say, and have them shake there head in confusion?  It amazes me how often that happens when I try telling them what I thought they were saying.

Now let me get back to how this involves women at church being quiet.  I don’t believe the ancient people were sexist, or believed that women were inferior.  I think it was just to help keep proper order in the church, and my belief is that it would help even today.  Some men might not understand why it’s important, and assume that it’s because women are stupid.  Just like many people today assume that developmentally disabled people are stupider than them in every way.  They’re just blind to the differences caused by brain damage.

Jesse Ferguson - 21 November 2007 02:47 AM

You mentioned the fact that women were not encouraged to speak in the days of Paul. It is my understanding that it was for their own safety and the reputation of the church. A womans ability to tell the truth, or to testify in a court of law was nil in those days (by opinion of the powers that were) God clearly used other women to teach and lead in other times, and now.

(Verses are incomplete)
Exodus 15:20
Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.

Judges 4:4
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.

Luke 2:36
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Sh

I think it’s true that a women’s power in a court of law was nil in those days, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when you consider the differences between men and women.  It’s probably true that it was abused, but of course just because something is abused doesn’t mean it can’t be used for good.

I believe that the differences I have mentioned would prove that God’s plan would require women prophets as well as men, because women are superior at things like nurturing and encouraging.  I find it interesting that a woman prophet guided our newborn church, how about you? 

You may notice that Deborah encourages Barak to attack the Canaanites, but like a good mother she lightly punishes him for not accepting and believing her encouragment.  But she goes with him, and provides the support he needs.

Jesse..

just wanted to share a bit more. see, I was raised by a non-practicing SDA father (who’s family were strong in the faith) and a pentecostal “holy rolling” mother. The beliefs were so opposing that I was forced to really do as the bereans, as we all should, and search the scriptures. I am SO thankful that I am one who questions, because it comes from God… and leads me to much truth on my path. I have been searching for quite some time for a niche (and sometimes I wonder if there even is one) where I can feel comfortable as far as a church family is concerned. And when I say comfortable, I don’t mean in regards to my own personal preferences. I mean in as far as being comfortable with how the churchgoers worship, and if it is of God and scripural. another thing that has deterred me from the SDA church is my absolute and utter conviction in the fact that Christmas and Easter are just as Pagan if not moreso than “Sun” day worship. I have agonized... literally… and searched.... and studied the issue for two years. And quite honestly, I was looking and hoping to find that it would be acceptable, but I truly believe it is an abomination to God. I have heard every rationalisation from very sincere, and well intending people. But in my heart of hearts, and with what I believe is God’s wisdom guiding me, I have come to the conclusion that these holidays, their roots, and how they are celebrated are wrong. I think that when we look at how the Roman church is the “mother of all harlots” and how so many of the daughter churches worship… I think it is hard to deny that the acceptance by the mainsteam of this is yet another of MANY examples of how the church has been defiled. So as a single mother of a two year old little girl, I am wanting to make sure more now than ever, that I am amongst people who I believe have embraced as much of God’s truth as possible. And while I respect the SDA church a great deal, and believe they are a lot closer to the truth than many others, I do believe they have missed the mark a bit. And I say this with all due respect. As I said, I have a very strong SDA family, and I believe that they love God with all of their hearts. They are loving, kind, and sincere people who take their faith seriously.... so I do not judge. I also have corresponded with someone from Doug Bachelor’s ministry team about this issue recently who said he agrees (about the Pagan holidays), and that many even within the SDA church are coming to this realization. So I think that as things unfold in these times we live in, people’s eyes will be opening to more and more things that are wrong within the churches, and changing direction. This is just my humble opinion.

I also happen to know that EG White was not convicted of this fact. (which I know to someone who doesn’t agree, may not mean much) I have read much of what she says regarding Christmas in particular, and my own discernment tells me that she was not correct in this regard either.

Anyhow, I hope I don’t offend. I wouldn’t be on this site if I didn’t respect the SDA church. I watch 3ABN all the time… while TBN makes me literally sick inside. I think there is ALOT of truth within the SDA church, but I also think there is still some lacking. I think that The Sabbath is just the tip of the iceburg as to what the Catholic empire has done to destroy God’s church and I think we have accepted far too much. To me, it goes way deeper than Sunday vs. Sat. The damage is so far deep within the psyche of the church, and its like a Cancer that has slowly, completely, and dangerously eaten away from the inside out. So sad. :(

God bless, and I hope we can at least agree to disagree, and that I will be welcome to interact here. Thanks........

mldagostino,

Well said. Please remember(and I say this to myself weekly) that we are not saved by our belief in Ellen White...the Sabbath..the IJ...or whatever. Our Salvation lies in Jesus and him only. I sympathize with you in your search...to me..the Adventist Church is the closest I can get to true biblical teaching. My struggle lies in not becoming too legalistic or letting others steer me in this direction. Some folks inside the church will visit “Unchurched” folks and immediately start talking to them about the Sabbath....Ellen White...the IJ...etc...but in reality we should talk to them about Jesus first and foremost and then as Jesus becomes “Lord of their lives”, they will hopefully see the reasoning for the Sabbath.. and take Ellen White for what she truly claimed to be(not a prophet).

Lawrence

mldagostino - 09 March 2008 09:19 AM

Just wanted to interject with my input. First off, I am not a SDA, although much of my family is. I do, however, believe in keeping the Sabbath, and of obeying the 10 commandments. But my reason for not being able to become a SDA is quite simply, E.G. White.

I don’t think anyone should keep from becoming an SDA because of Ellen White.
I am a SDA and have been for over 10 years, and don’t hold Ellen White as an authority on level terms with the Bible.
When you think of it, what doctrine of the SDA-church is based on anything but the Bible? None!
So, the Adventist Church would believe in the same fundamental truths without her or her writings.

There are wisdom in many of her writings, as well as other SDA-writers, but they need to be treated differently than the Holy scriptures.

Sorry. That is my opinion. But there is so much more to the story for me. As you can see, if you read my post, I don’t believe in celebrating Christ-mas or easter either. These are beliefs I came to independent of any affiliations. It was probably not exactly accurate of me to say “quite simply” regarding anything of this matter.... because there has really been nothing very simple about it. Poor choice in words. I guess that it was one of the main factors of my decision, but not the only.