SHOULD TRUE ADVENTISTS WORSHIP THE SPIRIT?

After the SDA pioneers from the 1840s down to the 1890s initially rejected the worship of the
Spirit as a person or personality, here is what Mrs. White and other SDA pioneers started to say
after 1888:

There is no excuse for anyone in taking the position that there is no more truth to be
revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are without an error. The fact that certain
doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas
are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true
doctrine will lose anything by close investigation. We are living in perilous times, and it does
not become us to accept everything claimed to be truth without examining it thoroughly;
neither can we afford to reject anything that bears the fruits of the Spirit of God; but we
should be teachable, meek and lowly of heart. There are those who oppose everything that is
not in accordance with their own ideas, and by so doing they endanger their eternal interest
as verily as did the Jewish nation in their rejection of Christ. The Lord designs that our
opinions shall be put to the test, that we may see the necessity of closely examining the living
oracles to see whether or not we are in the faith. Many who claim to believe the truth have
settled down at their ease, saying, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing." E.G. White, Review and Herald, December 20, 1892.

This sets the stage for us to see the reason for the CHANGES in certain viewpoints among some
of the SDA pioneers especially after 1888 about who to worship and as what.

MRS WHITES CUMULATIVE TESTIMONY

Taken together, the following quotes all harmonize and say the same thing from Mrs. White:

"...let us [SDAs] consecrate to Him ["the Lord" or God] all that we are, and all that we have, and
then may we all unite to swell the songs, 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. ---E.G. White, RH January 4, 1881 "

When we have accepted Christ, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit have pledged ourselves to serve [i.e. reverence, honor and obey] God, the Father, Christ,
*AND the Holy Spirit --the three dignitaries and powers of heaven--pledge themselves that
every facility shall be given to us if we carry out our baptismal vows to "come out from among
them, and be . . . separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing. "When we are true to our
vows, He says, "I will receive you" ----E.G. White, Manuscript 85, 1901

"As the saints in the kingdom of God are accepted in the beloved, they hear: Come, ye blessed
of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And
then the golden harps are touched, and the music flows all through the heavenly host, and they
fall down and worship the Father and the Son *AND the Holy Spirit."

---E.G. White, Manuscript 139, 1906.

"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 lifeto 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.... When I feel oppressed and hardly know how to relate
myself toward the work that God has given me to do, I just call upon the three great Worthies,
and say: You know I cannot do this work in my own strength. You must work in me, and by me,
and through me, sanctifying my tongue, sanctifying my spirit, sanctifying my words, and
bringing me into a position where my spirit shall be susceptible to the movings of the Holy Spirit
of God upon my mind and character. And this is the prayer that every one of us may offer."

---E.G. White, Sermons and Talks; Manuscript 95, October 20, 1906.

All of the above quotes cannot be explained away as just some insertion of foreign ideas by a
stenographer or scribe into what Mrs. White never personally wrote. Many are trying to use
that escape but it does not fly, and is simply them trying to make of non-effect the
testimonies (or SOP affirmations)a part of the last great deception which was
prophesied to happen among SDAs!

TESTIMONY OF OTHER SDA PIONEERS IN THE 1890s

We cannot describe the Spirit [i.e. exactly his nature as a person]From the figures which are
brought out in Revelation, Ezekiel, and other Scriptures, and from the language which is used
in reference to the Holy Spirit, we are led to believe he is something more than an emanation
from the mind of God. He is spoken of as a personality [or personal individual being], and
treated as such. He is included in the apostolic benedictions, and is spoken of by our Lord as
acting in an independent and personal capacity, as teacher, guide, and comforter. He is an
object of veneration [Latin- venerari- worship] and is a heavenly intelligence, everywhere
present, and always present.. He does not come to us through the agency of angels; he is
sent direct from the Father by the Son. And for reasons noted above, he is spoken of with the
personal pronoun as an intelligent, independent existence.

--G.C. Tenny- To Correspondents, Review& Herald, June 9, *1896, pg. 362

Do the Scriptures warrant the worship of the Holy Spirit? in the formula for baptism, the
name Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is associated with that of the Father and the Son. And if
the name can be used thus, why could it not properly stand as a part of the same *TRINITY in
the hymn of praise, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost?

- Uriah Smith, In the Question Chair, Review and Herald, October 27, 1896, Vol. 73, No. 43, pg.
685
It seems strange to me, now, that I ever believed that the Holy Spirit was only an influence, in view of
the work he does. But we want the truth because it is truth, and we reject error because it is error,
regardless of any views we may formerly have held, or any difficulty we may have had, or may now
have, when we view the Holy Spirit as a person.
Light is sown for the righteous. Satan's scheme is to destroy all faith in the personality of the Godhead,
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,also in his own personality; and when this is done, he would have
men deify the state, and set that up as a personal god, to be worshiped and obeyed...Let us beware lest
Satan shall lead us to take the first step in destroying our faith in the personality of this person of the
Godhead,the Holy Ghost.
It was once hard for me to see how a spirit could be a personThe Holy Ghost being Christ's
representative, and Christ being the Father's representative, the Holy Ghost represents both the Son
and the Father; and the work done by the Holy Spirit is accredited to those whom he represents, for he
is their agent. Again: the Holy Spirit being in charge of all the holy angels, whatever is done by them
under the authority of the Holy Spirit, is accredited the work of the Holy Spirit.
- R.A. Underwood The Holy Spirit a Person, Review and Herald, Vol. 75, No. 20, May 17,
*1898, pg. 310

THE SDA PIONEERS OFFICIAL COLLECTIVE TESTIMONY

The SDA songbook Hymns and Tunes from the 1890s had the following prayer songs directly
addressing the Spirit in prayer:
The General Conference Committee later vetted and passed for official publishing what became the
most popular and well known song book of the SDA pioneers CUMULATIVELY, namely Christ in
Song (the 1900 and 1908 versions), as written and compiled by the nephew of E.G. White, brother
F.E. Belden. The 1900 and 1908 SDA hymnal called Christ in Song, as compiled by SDA pioneer F.E
Belden had the following Trinitarian-type prayer songs being sung by SDAs DURING MRS. WHITES
TIME--addressing directly the personal and divine Holy Spirit-- as well as pointedly and explicitly
praising the Eternal Three as explicitly identified and listed:

No. 104
(Hover Oer me Holy Spirit) in the SDA Christ in Song of 1900:

Hover oer me, Holy Spirit, Bathe my trembling heart and brow; Fill
me with Thy hallowed presence, Come, O come and fill me now At
Thy sacred feet I bow; Blest, divine, eternal Spirit, Fill with powr, and
fill me now
No. 296
(Praise ye the Father) in the SDA Christ in Song of 1900 (verse 3):

Praiseye the Spirit, Comforter of Israel, Sent of the Father

and the Son to bless us.
Praise ye the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Praise ye the Eternal Three!

The above makes plain the Spirit was worshipped by SDA pioneers contemporary with Mrs. White,
and listed as part of an eternal Three; not just an eternal duo. And as said before, prayer songs
directly addressed to the Spirit as personal and divine, and as representing Jesus himself, and not as
some impersonal force or influence (Jesus Come and Fill Me Now the song says), are Trinitarian
practices, and praising Father, Son and Spirit as the separately named Eternal Three is
inescapably Trinitarian-type worship. And we see clearly that the SDA pioneers already had this
Trinitarian-type of worship captured in the 1900 Christ in Song Hymnal (15 years before the
death of E.G. White). In fact, in the 1908 version of Christ in Song (a Hymnal Mrs. White would
have also sung from), there is a section of the Contents called Praise to *the Trinity (page 6),
with three distinct Trinitarian songs listed there (Nos. 470, 377, & 354), and this fact effectively
debunks the accusers claiming that, quote, Never before [1985] in any SDA Hymnal was there an
entire section of hymns dedicated to THE TRINITY!! See the real truth proving otherwise in the
actual Xeroxed/photocopied page overpage (see the left side of page 6, just left of the column
with sections dealing with Evening Hymns, The Rest Day [Sabbath] and Sabbath School
songs).

THE CUMULATIVE EVIDENCE OF ALL OF THE WRITINGS OF THE PIONEERS AFTER 1888 AND
BEFORE 1915 PROVES A CHANGE TO A TAILORED VERSION OF THE TRINITY BY MOST SDA
PIONEERS, DESPITE RESISTANCE FROM SOME

I expect the dissident SDA anti-Trinitarians to try and explain away selected pieces of the evidence supplied here,
when looked at in isolation, but here's what they cant explain away easily THE CUMULATIVE PRE-1915 CHAIN OF
EVENTS ALL TAKEN TOGETHER BEFORE MRS. WHITE DIED. Follow the evidence:

1. In 1892 the Signs of the Times defended their 1891 publication of an article using the term "the Trinity" where
the "supreme *beings" (plural) of the Father and Son being represented by the "supreme being" of the Spirit, and
all three being deemed "the Deity" is set forth. Mrs. White published in that same paper and never objected to
that new development in Adventism!! She never did thereafter either!!

2. In that same year of 1892- The SDA Church via the Pacific Press, supportively published Spearss non-SDA Trinity
article which the SDA pioneers entitled the Bible doctrine of the Trinity!! In the year 1894 as well, that same Spear
Trinity article, which presented a "tri-personal God" and deemed/defended "bible trinitarians" as "not tri-theists",
was again glowingly endorsed in the following words:

It presents the Bible view of the *doctrine of the Trinity *not just the "trinity" group+ 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.

Notice the words "the *DOCTRINE of the Trinity" in the quote above, and recognize the SDA pioneers were
endorsing not just the tern "trinity" as some dissidents in Adventism today would want you to believe; but the
"BIBLE *DOCTRINE of the Trinity" when correctly explained.
3. In 1892, Mrs. White herself made the following statement, indicating clearly why the Church NEEDED TO
ACCEPT CHANGE, and allowed for an SDA Church that was now leaning in the direction of a new form of or
tailored Trinitarianism (i.e. separate Godhead beings all together worshipped and praised as the Trinity):

There is no excuse for anyone in taking the position that there is no more truth to be revealed, and that all our
expositions of Scripture are without an error. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many
years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can
afford to be fair....There are those who oppose everything that is not in accordance with their own ideas, and by so
doing they endanger their eternal interest as verily as did the Jewish nation in their rejection of Christ. The Lord
designs that our opinions shall be put to the test, that we may see the necessity of closely examining the living
oracles to see whether or not we are in the faith. Many who claim to believe the truth have settled down at their
ease, saying, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." --E.G. White, Review and Herald,
December 20, 1892.

4. In 1896 Uriah Smith defended song and praise to the Holy Spirit as part of the same trinity the Father and
Son belongs to (he actually named them as such), and defended them as "the same trinity" who are praised and
worshipped together (a first time supportive use of the term the trinity by him in this way)

4. In 1900 the Review and Herald published the thought that how surprisingly beautiful are the blended
personalities of our TRIUNE GOD (obviously with separate beings involved; not the Roman Catholic version).

5. In 1905, S.N. Haskell published his book The Story of the Seer of Patmos, and for the first time ever, on page
132, admitted the great *Trinity of heaven as being deemed worthy of the praise of mankind; notice he used
the term in the capitalized form, and called the group the great *Trinityeven though he could have used the
expression the heavenly trio. His work and teaching was lauded by Mrs. White herself the very next year, in
1906. See exhibits following:
6. In 1908 the General Conference of SDA pioneers (taking counsel together) vetted and passed the new Christ in
Song hymnal, where on page 6 it had, for the first time ever, songs dedicated to the Trinity, where both the Holy
Spirit and the Eternal Three were equally praised together in song

7. In 1913, the Churchs leading editor of its publications, F.M. Wilcox, (a man highly regarded by E.G. White
herself) released in the Review SD Adventisms first Statement of Belief recognizing the Trinity but as separate
beings. And by 1931, that same F.M. Wilcox was explaining the Godhead of three persons/beings as having
separate individuality but was to SDAs unitedly praised as one God. And all along the way from 1892, doctrinal
books for colleges, bible readings for the home books, and the like, started from 1892, to insert the term the
trinity, and deem the divine group as being worthy of praise as "the trinity"; a group consisting of the Father, the
Son and the *Holy Spirit (a matter I have a mountain of evidence to prove...xeroxed pages and all). And the rest, as
they say, is history!!

And speaking of history, here are examples of Christians before the rise of the Papacy centuries after, worshipping
the Spirit, proving it was orthodox practice inherited from the apostles in the previous century:

100 A.D.
Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of
all nations, commanded them to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, not unto one [i.e. one divine person, as in Sabellian
modalism] having three names, nor into three [persons] who became incarnate, but
into three [persons] possessed of *EQUAL HONOR.
- Ignatius, Letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 2

150 A.D.
with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and
temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity... both Him [the
Father], and the Son and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore, knowing
*them in reason and truth, and declaring without grudging to everyone who
wishes to learn, as we have been taught.
- Justin Martyr- First Apology, Chapter 6

150 A.D.
I praise you [the Father] for all things, I bless you, I glorify you, along with the
everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, with whom, to you
AND the Holy Spirit be glory both now, and to all coming ages. Amen!

Polycarp of Smyrna, Martyrdom of Polycarp, Chapter 14

177 A.D.
Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men who speak of God the Father,
and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare both their power in
union and their distinction in order, called atheists? Nor is our teaching in what
relates to the divine nature confined to these points

-Athenagoras A Plea for the Christians, Chapter 10, [entitled] *Christians Worship the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION?

Why has so many Christians throughout history seen the truth that the Spirit must be
worshipped? Simple. Jesus told us in Matthew 4:10 that we should only worship the Lord thy
God, and him only we should serve, and Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 3:17-18 that the Lord is the Holy
Spirit, or the Holy Spirit is the Lord. Thus it is impossible to worship the Lord and not worship
the Spirit whom he is in essence (John 4:24), or who, as a distinct personality of three living
personalities of divinity (said E.G. White), he invisibly represents the divine presence of the
Father and the Son as if they are present in person!! See Psalm 139:7-10 with 2 Samuels 23:2-3
and Acts 5:3-5.

---- Compiled by Derrick Gillespie ----