0 The God of Our Fathers This manuscript is designed to be a catalyst for further personal study By Kelvin D Cobbin 1 The God of Our Fathers An intriguing look into the emergence of the trinity doctrine within the Seventh-Day Adventist Church Great changes to an organisation are usually long and protracted and in many cases are often undetected, except to those responsible for instigating the change. Throughout this paper I have endeavoured to give an accurate account of the most significant theological shift to have ever taken place in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. There has been a considerable amount of material written in regards to this change from those endeavouring to justify the change, and on the other hand, those who are disturbed with the change and feel that not only was it unjustified but it has plunged the church and its future into jeopardy. It is my intention to put together a compelling account, from historical records, from biblical evaluation, and from the prophet to the remnant to show that this change was indeed the most extraordinary shift of fundamental belief within the history of our Denomination. There’s a promise from God to Israel in Isa 42:16 which I believe is for just such a time “...I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight...” BBBibleBible quotes from the King James Version 2 TTTheThheehe GGooGodGoddd ooffof OOuurrOur FFaatthheerrssFathers FFoorrwwaarrddForward It was in 1996 that I was first challenged to take another look at the doctrine of the trinity which, I thought, could be clearly supported from the Bible. I was amazed when I found that the Bible reveals an entirely different picture of God than the one that is presented by the majority of popular churches of today, or what would be considered as mainstream Christianity. I also noted to my utter surprise that the Pioneers of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church spoke strongly against the trinity doctrine, and in time, I came to understand that they did this for a very good reason. To my amazement I noted that the Seventh Day-Adventist Church held the view you will find presented in this manuscript until well after the death of Mrs Ellen G White. One of the more concerning things in all of this is that I, one of the “baby boomer” generation and 3rd generation Seventh-Day Adventist, had not heard of these things until the mid 1990's, and if I am representative of the majority of church members then the implications are serious indeed. While writing this manuscript it became very clear to me that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church’s embracement of the doctrine of the trinity was as a result of certain personalities in our past leadership which desired to bring the denomination into the fold mainstream Christianity. We have often heard Quoted the following statement from Mrs E.G. White “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and HHHisHiissis tteeaacchhiinnggteaching in our past history.” {E. G. White, Life SketchesSketches,, pp.p.. 119966}}196} It seems clear to me and I believe it will become clear to the reader that we as a people have much to fear as we hhaavveehave forgotten the Lords leading in “HisHHiissHis teteaacchhiinnggteaching in our past history”. If ever a group of believers should understand that clear teachings can be overlooked and replaced, as it has been by most of the Christian world, - it is Seventh-Day Adventists. For example Sunday Sacredness, the Immortality of the Soul, and the trinity. These teachings were absorbed from paganism; adopted by the church through the use of a few poorly put together Bible texts and then accepted and believed by millions to be true. Could this have happened to Seventh-Day Adventists? Stay with me and let me take you on a journey which I believe you will find fascinating and in some areas quite challenging, The Author 3 ContentContentContentsContentsss Section 1Section 1 Forward Chapter 1: A Firmly Laid Foundation Chapter 2: Our Early Worker’s Position Chapter 3: 1888 to 1915 (Prophet to The Remnant dies) Section 2Section 2 Chapter 4: The 1919 Bible Conference Chapter 5: Was the Prophet the key influencer to the acceptance of the doctrine of the trinity? Chapter 6: The Emergence of the Trinity Chapter 7: A Solemn Warning Section 3:Section 3: Chapter 8: A Few Good Men Chapter 9: 1980 General Conference Session and the Future Chapter 10: And This Is Life Eternal 4 SSecectitionSectionon 111 CChaphapteterrChapter 111 A Firmly Laid Foundation The question may be asked, how important is the foundation of a building or organisation? A church is described as having pillars of faith, and it is true that whenever one pillar is attacked at least a portion of the building will be in danger of collapse. An example of a pillar of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is the Sanctuary Doctrine. This pillar is described by Mrs Ellen G White as the Central Pillar of our faith! (See GC.p409). Now if the central pillar of a building/organisation is removed the whole structure is then under threat of collapse. The Bible states in 1 Cor 3:11 that “For other fofouunnddaattiioonnfoundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” And Eph 2:20 states “And are built upon the ffoouunnddaatitioonnfoundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;”. The church of the apostles was built upon Christ as can be seen from the above quoted texts. I do not expect that there would be any resistance to this concept among the SDA people. We would however, find disagreement from the Roman Catholic Church, as they believe in a clear succession of authority from the apostle Peter through to the present day Pontiffs. This belief though, is uniquely Catholic, and even Protestants today are at odds with this interpretation of MaMattttMatt 116616:1316::1133:13----18118818 which statesstates:::: “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, wwhhoommwhom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that 5 I aam?m?am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the ChristChrist,,,, the Son of the living GGoodd..God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (the inspired confession of Peter) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” I would like to have another look at Matthew 1616:13:1:133:13----18118818 as I believe this is the key to understanding tthheethe vveerryyvery foundation of the Christian churchchurch. If this is so, it would not be surprising then that the Roman church has gone to these verses to justify her position of papal succession. I think you will find that what we are going to reveal here is quite astounding in its simplicity and you may very well ask yourself how have we missed this? It is very sobering to reflect on how whole generations can loose sight of truth because of the “baggage” of ttrraaddiittiioonnsstraditions and the lack of diligent study wwhhiicchhwhich ssaaddllyysadly hhaasshas pprreevvaaiilleeddprevailed.prevailed MaMattththeewwMatthew 1166:1:13316:13-16:13---18118818 “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the ChristChrist,,,, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (the inspired confession of Peter) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” Jesus congratulates Peter for expressing the words “ThouThou art the ChristChrist,,,, the Son of the LLiivviinnggLiving GGooddGod”God then Jesus says, Peter this didn’t come from your natural thought but rather it was revealed to you by my Father. This answer to the question Jesus posed to the disciples must have been of the uttermost importance as the Holy Spirit spoke through Peter to ensure it was understood. This question, that Jesus asked of the disciples of Galilee, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? , has been asked by myriads of people since, whether they be individuals, Sabbath School teachers, Scholars, Church Councils or believers in their private devotion. The answer to this question needs to be cclleeaarrllyyclearly uunnddeerrssttooooddunderstood.understood... LLeettLet’Let’’’ssss tatakkeetake a closer look at the context of PeterPeter’’’’ss confession: • Jesus asks His disciples “who do people say that I am?” This question, as it did then, would receive a variety of responses even within the SDA church. We would have to answer as did the disciples, some say “you are the 2nd person of the trinity, who has always existed along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.” Others would say “thou art one of the personalities within the one being of God”.