Page 598 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

Heresy #3—Soul Sleep [For the Bible’s teaching on this see hell.]
A general statement of the Seventh-day Adventist Heresy #5—Ellen White as a Prophetess and Inspired
doctrine of death is as follows: Commentator
“So when a man dies he does not live somewhere else. What does Seventh-Day Adventism believe about
He is not in heaven, not in hell, not in purgatory. He is Ellen White?
not alive at all, anywhere, in any condition whatsoever. 1. Ellen White exercised the divine gift of prophecy and
He is dead. And to be dead does not mean to be alive. that she was raised up by God to guide the development of
To be dead does not mean to go to heaven; it does not
mean to go to hell; it does not mean to go to purgatory. the SDA Movement. “...the church leaders from the first
Indeed, it does not mean to go anywhere at all. It have accepted this heavenly light that God has caused to
means simply an end of life. ... Death is cessation of shine upon their pathway. One reason we have
life, an absence of life, the exact opposite of life. So in prospered is that we have had this divine guidance,
death there is no life. The man does not live; the body which we have tried to follow faithfully ... Seventh-day
does not live; the soul does not live; the spirit does not Adventists believe that Mrs. Ellen G. White exercised the
live; the mind does not live. Intelligence ends, true prophetic gift. They believe that God graciously
consciousness ends, memory ends, knowledge ends, spoke to her in divine revelations, and that through her
thought ends. All that has comprised the man He sent inspired messages to His church” (Ellen G. White
ends” (Carlyle Haynes, When A Man Dies, p. 20). and the S.D.A. Church, p. 2).
The idea that man has conscious existence after
2. Ellen White received inspired revelation from God.
death is said to be the devil’s first lie” “Is it not a solemn thought that the Spirit of Prophecy
“And today from pulpits all across the nation we hear books on the shelves of your home contain the
the devil’s first lie upheld each time a minister assures revelations of God?” (Prophetic Guidance, Test Questions
us that the soul of man lives on after death—that it
cannot die. The devil’s first lie is echoed each time Sheet for Lesson 4). “The divine inspiration [of the Bible
someone teaches that at death man’s immortal, and of the writings of White] is the same in both cases.
conscious soul wings its way to heaven, there to bask But the product given by inspiration in each case is to
in God’s presence...” (These Times, Nov. 1976, p. 7). serve its distinct purpose or function. ... The Holy Spirit
That Adventist leaders have hated the Bible’s that inspired Moses, Paul, and John, also inspired Sister
doctrine of eternal punishment in hell is illustrated in White. The inspiration of the prophets is one thing” (The
the following quote from Ellen White: Spirit of Prophecy Treasure Chest, p. 30). “In the
“And how utterly revolting is the belief that as soon as providence of God, Ellen G. White was given the role of
the breath leaves the body the soul of the impenitent is prophetic messenger to the Advent people. The visions
consigned to the flames of hell! ... the doctrine of given to her at night were prophetic dreams, divinely
natural immortality first borrowed from pagan inspired and of similar nature to those that came to the
philosophy, and in the darkness of the great apostasy prophets of old” (Ibid., p. 29).
incorporated into the Christian faith, has supplanted 3. Ellen White was an inspired commentator. “Ellen
the truth” (The Great Controversy, pp. 478, 483). White, as an inspired commentator, was instructed to
[For the Bible’s teaching on this see Death, Immortal, say ... In her published writings are to be found
Soul, Spirit.] thousands of such comments on the Holy Scriptures.
Heresy #4—Annihilation of the Wicked Her writings are regarded by thousands as an inspired
In the following excerpts Adventist teachers define commentary. While Ellen Harmon was called to her
their idea of the final destiny of the lost. Ellen White work as a mere youth in her teens, she was commanded
speaks first. by her Saviour: ‘Exhort from the word. I will make My
“The theory of eternal torment is one of the false word open to you. It shall not be as a strange language.
doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination In the true eloquence of simplicity with voice and pen,
of Babylon. Pardon, must receive the penalty of the messages that I give shall be heard from one who
transgression ... covered with infamy, they sink into has never learned in the schools. My Spirit and My
hopeless, eternal oblivion. ... There will then be no lost power shall be with you.’ There is an inexhaustible
souls to blaspheme God as they writhe in never-ending treasure of exhibits to illustrate the function of God’s
torment; no wretched beings in hell will mingle their modern messenger as an inspired commentator on the
shrieks with the songs of the saved” (The Great Bible (Ellen G. White and the S.D.A. Church, pp. 37-39).
Controversy, pp. 470,477).
“...sinners will not live forever. The plain doctrine of 4. Ellen White’s writings are immortal. “She wrote in
the Bible is that the devil and all his works will be 1906 ... He instructed me ... Never deviate from the
destroyed, utterly destroyed” (When A Man Dies, p. truth under any circumstances. Give the light I shall give
58). you. The messages for these last days shall be written in

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