Theology
All through biblical history, God has used the prophetic gift to protect His people from theological errors. It was no different with the ministry of Ellen White. In the early days of our church she had to combat fanaticism of various kinds. Some people claimed to be perfect, others stated that no more work should be done, and some kept on setting times for Christ’s return. During the Kellogg crisis at the turn of the century, her counsel saved the church from pantheism. At the same time, almost single-handedly she led the church from a semi-Arian (a belief that Jesus was not God) to a Trinitarian position. When A. F. Ballenger tried to change the sanctuary teaching, she took a strong stand against it. Ellen White also had a strong role in keeping the church of her day from falling deep into legalism; along with A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, she was a great proponent of salvation by faith in Christ alone, without the deeds of the law.
After her death, her writings continued to give guidance to the church. In more recent times, her writings provided clear direction on the issue of Creation, which is coming under attack even from within our own ranks.
What does the Old Testament teach about origins of human life? Gen. 1:1–3, Exod. 20:8–11, Ps. 33:6, Isa. 42:5.
According to the Old Testament the Lord created life on our earth in six days. The Hebrew word translated day in Genesis 1 is yom. Whenever this word in the historical books of the Bible is accompanied by a numeral, it always refers to a literal 24-hour period (See, for example, Gen. 7:11, Exod. 16:1). In resting on the seventh day of the Creation week, God established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of His completed creative work. In short, we are on immovable biblical ground by adhering to a literal six-day Creation, despite voices, even among us, that would argue for something else.
And though Ellen White has been dead for almost a century, here too her words give us a strong affirmation of this great Bible truth: “I was then carried back to the creation and was shown that the first week, in which God performed the work of creation in six days and rested on the seventh day, was just like every other week.”—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 90. Despite the clear testimony of the Bible, despite the strong affirmation of Ellen White, some among us still insist that God used millions of years of evolution to create human life. What examples can you find from the Bible of people getting so caught up in the trends of their time that they lose sight of important truth? How can we protect ourselves from falling into the same tired-old trap?
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