Did Ellen White say Jesus is Co-eternal with the Father?
There seems to be a lot of confusion over what Ellen White taught about Jesus. Did she teach he had a beginning at some point, or that he always existed with the Father as a co-eternal member of the Godhead? So, for the next two episodes we'll be going off topic from the Sabbath School Quarterly to address this issue.
In this study we focus on one particular statement she made.
Here's the statement:
In Signs of the Times, August 29,1900, Ellen wrote,
"Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God…. In speaking of his pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God." Ellen White, Signs of the Times, Aug. 29, 1900. (Evangelism, p. 615)
So, there are two aspects of her statement we look at today. The part where she says that Christ is "self-existent," and the part where she says that “there never was a time when Jesus was not in close fellowship with the eternal God.” What did she mean?
One way to know is to see how this term and phrase were generally used at the time Ellen wrote this, and find out whether Ellen's use of them enables us to know whether or not she thought Jesus had a beginning.
For more study, see:
“The Personality of God: An SDA Pillar Doctrine (2022 Series)”
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbPVtTaj0MXEsuRokPxciM7PjCTveaTi1&si=CffjlgHfZyehEc_5
“2010 Seventh Day Adventist General Conference Agenda Addendum”
https://www.bdsda.com/2010-seventh-day-adventist-general-conference-agenda-addendum/
2024 Sabbath School, Quarter 1: Psalms – Week 10
A Branch Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist perspective on the Sabbath School lesson.
www.bdsda.com
Email us bdsdalit@gmail.com for comments and study requests.