For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:9
"The last decade has seen increased antitrinitarian activity within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Four reasons for this activity should be mentioned.
(1) The availability of information through the Internet.
(2) Several other Adventist groups that emerged from the Millerite movement continue to hold to an antitrinitarian perspective. Examples would be the Church of God (Seventh Day), also known as the Marion Party; the previous view of the Worldwide Church of God; the Atlanta Church of God in Georgia (formerly of Oregon, Illinois, or the Age to Come Adventists), and Jehovah’s Witnesses (that branched from the Advent Christian Church). It should be noted that the Advent Christians, like Seventh-day Adventists, have embraced the trinitarian view.
(3) Some think that the Trinity doctrine comes from Catholic theology and therefore must be false. Many have not realized that the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity has differences from the Seventh-day Adventist biblical doctrine of the Trinity. These include eternal generation of the Son and Divine impassibility, which are influenced by Greek philosophy.
(4) Perhaps most significant, over the last few decades, some
The period after the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference saw a new emphasis on Jesus and the plan of salvation. This led to a consideration of His deity and what it meant for the redemption of humanity. A. T. Jones was among the first (with the exception of Ellen White) to suggest that Christ was eternally preexistent. Jones emphasized Colossians 2:9 and the idea that in Christ was the “fullness of the Godhead bodily.” He also described Christ as ‘the eternal Word.’ Though he avoided the word Trinity, in 1899 he wrote, “God is one. Jesus Christ is one. The Holy Spirit is one. And
Ellen White played a prophetic role in confirming the eternal deity of Jesus and the Three-Person Godhead. As early as 1878, she referred to Jesus as the “eternal Son of God.” In The Desire of Ages, she wrote, “[Christ] announced Himself to be the self-existent One” and “In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived.” She wrote of the Holy Spirit as the “Third Person of the Godhead.” Ellen White played an important role in urging the church toward a biblical trinitarian position.
During the 1940s, an ever-increasing majority of the church believed in the eternal, underived deity of Christ and the personhood of the Holy Spirit, yet there were some who held back and even actively resisted the change. These were mainly comprised of a few older ministers and Bible teachers such as J. S. Washburn, C. S. Longacre, and W. R. French.
The process of adopting the Trinity continued from 1900 to 1950. Key influences in the change were
(1) repeated published biblical studies on the topic,
(2) Ellen White’s clear statements,
(3) Adventist response to the attacks of modern liberalism on the deity of Christ and His virgin birth, and
(4) F. M. Wilcox’s statement of Fundamental Beliefs and his Review and Herald editorials." Merlin D. Burt
