TWO EVANGELICALS AND THE ADVENTIST HIERARCHY - 1955

In 1955, Walter R. Martin, consulting editor of ‘Eternity’ magazine, was commissioned by Dr Donald G. Barnhouse, pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia and Editor of ‘Eternity’ magazine, to write a book against Seventh-day Adventists.
Mr Martin had already written a critical chapter about Adventists in his book ‘Rise of the Cults’, but this time it was to be a complete book, proving Adventists to be a cultic, non-Christian denomination.
To be fair, Martin requested access to Adventist literature, and especially asked to see Leroy E. Froom, with whose ‘Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers’ he was already familiar.

A meeting was arranged for Donald Barnhouse and Walter Martin to meet with L.E. Froom, as well as W.E. Read, field secretary of the General Conference, T.E. Unruh, who served as moderator, and R.A. Anderson, editor of ‘Ministry’ magazine.
The meeting was held in Tacoma Park, Washington D.C. in March of 1955.

Mr Martin had brought a list of questions, revealing he had read much of Canright, Ballenger and other defectors, but the Adventist reply at that stage was to give a “positive presentation in which were emphasised those doctrines held by the church in common with Evangelical Christians of all faiths in all ages”.
Written by T.E., Uhruh, quoted from DH101, Pilgrim’s Rest.

Walter Martin was given a number of books and periodicals to substantiate the claims made by the Adventist men, among them the 1931 Church Manual, and Leroy Froom was given the list of questions to answer.

That night both parties spent many hours reading and writing, and at the meeting next day, Mr Martin admitted he had been wrong about Seventh-day Adventists in several important points.
No longer did he believe Adventists to be a cult.
“In a dramatic gesture he extended his hand in fellowship.”
Ibid.

Some of the subjects studied were the investigative judgment, the non-return of Christ in 1844, the final atonement (the work of Christ in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary), the Sabbath and the mark of the beast, the belief that the Adventist Church was the ‘remnant church’, the state of the dead.
Naturally our men attempted to prove the correctness of the church’s position, but the men were not convinced.

“On a second visit Mr Martin was presented with scores of pages of detailed theological answers to his questions.
Immediately it was perceived that the Adventists were strenuously denying certain doctrinal positions which had been previously attributed to them.
As Mr Martin read their answers, he came, for example, upon a statement that they repudiated absolutely, the thought that seventh-day Sabbath-keeping was a basis for salvation, and a denial of any teaching that the keeping of the first day of the week is as yet considered to be the receiving of the anti-Christian ‘mark of the beast’….

The same procedure was repeated regarding the nature of Christ while in the flesh which the majority of the denomination has always held to be sinless, holy, and perfect, despite the fact that certain of their writers have occasionally gotten into print with contrary views completely repugnant to the Church at large.”
‘Eternity’ magazine ‘Are Seventh-day Adventists Christians?’ by Donald Grey Barnhouse.
September 1956.
First of five articles.

According to Donald Barnhouse, the committee of Seventh-day Adventist leaders “explained to Mr Martin that they had among their number certain members of the ‘lunatic fringe’, even as there are similar wild-eyed irresponsibles in every field of fundamental Christianity.” Ibid.

The position of Ellen White was discussed, and the article states, “… the Adventist leadership proclaims that the writings of Ellen G White, the great counsellor of the Adventist movement are not on a parity with Scripture.
While the Adventist church claims to have received great blessing from the ministry of Mrs White, they admit her writings are not infallible, but in all fairness they do revere her writings as special counsels from God to their movement.”
Ibid.

Another section states, “The Adventists specifically repudiate any teachings by ministers or members of their faith who have believed, proclaimed, and written any matter which would classify them among Arians.
That is to say, they hold that Jesus Christ is the eternal Word of God, second member of the Godhead, eternally existing with God as God, and they repudiate absolutely any concept that Jesus was a created being.….

This declaration on the part of the Adventist leaders specifically removes them from classification with Jehovah’s Witnesses who are Arians in the modern sense, and the Adventists totally repudiate the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ concept of Christ.
The Adventists take their place in the very center of traditional Christianity’s Trinitarian doctrine as accepting the Christology of the New Testament of the Fathers, the Reformers, and all true evangelicals.”
Ibid.

The article then goes on to discuss the Sabbath, the scapegoat, state of the dead, the investigative judgment, the Great Disappointment, of which Barnhouse says, “the investigative judgment…. to me, is the most colossal, psychological, face-saving phenomenon in religious history!”
Ibid.

On the subject of the investigative judgment and the atonement, ‘Eternity’ magazine stated, “It should also be realised that some uninformed Seventh-day Adventists took this idea (relating to Christ going into the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary for the final atonement) and carried it to fantastic literalistic extremes.
Mr Martin and I heard the Adventist leaders say, flatly, that they repudiate all such extremes.
This they have said in no uncertain terms.
Further, they do not believe, as some of their earlier teachers taught, that Jesus’ atoning work was not completed on Calvary (this idea is also totally repudiated), but instead that He was still carrying on a second ministering work since 1844.
They believe that since His ascension Christ has been ministering the benefits of the atonement which He completed on Calvary.”
Ibid.

In summary, the writer states, “I should like to say that we are delighted to do justice to a much-maligned group of sincere believers, and in our minds and hearts take them out of the group of utter heretics like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Christian Scientists, to acknowledge them as redeemed brethren and members of the Body of Christ…..”
Ibid. (You will realise of course, that the ‘Eternity’ article contains both truth and error about SDA beliefs)

A further article in ‘Eternity’ magazine was entitled, ‘What Seventh-day Adventists Really Believe’ in which three groups are listed.

(1)
Cardinal Doctrines of the Christian Faith:
The doctrine of the Trinity, the virgin birth of Christ, the perfect human nature of Christ during the incarnation, His eternal deity, the vicarious atonement of Christ on the cross for all sin, the bodily resurrection of our Lord from the grave, and His visible second advent to judge the world.
On these basic fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Seventh-day Adventists are solidly in the tradition of historic orthodox Christianity.
And without hesitation they recognise the Bible alone as the inspired, inerrant Word of God, the only rule of faith and practice.

(2)
Alternate Views on Secondary Teachings:
The second section of theological beliefs concerns alternate views on Biblical doctrines, either view being admissible from the standpoint of Christian belief and argument,. Such as Arminianism versus Calvinism, Historicist eschatology versus Futurist, etc, so that the Adventists find themselves at times on one side and at other times on the other side relative to theological issues that have never fully been settled throughout the history of the Christian Church.

(3)
Doctrines Peculiar to Seventh-day Adventists:
The third division involves a relatively small group of doctrines which are peculiar to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and which are not held or shared by any other groups.
These distinctive doctrines are:
(a) The doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary, (b) the investigative judgment, and (c) the restoration of spiritual gifts, including the ‘spirit of prophecy’.
‘Eternity’ magazine – What Seventh-day Adventists Really Believe by Walter R Martin.
November 1956.

Why was it Donald Barnhouse and Walter Martin could now extend the hand of fellowship to Seventh-day Adventists?

What doctrines brought them into harmony?

The answer is seen in those subjects listed in No. (1) -- The Trinity, the deity of Christ, the sinlessness of Christ’s human nature, and the completed Atonement.
However, to receive the hand of fellowship from these two men, the Adventist church leaders had to step off the platform of truth on a number of issues..

Twenty years later, Roy A Anderson related his experience of the 1955 meetings.
These are the words he wrote, “What do you folks believe about the Trinity?” was a question put to me some years ago by two gracious Christian gentlemen who came unannounced to the General Conference headquarters in Washington.D.C..…

Both men were Christian college professors who had read much about Adventists, but all from detractors, and one of them was commissioned to write a new book about Adventist beliefs.
However, they felt they should contact the headquarters to discover what we actually believe on points of vital interest rather than just quoting from others.

The answers to their earnest questions lengthened into days of prayerful discussions.
Our answer concerning the Godhead and the Trinity was crucial, for in some of the books they had read that Adventists were classed as Arians….”
Adventist Review. Sept 8. 1983 p4.

The Evangelical churches had previously put Adventists in the category of Jehovah’s Witnesses because of the belief that Christ was the literal Son of God.
Instead of comparing Adventist teachings with that of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they ‘lumped’ them together.
(JWs believe Christ was created by God;
our pioneers believed He was begotten of God)

In 1955, Mr Martin and Mr Barnhouse were correct in studying Adventist literature before writing and publishing a book about the Church.

Sadly the Seventh-day Adventist Church, represented by these four church leaders, changed the truth of God into a lie for the sake of fellowship with Babylon.
(The whole of the church cannot be judged by the actions of four men unless they accept and continue their sin. Unfortunately, many church leaders had already stepped off the platform of truth, and these meetings with the Evangelicals actually aided them in their sinful work of pushing the denomination further along the path of apostasy)

In 1989, Walter Martin gave a brief history of the meetings to a group of Seventh-day Adventist ministers, in which he said, “When I first met with L.E. Froom, he took me to task for about fifteen minutes on how I could ever possibly think that Adventism was a cult.”
Their discussion follows.

“ ‘Adventism rings as true as steel’.
(Froom)

I said.
‘Do you think Arius was a Christian?’

And he was an excellent church historian and he said, ‘Of course he wasn’t a Christian;
he denied the deity of Jesus Christ’.

I said, ‘Yes’, and opened up the suitcase and produced at least twelve feet of Adventist publications stacked up and marked for Dr Froom’s perusal, and for the committee to check the sources in there.

And they were in mortal shock I might add, to think that it was as pervasive as it was.
Mrs White reversed herself later on very quickly, and affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity very strongly and taught it.
But she was influenced by Uriah Smith.
She did deny the eternal deity of Christ at one time and relegated Him to the place of a second deity.
That’s why you were classified with the Jehovah’s Witnesses early on, because of the Arian emphasis in Adventism.
And because of the fact that you affirmed Michael the Archangel to be Christ.

(This is a false statement regarding Ellen White)

Dr Froom and the committee decided they would peruse this material immediately.
So we adjourned the meeting and they took all the materials with them and I guess others, and went through the materials.

They came back and said, ‘Well, a great deal of these things you’re calling attention to are there, we agree, and we don’t agree with these statements.
They do not reflect orthodox Adventist theology, and we reject it.’

I said, ‘Good, happy to hear that.
Now can you fault us, because we read this material, and its not peripheral issues we are talking about…’

We went through all kinds of materials and then the idea came for a book where we would question and the Adventist denomination would respond….
Out of that came the book ‘Questions on Doctrine’.
Contrary to some of the fantasies and myths which I hear today from Adventists who ought to know better, the book had the approval of the General Conference.”

Walter Martin.
Taped Conference at Campus Hill Church, Loma Linda. California. January 1989.

In the first of the ‘Eternity’ magazine articles, Donald Barnhouse wrote, “The Adventists specifically repudiate any teachings by ministers or members of their faith who have believed, proclaimed, and written any matter which would classify them among Arians.”
Eternity. Sept 1956.

He also said, “The position of the Adventists seems to some of us in certain cases to be a new position;
to them it may be merely the position of the majority group of sane leadership which is determined to put the brakes on any members who seek to hold views divergent from that of the responsible leadership of the denomination.”
Ibid.

On the subject of the doctrine of God, it certainly was a new position, not new for many, but different to the pioneer view.
This is why Mr Martin could find twelve feet of documentation on the other view – the writings of the pioneers and older men still revealed the truth.

Many people are surprised to learn that Seventh-day Adventists have changed their teachings, especially when the prophet says, “We have a truth that admits of no compromise.”
1 Selected Messages p205.

William G Johnsson wrote, “Adventist beliefs have changed over the years under the impact of ‘present truth’.
Most startling is the teaching regarding Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
Many of the pioneers, including James White, J.N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, and J.H. Waggoner, held to an Arian or semi-Arian view that is, the Son at some point in time before the Creation of our world was generated by the Father the Trinitarian understanding of God, now part of our fundamental beliefs, was not generally held by the early Adventists.
Even today a few do not subscribe to it.”
‘Adventist Review’.
Jan 6. 1994 p10.

Listen to Ellen White again.
“The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error.”
1 Selected Messages p204.

In 1955, the Seventh-day Adventist Church fulfilled the prophesied prediction.
In fact, the very article in which the above statement is made deals with God and the Holy Spirit.
It was a “controversy over the presence and personality of God”.
Ibid p202.203.

Sister White said of the truth then held by us, “As a people, we are to stand firmly on the platform of eternal truth that has withstood test and trial.
We are to hold to the sure pillars of our faith.
The principles of truth that God has revealed to us are our only true foundation.
They have made us what we are.
The lapse of time has not lessened their value.
It is the constant effort of the enemy to remove these truths from their setting, and to put in their place spurious theories….

‘Living Temple’ (a book written by Dr Kellogg, and opposed by Ellen White) “introduces that which is nought but speculation in regard to the personality of God and where His presence is….
The sentiments expressed do not give a true knowledge of God.
All through the book are passages of Scripture.
These Scriptures are brought in in such a way that error is made to appear as truth.”
Ibid p201.202.

Let us be very clear --- Ellen White is not reproving Dr Kellogg for Arian or semi-Arian views.
She is speaking of beliefs that opposed the platform upon which she stood, which is called Arian or semi-Arian, but which was in fact, a belief that God, “by His Spirit, is everywhere present”.
Education p132.

This was no longer the belief of John Harvey Kellogg.

He was making the Spirit a God – one of three divine God-Beings who composed a Godhead – and all three God-Beings were in the trees and flowers.
This is why it was seen as Pantheism.
The Adventist foundation belief was not pantheistic.
God was everywhere present, but by His own personal Spirit.
This mysterious agency is the means by which both God the Father and His Son can be present in every place.

Psalm 139:5-10.
(Later Kellogg changed his ideas to say that it was only the Spirit that was in nature, but Ellen White said this belief did not change his main thrust)

“While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth.
He is withdrawn from the eye of sense, but His parting promise is fulfilled, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’
Matthew 28:20.
While He delegates His power to inferior ministers, His energizing presence is still with His church.”
The Desire of Ages p166.

“Jesus is waiting to breathe upon all His disciples, and give them the inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, and transfuse the vital influence from Himself to His people. He would have them understand that henceforth they cannot serve two masters. Their lives cannot be divided. Christ is to live in His human agents, and work through their faculties, and act through their capabilities. Their will must be submitted to His will, they must act with His Spirit that it may be no more they that live, but Christ that liveth in them.”

Signs of the Times. Oct 3. 1892.

The pioneer understanding of Christ was that He was begotten of the Father.
He “The Word was ‘in the beginning’.
The mind cannot grasp the ages that are spanned in this phrase.
It is not given to men to know when or how the Son was begotten.
We know that Christ ‘proceeded forth and came from God’ (John 8:42), but it was so far back in the ages of eternity as to be far beyond the grasp of the mind of man.”

‘Christ and His Righteousness’. E.J. Waggoner p16. 1890

Ellen White used similar words in 1888.
“And although we may try to reason in regard to our Creator, how long He has had existence, where evil first entered into our world, and all these things, we may reason about them until we fall down faints and exhausted with the research when there is yet an infinity beyond.”
7 Bible Commentary p919. 1888.

In His incarnation, Christ became the Son of God “in a new sense”.
1 Selected Messages p227.226.

The only way He could gain “in a new sense the title of the Son of God”, was for Him to have been the Son of God in heaven.

It is in this manner that the prophet speaks of Christ before He came to this earth.
“And when the time came, the Son of God laid off His kingly crown and royal robe, and clothing His divinity with humanity, came to the earth to meet the prince of evil, and to conquer him.”

Ibid p223.
See also Patriarchs and Prophets, Chapter 1 for a full picture of God’s beloved Son.

Christ was “not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father’s person, and in all the brightness of His majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection.”
Signs of the Times. May 30.1895.
E.G. White.
Hebrews 1:4.

The presentation of these truths were clear and concise in the Advent Movement, and this is why George Knight made the following strong statement, “Most of the founders of Seventh-day Adventism would not be able to join the church today if they had to subscribe to the denomination’s Fundamental Beliefs.
More specifically, most would not be able to agree to belief number 2, which deals with the doctrine of the trinity.”
‘Ministry’. October 1993 p10.

He is correct, but sadly so.

Gradually, through subtlety, the doctrine of the Trinity was infiltrated into the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
In the beginning it was promulgated Jesuit-like, but as the pioneers died off, the doctrine became accepted as truth.
It gradually began to appear in our journals, sometimes using the word ‘Trinity’, but giving the pioneer belief.

Thus, the idea of the Trinity began to be accepted.

It appeared ‘officially’ (although never voted upon) in the 1931 Church Manual.
Additions to all subsequent manuals were voted upon at the General Conference Sessions.

By 1955, church leaders had fully accepted the teaching, but when they were questioned by Walter Martin, found to their embarrassment that it was still abundant in church literature.
As with other ‘errors’, the leaders “immediately brought this fact to the attention of the General Conference officers that this situation might be remedied and such publications be corrected.”

‘Eternity’, September 1956.

The book that came out as a result of the Martin-Barnhouse meetings was designed to ‘correct’ the false teachings in the eyes of the membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the congregations of other churches.
It was called ‘Questions on Doctrine’, printed in 1957.

Of this book Donald Barnhouse wrote, “The long-awaited ‘Answers to Questions on Doctrine’ ‘prepared by a Representative Group of Seventh-day Adventist Leaders, Bible Teachers, and Editors’, has come from the press.
It is the vindication of the position we have taken in recent months and will soon be recognised as such by all fair-minded Christians.”
Postscript on Seventh-day Adventism by Donald Grey Barnhouse, ‘Eternity’. November 1957.

In answer to the question, ‘Do you believe in the Trinity?’ the above book appeals to the official Yearbook and “authoritative Church Manual” (1951 edition p29-36)
which says, “That the Godhead, or Trinity, consists of the Eternal Father, a personal, spiritual Being, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, infinite in wisdom and love;
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, through whom all things were created and through whom the salvation of the redeemed hosts will be accomplished;
the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, the great regenerating power in the work of redemption.”

Questions on Doctrine p36.

In listing the beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists in brief, ‘Questions on Doctrine’ says, “1.
In common with Conservative Christians and the Historic Protestant Creeds, We believe… 2.
That the Godhead, the Trinity, comprises God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit…
4.
That Jesus Christ is very God, and that He has existed with the Father from all eternity.
5.
That the Holy Spirit is a personal being, sharing the attributes of deity with the Father and the Son…”

Questions on Doctrine p21.22.

This alignment with the ‘Historic Protestant Creeds’ in their acceptance of the Trinity, placed Adventism among the mainline churches.

However, it is important to note that the Trinitarian doctrine was still not an official teaching of the church in 1957.
In fact, it took another twenty three years before it was voted by the world church in session.

When it came up at the Dallas 1980 General Conference Session, an attempt was made to discuss the issue, but it was stifled by the President, Neil Wilson, who responded, “Well, you are getting into an area that could lead us into certain Arian complications.”

Duncan Eva spoke up.
“Mr Chairman, we did not want to get into those areas that Elder Banks has talked about….”
Adventist Review. April 24. 1980 p18.

Eight years later (1988), ‘Questions on Doctrine’ was replaced by the book, ‘Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines’.
This book is now our official doctrinal statement.
It was freely distributed to elders and many ministers of other denominations, thus confirming the non-cultish connotations previously held by Christendom.

Today, Seventh-day Adventists, both members of the church and those who worship independently, must realise that they have a choice as to where they will stand on this issue.
There are only two alternatives:

(a)

The teaching of the Trinity promulgated by the leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1955. It was not the Arian or semi-Arian view attributed to the pioneers, but instead the Trinitarian doctrine held by
mainline Christendom.
Today Adventist theology has become Tri-theology, “three co-eternal Persons”, each having full authority.
(See 27 Fundamentals No.2)

(b)
The teaching of the pioneers -- God the Father, His only begotten Son, and the holy Spirit, “as the personal presence of Christ to the soul.”
Review & Herald. 11.29.92.

And Christ, the literal, “only begotten Son of the infinite God”… “the only-begotten Son of the true and living God.”

Signs of the Times. 04.17.93. Fundamentals of Christian Education p251.

This belief in Christ is not an Arian teaching (according to the promulgation of the Arian view that Christ was a created being), but instead a solid belief in the biological relationship between God the Father and His Son.

Adventist, you must ask yourself -- what do I believe?

If you stand with option (b), a decision must be made that is contrary to the denominational stand.
This will take courage, but to remain on the side of error, when you know it is error, makes you accountable for that error.

Will you stand for the truth given to our pioneers?

Will you step back on the platform?

MINNEAPOLIS -- 1888

All of us know that God began to pour out dew drops of the latter rain at the Minneapolis General Conference Session, and if the truth had been accepted by the brethren in session, Christ would have returned within a very short time.

The main message of the Conference was salvation by faith in Christ alone, and Ellen White rejoiced as this great basic truth of justification by faith was brought prominently to the front.

She wrote, “When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas in Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversations between myself and my husband…. And when another presented it, every fiber of my heart said, Amen.”
Manuscript 5 p10.
5 Manuscript Release 1889.

1888 Materials p348.

However, she also said, “An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren Waggoner and Jones.
By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them…. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world.”
1 Selected Messages p234.235.

In 1893, Brother A.T. Jones asked the brethren assembled at another General Conference Session, “What did the brethren reject at Minneapolis?”

(Some in the congregation: ‘The loud cry’)

“What is the message of righteousness?
The Testimony has told us what it is -- the loud cry:
the latter rain.
Then what did the brethren in that fearful position in which they stood, reject at Minneapolis?
They rejected the latter rain – the loud cry of the third angel’s message…. and then the Spirit of the Lord, by His prophet, stood there and told us what they were doing – what then?
Oh, they simply set this prophet aside with all the rest….’ ”
General Conference Daily Bulletin. 1893.
No.11.p68.

Sister White said of the General Conference in 1888, “If the rays of light which shone at Minneapolis were permitted to exert their convincing power upon those who took their stand against light, if all had yielded their ways, and submitted their wills to the Spirit of God at that time, they would have received the richest blessing…. But self said, No. Self was not willing to be bruised. Self struggled for the mastery.

Since that time, the Lord has given an abundance of evidence in messages of light and salvation.
No more tender calls, no better opportunities, could be given them in order that they might do that which they ought to have done at Minneapolis. The light has been withdrawing from some, and ever since they have walked in sparks of their own kindling. No one can tell how much may be at stake when neglecting to comply with the call of the Spirit of God.

The time will come when many will be willing to do anything and everything possible in order to have a chance of hearing the call which they rejected at Minneapolis.
God moved upon hearts, but many yielded to another spirit, which was moving upon their passions from beneath….

The sin committed in what took place at Minneapolis remains on the record books of heaven, registered against the names of those who resisted light; and it will remain upon the record until full confession is made and the transgressors stand in full humility before God.”

Manuscript Release 16 p112.113.
(Italics added)

In 1930, Leroy E Froom was asked by Arthur G Daniells to write a book that would be a “thorough survey of the entire plan of redemption – its principles, provisions, and divine Personalities – as they unfolded to our view as a Movement from 1844 onward, with special emphasis upon the developments of 1888 and its sequel.”
‘Movement of Destiny’. L.E.Froom.

Brother Froom said of this commission that he felt “awed by its magnitude and far-reaching character.
I thought of it as for someone else, more mature and experienced, to undertake.
No, he said, he felt it was for me to do – for I had gotten a vision of it, and had a background and burden for it.”
“But”, said Daniells, “it is to be later – not yet, not yet.”

Continuing, “Elder Daniells recognised the serious problems involved and sensed almost prophetically certain difficulties that would confront.
He knew that time would be required for certain theological wounds to heal, and for attitudes to modify on the part of some.
Possibly it would be necessary to wait until certain individuals had dropped out of action before the needed portrayal could wisely be brought forth…”

Ibid.

In his book ‘Movement of Destiny’, which is the fulfilment of the commission, Brother Froom gives his ‘historical’ assessment
of Minneapolis.

“The epochal Minneapolis Session stands out like a mountain peak, towering above all other sessions in uniqueness and importance.
It was a distinct turning point.
Nothing like it had occurred before, and none has since been comparable to it.
It definitely introduced a new epoch.
After its initial conflict a period of revival and heart searching followed.
And that which brought this about was the message of Righteousness by Faith in Christ as “all the fulness of the Godhead” – an expression that became a virtual keynote, stressed at the stormy session.

Christ was uplifted before the Conference as never before in our history, with a fulness that had not heretofore been envisioned or proclaimed.
That was the crux of it all.
1888 therefore came to mark the beginning of a new note and a new day, the significance of which was not fully sensed at the time.

1888 was not a point of defeat, but a turn in the tide for ultimate victory.
It was the beginning of decades of clarification and advance – despite struggles and setbacks. It eventuated at last in a unified platform of ‘Fundamental Beliefs’, preparatory to the grand climax of the Movement, assuredly destined to become.
The Eternal Verities were coming into their rightful place. God was definitely leading, despite the continuing stubbornness of “some”…..”
‘Movement of Destiny’ p187.

It is difficult to read the account of Brother Jones, Sister White and Leroy Froom and believe they were all giving a report of the same meetings.
It is true Sister White is speaking of those who rejected the message, however, when looking through her writings on the subject, there is no way the session at Minneapolis can be seen as a “turning point” for God.

Did Leroy Froom, the historian, rewrite Adventist history?
He said, “The Eternal Verities were coming into their rightful place….”

What were these Eternal Verities?

It is interesting to note that Froom’s Eternal Verities were exactly the same as the doctrines by which Martin and Barnhouse could accept the Seventh-day Adventists as brothers – the Trinity – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
the Deity of Christ as the eternal second person of the Godhead; Christ’s sinless human nature in the Incarnation;
the Person
(God-Being) of the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Godhead;
and the completed Atonement upon Calvary, but denying its other facets.

The term ‘Eternal Verities’ is Froom’s choice of words for these doctrines.
There is nothing wrong with the words, but it came as a surprise to see them used in another setting.

“When the zealots of the primitive Christian Church sought to Christianize paganism, the pagan initiates retorted with a powerful effort to paganize Christianity.
The Christians failed but the pagans succeeded.
With the decline of paganism, the initiated pagan hierophants transferred their base of operations to the new vehicle of primitive Christianity, adopting the symbols of the new cult to conceal those eternal verities which are ever the priceless possession of the wise.”

The Secret Teachings of all Ages. Manley P Hall pCLXXXV.
(Emphasis added)

Manley P Hall was a top Freemason, still revered today in Masonic circles.

Without making any judgment on the Adventist historian, it is certainly prudent to consider as to whether the “Eternal Verities” believed by Christendom at large, and that which Mr Martin and Mr Barnhouse claimed took the Seventh-day Adventist Church out of the realm of a cult, were indeed the same pagan “eternal verities” that have been concealed in Christianity.

“There must be intensity brought into our faith and in the proclamation of truth. I tell you, a new life is proceeding from satanic agencies to work with a power we have not hitherto realized. And shall not a new power from above take possession of God's people?

The truth, sanctifying in its influence, must be urged upon the people. There must be earnest supplications offered to God, agonizing prayer to Him, that our hopes as a people may not be founded on suppositions, but on eternal realities. We must know for ourselves, by the evidence of God's Word, whether we are in the faith, going to heaven or not.”






2 Selected Messages p382.

(Emphasis added)

Will you share the truth with others?

Two Evangelicals & The Adventist Hierarchy 1955