Inspiration/Revelation: What It Is and How It Workscircle.adventist.org/files/CD2008/CD1/jae/en/jae198144011716.pdfBiblical, special revelation, we would hold, further, to be the content

APPROVEDFOR .S

CONTINUINGEDUCATION

UNITS*

HOW IT WORKS: Kindergarten through Grade 12 teachers inthe North American Division are eligible for credit toward deno-minational recertification for successful completion of a test onthe content of this article. The test does not provide college creditor credit toward state or regional teacher certification.

Inspiration/Revelation:What It Is and How It WorksPart I: The Prophetic Gift in Operation

By Roger W. Coon

you should be able to do the

Differentiate between the seven modali-ties employed by God in different ages asHe seeks to communicate with mankind.

Differentiate between the concepts of"inspiration," "revelation," and "illu-mination" as they relate to the phenom-ena of prophetism.

Differentiate between the correctemployment of physical phenomena asan evidence of supernatural activity(whether of the Holy Spirit, or of anunholy spirit) and the incorrect employ-ment of these phenomena as a validatingtest of authentic prophethood.

Understand the validity of the concept ofplenary (thought) inspiration as an ade-quate explanation of the methodologyGod uses to communicate through Hischosen prophets.

4.

2.

3.

tion mmlcourse,following:

1.GOAL STATEMENT

This continuing education study material isintended to serve as a refresher course for class-room teachers who are called upon in religioncourses to explain the methodology God employedin communicating His divine truths and expecta-tions to human beings alienated from His presencebecause of their sinful condition. For otherteachers, this continuing education course mayserve to strengthen their commitment as Seventh-day Adventist church members to the work of onebelieved to have been God's most recent prophet,Ellen G. White, in a day when her prophetic giftand contribution to this church are being increas-ingly questioned and challenged.

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

After studying Part I of this continuing educa-

"Approved by the North American Division Office of Edu-cation for 0.5 Continuing Education Units Credit or 5 contacthours.

Associate Secretary, Ellen G. White EstateGeneral Conference of SDA

VOL. 44, NO.1, OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1981 17

IntroductionBefore the entrance of sin, God communicated

with human beings directly through face-to-facecontact and personal fellowship. With the adventof sin this relationship was ruptured and man wasalienated from his Maker. To bridge this separat-ing gulf, God employed as many as seven modali-ties of communication-the "divers manners" ofHebrews 1: I-as He sought to bring mankindback into a personal relationship with Him.

Prophetic night dreams and "open visions"during the day were the methods God most fre-quently employed in communicating with men andwomen of His special choosing who came to beknown as "seers," "prophets," or special"messengers.' ,

The lot of the prophet was seldom an easy one,as Jesus intimated by His oft-cited observationthat "a prophet is not without honour, save in hisown country, and in his own house." 1

Seventh-day Adventists believe, upon the basisof Biblical evidence 2 as well as empirical data, thatone "masterbuilder" (1 Corinthians 3: 10) of theirdenomination, Ellen G. White, was the recipientof' the gift of prophecy. Solomon averred that"there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesias-tes 1:9), and criticism of the prohets continues tothis day.

Misunderstanding also continues concerning themanner in which the prophetic gift operates. Satanhas a vested interest in creating confusion as wellas rejection of the prophetic gift by the people itwas intended to benefit, "for this reason: Satancannot have so clear a track to bring in his decep-tions and bind up souls in his delusions if thewarnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spiritof God are heeded."3 The "very last deception ofSatan" in the Seventh-day Adventist Church justbefore Jesus returns will be the twofold work of(1) destroying the credibility of Ellen White as anauthentic, reliable prophet of the Lord, and (2)creating a "satanic" "hatred" against herministry and writings-satanic in its intensity aswell as in its origin. 4

Satan's "special object" in these last days is to"prevent this light from coming to the people ofGod" who so desperately need it to walk safelythrough the minefield that the enemy of all soulshas so artfully booby trapped.'

And what is Satan's methodology for securingthis objective? He will work "ingeniously, in dif-ferent ways and through different agencies."6 For

5. Understand the inherent dangers inuncritical acceptance of the spurious"verbal" and "encounter" concepts ofinspiration.

example, in addition to the two methods men-tioned above, satanic agencies seek to keep soulsunder a cloud of doubt,7 in a hurried state, and ina state of disappointment.

This is Satan's plan-his goal and his strategy.This minicourse is dedicated to the propositionthat he shall not succeed!

I. DefinitionsThree terms in particular need adequate work-

ing definitions as we seek to understand Biblicaland modern prophetism. The following defini-tions may be helpful:

1. Inspiration. Biblical, prophetic inspirationmay be said to be a process by which God enablesa man or woman of His special choosing both toreceive and to communicate accurately, ade-quately, and reliably God's messages for Hispeople. 8

We sometimes tend to say of a particularpainter, author, musical composer, or performingartist, "He was inspired!" Indeed, he may havebeen. But it was a different kind of inspirationthan that which was possessed by the prophets ofGod. When Paul wrote to the young ministerialintern Timothy, "All scripture is given by inspira-tion of God" (2 Timothy 3: 16), he chose toemploy the Greek term theopneusis, which is acontraction of two other Greek words Theos(God) and pneuma (breath). What he was saying,literally, was, "All Scripture is God-breathed."9

While some take this to be simply a delightfulliterary metaphor, yet it is also true-and signifi-cant-that while the prophet experienced thephysical phenomena of the trancelike vision state,God breathed, literally; the prophet did notbreathe while in this condition. 10

The prophet's inspiration is different in kind,rather than different in degree, from any otherform of inspiration.

The apostle Peter adds to our limited Biblicalstore of information on inspiration by stating thatthe prophets-these "holy men of God"-spokeas they were "moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter1:21). The Greek term Peter employs is phero-meni, from phero: "to carry a load, to move."Luke employed the expression twice ll in describ-ing the action of a tempestous wind in "driving" asailing vessel upon which he and Paul were travel-ing. The implication is clear: The prophets were"moved by the Divine initiative and borne by theirresistible power of the Spirit of God along waysof His choosing to ends of His appointment." 12

2. Revelation. Biblical, special revelation, wewould hold, further, to be the content of themessage communicated by God to His prophet inthe process of inspiration. Adventists hold thiscontent-the prophetic message-to be infallible

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(inerrant), trustworthy (all sufficient, reliable),and authoritative (binding upon the Christian).

This concept is predicted on three corollaries:(a) Man is unable, through his own resources or byhis own observation, to perceive certain kinds ofinformation; (b) God is pleased to speak; and (c)this act takes place and unfolds within humanhistory.I3

God has revealed Himself, in a limited way, innature, which gives us glimpses of His power, Hiswisdom, and His glory. But nature is unable toreveal clearly God's person, His holiness, Hisredeeming love, and His everlasting purposes formankind. Thus, supernatural revelation tran-scends the "natural" revelation of God in nature,and consists chiefly in God's manifesting ofHimself and His will through direct intercoursewith humanity. 14

God speaks! In Old Testament Jeremiah speaksfor all of the prophets when he testifies that' 'theLord ... touched my mouth, And ... said untome, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth"(chap. 1:9). In the New Testament Paul assures usthat the Holy Spirit "speaketh expressly" (l Tim-othy 4: 1). Paul continues, elsewhere, to assure usthat God reveals His mysteries to the prophets byrevelation, which is a progressive work"; Paulcontrasts natural knowledge with information thatis revealed by the Holy Spirit. This knowledge isattainable in no other way and from no othersource. 16

3. Illumination. Since the implied answer toPaul's rhetorical question, "Are all prophets?"!7is negative, there remains one further task of theHoly Spirit, if those not possessed of the propheticgift are to grasp the will of God for them.

Illumination may be defined as the work of thatsame Holy Spirit who indicated God's messageto the prophet by which He now enables the heareror reader of the prophet's words to comprehendthe spiritual truths and discern God's message tohimself.

This work of the Holy Spirit is comprehended inthe words of Jesus to His disciples concerning thecoming of the Comforter: He will teach you allthings,I8 He will remind you of Jesus' words (theonly current source of which is the writings of theprophets!),!9 and in doing this work He will guideyou into all the truth the human mind is capable ofcomprehending. 20

Concerning the work of this illumination, EllenWhite once spoke of the three ways by which "theLord reveals His will to us, to guide us, and to fitus to guide others": (a) through an understandingof what inspired writers through the ages havewritten for our admonition, (b) through providen-tial circumstances (signs); and (c) through thedirect impression of the Holy Spirit on the indi-vidual Christian's mind and heart. 21VOL. 44, NO.1, OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1981

II. An Operational Gift

The Divine Initiative

It all started with God. He made the first move.The very first words of our English Bible are

these: "In the beginning God ... " (Genesis 1:1).Three times in the last book of the Bible Jesusidentifies Himself as "Alpha and Omega. "22Those are the first and last letters of the Greekalphabet-the language in which John wrote thebook of Revelation. What did that cryptic expres-sion mean? Among other things, Jesus perhapswas saying, "I was here when everything began;and I will be here when all is fulfilled."

Paul highlights the uniqueness of the Christianreligion by showing that while we were still in thestate and act of sin Christ died for us (Romans5:8). All of the great non-Christian religions of theworld are alike in one respect: They all show manin search of God. In Christianity alone do we findGod in search of man. The central message ofChristianity was embodied in the three parables ofthe "losts" of Luke 15: the lost sheep, the lostcoin, and the lost boy. In each of these parableswe are shown a God who cared deeply, and whoacted on the basis of this concern.

God's concern for man prompted Him to bringinto existence the office of prophet. While theliturgical priesthood spoke to God on behalf ofman, the propphet spoke to man on behalf ofGod. God had a message to communicate, and Hechose special human messengers to be His agency.

While every Christian is the recipient of at leastone of the gifts of the Holy Spirit ("spiritualgifts"),23 it is still God the Holy Spirit who decideswhich man or woman receives which gift. 24 Andthe gift of prophecy was given to "some, "25 butnot to "all. "26 Prophecy is the pre-eminent gift27;and the most a human being may scripturally do isto "covet earnestly the best gifts. "28 God alonechooses who will be His prophets.

And, having made that choice, God speaks!Twice in the stately, measured cadences ofHebrews 1: 1, 2, we are told that God had alreadyspoken, first through the prophets and then morerecently through His Son. Revelation 1: 1 suggestswhat might well be called "God's chain of com-mand" (to borrow a phrase from Bill Gothard).

God's Chain of Command

Just as all three members of the Godhead par-ticipated in the creation of this world,29 just so doall three participate in the process of inspiration:The Father gives the message to the Son,30 the Songives it to the Holy Spirit, 31 and the Holy Spiritmoves upon the prophets. 32

The Godhead delivers the message to "hisangel," Gabriel; and Gabriel delivers it to God'sservants, the prophets. 33 And thus the prophets

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could authoritatively declare to their fellowbeings, "Hear, therefore, the word of theLord."34

Two points of significance immediately suggestthemselves from these facts:

I. Of all the billions of angels created by God, 35we today know the names of only two-Lucifer("light bearer"), who was number one, and whofell; and Gabriel, originally number two, wholater became number one. And it was the angelGabriel, heaven's highest, who communicatedGod's messages to "his servants, the prophets."Only heaven's highest was good enough for thisspecial task.

2. The prophets are called "his servants," thatis, God's servants. Now, a servant is, by defini-tion, "one who is sent"-sent by a superior, ofcourse. Jesus made it abundantly clear that theservant was "not greater than his lord. "36 If, then,the message-bearing servant (prophet) is ignored,slighted, or-worse yet-rejected outright, theOne who is really rejected is the One who gave themessage to the prophet.

Seven Modalities of God's Communication

What were some of these "divers manners" bywhich God communciated with mankind? Thereseem to have been at least seven methods:

1. Theophanies (visible manifestations of God;face-to-face communication). Abraham met thepreincarnate Christ and two angels near his tenton the plains of Mamre (Genesis 18); Jacob wres-tled with an "angel" at Peniel, only to discover "Ihave seen God face to face" (Genesis 32:30); andMoses spoke to the Lord in the mount "face toface, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exodus33:11).

2. Angels. Those "ministering spirits, sentforth to minister for them who shall be heirs ofsalvation" (Hebrews 1: 14) have often come tomankind, to bring messages of hope and comfort(Daniel 10:11, 12; Genesis 32:1), to direct the ser-vants of the Lord to those whose hearts werereceptive to God's truth (Acts 8:26), or to warn ofimminent disaster if God's word was not heeded(Genesis 3:24).

3. Audible voice ofGod. Sometimes God spokeon His own! At Sinai the Ten Commandmentswere spoken audibly, jointly, by the Father andthe Son in a transcendent "duet"37 that literallycaused the earth (as well as the hearts of thehuman hearers) to tremble.

Upon occasion the audible voice of Godaddressed the high priest from the Shekinah-that exceeding bright glory that rested between thecherubim in the center of the ark of thecovenant. 38 The Shekinah was the visiblemanifestation of God's presence in the deserttabernacle.

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And, of course, God's voice was heard threetimes during the earthly ministry of our Lord-atChrist's baptism, upon the mount of transfigura-tion, and when the Greek philosophers calledupon Him in the temple during the week thatpreceded the crucifixion. At these times God washeard commanding men to heed the message ofHis beloved Son. 39

4. Optics. During the wilderness wanderings ofthe children of Israel, the high priest's breastplatehad two large stones imbedded at the top-theUrim and the Thummim. The high priest couldask questions, and Jehovah would respond. If theanswer were "yes," one stone would glow with ahalo of light and glory; if the answer were "no,"the opposite stone would be partially obscured bya shadow or a vapor. 40

The high priest had another means of receivinganswers from God. In the most holy place theangel on the right side of the ark would glow in ahalo of light if the answer were affirmative, or ashadow would be cast over the angel on the left ifthe answer were negative. 41

5. Casting of lots. In Old Testament times Godalso communicated with His people by means ofcasting lots. A modern counterpart is "drawingstraws"-a number of straws of different lengthsare held in the hand, with all the ends appearing tobe even, the difference of length being hidden bythe hand. After the straws are drawn, and arecompared, it is easy to determine who drew thelongest or the shortest.

Lots were cast upon goats, upon cities, andupon men. The most celebrated instance of thelatter was the discovery of Achan and his theft ofthe "goodly Babylonish garment" as the cause ofIsrael's humiliating defeat of Ai. 42

Interestingly, there is only one instance in theNew Testament of determining God's will by thecasting of lots-the selection of Matthias to takethe place vacated by Judas among the 12apostles. 43 When and why this method fell intodisuse is not revealed; but we do know that whenthe practice of casting lots was resorted to by theAustin, Pennsylvania, SDA church for the pur-pose of selecting church officers, Ellen Whitewrote from Australia, "I have no faith in castinglots.... To cast lots for the officers of the churchis not in God's order. Let men of responsibility becalled upon to select the officers of the church. "44

6. "Open" visions of the day. The trancelikestate into which a prophet entered when going intovision has already been referred to, and will bedealt with more fully below. Both the Old and theNew Testaments are replete with references toprophets receiving visions from the Lord.45

7. Prophetic dreams of the night. Often theprophets would receive messages from the Lord inthe "night seasons" as well as during the day.

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There is no evidence that physical phenomenaaccompanied the prophetic night dreams, nor isthere evidence that the kind of messages given atnight were in any way different from those trans-mitted in the visions of the day.

Ellen White was once asked if she, a prophet,experienced ordinary dreams at night as nonin-spired people did. She smiled and said that shedid. The next question was inevitable: How areyou able to differentiate between ordinary dreamsand inspired dreams? Her response was right tothe point: "The same angel messenger stands bymy side instructing me in the visions of the night,as stands beside me instructing me in the visions ofthe day. "46

Physical Phenomena

When in vision state, the prophets experiencedsupernatural physical phenomena. The tenthchapter of Daniel best illustrates the nature andscope of such singular phenomena. Daniel tells usthat in this condition he saw things that othersabout him did not see (verse 7); he sustained a lossof natural strength (verse 8) and then wasendowed with supernatural strength (verses 10, 11,16, 18, 19). He was totally unconscious of hisimmediate surroundings (verse 9), and he did notbreathe during this time (verse 17).

Ellen White experienced all these phenomena inthe vision state. However, it should be noted thatalthough her lungs did not function at such times,the heart did continue to circulate blood throughthe body; her face did not lose color.

Perhaps, as already noted above, there may be astartlingly literal interpretation to theopneusis-"God-breathed"-as it related to the physicalphenomena associated with a prophet in vision.

In Ellen White's experience, the physicalphenomena of "open visions" were more charac-teristic of her earlier years; from the 1880'sonward all of her inspired messages apparentlycame from the Lord in prophetic dreams. Thisleads us to consider the purpose of physicalphenomena.

First, physical phenomena were not prerequi-sites for receiving messages from God. The proph-etic dreams of the night seem to make this clear.But God, who has a purpose for everything Hedoes, obviously had a purpose in providing thesedramatic supernatural exhibitions.

Perhaps the dramatic nature of these exhibi-tions gives us a clue to Heaven's intention. In thecase of Ellen White, we have a 17-year-old girlclaiming, "I have a vision from the Lord!""Well," one might wonder, "how do we know?"

In the early days of a prophet's ministry, whenhe has made few written or spoken pronounce-ments it is difficult to apply the test of consistencywith previously inspired testimony (Isaiah 8:20).

VOL. 44, NO.1, OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1981

The test of fruitage (Matthew 7:16,20) is equallydifficult to apply until a few years pass and resultsare seen in the life of the prophet and in the livesof those who have followed the prophet's coun-sels. The test of fulfilled prediction (Jeremiah28:9, Deuteronomy 18:22) cannot be applied untilenough time has elapsed to allow a judgmentabout whether any prophecies made have come topass.

Obviously, God needed to do something toarrest attention, to suddenly cause people to sit upand take notice. Physical phenomena serve thispurpose. God had used such methods before(probably for the same reason) at Pentecost whentongues of fire were seen above the heads of the120, and these men and women spoke contem-porary languages they had never previouslystudied. 47

Perhaps God used physical phenomena to vali-date the fact that something supernatural was hereat work. Of course, witnesses would still need tovalidate, to authenticate the messages by means ofthe conventional Bible tests.

However, the fact that Satan can and doescounterfeit many natural and supernaturalphenomena should lead us to make a crucial dis-tinction: Physical phenomena are an evidence ofsupernatural activity, but they are never to be atest of the authenticity or legitimacy of a prophet.

Today it has become fashionable among thecritics of Ellen White to call for a "demythologiz-ing" of Adventists's historic prophet. One critic inparticular recently called for the burying of legen-dary tales involving "magic."

Concerning stories of Mrs. White holding alarge Bible for an extended period of time on heroutstretched, upraised hand while in vision, thiscritic alleges that at the 1919 Bible Conference itwas declared emphatically that the event neverreally happened, that no one had ever seen it;indeed, no one was even there to witness it!48

If, however, we go to the transcript of the 1919Bible Conference,49 we notice, first of all, that therecord has been substantially misquoted by thecritic. We find General Conference PresidentArthur G. Daniells discussing the use of physicalphenomena as "proofs or evidence of the genuine-ness of the gift." And he opposes such use asproof of legitimacy-a position the White Estatecontinues to hold today!

Instead, said Daniells, "I believe that thestrongest proof is found in the fruits of this gift tothe church, not in physical and outward demon-strations. "

Then, addressing more directly the question ofthe stories about Ellen White holding a large,heavy Bible on an outstretched hand while invision, looking away from the pages and yetquoting the texts to which a finger of the opposite

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hand pointed, Elder Daniells declared: "I do notknow whether that was ever done or not. I am notsure. I did not see it, and I do not know that I evertalked with anybody that did see it. "'0

One does not need to look far to discover whyDaniells had not witnessed such an event. Thiswriter has uncovered four instances thus far whereEllen White held a Bible in vision: three times in1845 and once in 1847.' I Arthur Daniells was notborn until 1858, at least 11 years after the latestrecorded Bible-holding incident took place.

Research shows that physical phenomena wasmore characteristic of the earlier days of Mrs.White's experience. Indeed, the last "openvision" of record took place at a camp meeting inPortland, Oregon, in 1884, only six years afterDaniells entered the gospel ministry. 52

We should not be surprised, then, that Daniellsnever witnessed Mrs. White holding a large Biblein vision. He probably saw very few other mani-festations of physical phenomena, which ceasedshortly after he entered the ministry. Nor is it sur-prising that he had not met any contemporarieswho had observed such phenomena-they wereprobably too young, too!

Some critics hold that the evidence behind atleast two of the Bible-holding stories is not reliablebecause the stories were not recorded until 45years after the events took place; and because theywere written down by a denominational historianwho was not always careful in his research. Whilethere may be some validity to this concern, thefact remains that the White Estate still holds in itsvault an eyewitness account of the event, knownto have been written sometime between 1847 and1860. The observer was Otis Nichols, and the inci-dent he reported took place during what was prob-ably Ellen White's longest vision, at Randolph,Massachusetts, in the winter of 1845.

During this vision, which lasted approximatelyfour hours, Ellen Harmon (who was unmarried atthe time) picked up "a heavy large quarto familyBible" and lifted it up "as high as she couldreach." The Bible was "open in one hand," andshe then proceeded "to turn over the leaves withthe other hand and place her finger upon certainpassages and correctly utter their words"-all thiswith her head facing in another direction! In thisactivity "she continued for a long time."53

Ellen White believed this account to be an accu-rate record of a genuine experience, because shequoted three paragraphs from it in an autobio-graphical account published in 1860. 54

Arthur G. Daniells never said that the event didnot happen, as the critic alleges. Instead, he sim-ply said that he didn't see it and didn't knowanyone who had. However, had Elder Daniells(who was a member of the White Estate board oftrustees) taken the effort to go to the vault and

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examine the documentary evidence that still ispreserved there, he would have had no doubtabout whether Ellen White ever held a Bible invision, or about whether she breathed while in heropen visions of the day."

We must emphasize at this point that the posi-tion of the church today is the same as it hasalways been. Physical phenomena are an evidenceof supernatural activity, but it should never beused as a proof because Satan can counterfeitmuch of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Basic Vehicles of Prophetic Messages

The messages given to the prophets weregenerally given in two different kinds of packag-ing: (1) the prophets witnessed events unfoldingfrom past, present, or future historical incidents,such as Moses watching the creation of the world,or the apostle John observing both the second andthird comings of Christ. Ellen White witnessedmany events of the past, present, and future dur-ing her 70-year prophetic ministry.

The prophets also saw symbolic or parablelikeevents. These representations seemed just as realas the other kind, but of course, the beasts Danielsaw and later wrote about in the seventh chapterof his prophecy never really existed. Ellen Whitehad a number of parablelike visions; perhaps oneof the better known was one in which she saw aship that was on a collision course with an iceberg.The captain instructed the helmsman to hit theiceberg head on rather than to allow the ship tosuffer a more severe glancing blow. The incidentillustrated the church's meeting the "Alpha" pan-theism heresy of John Harvey Kellogg at thebeginning of the twentieth century in a bruising(but not fatal) head-on confrontation. During thistime the providential intervention of the Lord waswitnessed in a remarkable manner.'6

2. The prophets also heard the voice of amember of the Godhead, or of the angel Gabriel,speaking messages of counsel, instruction,admonition, and sometimes of warning andreproof. These voices apparently were unaccom-panied by scenes of events, although Ellen Whitedoes tell us that she entered into direct conversa-tion with Jesus Christ on a number of occasions.

The Writing Task: The Prophet's Options

Once the prophet received instruction from theLord, by whatever method the divine mindselected, his immediate task was that of composi-tion, of writing out the message he had received.In this task the prophet had several options tochoose among, as far as the source of the wordschosen was concerned:

1. The prophet might choose to follow the rolemodel of a newspaper reporter, simply quoting thewords of the heavenly personage who had deliv-


ered the message. Ellen White's invariable customwas to place the directly quoted words of the angelwithin quotation marks, thus making it immedi-ately evident to the reader that these wereGabriel's words, not hers. 57

2. More often the prophet simply put themessage into his or her own words. (More will besaid about this aspect in discussing, below, theprophet's unique contribution to such a ministry.)

Ellen White was once asked if the nine-inch-from-the-ground skirt length she advocated camedirectly from the Lord, or if it was simply her ownidea. She responded that the Lord caused threegroups of women to pass before her in vision. Thefirst group were dressed in the peculiar fashion ofthe day, with excessively long skirts that swept thefilth of the street. Obviously, from a health stand-point, these skirts were too long. A second groupthen came into view whose skirts were obviouslytoo short. Then Mrs. White was shown a thirdgroup of women wearing skirts short enough toclear the filth of the street, but long enough to bemodest and healthful. These skirts appeared invision to be about nine inches from the ground,and Ellen White described them thus.

The angel had not specified any length ininches; and in response to the question of a readerof the Review and Herald, Mrs. White declared:

Although I am as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord inwriting my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words Iemploy in describing what I have seen are my own, unless theybe those spoken to me by an angel, which I always enclose inmarks of quotation."

Incidentally, this statement has been used byone contemporary critic to suggest that EllenWhite claimed she always used only her ownwords, or else the words of an angel (appropri-ately designated by quotation marks). And thenthe critic charges her with untruthfulness bydemonstating that she often used the literary pro-ductions of others!

The context of Mrs. White's statement demon-strates that the critic is misapplying her statement.But study of the passage does lead us to a thirdoption, exercised by prophets in many differentperiods:

3. The prophet sometimes might opt to usewords of another author. This was true both ofBible prophets and of Ellen White. Sometimes theother source might be an inspired prophet of theLord; but sometimes the person copied was notinspired. And, generally speaking, the prophetsdid not cite their sources or provide bibliograph-ical data as modern researchers do.

Critics today accuse Ellen White of plagiarismbecause she quoted a number of noninspiredauthors without giving appropriate credit. Let uslook at this charge-and the practice as used byprophetic writers-in detail.


The "Copying" ChargeAs we will study in more detail in the second of

this series of three presentations, no charge hasbeen leveled against Ellen White in her profes-sional capacity as a prophet of the Lord that hadnot already been made against the prophets of theBible-whether the charge be that of copying, orof having made unfulfilled prophecies, or of hav-ing made some errors in what was written or said,or of having to go back and change something thatwas said by the prophet-even matters of majorsubstance that had to be corrected.

We will deal here only with the charge of copy-ing other writers-inspired or uninspired. Orig-inality is not now, nor has it ever been, a test of anindividual's prophetic inspiration, as Robert W.Olson perceptively pointed out to the religioneditor of Newsweek magazine; and therefore,literary "borrowing does not dilute her [Mrs.White's] claims to inspiration. "59

The Biblical writers copied from one anotherwithout attribution of source, and apparently feltno compunctions about such practice:

Micah (4: 1-3) borrowed from Isaiah (2:2-4). The scribe whocompiled 2 Kings (18-20) also borrowed from Isaiah (36-39).Matthew and Luke borrowed heavily from Mark as well asfrom another common source. None of these ever acknowl-edged their borrowing. (See the Seventh-day Adventist BibleCommentary, vol. 5, pp. 178, 179.)60

In fact, many scholars openly acknowledge thatsome 91 percent of the Gospel of Mark was copiedby Matthew and Luke when they wrote theirrespective Gospels!

Of perhaps greater interest, however, is the factthat the writers of the Bible would from time totime copy (or "borrow") the literary productionsof noninspired authors, including pagan writers.For example, about 600 B.C. Epimenides wrote:

They fashioned a tomb for thee, 0 holy and high one-TheCretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies! But thou art notdead; thou livest and abidest for ever; For in thee we live andmove and have our being. "

Sound vaguely familiar? Well, the Apostle Paultwice used some of these words, once in Titus 1: 12("One of themselves, even a prophet of their ownsaid, The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts,slow bellies' ') and again in his sermon on MarsHill in Athens, in Acts 17:28 ("For in him we live,and move, and have our being").

Jesus did not invent the Golden Rule of Mat-thew 7: 12. A generation earlier Rabbi Hillel hadalready written: "What is hateful to you, do notdo to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah,while the rest is the commentary thereof."

The thoughts-and even some of the words-ofthe Lord's Prayer may be found in earlier ritualprayers known as the Ha-Kaddish. 62

Substantial chunks of John's Apocalypse-theBook of Revelation-are lifted bodily from the

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Book of Enoch, a pseudepigraphical work knownto have been circulated some 150 years beforeJohn wrote the last book of the Bible; and evenJude borowed a line ("Behold, the Lord comethwith ten thousands of his saints") from the samesource. 63

Indeed, some 15 apocryphal or pseudepigraphi-cal books are cited in our New Testament-gener-ally without attribution to their source.

Doctor Luke tells us that he did a substantialamount of research and investigation in sourcesthen available to him before he wrote the Gospelthat bears his name:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an accountof the things accomplished among us, ... it seemed fitting forme as well, having investigated everything carefully from thebeginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, mostexcellent Theophilus; so that you might know the exact truthabout the things you have been taught (Luke 1: I, 3, 4),NASB.64

In commenting on this passage, Robert W.Olson perceptively remarks:

Luke did not acquire his information through visions ordreams but through his own research. Yet while material in thegospel of Luke was not given by direct revelation it was none-theless written under divine inspiration. He did not write to tellhis readers something new, but to assure them of what wastrue-"that you might know the exact truth about the thingsyou have been taught." What Luke wrote was not original, butit was dependable. God led Luke to use the right sources. (Seethe Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 669).65

Because an inspired writer quotes from anuninspired writer, it does not follow that theearlier writer must now be seen somehow as hav-ing come under the umbrella of inspiration. Inspi-ration is a process, not a content.

Just as Biblical authors used noninspiredsources, Ellen White also copied from the writingsof authors who were not inspired. 66

Divine Dreams Alone Do Not a Prophet Make

Just because an individual receives a dreamfrom the Lord, it does not automatically followthat, ipso facto, that individual is a prophet of theLord.

To suit His providential purposes God has oftengiven dreams to pagans as well as to Christians.However, the receipt of such messages does notthereby transform the recipient into an authenticprophet. Perhaps a helpful differentiation mightbe the following: The nonprophet is generally notcalled to the task of guiding the church at large.The direction, rather, is primarily intended for theindividual himself (or perhaps for someone closeto the recipient). Such experiences are oftenisolated experiences rather than a continuing rela-tionship that is typical of the prophetic order.

In Biblical times God gave divine (but non-prophetic) dreams to many: Abimelech (Genesis20:3-7), Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker

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(Genesis AO:8-19), and to one of the Pharaohs(Genesis 41: 1-7), to the Midianite soldier (Judges7:13, 14), to Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2 and 4), toJoseph of Nazareth (Matthew 2: 13, 14), toClaudia, Pilate's wife (Matthew 27:19), and to theRoman centurion, Cornelius (Acts 10: 1-8), tomention only a few.

In the history of the early Seventh-day Adven-tist Church certain believers received divine, butnonprophetic, dreams. J. N. Loughborough hadas many as 20 such dreams, which Ellen Whiteapparently accepted as being of divine origin. 67

William Miller, who started the Millerite move-ment, but who never accepted the seventh-daySabbath, had a most remarkable parablelikedream. 68 Annie Smith, sister of Uriah Smith, andCaptain Joseph Bates both had a remarkable"double dream" the same night, which had aneven more remarkable fulfillment the followingnight. 69 And James White had several unusualdreams that J. N. Loughborough shared withposterity.' 0

The pages of the Adventist Review and otherregional denominational periodicals have occa-sionally carried contemporary stories of Chris-tians and pagans alike who have been led by a di-vine dream. But these persons were not prophets,nor were they considered to be such by their peers.

III. Three Theories ofInspiration/Revelation

There are at least three theories regarding thedefinition of inspiration and the way it operates inthe Seventh-day Adventist Church and in otherChristian bodies today. Two are false and danger-ous, for reasons that will shortly be made clear.Let us examine these theories in some detail:

Theory of Verbal Inspiration

Over the years a number of Seventh-day Adven-tists, including some of our ministers and Bibleteachers, have held the verbal view of inspiration,despite counsels of Ellen White to the contrary.

This view is a rather mechanical one, since itperceives the prophet's role as simply that of astenographer who takes down the boss's dictationword for word. In this model the stenographer isnot at liberty to change anything that has beengiven by the dictator: no synonyms may ever beemployed; no failing to dot an "i" or to cross a"t" is permitted.

This view seems to suggest that God, or theangel, puts a heavenly hand over the hand of theprophet and guides it-literally-so that everyword, every syllable comes directly from God. Theprophet, in this view, is not at liberty to changeanything or to state the message in his own words.This mechanical view is strictly, stringently


literalistic, with infallibility residing at the point ofthe written word.

This limited view of inspiration provides noopportunity for translation into other languages,and has other even more serious limitations anddangers. 71

The strict verbalist has a problem with Matthew27:9, 10. Here Matthew does something that everyteacher and preacher has done innumerable times.Matthew is probably thinking of one name, butout of his pen mistakenly comes another name. Ashe applies a messianic prophecy to Christ-theprediction that He would be betrayed for 30 piecesof silver-he attributes the prophecy to Jeremiah.However, in all the book of Jeremiah, there is notone reference to this prophecy. The alert readerwill recognize that Matthew actually meant to at-tribute this prophecy to Zechariah (chap. 11: 12,13).

The person who believes in plenary (thought)inspiration has no problem with this slip of thepen. But the verbalist finds a serious problemhere. Did God make this mistake in dictating Mat-thew's gospel?

This is not the only problem for the verbalist.God the Father spokle audibly three times duringthe earthly ministry of His Son. The first time wasimmediately following Christ's baptism in the Jor-dan River. The problem is, exactly what did theheavenly voice say?

According to Matthew (chap. 3:17), the Fatherspoke in the third person singular: "This is mybeloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ButMark's account (chap. 1: 11) has the Father speak-ing in the second person singular: "Thou art mybeloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

Exactly what did the Father say? The plenaristdoes not see the discrepancy between the accountsas being a problem; he believes that it is thethought that is inspired, not the exact words.There is no disagreement between Matthew andMark as to the essence of what God said.

Another problem for the verbalist is Pilate'ssuperscription on the signboard he ordered placedon Christ's cross. What did that signboard say?The four Gospel writers give four slightly differentaccounts of what the sign stated.

Which one was correct? To the plenarist itmakes no difference. But the literal verbalist is in aquandary. And it doesn't help to recall that thesignboard was in three languages (Latin, Greek,and Hebrew), because we have four differentaccounts, not three!

Matthew and Luke illustrate yet another kind ofproblem for the strict verbalist in the way theyhandle the Sermon on the Mount.

No one today has read or heard the actual Ser-mon on the Mount. Probably Ellen White's bookThoughts From the Mount of Blessing, comes

VOL. 44, NO. I, OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1981

closest to a complete account of a sermon thattook virtually all day to preach.

Matthew simply gives an outline of the sermonin chapters 5-7 of his Gospel. But Luke doesn'teven give that much. If all we had was Luke'sGospel, we'd never even know there was a Sermonon the Mount. For Luke takes the ingredients ofthe sermon, and plugs in some here and somethere as it suits his purpose.

To understand why the material is handled thisway, we have to recognize that Matthew waswriting to Jews, who liked sermons. So Matthewused a sermon format-indeed, a sermon outline-to display Jesus' ideas from this incomparablediscourse, which by some has been called thecharter or constitution of the Christian church.

Luke, however, was writing for Greeks, whocouldn't have cared less about sermons, as such.They, instead, liked to dwell in the realm of ideas.So Luke took the ideas of the Sermon on theMount and used them evangelistically, some hereand some there, as it served his purpose in dealingwith his audience.

The plenarist has no problem with thisapproach because he sees the ideas as beinginspired. But the strict verbalist is here in a greatdeal of trouble. Who is right? Was it a sermon ornot? Many questions are raised, but few answersare forthcoming.

Other illustrations could be cited, such as Mat-thew's listing of the order of Christ's miracles in asomewhat different order than Luke's Gospel.Problems such as these leave the strict verbalist ina real quandary. However, we shall leave himthere for now, and proceed to examine the plenarytheory of inspiration.

Theory of Plenary Inspiration

In contrast with the view of verbal inspiration,the plenary theory of inspiration suggests thatthoughts-rather than words-are inspired. Theplenary view is not forced to grapple with theproblems of the verbalist. For the Seventh-dayAdventist, this view has the added advantage ofhaving been accepted and advocated by EllenWhite. 72

Let us examine in some detail the manner inwhich Mrs. White explicates her views. Theseviews have been praised by a number of non-SDAtheologians as one of the most comprehensive andconcise statements on the subject of plenaryinspiration to be found anywhere in print.

1. The purpose of inspiration. Ellen White usestwo interesting analogies to illustrate the purposeof inspiration. First she likens inspiration to a map-a guide or chartbook for the human family. Thepurpose of this map is to show weak, erring, mor-tal human beings the way to heaven, so that theyneed never lose their way.73 Then she also com-

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pares inspiration to "hidden treasure" -orprecious jewels that may be discovered by arduousdigging. 74 And then, in summation, Mrs. Whiteremarks that no one need ever be lost for want ofthis most crucial information unless he is willfullyblind. 75

2. The human element. Next, Mrs. Whiterecognized the existence of the human element.God committed the preparation of His Word tofinite men,76 thus, in a sense, making problems forHimself. Why? Because "everything that ishuman is imperfect."77

Speaking to the workers at Battle Creek, in adifferent context, Mrs. White amplified thisthought: "No one has so great a mind, or is soskillful, but that the work will be imperfect afterhe has done his very best."78

Since the Bible writers had to express their ideasin human idioms, the concepts could not be givenin some grand superhuman language. 79 Infiniteideas can never be perfectly embodied in finitevehicles of thought. 80 The Lord has to speak tohuman beings in imperfect speech in order thatour dull, earthly perception may comprehend Hiswords. 8'

In an apt analogy, John Calvin once suggestedthat God, through the prophets, talked "babytalk" to us humans, much as a cooing mother lispsto her little child in the universal language of love.

3. The existence of discrepancies. Ellen Whiteaddressed the question of discrepancies, mistakes,or errors in a forthright manner. She does not justsuggest that these are possible; she says that theyare "probable. "82 But she goes on, more impor-tantly, to point out that all of these mistakes willnot change a single doctrine, or cause anyone tostumble who is not already inclined to do so.These persons will "manufacture difficulties fromthe plainest revealed truth. "83

4. Unique divine-human blending. Paul inci-sively pointed out that "We have this treasure inearthen vessels" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Two ele-ments are thus introduced into the analogy: the"treasure," and the "earthen vessels." Mrs.White develops these two elements by first com-menting that, indeed, the Ten Commandments areverbally inspired, being of "divine and not humancomposition." The servant of the Lord then goeson, interestingly:

But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in thelanguage of men, presents a union of the divine and thehuman. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who wasthe Son of God and the Son of man. Thus it is true of the Bible.as it was of Christ, that "the word was made flesh, and dweltamong us.""

Again, commenting that "In the work of Godfor man's redemption, divinity and humanity arecombined," Mrs. White elaborates along a some-what similar vein:

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The union of the divine and the human, manifest in Christ,exists also in the Bible. The truths revealed are all "given byinspiration of God;" yet they are expressed in the words ofmen and are adapted to human needs."

Thus the truths conveyed by inspired writers areall inspired treasure. But the human element-the"language of men," is the earthen vessel-that is,the packaging.

Earle Hilgert has suggested that the humanaspect of the inspired writings, ancient andmodern, is revealed in five different ways:

a. The writer expresses himself in his ownstyle. The Bible has many major stylistic dif-ferences in its various books.

b. The writer expresses himself at his ownlevel of literary ability. For example, thesentence structure of the book of Revelation iscrude. John strings his ideas along with the con-nector and like a string of box cars in a freighttrain. Stylistically, this book is elementary, notelevated. Its author was a fisherman who waseducated by Jesus for three years. John receivedhis education in truth, rather than in rhetoric. Incontrast to the book of Revelation, the book ofHebrews exhibits a most elevated stylistic form.Indeed, because of its use of balanced phrasesand clauses, some higher critics don't think thatPaul wrote it. But Paul undoubtedly had theequivalent of a Ph.D. from the school ofGamaliel in Jerusalem, and he may well haveattended the university at Tarsus before he wentto Jerusalem.

c. The writer reveals his own personality. TheGospel of John can be summed up in one four-letter word-love. The concept permeatesJohn's Gospel and all three of his epistles. John,more than any of the other apostles, imbibedthis spirit, and yielded himself most fully toChrist's transforming love. 86 And thus hisepistles, especially, breathe out this spirit oflove. 87 His favorite theme was the infinite loveof Christ. 88

d. The writer also uses his own words-words of his selection, and in so doing,

e. The writer draws on his own personalbackground and experience. Luke was called the"beloved physician." And indeed, a wholevolume has been written on the medical ter-minology employed in the Gospel of Luke. Lukewrites with the perception of a scientist. Forexample, he is the only one of the four Gospelwriters to mention that Jesus "sweat ... as itwere great drops of blood."

Amos speaks the language of the herdsman,the shepherd.

And Paul? Trained in the methodology andphraseology of philosophy, Paul wrote somethings that to a fisherman like Peter were "hardto be understood" (2 Peter 3: 16).89


Then, the divine aspect, the work of the HolySpirit, is revealed in four ways, as suggested by T.Housel Jemison:

a. He enlightens the mind: The writer isenabled to comprehend truth.

b. He prompts the thinking: That is, Hestimulates the reasoning processes.

c. He enlightens the memory: The prophet isthus enabled to recall events and ideas.

d. He directs attention to matters to berecorded: This deals specifically with the selec-tion of topic and content. 905. Verbal Versus Plenary. Mrs. White states

directly that it is not the words of the Scripturesthat are inspired, but rather the men who wrotethem-the prophets were "God's penmen, not Hispen."91

The semantic problem here is recognized-agiven word may convey different ideas to differentpeople. Yet if a writer or speaker is intellectuallyhonest, he can usually convey his meaningplainly!2 The same truth may be expressed in dif-ferent ways without essential contradiction. 93

Basically, "inspiration acts not on the man'swords or his expressions but on the man himself,who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, isimbued with thoughts. "9.

6. What the Bible is not: The Bible does notrepresent the words, the logic, or the rhetoric ofGod'" "God, as a writer, is not represented."96Indeed, God says that His thoughts are not ourthoughts, neither are His ways our ways (Isaiah55:8, 9). But the Bible does point to God as its"Author. "97 Christ "Himself [is] the Author ofthese revealed truths. "98

7. Totality. Ellen White took the Bible just as itstood-"I believe its utterances in an entireBible.' '99 And she urged her hearers and readers to"cling to your Bible, as it reads." 100 Amplifyingthis thought elsewhere, she continues, "Everychapter and every verse is a communication ofGod to man."'o,

8. God's superintendency. The Lord miracu-lously preserved the Bible through the centuries inessentially its present form. l02 Indeed, the preser-vation of the Bible is as much a miracle as itsinspiration.

Of course, the Bible was not given in "oneunbroken line of utterance." Rather, throughsucessive generations, it was given, piece by piece,as a beneficent Providence recognized variousneeds in different places. "The Bible was given forpractical purposes." 103

The continuing hand of God is seen in the givingof the messages, in the recording of the messages,in the gathering of the books into the Canon, andin the preservation of the Bible through successiveages. IO '


9. Unity. Ellen White draws an interestingdistinction with r~gard to unity: While there is notalways "apparent" unity, there is, however, a"spiritual unity." And this unity she likens to onegrand golden thread, running through the whole,which is discovered by the "illumined soul."

However, to trace out this unity requires thesearcher to exercise patience, thought, andprayer. 10'

In the days when Britannia ruled the waves, andships were propelled by wind rather than by steamor oil, the ships of His Majesty's royal navy allcarried rope that had a crimson thread woventhrough its entire length. This thread served twopurposes: It made identification easy in cases ofsuspected theft; and it also assured the sailors(whose lives often depended upon the quality ofthe rope they handled) that they had the very best.

Applying this analogy to the Bible, the blood ofJesus is the crimson thread that runs throughoutthe whole Scripture. This unity is exhibited in atleast five areas, according to Jemison:

a. Purpose: the story of the plan of salva-tion.

b. Theme: Jesus, the cross, the crown.c. Harmony of teaching: Old and New Testa-

ment doctrines are the same.d. Development: the steady progression from

creation to the fall to redemption to finalrestoration.

e. Coordination of the prophecies: evidentbecause the same Holy Spirit was at work! 10010. Degrees oj inspiration. Ellen White makes

it abundantly clear that the Christian is not toassert that one part of the Scripture is inspired andthat another is not, or that there are degrees ofinspiration among the various books of the Bible.God has not qualified or inspired any man to dothis kind of work. 107

Theory of Encounter Inspiration 108

A third view of inspiration goes by a variety oflabels: "Neo-orthodoxy," "existentialism," (thereligious kind), or "encounter" (after one of themore prominent words in its in-house jargon).This view is based, at least in part, on the"I-Thou" concept of Philosopher Martin Buber.The three basic tenets or postulates will now beexamined:

Subjective Rather Than Objective

1. Inspiration is, by its very nature, inherentlysubjective rather than objective.

Although the verbalist and plenarist views arequite different and distinct, the former holdingthat inspiration resides in the exact word used, andthe latter believing that the inspiration residesinstead in the thought conveyed by the prophet,

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both are alike in one respect: They each hold thatinspiration is essentially objective rather than sub-jective.

Until the turn of the century, these were the twobasic positions held by the Christian world. Thenalong came Martin Buber (who is a philosopherrather than a theologian), who helped to develop anew theory of inspiration. This theory holds,among other views, that inspiration is, by its verynature, inherently subjective rather than objec-tive. What does this mean in practical terms?

As "encounter" theology sees it, revelation (orinspiration) is an experience that takes place in an"I-Thou" encounter between the prophet andGod. It is then, primarily, an experience, with noexchange of information taking place.

Revelation, for the encounter theologian, is"the personal self-disclosure of God to man, notthe impartation of truths about God, . . . an'I-Thou' encounter with God, the full presence ofGod in the consciousness" of the prophet, asRaoul Dederen has so felicitously phrased it. 109

There is no communication of information inencounter theology. God does not utter a word.No statements of truth of any kind are made inthis unique relationship. Truth is seen not as con-ceptual in an objective sense, but as experiential ina subjective sense.

At this point the encounterist would argue thatthere is a content. But the content is not the impar-tation of some concept about God, but, rather,the imparting of some One-God Himself,addressing the individual Christian's soul and call-ing for a personal response in the transaction.

Revelation, ultimately, for the encounterist, isthe full revelation of God to the full consciousnessof the prophet. In this experience there is no com-munication of ideas, truths, concepts, or mes-sages.

As we noted earlier, the Bible writers conveyemphatically that God speaks particularly anduniquely through inspired men. There is simply notwisting such declarations as the one made in 2Samuel 23:2: "The Spirit of the Lord spake byme, and his word was in my tongue"!

The inquiry of Zedekiah the king to Jeremiahthe prophet is central to a genuinely Biblical viewof inspiration: "Is there any word from theLord?" (Jeremiah 37: 17).

Nor is this merely an Old Testament view ofinspiration. In three places in Acts Luke uses suchexpressions as "the Holy Ghost by the mouth ofDavid spake" (chap. 1:16), "God hath spoken bythe mouth of all his holy prophets since the worldbegan" (chap. 3:21), and "by the mouth of thyservant David [God] hast said," et cetera. Chapterfour of 1 Timothy opens with "Now the Spiritspeaketh expressly, that . . .," and the openingwords of Hebrews declare that whereas in former

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days God spoke by the mouth of the holy proph-ets, in more recent times He has spoken moredirectly to mankind through His Son.

The encounterist holds that the prophet as aperson is inspired (which is true), but that thethoughts and the words the prophet conveys arehis own ideas rather than God's ideas (which isfalse).

Further, the encounterist holds that the prophetis the interpreter of God's self-disclosure in termsrelevant to his own day; and those ideas may con-tain error. They may even be scientifically orhistorically inaccurate (as, for example, Moses'idea of a seven solar-day literal creation); yet theprophet nevertheless is held to be inspired, since,in this view, inspiration has nothing whatever todo with ideas!

The encounterist lays great stress on context.His purpose is to demonstrate "historical condi-tioning"-the idea that the prophet is the helplessvictim (as well as the product) of his environment,background, education, and climate of thought.

Although the plenarist is also interested in con-text, he uses it to discover, by examination of thehistorical circumstances surrounding the giving ofa particular message, whether the prophet's wordsconstitute a principle-(an unchanging, unerringrule of human behavior) or a policy (the applica-tion of a principle to a particular situation, inwhich case the application may change as thesituation changes).

2. Contains the word versus being the word.The encounterist says that the Bible contains theword of God, but that it is not itself the word ofGod. In this view, the Bible is no longer revelationin the pre-twentieth century sense of the word. It isno longer God's revealed word, but rather a wit-ness to the revelation experience.

Regarding content, this view sees the Bible asmerely the result of its writer's rational reflectionupon God's individual and personal self-manifes-tation to them. In other words, Moses did notreceive the Ten Commandments directly fromGod, nor did he obtain specific instructions con-cerning the earthly tabernacle, its furnishings, orits ceremonies.

Thus the encounterist does not believe that theconcepts conveyed in Scripture are the word ofGod, as the plenarist believes. The plenarist holdsinspiration to be objective-that is, somethingapart from the individual by which he is dailyjudged. The encounterist sees the word of God asa personal, subjective experience-an inner expe-rience that is remarkably powerful and compel-ling. Experience, as the encounterist sees it,constitutes the word of God-not ideas, thoughts,conceptions, or propositional truth.

As the prophet attempts to express his ownideas or thoughts in describing this "divine-


human encounter" he thus attempts to convey theword of God as he feels it from within. Thisattempt could be compared to a person's relatingin a prayer meeting testimony what God did forhim that week.

For the encounterist, the prophet is inspired inheart, rather than in head. Thus the person whohears or reads the prophet's words also has a sub-jective experience. Truth is therefore defined asexperiential. The experience becomes the word ofGod for the student, rather than the word of Godbeing defined as the literal words, concepts, andpropositions expressed by the prophet.

The plenarist does not disparage the place ofexperience in the life of the Christian; indeed, in atleast 13 locations Ellen White uses the expressionexperimental religion. But human experiencenever supercedes the objective word of God,which must itself determine the validity of allexperience. I 10

3. Quantitative, Not Qualitative. Finally, forthe encounterist, everyone is inspired. Theprophet simply has a more superlative degree ofinspiration than the ordinary individual.

The issue at this point is a difference in degreeversus a difference in kind. The prophet has amore intense degree of inspiration, it is held, thanthat of average people. A prophet's, minister's, orpolitician's eloquence may lead people to dothings they would not otherwise do. Because sucha person lifts others up out of themselves, he isthus considered "inspired."

There may certainly be some kind of secular,nonprophetic inspiration. We sometimes think ofan artist, a sculptor, a musical composer or per-former as being "inspired." But this ordinary,secular inspiration has nothing whatever to dowith the kind of prophetic inspiration spoken of inthe Bible.

In Biblical inspiration, the prophet is taken offin vision. He or she may lose natural strength onlyto receive a supernatural endowment. For theprophet, God breathes-literally; for in the visionstate the prophet does not breathe. And while inthis state, the prophet receives infallible messagesfrom the Lord.

Ordinary individuals may be moved by theinspired words of the prophet; their lives may befundamentally altered for the better. But thatexperience is not the "inspiration" that the Biblewriters and Ellen White possessed. When ordinarypeople are "inspired," it is some other kind ofinspiration than the Biblical variety. It is a dif-ference in kind, not in degree.

This idea of degrees of inspiration that is soprevalent in encounter theology has, historically,had a certain appeal with Adventism. In 1884then-General Conference President George I.Butler's series of ten articles in the Review and


Herald posited this idea of degrees of inspiration.Ellen White wrote him a letter of rebuke lll inwhich she came about as close to sarcasm as sheever did, pointing out that God had not inspiredthis series on inspiration, nor had He approved ofthe teaching of these views at the sanitarium, col-lege, or publishing house in Battle Creek!

A Significant Difference

At this point, the reader may, rather wearily,say, "What practical difference does it makewhich position I take?" It makes a big difference.Let us note some of the significant implicationsthat result from accepting the encounterist view:

I. The Bible is no longer the bearer of eternaltruths; it is no longer a book of doctrine. It degen-erates into merely a witness to the "divine-humanencounter" between God and a prophet. It is nolonger a statement of truths from God or truthsabout God. It is merely the personal view of theprophet giving his subjective reaction to a highlysubjective experience.

2. The reader of the prophet's words, then,becomes the authority, the arbiter who decideswhat (for him) is inspired and what is not. Hereads the Bible critically; but he is not obliged tobelieve what it says in principle, conceptually, butrather what he interprets it to mean to him. Hedecides whether a given statement is to be acceptedat face value, or whether it is to be accepted at all.

The reader's subjective experience becomes nor-mative-the standard of what he will accept orreject as binding on his life and experience.

However, if there is no objective revelationas criterion, then there is no wayan individualcan validate his experience, no way for him todetermine whether this experience is from theHoly Spirit or from an unholy spirit. It is simplynot enought to say that one's experience is"self-authenticating." As John Robertson has sotrenchantly commented, "It may also be self-deceiving. "

3. The subjective view is a distortion. It distortsthe proper, legitimate place of context. It alsodistorts the proper place of experience, by makingit the criterion for authenticity. The subjectiveview emphasizes "the autonomy of historical con-ditioning," and makes demythologizing of theprophet a necessity to contemporary understand-ing. Further, it distorts genuine propheticinspiration by imposing the idea of degrees ofinspiration upon it as a central category.

4. In practical terms, the encounter view resultsin the adoption of the following theological posi-tions:

a. Creation, as taught in Genesis, is neitherliteral nor scientific. Rather, evolution becomesthe favored view, with Genesis being seen asmerely recording the quaint ideas extant in the

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time of Moses.b. With regard to the Incarnation of Christ,

Jesus was not really a divine-human being. Hewas only a man. The encounter view rejectssupernatural events such as the virgin birth andmiracles, as we commonly define them.5. In demonology, the Bible, says the

encounterist, merely reports the common ideas ofa time when it was popularly but incorrectlybelieved that demons possessed the physicalbodies of certain unfortunate human victims.Today, says the encounterist, we know that allmental illness and insanity are caused by externalconditions such as chemical imbalances andunfavorable environment-but not by spirits.

Plenarists can certainly agree that some mentalillness, perhaps much of it, is caused by external,nonsupernatural causes; but they cannot accept aview that declares that all mental illness is socaused. This author saw too much in his 12 yearsof mission service to believe otherwise!

In the final analysis, then, the encounterist, sub-jective view of inspiration ultimately constitutes adenial of the "faith once delivered to the saints."It is a clever substitution of "cleverly devisedfables" for an infallible revelation of truth asgiven by God through divinely (and objectively)inspired prophets. And those who accept this viewrisk losing eternal life.

IV. The Purpose ofInspiration/Revelation

. Leslie Hardinge, a veteran Seventh-day Adven-tIst college and seminary Bible teacher, once madea very profound statement: "Without analogy,there is no real teaching." The most effectiveteaching in the Bible, or anywhere else, is donethrough metaphor and simile. Let us notice firsttwo interesting, helpful metaphors that' Bibl~writers employ in the New Testament to enlargeour understanding of the purpose of inspiration/revelation.

Two Biblical Metaphors1. The Apostle Paul repeatedly speaks of

pr~hetic inspiration as the gift from the HolySpmt-one of the so-called "spiritual gifts"(Ephesians 4; 1 Corinthians 12).

A person may receive many kinds of gifts. Somegifts are useless or even embarrassing. However,the most valuable gifts I have ever received wereeither utilitarian gifts that filled a particular needin my day-to-day existence (such as a pen, anattache case, or a typewriter) or gifts of love inwhich the sentiment that prompted the gift fartranscended the inherent, immediate value of thegift. This sentiment bestowed upon the gift a valueit would not otherwise have possessed.

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The gift of prophecy can be described in thesame terms. To some it is useless. To others it is acontinual embarrassment and annoyance, for itcuts across their lifestyle repeatedly, dealing as itdoes with particulars of day-to-day existence. Thecarnal heart strenuously objects to the restraintsput upon it by inspired revelation.

The choice of the metaphor gift is a fortunateone when we come to the question of inspiration/revelation. The purpose of this gift is to promotethe work of the ministry of the body (church) ofGod-to strengthen and guide the church (Ephe-sians 4:12-15). Notice in particular its four pur-poses in this connection:

a. The perfection of the saints (that they maygrow up into Christ).

b. The unification of the saints (so that therewill be no schism in the body of Christ. See 1Corinthians 12:25).

c. The edification of the saints (inspired writ-ings provide doctrine, reproof, correction, andinstruction in righteousness. See 2 Timothy3:16).

d. The stabilization of the saints (that theymay have an anchor to keep them from driftingabout on every wave of doctrine).2. The Apostle Peter adds a second metaphor,

actually borrowing it from one of David's psalms.He sees prophetic inspiration as resembling a lightthat shines in a darkened place for a practical andnecessary purpose-to keep us from stumblingand falling (2 Peter 1: 19). A millenium earlierDavid had likened the word of God to a "lamp"to the feet, a "light" to the path (Psalm 119:105).

As a "light," prophetic inspiration serves twovaluable functions:

a. One of the main purposes of the propheticwritings (although certainly not their only func-tion) is to reveal future events. Revelation thushelps us to make adequate preparation for com-ing events and enables us to relate constructivelyto these events when they occur. 112

However, a less obvious reason for includingthe prophetic element in Scripture is to validatethe Bible's divine origin-to show that God isits Author. Mortals cannot predict what willhappen even moments in advance; but God cantell centuries in advance what will transpire.This function of inspiration was the particularburden of Isaiah. I 13

b. Equally important is the function of reve-lation as light to protect the believer. Inspiredwritings provide a light that exposes Satan'sgoals and his proposed methodology for accom-plishing his objective. Truly, "where there is novision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29: 18).

Conclusion"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole mat-


ter" is not only a sound pedagogical device, butalso a spiritual imperative.

Inspiration has been seen as a process in whichGod uniquely imparts eternally important truthsthrough "his servants, the prophets," who "atsundry times and in divers manners" have spokento their contemporaries and to those who wouldlater follow to enable them to understand thedivine mind and will of God for their lives.

We have, especially in these closing hours ofearth's history, an overriding need to understandhow this phenomena operates, so that we may notonly have an intelligent understanding of whatGod is trying to say to us, but also so that we mayavoid the perils and pitfalls that arise from theholding of false views.

Paul's admonition to the saints of the New

Testament-"Quench not the Spirit. [Don't letthe candle go out!] Despise not prophesyings.Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (lThessalonians 5:19-21)-is but the echo of thecounsel of Jehosaphat in the Old Testament:"Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye beestablished; believe his prophets, so shall ye pros-per" (2 Chronicles 20:20).

In the second presentation in this series we willconsider the question of inerrancy and infallibil-ity-Does the true prophet ever err? The experi-ence of Ellen White will be examined in the lightof the evidence of Bible prophets.

(Part II of this three-part continuing educationseries will appear in the December, 1981-January,1982, issue of the JOURNAL.)

FOOTNOTES, Matthew 13:57. For an especially helpful-and relevant-examina-

tion of this phenomenon of rejection, in the context of the current con-troversy over the role and function of Ellen G. White, see J. R.Spangler's editorial, "Persecuting the Prophets," in Ministry (February,1981), pp. 21, 25.

'JoeI2:28-32; Rev. 10; 12:17; 10:10; Eph. 4:11-15; I Cor. 12:12,28.See also "Prophecy After New Testament Times," chapter 8 of T.Housel Jemison's A Prophet Among You (Mountain View, Calif.:Pacific Press Publishing Assn., 1955), pp. 135-147.

, Ellen G. White, Selected Messages (Washington, D.C.: Review andHerald Pub. Assn., 1958), Book I, p. 48.

'Ibid., , Testimoniesfor the Church (Mountain View, Calif.:

Pacific Press Publishing Assn., 1948), vol. 5, p. 667., Selected Messages, Book I, p. 48., , Sons and Daughters of God (Washington, D.C.:

Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1955), p. 276.• Indebtedness in deriving working definitions is acknowledged to Dr.

Raoul Dederen's "Toward a Seventh-day Adventist Theology ofRevelation-Inspiration," North American Division Bible ConferenceNotebook, 1974, pp. 1-20.

, 2 Timothy 3: 16. Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright© 1978 by the New York International Bible Society. Used by permis-sion of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Italics supplied. See also TheAmplified Bible.

"See DaniellO: 17, also a subsequent discussion of physicalphenomena which follows below.

" Acts 27:17, 27." International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, (Chicago, 111.: The

Howard Severance Co., 1915) Ill:1479, 1480." Dederen, Op. Cit." Ibid." Ephesians 3:3-5." I Corinthians 2:6-14." I Corinthians 12:29." John 14:26." Ibid.'" John 16: 13." Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 512." Revelation 1:11; 21:6; 22:13." I Corinthians 12:7." I Corinthians 12:11, 18; cf. also John 15:16." Ephesians 4: II." I Corinthians 12:29, 30.n I Corinthians 1:5-7; 12:28; 14:1." I Corinthians 12:31." Genesis 1:2, 26. The "Elohim" of verse 26 is plural noun.JO Revelation 1:1; John 8:28; 5:19, 30." John 16:7, 13, 14."2 Peter 1:21." Revelation 1:1; 22:6. Cf. Daniel 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19,26." For example, I Kings 22: 19. This exact expression appears 36 times

in the Old Testament alone; variations appear even more frequentlythroughout the entire Bible.

" Revelation 5: II." John 13: 16; 15:20." Exodus 20; cf. Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Washington, D.C.:

Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1946), p. 616; and Seventh-day Adven-


tist Bible Commentary (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub.Assn., 1953), vol. 1, pp. 1103,1104.

" Ellen G. White, The Spirit ofProphecy (Battle Creek, Mich.: SteamPress of the SDA Pub. Assn., 1870), vol. I, p. 399; ,EarlyWritings (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1882),p.32.

"Matthew 3:17; 17:5; John 12:28." Numbers 27:21; I Samuel 28:6; Spirit ofProphecy, vol. I, pp. 398,

399; , Patriarchs and Prophets (Mountain View, Calif.:Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1913), p. 351.

" Spirit of Prophecy, vol. I, p. 399; Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 349." Leviticus 16:8; Joshua 7." Acts 1:26... Letter 37, March 4, 1900; cited in Selected Messages, Book 2, p.

328." I Samuel 3:1; Numbers 12:6; Joel 2:28-32; Acts 16:9." Cited by Arthur L. White in quoting his father, William C. White,

in Ellen G. White: Messenger to the Remnant (Washington, D.C.:Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1969), p. 7.

" See Acts 2... From a stenographically prepared transcript of Walter Rea's lec-

ture, "White Lies," Adventist Forum, San Diego, California, February14,1981, p. 10. In a letter dated July 17, 1981, I requested in writing thatWalter Rea grant me permission to quote him directly from his verbatimtranscript. In his reply dated July 21, Rea in effect declined the request,tacitly admitting that he might have made some small errors in hispresentation to the forum. Instead, he appealed to me not to get intominor nit picking but to stay with the larger issues. Physical phenomenais one such larger issue, and Walter Rea has tended to emphasize it byalleging that published reports of Ellen White's holding a large Bible invision are mythical and without foundation.

.. Published in Spectrum X:I (May, 1979), pp. 23-57." Ibid., p. 28." See, for example, "The Witness of the 'Big Bible' " by Arthur L.

White, September 13, 1979, and "Ellen G. White and the Big Bible" byRon Graybill, 1981, both unpublished manuscripts circulated as workingpapers among the Ellen G. White Estate staff.

" See General Conference Bulletin, January 29, 1893, pp. 19, 20;SDA Encyclopedia (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,1976), p. 374; and Paul Gordon's monograph, "Revelation-Inspiration:Ellen G. White's Witness and Experience," July, 1978, p. I.

" Eight-page report of Otis Nichols (undated), p. 7. From internalevidence it is apparent that Nichols could not have written this first-person eyewitness account before 1847; and it is obvious that it could nothave been penned after 1860, since Ellen White quotes three paragraphsof it in Spiritual Gifts (Battle Creek, Mich.: James White, 1860), vol. 2,pp.77-79.

" Ibid." See "How the Visions Were Given," in Messenger to the Remnant,

pp.6-8. ." See "The Alpha and the Omega" and "The Foundation of Our

Faith" in Selected Messages, Book I, pp. 193-208." Review and Herald (October 8, 1867), cited in Messenger to the

Remnant, pp. 13,60, and 79." Ibid." "A False Prophetess?" Newsweek (January 19, 1981), p. 72." Robert W. Olson, /0/ Questions on the Sanctuary and on Ellen

White (Washin~ton. D.C.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1981), pp. 105, 106.

31

" See SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 345." See Ibid., vol. 5, pp. 346, 356." !OI Questions on the Sanctuary, p. 106." From the New American Standard Bible, © The Lockman Founda-

tion, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1%8, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975. Used by permis-sion.

" !OI Questions on the Sanctuary, pp. 106, 107." See Ibid., pp. 64-85; 105-108." Testimonies, vol. I, pp. 600-604."Virgil Robinson, Reach Out (Washington, D.C.: Review and

Herald Pub. Assn., 1970), p. 300."A. W. Spalding, Pioneer Stories (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern

Publishing Assn., 1942), pp. 206, 207, cited in The Spirit of ProphecyTreasure Chest (Los Angeles, Calif.: Voice of Prophecy, 1960), pp. 28,29.

" J. N. Loughborough, Rise and Progress of Seventh-day Adventists(Battle Creek, Mich.: General Conference Assn. of SDA, 1892), pp.231-233.

" The author acknowledges indebtedness to Dr. Earle Hilgert, whotaught a course in "Introduction to New Testament" at the SDATheological Seminary, January, 1959, in which much of the material inthis section of the article was presented.

" Selected Messages, Book I, pp. 15-23." Ibid., pp. 15, 16." Ibid., p. 16." Ibid., p. 18.'0 Ibid., p. 16." Ibid., p. 20." Testimonies, vol. I, p. 562." Selected Messages, Book I, pp. 19,20.t, Ibid., p. 22." Ibid." Ibid., p. 16.83 Ibid... Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.:

Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), p. vi; , Steps to Christ(Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1956), p. 73.

" Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 747... , The Desire ofAges (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific

Press Publishing Assn., 1940), p. 250." , The Sanctified Life (Washington, D.C.: Review and

Herald Pub. Assn., 1937), pp. 68, 81... Ibid., p. 62." Hilgert, Loc. cit." A Prophet Among You." Selected Messages, Book I, p. 21." Ibid., p. 19." Ibid., p. 22... Ibid., p. 21." Ibid."Ibid." The Great Controversy, p. v. Italics supplied... Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 710." Selected Messages, Book I, p. 17.'" Ibid., p. 18.,,, Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 449.'" Selected Messages, Book 1, p. 15.,,, Ibid., p. 20.'" T. Housel Jemison, Christian Beliefs (Mountain View, Calif.:

Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1959), p. 22.'" Selected Messages, Book I, p. 20.'" Christian Beliefs, p. 17.,,, Selected Messages, Book I, p. 23.". Indebedness is acknowledged for many of the ideas in this section

to Dr. John 1.. Robertson, "The Challenge to God's Word," and Dr.Raoul Dederen, Loc. cit. Unfortunately, it is not possible to identifyindividual contributions from existing notes.

109 Dederen, Loc. cit.'" Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 512.'" Letter 12, 1889, published in Selected Messages, Book I, p. 23.'" See Rev. 1:1,2; 22:6; John 16:13; 13:19; 14:29; Daniel 2:28; and

Amos 3:7.'" Isaiah 41:21-23; 42:9; 43:9; 44:7,8; 45:3,21,22; 46:9, 10.

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