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QUESTION: Did Mrs.
White really claim to be a prophet?
ANSWER:
[Brother Anderson]
The main impetus behind this question is that we do not need to hold Mrs.
White up to the Biblical tests of a prophet
because she never claimed that title. Was she a prophet or simply a messenger? The truth is that Mrs. White claimed to be more
than a prophet. Why would she and her followers claim her writings were the "Spirit
of Prophecy" if she were not a prophet? Adventists have claimed she had the prophetic gift for over 160 years. They claim that her prophetic gift is the identifying mark that proves the Seventh-day Adventist church is the true remnant church of Revelation 12:17 and 19:10. There is no way to
excuse her from the scrutiny of the Biblical tests of a prophet by claiming she
was just a "messenger." If she claimed to be more than a prophet,
then she needs to be held to an even higher standard than the prophets!
[Robert Sanders] I have had Adventists write and tell me that Ellen G. White never claimed to be a prophet or prophetess in their attempt to excuse her from her failed visions and Bible
contradictions. Is this a valid excuse?
How did
EGW respond to the questions about her being a prophet?
Selected Messages Book 3,
page 74
Chapter Title: On
Being an Inspired Messenger
No Claim to the Title
"Prophetess."--During the discourse [at Battle Creek,
October 2, 1904], I said that I did not claim to
be a prophetess. Some were surprised at this statement, and as
much is being said in regard to it, I will make an explanation. Others
have called me a prophetess, but I have never assumed that title. I
have not felt that it was my duty thus to designate myself. Those who
boldly assume that they are prophets in this our day are
often a reproach to the cause of Christ.--Letter 55, 1905.
Note: There were false prophets in
Biblical days and that did not keep the messengers of God (true prophets)
from accepting the title of "prophets". The proof of a
prophet is in the works of the prophet not in the title. Regardless of
EGW's title whether prophetess or Messenger of the Lord, she was a
reproach to the cause of Christ by contradicting the Word of God and
having failed visions.
Selected Messages Book 1,
page 35.
When I was last in Battle Creek, I
said before a large congregation that I did not claim to be a prophetess.
Twice I referred to this matter,
intending each time to make the statement, "I
do not claim to be a prophetess." If I spoke
otherwise than this, let all now understand that what
I had in mind to say was that I do not claim the title of prophet or
prophetess.
Note: Ellen White had a hard time making up
her mind whether or not she was a prophet after opening her mouth to the
public that she was not a prophet.
If you notice EGW was not denying being a
prophetess, but that she was not claiming "the title of prophet or
prophetess."
My work includes much more than this name
signifies. I regard myself as a messenger, entrusted by the
Lord with messages for His people.--Letter 55, 1905. (In Selected
Messages, book 1, pp. 32, 35, 36.)
The Work of a Prophet and More. --I
am now instructed that I am not to be hindered in my work by those who
engage in suppositions regarding its nature, whose minds are struggling
with so many intricate problems connected with the supposed work of a
prophet. My commission embraces the work of a
prophet, but it does not end there. It embraces much more than
the minds of those who have been sowing the seeds of unbelief can
comprehend.--Letter 244, 1906. (Addressed to elders of the Battle Creek
church; See Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 34-36.)
Note: EGW never tells us what her work
is that "more than that of a prophet." She tells us it is just
to bear God's word.
EGW is telling us she had a
"commission" of a prophet, but her work did not end there.
Again EGW, is telling us she was a prophet even though she did not claim
the title. How can this be? A prophet is a prophet regardless of the
work God assigns to them.
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Ellen
White knew exactly what she was saying when she wanted to be called "the
Lord's Messenger" and what it implied. So when Ellen G. White referred
to herself as "the Lord's Messenger" she was using Bible language to
claim equality with John the Baptist, Malachi, Haggai, and other Old Testament
prophets. In other words, all her double-talk about not calling herself a
"prophet" is simply garbage! She used the term
"Messenger" which was specifically used of prophets and priests.
| Mal 2:7 (NIV)
""For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge,
and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger
of the LORD Almighty."
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| Hag.
1:13 (NIV) 13Then
Haggai, the LORD’S messenger,
gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,”
declares the LORD.
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Mat 11:9, 10 (NIV)
"Then what did you go out to see? A
prophet? Yes, I tell you,
and more than a prophet."
"This is the one about whom it is written: "'I will
send my messenger
ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'"
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The
SDA Church understands that Ellen G. White was a prophet to their church and put
her picture on the cover of the Adventist Review along with Moses, John the
Baptist, and Deborah, Adventist Review June 4, 1992. Associate Editor Roy
Adams wrote an article, A Prophet for Our Time, Sizing Up Ellen G. White, in
this edition, pp. 8,9.
Adventist Review June 4, 1992
Selected Messages Book 3,
page 76, paragraph 2
Chapter
Title: On Being an Inspired Messenger
The Privilege of Being God's Messenger.--I
am very thankful that the Lord has given me the privilege of being His
messenger to communicate precious truth to others.--Letter 80, 1911
Note: EGW must have been a very special
person for God to give her the privilege of being his messenger. This
was the first time since John the Baptist that God had had called anyone
his "messenger" Matt. 11:10. It took nearly 2000 years for a
miracle of this magnitude to take place in the person of EGW in 1845.
Wow!
EGW's "truth" has been a failure
of her visions, huge amounts of Bible contradictions, unscientific
health reform information, and the ability to enforce this on her
church. Any opened minded person should be able to see clearly that EGW
was not God's Messenger, but a False Prophet. God would never allow a
true prophet to put out such garbage.
All the people that heard EGW's so called
"truth" are now dead. You would think that God would call a
"messenger" to speak to people that are alive just before his
coming and that would not contradict his word.
God has allowed false prophets to exist and
function in times past. God has given us the Holy Spirit and the
Scriptures to test the prophets. Jesus and the Apostles warn us not to
follow false prophets.
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Advent Review and Sabbath
Herald, July 26, 1906, paragraph 5
Article Title: A
Messenger
Early in my youth I was asked several times, Are
you a prophet? I have ever responded, I am the Lord's
messenger.
I
know that many have called me a prophet, but I have made no claim to
this title. My Saviour declared me to be his messenger. "Your
work," he instructed me," is
to bear my word. Strange things will arise, and in your youth
I set you apart to bear the message to the erring ones, to carry the
word before unbelievers, and with pen and voice to reprove from the Word
actions that are not right. Exhort from the Word. I will make my Word
open to you. It shall not be as a strange language. In the true
eloquence of simplicity, with voice and pen, the messages that I give
shall be heard from one who has never learned in the schools. My Spirit
and my power shall be with you.
Note: This is more of EGW's double talk that
she does not claim the title of a prophetess. If I paint houses and
someone asks me if I am a painter and I say, my work is more than
painting houses as I am a house decorator, but if they wish to call me a
painter, I have no quarrel with them. Am
I not assuming the title of "painter?"
EGW never tells us what her work is that is
"more than that of a prophet." She tells us it is just to bear
God's word.
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Seventh-day Adventists can no longer hide behind
EGW's claim that "she was not a prophet to justify her failed visions and
Bible contradictions.
(Robert Sanders, TRUTH OR FABLES Newsletter, January 9, 2003)
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