Introduction

    Since the beginning of Ellen G. White's prophetic ministry within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, people have reacted differently toward her writings and authority.

    The official position of the Church is that her writings are both a source of inspiration for godly living in preparation for Christ's second coming and an authoritative source of doctrinal truth which provides the church with comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction.  However, many have rejected Ellen White's doctrinal authority and consider her writings only as a valid source of spiritual guidance and inspiration.

    One reason given for the rejection of her doctrinal authority is that, supposedly, Ellen G. White was strongly influenced by her friends, pioneer church leaders and early Adventist theologians. It is contended that her writings were simply a reflection of other Adventist writers in her entourage who wrote extensively on various doctrines. Given these assumptions, she is not considered as a doctrinal authority nor as a significant theological influence.

    It is my personal belief that such was not the case but that she was a free, independent theological thinker of her own, guided by the Holy Spirit in her prophetic ministry. I believe she was able to articulate and define doctrines within a particular system of thought (i.e. the themes of the great controversy between Christ and Satan and the love of God for humanity), that she was able to sort out doctrinal difficulties and problems, and that she was able to write articles and manuscripts on theological issues that were at variance with some of her most trusted and appreciated friends.

    To illustrate this, we will study her understanding of the doctrine of atonement in the 1860s and compare it with the writings of her trusted friends, J. H. Waggoner and Uriah Smith, on the same doctrine. I believe this comparison will be very enlightening.

    Before starting our study, her comment to A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner in 1887 will be of interest. In the context of the heated doctrinal discussions held prior to the 1888 General Conference session in Minneapolis, she said :

"I have not been in the habit of reading any doctrinal articles in the paper [i.e. Review and Herald], that my mind should not have any understanding of any one's ideas and views, and that not a mold of any man's theories should have any connection with that which I write." (Letter 37, 1887, to A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner, February 18, 1887.)

At least in this context, Ellen White knew she could be influenced by others and for this reason preferred not to read what others wrote on these subjects. She could think theologically and doctrinally. She wanted to be an independent thinker.

I. Early Seventh-day Adventist understanding of Atonement
 

A. Joseph H. Waggoner (1820-1889)

• Series of articles and books on Atonement
• In 1863, J.H. Waggoner prepared a series of articles for the Review and Herald titled: "The Atonement; an examination of the remedial system in the light of nature and revelation."
• This series was reprinted in a book form under the same title in 1868.
• A third publication of the series appeared in the Signs of the Times in 1876.
• The last reprinting in book form took place in 1884. (In this edition, the revisions from the original 1863 presentation are of no theological consequences; the theology is identical.)

 
• Waggoner's theological understanding of Atonement
• Arian view of Christ's nature

• Waggoner accepts the divinity of Christ, yet he is not placing Him on the same level with God.
• He believes trinitarianism "degrades the atonement, resting it solely on a human offering as a basis" (166) [All quotes are taken from the 1884 edition.]
• Trinitarianism holds the view that Christ had two natures, that he came to the cross only as a human, and that his divine nature was not involved since, as divinity, it could not die.
• For Waggoner, Christ's divine nature was subordinate to the divinity of the Father and, therefore, it also died on the cross.
• The death of Jesus on the cross implied that his total nature died as a sacrifice for humanity not only his human nature.

• Atonement is more than a sacrifice
• Atonement involves more than the salvation of mankind, it "is a vindication of justice by an offering to a broken law" (180).
• Christ suffered the full penalty of the law in his death on the cross. But Christ's death as the sacrificial victim is different from the atonement.
• The atonement was, in the Old Testament, an activity performed by the priesthood (184).

 
• From his analysis of the Old Testament on the atonement, Waggoner saw three steps leading to a complete Atonement:
• The sinner laid his hands on the offering.
• The sinner killed the offering.
• The priest then made the atonement in the sanctuary.
• Waggoner saw a complete distinction between the offering of the sacrifice and the atonement.

 
• While on earth, Jesus was a descendant of David, not of Aaron.
• Therefore, he could fulfil the office of a king, but not of a priest.
• It is only after his ascension into heaven, according to Hebrews, that Jesus took on also the office of priest after the order of Melchizedek.

 
• Christ's death is preparation for atonement
• Since Christ was killed by sinners, his death was only preparatory for the atonement.
• The atonement is what Christ is doing with the merits of his own shed blood.
• Atonement is made by the application of the benefits of the sacrifice of Christ which made salvation possible.

 
• Waggoner believed that Christ died for all men,
• but feared that if the sacrifice and the atonement were the same thing,
• then atonement is also for all men, and all would have to be saved.
• (Waggoner was reacting to universalism and to an evangelical punctiliar view of atonement.)

 
• "The cleansing of the sanctuary, and the making of the atonement, mean precisely the same thing; for the atonement was made by the high priest sprinkling the blood upon the mercy seat and the altar, and cleansing them from the sins of the people. Hence, the expression of Daniel 8:14 is equivalent to saying, 'Unto two thousand three hundred days, then shall the atonement be made'" (212).

 
• "The judgment of the saints, the blotting out of sin, the making of the atonement, and the cleansing of the sanctuary, are identical" (220).

 

 

B. Uriah Smith (1832-1903)
 
• Long time editor of the Review and Herald, Uriah Smith held views on the atonement very similar to those of J.H. Waggoner.
• In his editorial of January 30, 1894, "The Atonement. Not Made On the Cross - In Process Now," he explained the difference between the sacrifice of the victim and the atonement made by the priest in the sanctuary.
• During a week of prayer in Battle Creek sometime before, his presentation on the Atonement touched on some of the common errors and misunderstandings on the subject of the sanctuary.
• "Among these errors is the idea that the atonement was made upon the cross."

 
• The sanctuary service is an object-lesson on the process of the forgiveness of sin.
• The daily services:
• "The repentant sinner brought his offering to the door of the sanctuary;
• he confessed over it his sin, and thus transferred the sin from himself to the victim;
• the victim thus bearing the sin was then slain, and his blood ministered by the priest in the sanctuary."
• The yearly service:
• "At the end of the year, the priest with another offering,
• went into the most holy place, the second apartment of the sanctuary,
• and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy-seat, beneath which reposed the law of God, the transgression of which made men sinners,
• and thus atoned for the sins which had accumulated in the sanctuary during the year,
• and bore them from the place, to be sent away on the head of the scapegoat, and to perish with him in the wilderness.
• This day was therefore called "the day of atonement;" and with this service, and with this day, the yearly round of ministration came to an end."

 
• Christ and his work are the antitypes of all ancient offerings and services.
• "He acts in the capacity both of offering and priest.
• He is the antitype of the expiring victim,
• as well as the antitype of the ministering priest.
• but not both at the same time." (emphasis added)

 
• Distinction between the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ.
• "When he [Christ] stood as the antitypical victim, the great sacrifice for sin, he was not acting as priest.
• But it is the priest only who makes the atonement, not the victim.
• And what part of his work was it that Christ did upon the cross?
• He there gave his life as the great offering for sin, the sacrifice on which the sins of all the world were laid.
• But he was not then acting as priest."

• "No part of his priestly work is performed on this earth."
• "On the cross he bore the sins of the world, as the offering for sin. In heaven, having provided the offering, he pleads his blood, as priest, for all those who will come to God through him for pardon. These two positions should not be confounded. On the cross Christ offered himself as the sacrifice; in heaven he pleads his blood as priest, and makes atonement."

 

    At about the same time as Waggoner published his series of articles on the atonement, Ellen White published in 1869 a small pamphlet titled “The Sufferings of Christ” and the same year published it a second time in Testimonies for the Church number 17 (today it is found in Testimonies for the Church 2:200-215).  This pamphlet was republished a few more times:  in 1879 as a series of articles in Signs of the Times, in 1885-1886 in Present Truth, and in Bible Echo in 1892.  From this pamphlet on the sufferings of Christ, and other parts of her writings, it is evident that White’s own views on atonement were not entirely concordant with Waggoner’s views, and the differences were more than mere semantics.

    In “The Sufferings of Christ,” White describes the sufferings Christ experienced during his life, ministry, and events surrounding his death on the cross in order to save humanity and, in this context, uses the word atonement three times.  But, in contrast to Waggoner and Smith, she never makes a single reference to Christ’s heavenly priestly ministry in this pamphlet.  The pamphlet discusses only the sufferings of Christ from his incarnation to Gethsemane and Calvary.  Rather, than limiting atonement to Christ’s heavenly ministry, as Waggoner and Smith do, White refers to atonement only in reference to the life, sufferings and death of Jesus.
 

A. "The Sufferings of Christ"

• Definition of atonement
• The word "atonement" appears three times in this testimony (200, 213, 215).
• Atonement is first defined as the whole plan of salvation: "In consequence of limited ideas of the sufferings of Christ, many place a low estimate upon the great work of the atonement. The glorious plan of man's salvation was brought about through the infinite love of God the Father. In this divine plan is seen the most marvelous manifestation of the love of God to the fallen race" (200).
• This testimony discusses only the sufferings of Christ from his incarnation to his death on the cross (including Gethsemane).
• It never makes any reference to the heavenly ministry of Jesus.
• In this testimony, atonement is explained only in reference to the life, sufferings and death of Jesus.

 
• The Nature of Christ
• She declares Christ is equal to the Father: "This Saviour was the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His person. He possessed divine majesty, perfection, and excellence. He was equal with God" (200).

 
• The effects of the atonement or Why did Jesus die on the cross?
• Various subjective and objective theories have attempted to explain the reasons for the atonement and the death of Jesus on the cross. Ellen White addresses all the major ones in this testimony. This indicates that her view on atonement was very broad and included a wide understanding of the plan of salvation and a broader understanding of the meaning of the cross.

 
• Demonstration of the love of God for humanity:
• "In this divine plan is seen the most marvelous manifestation of the love of God to the fallen race" (200).
• "Who can comprehend the love here displayed. . . . All this in consequence of sin! Nothing could have induced Christ to leave His honor and majesty in heaven, and come to a sinful world, to be neglected, despised, and rejected by those He came to save, and finally to suffer upon the cross, but eternal, redeeming love, which will ever remain a mystery" (207).

 
• Christ is our example:
• In reference to Christ's prayer life, she said, "He is our example in all things. He is a brother in our infirmities, but not in possessing like passions" (202).
• "He is our example. If we could remember this, and imitate Him, we would be much stronger in God" (202).

 
• Christ's death morally influences humanity to do right:
• "Eternal interests are here involved. Upon this theme it is sin to be calm and unimpassioned. The scenes of Calvary call for the deepest emotion. Upon this subject you will be excusable if you manifest enthusiasm. . . . The contemplation of the matchless depths of a Saviour's love should fill the mind, touch and melt the soul, refine and elevate the affections, and completely transform the whole character" (213).
• "Reflections of Calvary will awaken tender, sacred, and lively emotions in the Christian's heart. . . . Pride and self-esteem cannot flourish in the hearts that keep fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary" (212).

 
• Vindication of God's character, law and government:
• "His death did not make the law of non effect; it did not slay the law, lessen its holy claims, nor detract from its sacred dignity. The death of Christ proclaimed the justice of His Father's law in punishing the transgressor, in that He consented to suffer the penalty of the law Himself in order to save fallen man from its curse. The death of God's beloved Son on the cross shows the immutability of the law of God. . . . The death of Christ justified the claims of the law" (201).

 
• Victory over the powers of evil and Satan:
• "He was about to ransom His people with His own blood. He was paying the just claims of God's holy law. This was the means through which an end was to be finally made of sin and Satan, and his host to be vanquished" (209).
• "Satan was then defeated. He knew that his kingdom was lost" (211).

 
• Substitution of suffering and of death penalty:
• "Christ consented to die in the sinner's stead, that man, by a life of obedience, might escape the penalty of the law of God" (200-201).
• "The sins of the world were upon Him. He was suffering in man's stead as a transgressor of His Father's law" (203).
• "The sins of a lost world were upon Him and overwhelming Him. It was a sense of His Father's frown, in consequence of sin, which rent His heart with such piercing agony and forced from His brow great drops of blood" (204).
• "We can have but faint conceptions of the inexpressible anguish of God's dear Son in Gethsemane, as He realized His separation from His Father in consequence of bearing man's sin. He became sin for the fallen race" (206).
• The glorious Redeemer of a lost world was suffering the penalty of man's transgression of the Father's law" (209).
• "When men and women can more fully comprehend the magnitude of the great sacrifice which was made by the Majesty of heaven in dying in man's stead, then will the plan of salvation be magnified" (212).

• ["Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves.  He was condemned for our sins, in which he had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share.  He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His" (DA 25).]

 
• Reconciled humanity to the Father:
• "What amazing love! that brought the Son of God to earth to be made sin for us, that we might be reconciled to God, and elevated to a life with Him in His mansions in glory" (211-212).

 
• Appeasing the just wrath of God:
• "The wrath that would have fallen upon man was now falling upon Christ" (203).
• "Could mortals have viewed the amazement and the sorrow of the angelic host as they watched in silent grief the Father separating His beams of light, love, and glory from the beloved Son of His bosom, they would better understand how offensive sin is in His sight. The sword of justice was now to awake against His dear Son" (207).
• "But bodily pain was but a small part of the agony of God's dear Son. The sins of the world were upon Him, also the sense of His Father's wrath as He suffered the penalty of the law transgressed. It was these that crushed His divine soul" (214).

 


B. From other writings
 

• Atonement accomplished at the cross

a. "The brightness of the Father's glory, and the excellence and perfection of His sacred law are only understood through the atonement made on Calvary by His dear Son; but even the atonement loses its significance when the law of God is rejected." (Signs of the Times, August 25, 1887, 500)

b. "Jesus refused the homage of His people until He had the assurance that His sacrifice had been accepted by the Father. He ascended to the heavenly courts, and from God Himself heard the assurance that His sacrifice for the sins of men had been ample, that through His blood all might gain eternal life." (Desire of Ages, 790)

c. "The death of Christ upon the cross made sure the destruction of him who has the power of death, who was the originator of sin. When Satan is destroyed, there will be none to tempt to evil; the atonement will never need to be repeated; and there will be no danger of another rebellion in the universe of God." (Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889, 786)

d. "In the councils of heaven the cross was ordained as the means of atonement. This was to be God's means of winning men to Him. Christ came to this earth to show that in humanity He could keep the law of God." (MS 165, 1899)

e. "He planted the cross between heaven and earth, and when the Father beheld the sacrifice of His son, He bowed before it in recognition of its perfection. 'It is enough,' he said, 'the atonement is complete.'" (Review and Herald, September 24, 1901, 615)

 

• The atonement in the heavenly sanctuary

a. "The great sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted, and the Holy Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where Jesus entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the benefits of His atonement." (Early Writings, 260)

b. "Our Saviour is in the sanctuary pleading in our behalf. He is our interceding High Priest, making an atoning sacrifice for us, pleading in our behalf the efficacy of His blood." (Fundamentals of Christian Education, 370)

c. "Thank God that He who spilled His blood for us lives to plead it, lives to make intercession for every soul who receives Him . . . . We need to keep ever before us the efficacy of the blood of Jesus." (Letter 87, 1894)
 
 

• Christ was both sacrifice and priest on the cross

a. "As the high priest laid aside his gorgeous pontifical robes, and officiated in the white linen dress of a common priest, so Christ emptied Himself, and took the form of a servant, and offered the sacrifice, Himself the priest, Himself the victim." (Southern Watchman, August 6, 1903, 298)

b. "While He took upon Himself humanity, it was a life taken into union with Deity. He could lay down His life as priest and also as victim. He possessed in Himself power to lay it down and take it up again. He offered Himself without spot to God." (MS 92, 1899)

c. "He fulfilled one phase of His priesthood by dying on the cross for the fallen race. He is now fulfilling another phase by pleading before the Father the case of the repenting, believing sinner, presenting to God the offering of His people." (MS 42, 1901)
 

• Atonement made for all mankind

a. "As the high priest sprinkled the warm blood upon the mercy seat while the fragrant cloud of incense ascended before God, so while we confess our sins and plead the efficacy of Christ's atoning blood, our prayers are to ascend to heaven, fragrant with the merits of our Saviour's character. Notwithstanding our unworthiness, we are to remember that there is one who can take away sin, and who is willing and anxious to save the sinner. With His own blood He paid the penalty for all wrong-doers." (Review and Herald, October 29, 1896, 614)

b. "Christ made satisfaction for the guilt of the whole world, and all who will come to God in faith, will receive the righteousness of Christ." (Selected Messages, 1:393)

c. "Christ suffered without the gates of Jerusalem, for Calvary was outside the city walls. This was to show that He died, not for the Hebrews alone, but for all mankind. He proclaims to a fallen world that he is their redeemer, and urges them to accept the salvation He offers." (Southern Watchman, September 1906, 547)
 

For the casual reader, her use of the word atonement may seem confusing, but a survey of Ellen White’s writings reveals that she uses the word atonement in three different ways, from a specific, focused meaning to a broad meaning. First, as we have seen, in a fair number of instances the word is used to describe Calvary as a complete atonement (PP 72; ST Aug. 25, 1887; ST Dec. 30, 1889; ST June 28, 1899; RH Sept. 24, 1901). In these cases, the meaning of atonement is specific and focused on a single event, the cross. Second, in some other places, atonement takes on a broader meaning and includes the work of atonement of the high priestly ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. In these instances, she refers to Christ ministering the benefits of his complete atoning sacrifice on behalf of repentant sinners (Ms 29, 1906; EW 260) or, in a few instances, refers to this work of Christ as atonement also (FE 370; Ms 69, 1912). Christ’s heavenly ministry is thus seen as an integral part of his work of redemption.

[Some will argue, however, that her statements on Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary which refer to Christ applying the benefits of his atoning sacrifice to believers should be viewed as her dominant understanding of this phase of Christ’s ministry and that one should not make a strong case of her other statements where she refers to atonement per se being done in heaven. It is argued that her 1901 statement on the two phases of the priesthood of Christ gives support to this understanding. “He [Christ] fulfilled one phase of His priesthood by dying on the cross for the fallen race. He is now fulfilling another phase by pleading before the Father the case of the repenting, believing sinner, presenting to God the offerings of His people” (Manuscript 42, 1901). While these two phases are complementary, it is argued that the complete atonement on the cross is the dominant event of Christ’s work.]

Her third use of the word atonement is broader still referring to the entire life and sufferings of Christ. “We should take broader and deeper views of the life, sufferings, and death of God’s dear Son. When the atonement is viewed correctly, the salvation of souls will be felt to be of infinite value” (2T 215, italics supplied). In this and other instances, “atonement” becomes almost a synonym for the entire plan of redemption, embracing not only the cross as the central event of atonement but also all that Christ has done to save humankind from the moment the plan of redemption was devised before the foundation of the world to the final eradication of sin at the end of time (DA 494-495, 565-566; GC 503; 5BC 1101; Ms 21, 1895). Here, atonement is a process in time whose parts cannot be divorced.

To help us grasp this understanding of atonement, one should keep in mind that early Adventism did not conceive its theological system within the Aristotelian presuppositions of the Augustinian and Calvinist systems in which an immovable and impassible God exists only in timelessness. According to these views, crucial events of the plan of redemption are seen as the results of decrees God has proclaimed from all eternity; nothing new as such can be done by God, and the entire plan of redemption is eternally predetermined by God. Adventism is based on a different system of thought in which God actually interacts with humanity within time and space in the various events of salvation history. In this system, God’s foreknowledge of future events is only descriptive of human responses and not prescriptive. This important difference in philosophical and theological presuppositions allowed Ellen White and other Adventist writers to see all the events of the plan of redemption, including atonement, as a linear process in which God is genuinely engaged rather than only a series of preordained punctiliar events shaped in the mind of God in eternity past. 

Conclusion

Was Ellen G. White a theologian?

Strickly speaking, no she was not a theologian, but admittedly she could think theologically and express her thoughts within theological themes and categories.

    Ellen White’s thoughts on atonement conveyed a breadth of meaning that was by far more comprehensive than some of her contemporary Adventist theologians and friends.  Although she agreed with some of their concepts on atonement, she had her own marked theological differences.  This comparison also illustrates the fact that doctrinal diversity existed in early Adventism even in such crucial doctrines as atonement.

    In 1901, Ellen White penned the following statement on the theological significance of the death of Christ, a statement that reflects the christological depth of her thought: “The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster.  In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary.  I present before you the great, grand monument of mercy and regeneration, salvation and redemption,--the Son of God uplifted on the cross.”
 
 
 

Bibliography:

Jerry Morten Davis, “A study of major declarations on the doctrine of the atonement in Seventh-day Adventist literature” (MA Thesis, Andrews University, 1962), p. 7.  (My original idea to do this comparative study came after reading Davis’ thesis some years ago.)

Denis Fortin, "The Cross of Christ: Theological Differences Between Joseph H. Waggoner and Ellen G. White," Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 14/2 (Fall 2003): 131-140.

LeRoy E. Froom dealt with Waggoner’s contributions to early Adventist theology in his Movement of Destiny (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1972), pp. 167-187.