101 Questions - About Ellen White and Her Writings

Question 21: Did someone sneak Trinity statements into Ellen White’s books? (“Question About Writings Being Changed”)

There is a group of people here who are rejecting the Trinity doctrine and saying that anything in Mrs. White’s writings that suggests there are Three Persons to the Godhead was added by Elder Froom after her death. They say that these statements were not in the original transcripts. These folks also say that unless I reject this doctrine, my salvation is in jeopardy. Their reasoning is that I am worshiping other gods and, therefore, breaking the first commandment. I need to know if their claim about Mrs. White’s writings being changed to include this belief is true. 101Q 59.1

It saddens me to see how people will try to discredit the published writings of Mrs. White when those writings do not agree with their own ideas. Elder Froom had no authority to alter the writings of Mrs. White after her death, and the trustees, including W. C. White, and Arthur L. White after him, did not permit such things to take place. 101Q 59.2

You are probably aware of a collection of statements with bearing on the Trinity issue that appears in the book Evangelism, on pages 613-617. One of those statements, on the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit, appears on pages 616, 617. Those who deny the Trinity doctrine typically say that the Holy Spirit is not a Person, an individual Member of the Godhead; rather, He is some expression of the power or personality of God. Mrs. White’s statement clearly differs from that view. 101Q 59.3

Did she write it? You can see it in her own handwriting on our Web site. From the homepage, click on “From the Vault” in the lower right corner. Then scroll down to the bottom of the current feature to find the previous features accessible there. Click on the “Blank Diary/Journals” link, and it will take you to a picture of this material in Mrs. White’s own handwriting. Click on the picture to enlarge it for easier reading. It didn’t come from Elder Froom. 101Q 59.4

I am sorry that you are faced with this difficulty. May the Lord give you grace to uphold truth and to do so in the proper spirit. 101Q 59.5