Ellen G. White Statements Relating to Geology and Earth Sciences

Statements, 1900-1912

Nature Can Only Truly Be Understood as God by His Spirit Sanctifies the Observation—He who created the world and made the lofty mountains, who opened the fountains of the great deep, who formed the mighty rocks and the lofty trees, has given man power to appreciate these wonders of earth and heaven, power to understand the lessons drawn from them by Christ. But human intelligence could never have originated these lessons, and neither can man understand them only as God by His Holy Spirit sanctifies the observation.... Little confidence can be placed in human reasoning. Were Christ in the world today, the veriest stripling in the schools would prate to him of so-called science. But Christ would answer: “No man can serve two masters.” EGWSRGES 35.1

The mountains, the rivers, the stones, are full of truth. They are our teachers. The instant the Lord bids nature speak, she utters her voice in lessons of heavenly wisdom and eternal truth. EGWSRGES 35.2

But the fallen race will not understand. The laws of nature are supposed to control the God of nature. Correct lessons cannot impress the minds of those who know not the truth or the Word of God.—The Review and Herald, July 3, 1900. EGWSRGES 35.3

Because God’s Works Cannot be Explained by Finite Minds, Many Doubt—Today there are many who have taken their position on the side of unbelief, as if it were a virtue, the sign of a great mind, to doubt. Because the works of God cannot be explained by finite minds, Satan brings his sophistry to bear upon them, and entangles them in the meshes. of unbelief. If these doubting ones would come in close connection with God, He would make His purposes clear to their understanding.—The Youth’s Instructor, March 21, 1901. EGWSRGES 35.4

Confusion Results When Man Sets Up His Judgment Against the Creator—He who gave being to the world has not lost His power or sovereignty. He still presides over the world. It is His prerogative to speak out His purposes. By His Son, the Mediator between God and man, these purposes are executed, and the Holy Spirit gives them effect. The awful confusion in the world has been brought about because the way of the Lord has not been followed, because man has set up his human judgment against the law of Him who created the world. Men have undertaken to please and glorify themselves, to set themselves above truth and above God.—Letter 141, 1902. EGWSRGES 35.5

Nature But Imperfectly Reveals the Greatness and Majesty of God—The existence of a personal God, the unity of Christ with His Father, lies at the foundation of all true science. From nature we can gain only an imperfect idea of the greatness and majesty of God. We see the working of His power and His wisdom, but He Himself is beyond our comprehension. The ocean, the cataract, the lofty, rugged mountains reveal but imperfectly His handiwork. Satan has introduced confusion and deformity into the creation of God. Something more than nature is needed to reveal the character of the Father.—Ms. 30, 1904. EGWSRGES 35.6

Cornelius Did Not Forget God in His Investigation of True Science—There are many men in our world who are like Cornelius. They are not fully informed in regard to the truth for this time; and yet, as did Cornelius, they fear God, and follow principles of righteousness. In every sphere of action they work on the principles that God accepts. All through the ages there have been devout men whose lives were an example that others might well follow. They have borne a clear, pure, undefiled testimony for truth and righteousness. In their high position of responsibility, even among accomplished worldly men, they were bright and shining lights. Not all men forget God in their investigation of true science. EGWSRGES 35.7

As God worked for Cornelius, so He works for these true standard-bearers. He prepares the way for them to take the place of those who have been given a knowledge of Bible truth, but who have disappointed the Lord our Saviour. These men will be true to pure, holy principles in their investigation of the laws which rule our world. They will obtain a knowledge of God as Cornelius did through the visitation of angels from heaven. That they may obtain advanced light, God places them in connection with men of superior knowledge regarding His Word. EGWSRGES 36.1

There are men of nobility and influence whom the Lord will call into His work and use as His witnesses, if unconsecrated men will not spoil them by flattery and exalt them as gods.—Letter 197, 1904. EGWSRGES 36.2

Nature an Imperfect Lesson Book of God—While the true God could ... be discerned in nature [before the fall], this does not favor the assertion that after the fall a perfect knowledge of God was revealed in the natural world to Adam and his posterity. Nature could convey her lessons to man in his innocence; but transgression brought a blight upon nature, and intervened between nature and nature’s God. Had Adam and Eve never disobeyed their Creator, had they remained in the path of perfect rectitude, they could have known and understood God. But when they listened to the voice of the tempter, and sinned against God, the light of the garment of heavenly innocence departed from them; and in parting with the garments of innocence, they drew about them the dark robe of ignorance of God. The clear and perfect light that had hitherto surrounded them had lighted everything they approached; but deprived of that heavenly light, the posterity of Adam could no longer trace the character of God in His created works. EGWSRGES 36.3

The things of nature upon which we look today give us but a faint conception of Eden’s beauty and glory; yet the natural world, with unmistakable voice, proclaims the glory of God.... EGWSRGES 36.4

Nature is filled with spiritual lessons for mankind.... But nature cannot teach the lesson of the great and marvelous love of God. Therefore, after the fall, nature was not the only teacher of man.... EGWSRGES 36.5

The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn is his own inefficiency in depending upon human wisdom, and the sure failure of his own efforts to read nature correctly. Sin has obscured his vision, and of himself he cannot interpret nature without placing it above God. He cannot discern in it God, or Jesus Christ, whom He has sent.... EGWSRGES 36.6

Those who have a true knowledge of God will not become so infatuated with the laws of matter and the operations of nature, as to overlook or refuse to acknowledge, the continual working of God in nature. Nature is not God, nor was it ever God. The voice of nature testifies of God, but nature is not God. As His created work, it simply bears a testimony of God’s power. Deity is the author of nature The natural world has, in itself, no power but that which God supplies.—The Review and Herald, March 17, 1904. EGWSRGES 36.7

Without the Bible We Would Not Have an Authentic History of Our World—We are dependent on the Bible for a knowledge of the early history of our world, of the creation of man, and of his fall. Remove the Word of God, and what can we expect but to be left to fables and conjecture, and to that enfeebling of the intellect which is the sure result of entertaining error. We need the authentic history of the origin of the earth, of the fall of Lucifer, and of the introduction of sin into the world. Without the Bible, we should be bewildered by false theories. The mind would be subjected to the tyranny of superstition and falsehood. But, having in our possession an authentic history of the beginning of the world, we need not hamper ourselves with human conjecture and unreliable theories.—The Review and Herald, November 10, 1904. EGWSRGES 37.1

Jesus Christ is Creator of All Things—Those who read and listen to the sophistries that prevail in this age do not know God as He is. They contradict the Word of God, and extol and worship nature in the place of the Creator. While we may discern the workings of God in the things He has created, these things are not God. Nature’s voice is heard in its influence upon the senses. Her voice, the Word declares, is heard to the end of the world. The physical creation testifies of God and Jesus Christ as the great Creator of all things. “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3, 4). The psalmist bears witness, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:1-3). EGWSRGES 37.2

The uneducated heathen learns his lessons through nature and through his own necessities, and dissatisfied with darkness, he is reaching out for light, searching for God in the First Great Cause. There is recorded in Genesis various ways in which God speaks to the heathen. But the contrast between the revelation of God in Genesis and the ideas of the heathen, is striking. Many of the pagan philosophers had a knowledge of God which was pure, but degeneracy, the worship of created things, began to obscure this knowledge. The handiwork of God in the natural world—the sun, the moon, the stars—were worshiped. EGWSRGES 37.3

Men today declare that Christ’s teachings concerning God cannot be substantiated by the things of the natural world, that nature is not in harmony with the Old and New Testament Scriptures. This supposed lack of harmony between nature and science does not exist. The Word of the God of heaven is not in harmony with human science, but it is in perfect accord with His own created science. EGWSRGES 37.4

This living God is worthy of our thought, our praise, our adoration, as the Creator of the world, as the Creator of man. We are to praise God, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our substance was not hid from Him when we were made in secret.—Ms 117, 1908. EGWSRGES 37.5

Human Ideas Often Contradict God’s Word Because Men View Things From Human Point of View—Apart from Christ we are still incapable of interpreting rightly the language of nature. The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn is his own inefficiency in depending upon human wisdom, and the sure failure of his efforts to read nature correctly. EGWSRGES 37.6

God has permitted a flood of light to be poured upon the world in the discoveries of science and art; but when professedly scientific men reason upon these subjects from a merely human point of view, they are sure to err. The greatest minds, if not guided by the Word of God, become bewildered in their attempts to investigate the relations of science and revelation. The Creator and His works are beyond their comprehension; and because these cannot be explained by natural laws, Bible history is pronounced unreliable. EGWSRGES 38.1

Those who question the reliability of the Scripture records, have let go their anchor, and are left to beat about upon the rocks of infidelity. When they find themselves incapable of measuring the Creator and His works by their own imperfect knowledge of science, they question the existence of God, and attribute infinite power to nature. EGWSRGES 38.2

In true science there can be nothing contrary to the teaching of the Word of God; for both have the same Author. A correct understanding of both will always prove them to be in harmony. Truth, whether in nature or in revelation, is harmonious with itself in all its manifestations. But the mind not enlightened by God’s Spirit will ever be in darkness in regard to His power. This is why human ideas in regard to science too often contradict the teaching of God’s Word. EGWSRGES 38.3

The work of creation can never be explained by science. What science can explain the mystery of life? EGWSRGES 38.4

The theory that God did not create matter when He brought the world into existence, is without foundation. In the formation of our world, God was not indebted to pre-existing matter. On the contrary, all things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at His voice, and were created for His own purpose. The heaven and all the host of them, the earth and all things therein, are not only the work of His hand: they came into existence by the breath of His mouth.—The Signs of the Times, May 12, 1909. EGWSRGES 38.5

Scientific Knowledge Not to Interpose Between the Soul and the Bible—Anything like pride in learning, any dependence upon scientific knowledge, which you place between your soul and the word of the Bible, will most effectually close the door of your heart to the sweet, humble religion of the meek and lowly Jesus—The Review and Herald, August 3, 1911. EGWSRGES 38.6

In Many Schools the Impression is Left That if Learned Men are Correct, the Bible Cannot Be—In many of the schools and colleges of today, the conclusions which learned men have reached as the result of their scientific investigations are carefully taught and fully explained; while the impression is distinctly made that if these learned men are correct, the Bible cannot be. The thorns of skepticism are disguised; they are concealed by the bloom and verdure of science and philosophy. Skepticism is attractive to the human mind. The young see in it an independence that captivates the imagination, and they are deceived.... EGWSRGES 38.7

The Word of God should have a place—the first place—in every system of education. As an educating power, it is of more value than the writings of all the philosophers of all the ages.... The light of revelation shines undimmed into the distant past where human annals cast not a ray of light.—The Review and Herald, August 22, 1912. EGWSRGES 38.8