The Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts

What Is Inspired?

Through the years there have been known among us some men who, like the old-time “higher critics” of the Bible, divided the writings of the Spirit of prophecy into what they called the inspired parts and the parts not inspired but written by Mrs. White as her own ideas. As was the case with the Bible skeptics, so with these; no two are ever agreed. One man thinks certain paragraphs alone are inspired, whereas another man rejects these and chooses others that seem inspired to him. This plan makes every man’s prejudices or fancies (usually called reason) the test of what a divine message is and what it is not. Other members have rejected certain things in the Testimonies concerning the danger of following worldly fashions just because their wives did not like them. Still others put aside certain dates of prophecy because with their very limited knowledge of history they had not found that date. Later when they found the date established in history they accepted the testimony. There have been seen those who objected strongly to some moral standard in the Spirit of prophecy for the one reason only—they felt reproved by the message of the Lord. FSG 417.1

There have been a few who have taken the narrow minded, inconsistent position that only those portions of Mrs. White’s writings are inspired concerning which she wrote “I saw,” or “I heard,” or “I was shown.” I have watched the influence and experience of these men, and they have generally given up the entire message and weakened the faith of others. The truth is that all these quibbles are born of unbelief and would rob the messages from God of all authority and power. FSG 418.1

In writing the foregoing paragraph I do not mean to infer that the Testimonies are given by verbal inspiration. We do not even believe that our English Bible is verbally inspired. Neither do we accept the extreme view that every word Mrs. White spoke or wrote was inspired; such remarks, for instance, that she might have made about the weather or the flowers if you had met her some morning out in her garden. Neither do we regard every personal letter to some dear, far-away friend a message from God. The true position and the denominational position concerning the inspiration of her messages in the very nature of the case must be what she herself as a messenger said the true position was. Only she can know what was given her of the Lord, and on that question she has not left us in the dark, but gives explicit definition of her position on the matter of inspiration. Adventists do not have any semi-inspired authority to interpret the Spirit of prophecy messages. We think every member can understand their simple meaning guided by the Holy Spirit. FSG 418.2