The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Presenting the Adventist Case for Conditionalism

I. “Conflict of Ages” Series Sets Forth Conditionalist Position

The same penetrating grasp of basic principles marks the E. G. White five-volume Conflict of the Ages series, especially Patriarchs and Prophets, The Desire of Ages, and The Great Controversy. This has been recognized by many Bible expositors and church historians of various faiths. And while the championing of Conditionalism has characterized Ellen White’s writings from the very first, it is in these three major volumes that Conditionalism has been most completely developed. We therefore select principally from these fuller presentations her over-all portrayal. Key expressions, typical excerpts, and paraphrases will be used to present her uniform witness. CFF2 715.1

1. MAN’S FREE CHOICE AND MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Ellen White begins, logically and methodically enough, with the inspired record of the creation of man, recorded in Genesis, the “Book of Beginnings,” and the first great deception that followed. These are the primary facts. Man, she maintains, was created “a being worthy of the hand that gave him life.” ¹ And in immediate connection are noted the basic principles of free choice and moral accountability with which our first parents were endowed. These basic endowments are foundational to the entire question of the origin, nature, and destiny of man. CFF2 715.2

“Our first parents, though created innocent and holy, were not placed beyond the possibility of wrong-doing. God made them free moral agents, capable of appreciating the wisdom and benevolence of His character and the justice of His requirements, and with full liberty to yield or to withhold obedience.” ² CFF2 716.1

Furthermore, “before they could be rendered eternally secure, their loyalty had to be tested.” ³ CFF2 717.1

That was primary. Man was created a candidate for immortality. CFF2 717.2

2. OBEDIENCE INDISPENSABLE CONDITION OF EXISTENCE

God “placed man under law,” with willing obedience as the “indispensable condition of his very existence.” He was not made a “mere automaton,” but was endowed with sovereign freedom of choice. This was conditional to his continuing “access to the tree of life.” ⁴ It comprised the principle of “probation.” And this principle is constantly reiterated for emphasis. For example: CFF2 717.3

“The dwellers in Eden had been placed upon probation; their happy estate could be retained only on condition of fidelity to the Creator’s law. They could obey and live, or disobey and perish.... CFF2 717.4

“The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and their love to God.” ⁵ CFF2 717.5

3. “DOOMED TO DEATH” ON DAY OF TRANSGRESSION

The temptation in Eden came through the medium of the talking serpent, and took place at the forbidden “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Note the subtlety of the tempter’s line of reasoning, and his misleading insinuations: CFF2 717.6

“By partaking of this tree, he [“the tempter”] declared, they would attain to a more exalted sphere of existence, and enter a broader field of knowledge. He himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and as a result had acquired the power of speech. And he insinuated that the Lord jealously desired to withhold it from them, lest they should be exalted to equality with himself. It was because of its wonderful properties, imparting wisdom and power, that he had prohibited them from tasting or even touching it. The tempter intimated that the divine warning was not to be actually fulfilled; it was designed merely to intimidate them. How could it be possible for them to die? Had they not eaten of the tree of life? God had been seeking to prevent them from reaching a nobler development, and finding greater happiness.” ⁶ CFF2 717.7

It was an enticing approach. CFF2 717.8

Thus it was that curiosity, the concept of progression, and fatal distrust of God, along with the idea that men would be “gainers by breaking the law of God,” resulted in Eve’s yielding to the temptation. She actually “believed the words of Satan” and “disbelieved the words of God” as she partook of the forbidden fruit. This act of disobedience, in which Adam deliberately joined, led to their expulsion from Eden and the resultant sentence of judgment upon them. From its consequences of “ruin and degradation” man must be redeemed if he were not to perish. The divine warning had been clear. Immortality for man was conditional upon obedience. But the condition was flaunted. As to the execution of the sentence, Mrs. White explains: CFF2 717.9

“‘In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die’—did not imply that they were to die on the very day when they partook of the forbidden fruit. But on that day the irrevocable sentence would be pronounced. Immortality was promised them on condition of obedience; by transgression they would forfeit eternal life. That very day they would be doomed to death.” ⁷ CFF2 718.1

Expelled from Eden, Adam and Eve could no longer eat of the tree of life. There would be no “immortal sinners.” “None of the family of Adam were permitted to pass that (angelic) barrier to partake of the life-giving fruit; hence there is not an immortal sinner.” ⁸ CFF2 718.2

4. MAN’S PLIGHT NECESSITATED PLAN OF REDEMPTION

As a result of this tragic experience “the world that God had made was blighted with the curse of sin, and inhabited by beings doomed to misery and death.” ⁹ This necessitated a plan of redemption involving the infinite sacrifice of Christ and the provision of His all-sufficient atonement for sin, if man was to be saved from the fatal results of his transgression. And this specifically involved and included the recovery of man’s opportunity to seek and obtain immortality. Thus: CFF2 718.3

“As Adam’s transgression had brought wretchedness and death, so the sacrifice of Christ would bring life and immortality.... CFF2 718.4

“Christ, by His sacrifice paying the penalty of sin, would not only redeem man, but recover the dominion which he had forfeited. All that was lost by the first Adam will be restored by the second.” ¹⁰ CFF2 719.1

Thus it was that “sin brought separation between God and man,” while “the atonement of Christ alone could span the abyss.” As a result, “a star of hope illumined the dark and terrible future, and relieved it of its utter desolation.” More than that, the plan of redemption would also “vindicate the character of God before the universe.” ¹¹ CFF2 719.2

5. DIVINE SENTENCE INVOLVES “UTTER EXTINCTION” OF SINNER

This impressive recital is continued in The Great Controversy. Here Mrs. White picks up the thought that the tempter had asserted that man “would become like God, possessing greater wisdom than before, and being capable of a higher state of existence.” Along with this, Satan discounted the declared penalty for sin-that man should die and “return to the ground whence he was taken.” ¹² Mrs. White continues: CFF2 719.3

“When he [man] sinned, he was cut off from partaking of the tree of life, and he became subject to death. The divine sentence, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,’ points to the utter extinction of life.” ¹³ CFF2 719.4

6. IMMORTALITY REGAINED “ONLY THROUGH CHRIST.”

Now comes the key paragraph on the Conditionalist principle of immortality and Christ’s relation to its bestowal:
“Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited by transgression. Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race had not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their reach. While ‘death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,’ Christ ‘hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.’ And only through Christ can immortality be obtained.” ¹⁴ CFF2 719.5