AboutTom Norris Expertise I can answer most any question about church history and theology, starting from 1818 when William Miller articulated the 1st Angels Message that became the foundation of the Adventist Movement. While this first prophetic message terminated in the spring of 1844, it was followed by what Adventists refer to as the 2nd Angels Message, which dates from the spring of 1844 until the great disappointment of October 22, 1844. By 1847, the 3rd Angels Message had been developed and this Sabbatarian theology represents the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Moreover, I can explain the historical and theological development of the SDA denomination from its beginning and on through the great Battle Creek schism that forced the SDA's to retreat to Takoma Park. Here the 20th century church recovered from their internal battles that had erupted at the 1888 General Conference in Minneapolis over the definition of the law and the Gospel.
Fearing another repeat of this disaster, President Daniels, determined to hide this debate. However, this policy led to more conflict, especially over the role and authority of Ellen White, a unique and accomplished religious writer that had remarkable spiritual gifts. However, by the decade of the 1970`s, the church once again erupted into debate. The hierarchy settled the turmoil in 1980 with the trial of Dr. Desmond Ford at Glacier View. Here Dr. Ford was exiled because he supposedly disagreed with Ellen White over the Fundamentals. But this controversial action resulted in another major schism that is still in progress today.
Experience Tom Norris was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist in Takoma Park, Md. He attended SDA grade and High schools, moving on to study Adventist theology at Columbia Union College. He also spent significant time conducting independent research in the General Conference Archives and the Ellen G. White Estate. Over the years he has also interviewed a number of prominent Adventist scholars, theologians, and Pastors ranging from the late Arthur White to the exiled Dr. Desmond Ford. In addition, he has amassed a large private library, which includes numerous rare books and manuscripts about Adventist theology and history. He is presently the online editor of Adventist Reform, and can be found at Adventist for Tomorrow answering questions online about SDA theology and history as well as promoting Adventist Reform.
Question As you can see I'm glade to see such a website as yours.am
I being vain or reading more into the bible than what's there?Now I have the utmostrespect and regards for our dear
and gifted sister,Sis.White but is'nt it true that did'nt just give this spirit of this degree to Ellen?Is'nt it also true that traditonal SDA is the part that refuse to reconize the prophets that are among us today.It's a shame to me so I'm able to envision God's disappointment as us continuing to overlook him in his people.we are not handpick the who's and gifted of God.God is not so inadeuate that he would pick only one person to be or do something and then allow them to without anyone else being able to have the same gift.I think that the SDA has made up it's mind that if it's not Ms.White then it's not noteworthy or worth even taken serious not knowing these two are for God himself.I will con tinue to research that that I already know.This is not offend. for learning and edification only.May God recieve any and all glory,but that you be blessed.
Answer God has given spiritual gifts to many others besides Ellen White. Moreover, God will continue to give these gifts to the church until the end of time.
1Cor. 12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Cor. 12:5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
1Cor. 12:6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.
1Cor. 12:7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1Cor. 12:8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
1Cor. 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
1Cor. 12:10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.
1Cor. 12:11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
The problem with the SDA’s is that they have misused Ellen White for their own purposes. They have ignored her council, suppressed her views, and embellished her story, creating a very different person. Thus they have repudiated the Spirit as they have promoted her like the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, and marketed her as if the SDA’s had a better Prophet than all others, when none of this nonsense was valid or approved by Ellen White or the NT.
The White Estate promoted Ellen White in such a manner as to over shadow all others in the Advent Movement and even the Protestant Church. They made her into something she never was, even placing false doctrines in her mouth that she never spoke; all in an outrageous attempt to control the Spirit. They have sinned greatly by manipulating her writings in order to make her say what they wanted to hear. Such blasphemy is against the NT.
Matt. 12:30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Matt. 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
Matt. 12:32 “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
In addition, the modern Adventists have ignored and downplayed those, like James White, Ellen White’s husband, who had far more power, authority, and accomplishments than Ellen White. Thus the SDA’s have revised church history to such an extent that few today have any idea what Ellen White was really saying, doing, or teaching. The White Estate has been at war with the Spirit for generations, and no one should think otherwise.
James White
It is James White, -NOT Ellen White, who developed the SDA’s into a successful denomination. It was James White that managed, published, and controlled Ellen White’s writings. It was James White who started the institutions, including the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and built a religious empire that still stands to this very day. Although Ellen White played an important and critical role, the fact of the matter is this: James White is far more important to the SDA’s than was his wife Ellen.
James White deserves much of the credit for the SDA church, even as everyone needs to know that Ellen White played a minor role by comparison. But few are aware of him or his life story. Thanks to the White Estate, few know that James White played a much more important role then Ellen White, his wife.
For example, the SDA’s make much of young Ellen (Harmon) White being hit by a stone and having problems reading. Then they point to her dramatic recovery as proof that God was leading her in a special manner unlike anyone else. But guess what? James White had a more impressive and dramatic story, even as he was the real power and brains behind the great success of the 19th century SDA’s.
James White Slighted By SDA’s
For example, all SDA's have been taught that as a child and teen, Ellen White was sickly, even disfigured. They made much of the fact that she was uneducated and could not even read the scriptures. Such an emphasis is calculated to make her appear as if she were a living miracle, raised up by God to do a great work. And this may be true, but something is also very wrong with this well-known historical view.
The fact of the matter is this; it was James White that had far worse problems as a child and teen. It was James White that was far more responsible for the development and growth of the SDA church than was his wife, which he managed and published.
But the White Estate thought it was their mission to elevate and embellish Ellen White to the place where history was turned upside down, and myth took over. So the apologists suppressed or fabricated one point after another in order to promote Ellen White in a dishonest and incorrect manner.
Listen to James White:
My parents say I was an extremely feeble child. And, what added greatly to my difficulties, and cut off their hopes of my life, when less than three years old, I had what the doctors called worm fever, resulting in fits, which turned my eyes and nearly destroyed my sight.
I am reported to have been extremely cross-eyed-not naturally, but from affection of the nerves-a feeble, nervous, partially-blind boy. These are sufficient reasons why I could not enjoy the common advantages of school. And not until I was sixteen years old, when my health and strength greatly improved, and my eyes became quite natural, could I read a single verse in the Testament without resting my eyes.
Life Incidents, pages 12, 13.
Who has ever heard about James White's childhood problems? Who ever knew that James White was essentially blind as a child unable to read or go to school until he was 16 years old? Few thought he could do anything in life but become an illiterate farmer, -if he lived that is.
Moreover, James White was far more important and critical to the formation of the SDA church than was his young wife. His story is more compelling than hers, even as it parallels her story in many ways.
Although he was sickly, blind, and uneducated, he struggled to overcome an almost impossible set of circumstances before finding his religious calling. That of creating a new Adventist denomination that focused on eschatology.
Here is some more from the pen of James White:
At the close of that term I had conquered all the Arithmetics within my reach, was regarded as a good grammarian, was prepared to teach penmanship, and was told by my preceptor that I could fit for college in one year. My thirst for education increased, and my plans were laid to take a college course and pay my way, if labor, economy, and study would accomplish it. I had but little else to thank but God and my own energies for what advancement I had made.
At Reedfield I wore old clothes, while my class-mates wore new, and lived three months on corn-meal pudding prepared by myself, and a few raw apples, while they enjoyed the conveniences and luxuries of the boarding house.
Life Incidents, page 14
The story and accomplishments of James White surpasses that of Ellen White in almost every way. She wrote books, but he also published many more books as he developed a religious Empire out of nothing. Without him, no one today would know Ellen White’s name, and it is doubtful if anyone would have published her writings.
What a pity that this great man has been ignored and overshadowed by the manipulated and fabricated story of Ellen White. What a shame that the history of the SDA church has been so comprised and distorted, that the Adventist Community today knows very little about their true history.
Notwithstanding all the confusion, myth, and propaganda surrounding Ellen White, she was no fraud. She did have genuine Spiritual Gifts, which is very different from having doctrinal authority; -which she never had, nor claimed to have.
Furthermore, she still has much to say to the Adventist Community. Starting with her total repudiation of Traditional Adventism and the denunciation of this popular myth about the IJ being the Judgment Pillar in the 1st Angels Message. She would have stood with Dr. Ford at Glacier View, just as she supported Dr. Waggoner in 1888 who was promoting the same Gospel as Dr. Ford. She would condemn many official church positions along with the SDA’s incorrect view of Hermeneutics, Eschatology and the Gospel. Which of course, explains why the White Estate was hiding so much of her writings.
The Problem With Ellen White
In fact, one of the great problems associated with Ellen White is that no one is listening to what she is saying. The Adventists do not understand Ellen White’s mind or her doctrines, they are only pretending. They were far too busy suppressing and manipulating her writings to understand them. But myths are not the same as facts, no matter how many books are printed that say otherwise. The SDA’s have misled the world about Ellen White, even as they have confused themselves in the process. How sad. And criminal.
The church has suppressed her story to such an extent that they have no idea how she really views the Gospel or the Judgment, much less Eschatology. When alive, Ellen White would not allow her words to be read from the pulpit or placed in the SS Lessons. But after she died, the leaders disregarded her teachings on this point and flooded the church with her (manipulated) writings.
Thus, they pretend to defend and embrace her views, when in fact they are doing the opposite. They are great hypocrites for all to see. The Jews did the same thing with those that had the Spirit.
Matt. 23:29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
Matt. 23:30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
Matt. 23:31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Matt. 23:32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
Matt. 23:33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
The real problem with the SDA’s is that they elevate Ellen White and proudly hold her high for all to see, but yet, they are taking very different positions from her, while at the same time claiming that they are following her very closely. It is the biggest farce in the Protestant Church. It is a great publishing fraud that should make every honest person cringe.
In conclusion, Ellen White is not the problem; the White Estate is the problem. They have misrepresented the life and teachings of Ellen White, even as they are now trying to cover up what they have done. At some point, Ellen White deserves justice. Her story needs to be honestly told so that the Adventist Community can understand the genuine Fundamentals that define, control, and empower the Advent Movement.
