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Desire of Ages

Did Ellen G. White make a "paradigm shift" in the Desire of Ages with respect to the doctrine of the Trinity? This is what is often alleged by Trinitarian Adventists. (For example, see How clear views of Jesus developed in the Adventist Church.) The two Desire of Ages statements most often quoted to support this paradigm shift idea are found in DA 530.3 and DA 671.2 and are discussed below.

Regarding DA 530.3 - "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived"

The full DA 530.3 quote reads as follows (emphasis supplied):

DA 530.3: Still seeking to give a true direction to her faith, Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. “He that hath the Son hath life.” 1 John 5:12. The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life. “He that believeth in Me,” said Jesus, “though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Christ here looks forward to the time of His second coming. Then the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The miracle which Christ was about to perform, in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead. By His word and His works He declared Himself the Author of the resurrection. He who Himself was soon to die upon the cross stood with the keys of death, a conqueror of the grave, and asserted His right and power to give eternal life.

It is in the context of the raising of Lazarus that this quote is given. It is also in the context of the entire book itself, where,

DA 21.2: All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings: through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great Giver, the law of life.

While DA 530.3 says that "in Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived," yet this same life (from the Father) is given to all who believe in Christ as their personal Savior. Note the following quote:

  • 1SM 296.2: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Life-giver, takes it again. Man has no control over his life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. “I lay it down of myself” (John 10:18), He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in man. He can possess it only through Christ. He cannot earn it; it is given him as a free gift if he will believe in Christ as his personal Saviour. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). This is the open fountain of life for the world.

Understand that "Christ was invested with the right to give immortality" (1SM 302.2). "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will" (John 5:21). And, "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself" (John 5:26). Again, according to EGW, it was the Father who invested (or endowed) Christ "with the right to give immortality." This immortality is "exclusively the property of God," but the believer "can possess it only through Christ...as a free gift" (1SM 296.2). Therefore, in the context of the raising of Lazarus (where the DA 503.3 quote is found), Jesus was not speaking of his pre-incarnate life, but of his power to give life to Lazarus at that very moment and by extension, eternal life. Notice,

John 11:23-26: Jesus said to her, “Your brother [Lazarus] will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

Jesus was not just telling Martha that her brother would rise again, at that very moment, but he extended the concept to include eternal life—i.e. immortality. This life, original, unborrowed, underived, we can receive by faith in Christ. Thus, this quality of life, apart from the power to bestow it, is identical whether it is ingenerate as in the case of the Father, inherited [begotten] by the Son, or conferred as a conditional, permanent gift to God's children. Consider these quotes from EGW:

If man will cooperate with God by returning willingly to his loyalty, and obeying the commandments, God will receive him as a son. Through the provision Christ has made by taking the punishment due to man, we may be reinstated in God's favor, being made partakers of the divine nature. If we repent of our transgression, and receive Christ as the Life-giver, our personal Saviour, we become one with him, and our will is brought into harmony with the divine will. We become partakers of the life of Christ, which is eternal. We derive immortality from God by receiving the life of Christ for in Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This life is the mystical union and cooperation of the divine with the human. {ST June 17, 1897, par. 14}

What a song that will be when the ransomed of the Lord meet at the gate of the holy city, which is thrown back on its glittering hinges, and the nations that have kept His word—His commandments—enter <into the city, the crown of the overcomer is placed upon their heads,> and the golden harps are placed in their hands! All heaven is filled with rich music, and with songs of praise to the Lamb. Saved, everlastingly saved, in the kingdom of glory! To have a life that measures with the life of God—that is the reward. Just think of it! “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] {23LtMs, Ms 92, 1908, par.40}

References: Life, Original, Unborrowed, Underived.

Regarding DA 671.2 - The mighty agency of the third person of the godhead

The full DA 671.2 quote reads as follows (emphasis supplied):

DA 671.2: In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.

As with DA 503.3, the DA 671.2 quote regarding the Holy Spirit should be understood in the context of the paragraph and of the entire book itself. It is also important to understand the meaning (i.e. definition) of the words as they were intended in her time. Of particular interest are the meaning of the words person and Godhead.

Person as "character of office." Over a century ago the word person could be understood as "character of office." See Definition #6 in Noah Webster Dictionary (1828) on Person.

Definition #6 for Person: Character of office. [Example] How different is the same man from himself, as he sustains the person of a magistrate and that of a friend.

Why EGW meant person to mean "character of office" in DA 671.2 can be inferred from the context of the paragraph itself whose first sentence reads, "In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit." The intent is clear, EGW meant to describe the office work (i.e. the person) of the Holy Spirit. Not an entity but the character of the office.

"The mighty agency of the Third Person." This phrase is quoted twice in Review and Herald but nowhere else in her writings (other than in the numerous compilations written after her death). The two quotes in Review and Herald are in RH May 19, 1904, par.3 and RH November 19, 1908, par. 5. You will note that in both articles the term "third person" is in lowercase, as it was in the original Desire of Ages reference. The change to uppercase "Third Person" in Desire of Ages was made in 1940. Many compilations quoting Desire of Ages have retained the original lowercase reading. See Who is the Third Person of the Godhead? by Paul Chung for photograph evidence of this change and a more thorough discussion of the topic. Casing is important with reference to the "third person." The same is true with the word "god" and "God." For example, Elvis Presley was considered a god by many teenage girls in the late 1950s, but he was not the God of the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim traditions. When speaking of Elvis as a god, it is understood that one is assigning him divine or godlike attributes. However, when speaking of the God of religious traditions like Christianity it is understood to mean an Entity, not attributes.

Godhead. It is important to know the origin and the meaning of the English term "Godhead" which dates back to the late 1300s. It does not mean what modern-day Adventist users of the word make it out to mean. In reality "Godhead" was intended to mean deity or divine nature as discussed here: What does "Godhead" mean?

Context of the paragraph. Note that at the end of this paragraph the identity of the Holy Spirit is said to be Christ's Spirit—i.e. "Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power" (DA 671.2). Therefore, the proper reading of the phrase, "the mighty agency of the third person of the godhead," can then be understood to mean, "the mighty agency of the third office of divinity," which would come "in the fullness of divine power." This divine power comes from Christ Himself in which "Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power." The paradigm shift is not that EGW identifies a third entity (i.e. the Holy Spirit), but a third agency or office of divinity.

References: Who is the Third Person of the Godhead?

There is no power apart from Christ

The Bible says that there is only one mediator: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). EGW augments this with the following thoughts:

  • YI June 29, 1893, par. 8. There is no power in you apart from Christ, but it is your privilege to have Christ abiding in your heart by faith, and he can overcome sin in you, when you cooperate with his efforts, putting your will on the side of God's will.
  • RH February 10, 1891. Jesus alone has power to save from sin, to free from the power of evil; and to doubt him who has laid down his life for us, is to grieve and insult the Father, who has in one gift poured out all heaven to a lost world.
  • SC 26.3. Christ is the source of every right impulse. He is the only one that can implant in the heart enmity against sin. Every desire for truth and purity, every conviction of our own sinfulness, is an evidence that His Spirit is moving upon our hearts.
  • 9T 189.3, 1909. They have one God and one Saviour; and one Spirit—the Spirit of Christ—is to bring unity into their ranks.
  • DA 324.1. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness.
  • 1SM 251.1. The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only-begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ.
  • Letter 124, 1897. {DG 185.2}, When trials overshadow the soul, remember the words of Christ, remember that He is an unseen presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, and He will be the peace and comfort given you, manifesting to you that He is with you, the Sun of Righteousness, chasing away your darkness.
  • RH May 19, 1904, par. 1. With his Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin.
  • 14MR 84.3. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, which is sent to all men to give them sufficiency, that through His grace we might be complete in Him.

Thus, the power to overcome, the power to save from sin, to be free from the power of evil, comes from Christ. How he imparts this power is through his spirit, the Spirit of Christ.

Other Desire of Ages quotes

  • DA 21.2: But turning from all lesser representations, we behold God in Jesus. Looking unto Jesus we see that it is the glory of our God to give. “I do nothing of Myself,” said Christ; “the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father.” “I seek not Mine own glory,” but the glory of Him that sent Me. John 8:28; 6:57; 8:50; 7:18. In these words is set forth the great principle which is the law of life for the universe. All things Christ received from God, but He took to give. So in the heavenly courts, in His ministry for all created beings: through the beloved Son, the Father's life flows out to all; through the Son it returns, in praise and joyous service, a tide of love, to the great Source of all. And thus through Christ the circuit of beneficence is complete, representing the character of the great Giver, the law of life.
  • DA 22.1: The earth was dark through misapprehension of God. That the gloomy shadows might be lightened, that the world might be brought back to God, Satan's deceptive power was to be broken. This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God's government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority. Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan. This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known. Upon the world's dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with healing in His wings.” Malachi 4:2.
  • DA 51.1: The dedication of the first-born had its origin in the earliest times. God had promised to give the First-born of heaven to save the sinner. This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the first-born son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood, as a representative of Christ among men.
  • DA 166.2: “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. Though the ministration was to be removed from the earthly to the heavenly temple; though the sanctuary and our great high priest would be invisible to human sight, yet the disciples were to suffer no loss thereby. They would realize no break in their communion, and no diminution of power because of the Saviour's absence. While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth. He is withdrawn from the eye of sense, but His parting promise is fulfilled, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20. While He delegates His power to inferior ministers, His energizing presence is still with His church.
  • DA 234.2: It was Gabriel, the angel next in rank to the Son of God, who came with the divine message to Daniel. It was Gabriel, “His angel,” whom Christ sent to open the future to the beloved John; and a blessing is pronounced on those who read and hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things written therein.
  • DA 769.2: In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after Their work of creation. When “the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them” (Genesis 2:1), the Creator and all heavenly beings rejoiced in contemplation of the glorious scene. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. Now Jesus rested from the work of redemption; and though there was grief among those who loved Him on earth, yet there was joy in heaven. Glorious to the eyes of heavenly beings was the promise of the future. A restored creation, a redeemed race, that having conquered sin could never fall,—this, the result to flow from Christ's completed work, God and angels saw. With this scene the day upon which Jesus rested is forever linked. For “His work is perfect;” and “whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.” Deuteronomy 32:4; Ecclesiastes 3:14. When there shall be a “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21), the creation Sabbath, the day on which Jesus lay at rest in Joseph's tomb, will still be a day of rest and rejoicing. Heaven and earth will unite in praise, as “from one Sabbath to another” (Isaiah 66:23) the nations of the saved shall bow in joyful worship to God and the Lamb.
  • DA 805.2: “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.” The Holy Spirit was not yet fully manifested; for Christ had not yet been glorified. The more abundant impartation of the Spirit did not take place till after Christ's ascension. Not until this was received could the disciples fulfill the commission to preach the gospel to the world. But the Spirit was now given for a special purpose. Before the disciples could fulfill their official duties in connection with the church, Christ breathed His Spirit upon them. He was committing to them a most sacred trust, and He desired to impress them with the fact that without the Holy Spirit this work could not be accomplished.
  • DA 834.2: But He waves them back. Not yet; He cannot now receive the coronet of glory and the royal robe. He enters into the presence of His Father. He points to His wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet; He lifts His hands, bearing the print of nails. He points to the tokens of His triumph; He presents to God the wave sheaf, those raised with Him as representatives of that great multitude who shall come forth from the grave at His second coming. He approaches the Father, with whom there is joy over one sinner that repents; who rejoices over one with singing. Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan. They had clasped Their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled. When upon the cross He cried out, “It is finished,” He addressed the Father. The compact had been fully carried out. Now He declares: Father, it is finished. I have done Thy will, O My God. I have completed the work of redemption. If Thy justice is satisfied, “I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” John 19:30; 17:24.

Notes on the above Quotes

  • On DA 166.2: Jesus is both a "minister in the sanctuary above" and "the minister of the church on earth."
  • On DA 530.3: The sentence, "In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived," refers to Christ in DA 530.3 but it can also be given to believers as found in 1SM 296.2 below.
  • On DA 671.2: The "office work of the Holy Spirit" ought to be understood in relation to the definition of "person" in EGW's time. See below on Noah Webster Dictionary (1828) on Person.
  • Ibid., On the phrase "Third Person" it should be noted that the original publication of Desire of Ages in 1898 up until 1939 was published in lowercase—i.e. "third person". Then, from 1940 and onward it was changed to "Third Person." See Who is the Third Person of the Godhead? In the book Evangelism, "third person" is quoted in lowercase which verifies that the original was in lowercase.
  • Ibid., Note that in all EGW references to the "third person of the Godhead" identifies as a "mighty agency," "power of God," or Christ's "representative," that "converting, enlightening, and sanctifying power," which would be considered Christ's "donation."
  • The 'Third Person' of the Godhead. This article also addresses the DA 671.2 quote.

Other EGW Quotes

  • DA 123.3: “The prince of this world cometh,” said Jesus, “and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:30. There was in Him nothing that responded to Satan's sophistry. He did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us. Christ's humanity was united with divinity; He was fitted for the conflict by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And He came to make us partakers of the divine nature. So long as we are united to Him by faith, sin has no more dominion over us. God reaches for the hand of faith in us to direct it to lay fast hold upon the divinity of Christ, that we may attain to perfection of character.
  • EW 54.2: I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus’ countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father's person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, “If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist.” Before the throne I saw the Advent people—the church and the world. I saw two companies, one bowed down before the throne, deeply interested, while the other stood uninterested and careless. Those who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus; then He would look to His Father, and appear to be pleading with Him. A light would come from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the praying company. Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from the Father to the Son, and from the Son it waved over the people before the throne. But few would receive this great light. Many came out from under it and immediately resisted it; others were careless and did not cherish the light, and it moved off from them. Some cherished it, and went and bowed down with the little praying company. This company all received the light and rejoiced in it, and their countenances shone with its glory.
  • RH May 19, 1904, par. 1: Christ declared that after his ascension, he would send to his church, as his crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take his place. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit,—the soul of his life, the efficacy of his church, the light and life of the world. With his Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power that takes away sin.
  • RH April 5, 1906, par. 16: The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the union of the vine and the branches. Finite man is united to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is assimilated with Christ's nature. We are made one with God in Christ.
  • 12MR 145.2: When God's people search the Scriptures with a desire to know what is truth, Jesus is present in the person of His representative, the Holy Spirit, reviving the hearts of the humble and contrite ones. (John 15:23, 10, 11 quoted.)—Manuscript 158, 1898.
  • YI July 7, 1898, par. 2: “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them.” “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Let the brightest example the world has yet seen be your example, rather than the greatest and most learned men of the age, who know not God, nor Jesus Christ whom he has sent. The Father and the Son alone are to be exalted.
  • SW September 13, 1898, par. 2: That Christ should manifest Himself to them, and yet be invisible to the world, was a mystery to the disciples. They could not understand the words of Christ in their spiritual sense. They were thinking of the outward, visible manifestation. They could not take in the fact that they could have the presence of Christ with them, and yet He be unseen by the world. They did not understand the meaning of a spiritual manifestation.
  • 15LtMs, MS 76, 1900, par.10: Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave. The wondrous works of God are a mystery to man. The spirit, the character of man is returned to God there to be preserved. In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life, and bidding the dry bones live. The same form will come forth, but it will be free from disease and every defect. It lives again bearing the same individuality of features, so that friend will recognize friend. There is no law of God in nature which shows that God gives back the same identical particles of matter which composed the body before death. God shall give the righteous dead a body that will please Him.
  • 1SM 296.2: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Life-giver, takes it again. Man has no control over his life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. “I lay it down of myself” (John 10:18), He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in man. He can possess it only through Christ. He cannot earn it; it is given him as a free gift if he will believe in Christ as his personal Saviour. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). This is the open fountain of life for the world.
  • GC 493.1: Before the entrance of evil there was peace and joy throughout the universe. All was in perfect harmony with the Creator's will. Love for God was supreme, love for one another impartial. Christ the Word, the Only Begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in character, and in purpose,—the only being in all the universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. By Christ the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, ... whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers” (Colossians 1:16); and to Christ, equally with the Father, all heaven gave allegiance.
  • 20LtMs, Ms 62, 1905, par.14 ("A Warning Against False Theories"): Those who seek to remove the old landmarks are not holding fast; they are not remembering how they have received and heard. Those who try to bring in theories that would remove the pillars of our faith concerning the sanctuary or concerning the personality of God or of Christ, are working as blind men. They are seeking to bring in uncertainties and to set the people of God adrift without an anchor.
  • ST January 9, 1879, par. 13: After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God says to his Son, “Let us make man in our image.”
  • 8T 268.3 (Pub-Year 1904): God is the Father of Christ; Christ is the Son of God. To Christ has been given an exalted position. He has been made equal with the Father. All the counsels of God are opened to His Son.
  • AUCR January 15, 1903, par. 14: ...In your hands will be placed a golden harp, and touching its strings, you will join with the redeemed host in filling all heaven with songs of praise to God and His Son.
  • 1SM 249.3 (This article appeared in The Review and Herald, April 5, 1906): “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Christ declares: “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Christ is invested with power to give life to all creatures. “As the living Father hath sent me,” He says, “and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:57, 63). Christ is not here referring to His doctrine, but to His person, the divinity of His character. “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” He says again, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man”

Definitions and notes