I have to admit Pastor Doug Bachelor was my hero, when I was a member of the SDA church. No doubt he is a charismatic preacher who seems to relate to his listeners in a special way, using simple language and easy to understand life examples. This is one of the reasons why Pastor Doug “can do no wrong” in the eyes of his audience. Many of my SDA friends quote him constantly when we discuss certain doctrines, they use his materials such as CDs, books and online media to reaffirm and defend their own beliefs.
There is a big danger in all this and I’m speaking from experience. People are generally lazy to study on their own. It’s much easier to have someone “chew” the spiritual food for you and then all that’s left to do is digest. I held a membership in the SDA church for almost 5 years, but I’ve been familiar with their doctrines for about 12 years. All this time the only bible study I ever did was through the Adventist guidelines and interpretations of scripture. Other words, they point a verse to you and they explain what it means. It all made perfect sense. I didn’t only study this way for myself, but I started giving bible study to others in the same manner. Truth is I didn’t know my bible… Let me try to illustrate. If I ask you to hold a colored glass in front of your eyes and look around, the world will look normal, but with a tint of the same color as the glass. After a while your eyes get adjusted to the color and you don’t notice the tint anymore. What you see through the glass becomes reality to you and no one can convince you otherwise. The moment I started studying the bible outside of SDA guidelines, the veil was lifted, I started seeing clearly and realized how little I knew. I take no credit for this at all; I believe it is the Holy Spirit who took me there.
A concerned friend sent me a link last night to Doug Bachelor’s commentary on the “Integrity of the Prophetic Gift” – this week’s lesson in the Seventh-Day Adventist quarterly booklet (bible study guide). The lesson deals with some issues associated with the “prophetess” of the SDA church, Ellen G White. My opinion on Mrs. White without a doubt is that she is a false prophet. I’m not alone in this. Increasing number of believers, both SDA and non-SDA share the same opinion and they base their conclusion on criteria set by the bible. I am not surprised at all that lately the Adventist church makes extra effort to defend their “prophetess”. Their brainwashing methods work well on the majority of members, but there are those not afraid to search the internet, read the opposition and ultimately make up their own mind on the topic.
Here’s how Doug Bachelor teaches the lesson:
He points out through examples in the bible how prophets were not popular and many times unjustly attacked by others. Devil hates God’s prophets, he says, and people who are against God’s prophets are really representing the interests of Satan. In doing this Pastor Doug is trying to make two points: the message of prophets in the bible was often unpopular, Ellen White’s message was unpopular, therefore she must be a prophet also, so here is your proof… secondly all who oppose EGW are agents of the devil. Beware!
Then the common excuses - EGW wrote so many books, sure if one is searching purposely, they would find some areas where she didn't express herself clearly. After all it's a miracle she wrote so much and so well with only 3rd grade education... There was never lawsuit against her for plagiarism (implying there are no grounds for one).... Borrowing was accepted back then... We find borrowing in the bible: 2 Peter 2:12-15 from Jude 1:10-11, much of Revelation comes from OT, Jesus in His words repeats about 10% of the OT...
Very few people know that Mrs. White kept professional writes and editors on staff, people like Fannie Bolton or Marian Davis. This is known fact. Some of them left because they could no longer stand the deception of writing materials that Mrs. White would sign as product of her own “visions”. These editors were also aware of the “borrowing” from previously written books.
And of course most people Bachelor is preaching to don't know of this statement Ellen White made: "Although I am dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in writing my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words I employ in describing what I have seen are my own." --Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, Oct. 8, 1867
Dr. Veltmen, another expert who was hired by the SDA church to study the book “Desire of Ages”, after 8 years of careful research concluded that the copy work could be as much as 90% in some chapters and averaged out 34% for all 15 chapters of the book. Just because there was never a lawsuit against Ellen White or her estate regarding plagiarism, this doesn’t mean she didn’t plagiarize.
Do you see what’s happening? Doug Bachelor is taking the attention away from the actual problem. The issue here is not plagiarism, even though EGW is clearly lying about it according to the quote from “Review and Herald” above, but the claim that the visions came from God.
What else...?
The prophet Daniel admits that he understood a prophecy through the writings of Jeremiah. Other words, it's ok if prophets use other prophets to gain understanding. I’m sure everyone would accept that, because it is in the bible, however I'm not aware of EGW ever admitting to doing such a thing.
Amalgamation of men and beast - Pastor Doug used only the first part of the quote (before the flood), plus he twisted it so it means amalgamation of animals with animals and the same for people... Here is the full quote by Ellen White, you be the judge:
"But if there was one sin above another which called for the destruction of the race by the flood, it was the base crime of amalgamation of man and beast which defaced the image of God, and caused confusion everywhere." Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 3, p. 64.
"Every species of animal which God had created were preserved in the ark. The confused species which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation, were destroyed by the flood. Since the flood there has been amalgamation of man and beast, as may be seen in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men." Ibid., p. 75.
There’s simply no way to twist this around, I don’t care how smooth of a talker you are, this statement is a clear cut and can not be misinterpreted. These words are actually so shocking they even raised some questions immediately after being published in 1864. Because of this controversy, four years later another Adventist leader by the name Uriah Smith published a book in defence of Mrs. White. He states that amalgamation of man with beast had created "such cases as the wild Bushmen of Africa, some tribes of the Hottentots, and perhaps the Digger Indians of our own country".* James White, Mrs. White's husband must have reviewed the book prior to it's publication, because he endorsed it in the official SDA magazine "Review and Herald" with the following statement: "The Association has just published a pamphlet entitled, 'The Visions of Mrs. E.G. White, A Manifestation of Spiritual Gifts According to the Scriptures.' It is written by the editor of the Review. While carefully reading the manuscript, I felt grateful to God that our people could have this able defense of those views they so much love and prize, which others despise and oppose."** The publication of Uriah Smith's book and the endorsement made by James and Ellen White clearly show that the meaning behind the words "amalgamation of man and beast" is simply sexual union which produces offspring.
And finally prophets are not infallible, they are people, they make mistakes, they go wrong sometimes... and not everything a prophet speaks is a prophecy. He gives verses like 1 Chronicles 17:2-4, 1 Samuel 16:6-7, 1 Cor 7:6, Gal 2:11, James 5:17... I wonder what Doug’s listeners would think of the following quote from EGW: "I do not write one article in the paper, expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision --the precious rays of light shining from the throne…"*** What? Pastor Bachelor, sure a prophet can be wrong if they speak on their own authority, but can God be wrong?
Truth is prophets are not infallible, but God is infallible and when a prophet makes a statement of their own, God can correct that if it’s not according to His will, but when a prophet makes a claim such as Ellen White made that every article she published is “what God has opened before me in vision”, these writings should be infallible because it’s God Who is speaking, not Mrs. White. Yet many of these writings are false prophecies, contradictory to each other and to the bible. Make your own conclusion where EGW inspiration comes from.
Of course Pastor Bachelor didn’t even mention the most important verse in the bible when it comes to testing God’s prophets. It’s found in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 ” You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”
Ellen White openly says her visions, which she published in her books come from God. There are many failed prophecies such as slavery will return in the Southern States, England will attack and humble the United States to the ground, Jerusalem will never be rebuilt before the return of Christ, Earth will soon be depopulated, Christ will return in Ellen’s lifetime, and many more…, when you add the ridiculous statements, the inconsistencies within her own writings, the contradictions with the bible... You get the picture, now do the math. God is infallible.
In bible times Ellen White would have been stoned to death. “But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." Deuteronomy 18:20
Let everyone look at the facts and follow their own conscience on this matter. I pray for each person who reads these words.
"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” Hebrews 1:1-2
Dear friend, I don’t know about you, but in these last days I rather stay focused on Jesus and follow Him instead of so called "modern day prophets" like Ellen G White. Prophecy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit even today, but before we give someone the title, let us be sure they pass the biblical test for a prophet.
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Notes
* Uriah Smith, The Visions of Mrs. E. G. White, A Manifestation of Spiritual gifts According to the Scripture, p. 103
** James White, Review, Aug. 15, 1868.
*** (letter to Dr. Paulson; St. Helena, California, June 14, 1906, Selected Messages pp 24—37)
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