SEVEN REASONS I ACCEPT THE BIBLICAL TRINITY, BUT

REJECT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC TRINITY!!

By Derrick Gillespie

Recently I read an online presentation by an SDA member who has become an anti-Trinitarian
dissident in SD Adventism. That dissident is Lori Dooley, and her presentation was entitled
Six Reasons Why I No Longer Believe in a Trinity. See this link for her presentation (here
pictured):
Click this link

Now, in response to her presentation, there are seven reasons I could furnish, as an SDA member, to
indicate why I reject this presentation by Lori Dooley giving six reasons to reject the threefold
Godhead...seeing that six is a number of incompleteness, and incompleteness normally means that the
full story is not being given, and people can easily be fooled with a six for a nine, and so forth. If one
wants to get the background to why I could come up with seven reasons to reject the above linked
presentation by Lori Dooley, let me share the following:
PREAMBLE:
"Isaiah 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may
know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall
there be after me.

Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no Savior. "

"Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first,
and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."

"Matt 4:10 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

"One name ALONE is to be exalted by usthe name of Christ. He who bears this name has visited this
earth...His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace. I have plain messages to bear. The name of the Lord must be exalted among His
people." ---E.G. White, Letter 347, 1904

"Christ ALONE is to be exalted. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own
blood, let every eye be directed, and praise from every heart ascend. (Revelation 1:5.) ....Christ
dwelling in the soul is a wellspring of joy...For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
---E.G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, pg. 162

"The redeemed will meet and recognize those whose attention they have directed to the uplifted
Saviour [i.e. Jesus]. What blessed converse they have with these souls! "I was a sinner," it will be said,
"without God and without hope in the world, and you came to me, and drew my attention to the
precious Saviour as my only hope. And I believed in Him. I repented of my sins, and was made to sit
together with His saints in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Others will say: "I was a heathen in heathen
lands. You left your friends and comfortable home, and came to teach me how to find *Jesus and
believe in *Him [Jesus] as *THE ONLY TRUE GOD. I demolished my idols and worshiped God, and now I
see Him face to face. I am saved, eternally saved, ever to behold Him whom I love. I then saw Him only
with the eye of faith, but now I see Him as He is. I can now express my gratitude for His redeeming
mercy to Him who loved me and washed me from my sins in His own blood." ---E.G. White, Testimonies
for the Church, Vol. 6, pg. 311

"It was the Son of God alone who could present an acceptable sacrifice. GOD *HIMSELF became man,
and bore all the wrath that sin had provoked. This problem, How could God be just and yet the justifier
of sinners? baffled all finite intelligence. A divine person alone could mediate between God and man

---Ellen G. White, Youths Instructor, 31st August 1887, Search the Scriptures
"The second temple was not honored with the cloud of Jehovah's glory, but with the living presence of
One in whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily [i.e. Jesus] --who was GOD *HIMSELF manifest
in the flesh [1 Tim. 3:16]. The "Desire of all nations" had indeed come to His temple when the Man of
Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts. In the presence of Christ, and in this only, did the
second temple exceed the first in glory." --- E.G. White, Great Controversy, 1911, pg. 24

"Jesus Christ is *the Father with us. God is the Father, and there is the link of the chain brought right
down to bind His children in connection with the Father." ---E.G. White, Ms141-1908

"What a Saviour we have! It was he [Jesus] that revealed himself to John on the Isle of Patmos, and
proclaimed, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." None but just such an ever-living, mighty God, could
pay the ransom to save sinners from going down into the pit of death." ---E.G. White, {RH, February 18,
1896

"On the Isle of Patmos, Christ revealed Himself to John, enabling His servant to endure the seeing of
things of eternal interest. No mortal being can endure the revelation of God. His presence has always
been shrouded by a guard of angels. But to John was given the privilege of seeing Christ, not in the
burning bush, but amidst the indescribable glory of the holy sanctuary. Never was there a grander
meeting than the meeting between John and Christ on the Isle of Patmos. The wonderful vision was
accompanied by the words, Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. It was no sophistry, but the presence
of the divine Being who at the time of His ascension has taken into the heavenly courts a glorified
humanity. He announced Himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first
and the last, and He came to give John a message for the churches." E.G. White, Manuscript 68,
1907

"The crowning glory of Christs [Jesus'] attributes is His holiness. The angels bow before *Him [Jesus] in
adoration, exclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord *God Almighty." Revelation 4:8. He is declared to be
glorious in His holiness. Study the character of God. By beholding Christ, by seeking Him in faith and
prayer, you may become like Him. ---E.G. White, CT 402.2

They [SD Adventists] have ONE God and ONE Saviour; and ONE Spiritthe Spirit of Christ (E.G.
White, 9T 189.3, 1909)

The Person by whom God will judge the world is Jesus Christ, God-Man. The second Person in THE
*Trinity, that same Person of Whom we read in our Bibles...was born of the Virgin Mary

- Present Truth, 1908, Vol. 24, No. 51-52, pg. 812

"...let us [SDAs] consecrate to Him ["the Lord" or God] all that we are, and all that we have, and then
may we all unite to swell the song, Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all
creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, *AND Holy Ghost.

---E.G. White, RH January 4, 1881

"Psalms 100:2 *Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."

When we have accepted Christ, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
have pledged ourselves to serve [i.e. reverence, honor, worship and obey] God, the Father, Christ,
*AND the Holy Spirit --the three dignitaries and powers of heaven--pledge themselves that every
facility shall be given to us if we carry out our baptismal vows to "come out from among them, and be . .
. separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing. "When we are true to our vows, He says, "I will receive
you" ----E.G. White, Manuscript 85, 1901

COMMENTS:
Notice carefully in the above quotes that Mrs. White equates praising God, or praising "HIM", with
praising Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And to her, "serving" God (in the sense of Joshua 24:15) equates
to serving Father, Son, and Spirit. This is clearly the first angels message of Rev. 14:6-7 being
exemplified for true SDAs by her, but is a truth being trampled on by some, mainly out of ignorance,
just as one SDA pioneer made plain in 1898 about his earlier ignorance:

"It seems strange to me, now, that I ever believed that the Holy Spirit was only an influence, in view of
the work he does. But we want the truth because it is truth, and we reject error because it is error,
regardless of any views we may formerly have held, or any difficulty we may have had, or may now
have, when we view the Holy Spirit as a person. Satan's scheme is to destroy all faith in the
personality of the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost... [Also] Let us beware lest Satan shall
lead us to take the first step in destroying our faith in the personality of this person of the Godhead,
the Holy Ghost...." --- R.A. Underwood The Holy Spirit a Person, Review and Herald, Vol. 75, No.
20, May 17, *1898, pg. 310

Notice how other SDA pioneers were appealing to the earlier ignorant brethren about the Spirits
personhood:

"...the Holy Spirit IS A PERSON. This great truth is not recognized, indeed it is NOT believed, by more
than a very few even of Christians [most SDA pioneers at the time included]....The Holy Spirit is a
Person, ETERNALLY A DIVINE PERSON. And he must be ALWAYS RECOGNIZED and spoken of as a
Person, or he is not truly recognized or spoken of at all...the Scriptures make perfectly plain the truth
that the Holy Spirit is, none other than a living, speaking, divine, and eternal person. Exactly as Christ
is a person and as God is a person..." ---A.T. Jones, Medical Missionary, March 27, 1907, pg. 98
We [SD Adventists] need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person *AS [i.e. in same way
or sense that] God is a person [he, the Spirit] is walking through these grounds

----E.G. White- Manuscript Release, Vol. 7, pg. 299 (from an 1899 speech at Avondale College)

"The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, in Christ's name. He personifies [impersonates] Christ, yet is a distinct
personality [or 'a separate person with individuality' - 1828 Websters Dictionary].

---E.G. White, Manuscript Release, Vol. 20, pg. 324

Now notice again how SDA pioneers referred to the Three living personalities of the eternal
Godhead before 1915:

"...as to the Being of God,the Godhead,Divinity as revealed in the Father, the Word (the Son), and
the Holy Spirit, we [SDAs] believe and teach just what the Bible says, and nothing else. No man can by
searching find out God. No creature can understand the Almighty to perfection. The finite mind cannot
comprehend infinity..." ---E. J. Waggoner, The Present Truth for 1902 - Vol. 18 - No. 06, pg. 83)

Notice that to E.J. Waggoner, the "Being of God" or "the Godhead" of separate BEINGS is the same as
"divinity revealed in the Father, the Word (or Jesus), and the Holy Spirit" ( the GROUP), and together he
calls them "God" or "the Almighty"...and he did that even before personally calling them "The Trinity"
like Uriah Smith (of all persons) had already called them that from as early as 1896, and had admitted
worship as being due to the Holy Spirit in "the same Trinity". How telling!

Do the Scriptures warrant praise to and worship of the Holy Sprint? ...in the formula for baptism, the
name Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is associated with that of the Father and the Son. And if the name
can be used thus, why could it not properly stand as a part of the same *TRINITY in the hymn of praise,
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost?

- Uriah Smith (U.S.), Review and Herald, In the Question Chair, 1896, Vol. 73, No. 43, pg. 685

SUMMARY STATEMENT!
Only a Trinitarian says Christ ALONE is to be exalted (just like the one Lord our God alone is to be;
see Matt. 4:10)!! Only a Trinitarian calls Jesus both the Saviour (of Isaiah 43:10-11), as well as God
Himself, the only true God, and "God Almighty who was, is, and is to come", just like the Father is
addressed (the same Father he and Jesus are said to be of one substance, or bearing the same
attributes). And only a Trinitarian deems the Holy Spirit a person among three persons of
divinity, then calls the Holy Spirit "Christ himself", even while speaking of three living personalities
who are "distinct personalities" (i.e. they are differing persons of divinity) and are together of the
eternal Godhead (just as E.G. White said, along with other SDA pioneers after 1888)!! Plus only a
Trinitarian points to the need to praise the Father, Son and Holy Spirit when the one Lord or God is
being praised (just as Mrs. White said in 1881). And finally, only a Trinitarian regularly and
supportively quotes Protestant Trinitarian authors (like Boardman and Cumming) who opposed the
Roman Catholic Papacy (with their *counterfeit version of the Trinity), but still accepts the biblical
version (like the 1889 Spear's "Bible Doctrine of the Trinity which the SDA pioneers published and
lauded in 1892 and 1894) . After all, Satan is a master COUNTERFEITER, and so we should expect him
to counterfeit the true "threefold" Godhead (which Mrs. White called "the great threefold Power;
singular), both in pagan religions and in the Papal Church, in order to caricature the things of God and
cause even sincere people to, in fighting against the counterfeit Trinity, throw out the baby with the
baby water!! The truly ignorant or one limited in research denies this reality!!

With the foregoing now said, here now are my seven reasons (backed by 'troublesome' evidence for
some) causing me to make the above summary statement:

Link 1: https://www.scribd.com/document/339756312/Mrs-White-Quotes-Trinitarian-Authors-An-
Assessment

Link 2: https://www.scribd.com/document/358774678/Uriah-Smith-s-Godhead-Changes-After-1888

Link 3: https://www.scribd.com/document/334494693/STUMPED-A-Pro-Trinitarian-Pictorial-and-
Commentary-for-SDAs

Link 4: https://www.scribd.com/document/332422277/SDA-Pioneers-Rejected-Papal-Trinity-But

Link 5: https://www.scribd.com/document/100632914/Papacy-Did-Not-Invent-Trinity

Link 6: https://www.scribd.com/document/356730652/Proofs-We-Should-Worship-the-Spirit-as-SDAs

Link 7: https://www.scribd.com/document/331616383/JESUS-the-BEGOTTEN-SON-Compelling-Reasons-
I-Believe-in-Jesus-Pre-Incarnate-Begetting

As I close let me remind the misguided dissidents refusing to take another look at the story of
Adventism:
"When someone who is genuinely mistaken learns the truth, he will
either quit being mistaken or will no longer remain genuine."
Anonymous
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Many of the dissidents sadly display the following traits (*quote from Lazarus Castang)

Lets pray for them that God will humble them and release them from the chains
of self-deception that they have allowed themselves to be in.

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Derrick Gillespie is a trained teacher in the Social Sciences, History, and Geography, and remains a
member of the SDA Church in Jamaica and a lay evangelist for SDAs.
(Contact Info: ddgillespie@live.com OR https://www.facebook.com/derrick.gillespie