BI-THEISM vs TRI-THEISM

IN ADVENTISM?
By Derrick Gillespie

Adventist anti-Trinitarians, who are believers in and worshippers of two

Godhead beings, whom they direct worship to as Creator, Redeemer, and
King of kings (with one being coming from the other), are usually seen
attacking the Adventist trinity, which consists of three beings in one
Godhead, describing it as being “unorthodox” and as proof of tri-theism
(the worship of three gods). Well, the truth is that Adventism's present
acceptance of a trinity is unorthodox, as believed today, and the SDA
pioneers' eventual acceptance of a certain type of trinity, and their
explanation of it was unorthodox, as believed and explained by them
between 1892 and up to 1915. So what? Being "unorthodox" has never
bothered Adventists!! Mind you, this writer is not saying that the historic
"orthodox" Trinity does not have inherent flaws in certain explanations,
nor am I saying that the present unorthodox version of the Trinity in
Adventism does not have certain inherent flaws in certain explanations, but
what is certain is that worshiping two beings as God, or as members of
the Godhead does not escape the critic’s charge of polytheism (i.e. bi-
theism or the worship of two gods) any more than worshiping three
beings or persons as one God. It is time we all wake up to that fact.

As for the argument of "tri-theism" it is a straw-man argument, since:

[1] Opponents to the orthodox Trinity, which consists of one Being with
three "persons" united in one substance, have also used the “tri-theism”
("three Gods") argument against the belief even when three separate beings
are not considered as objects of worship. This proves that it is all a matter
of perspective and is highly subjective.

[2] The very same SDA anti-Trinitarians who charge mainstream

Adventists with worshiping " three Gods", because we see three separate
beings in the Godhead, they would be equally guilty of polytheism or
worshiping "two Gods", i.e. if the tri-theism charge they level against
Adventism was indeed correct. They believe in two Godhead beings whom
they direct worship together as Creator, Redeemer, and King of kings (one
being coming from the other).

Usually they try to escape this charge of worshiping two Gods by lamely
explaining that only the Father is God (i.e.supreme), and the Son merely
inherited divine equality (or divine supremacy) and the right to being
worshiped as God, but only by nature, and so that is not really polytheism.
But this is simply a case of “cock mouth kill cock”, and the "kettle calling
the pot black". You can’t have your cake and eat it. If polytheism is
worshiping and praying to more than one separate being as God, then using
their same weak tri-theism arguments against them one could easily
overturn their belief in the worship of Father and Son together. And their
appeal to ancient pagan religions of many gods being the pattern for
polytheism in Christianity does not help their cause either, since many
pagans worshiped gods in twos, as separate beings, with one being
coming from the other, and ancient pagan religions also worshiped groups
of three separate beings or individuals (even of different genders), often
with all originating from one god figure. To escape this similarity the anti-
Trinitarians in Adventism would have to admit that similarity does not
always mean source, and this equally applies to the Godhead ‘duo’ of
SDA anti-Trinitarians as well as to the ‘trio’ or ‘trinity’ of mainstream
Adventists as well. Otherwise they too would be guilty of polytheism,
even as they point the finger. Obviously the Bible's presentation of the
Godhead having more than one being deserving of highest worship is
not regarded in God's eyes as polytheism. That this truth has being
caricatured and counterfeited by paganism and false Christianity is
undoubtedly true. So what's new? So are other truths in Christianity as well.
Satan's plans to launch an attack against truth are long-ranging and more
deceptive than many of us realize.

What is true is that Adventism has good reason, from its pioneering
days, for believing in (as so potently stated by E.G. White) "three
holiest beings in heaven" or three "eternal heavenly dignitaries"
comprising the "threefold" "Eternal Godhead"; "holiest beings" who
all "gave themselves" to the "plan of redemption", who all deserve to
be called upon in prayer as the "three Great Worthies", and who all
deserve to be "served"...unless E.G. White is woefully wrong!! Yet
Adventism today is at fault in believing in three equally in-originate
role-playing beings, and in a Christ not begotten from all eternity, since
the biblical truth is that only the Father of Jesus is ultimately in-
originate, or unbegotten. What is also true is that while the SDA anti-
Trinitarians recognize certain errors in the present explanations of the
SDA trinity, yet they themselves deceive themselves into thinking that
they have all explanations of their Godhead "duo" correct, and they
themselves exhibit stubborn refusal to accept certain realities about the
"three holiest beings in heaven". Sadly both sides may never reach the
point where they both accept their shortcomings and come clean, and
so I must believe that God will always have a true "remnant in Israel"
who will be able to accept both sides of the truth!!

Finally I must say that this writer is comfortable with the basic premise as
written so clearly by an Adventist pioneer as early as 1909, when he said:

From the confusing idea of ‘one God in three Gods’

and ‘three Gods in one God’ – the unexplainable
dictum of theology- [i.e. the traditional Catholic Trinity
explanation, of a singular threefold organism/Being or a
singular tri-personal substance] - the enemy gladly leads
to what appears to be a more rational, though not
less erroneous idea – that there is no trinity, and that
Christ is merely a created being. But God’s great
plan is clear and logical. There is a trinity, and in it
there are three personalities…We have the Father
described in Dan. 7:9, 10…a personality surely…In
Rev. 1:13-18 we have the Son described. He is also a
personality… The Holy Spirit is spoken of throughout
Scripture as a personality. These divine persons are
associated in the work of God…But this union is not
one in which individuality is lost…There is indeed a
divine trio, but the Christ of that Trinity is not a
created being as the angels- He was the “only
begotten” of the Father…let not the lips of man
speak of Christ as a created being. He is one of the
divine trio- the ‘only begotten Son’ of the
Father…”

- Robert Hare, Australasian Union Conference Record, July 19, 1909

I am comfortable that these three personalities/persons can be called the
“three holiest beings in heaven”, that all three “pledges” to receive and
be “a Father” to us, that, in response, we must “pledge to “serve”
all three, and am comfortable that when we need help it is our privilege to
call upon the “three Great Worthies”; all doctrinal matters confirmed by
Adventism’s leading pioneer, E.G. White. As an Adventist I am
comfortable with the basics, and upon this platform I stand to agitate for a
reform in certain areas of our mainstream Trinitarian belief, areas in
explanation that admittedly deny other equally important truths; truths like
the historic Christian faith that Jesus is the real and truly begotten Son of
the Father (not just an ‘incarnational Son’), and that both he and the Holy
Spirit (though existing as “eternal heavenly dignitaries”, yet) are of/from
the Father, the Great Source of all (since only he is in-originate and owes
his existence to none other). Amen.