HOW THE SDA HYMNALS SINCE 1893 REVEAL

THE TRINITARIAN TYPE WORSHIP OF SDA

PIONEERS WHILE E.G. WHITE WAS ALIVE!!

By Derrick Gillespie

Published: Sept., 2015

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)

--- “Prove all things” ---

INTRODUCTION:

As a ‘follow up’ of sorts to my earlier written booklet called “A Catholic SDA Hymnal? Reviewing

so-called Catholic Influence on the [1985] SDA Hymnal- A Balanced SDA Perspective” (click the

link to get your own free copy) I am pleased to share with you a deeper study into the matter of

how what SDA pioneers sang from their hymnals after 1893 and before 1915 (when E.G. White

died) reveal their gradual acceptance of The Trinity or The threefold Godhead (but a tailored

version involving “the three holiest beings in heaven”, as chief SDA pioneer E.G. White

expressed it). For years SDA members have been bombarded with propaganda from “offshoot”

and certain “independent” ministries peddling the falsehood that it was after E.G. White and all

the early pioneers of SD Adventism died that Trinitarian-type sentiments became OFFICIALLY

accepted among Adventists. It’s time to “prove all things”, and to test those charges by

comparing the real facts of history with those accusations! What are the reals facts?

Well, between the years 1893 and 1915, SDAs officially published three major songbooks which

were officially vetted by a General Conference (GC) Committee of SDA pioneers (including

pioneers who previously expressed strong anti-Trinitarian sentiments), and it is quite eye-

opening that those three hymnals showed a gradually increasing volume of Trinitarian type

songs, and not one pioneer is on record objecting to them being in those hymnals (including

E.G. White). What hymnals am I talking about? They are as follows:

1. The Seventh-day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book for Use in Divine Worship (1893 version)

2. Christ in Song (1900 version) - by F.E. Belden

3. Christ in Song (1908 version) - by F.E. Belden

All three song books listed above are considered the song books of the SDA pioneers; vetted,

edited, compiled, and published by SDA pioneers themselves via the Review and Herald

publishing house of SDAs. Now one would think that if the SDA pioneers had continued to

totally reject Trinitarian type sentiments about the Godhead (as they are admittedly on record

doing before the 1890s), then official SDA hymnals or songbooks --- involving SDA pioneers

sitting in GC committees in the selection of songs that E.G. White herself would have sung—

they should show no Trinitarian type songs listed. But what is irrefutably true is that the

converse is the case, and this fact alone debunks those “accusers of the brethren” who claim

that it was only after the pioneers died off that Trinitarian sentiments became ‘officially’

accepted among mainstream SDAs!! Let’s delve into the true facts, and you will discover for

yourself, dear reader, who is telling the truth. Feel free to check the facts am about to give for

yourself online, or by way of the actual books am about to quote, since originals are still

available, or photocopied versions of the originals can be easily acquired online or via the

archives of the General Conference of SDAs (as well as via non-SDA digital archives online).

FIRST APPEARANCE OF SDA SONGS WORSHIPPING A THREEFOLD

GODHEAD

The Seventh-day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book for Use in Divine Worship was re-published in

1893 (as the xeroxed cover page below shows), and was compiled by a GC committee of SDA

pioneers involving Uriah Smith, J.H. Waggoner and others who were previous to 1893 very

vocal as anti-Trinitarians.

They were on record before 1893 totally against praise being directed to the Holy Spirit as a

person separate from or in addition to the Father and His Son; which is the hallmark of what

identifies an anti-Trinitarian. Yet in the 1893 song book under focus, here is what we see in

hymn No. 36 (on page 16), in the section entitled “PRAISE- WORSHIP AND REVERENCE OF

GOD”:

By 1893 SDAs had now come full circle to be comfortably directing praise and prayer songs, FIRST, to the Father (the “Ancient of Days”), SECOND, to the Incarnate Word (Jesus), and then, as seen clearly in verse 3, THIRD, making a separate invocation of, and directing praise and prayer (in song) to “the Spirit of power” (the “holy Comforter” who is deemed “almighty”) as a “third” person of “Three”. There was now no shying away from separately sending praise to the “Spirit of power” and acknowledging that he’s “almighty” as the “third” Godhead person of “the Three”. Now I know some of the “accusers of the brethren” and their “offshoot” or “independent” ministries will try to lamely explain it away and say by praising “the Comforter” the SDA pioneers were only praising Jesus, since the Spirit is Christ himself, they would argue. Yet in the very same year (1893) that the above hymn was published in that songbook, here is what the chief SDA pioneer, E.G. White, said about the Spirit they were singing praise to in song No. 36: “The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, in Christ's name. He personifies Christ, yet is a distinct personality.” – E.G. White, Manuscript, 1893 Now, did she number this “distinct personality” or “person” as one would count “1, 2, 3”? You bet she did!! After speaking in several places of there being “three living persons” being in the “Eternal Godhead”, she went much further to explain exactly what she meant by “three persons” or “the three holiest beings in heaven” being “the three Great Worthies” that she even directed prayer to. She said Christ and the Father are “one”, and that Jesus, as “God essentially and in the highest sense”, is “God himself manifested”, but immediately

acknowledged that Jesus is a “distinct personality” (meaning a separate person) from the Father. And when she spoke of the Spirit in relation to Jesus, she said the exact same thing (that they are “distinct” in personality), and she did so in the very period that we begin to see Trinitarian type songs appearing in SDA songbooks. In fact, the Trinitarian-type intent of what the pioneers were now singing from their song book before 1915 becomes even more pronounced when we look at the 1900 and 1908 Christ in Song hymnal (the most popular and loved pioneering SDA song book) as written, compiled and published by SDA pioneer F.E. Belden; a pioneer who was E.G. White’s own nephew. But I’ll get to that shortly. But suffice it to say here that this is what totally debunks the anti-Trinitarian offshoots and apostates from organized SD Adventism who are still trying to hold on to E.G. White and the SDA pioneers, while rejecting the doctrine (as developed by SDA pioneers themselves before 1915); that the Spirit can be praised or worshipped and prayed to as a separately listed personality. What is even more devastating to the “offshoots” and “accusers” in their lame polemic and stance on the issues is that the very same 1893 hymnal has an entire section devoted to worship of the Holy Spirit, entitled “WORSHIP- THE *SPIRIT” (songs 136-167), and that is after having two separate sections for worship dedicated to the Father (songs 19-100), and another section for worship dedicated to the “Adoration of Christ”, Jesus the Son (songs 101-135). It is even more telling when one examines the songs dedicated to praising and addressing prayer (in songs) to the Son and Spirit in a separate way. Very many songs in the section of the 1893 hymnal dedicated to the “Adoration of Christ”, praises Jesus as “O Lord our God the Lamb” (No. 105), as “my gracious Master and my God” (No. 114), and as “Sovereign” (No. 113), just as the pioneers deemed the Father to be, i.e. he’s “our God”, and he’s “Sovereign” or, as the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary of American English defined “sovereign”, he’s: “1. Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion; as a sovereign ruler of the universe. 2. Supreme; superior to all others…”

This is what normal Trinitarians would declare in their worship of the persons in the Godhead,

seeing that if Jesus was now being deemed our God and “Sovereign” (supreme) just like the

Father, then it is plain that by 1893 the pioneers were accepting and singling lustily from their

song book that it is NOT only the person of the Father who is “our God” or the supreme Being

(i.e. the “Sovereign” of heaven).

In fact, when we look at songs dedicated to the worship of the Spirit (in the section entitled

“WORSHIP- THE SPIRIT”), song No. 141 is a revealing prayer song to the Spirit (as seen in the

photocopy overleaf), when understood in the “three holiest beings in heaven” context. By 1893

key pioneers had changed their views on the personhood of the Spirit, and it is compellingly

demonstrated by Mrs. White (as recorded in a 1906 sermon) having the freedom to now offer a

prayer to, quote, “the three Great Worthies” whom she called “the three holiest BEINGS in

heaven”, and whom she had the freedom to list as Father, Son and Spirit separately; indicating

to whom she was praying when she needed to “call upon” who could help her. This freedom

she showed to write as she did was simply because by 1893 the SDA pioneers had started to

accept that prayer can be addressed to the Holy Spirit separately, as “the third person” of the

“Three Persons”, just as we would direct prayer to the Father and the Son. Note the telling

words of this prayer song (No. 141) compared to No. 146, also in this much beloved pioneering

hymnal, “Hymns and Tunes”, and consider them in the E.G. White context of the Holy Sprit

being the “third” of “the three holiest beings in heaven”:

These are prayers (in song) to the Spirit that would not sit well with previously anti-Trinitarian pioneers if sung to a “third person of the Godhead” separately, and the notion of the Spirit being (as Mrs. White later phrased it) “also a divine person” of “three living persons” in the “Eternal Godhead” certainly has not gone down well with the ‘old timers’. No wonder Mrs. White wrote in 1899, as an appeal to those resisting this truth: “We [Adventists] need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a Person *AS [i.e. in same way that] God is a person (!!) is walking through these grounds…He hears every word we utter, and knows every thought of every mind” -E.G. White- Manuscript Release, Vol. 7, pg. 299 (from an 1899 speech at Avondale College)

The above is indicative of the fact that some SDA pioneers were resisting the new doctrinal developments in Adventism about the Spirit’s “distinct personality” (as E.G. White phrased it); a new development that clearly had started to take place somewhere around 1891 or 1892, and the following proves it. In 1892 SDA pioneers themselves were blunt about the following Trinitarian-type article from the Presbyterian minister, Samuel Spear; an article that they SUPPORTIVELY published via their Pacific Press publishing house (even renaming it “The Bible doctrine of the Trinity”):

“…The Godhead makes its appearance in the great plan for human salvation. God in this plan is brought before our thoughts under the personal titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with diversity in offices, relations, and actions toward men. These titles and their special significance, as used in the Bible, are not interchangeable. The term “Father” is never applied to the Son, and the term “Son” is never applied to the Father. Each title has its own permanent application, and its own use and sense. The distinction thus revealed in the Bible is the basis of the doctrine of the tri-personal God… The exact mode in which the revealed Trinity is … must be to us a perfect mystery, in the sense of our total ignorance on the point. We do not, in order to believe the revealed fact, need to understand this mode. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity—whether, as to its elements, taken collectively or separately — so far from being a dry, unpractical, and useless dogma adjusts itself to the condition and wants of men as sinners…. The truth is that God the Father in the primacy attached to Him in the Bible, and God the Son in the redeeming and saving work assigned to Him in the same Bible, and God the Holy Ghost in his office of regeneration and sanctification – whether considered collectively as one God, or separately in the relation of each to human salvation—are really omnipresent in, and belong to, the whole texture of the revealed plan for saving sinners." - Student Bible Series, No. 90, The Bible doctrine of the Trinity, Pacific Press, 1892

Rather telling isn’t it? In fact, in 1892 and 1894 respectively (the same period the 1893 hymnal came out) here is what SDA pioneers said glowingly about the same Spear article quoted above:

“… We believe that it sets forth the Bible doctrine of the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with a devout adherence to the words of the Scripture, in the best brief way we ever saw it presented."

-Signs of the Times, Vol.18, No.22, 1892.

“…It presents the Bible view of the doctrine of the Trinity in the terms used in the Bible, and therefore avoids all philosophical discussion and foolish speculation. It is a tract worthy of reading." -Signs of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 29, 1894.

And so what we see, starting from 1892 with the Spear’s article, is a GRADUAL development of Adventist thought regarding the acceptance of a “threefold” Godhead (perfectly explaining the reason for the Trinitarian type sentiments in the 1893 hymnal, as aforementioned). And yet this “development” became a radical departure from traditional Trinitarian thought in one key aspect (among other aspects), because the Adventist explanation of the Godhead has always maintained that in the Godhead the separateness or individuality of the persons is not lost (!!). This would

explain Mrs. White’s later monumental 1906 admission to there being “three holiest beings in heaven” that she offered prayer to, despite earlier (in 1901) affirming them collectively as “God”, and as being our “Father” collectively, who all “pledged” to and henceforth subsequently “receive” us as “sons and daughters” upon our baptism (a matter some, especially the modern anti-Trinitarians in Adventism, find hard to come to grips with even today):

"God says, [notice after this whom she means says this] "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." [Now notice carefully] This is the pledge of [not one person, but] the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [i.e. the *pledge to receive and be “a Father” to you]; made to you if you will keep your baptismal vow, and touch not the unclean thing… In order to deal righteously with the world, as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, Christians must feel their need of a power, which comes only from the [three] heavenly agencies that have pledged themselves to work in man's behalf. After we have formed a union with the great THREEFOLD POWER [singular; collective], we shall regard our duty toward the

members of God's family with a sacred awe.” -E.G. White, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1901

Let’s now see what happened to the hymnody of SDA pioneers at the end of the 1890s, and leading up to 1915. Keep reading. You will be further convinced about what you have read so far.

FURTHER PIONEERING INCLUSION OF TRINITARIAN-TYPE WORSHIP SONGS

IN SDA HYMNALS:

After the pioneers revised the meanings of certain songs in the 1893 song book entitled “The

Seventh-day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book for Use in Divine Worship”, the General Conference

Committee vetted and passed for official publishing what became the most popular and well known

song book of the SDA pioneers, namely “Christ in Song” (the 1900 and 1908 versions), as written and

compiled by the nephew of E.G. White, brother F.E. Belden. The 1890s to the early 1900s

“acceptance” of Trinitarian-type sentiments explains why Trinitarian-type hymns could be freely

added to the SDA hymnal after the 1890s and the early 1900s (i.e. years before the 1915 death of

E.G. White), in line with SDA theology that the Church gradually grew into even while Mrs. E.G. White

was alive. Proof?

The 1900 and 1908 SDA hymnal called “Christ in Song”, as compiled by SDA pioneer F.E Belden

(*click link to see original), had the following Trinitarian-type prayer songs being added and sung by

SDAs DURING MRS. WHITE’S TIME--addressing directly the personal and divine Holy Spirit, since

they were pointedly and explicitly praising “the Eternal Three”, as explicitly identified and listed:

No. 104 (Hover O’er me Holy Spirit) in the SDA “Christ in Song” of 1900:

“Hover o’er me, Holy Spirit, Bathe my trembling heart and brow; Fill me with Thy hallowed presence,

Come, O come and fill me now… At Thy sacred feet I bow; Blest, divine, eternal Spirit, Fill with pow’r,

and fill me now”

No. 296 (Praise ye the Father) in the SDA “Christ in Song” of 1900 (verse 3):

“Praise ye the Spirit, Comforter of Israel, Sent of the Father and the Son to bless us.

Praise ye the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— Praise ye the Eternal Three!”

As said before, prayer songs directly addressed to the Spirit as personal and divine as a “third

person” among “Three” are Trinitarian practices, and praising Father, Son and Spirit as the separately

named “Eternal Three” is inescapably Trinitarian-type worship. And we see clearly that the SDA

pioneers already had this Trinitarian-type of worship captured in the 1900 “Christ in Song” Hymnal

(15 years before the death of E.G. White). In fact, in the 1908 version of “Christ in Song” (a Hymnal

Mrs. White would have also sung from), there is a section of the Contents called “Praise to *the

Trinity” (page 6), with three distinct Trinitarian songs listed there (Nos. 470, 377, & 354), and this

fact effectively debunks the “accusers” claiming that, quote, “Never before [1985] in any SDA Hymnal

was there an entire section of hymns dedicated to THE TRINITY”!! See the real truth proving

otherwise in the actual Xeroxed/photocopied page below (see the left side of page 6, just left of

the column with sections dealing with “Evening Hymns”, “The Rest Day” [Sabbath] and “Sabbath

School” songs).

This later addition of more Trinitarian-type songs to this SDA hymnal was a natural and logical

outgrowth of that doctrinal development during Mrs. White’s time. Pity the “accusers of the

brethren” would not research more carefully before bringing their accusations, and misinforming the

public as well.

Ever remember that [1] the term “trinity” (a synonym of “trio”), [2] the doctrine of the personal Holy

Spirit (in its rudimentary form), as well as [3] the notion of “the Trinity” consisting of an “Eternal

Three” who are worthy of equal praise, these teachings all pre-dated the Roman Catholic Church by

several centuries (a doctrine it did not “invent” but inherited from early Christians, when it came on

the scene after the fourth century), and so it is not Roman Catholic “liturgy” alone to speak of the

“Trinity”, but rather it is very Christian in every way (matters not the dissenters or detractors). I have

written much about the reality of anti-Trinitarian dissidents in Adventism or apostates from

Adventism continuing to “kick against the pricks” as it concerns ‘tailored’ Trinitarianism in Adventism

(*click the link to see). Their “accusative” sentiments can only be seen for what they are--

groundless—once we are armed with the proper knowledge of Church history and what the Bible

really teaches about the Godhead of “the three holiest beings in heaven” (as E.G. White expressed

it). See a solid library of literature I have prepared to arm any SDA to answer these anti-Trinitarians

(*click link).

As I close, I cannot but help but join with our SDA pioneers and sing song No. 470 from their own 1908 song book, “Christ in Song” (seen below as directly photocopied from that pioneering SDA songbook), but SUNG IN THE POST 1893 AND PRE-1915 CONVICTION OF THE SDA PIONEERS;THAT THE GODHEAD CONSIST OF “THE THREE HOLIEST BEINGS IN HEAVEN”.:

Now, only desperate dishonesty, denominational heresy or utter blindness would have any SDA trying to explain it away or deny its real post-1893 and pre-1915 Trinitarian intent while Mrs. White was alive. I rest my case!!