Did Ellen White Write Three Holiest Beings?

Did Ellen White Write Three Holiest Beings?

The answer is a definite “No.”

Ellen White DID NOT pen these words by her own hand. They were written by a stenographer trying to keep up with a sermon she was preaching.

So while some claim that Ellen White wrote “three holiest beings,” the Ellen White Estate clearly informs us on their web site that Sermons and Talks, Book 1 containing the phrase “three holiest beings” comes from a “HIGHLY EDITED” stenographer's report of a sermon she preached on October 20, 1906 at the Congregational Church of Oakland, California.

The date of release by the White Estate is “March 16, 1976.” So this was not her handwriting but a typed report from a stenographer that was first published 70 years after her sermon and can never be authenticated.

This is what Ellen White wrote about unauthenticated reports,

“And now to all who have a desire for truth I would say: Do not give credence to unauthenticated reports as to what Sister White has done or said or written. If you desire to know what the Lord has revealed through her, read her published works.” — (Ellen G. White, 5T 696.1)

The statement appears in the book Sermons and Talks, Book 1.

In the forward of the book we are told,

“All the messages reproduced in this volume were delivered in public and stenographically reported, or were prepared with that purpose in view. Many of Ellen White's sermons may be found in the Review and Herald and Signs of the Times, but nearly all of those included in this series have been drawn from previously unpublished manuscripts, as they appear in our files. So, although there were no tape recorders in Ellen White's day, a person may get the true “feel” of Ellen White as a speaker by reading this book.” — (Forward, Sermons and Talks, Vol. 1)

Ellen White taught that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God coming to us through His Son and so she wrote.

“The HOLY SPIRIT is the SPIRIT of CHRIST; it is His representative.” — (Ellen G. White, 13MR 313.3, 1895)

“CHRIST has left HIS HOLY SPIRIT to be HIS representative in the world,” — (Ellen G. White, Lt84, October 22, 1895)

“The HOLY SPIRIT is the SPIRIT of CHRIST, which is sent to all men to give them sufficiency,” — (E.G. White, 14MR 84.3)

“We want the HOLY SPIRIT, which is JESUS CHRIST.” — (Ellen G. White, Lt66, April 10, 1894)

“but it is the leaven of the SPIRIT of JESUS CHRIST, which is sent down from heaven, called the HOLY GHOST,” — (Ellen G. White, Ms36-1891)

Not only did she identify the “Holy Spirit” as the “Spirit of Christ,” but she always identified ONLY two beings ALONE, not three. So if Ellen White had said or written “three holiest beings” then she would have contradicted herself making herself a false prophet.

Note that she wrote ALONE and ONLY.

“The Father and the Son ALONE are to be exalted.” — (Ellen G. White, The Youth's Instructor, July 7, 1898) --- ONLY TWO BEINGS.

Did she say the Father, Son and Holy Spirit ALONE are to be exalted? No she did not!

And again, “God and Christ ALONE know what the souls of men have cost.” — (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, January 13, 1909) --- ONLY TWO BEINGS.

“God informed Satan that to his Son ALONE he would reveal his secret purposes, and he required all the family in heaven, even Satan, to yield him implicit, unquestioned obedience;” — (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, January 9, 1879) --- ONLY TWO BEINGS

“Can anyone consider the condescension of God in preparing the gospel feast, and its great cost, and treat the invitation slightingly? No man, nor even the highest angel, can estimate the great cost; it is known ONLY to the Father and the Son.” — (Ellen G. White, The Bible Echo, October 28, 1895) --- ONLY TWO BEINGS

If the Holy Spirit was a third co-equal being then it would also know. But since it is the Spirit of Christ, then not so.

“The ONLY Being who was one with God lived the law in humanity, descended to the lowly life of a common laborer, and toiled at the carpenter's bench with His earthly parent.” — (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, October 14, 1897) --- ONLY TWO BEINGS

“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.” — (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 493) --- ONLY TWO BEINGS

In more than one quote Ellen White identified the three highest beings in heaven before the fall as the Father, Son and Satan. Not the Father, Son and Holy Spirit since the Holy Spirit is not a being. “Satan, next to Christ, was at one time most honored of God, and highest in power and glory.” — (Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, July 23, 1902)

So that facts are:

1. Ellen White DID NOT pen the words “three holiest beings.”
2. The words of the stenographer ARE NOT inspired.
3. The sermon was not transcribed for another 70 years.
4. The stenographer's report was highly edited.
5. The stenographer's report can never be authenticated.
6. The words “three holiest beings” contradicts a multitude of things she did write.
7. Sermon and Talks was only intended to get the “feel” of Ellen White as a speaker.

Picking out statements from Ellen White's writings that would fit into a Trinitarian concept of God while ignoring her statements that do not fit the Trinitarian concept of God is a dishonest way to use her writings. To understand correctly what God has revealed through Ellen White, and find out what her beliefs were on this topic, it is necessary to quote all that she wrote on this subject, not just be selective in what we quote to suit our own agenda. That would be tantamount to deception.