Ellen White Quote Options

[AmeliaLD]

Some could cite that this is God showing His preference for Hondas instead of Toyotas.

Oh come on...we all know that God would only buy American.

[PeacefulBe]

Oh come on...we all know that God would only buy American.

[Denny]

But people do this very thing all the time; they take something EGW said that was a specific piece of counsel to a specific set of circumstances and they extrapolate a universal application that all are expected to abide by lest they be deemed rejecting the counsel of God through His prophet...

This is the inherent danger and flaw in using EGW's writings as if they are some kind of theological trump card, overriding and outweighing everything and anything else.

In His service,
Mr. J

Too true Mr J and hence we got or used to have the following Do nots that entered Adventist culture

Do not have baths on Sabbath
Do not intermarry racially

(There are probably more)

[lurker]

This is the first time I have heard that you can't marry out of your race. In my SDA church in Michigan this isn't an issue. And I shower every Sabbath morning before heading for church. This sounds like something out of the 1930's.

This post has been edited by lurker: Sep 25 2006, 09:06 AM

[simplysaved]

I'm from Lake Region and am currently in South Central Conference...it is not an issue here either....

This is the first time I have heard that you can't marry out of your race. In my SDA church in Michigan this isn't an issue. And I shower every Sabbath morning before heading for church. This sounds like something out of the 1930's.

I hope we all shower every morning!

The idea of Preparation Day--and being ready for the Sabbath is still valid scriptutrally, IMO. The issue is to how far in extremes you go with it...

[Denny]

This is the first time I have heard that you can't marry out of your race. In my SDA church in Michigan this isn't an issue. And I shower every Sabbath morning before heading for church. This sounds like something out of the 1930's.

the bath one was being practised up to the 1990's the other one well people don't need an excuse to reinforce existing prejudices

[watchbird]

But people do this very thing all the time; they take something EGW said that was a specific piece of counsel to a specific set of circumstances and they extrapolate a universal application that all are expected to abide by lest they be deemed rejecting the counsel of God through His prophet...

This is the inherent danger and flaw in using EGW's writings as if they are some kind of theological trump card, overriding and outweighing everything and anything else.

In His service,
Mr. J

Too true Mr J and hence we got or used to have the following Do nots that entered Adventist culture

Do not have baths on Sabbath
Do not intermarry racially

(There are probably more)

While it is all too true (and sad) that such things have been done, and in some sectors may still be being done, isn't it time that we tore our eyes away from the negatives of the past and turned them instead on the positives of the trajectory of Ellen White studies for the future?

See for example, the writings of Arthur Patrick on the At Issue pages, http://sdanet.org/atissue/white/index.htm and also the MP3 files (or Google videos) of The Ellen White Summit Conference held in Oregon, Nov. 2005. http://ellenwhitesummit.foxyresearch.com/

There is definitely a new day dawning in "Ellen White Apologetics". We are not "there" yet, but I think it will help us get there more quickly if more "catch the wave" and "ride its crest", to use a Patrick metaphor.

[awesumtenor]

While it is all too true (and sad) that such things have been done, and in some sectors may still be being done, isn't it time that we tore our eyes away from the negatives of the past and turned them instead on the positives of the trajectory of Ellen White studies for the future?

See for example, the writings of Arthur Patrick on the At Issue pages, http://sdanet.org/atissue/white/index.htm and also the MP3 files (or Google videos) of The Ellen White Summit Conference held in Oregon, Nov. 2005. http://ellenwhitesummit.foxyresearch.com/

There is definitely a new day dawning in "Ellen White Apologetics". We are not "there" yet, but I think it will help us get there more quickly if more "catch the wave" and "ride its crest", to use a Patrick metaphor.

I totally agree with you, watchbird... in my experience, however, I have found that until people realize they are headed in the direction of the 'negatives of the past', they are not going to see any need on their part to alter that direction...

One could argue that such a myopia is an inevitable result of the "we have the truth" mindset that is so prevalent among us... but that would be another topic for another time, n'est-ce pas?


In His service,
Mr. J

[justme]

I'm from Lake Region and am currently in South Central Conference...it is not an issue here either....
I hope we all shower every morning!

The idea of Preparation Day--and being ready for the Sabbath is still valid scriptutrally, IMO. The issue is to how far in extremes you go with it...

Here is a little background on the "Preparsation Day" and the "Not Bathing On Sabbath" thing. My grandfather was little boy when his family were friends with James and Ellen White. James and Ellen used to bring wooden toys made in their woodworking shop (James used to make chairs)to my grandfather at Christmas time. Janes and Ellen loved to say "Thank you" to the Gospel Workers she knew at thea time.

We also learned that food preparation used to be much more involved than it is today. They had no freezera or microwave ovens so they had to gather from the garden, clean, cut, slice, dice, by hand to get food ready. She suggested that it would make Sabbath much more pleasant for all if these things were done on Friday. Cooking was done in a wood burning stove, a fire had to be built, and so on.

The same is true of BATHING. The big old tub was brought on from outside (usually) so bathing could be done more discretely. It was setin tyhe middle of the floor so many times furniture had to be moved out of the way. A fire was built out doors to heat the water. Another laborious chore. The hot water hauled in to the tub. No wonder they avoided the bath except at special times.

Now we have instant hot water, the shower or tub is always ready, the food can be kept overnight in refrigerators and microwaved int ime for Sabbath lunch.

She also counselled against riding bicycles at one time because it was such a fas that people spent family food and cl;othing money on bicycles just to be "in style on the boardwalk". Bicycles were very expensive (before Monarch and Schwinn, etc) and people were wasting a lot of time riding around in circles to be seen and admired. The problem was not the bicycle, it was the personal application of it's uses. missionaries love them in the jungles to travel from village to village.

No big deal. But some people has lost the context of the practicality of her messages.


Grtandfather has some wonderful times with her and James. He said they were quite funny and laughed a lot. Willie was a great source of family humor to the Whites. Ellen as a wonderful lady!

At one time I was "clubbed over the head" by some who misused her messages, until I learned to read her in context and pray for wisdom to understand what it meant to me.

I have healed ...!

Now she is helping to heal me. I have found wonderful counsel for healing my heart and body. Ans she was right, 120 years before science learned it, that cancer was cause by a "virus".

###

[watchbird]

I totally agree with you, watchbird... in my experience, however, I have found that until people realize they are headed in the direction of the 'negatives of the past', they are not going to see any need on their part to alter that direction...

Wellllll...... this may be true for some, but I'd consider it a "last resort".... and if it turned out to be a "last resort" I'd kinda suspect that it wouldn't do any good anyhow. I've found it much more productive to give the other the benefit of the doubt and put the best construction on their use of the passage.... if possible.... and then go examine the context and show how that puts a different light on the way they have applied it. Hey ... it doesn't always work ... but it's a whale of a lot easier on the head than ......

One could argue that such a myopia is an inevitable result of the "we have the truth" mindset that is so prevalent among us... but that would be another topic for another time, n'est-ce pas?
In His service,
Mr. J

Actually it is probably a part of this topic..... and part of the solution to taking Ellen in context and thus making her truly useful rather than a rusticated old tire iron not good for much other than head bashing . For all too often, the idea that "we have the truth" goes hand in hand with the idea that all truth is to be found in Ellen's writings. When if we would go with open eyes to see how her advice stacks up against that given by other Christian thinkers, we would end up having a lot more respect for both her and the other Christian thinkers.... since so often they say essentially the same things about a large number of essential areas.

Take the two specific topics on which we recently had some Ellen White quotes given ... that of the moral character of persons allowed to occupy our pulpits, and the topic of glossalalia. On both of those issues Evangelical as well as traditional Christian writers have written a LOT of material which takes the same exact positions that Ellen has taken in the quotes we saw. If we but understood that, it would both make us a lot more secure in our own belief system and in Ellen's writings, and a lot less liable to the temptations to spiritual pride as evidenced by our clinging to our suposed "uniqueness" as evidence that "we have the truth".... with the implications both that we are the only ones who have any truth and that we have no truth to learn. Both of which, I know you agree, are equally wrongheaded.

[PeacefulBe]

Watchbird, thanks so much for the links!