According to the SDA Church, the writings of their prophetess Ellen G. White are not only divinely inspired and correcting of inaccurate interpretations of scripture, but they also claim that she is the infallible interpreter of the infallible Bible.
In the June 3, 1971 issue of the Advent Review & Sabbath Herald, an official organ of the SDA Church, they state:
One of his own number in studying the Bible arrives at conclusions differing from this body of believers. Investigation and discussion follow, strife and division ensue, and a council is called in the enclosure. The two factions are arrayed against each other. Each maintains his position, at least to his own satisfaction, from the Bible. A vote is taken on the question and a majority settle it for the enclosure. The minority settle it for themselves; a new sect is formed. The wall of prejudice is broken down as far as our inquirer is concerned, and once more he is turned loose upon the uncertain sea of investigation. This illustrates the fact that most denominations, at least, have no satisfactory court of final appeal, that while the Bible is infallible and is the basis of all Christian faith, it needs to be infallibly interpreted to avoid confusion and division.
The Advent Review & Sabbath Herald, June 3, 1971, Vol. 148, No. 22, pg. 5
They then go on to explain how the infallible Bible is infallibly interpreted:
To be reliable, interpretation must come to us through the same channel through which came the Scriptures in the first place. But what is the channel through which Scripture came to us? “The testimony of Jesus,” or “the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10). It was the Spirit of Jesus that spoke through the prophets (1 Peter 1:10-11)…
Thus the prophets have always been the living, active voice of God to His people, and the products of the prophets have always been the guide that alone the people could follow to sure success. This voice has always been its own interpreter.
The Advent Review & Sabbath Herald, June 3, 1971, Vol. 148, No. 22, pg. 5
The SDA Church utilizes the term “spirit of prophecy” to refer to Ellen White’s writings where they believe Jesus is speaking with prophetic authority no differently than through the prophets of scripture. Thus, her commentary on any given passage is the infallible interpretation from God himself.
They then follow up with:
Thus when we can find in the writings of Isaiah or Jeremiah something that explains some statement in the writings of Moses, when a writer of the New Testament explains a passage in the Old Testament, this is accepted, not as a private interpretation, but as settling all dispute, because the interpretation came through the same source, or channel, as the words for which the meaning is sought. Thus Protestants have always claimed that the Bible is its own interpreter. Perhaps it is better to say the spirit of prophecy (we use the term here as synonymous with the gift of prophecy), or testimony of Jesus, is its own interpreter.
The Advent Review & Sabbath Herald, June 3, 1971, Vol. 148, No. 22, pg. 5
Because Ellen White supposedly had the “spirit of prophecy,” a term they have misdefined and misplaced, her interpretation settles all disputes as the correct one.
In their April—June 1976 Sabbath School Quarterly, another official organ, they state:
How advantaged the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is to have a modern inspired interpreter of both the Old and New Testaments! Surely there is every logical reason to give the inspired interpretation top priority in arriving at our understanding of the Word today.
Sabbath School Quarterly, April—June 1976, “God is Not Silent,” pg. 92
In the official exposition of their own Fundamental Beliefs, the SDA Church utilizes an analogy that was originally provided by Uriah Smith in the January 13, 1863 issue of the Review & Herald. In chapter 18, dedicated to Fundamental Belief #18: The Gift of Prophecy, they write:
One illustration may help to set this matter in a still clearer light. Suppose we are about to start upon a voyage. The owner of the vessel gives us a book of directions, telling us that it contains instructions sufficient for our whole journey, and that if we will heed them, we shall reach in safety our port of destination. Setting sail we open our book to learn its contents. We find that its author lays down general principles to govern us in our voyage, and instructs us as far as practicable, touching the various contingencies that may arise, till the end; but he also tells us that latter part of our journey will be especially peril; that the features of the coast are ever changing by reason of quicksands and tempests; “but for this part of the journey,” says he, “I have provided you a pilot [Ellen White], who will meet you, and give you such directions as the surrounding circumstances and dangers may require; and to him you must give heed.
With these directions we roach the perilous time specified, and the pilot, according to promise, appears. But some of the crew, as he offers his services, rise up against him. “We have the original book of directions,” say they, “and that is enough for us. We stand upon that, and that alone; we want nothing of you.” Who now heed that original book of directions? Those who reject the pilot, or those who receive him, as that book instructs them? Judge ye.
Seventh-Day Adventists Believe, pg. 258-9
Many Seventh-Day Adventists will vehemently deny that the SDA Church teaches this, but the evidence speaks for itself. The SDA Church teaches that the infallible Bible cannot even be correctly understood apart from the infallible interpretation of Mrs. White which is supposedly the equivalent of the prophets of old commenting on any given passage. She is supposed to be the antidote to theological division that supposedly plagues Protestantism—despite the SDA Church being rife with theological division themselves. Not only that, but one must also have the Great Controversy Theme to interpret scripture correctly as well, a paradigm that ultimately came from Ellen G. White.
