The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s distinctive worldview, known as the Great Controversy Theme, hinges on a bold claim: that God Himself is on trial before the entire universe. According to this belief, He must vindicate His character against accusations made by Satan which began in heaven before the creation of the earth. This foundational idea shapes how the SDA Church interprets Scripture, guided by the writings of Ellen G. White, whom they regard as a divinely inspired prophetess that corrects inaccurate interpretations of the Bible.
Speaking about this in Patriarchs & Prophets and Desire of Ages, two of the books from White’s infamous Conflict of the Ages series, she writes:
From the first the great controversy had been upon the law of God. Satan had sought to prove that God was unjust, that His law was faulty, and that the good of the universe required it to be changed. In attacking the law he aimed to overthrow the authority of its Author. In the controversy it was to be shown whether the divine statutes were defective and subject to change, or perfect and immutable.
Ellen G. White, Patriarchs & Prophets, pg. 69 (PP 69.1)
In the opening of the great controversy, Satan had declared that the law of God could not be obeyed, that justice was inconsistent with mercy, and that, should the law be broken, it would be impossible for the sinner to be pardoned. Every sin must meet its punishment, urged Satan; and if God should remit the punishment of sin, He would not be a God of truth and justice. When men broke the law of God, and defied His will, Satan exulted. It was proved, he declared, that the law could not be obeyed; man could not be forgiven.
Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, pg. 761 (DA 761.4)
Adventist theology begins with extra-biblical ideas found in the writings of Ellen G. White, which are then read into Scripture. Among these ideas is the claim that before the creation of the earth, Satan grew jealous of Jesus being exalted as equal to God the Father. This jealousy, Mrs. White asserted, led Satan to rebel against God’s government—defined as His law and the Ten Commandments—and to accuse God of being unfair, oppressive, and that His law needed to be changed.
According to this view, Satan’s accusations sowed seeds of doubt among the angels and other so-called “watching intelligences” in the universe. This, they believe, put God on trial, making it necessary for Him to vindicate His character against Satan’s charges and demonstrate that He is who He says He is.
In Signs of the Times, an official organ of the SDA Church, they reiterate White’s cosmic imaginings where they write:
The eternal Word gave Himself. He did not aspire to be equal with God, “did not meditate a usurpation” of the throne of the universe (see Phil. 2: 5-7 ARV), but He emptied Himself, gave Himself, then and there, for sinners. He took the form of a servant, becoming an angel among the angels that He might redeem angels; but they would not. And when they rejected the righteousness and life so freely offered, He descended lower still to those duped by Satan—fallen man—stooping even to death, that He might redeem of the fallen all who desired to be redeemed, and vindicate to the universe to all eternity the character of God. That was the work of the Word of God, the eternal Logos, when He became Michael the Archangel, when He became Jesus the Man of Nazareth, when He was anointed the Christ, when He died our Sacrifice on Calvary. Yet during all this time the hosts of evil, with all the baleful, deceptive, cruel devices of sin, were hurled against Him, that God’s character might be marred, that the great Vindicator—Redeemer might fall.
Signs of the Times, June 6, 1911
He [Jesus] took the nature of angels to repeat, the first step, then, in His humiliation, in laying aside His divine nature, was to put on the nature of angels, and thus it is that we have Jesus brought to view as “Michael the Archangel,” “the Commander of the hosts of heaven,” “the Captain of the host of the Lord,” and as such, “the armies in heaven follow Him.” When He became an angel, He bore a fitting name, even as when, later, He became man, His name befitted the nature which He took by virtue of His birth into’ our human family. That name was ” Emmanuel,” “God with us.” His name as an angel is “Michael,” which signifies “the one who is like God.” Whatever the name that He, takes in crushing sin and rebellion, in redeeming the lost and in restoring harmony to the universe, that name must indicate that God is in Him and with Him, on the very plane and in the very nature of the class of beings to whom He is sent. By living the God-life on the plane of angels, of which Satan was one, altho fallen, He could neutralize the force of Satan’s accusations. Thus when He became an angel, the fact must not be lost sight of that He was God with the angels, yet living on their plane, possessing their natures ; and this thought is preserved in the name that He bears as an angel.
Signs of the Times, July 23, 1912
According to this narrative, God being “on trial” required Jesus to first take on the nature of an angel, becoming one himself, in order to vindicate God’s character on the angelic plane. This view suggests that Jesus sought to redeem the angels but was ultimately rejected by every single one of them. Following this rejection as well as the defeat of Satan and his angels in battle, Jesus allegedly descended further, taking on human nature to accomplish the same mission on the human plane of existence.
This is because Mrs. White also wrote:
The loyal angels hasten speedily to the Son of God, and acquaint him with what is taking place among the angels. They find the Father in conference with his beloved Son, to determine the means by which, for the best good of the loyal angels, the assumed authority of Satan could be forever put down. The great God could at once have hurled this arch deceiver from Heaven; but this was not his purpose. He would give the rebellious an equal chance to measure strength and might with his own Son and his loyal angels. In this battle every angel would choose his own side, and be manifested to all. It would not have been safe to suffer any who united with Satan in his rebellion to continue to occupy Heaven. They had learned the lesson of genuine rebellion against the unchangeable law of God; and this is incurable. If God had exercised his power to punish this chief rebel, disaffected angels would not have been manifested; hence God took another course; for he would manifest distinctly to all the heavenly host his justice and his judgment.
Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 1, pg. 21 (1SP 21.1)
Since this “controversy” over Jesus’s exaltation and the 10 Commandments began with the angels, it was required that Jesus to take on the nature of an angel and confront Satan and his followers. This conflict was allegedly allowed because, during a private council between the Father and the Son, it was decided that immediately eliminating Satan after his rebellion would appear to validate his accusations—that God is a dictator and oppressor.
To avoid reinforcing Satan’s claims, a war was permitted where Jesus “lived the God life” among the angels, perfectly keeping the law and demonstrating that Satan’s accusations were false, resulting in angelic warfare which was meant to reveal to the angels and the other watching intelligences that Satan was a liar.
This information is central to the Seventh-day Adventist teaching that identifies Jesus as Michael the Archangel, forming a key part of their unique theological framework. You can learn more about the SDA teaching on this subject here.
The Biblical Witness
The Bible does not support the pre-earth narrative claimed by the SDA Church and never states that God is on trial or that the central purpose of salvation is to vindicate His character from Satan. Instead, the Bible clearly teaches that God’s character was demonstrated at Calvary, where God the Father presented Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice:
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26
The cross was not only about redeeming creation but also about God freely revealing who He is to His creation. This truth remains an objective reality, regardless of whether individuals accept it. God was not placed in a situation where He needed to act to defend His name or reputation. Furthermore, Scripture tells us that the heavens and creation declare the righteousness of the Judge of all the Universe (Psalm 50:6).
The Scriptures are also clear about God’s purpose in Christ’s work of redemption:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:3-12
Redemption and the plan of salvation are ultimately about God glorifying Himself, not vindicating Himself. It is to magnify His grace, bring glory to Himself, and make known the mystery of His will through the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
Yet Ellen White claimed:
So deep was the Lord’s interest in the beings He had created, so great His love for the world, that He “gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christ came to bring moral power to man, to elevate, ennoble, and strengthen him, enabling him to be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. He proved to the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds and to human beings that the law can be kept. While possessing the nature of man, He obeyed the law of God, vindicating God’s justice in demanding that it be obeyed. In the judgment His life will be an unanswerable argument in favor of God’s law.
Ellen G. White, In Heavenly Places, pg. 38 (HP 38.3)
Not to see the marked contrast between Christ and ourselves is not to know ourselves. He who does not abhor himself can not understand the meaning of redemption. To be redeemed means to cease from sin. No heart that is stirred to rebellion against the law of God has any union with Christ, who died to vindicate the law and exalt it before all nations, tongues, and peoples.
Ellen G. White, The Watchman, April 23, 1907
He [Jesus] came to demonstrate the fact that humanity, allied by living faith to divinity, can keep all the commandments of God. He came to make plain the immutable character of the law, to declare that disobedience and transgression can never be rewarded with eternal life. He came as a man to humanity, that humanity might touch humanity, while divinity laid hold upon the throne of God.
Ellen G. White, Mind, Character and Personality, Vol. 2, pg. 564 (2MCP 564.4)
In the Adventist framework, the plan of salvation is portrayed as a reaction to Satan’s rebellion and jealousy of Jesus. Orthodox Adventist theology asserts that Jesus’s incarnation was primarily about showing us that the law could be perfectly kept by humans and that, in doing so as perfectly as He did, one can be rewarded with eternity in heaven. However, this interpretation relies heavily on extra-biblical details not found in Scripture.
Ultimately, the Great Controversy worldview reshapes the biblical narrative by introducing concepts that create an alternate and adapted storyline about redemption. This altered framework changes what scripture actually reveals about who God is, what Jesus accomplished in His life, death, burial and resurrection, why He incarnated, and other foundational truths of the Christian faith.
The Judge of All the Universe is not on trial or subject to proving Himself to any creature (Psalm 7:11, 50:6). Rather, fallen creatures are on trial, standing condemned before Him as a Holy God. Scripture is clear that Jesus did not come or seek to save angels but the “offspring of Abraham” which is human beings (Hebrews 2:14-16) and only those who are found “hidden in Christ Jesus” by faith will be found innocent and at peace with their Maker (Colossians 3:3).