Amazing Grace - 01 October 2009 02:18 PM
I’m trying to understand some of the things my family member is being taught in the Adult Sabbath School he attends.
Part of the quote from EGW for this week says, “ All who desire the cooperation of the heavenly messengers must work in unison with them.” From the rest of the quote, I know they are teaching things about angels, and having angels “work with” men. Since I’ve never read anything like this in the Bible, I’m wondering what is being taught? Why are they encouraging their church members to worry about having “the angels of God cooperating with them”?
Thanks!
Amazing Grace,
Great question. EGW taught that angels were supposed to “guide” us and teach us (sort of taking the role of the Holy Spirit!). EGW herself had her own spirit “guide” that would actually appear to her and give her messages. She said that the same “young man of noble appearance” had visited her for 26 years (and this was only in 1875--she lived until 1915). She called him by various names, such as her “Guide” (an occultic term), her “Instructor,” her “accompanying angel,” “attending angel,” etc. There is a lot of evidence that she was heavily into the occult/spiritism.
At EGW’s “Elmshaven” home, Ellen’s angel would wake her up in the middle of the night and make her write.
One former Adventist recounts the following:
[...] “I had been on my own journey of discovery regarding some of the foundational issues of the church I inherited as a right of birth. My grandfather used to tell me stories of seeing the tower room at Elmshaven radiating an other-worldly light late into the darkest recesses of night. His mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were also Adventists.”
http://sogentlybroken.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-it-all-began_19.html
The SDA’s official statement of “Fundamental Beliefs” even goes so far as to say that angels help to save us! The following quote is from belief #8 “Great Controversy”:
“To assist His people in this controversy, Christ sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation.” (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/)
But God’s word warns us:
“Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,” (Colossians 2:18 NASB.)
(And if you read the context both before and after that verse, there’s a lot more that also applies to SDA and EGW!)
Ellen G. White certainly fits the “worship of angels” as she routinely capitalized “Instructor” and “Guide” when referring to her angel guide, and spent much time writing about angels, relating messages from angels and “taking [her] stand on visions” she had seen as the verse says, and exalting angels to a god-like status. She also taught that Jesus is an angel, and this “Jesus” angel even appeared to her numerous times.
Jeremy
