As the Seventh Day Adventist church, we, in particular, have a certain dichotomy.
Friends that are not Adventist, but have a Biblical concept of the roles of men and women, often ask me about the role of Ellen White. “Wasn’t she a church leader?” “Isn’t she going against the Bible by speaking and teaching?” Frankly, these are good and pertinent questions, so let’s dig into the answer.
Two names. William Foy and Hazen Foss. Do these names mean anything to you? Both men were given messages concerning the Advent message prior to Ellen White. And both men refused to heed the call. So, God proceeded to call the weakest of the weak for the duty of sharing the Advent message. Who did God call in Ellen White? This is who Ellen White was at the time:
“An unfortunate incident occurred when Ellen White was nine years old. While walking home from school, a classmate threw a rock at White, hitting her in the face and knocking her unconscious for three weeks. White was left disfigured and for the rest of her life she suffered from recurring health problems, including nervousness, tremors, and dizziness. The symptoms made it impossible for her to complete her schoolwork and she was forced to withdraw from school. White considered this incident to be a defining moment in her life; her ill health caused her to become withdrawn and she became deeply interested in religion.”
“When Ellen White was 17, she received a message from God in the form of a vision. It was the first of some 2,000 visions White experienced in her lifetime. The visions formed the basic teachings of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which White and her husband co-founded in 1863.”
I can’t speak for you, but this story resonates with me like the story of Deborah (see Part 1). God called the men to lead, but they were too afraid to do so. So, God had to implement plan “B.” I believe this is what happened in the case of Ellen White, I can hear the Lord say, “if Mr. Foy and Mr. Foss won’t heed my call, then I will call this sickly, young woman.”
Was Ellen White a prophet? Yes, she demonstrated that gift. Was Ellen White a church leader? Yes. But, did she promote that women should also be church leaders or even leaders in their own homes? Let’s take a look. Here is a portion of a letter that Ellen White wrote to John Loughborough’s wife Mary. John was one of the founders of the Adventist church.
1 Letter Manuscript, Letter 5, 1861
A letter to Mary Loughborough, John Loughborogh’s wife, from Ellen White:
“And, Mary, suffer me a little upon this point: I wish in all sisterly and motherly kindness to kindly warn you upon another point. I have often noticed before others a manner you have in speaking to John in rather a dictating manner, the tone of your voice sounding impatient. Mary, others notice this and have spoken of it to me. It hurts your influence. (paragraph 8)
We women must remember that God has placed us subject to the husband. He is the head, and our judgment and views and reasonings must agree with his if possible. If not, the preference in God’s Word is given to the husband where it is not a matter of conscience. We must yield to the head. I have said more, perhaps, upon this point than necessary. Please watch this point. (paragraph 9)”
Was Ellen White ordained?
There is no record of Ellen White ever having been ordained by human hands. Yet from 1871 until her death she was granted ministerial credentials by various organizations of the church. The certificate that was used read “Ordained Minister.” Several other credential certificates from the mid-1880s are still in our possession. On the one from 1885 the word ordained is neatly struck out. On the 1887 certificate, the next one we have, it is not.
Had she been ordained in the interim? Some have argued that she had. But the question is settled definitely by her own hand. In 1909 she filled out a Biographical Information Blank for the General Conference records. On the blank for item 19, which asks, If ordained, state when, where, and by whom, she simply inscribed an X. This is the same response she made to item 26, which asks, If remarried, give date, and to whom. In this way she indicated that she had never remarried, nor had she ever been ordained. She was not denying that God had chosen and equipped her, but she indicated that there had never been an ordination ceremony carried out for her.
Why then do some of her credentials say ordained minister on the certificate? The fact that ordained was sometimes crossed out highlights the awkwardness of giving credentials to a prophet. The church has no such special category of credentials. So, it utilized what it had, giving its highest credentials without performing an ordination ceremony. In actuality, the prophet needed no human credentials. She functioned for more than 25 years prior to 1871 without any.
I have tried, from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, to present clearly what each says concerning the roles of men and women in the church.
I want to end with a few comments from the Spirit of Prophecy:
But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain Thus saith the Lord in its support.
Great Controversy P. 599
“The language of the Bible should be explained according to its obvious meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed. If men would but take the Bible as it reads, a work would be accomplished that would bring into the fold of Christ thousands now wandering in error.”
I believe what I have shared from the Word of God is clear. We have read it as it reads. We need to quit trying to make the Bible say what we want it to say to justify the way we want to live, or because that’s what we think or that is what society dictates. We need a plain “Thus Saith the Lord”!
These are some of the responses that are given when the subject of a women’s role in the church comes up:
“I’ve never really studied the issue, but I think…
So and so said so…
Women’s ordination and being leaders in the church is a matter of fairness and equality. We cannot tell women of the 21st century they can’t be pastors or elders…”
This next quote is actually from one of our conference presidents:
“This train has gained too much traction already…we can’t stop this now!”
Really. We can’t stop this now?
Education P.57
The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.
That doesn’t sound like someone who “can’t stop this now”!
There is so much more that could have been covered. I end with this:
Many women excel in gifts of hospitality, mercy, teaching, evangelism, and helping/serving. Much of the ministry of the local church depends on women. God has ordained that only men are to serve in positions of spiritual teaching authority in the church. This is not because men are better teachers or because women are inferior or less intelligent (which, of course, is not the case). It is simply the way God designed the church to function. Men are to set the example in spiritual leadership—in their lives and through their words. Women are to take a less authoritative role. Women are encouraged to teach other women as it says in:
Titus 2:3-5
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; (4) That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, (5) To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
The Bible also does not restrict women from teaching children or other women. The only activity women are restricted from is teaching or having spiritual authority over men. This means women are not to serve as pastors to men. This does not make women less important, by any means, but rather gives them a ministry focus in agreement with God’s plan and His gifting of them.
Matthew 28:19-20
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
This is a commission given to both men and women. It is just that God has told us that the way men and women go about the Great Commission is different from one another. Not better, not inferior, but different.
As I always say, READ FOR YOURSELF! Pick up your Bible, read the Spirit of Prophecy. If you find something different then what I have shared, please let me know. If this information is new to you, pray and ask God to lead you into all truth. And don’t be afraid to buck the system if the system is not following the Bible. As I read earlier, stand up for truth. Don’t settle for what someone says, or what society dictates. There is great blessing in following God’s order.
Let’s end with this last verse:
Galatians 3:26-29
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
God loves us whether we are men or women. We are all His children according to the promise. We are all equal spiritually in His sight according to this verse. May the Lord bless each of you as you fulfill the Great Commission according to His will. And my challenge to you is this: Find out what the Lord has for you in your sphere of influence. I challenge you to live according to His will and His Word. May the Lord find us faithful.
May the Lord bless and keep you, and cause His face to shine upon you.
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Eric has been married to his beautiful wife Brenda for 36 years. They have 6 children whom they home-schooled and 2 grandchildren. He has been a mechanic for 30 + years and owns an auto repair shop in Prosser, WA. Eric has been an ordained elder in the Adventist church for the past 26 years. Eric grew up an atheist in a non-Christian home. He praises God daily that he found Jesus and that Jesus offered him salvation.