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Here is a little more information that Seventh Day Adventist do not believe in the Orthodox Doctrine of the Trinity.

Does Seventh-day Adventism Teach the Trinity?

SDA scholars admit that Adventism has a different “Trinity” doctrine than orthodox Christianity! See also: Helpful Christian Quotes on the Trinity

SDA “Trinity” Audio Exposé - hear the SDAs in their own words! (See the sources for the audio compilation here.)

Also, you can view this webpage in PDF format, by clicking here. (Note: not all of the links will work in the PDF version, and neither will RefTagger.)

Jump down to subsections of this page:

What Does Adventism’s Clear Word “Bible” Teach About the Trinity?
Ellen White’s Teaching
Denial of Christ’s Omnipresence
Denial of the Incorporeality of God
Conclusion

Does the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and their prophetess Ellen G. White, teach the Biblical, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity? As we will see, the answer to that question is, “No”—despite the fact that the SDA Church now uses the term “Trinity.” (As for Ellen G. White, she was careful never to use the term in all of her published writings—a remarkable feat, considering her extensive plagiarism.) The reality is that Seventh-day Adventism is actually anti-Trinitarian and teaches Tritheism (three gods), just like the Mormons do.

First, here is a good description of the Christian definition of the Trinity:

“In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth), and the Holy Spirit. Since the 4th century, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, this doctrine has been stated as ‘three persons in one God,’ all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal persons, are of one indivisible Divine essence, a simple being. [...]” (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trinity&oldid=148650755)

The Biblical, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is only one God (which is affirmed throughout the Old and New Testaments). In other words, there is only one living Being that is God. As the Nicene Creed affirms, Jesus Christ is “of one Being with the Father.” God is one spirit, not three spirits. He is one being, not three beings. Otherwise, we would have three gods.

In the early days of Seventh-day Adventism, they (including their prophetess Ellen G. White) taught some form of Arianism—denying the eternality of Jesus Christ, denying the personality of the Holy Spirit, and teaching bitheism, or two gods: the eternal Father and the non-eternal Son. Eventually, “the Holy Spirit” got added into this “Godhead” as one of “three living persons of the heavenly trio”1 and one of “the three holiest Beings in heaven”2—and the current SDA teaching of Tritheism (that there are three divine beings in “the Godhead” who are “one” only in purpose, character, etc.) was born. In other words, Adventism’s teaching of polytheism is foundational, fundamental, and continuing—and goes deep into the roots/foundation of Adventism, which was established by their “pioneers” (including their prophetess Ellen G. White). The SDA Church gradually adopted the use of the term “Trinity” to describe this tritheistic view of the Godhead, eventually culminating in the official General Conference session endorsement, in 1946, of a statement of beliefs that incorporated the word “Trinity.”3 Beginning in 1980, the SDA Church finally stated (although, in reality, disingenuously as we’ll see later) in their official statement of “Fundamental Beliefs” that Christ is “eternal.”4

So while they now, officially, use the term “Trinity,” in reality they deny the Trinity and actually teach Tritheism, just like the Mormons do. The Mormons will also use the term Trinity, as does modalist preacher T.D. Jakes. But that does not make any of them Trinitarian, any more than the Jehovah’s Witnessess using the terms “Jesus Christ” or “Son of God” means that they believe in the real Jesus of the Bible. They have simply redefined Christian terms—and so have the Mormons, T.D. Jakes, and the Seventh-day Adventists, with regard to the term “Trinity.” In fact, as we will see later on, even the SDA Church’s own theologians/scholars admit that Adventism teaches a different “Trinity” doctrine than the historical, orthodox Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Now, let us explore what Adventism teaches about this essential point of doctrine.

As mentioned above, the SDA Church uses the word “Trinity” (once—as the title of belief #2) in their current official statement of 28 “Fundamental Beliefs” (although in some instances, the statement of beliefs is published with the word “Godhead” substituted for the word “Trinity”). Here is belief number 2, as found at the official SDA website (adventist.org):

“2. Trinity:
There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. He is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 14:7.)” (http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental/index.html)

At first glance many may think that this statement appears to be orthodox-sounding. But we must investigate further to see what they actually mean by this statement. Just as Mormons claim to believe in “one God” but in reality teach Tritheism, this claim by the SDAs is not enough to make them Trinitarian. The statement can make evangelical Christians believe they are orthodox, while at the same time meaning something different within Adventism. (Anyone who is familiar with Adventism knows that this is exactly what they do on many different subjects—they have their own, different definitions for Christian terms.)

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Before looking at further SDA sources, let’s first look a little bit closer at this statement itself. Notice that it does not say that there is one God in three persons, but that the “one God” is “a unity of three co-eternal Persons” (capital ‘P’). Here is a hint of their teaching that “God” is a group/”trio” of three “divine Beings,” which we will see more of later. At first glance, the Fundamental Belief statement may appear to at least be compatible with orthodoxy. But in fact, what it says is not very orthodox at all, and their statement is actually heretical in itself. It states, “There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three co-eternal Persons.” Notice how their “one God” is defined as “a unity of three co-eternal Persons.” As Christians, we don’t worship “a unity of three”—we worship one living God (one indivisible simple Being who exists as three persons). They define “one God” as a “unity [group] of three” Persons. So even what their official statement is saying is that there is a “united group” or “family” of three “Persons”—and this group is called “God” and there is only “one” group. In fact, in some ways their current statement of Fundamental Beliefs is less orthodox than the pre-1980 statement of beliefs, even though that statement did not say Jesus is eternal. Interestingly, in 1980 they deleted their previous (1931) wording about Jesus, where they had said that he was “of the same nature and essence as the Eternal Father.” (Although, even that was deceptively stated—even back then they didn’t mean the same thing orthodox Christianity means, that God is one Being!) Also, since they define “God” as a group of three, then they are actually lying in this Fundamental Belief statement when they say that they believe that “God” is “ever present,” considering the fact that they deny that Jesus Christ is omnipresent (click here to jump down to the section “Denial of Christ’s Omnipresence”). In other words, since they redefine and (mis)use the word “God” as a collective (group) noun, then “God” would have to include all three in the “group/trio,” and yet they deny that Jesus is omnipresent. Looking at this Fundamental Belief statement further, notice that it also does not say that “God” (the “Trinity”) is the Creator. Under belief number 3, they say that the Father “is the Creator, Source, Sustainer, and Sovereign of all creation.” Under belief number 4, regarding the Son, they will only admit that, “Through Him all things were created...”; and under belief number 5 they say that the Holy Spirit was only “active with the Father and the Son in Creation.” This is in direct contradiction to God’s Word which says that Jesus is the Creator and Source and Sustainer of all creation. According to God’s Word, Jesus is the Sovereign God of the universe. The Biblical truth is that there is only one Being, only one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who is the Creator, Source, Sustainer and Sovereign of all creation. Also under belief number 3 (”Father”), they say: “The qualities and powers exhibited in the Son and the Holy Spirit are also revelations of the Father.” But, interestingly, they have no similar declarations in their belief statements about the “Son” and the “Holy Spirit.” So, in conclusion, as will be overwhelmingly confirmed as we go on, these official “Fundamental Beliefs” actually separate and divide the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into multiple gods.5