This is my response to two videos on YouTube where Pr. Marcellinus Regis "proves" that the Holy Spirit is a separate God. I was able to post my comment on the first video but not the second; hence my decision to post both comments here. The second video is available at https://youtu.be/69SJ33S5ges and here's my comment on it:
Thank you again for this presentation. There are many things I could point out, but then my comment would be too long. So let’s look at just a few items.
1. You said though Ellen White never wrote explicitly on the personality of the Holy Spirit prior to 1890, that would change in the early 1890s. Please note she had written the quotes I provided in Part 1 in response to Dr. Kellog’s trinitarian “patchwork theories” in 1903.
2. You said Ellen White never referred to the Holy Spirit as just an influence, a manifestation or power that emanates from the Father or Son, and you had earlier stated that some people consider the Holy Spirit as a “manifestation of God’s presence” among others. So let her writings speak.
a) The Holy Spirit as "It": I have not found or even heard of anywhere she referred to either the Father or Son as “it,” but she did with the Holy Spirit: “…the Holy Spirit has gone out into all the world; everywhere it (emphasis supplied) is moving upon the hearts of men; but it is in the church that we are to grow and ripen for the garner of God.” {COL 70.2}
b) The Holy Spirit as Christ: “Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent.” {14MR 23.3}
“If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask
in faith, nothing wavering.” [James 1:5, 6.]
“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his
commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” [1 John 3:22.]
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that
is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and
eternal life. Little children keep yourselves from idols.” [1 John 5:20, 21.]
The Lord is soon to come. We want that complete and perfect
understanding which the Lord alone can give. It is not safe to catch the
spirit from another. We want the Holy Spirit, which is Jesus Christ. If
we commune with God, we shall have strength and grace and efficiency. {9 LtMs, Lt 66, 1894, par. 18}
The work of the ministry is no common work. Christ is withdrawn only from the eye of sense, but he is as truly present by his Spirit as when he was visibly present on earth. The time that has elapsed since his ascension has brought no interruption in the fulfillment of his parting promise,—“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” God has provided light and truth for the world by having placed it in the keeping of faithful men, who in succession have committed it to others through all generations up to the present time. These men have derived their authority in an unbroken line from the first teachers of the faith. Christ remains the true minister of his church, but he delegates his power to his under-shepherds, to his chosen ministers, who have the treasure of his grace in earthen vessels. God superintends the affairs of his servants, and they are placed in his work by divine appointment. {ST April 7, 1890, par. 6}
Saith the Lord: “My people shall never be ashamed.” Joel 2:26. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5. When on His resurrection day these disciples met the Saviour, and their hearts burned within them as they listened to His words; when they looked upon the head and hands and feet that had been bruised for them; when, before His ascension, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands in blessing, bade them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,” adding, “Lo, I am with you alway” (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:20); when on the Day of Pentecost the promised Comforter descended and the power from on high was given and the souls of the believers thrilled with the conscious presence of their ascended Lord—then, even though, like His, their pathway led through sacrifice and martyrdom, would they have exchanged the ministry of the gospel of His grace, with the “crown of righteousness” to be received at His coming, for the glory of an earthly throne, which had been the hope of their earlier discipleship? He who is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” had granted them, with the fellowship of His sufferings, the communion of His joy—the joy of “bringing many sons unto glory,” joy unspeakable, an “eternal weight of glory,” to which, says Paul, “our light affliction, which is but for a moment,” is “not worthy to be compared.”
Speaking of manifestation, even the Bible talks about it: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” John 14:21
c) God is everywhere present through the Holy Spirit: “The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy beings, all waiting to do His will. Through these messengers He is in active communication with every part of His dominion. By His Spirit He is everywhere present.” {The Ministry of Healing, 417; Rre 49.3}
The Bible also associates God’s Holy Spirit with His presence. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” Psalm 139:7
3. You quoted: “The eternal heavenly dignitaries – God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit – arming them (the disciples) with more than mortal energy.”
a) Even without looking at the context from where the quote is extracted, we can see how she identified the “dignitaries,” clearly showing it was only the Father that she referred to as God.
b) If we look at the context of the original source of the quote (not just the extract in Evangelism), we see she started by talking against divisions and then emphasized how the apostles worked mightily through the Holy Spirit when they were in one accord (Acts 2:1).
“There are those who have kept back workers because it takes money to feed and support them. How much better would it be to devise methods whereby these souls should have the truth that are praying for light? And God has promised the influence of the Holy Spirit to accompany the teacher in any line he may work; but He regards [or “takes note of”] all you that believe and fear your prospects will not stand as favorable if more workers are encouraged.” {16MR 202.3}
So it depends on how you use the term “influence” as so far we’ve seen in different places she says that the Holy Spirit is God’s representative through whom He’s everywhere present, exerting His influence on people.
“There was kept before them that His people must be a combined, united power in love and efficiency, to become a light amid the moral darkness. By these combined forces [He] specified that they all may be one. Hear it, every one who is a Seventh-day Adventist; hear it: “As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.... I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me” [John 17:21, 23]. {16MR 204.3}
“The Lord Jesus described the difficulties they should meet. Having called their minds to rise to an eminence, He bids them behold the vast confederacy of evil arrayed against God, against Christ, against all who unite with these holy powers. Christ tells them they were to fight in fellowship with all the children of light; that satanic agencies would combine their forces to extinguish the light of the life of Christ out of their ranks. But they were not left to fight the battles in their own human strength. The angelic host coming as ministers of God would be in that battle. Also there would be the eternal heavenly dignitaries—God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit—arming them with more than mortal energy, and would advance with them to the work, and convince the world of sin.” 16MR 204.4
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/65.954#954
So we can see that the same paragraph that mentions “heavenly dignitaries” had also mentioned “holy powers,” and as had already been mentioned, only one of the “dignitaries” is identified as “God.”
4. You also quoted Manuscript 66, 1899 (which was actually published long after Ellen White had died, but we’ll look at that a little later) that: “We need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking these grounds.”
Just looking at the brief quote alone, I come to the same conclusion I reach when I read the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. Verses 3 and 4 state: 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
The same chapter speaks about both Ananias and Sapphira “giving up the ghost,” yet we don’t interpret it as different beings than them. The Holy Spirit is indeed a person as God, whose spirit it is, is a person. This does not have to mean two separate beings.
You mentioned more than once that if the Holy Spirit is not separate from God because the Bible says the “Spirit of God,” then is Jesus also not different because the Bible calls Him the “Son of God?” I’m sorry, but let me use the same term you had used against people who ask the “name” of the Holy Spirit: that is a lame argument.
It’s obvious that when people speak about “son of,” they always refer to a different person/being in relation to another. However, when people speak about “spirit of,” they do not refer to a different being (Genesis 41:8, Daniel 2:1, Acts 17:16).
Let me just quote two verses:
Genesis 26:35 (WEB) – They grieved Isaac's and Rebekah's spirits.
Ephesians 4:30 (WEB) – And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption.
Why is it that when it comes to the “Holy Spirit of God,” the spirit becomes a different being?
Now let’s look a little more at the source of the quote. Ellen White was speaking at Avondale Church on March 25, 1899, and the part where the quote is extracted from said:
“I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God [Romans 12:1].
“The Lord says this because He knows it is for our good. He would build a wall around us, to keep us from transgression, so that His blessing and love may be bestowed on us in rich measure. This is the reason we have established a school here. The Lord instructed us that this was the place in which we should locate, and we have had every reason to think that we are in the right place. We have been brought together as a school, and we need to realize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person as God is a person, is walking through these grounds, unseen by human eyes; that the Lord God is our Keeper and Helper. He hears every word we utter and knows every thought of the mind.”
To me, this is an admonition that the Lord hears everything we say and knows everything we think about.
The tenor of the conversation carried on at many social gatherings reveals what the heart is set upon. The trifling talk, the foolish witticisms, spoken only to create a laugh, do not rightly represent Christ. Those who utter them would not be willing to meet a record of their words. Wrong impressions are made upon the listeners, and reproach is cast upon Christ. O that the youth would guard well their words! for by them they will be justified or by them condemned. Remember that Jesus is beside you wherever you go, noting your actions and listening to your words. Would you be ashamed to hear his voice speaking to you, and to know that he hears your conversation? {The Youth's Instructor, February 4, 1897, par. 3}
Jesus desires to make celestial harmony in your soul. Read His words, not with discouragement, but with confidence and hope. Listen to the blessed words which God speaks to you. Walking with Christ means to believe that, though unseen, Christ is walking with you. The soothing voice of God comes to you, saying, “Commit the keeping of your soul to Me and I will preserve you and sanctify and bless you. ‘Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.’" {Letter 104, August 4, 1901, to E. K. Beaman. {TDG 225.7; 21MR 136.5}
“By the Spirit the Father and the Son will come and make their abode with you.” {E. G. White, Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, January 15, 1893 par. 8}
In addition, was the statement published when she was still alive so she could read and approve it?
“And now to all who have a desire for truth I would say: Do not give credence to unauthenticated reports as to what Sister White has done or said or written. If you desire to know what the Lord has revealed through her, read her published works. Are there any points of interest concerning which she has not written, do not eagerly catch up and report rumors as to what she has said.” {5T 696.1}
The statement was published later from a stenographer's writings. Remember Ellen White herself was speaking, not writing, and the writings were published after she had died.
“Four years ago we published Volume 1 of Sermons and Talks. the response was so enthusiastic that we herewith offer volume 2. Like the messages in Volume 1, the sermons and talks in this volume are mostly from the latter half of Ellen White’s ministry. This may be attributed to the fact that her messages were more faithfully reported in that period than during the early years. These messages were stenographically reported, hence by reading this book a person receives the true “feel” of Mrs. White as a speaker.” {The Sermons and Talks Vol 2 1.4 (published in 1994)}
“My dear sister Mary,—
“I have written page after page to you in the past, but before finishing the letters, I have had to give attention to many letters written to me in regard to important matters on which decisions had to be made. After answering these questions, I have looked for what I had written to you, but I could never find anything.
“Now, my sister, do not think that I have forgotten you; for I have not. You know that I have books to make. My last effort is a book on “True Education.” The writing of this book has been very trying to me, but it is nearly finished. I am now completing the last chapter. This book will not have in it so much matter as there is in some of my larger works, but the instruction it contains is important. I feel the need of help from God continually. I am still as active as ever. I am not in the least decrepit. I am able to do much work, writing and speaking as I did years ago. I read over all that is copied, to see that everything is as it should be. I read all the book manuscript before it is sent to the printer. So you can see that my time must be fully occupied. Besides writing, I am called upon to speak to the different churches, and to attend important meetings. I could not do this work unless the Lord helped me.” {17LtMs, Lt 133. 1902}
“There are some, who upon accepting erroneous theories, strive to establish them by collecting from my writings statements of truth, which they use, separated from their proper connection and perverted by association with error. Thus seeds of heresy, springing up and growing rapidly into strong plants, are surrounded by many precious plants of truth, and in this way a mighty effort is made to vindicate the genuineness of the spurious plants.” {This Day With God, p. 126}
“There will be those once united with us in the faith who will search for new, strange doctrines, for something odd and sensational to present to the people. They will bring in all conceivable fallacies, and will present them as coming from Mrs. White, that they may beguile souls.” {Selected Messages Book 1, p. 41}