Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
"There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ." {Ms21-1906.11}
There is much confusion on the subject of the Godhead. For one thing, the word "Trinity," which is often used, means different things to different people, which brings confusion to the discussion. As a result I use the word Godhead in this study. Not that Trinity is a bad word, but it complicates discussions, almost necessitates a study on the word "Trinity," and ends up being a distraction.
In the published writings of Ellen White, the word "Trinity" is only found two times: once as a subtitle in the compilation Evangelism, and the second time referring to something having to do with three parts.
I have spent close to five years studying the subject and have more than 1,800+ pages of carefully annotated notes and quotations from her writings. I spent several more years preparing a five-part Bible study that is excellent in every way! Regarding the information on these pages, it is a work in progress. The information shared is only a tiny portion of what I have found, and reflects what the Bible and Ellen White say on the subject.—Dan
The Godhead Studies is a multi-part Bible study that provides compelling evidence for the Biblical understanding of the Godhead. The studies listed immediately following are the most recent revisions that were prepared for the meetings at Summerville, GA and the Georgia Cumberland Camp Meeting. Following the Georgia set are the five that were used at Michigan Camp Meeting, then additional sets that were listed on the "Revival and Reformation" site, as well as links to a video and PDF links to a series at the Fairplain SDA Church in Michigan. The most recent revision is superior.
The Godhead Bible Studies have line numbers to facilitate discussions. I also provide footnotes to clarify at times. There are also footnotes with key quotations from Ellen White. Be sure to read the footnotes. There is wonderful material in the footnotes.
The following links take you to pages dedicated to specific members of the Godhead, and a page showing the work of the three members of the Godhead working together.
On this page you will find a link to a Bible study and further quotes on God the Father. Additional quotations are further down on the page.
On this page you will learn all about the Deity of Christ, the Second Person of the Godhead, and all that He sacrificed and did on our behalf in bringing salvation.
On this page you will find clear evidence that the Holy Spirit is an eternal, self-existent person. There is also a link to a wonderful Bible study on the Holy Spirit, a link to written resources from a variety of authors on the Holy Spirit, and other helpful information.
On this page, you will find Scriptures and numerous quotations that provide clear, unmistakeable evidence that the Godhead is made up of Three Distinct Living Persons. The idea that the Holy Spirit is only an influence is a unitarian idea that was debunked many years ago.
On this page you will learn more about the attributes of the three Persons of the Godhead.
Here you will find many quotes of Ellen White on the Three Persons that make up the trinity of the Godhead. Mrs. White preferred the word "Godhead" and so do I. But because so much ado has been wrongly made of Ellen White being anti-trinitarian, I am using the word Trinity to be found by Google.
"This name embraces past, present, and future. God is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the Eternal One."
1 Chronicles 29:11 "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all."
Deut. 33:27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:"
"In the Word God is spoken of as the everlasting God. This name embraces past, present, and future. God is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the Eternal One. “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms;” {Ms137-1903.4}
"Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God."
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
1 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV) "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory."
"Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God.... In speaking of his pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God. He to whose voice the Jews were then listening had been with God as one brought up with Him." {ST August 29, 1900, par. 13}
"In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. “He that hath the Son hath life.” The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life." { DA 530.3}
"The Holy Spirit ... is as much a person as God is a person"
Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
John 16:13-14 "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you."
"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." {Ms66-1899.11}
"The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. “For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man, which is in him; even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” {Ms20-1906.32}
"Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church." { DA 671.2}
"Three distinct agencies, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, work together for human beings. They are united in the work of making the church on earth like the church in heaven."
Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
"There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ." {Ms21-1906.11}
"The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, powers infinite and omniscient, receive those who truly enter into covenant relation with God. They are present at every baptism, to receive the candidates who have renounced the world and have received Christ into the soul temple. These candidates have entered into the family of God, and their names are inscribed in the Lamb’s book of life." {Ms27a-1900.10}
"Three distinct agencies, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, work together for human beings. They are united in the work of making the church on earth like the church in heaven. They place the resources of heaven at the disposal of those who will appreciate and impart these spiritual treasures, multiplying them by using them to the glory of God." {Ms27a-1900.22}
"The battle is now on. Satan and his angels are working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. They are untiring in their efforts to draw souls away from the truth, away from righteousness, to spread ruin throughout the universe. They work with marvelous industry to furnish a multitude of deceptions to take souls captive. Their efforts are unceasing. The enemy is ever seeking to lead souls into skepticism and infidelity. He would do away with God and with Christ, who was made flesh and dwelt among us, to teach us that in obedience to God’s will we may be victorious over sin." {Lt263-1904.3}
"The greatness of God cannot be measured or comprehended. And that doctrine that denies the absolute Godhead of Jesus Christ, denies also the Godhead of the Father; for no man knoweth the Son but the Father." {ST June 27, 1895, par. 3}
"If men reject the testimony of the inspired Scriptures concerning the deity of Christ, it is in vain to argue the point with them; for no argument, however conclusive, could convince them. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. None who hold this error can have a true conception of the character or the mission of Christ, or of the great plan of God for man’s redemption." { GC 524.2}
"Christ is equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. He could pay the ransom for man’s freedom. He is the eternal, self-existing Son, on whom no yoke had come; and when God asked, “Whom shall I send?” he could reply, “Here am I; send me.” He could pledge himself to become man’s surety; for he could say that which the highest angel could not say,—I have power over my own life, 'power to lay it down, and ... power to take it again.'" {YI June 21, 1900, par. 2}
"The Majesty of heaven stood, calmly assured, as a god before his adversaries. Their scowling faces, their hands filled with stones, did not intimidate him. … He stood before them undaunted. Why did not the stones fly to the mark?—It was because divinity flashed through humanity, and they received a revelation, and were convicted that his were no common claims. Their hands relax and the stones fall to the ground. His words had asserted his divinity, but now his personal presence, the light of his eye, the majesty of his attitude, bore witness to the fact that he was the beloved Son of God. {ST November 27, 1893, par. 6} Had the Pharisees misunderstood his words, he could and would have corrected their wrong impression. He could have told them that he was no blasphemer, although he had called himself the Son of God, and that his words need not necessarily mean that he had invested himself with divine prerogatives, and made himself equal with the Father. But he made no such statement. The impression they had received was the very impression he desired to make." {ST November 27, 1893, par. 7}
"The world was made by him, “and without him was not anything made that was made.” If Christ made all things, he existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore." {RH April 5, 1906, par. 6}
To those who were listening to talks of Dr. Kellogg, who was making a nonentity of Christ, she said the following:
"These night talks have been times when Satan, with his seductive influence, has stolen away from one and then another the faith once delivered to the saints. Brilliant, sparkling ideas will often flash from the mind that is worked by the great deceiver. Those who listen and acquiesce will become charmed, as Eve was charmed by the serpent’s words. You cannot listen to these charming sophistries and at the same time keep a “Thus saith the Lord” in your mind." {Lt263-1904.14}
It is dangerous to go to seminars that diminish the godhead of Christ, or watch them on the internet. You go, watch or listen at the risk of your souls.
This helpful article from the Review and Herald establishes Christ's pre-existence in union and oneness with His Father from all eternity.
This excellent manuscript speaks of three distinct agencies, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, powers infinite and omniscient, who are present at every baptism.
This wonderful article describes our need of a Saviour and how Christ brought about a complete salvation. In the process he proved his claims of divinity, he affirmed the faith of His followers, established the truth of the Godhead and ascended to heaven to advocate on our behalf before His Father.
The pages on the Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit have pages connected to them that are exceedingly valuable to explore.
Four-Part Godhead Bible Studies
Christ, The Self-Existent, Eternal Divine Saviour
The Holy Spirit: Third Person Of The Godhead
Three Persons Of The Godhead Working/Mentioned Together
Books and Sermons On The Godhead
Quotes On The Trinity In The Writings of Ellen White