Question:
What is the SDA doctrine of the Personality of God?
Answer: (by Teresa and Trent Wilde)
Whatever it may be, Ellen White called it a foundation truth that “is everything to us as a people.” This tells us a couple of things:
1. It’s supremely important.
2. It was understood by the SDA people at large.
This second point is reinforced by the fact that Ellen White referred to it as a pillar of our faith and said the writings of the pioneers should be reprinted if and when pillars like this are threatened:
Those who try to bring in theories that would remove the pillars of our faith concerning the sanctuary, or concerning the personality of God or of Christ, are working as blind men.
…
When men come in who would move one pin or pillar from the foundation which God has established by His Holy Spirit, let the aged men who were pioneers in our work speak plainly, and let those who are dead speak also by reprinting of their articles in our periodicals. — {Ms62-1905.14, 20}
The personality of God was revealed in some of Ellen’s earliest visions (Broadside1 April 6, 1846, par. 7; Early Writings p. 54-55, 77, 92) and the pioneers taught clearly and directly on this topic. Here are just a few examples:
James White
Joseph H. Waggoner
Augustin C. Bourdeau
Uriah Smith
The Image of God: Is God A Person?
D. M. Canright
The Personality of God (James and Ellen White personally assisted him with this article.)
R. F. Cottrell
J. N. Loughborough
Is the Soul Immortal?: Is God A Person?
So, what is the doctrine of the Personality of God? Reading the above articles makes it plain ─ for God to be a person means that He’s a strictly material Being with a body and parts in the shape of man, occupying both space and time. The pioneers state it thus:
Now what is the meaning of the word person? … It does not and cannot mean an immaterial, intangible, shapeless, formless essence. It always means an intelligent being, having a body, shape and form. … The God of the Bible is not a mere principle, an essence or soul of the universe, but he is a real, personal being, having a body, form, shape, and local habitation… ─ Canright
…God is a material, organized intelligence, possessing both body and parts. — Bourdeau
…Christ is said to be “the image of the invisible God.” …Christ has a body composed of substance, flesh and bones; and he is said to be, “the image of the invisible God.” … God is a person with a body and form. — J. N. Loughborough
God is a person, for he made man in his own image; so is his only begotten son … they both exist with body and parts … the ancient of days, or God, has a head, and hair on his head, and a body… – James White
For more on this subject, please CLICK HERE.
We have a video series explaining this doctrine more fully. You can watch the whole thing here:
And for a more detailed exploration of what individual SDA pioneers had to say on this subject, we recommend this playlist:
