By R. A . Greive
Why I Was Excommunicatec
r p JL wo years ago certain American editors reported that the Seventh- day Adventist church had reworked its theology to the point that the SDA movement should now be con sidered evangelical. At the very moment these Chris tian editors in America were ex tending the right hand of fellowship to the leaders of Adventism, I and three other SDA ministers were being tried for heresy in Australia. What I saw at that trial convinced me how hopelessly mistaken were these American editors. It all began when we four min isters came with hungry, seeking hearts to the New Testament reve lation of the gospel. W e made the great discovery of the doctrine of justification and found its dynamics too much to contain in earthen ves sels. W e literally spilled over with the good news. Many in our con gregations came to believe in bibli cal justification and many of us hailed it as the dawn of a new day for Adventism. But its triumph was short-lived. We ministers were placed on trial and when we failed to recant were summarily dismissed from the SDA minstry. But we did not go a l o n e . Spiritually-enlightened members numbering more than 100 resigned from their SDA churches seeking to find fellowship and hap piness within various branches of God’s earthly church. This was not a mass movement from one Advent ist church but an intelligent separ ation on the part of schoolteachers, businessmen and other thinking people from many places in Aus tralia and New Zealand. They moved out because they were convinced that the basic doc trines and prophetical interpreta tions of their church were at vari ance with the revelation of Scrip ture. Our crime consisted in sharing the good news that God in Christ had completely forgiven us our
sins, so blotting out the record of wrong doing that the judgment and' condemnation resulting therefrom was entirely lifted and the believer restored to sonship and heirship with Christ. These New Testament concepts conflicted with the pub lished statements of Ellen G. White who had declared, “ It is impossible that the sins of men should be blot ted out until after the judgment (commencing in 1844) at which their cases are to be investigated” {Great Controversy, p. 485). Hence we were indicted for believing that the Bible alone was the sole source of faith and doctrine and was its own interpreter as against the over riding authority of the writings of Ellen G. White. The point of issue was whether a Seventh-day Adventist minister could lay aside the authority of Mrs. White’s writings in favor of the Bible and still be a minister of the SDA church. The answer at our trial was an unequivocable no. These heresy trials were to us ordeals by fire. There was all the evidence of carefully-planned psy chological warfare. There was also the make-believe of prayer and in vestigation of the themes of salva tion as presented. But back and be hind everything was the resolve on the part of the 13 men on the com mittee to force a surrender to the E. G. White interpretations, no matter what evidence there was to the contrary. When the committee failed to break down a defendant a private session with the chairman and his secretary was held. At this private
session all subtleties were cast aside. And when we failed to recant we were excommunicated and ruined over night. W e who were once the ardent supporters of the SDA church now see that it is not in the Protestant succession. W e also know that SDA special doctrines — Sabbath, sanc tuary, investigative judgment, rem nant church — are unalterable, unchangeable beliefs. To change any one of these doctrines is to compromise the prophetic standing of Mrs. White and that the SDA leaders will never do because it is their firm belief that Mrs. White’s prophetic gift is the outstanding mark of their remnant church. In theory Adventists exalt the Bible above the writings of Mrs. White. In practice they do exactly the opposite. The psychological power and effects of her writings and interpretations so subtly en slave the minds of ministers and members alike that I doubt if ever they realize that it is her revela tions they are believing and not those of the Bible. As an illustration of this subtle enslavement, more than 30 years ago as a young min ister entering upon his life work, I read the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Greek text and was astonished and mystified that I could not fit my Adventist beliefs of the sanc tuary into the teaching of this por tion of Scripture. M y faith in the writings of Mrs. White were such that unhesitatingly I laid the Bible teaching aside in favor of what my church taught. During our trials F. G. Clifford, head of the SDA church here, put it on record as the denominational position that “ the writings of Mrs. White are inspired by the same Spirit that inspired the Bible; there fore we must have the same faith in the writings of Mrs. White as we have in the Bible.” Again, “ this is our denominational position, that God forgives neither absolutely nor
A bo u t t h e A u th o r
Mr. Greive was a Seventh-day Adventist pas tor for 30 years and the former president of the North New Zealand Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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