The Human Nature of Christ-A Continuing Debate

7/27/2019 The Human Nature of Christ-A Continuing Debate

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Andrews University

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

CHIS674 Development of Seventh-day Adventist Theology

Spring Semester 2011

Outline 17 Merlin D. Burt

The Human Nature of ChristA Continuing Debate

I. IntroductionA. The doctrine of the human nature of Jesus is different from any other that we

have thus far studiedit is an ongoing debate that is yet to find resolution

within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For all of the other doctrines studied

so far, the controversial aspects have been largely resolved in the past and canbe studied more objectively and therefore bring overall resolution for us as

individuals and as a church.

B. Even though this is a current issue, we will approach our topic from a historicalperspective in several steps. First we will define what is more or less

universally accepted by Seventh-day Adventists about the human nature of

Jesus. Then we will express the major points of disagreement. Then we willcompare the history of the theological development of the eternal deity of Jesus

and the law in Galatians with the present debate on the human nature of Jesus.

Next we will examine the historical background of the human nature of Jesuswithin Adventism. Finally we look at Ellen Whites writings on the topic.

II. Five basic elements on the human nature of Jesus that are universally acceptedby Seventh-day Adventists.

A. Jesus became truly and fully a human while at the same time retaining his trueand full deity.

B. Jesus took a humanity that was weakened by thousands of years of sin whichdiminished his human capacities and vitality. He was subject to weariness aswell as emotional and physical pain.

C. Jesus faced severe temptation and it was possible for him to sin.D. In his humanity Jesus never sinned.E. In his humanity our Savior bore our sins to the cross and died as our substitute.

III. Some basic areas of disagreement within the Seventh-day Adventist Church onthe human nature of Christ.

A. Did Jesus take an intrinsically sinful human nature or a sinless naturepre-lapsarian or post-lapsarian?

B. Did Jesus face the same temptation to sin as fallen humans or did he facerepresentative temptations similar to those faced by Adam before the fall?

C. Was Jesus our example in every aspect or are their some parts of Jesusexperience as human that are different than ours?


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IV. Similarities between the discussion on the human nature of Christ and theearlier discussion in our Church on the eternal deity of Jesus and the law in

Galatians.

A. The present Seventh-day Adventist uncertainty about the sinful or sinlesshuman nature of Christ closely parallels earlier discussion on both the eternaldeity of Jesus and the law in Galatians.

1. Those who held to the historic position on the deity of Jesus during theearly twentieth century, S. N. Haskell, J. S. Washburn, C. S. Longacre,and W. R. French, did so based upon what Adventists had believed

previous to the 1890s. It was historic Adventism for them.

2. The deity of Jesus was so divisive that the church was unable to form aclear statement of faith for many years because feelings were so strong

on the topic. We have a statement of faith on the humanity of Jesus but

it avoids the most controversial aspects. The first statements of faith onthe deity of Jesus did the same.

3. As time passed and the voices of those who had brought the original orearlier position with them from the past fell silent, the new position

became established. Certain key individuals such as M. L. Andreasenand F. M. Wilcox had settled the eternal deity of Jesus early in their

ministry and became active influences for change.

4. The eternal deity of Jesus issue has become a fundamental doctrine ofthe Seventh-day Adventist Church. If we could resolve some aspects of

the humanity of Jesus it is possible that a similar result could occur.

5. Those who held to the1860s through 1880s corrected position on thelaw in Galatians saw it as a landmark doctrine much as Washburn and

others viewed the original position on the deity of Jesus. Because their

view was the original or corrected position they considered them

ratified or settled. Those who hold to that Jesus participated in the sinfulpart of our nature hold a nearly identical perspective.

6. Ellen White was clear that the law in Galatians issue was not a landmarkdoctrine and should be investigated in a way that would not underminethe outreach and witness of the church. Her willingness to investigate

the topic led to challenges to her prophetic ministry.

7. The law in Galatians issue was largely settled by the beginning of thetwentieth century with a modified position that included some elements

from both positions. While not exactly a compromise, both sides

brought to the discussion elements of truth and elements of error.8. There were important theological ideas that were connected to the

discussion of the law in Galatians that were much more important thatthe actual idea of which law was applicable. The idea that the Ten

Commandments are a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we can bejustified by faith was critical because of its connection to righteousness

by faith. Without it, people were left in a position that caused them to

tend towards legalism and righteousness by works. The same could besaid for the human nature of Christ.


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B. There is perhaps one important way that the discussion on the human nature ofChrist is different from the earlier discussion on the deity of Jesus and the law in

Galatiansa prophetic voice is no longer present. We do not have Ellen Whiteto bring greater certainty and unity after the church has investigated the topic

carefully from the Bible. We could wish that her voice were not silenced

because our Church has been divided over the topic for half a century. WithoutEllen Whites active involvement it is difficult to imagine how the church

would have found unity on many of the key doctrines that have already been

discussed in this class.

C. Perhaps we can find a way to examine the topic of the human nature of Christthat is informed by how God has led us in our past history?

D. We will examine first the historical background of the human nature of Christmuch as we have done with other doctrines or teachings. Then we will examineEllen Whites position on the topic. This outline is not intended to be an answer

or complete solution but rather information that will provide assistance as we

study the Bible and consider the topic.

V. Historical Background within the Seventh-day Adventist Church on theHuman Nature of Jesus.

A. General Information1. Up until the 1950s many details on the human nature of Christ had not

received the type of church-wide intentional study with serious

adjustments like other doctrines such as tithing (1878), the time to beginthe Sabbath (1855), the law in Galatians(1880s and 1890s), and the

landmark doctrines of the 1840s.

2. Early ideas on the human nature of Jesus is much like the originalposition on the eternal deity of Jesus. It was based more on the general

sense of those who were the key leaders within the movement.Therefore we must be careful not to read too much into these early

statements.3. Even the discussion by Waggoner and Jones, who were second or third

generation leaders must be tempered by the realization that what they

said was a part of the larger emphasis on Jesus and righteousness byfaith.

4. Ellen Whites writings played a role in establishing faith in the sinfulhuman nature of Christ. Yet her view on the sinful human nature of

Christ contained significant exceptions to what was presented by Jonesand Waggoner and later by M. L. Andreasen and others. These

exceptions must be considered.B. William Miller in 1845 refused to enter into detail on the human nature of

Christ. He wrote:

Some are prone to indulge in a spirit of uneasiness and disorder, and looseness withregard to church government and doctrine. In all the essential doctrines of the Bible, as

they have been held by the pious of the church in all ages, were given to the saints, and

for which we are commanded earnestly to contend, I have never seen any reason to


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change my faith. Jesus I regard as my all sufficient Savior, by whose merits alone I can

be saved. No being but Him "whose goings forth were of old, from everlasting," who

should take upon himself our nature, and bear our sins in his own body, could make anatonement, on the efficacy of which I should dare to rely. The Bible speaks as plainly of

my Savior's divinity as it does of his humanity. He is therefore Emanuel, God with us.

The Bible tells us plainly what the Savioris. That should satisfy us without venturingbeyond the Bible to say what he is not.1

C. During the period up through the 1880s the ideas of various writers were largelynon-specific though they may lean towards Jesus having a sinful human nature.

1. J. M. Stephenson in 1854 gave a more general statement arguing for thehuman nature of Jesus without details: Having shown by plain Bible

testimony that the Son of God in his highest nature became man, "wasmade flesh," I next propose to consider that portion of Bible evidence

which represents him as a real man. In fact, everything connected with

his history, from his birth to his resurrection, proves that he was a real

human being. Read the prediction, "For unto us a child is born;"[Isa.ix,6;] also its fulfillment. Matt. i, 20-25; ii,11; Luke i,ii. From this

account, of his birth, we learn that he was begotten by the "power of the

Highest," and was born of Mary, in Bethlehem of Judea, in the reign ofAugustus Caesar.

2

Moses Hull (1836 - 1906)

2. Moses Hull presented Jesus as the second Adam but without details:When God created the first Adam he gave him dominion over all things

on earth, whether of the human race, or the animal creation, or inanimate

1William Miller, Wm. Millers Apology and Defence (Boston: J. V. Himes, August 1, 1845), 27.2J. M. Stephenson, November 14, 1854,Review and Herald, 107.


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things. By disobedience Adam fell from this high position, lost his

dominion, and degraded those things over which his dominion had

extended. Satan, his tempter, usurped the throne of the world, and hasbeen ever since, the prince of this world. But the promise was that the

seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, should bruise the serpent's head and

destroy the power of Satan. Jesus Christ, the second Adam, is to repairthe damage of the fall, and as the Son of man, the representative of

perfect human nature, to take again the dominion which Adam lost, and

restore creation to the happy condition in which Adam found it.3

3. An anonymous 1863 article in theReview and Heraldsuggests thatJesus had a sinful human nature. But this genealogical table, with its

long list of the human ancestors of Jesus, proves to us that the Son of

God did something more than to take upon him the mere form ofhumanity; that he really became a member of our suffering, sinning,

ruined race - like to us in sorrows, in temptations, in everything but

transgression.

4

4.

In 1884, J. H. Waggoner wrote of the sinful nature of Jesus but withoutexact detail of what that meant:

And he left that throne of glory and of power and took upon him the nature of fallenman. In him were blended the brightness of the Father's glory and the weakness of the

seed of Abraham. In himself he united the Lawgiver to the law-breaker--the Creator to

the creature; for he was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of Godin him. He was a connecting link between Heaven and earth; with one hand on the

throne of God, and the other reaching down to grasp the poor, ruined creatures under the

condemnation of a holy law. He "humbled himself" as it is not possible for any other todo.

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D. During the1890s Jones and Waggoner took a strong position on the sinfulhuman nature of Jesus. They are the first strong proponents of a sinful nature

that includes sinful tendencies but somehow without sinning. Waggoner

suggests a type of dualism for Jesus. His divine nature held his sinful human

nature in check. While not reflected in this statement, we can partake of theJesus divine nature and thus resist sin. Jones seems to follow a similar type of

dualism in the nature of Christ. Representative statements by each are provided:

E. J. Waggoner: Moreover, the fact that Christ took upon Himself the flesh, not of a

sinless being, but of a sinful man, that is, that the flesh which He assumed had all the

weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject, is shown bythe statement that He "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." David had

3Moses Hull, The Future Dispensation,Review and Herald, September 15, 1863, 123.4Genealogy of Christ,Review and Herald, May 5, 1863, 179.5J. H. Waggoner, The Atonement: An Examination of a Remedial System in the Light of Nature

and Revelation (Oakland, CA: Pacific Press, 1884), 161.


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all the passions of human nature. He says of himself, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity;

and in sin did my mother conceive me." Ps. 51:5.6

Some may have thought, while reading thus far, that we were depreciating the character

of Jesus by bringing Him down to the level of sinful man. On the contrary, we are simply

exalting the "Divine power" of our blessed Saviour, who Himself voluntarily descendedto the level of sinful man in order that He might exalt man to His own spotless purity,

which He retained under the most adverse circumstances. His humanity only veiled His

Divine nature, by which He was inseparably connected with the invisible God and which

was more than able successfully to resist the weaknesses of the flesh.7

A. T. Jones: If He were not of the same flesh as are those whom He came to redeem,

then there is no sort of use of His being made flesh at all. More than this: Since the onlyflesh that there is in this wide world which He came to redeem is just the poor, sinful,

lost, human flesh that all mankind have; if this is not the flesh that he was made, then He

never really came to the world which needs to be redeemed. For if he came in a human

nature different from that which human nature in this world actually is, then, even thoughHe were in the world, yet for any practical purposes in reaching man and helping him, he

was as far from him as if He had never come, for, in that case, in His human nature He

was just as far from man and just as much of another world as if He had never come intothis world at all.

8

Thus in the flesh of Jesus Christ--not in Himself, but in His flesh--our flesh which Hetook in the human nature--there were just the same tendencies to sin that are in you and

me. And when He was tempted, it was the "drawing away of these desires that were in

the flesh." These tendencies to sin that were in His flesh drew upon Him and sought toentice Him, to consent to the wrong. But by the love of God and by His trust in God, he

received the power and the strength and the grace to say, "No," to all of it and put it all

under foot. And thus being in the likeness of sinful flesh He condemned sin in the flesh.All the tendencies to sin that are in me were in Him, and not one of them was ever

allowed to appear in Him. All the tendencies to sin that are in you were in Him, and not

one of them was ever allowed to appear--every one was put under foot and kept there.

All the tendencies to sin that are in the other man were in Him, and not one of them wasever allowed to appear. That is simply saying that all the tendencies to sin that are in

human flesh were in His human flesh, and not one of them was ever allowed to appear;

He conquered them all. And in Him we all have victory over them all.9

E. In 1897 Uriah Smith presented what became a classic argument throughout thefirst half of the twentieth century regarding Christ as our example of obedience.It needs to be noted that Smith was careful to not draw the same conclusions

6E. J. Waggoner, Christ and his Righteousness (Melbourne, Echo Publishing, 1890), 26, 27.7Ibid., 28, 29.8A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press,

1905), 35.9A. T. Jones, The Third Angels Message, No. 14, General Conference Bulletin, February 21,

1895, 266, 267.


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that Jones and Waggoner or Andreasen did. He maintained a careful

respectfulness for the mystery of the incarnation:

But God sent his own Son into the world to show that the whole trouble lay in the base

surrender of the flesh to sin, and not to any injustice in the law. He came in the likeness

of sinful flesh to demonstrate before all parties in the controversy that is was possible formen in the flesh to keep the law. He demonstrated this by keeping it himself. On our

plane of existence, and in our nature, he rendered such obedience to every principle and

precept, that the eye of Omniscience itself could detect no flaw therein. His whole life

was but a transcript of that law, in its spiritual nature, and in its holy, just, and gooddemands. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, by living himself in the flesh and doing no

sin; showing that it was possible for man thus to live. It was a complete and triumphant

vindication of the fact that God is not unjust in his demands; that he required of mannothing more than he could do, nothing more than he should have done, and for the not

doing of which he was justly condemned. If Christ here, as a man, could keep the law,

fulfilling perfectly the Father's will, man could have done so too, and therefore stands

speechless before a throne which is shown to be a throne of equity, before a law which isshown to be holy, just and good, and before the blameless life of Christ, which is shown

to be possible in a world like this, and in a condition vastly worse than that in which

Adam was placed, when he basely yielded to temptation.10

F. S. N. Haskell in 1901 wrote of the fallen nature of Christ without explainingwhat he meant. Mostly he was like Smith in his approach.

The apostle then presents man as he was when first created, and also his present

condition, and how Christ stepped down from His high and exalted position, madehimself lower than the angels, and even took man's fallen nature, for the suffering of

death, that through death He might destroy him that hath the power of death, that is, the

devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage.He was made like unto His people, that with His human arm He might encircle the

human race, and take His people as far above angels as He himself was above angels

before He came to the earth. In this humiliation He was tempted and suffered, so that He

might be able to succor them that are tempted. O what a High Priest is this! It is thusheaven and earth are connected.

11

VI. Ellen Whites Position on the Human Nature of Christ.

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A. In 1858 Ellen White wrote of Jesus taking mans fallen nature.

13

10Uriah Smith,Looking Unto Jesus or Christ in Type and Antitype (Battle Creek, MI: Review and

Herald, 1897), 30.

In thisstatement she did not elaborate on what she meant. It should be noted that

many times in succeeding years she used this phrase.

11S. N. Haskell, The Sanctuary Question,Review and Herald, Aug. 20, 1901, 536.12For material in this section, I am largely dependent upon Woodrow W. Whidden II, Ellen White

on the Humanity of Christ(Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1997.13Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts: The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels and

Satan and His Angels, vol. 1 (Battle Creek, MI: James White, 1858), 25.


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Ellen White (1827 - 1915)

B. In 1863 she wrote that Jesus knows our infirmities.14 In this statement EllenWhite is speaking to parents and their relationship to children. In using the

word infirmities she is referring to human weakness and illness. Parents

sometimes excuse their own wrong course because they do not feel well. . . .He [Satan] exults that the grace of God is not allowed by them as sufficient to

overcome natural infirmities.15

C. In 1869 she gave a balancing perspective on the sinful nature of Christ when shewrote: He is a brother in our infirmities, but not in possessing like passions.

As the sinless One, his nature recoiled from evil.

16

D. In 1872, Ellen White focused on the connection between Christs divine andhuman nature. The Son of God was in the form of God, and he thought it not

robbery to be equal with God. He was the only one, who as a man walked the

earth, who could say to all men, who of you convinceth me of sin? He hadunited with the Father in the creation of man, and he had power through his own

divine perfection of character to atone for mans sin, and to elevate him, andbring him back to his first estate.

17

14Ellen G. White, Parents and Children,Review and Herald, January 20, 1863, 59.15Ibid.16Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2 (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1948),

202.17Ellen G. White, The First Advent if Christ,Review and Herald, December 17, 1872, 2.


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1. She was clear that Man could not atone for man. His [mans] sinful,fallen condition would constitute him an imperfect offering.

18

2. In referring to Christ in his humanity she wrote: He was perfect, andundefiled by sin. He was without spot or blemish.

19

3. Thus for Christ to be a Savior he must have both a sinless human natureand be divine.E. In 1874, Ellen White gives her earliest extensive statement on the human nature

of Christ. She paraphrased or directly quoted material from this article many

times in later years. The key elements include:

1. Jesus identified with sinful human nature. The Son of God humbledhimself and took mans nature after the race had wandered four thousand

years from Eden, and from their original state of purity and

uprightness.20

2. In the wilderness of temptation, Jesus took Adams place where he hadfailed but at a disadvantage in His human nature. In what contrast is

the second Adam as he entered the gloomy wilderness to cope with

Satan single-handed. Since the fall the race had been decreasing in sizeand physical strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth, up

to the period of Christs advent to the earth. And in order to elevate

fallen man, Christ must reach him where he was. He took human nature,and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He, who knew no

sin, became sin for us.

21

3. In facing Satan Jesus took the additional step of being placed at adisadvantage in the degenerate human condition. She wrote: In the

wilderness of temptation Christ was without food forty days. . . . Satan

had succeeded so well in deceiving the angels of God, and in the fall ofnoble Adam, that he thought that in Christs humiliation he would be

successful in overcoming him.

22She went on The humanity of Christ

reached to the very depths of human wretchedness, and, identified itselfwith the weakness and necessities of fallen man, while his divine nature

grasped the Eternal.23

4. Jesus was our Substitute and Savior by bearing the test on our behalf.As man could not, in his human strength resist the power of Satans

temptations, Jesus volunteered to undertake the work, and bear the

burden for man, and overcome the power of appetite in his behalf. Hemust show in mans behalf, self-denial and perseverance, and firmness

of principle that is paramount to the gnawing pangs of hunger.

Jesus was affectedor injured by sin but not

infectedor intrinsically polluted by sin.

24

18Ibid.

He

[Christ] had condescended to take mans nature, and he was to suffer theinconveniences, and ills, and afflictions, of the human family. He was

19Ibid.20 Ellen G. White, The Temptation of Christ,Review and Herald, July 28, 1874, 51.21Ibid.22Ibid.23Ellen G. White, The Temptation of Christ,Review and Herald, August 4, 1874, 58.24Ibid.


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not to perform miracles on his own account. He came to save others.25

The exalted Son of God in assuming humanity draws himself nearer to

man by standing as the sinners substitute. . . . Christ overcame on thesinners behalf.

26

5. By combining his divinity with humanity he overcame for us and made itpossible for us to overcome. In order to bring hope to man, and savehim from complete ruin, he humbled himself to take mans nature, that,

with his divine power combined with the human, he might reach man

where he is. He obtains for the fallen sons and daughters of Adam that

strength which it is impossible for them to gain for themselves, that inhis name they may overcome the temptations of Satan.

27

6. Christ in his humanity was an example for us. The great trial of Christin the wilderness on the point of appetite was to leave man an exampleof self-denial.

28

F. In 1884 Ellen White wrote in a way that suggests that Jesus had a sinless nature:There was no sin in Him that Satan could triumph over, no weakness or defect

that he could use to his advantage. But we are sinful by nature, and we have awork to do to cleanse the soul-temple of every defilement.

29Another example

of a similar statement was written in 1898: Christ is the perfect representation

of God on the one hand, and a perfect specimen of sinless humanity on the otherhand. Thus He has combined divinity and humanity.

30

G. By the time of the 1888 experience, Ellen White had essentially developed herunderstanding of the human nature of Christ as described up to this point. Shewent into the 1888 experience with her position largely established. Her later

statements are mostly elaboration and expansion.

H. The Baker letter is an example of her making a clarification. Be careful,exceedingly carefully as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do

not set Him before the people as a man with the propensities to sin. . . . Bro.

Baker, avoid every question in relation to the humanity of Christ which is liableto be misunderstood. Truth lies close to the track of presumption. . . . Never, in

any way, leave the slightest impression upon human minds that a taint of, or

inclination to corruption rested upon Christ, or that He in any way yielded to

corruption. . . . I perceive that there is danger in approaching subjects whichdwell on the humanity of the Son of the infinite God. He did humble Himself

when He saw He was in fashion as a man, that He might understand the force of

all temptations wherewith man is best.31

25Ibid.26Ibid.27Ibid.28Ellen G. White, The Temptation of Christ,Review and Herald, October 13, 1874, 121.29Ellen G. White, Gods Willingness to Save,Review and Herald, May 27, 1884, 338.30Ellen G. White, Wholehearted Service, February 10, 1898, Manuscript 16, 1898, Ellen G.

White Estate, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland.31Ellen G. White to Brother and Sister [W. L. H.] Baker, Letter 8, 1895. See Source Syllabus,

259-261.


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I. In 1993 previously unknown interlineations were discovered in Letter 303,1903. This letter previous to the interlineations sounded very much like Christ

actually had evil tendencies. Here is the statement with interlineations inparentheses. Coming, as he did, as a man (to meet and be subjected to) with all

the evil tendencies to which man is heir, (working in every conceivable manner

to destroy his faith), he made it possible for Himself to be buffeted by humanagencies inspired by Satan, the rebel who had been expelled from heaven.

32

This correction clarifies that Ellen White was writing about what other people

had subjected Jesus to and not what He was in his mind.

32Ellen G. White to J. H. Kellogg, August 29, 1903, Letter 303, 1903, Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.,

Silver Spring, Maryland.


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Corrections made by Ellen White afterDesire of Ages had been sent to the printer

J. The differences between the first printing ofDesire of Ages and later printingillustrates the same point as Letter 303, 1903. The first printing of the last

paragraph of page 48 has the following sentences: Adam stood in his

innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity as weakened and defiled byfour thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of

the working of the great law of heredity.

33

K. A helpful article by Tim Poirier on Ellen Whites use of the word infirmitiescompares her use of the term with one of her favorite writers, Henry Melvill.For Melvill, there were two primary consequences of the fall: (1) innocent

infirmities, and (2) sinful propensities.

She had a correction sent to thepress. The wording was changed to: Adam stood in his innocence in Eden.But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four

thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the

working of the great law of heredity. This later reading is what has been a partof Desire of Ages ever since. Again she is changing to wording to make sure

that people do not think that Jesus is in some way inclined toward sin.

34

33Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Oakland, CA: Pacific Press, 1898), 48.

Melvill said that Jesus had the first

but not the second. Ellen Whites use of the term infirmity and propensitysuggest that she agreed.

34Tim Poirier, A Comparison of the Christology of Ellen G. White and Henry Melvill, April 5,

1982, Ellen G. White Estate, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland. See also Source Materials, 187-190.


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L. If there is any development for Ellen White in her understanding of Christshumanity after the 1880s, it is according to Whidden, his uniqueness.

35

1. No physical deformityThese

include:36

or disease.37

2. As a child, no trace of sin marred the image of God within Him. 38No one, looking upon the child-like countenance, shining withanimation, could say that Christ was just like other children. He was

God in human flesh. When urged by his companions to do wrong,

divinity flashed through humanity, and he refused decidedly.39

3. He united sinful human nature with his sinless nature. Christ did inreality unite the offending nature of man with His own sinless nature.

40

He took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature, that He might know

how to succor those that are tempted.41

4. He became the new head of the human race. He was to take Hisposition as the head of humanity by taking the nature but not the

sinfulness of man.

42

5.

Jesus had no taint of sin. In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He wasever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature.

Clothing his divinity with humanity, that he might associate with fallen

humanity, He sought to regain for man that which by disobedienceAdam had lost, for himself and for the world.

43

35Whidden,Ellen White on the Humanity of Christ, 53-56.36Ellen G. White TheDesire of Ages, (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1940), 50.37Ellen G. White, One that is Mighty to Save, February 1898, Manuscript 18, 1998; Ellen G.

White Estate, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland.38White, TheDesire of Ages, 71.39Ellen G. White, And the Grace of God Was Upon Him, Youths Instructor, September 8, 1898,

705.40Ellen G. White, The Lords Vineyard,Review and Herald, July 17, 1900, 449.41Ellen G. White, To Brethren in Positions of Responsibility, April 25, 1902, Letter 67, 1902,

quoted in Ellen G. White,Medical Ministry: A Treatise on Medical Missionary Work in the Gospel

(Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1963), 181.42Ellen G. White, Gods Purpose for Us, Signs of the Times, May 29, 1901, 339.43Ellen G. White, The Word of God, Signs of the Times, July 30, 1902, 482.


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VIII.Some observations on Ellen Whites use of the term passions.A. Ellen White makes the explicit statement: He is a brother in our infirmities,

but not in possessing like passions. As the sinless One, His nature recoiled from

evil. The full statement is provided below.

In Christ were united the human and the divine. His mission was to reconcile God

and man, to unite the finite with the infinite. This was the only way in which fallen

men could be exalted through the merits of the blood of Christ to be partakers of thedivine nature. Taking human nature fitted Christ to understand man's trials and

sorrows, and all the temptations wherewith he is beset. Angels who were

unacquainted with sin could not sympathize with man in his peculiar trials. Christcondescended to take man's nature and was tempted in all points like as we, that He

might know how to succor all who should be tempted.

As the human was upon Him, He felt His need of strength from His Father. Hehad select places of prayer. He loved to hold communion with His Father in the

solitude of the mountain. In this exercise His holy, human soul was strengthened for

the duties and trials of the day. Our Saviour identifies Himself with our needs and

weaknesses, in that He became a suppliant, a nightly petitioner, seeking from HisFather fresh supplies of strength, to come forth invigorated and refreshed, braced for

duty and trial. He is our example in all things. He is a brother in our infirmities, but

not in possessing like passions. As the sinless One, His nature recoiled from evil. Heendured struggles and torture of soul in a world of sin. His humanity made prayer a

necessity and privilege. He required all the stronger divine support and comfort which

His Father was ready to impart to Him, to Him who had, for the benefit of man, leftthe joys of heaven and chosen His home in a cold and thankless world. Christ found

comfort and joy in communion with His Father 2 T 201-202.

B. Another similar statement is like a number of others that separates Jesus fromintrinsic evil inclinations. Human passions and commotions and trials were

beneath Him. He sailed like the sun above them all. A more complete

statement is below.

Christ never murmured, never uttered discontent, displeasure, or resentment. He was

never disheartened, discouraged, ruffled, or fretted. He was patient, calm, and self-possessed under the most exciting and trying circumstances. All His works were

performed with a quiet dignity and ease, whatever commotion was around Him.

Applause did not elate Him. He feared not the threats of His enemies. He moved amidthe world of excitement, of violence and crime, as the sun moves above the clouds.

Human passions and commotions and trials were beneath Him. He sailed like the sunabove them all. Yet He was not indifferent to the woes of men. His heart was ever

touched with the sufferings and necessities of His brethren, as though He Himself wasthe one afflicted Letter 51a, 1874.

C. The word passions or passion is used hundreds of times by Ellen White and innearly all cases she is talking about the bent towards evil that is inherent in


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humans. Jesus remains the only human exception. There are a few statements

where she does seem to attribute the word passion toward Jesus.

1. On rare occasions the word passions in Ellen Whites writings refersto strong emotions or the human instincts of love or hunger, that are not

necessarily sinful. The 1867 Webster Dictionary has the a definitions for

Passion as feeling emotion that completely masters the mind. This iscalled passion. It can be with music or lust or love or anger. The

bottom line is that the mind, in such cases, is considered as having lost

its self-control, and becomes the passive instrument of the feeling in

question.44

An earlier dictionary brief entry for passion is anger,love, zeal, lust suffering.

45

2. He left the glories of heaven and clothed His divinity with humanityand subjected Himself to sorrow and shame and reproach, abuse, denial,

and crucifixion. Though He had all the strength (of) passion of

humanity, never did He yield to temptation to do one single act, whichwas not pure and elevating and ennobling Letter 27, 1892. In this letter

written to Edson and Emma White, she crossed out the world and and

replaced it with of in the above. She is softening it some. To apply tohuman emotion and feelings in a non-sinful propensity sense.

These are all feelings. They are not always

necessarily evil. So in one sense Jesus would have shared our passions

if understood as inherited human emotion.

3. The lessons of Christ upon the occasion of receiving the children,should leave a deeper impression upon our minds. The words of Christencourage parents to bring their little ones to Jesus. They may be

wayward, and possess passions like those of humanity, but this should

not deter us from bringing them to Christ. He blessed children that werepossessed of passions like His own ST April 9, 1896. This statement

might suggest that he had passions like those that children had. But this

statement stands almost alone and should not be interpreted to meansomething different than her repeated explanations on what she meant

by the fallen or sinful nature of Jesus.

4. By a word Christ could have mastered the powers of Satan; but Hecame into the world that He might endure every test, every provocation,that it is possible for man to bear, and yet not be provoked or

impassioned, or retaliate in word, in spirit, or in action. For the honor

and glory of God He was to offer Himself a living, spotless sacrifice tothe Father Manuscript 44, 1897. In other words, Jesus did not loose

self-control. Another example of impassioned in her writings is where

Saul was brought under the influence of sacred music and would catch aspirit of devotion and pour forth the most impassioned expressions of

lofty eloquence in ecstasies of praise and prayer. While under this

44William G. Webster and William A Webster,A Dictionary of the English Language,

Explanatory, Pronouncing, Etymological, and Synonymous (New York: American Book Company, 1867),

307.45William Perry, The Royal Standard English Dictionary (Boston: Tomas & Andrews, West &

Richardson, and Edward Cotton, 1777), 302.


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excitement, he would give himself no rest day nor night until the

reaction came. Then his strength failed and he was exhausted. She

described his let-down from loosing control. When the paroxysm ofwild excitement and inordinate zeal had spent itself, he would reveal his

old disposition Letter 7, 1894.

5.

For Ellen White Jesus never had like passions. She uses the phraseD. Ellen White seems to use the word couplet like passions as a type of codephrase that intimates that all humans, except Jesus, have sinful inclinations,

failings, and loss of control of the emotions. Most often she uses it to refer to

Elijah, Moses, Jacob, Daniel, the Apostles, and ministers in the Seventh-dayAdventist Church. In nearly all cases she is calling for us to be sympathetic

with one another in our failings and weakness. We each have our points of

trouble. A few examples.

You should be careful whom you trust. Brother Jenson is a man who has the fear of God

before him. He is subject to like passions as other men, but he is true and conscientious,

and is a faithful worker, a man of sterling integrity. While there is with him a dispositionto find fault and be dissatisfied, there is also a disposition to see his faults and confess

them. He has said many plain things concerning your affairs that were true, and yet it wasnot wise to mention them before the hands in your employ Letter 5, 1879.

Let not the ministers of the cross of our dear Saviour forget their experience in thesethings; but let them ever bear in mind that they are but men, liable to err, and possessing

like passions with their brethren, and that if they help their brethren they must be

persevering in their efforts to do them good, having their hearts filled with pity and love.They must come to the hearts of their brethren and help them where they are weak and

need help the most. Those who labor in word and doctrine should break their own hard,

proud, unbelieving hearts if they would witness the same in their brethren. Christ has

done all for us because we were helpless; we were bound in chains of darkness, sin, anddespair, and could therefore do nothing for ourselves. It is through the exercise of faith,

hope, and love that we come nearer and nearer to the standard of perfect holiness. Our

brethren feel the same pitying need of help that we have felt. We should not burden themwith unnecessary censure, but should let the love of Christ constrain us to be very

compassionate and tender, that we can weep over the erring and those who have

backslidden from God. The soul is of infinite value. Its worth can be estimated only bythe price paid to ransom it. Calvary! Calvary! Calvary! will explain the true value of the

soul 3 T 187-188.

IX. The certainty of victory over sin.A. The Bible is clear that there is no temptation or sin that cannot be resisted or

overcome in the strength of Christ. Examples abound in the Bible. If we

confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse usfrom all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. Notemptation has overtaken you but

such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be

tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the

way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 1 Cor. 10:13.


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B. Ellen White agrees with scripture on this issue. She also weaves the wordpassions into some of her explanations. Here are a couple of examples.

Every thought cherished, every impulse indulged, leaves its impressions of the mind.

We are under obligations to God to be constantly learning of Christ how to guide and

control our thoughts, our feelings and passions. Oh how fearfully lax we are in our dutyto ourselves to let ourselves be molded by our own ideas and our own faulty will. We are

running great risks in allowing ourselves to be thus controlled by circumstances. We must

study the Pattern, Jesus Christ. Self-culture and divine grace will strengthen us in moral

power. Every faculty should be employed to make of us all that Christ has madeprovision that we should become Letter 3, 1886.

Where the precious seed of truth finds lodgment in the heart, through the workings of

the Spirit of Christ the receiver will discover the sinfulness of human passions, vanities,ignorance. All these must be cleansed from the soul temple and the grace of God become

an abiding principle. Then all the principles of truth bloom in the garden of God,--

humility, meekness, patience, and love. The evidences of the grace of Christ in the human

heart always tend to unity. But because some errors and inconsistencies are seen in thosewhom we think should be perfect, shall we cast them aside? No. Christ does not cast us

aside because of these things, although His Spirit is grieved. It is not wise to sink the soul

in pettish despondency because we see errors in the characters of others. If we discerntheir faults and inconsistencies, then we are to see the sinfulness of similar things in our

own characters, and from these things we are to learn not to practice the un-Christlike

conduct of any man Letter 6b, 1890.

The word of God not only sets forth the great principles of truth and duty which should

govern our lives, but it presents also, for our encouragement, the history of many whohave exemplified these principles. Men "subject to like passions as we are," have fought

with temptation, and conquered in the strength of an Almighty Helper. Under difficulties

greater than we are called to meet, men have been true to duty and to God. Except the oneperfect Pattern, there is not described in the sacred pages a single character more worthy

of emulation than that of the prophet Daniel RH, November 7, 1882.

X. Summary and ConclusionsA.Neither the idea of Christ having a pre-lapsarian or post-lapsarian human nature

is a part of the doctrine or teaching of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. One

of the problems in the debate is that advocates on both sides but particularlythose who advocate a post-lapsarian view see their view as a landmark doctrine.

B. The Church does have unanimity that Jesus had a human nature that was subjectto temptation and was physically inferior to Adam.

C. The historic position on the sinful human nature of Christ is directly traceableto E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones with collateral influence from Ellen Whites

writings. Previous to the time of Jones and Waggoner the idea of Christ havinga sinful human nature was probably a majority view though only lightly

discussed.


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D. Ellen Whites view on the human nature of Jesus has more breadth and depththan that of Jones or Waggoner. She also seems to mean something different

than them when she refers to the Saviors sinful human nature.E. Ellen White appears to have been among the earliest and most extensive writers

on the human nature of Christ. Her view was essentially developed before the

time of Jones and Waggoner. Her statements during the 1890s are moreclarifications than new ideas. If there is one area that she expands on it is to

make Jesus unique and different in His nature. She particularly emphasizes his

freedom from the taint of sin.

F. Ellen White is very careful to describe Jesus as not having like passions orhaving intrinsic propensities to evil or the loss of control of his emotions. He

does not have any taint of sin.

G. In a few instances she associates the word passions with Jesus, but they are inthe non-sinful sense of having human emotions. Jesus was really a human with

human emotions.

H. Both the Bible and Ellen White are clear that we can resist and overcome sinand sinful passions through the power of Christ.I. Ellen White does remain consistent in insisting that Jesus did not have aninternal bent toward evil that he had to resist. He did suffer from temptation

beyond any human and his victory brings us salvation and victory over sin.J. On the topic of the human nature of Jesus and the incarnation we must maintain

a humble attitude. We must realize that mysteries will always remain. We are

treading on holy ground.K. We can be encouraged that since God has helped the Church in so many ways in

the past, and particularly in regard to the eternal deity of Jesus, He will be with

us today through the Spirit to guide and help.

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The Human Nature of Christ-A Continuing Debate