The following article is a response to one of Ellen White’s statements, often used by Seventh-day Adventists to establish the idea that God the Father and Christ have alway existed alongside each other, with each having existed without beginning and therefore Christ could not have been begotten in the literal sense.

Here is the statement under consideration:

“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.”—The Signs of the Times, August 29, 1900. {Ev 615.2}

Trinitarian objection: “there never was a time…” should be understood to mean, Christ always existed alongside the Father and therefore Christ could not have been “begotten” in the ontological sense.

Let’s take a closer look.

“there NEVER WAS A TIME when He was not in CLOSE FELLOWSHIP with the eternal God.”{Ev 615.2}

The above portion of the  statement under consideration however would also be true even with the supposition that Christ was begotten (ontologically) of the Father, even if one of the persons within the “close fellowship” came into existence later than the other:

I could say, “there never was a time when my son, was not in close fellowship with myself”… even though he came into existence later than myself… this would be speaking from the perspective of my Son’s relationship with me (since his birth). In other words, AS FAR AS MY SON IS CONCERNED, there never was a time when he was not in close fellowship with me.

But It would be incorrect to say, “there never was a time WHEN *** I *** WAS NOT IN CLOSE FELLOWSHIP WITH MY SON…

Are you seeing the difference? Latter phrase speaks to my experience before my Son came into existence. This statement would not be true because, for as it relates to myself, THERE WAS A TIME, BEFORE my son was born, where my son was not around for me to have a close fellowship with him.

In the same way, the Ev 615.2 statement is NOT saying, “there never was a time when the ***Father*** was not in close fellowship with the Son”

Consider the following statement

“The salvation of the human race has ever been the object of the councils of heaven. The covenant of mercy was made before the foundation of the world. It has existed from all eternity, and is called the everlasting covenant. SO SURELY AS THERE NEVER WAS A TIME WHEN GOD WAS NOT, SO SURELY THERE NEVER WAS A MOMENT when it was not the delight of the eternal mind TO MANIFEST His grace TO HUMANITY.” (ST June 12, 1901)

Question: How long humanity must have existed in this quote if “there never was a moment when it was not the delight of the eternal mind TO MANIFEST His grace TO HUMANITY.”?

If we read the statement from 1901 like how a Trinitarian (SDAs) would read the statement from Ev 615.2, then humanity must be co-eternal with God for humanity must exist for God to manifest grace to them. Yet, it is stated that the MANIFESTING of grace is something that there “NEVER WAS A MOMENT when it was not the delight of the eternal mind” to do. Furthermore, this is linked to the fact that “so surely as there never was a time when God was not”. Thus, if we read this statement from 1901 in a consistent manner with how trinitarians are reading the one from Ev 615.2, we run into trouble…

BUT… we don’t read it that way. We read it as a figure of speech.

“There never was a moment” presupposes additional details not found within the statement… There is a missing parenthetical CONTEXT OF THE MUTUAL EXISTENCE OF BOTH PARTIES FOR THIS FIGURE OF SPEECH TO WORK. “there never was a moment (since the creation of man) when it was not the delight of the eternal mind to manifest His grace to humanity”. I could just as easily say, that “there never was a time when I was not deeply in love with my wife”. This figure of speech presupposes my having met and fallen in love with her in the first place.

When we see this as a figure of speech, which begins with the relationship two parties have, we can see that Christ CAN be begotten and it also be true that “there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God” (until the sundering of divine powers between Gethsemane and the resurrection).

Additionally, please note the portion where she says, “TO HUMANITY”

“so surely THERE NEVER WAS A MOMENT when it was not the delight of the ETERNAL mind TO MANIFEST His grace TO HUMANITY”… To “manifest” means to “make known” and “reveal.” Thus, for God to “manifest”, “make known” or “reveal” His grace TO humanity, humanity must exist to have this grace manifested, made known and revealed to!

Consider another statement:

“Christ points us to the care bestowed on the things that wither in a day, to show us how much love God must have for the beings created in His own image…. He opens before us the volume of providence, and bids us behold the names written therein. In this volume every human being has a page, on which is written the events of his life history. And FROM THE MIND OF GOD THESE NAMES ARE NEVER ABSENT FOR A MOMENT. Wonderful indeed is God’s love and care for the beings He has created….” {OHC 28.4}

Again, we wouldn’t read, “FROM THE MIND OF GOD THESE NAMES ARE NEVER ABSENT FOR A MOMENT,” to mean that men have always existed but that it presupposes the existence of men having been born.

Therefore, in Ev 615.2 statement, Ellen White is employing a figure of speech that is NOT meant to be taken IN THE WAY most trinitarians have taken it-Christ has always existed alongside the Father and therefore is unbegotten.

Thus, the correct way (or an alternative way) to understand the Ev 615.2 statement is to see that “there never was a time when He [Christ] was not in close fellowship with the eternal God [SINCE the Son was begotten by the Father].”

“From All Eternity”

“FROM ALL ETERNITY CHRIST WAS UNITED WITH THE FATHER, and when He took upon Himself human nature, He was still one with God. He is the link that unites God with humanity… {ST August 2, 1905, par. 9}

“As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents, and CHRIST WAS INDEED GLORIFIED, EVEN WITH THE GLORY WHICH HE HAD WITH THE FATHER FROM ALL ETERNITY.{AA 38.3}

“Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. HE WAS WITH GOD FROM ALL ETERNITY, God over all, blessed forevermore.—The Review and Herald, April 5, 1906, p. 8

“The terms of this oneness between God and man in the great covenant of redemption were ARRANGED WITH CHRIST FROM ALL ETERNITY. {ST August 24, 1891, par. 10}

“Christ is declared in the Scriptures to be the Son of God. FROM ALL
ETERNITY HE HAS SUSTAINED THIS RELATION TO JEHOVAH. Before the foundations of the world were laid, He, the only begotten Son of God, pledged Himself to become the Redeemer of the human race should men sin…

When we consider such expression as, “from all eternity,” we are tempted to merely insert the standard definition and fail to properly establish the phrase based on how the term is used holistically by the same author within the greater context.

In the above statements, Christ is described as having existed with the Father “from all eternity,” and many jump to the conclusion and take these statements as being incompatible with begottenism. For they reason that “eternity” means without beginning and therefore Christ’s life cannot be originated from the Father. They further reason that “ALL” must encompass not just a portion of eternity but “all of eternity,” etc. thus, Christ could not have been “begotten” at some designated period even within “eternity” for that would contradict how He existed “from ALL eternity”.

However following quotations should give us another perspective in which we can view the expression, “from all eternity.”

“The plan of salvation HAD ITS PLACE IN THE COUNSELS of the Infinite FROM ALL ETERNITY. The gospel is the revelation of God’s love to men, and means everything that is essential to the happiness and well-being of humanity.” {CE 83.3}

Note: We are told here that “The plan of salvation HAD ITS PLACE IN THE COUNSELS of the Infinite FROM ALL ETERNITY.” Does this mean that this “plan” had always existed without beginning as long as Father and the Son have existed? If that is the case then we would have to concede that the plan itself was self-originated. This would be impossible for a plan does not self-originate. It takes a cognizant being to conceive it and to carry it out. Furthermore, It is said that, there were “COUNSELS”, not A counsel. Meaning, in order for there to be more than one counsel, there had to be counsels followed by the counsel that preceded it (unless all the counsels took place simultaneously). What this tells me is that there were sequence of events and that, at the very least, the subsequent counsels had its beginnings after the first. What is significant here is that all the counsels mentioned are described as having been existed “from all eternity”.

Let’s examine a few more statements:

“But known unto God are all his works, and from eternal ages the covenant of grace (unmerited favor) EXISTED IN THE MIND OF GOD. It is called the everlasting covenant; for the PLAN of salvation was not CONCEIVED after the fall of man, but it was that which was “kept in silence THROUGH TIMES ETERNAL, but now is manifested and by the Scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith.” {ST February 13, 1893, par. 2}

“All our thoughts and imaginations will not alter in the least any part of the plan of redemption DEVISED FROM ALL ETERNITY…. {ST February 5, 1894, par. 6}

The plan of salvation, that expresses the love, the benevolence of Jesus Christ toward man was DEVISED PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF TIME. {7LtMs, Lt 27, 1892, par. 20}

The plan of salvation, DEVISED PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME, expresses the love of Christ to man, the devotion of the Son to the Father’s glory. “To the intent that now the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This eternal purpose embodied before the universe the glory of the divine love in the salvation of man. {ST November 21, 1892, par. 8}

The covenant of grace is not a new truth, for IT EXISTED IN THE MIND OF GOD FROM ALL ETERNITY. This is why it is called the everlasting covenant.” {FLB 77.5}

The quotes above informs us that “the plan of redemption” was “kept in silence through times eternal” and was “devised from all eternity“. Moreover, the Inspiration also informs us that this plan of salvation was “DEVISED PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF TIME” or “DEVISED PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME”. Thus we can see that the period BEFORE the commencement of time is synonymous with “from all eternity”.

Devising means, to plan or invent (a complex procedure, system, or mechanism) by careful thought. Again, a plan cannot by itself self-originate; it takes a cognizant being to conceive it and devise it. Thus, the plan did have its origin within the mind of the Father and the Son and they subsequently held counsels, all within this period called “from all eternity”. And yet the aforementioned “counsels” (not just A counsel) were described as being “of the infinite FROM ALL ETERNITY“.

This is important because Christ existed before time and thus if Jesus was begotten in that period, “prior to the commencement of time”, then begotten and “from all eternity” does not have to be mutually exclusive.

Please consider carefully how Ellen White describes this plan which “had its place in the counsels” in the following statements:

“This covenant, MADE FROM ETERNITY, was given to Abraham hundreds of years before Christ came. With what interest and what intensity did Christ in humanity study the human race to see if they would avail themselves of the provision offered.” {FE 403.1}

“The covenant of mercy WAS MADE before the foundation of the world. It has existed FROM ALL ETERNITY, and is called the everlasting covenant. So surely as there never was a time when God was not, so surely there never was a moment when it was not the delight of the eternal mind to manifest His grace to humanity.” (The Signs of the Times, June 12, 1901). {7BC 934.25}

“Father and Son are pledged to fulfill the TERMS OF THE EVERLASTING COVENANT. God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Christ was not alone in making His great sacrifice. It was the fulfillment of the covenant made between Him and His Father BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD WAS LAID. With CLASPED HANDS THEY ENTERED INTO THE SOLEMN PLEDGE that Christ would become the surety for the human race if they were overcome by Satan’s sophistry.” {FLB 76.3}

“The salvation of the human race has ever been the object of the councils of heaven. The covenant of mercy WAS MADE before the foundation of the world. IT HAS EXISTED FROM ALL ETERNITY, and is called the everlasting covenant. So surely as there never was a time when God was not, so surely there never was a moment when it was not the delight of the eternal mind to manifest His grace to humanity.” {FLB 76.4}

“divine love had CONCEIVED a plan… had been LAID” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 63)

“the great covenant of redemption were ARRANGED with Christ FROM ALL ETERNITY” (Signs of the Times, August 24, 1891)

“covenant MADE… ENTERED INTO the solemn pledge” (Ms 111, 1897)

“The great plan of redemption was LAID before the foundation of the world” (Signs of the Times, December 23, 1897)

“the angels were not admitted to THE INTERVIEWS BETWEEN the Father and the Son when the plan of salvation was LAID” (Lt 232, 1903)

“the angels were not permitted to share THE COUNSELS BETWEEN the Father and the Son when the plan of salvation was LAID” (Ministry of Healing, p. 429)

“PLANNED before the foundation of the world” (Ms 139, 1907)

“BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH WERE LAID [or created], THE FATHER AND THE SON HAD UNITED IN A COVENANT TO REDEEM MAN IF he should be overcome by Satan. THEY HAD CLASPED THEIR HANDS IN A SOLEMN PLEDGE that Christ should become the surety for the human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled. When upon the cross He cried out, “It is finished,” He addressed the Father. The compact had been fully carried out. Now He declares: Father, it is finished. I have done Thy will, O My God. I have completed the work of redemption. If Thy justice is satisfied, “I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” John 19:30; 17:24. {DA 834.2} (bracket supplied)

Note: The covenant, which is spoken of as having “existed from all eternity” is also described as having been “MADE BEFORE the foundation of the world” and having been “CONCEIVED” or “ENTERED INTO,” all suggesting that the covenant was “arranged” in the period she referred to as “from all eternity.”

Question: How can something be “MADE” or “CONCEIVED” before the foundation of the world always existed or had no beginning? This event of clasping of hands or entering of solemn pledge, certainly took place some period before the foundation of the earth, “from all eternity” but we would have to concede, given the context, that it couldn’t have been an event that always existed or had no beginning.

Also, please note that the plan was “LAID.” Compare this with, “BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH WERE LAID” in the DA834.2 statement. Thus the expression, “LAID” clearly suggests something being established or having been produced at some designated period.

If it is not clear enough that these verbs indicate that the plan had a beginning, this next statement should:

“‘Canst thou by searching find out God?’ ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ The Lord EXISTED BEFORE HE PURPOSED TO CREATE THE WORLD. He is ‘from everlasting.’ ‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.'” (Ms 24, 1891)

Let’s reason this out. BEFORE God PURPOSED or conceived the idea to create the world, there would not have been the need for a plan of redemption. Therefore God existed BEORE He both PURPOSED to 1) create the world and 2) laid the plan of redemption. It is clear to me then that the plan of salvation had a beginning because “the Lord existed”, that is, had some sense of existence “BEFORE” any purpose entered into His mind to create and have a contingency for sin. It’s quite possible that God always had the thought in His mind but that does not necessarily negate the fact that the “counsel” itself also took place as SOP describes as “from all eternity.”

The language I’m confronted here, tells me that “from all eternity” can be compatible with the idea of something having been made or having caused to exist within the same location (the covenant originated from Father and Son). I would say that this covenant was MADE before the angels were created and before any free moral beings were created. And yet we are told that it has “existed from all eternity.”

Therefore, we can certainly make the argument that “from all eternity” is not some ineffable expression that negates the possibility of something having originated within its location.

Thus, the term, “FROM ALL ETERNITY” does not necessarily have to denote something having always existed or without beginning, nor an all-encompassing, never-ending sequence of time pointing backwards, etc. Rather we are talking about that period called eternity, which is God’s realm or mode of existence before the creation of the universe. It is the actions of God before any work of creation which can never be reckoned according to how we understand time.

Consider the following,

“Then will be opened before him the course of the great conflict that had its birth BEFORE TIME BEGAN, and that ends only when time shall cease.” — Education, p. 304.3

Here, Ellen White places another event-the “great conflict” (referring to the beginnings of the great controversy between God and Satan) as having given its birth “before time began” and will continue until “when time shall cease”. In other words, there exists a location or a period in which you can never date it or reckon it according to time because time did not yet existed or that it exists outside of time.

“Not Measured by Figures”

“Angels that were loyal and true sought to reconcile this mighty, rebellious angel to the will of his Creator. They justified the act of God in conferring honor upon Christ, and with forcible reasoning sought to convince Lucifer that no less honor was his now than before the Father had proclaimed the honor which He had conferred upon His Son. They clearly set forth that CHRIST WAS THE SON OF GOD, EXISTING WITH HIM BEFORE THE ANGELS WERE CREATED;” — (Ellen G. White, Story of Redemption, 15.2)

“Christ shows them that, although they might reckon His life to be less than fifty years, yet His divine life could not be reckoned by human computation. The existence of Christ before His incarnation is NOT MEASURED BY FIGURES.–Signs of the Times, May 3, 1899.” {Ev 616.1}

“Angels of God looked with amazement upon Christ, who took upon Himself the form of man and humbly united His divinity with humanity in order that He might minister to fallen man. It is a marvel among the heavenly angels. God has told us that He did do it, and we are to accept the Word of God just as it reads. AND ALTHOUGH WE MAY TRY TO REASON IN REGARD TO OUR CREATOR, HOW LONG HE HAS HAD EXISTENCE, WHERE EVIL FIRST ENTERED INTO OUR WORLD, AND ALL THESE THINGS, WE MAY REASON ABOUT THEM UNTIL WE FALL DOWN FAINT AND EXHAUSTED WITH THE RESEARCH WHEN THERE IS YET AN INFINITY BEYOND.” {E. G. White, S.D.A. Bible Commentary Vol. 7, p. 919} 1888

Note: Why would sister White even belabor the thought that Christ was the Son “before the angels were created”, “could not be reckoned by human computation”, “is not measure by figures” and if “we try to reason…. we may reason about them until we fall down and exhausted with research.” Something else worth noting, Ellen White did not say, Christ’s pre-existence “could not be reckoned at all.” She just said, “could not be reckoned by HUMAN COMPUTATION, suggesting the possibility that it may be reckoned, just not BY HUMAN COMPUTATION. Or, she did not say, “is cannot measured by any means…” but said, “not measured BY FIGURES.” Point being, She could easily have worded this so as to leave no doubt or misunderstanding—she could have said, “His divine life had NO beginning.” BUT SHE DIDN’T! Some have come to place more meaning into the words of this paragraph than what was intended by the Author.

Consider A. T. Jones’ Statement that corroborates with Sister White’s sentiments:

”IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” “In the beginning,” that is, before creation, BEFORE TIME WAS; for in his prayer at the last supper he said: “O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold the glory which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:5, 24. HOW LONG BEFORE, NO FINITE MIND CAN MEASURE; for in the announcement by the prophet of the place of his birth, when he came into the world, it is said: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2. The margin reads, Hebrew, from “the days of eternity.” THE MIND MUST BE ABLE TO GRASP ETERNITY BEFORE IT CAN MEASURE THE LENGTH OF DAYS OF THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD; BEFORE IT CAN KNOW HOW LONG THE WORD WAS BEFORE THE WORLD WAS. {A.T. Jones, SITI March 25, 1886, p. 186.1}

Note: Again, A. T. Jones could have simply said that Christ’s pre-existence was without beginning. But instead, the impression you get from both Ellen White and A.T. Jones are that the expression, “eternity,” as far as it relate to Christ’s pre-existence, connotes a definite period that is “before time was” but it cannot be reckoned by finite computation.

Conclusion
The inspired expression, “from all eternity”, does not necessarily connotes something always having existed without source but rather places events prior to the commencement of time. We are told that within this period, God has devised the plan of salvation in preparation for the “great conflict” (birth of sin) which ensued. We can deduce therefore that within this period (“prior to the beginning of time” or “from all eternity”), events may begin, originate, be devised.  When we consider therefore, such expressions as “there never was a time”, we can see that the expression is not necessarily negating any event that may have occurred outside of time.

That said, we would do well to recognize the limitations we have as finite beings trying to understand the infinite God. We are told,

“…Only a bare statement of facts may be given, with no explanation as to why or how; but though we cannot comprehend it we should rest content that it is true, because God has said it. All the difficulty lies in the weakness and narrowness of the human mind. {5T 699.4}

“But who that is not infinite can understand the infinite? Christ declares, “No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son shall reveal him.” It is recorded of Epictetus that when his hearers said to him, “You have uttered many excellent things of God; but we cannot as yet understand what he is,” he truly and nobly replied, “Were I able fully to set forth God, I should either be a god myself, or God himself would cease to be what he is.” 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}

“The mightiest created intelligence cannot grasp divinity… {ST June 27, 1895, par. 4}

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. (Eccl 3:11 ESV)

Related articles:
Self-Existent

Infinite and from All Eternity

A view of the Word Eternal

From All Eternity