Don’t Adventists have two sources of doctrine?
No! Read for yourself our Fundamental Beliefs and come to your own conclusion. #1 is as clear as it can be that the Bible is the only infallible word of God and the only source of doctrine. Although the word “authoritative” is used in #8, don’t make too much of it. All church leaders in any denomination have some measure of authority. Let's be fair and interpret that word "authoritative" in the context of the very next sentence, which once again emphasizes that the Bible is the only infallible doctrinal authority.
Martin answering Jeremy commented on 30-Aug-2009 05:21 PM
SDA Fundamental Belief #1 says: “The Holy Scriptures are THE infallible revelation of His will. They are THE standard of character, THE test of experience, THE authoritative revealer of doctrines, and THE trustworthy record of God's acts in history” (emphasis supplied). Jeremy, that seems pretty clear to me, and it obviously excludes EGW. FB#8 speaks of her as “an authoritative source of truth”—but that’s not saying what you think it does. Any respected speaker or writer is “an authoritative source of truth”—but there is a big difference between that and “THE authoritative revealer of doctrines”—the Bible and the Bible alone. # Furthermore, “doctrine” is a definite tenant of fundamental belief, and that word is NOT used for EGW—only for the Bible. Truth, by contrast, is nebulous and can simply mean information—not binding doctrine # Finally, the word “infallible” is ONLY used for Scripture. It is NOT used for EGW. # Bottom line: The Bible and the Bible only is the authoritative standard of doctrine, and the SDA fundamental belief statement is clear about that.
SDA Fundamental Belief #1 says: “The Holy Scriptures are THE infallible revelation of His will. They are THE standard of character, THE test of experience, THE authoritative revealer of doctrines, and THE trustworthy record of God's acts in history” (emphasis supplied). Jeremy, that seems pretty clear to me, and it obviously excludes EGW. FB#8 speaks of her as “an authoritative source of truth”—but that’s not saying what you think it does. Any respected speaker or writer is “an authoritative source of truth”—but there is a big difference between that and “THE authoritative revealer of doctrines”—the Bible and the Bible alone. # Furthermore, “doctrine” is a definite tenant of fundamental belief, and that word is NOT used for EGW—only for the Bible. Truth, by contrast, is nebulous and can simply mean information—not binding doctrine # Finally, the word “infallible” is ONLY used for Scripture. It is NOT used for EGW. # Bottom line: The Bible and the Bible only is the authoritative standard of doctrine, and the SDA fundamental belief statement is clear about that.
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FB #1 does not use the word "only" at all, but instead conveniently leaves it out. In fact, the pre-1980 statement did have the word "only" and they have now deleted that word (for a reason!). Also, #18 (not #8) does not just say that EGW has some sort of "authority" like other church leaders--it says that her writings are an "authoritative SOURCE of TRUTH." And it doesn't say an "authoritative source of truth mixed with error" either--it just say "truth," thus making her writings an infallible interpreter of Scripture.