Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT
other scholars, was trying to find a way to get around the
problems rather than face the issues squarely. To question
Ellen G. White is to lose one’s job in the Adventist system.
I asked him about the many strange statements, the clear
cover-ups, and other problems. He just said to me. “Greg,
you have to look at the big picture. You are just looking at
the problem areas. You have to focus on the main themes of
what she said.” With that our conversation came to an end.
We had been together for some time and it was time for me
to leave. But I kept pondering those words. They seemed to
repeat themselves over and over again in my mind. The
issues just did not go away. I began to ask myself, “If I was a
Mormon and I was asking my leaders about the problems
with Joseph Smith, the Mormon ‘prophet’, would they not be
giving me the same response? Would I have the courage, if I
were a Mormon, to face the truth about him? The pressures
would be the same in that system. Would I have the courage
to step out on my convictions if I were there?” As an
Adventist, I had no problem seeing through the issues with
Joseph Smith because I had no vested interest in having to
believe in him. But I had a huge vested interest in trying to
believe in the authority of Ellen White. My job and the
livelihood of my family were at stake. Friendships, family
ties, belief system, respect in the community in which I
served, were all at stake here.
As I drove home, I contrasted the “big picture” approach
to Ellen White’s writings and her own statements about her
authority. She forbids people from picking and choosing in
her writings. She required total belief in her writings or total
rejection. She did not allow for examination and questions
regarding her authority. She condemned those who tried to
“pick and choose” and decide which things were in
agreement with Scripture and which were not. 22 She stated
the she had not written any heretical statements in her
22 Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 691.
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