Christian View

• Progressive revelation in Christianity is the concept that the sections of the Bible that were written later contain a fuller revelation of God compared to the earlier sections. The ultimate revelation of God is understood to be found in Jesus Christ as revealed in the Gospels. Hence according to this idea, the New Testament should be used to understand and interpret the Old Testament, even though all sections of the bible are believed to be accurate according to conservative theology.

Seventh-day Adventist View as Adapted to Ellen White

• Progressive revelation in Adventism is the concept that the visions of Ellen White that occurred later contain a fuller revelation of God compared to the earlier visions. Hence according to this idea, the her later visions should be used to understand and interpret her earlier visions, even though all of her visions are believed to be inspired.

This is a real doozy from an SDA pastor:

"It is possible that she may have spoken something from her best judgment that was not correct. She herself gives us examples of this kind of thing--matters of judgment that God later revealed as being incorrect.

My first assumption is not that she is wrong, but that I have overlooked something myself. I don't assume she is wrong every time I found an apparent contradiction. I have had enough evidence to see the genuineness of her relationship with Jesus and the reliability of her statements.

I think you are saying, is there a principle of interpretation that allows her to be wrong on a major doctrine but still believable. Is that correct?

If there isn't such a principle, and I deem something she teaches unbiblical, does that not disqualify her?

Judging her as false on the basis of my own particular view of a passage or on the basis of the most negative view of her own words is not being fair to her. I must recognize the possibility that my view is lacking particulars that she was privileged to see."

"I still do not want to judge her too harshly, though, because her understanding did grow a great deal during her lifetime."