Escape from the Flames

How Ellen White grew from fear to joy--and helped me to do it too!

Alden Thompson

Reviewed by Henry Neufeld

Thompson, Alden. Escape from the Flames. Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2005. ISBN: 0-8163-2085-3. Paperback. 190 pp.

Note: I am the owner/editor of Energion Publications which publishes another of Alden Thompson's books, Who's Afraid of the Old Testament God?. I was also his student at Walla Walla College in the late 1970s.

Alden Thompson addresses this book to Seventh-day Adventist readers, and indeed the topic is one that is primarily of interest to Adventists-the inspiration and authority of Ellen White. At the same time, he deals with many issues regarding the inspiration of scripture that are relevant to the larger Christian world. In the charismatic community of which I am loosely a part, there is a constant tension over the role of the present prophetic gift, and its relation to canonical scripture. In dealing with this tension, charismatics could do well to examine the case study of the Seventh-day Adventist church and their often stormy relationship with their messenger, Ellen White.

Thompson sees a clear difference between the writings of Ellen White and the Bible. He compares this to the difference in authority between the U. S. constitution and the laws of College Place, WA, where he lives. Both are authoritative, but they are different in scope and one is subordinate to another. Many charismatics will find this a comfortable distinction, quite useful in relating the words of a modern prophet in a particular church service, for example, to the words of scripture. There is a difference in the nature and scope of the authority involved.

Where both charismatics and evangelicals are likely to become uncomfortable is with the idea that the prophet's experience (or that of any Biblical writer) has a substantial impact on his or her writing. Most interpreters can accept that there is some impact of the writer's personality on the way in which the message is expressed, but they will also retreat to the claim that these are "God's words" when it comes down to application and authority. One can acknowledge the personality, as long as it doesn't change anything critical.

Thompson doesn't stop at this line, however. He maintains that the experience and personality of Ellen White (whom he affirms as God's messenger) had a very real impact on her writing. There is a significant theological and spiritual difference between her early writings and her later writings. He then goes on to make the same claim about the Bible. That's where many readers will say, "Stop this train, I want to get off!"

But I would suggest that these readers need to pay closer attention, and stick with the story until Chapter 9, "From Codebook to Casebook to Jesus" and particularly to page 132 with the section "Some Things Never Change." Here is where Thompson presents the anchor for understanding scripture, which he derives from the two commands that Jesus gave, along with some additional scriptures. Jesus tells us that there are priorities amongst the laws. It is not just a matter of "God said it and I believe it." Rather, the priority is with the two commands to love God and one's fellow human beings. I know from experience that many readers will find this section both comforting and disturbing. Comforting, because there are things that will never change. Disturbing, because that unchangeable ground seems so much smaller than we'd like.

Thompson also deals with the continuation of the prophetic gift, and this again is a section that charismatic believers should consider carefully (focusing on pages 56-57, but covering much more ground). He argues that the prophetic gift has been present in all times, but that often it is not formally recognized. This possibility is often ignored. God can speak in and to the church and his word can have its effect, even when nobody explicitly recognizes the prophetic word.

This book is personal and experiential, which is appropriate to the topic. Thompson relates his own experience, and parallels that to the experience of Ellen White and to the differences found in the Bible. Throughout, there is a strong affirmation that God does speak, and that we can listen and understand what He says, but that also we need to be aware that we are the ones hearing, and that our hearing impacts what we will hear and how.

If those who are not Seventh-day Adventists, and ex-SDAs like myself, can put away our prejudices, and read this book for the story of experience and the increased depth in our understanding of how God has spoken, we will benefit from it generally. I certainly hope it will find some readership and comment outside the SDA community.

I do have a couple of concerns with this text that result largely from the necessarily brief exposition of some ideas about inspiration. First, I am concerned that the progress of revelation should not be seen as a triumphal, uninterrupted progression to new and better ideas. Some people today will be as hard of hearing as those in Old Testament times, and many back in those days were likely ready for a message of grace. (Thompson's more detailed views on this subject are found in his book Inspiration: Hard Questions, Honest Answers, which is unfortunately out of print, but occasionally available used.) It is hard to avoid misunderstanding on this issue because American readers are tuned to the idea of triumphal progress. Things are supposed to get better and better.

Second, I'm less comfortable with the placement of the ten commandments above a "double line" (see chapter 9) than Thompson is. That is certainly an SDA emphasis. But I think the progression is smoother than that. The Biblical distinction is certainly there, but I think it can be read in much too strong a way. There is a difference in the expression of the two commands (love for God/love for neighbor) and the ten, and it is a difference that makes the ten more fundamental than the many commands, and yet more oriented to time and place than the two. Examples include commands on monotheism (which, as Thompson notes, are perhaps less ringing than we might want today), idolatry, and even those on such topics as false witness. In addition, in opposition to my SDA roots I see the Sabbath command as a specific application of a principle to a particular time and place. In other words, the two commands come very close to expressing a raw, unvarnished principle, while the ten each apply a principle to particular circumstances. This may be an excessively picky difference, but it is a difference that means simply that I personally am no longer a Seventh-day Adventist.

I strongly recommend this book. I hope that it will be read outside the SDA community, and that the ideas will be examined in connection with scripture, and also in connection with modern applications of the gift of prophecy in our charismatic and Pentecostal churches. We have a great deal of activity going on, but we cannot communicate about it, or properly discern it because we lack a firm basis for dealing with inspiration and the prophetic gift. In particular someone who is called as a prophet is frequently seen as somehow above the rest, and less subject to problems of experience. Not only their expressed "words" from God are taken as inspired, but sometimes their casual comments or even their actions. Thompson's analysis and the experience of Ellen White would provide a good start in more clearly understanding how to deal with the prophetic gift.

Escape from the Flames is not yet available on Amazon.com. It can be found at Adventist Book Centers.

Also by Alden Thompson

	Energion.com Description: This book is designed for the Christian who has questions about the actions of God in the Old Testament. It is a thoughtful response to these problems, and a celebration of grace throughout. From judgment, wickedness and killing, to prophecy and prayer, Alden Thompson looks at what we can learn about God from reading the Old Testament. I would put this book before a basic Old Testament theology work, which is why I chose to reprint it under Energion Publications. It is still as fresh as when it was first written.
	Energion.com Author Page Energion.com Review Reviews Elsewhere: Information provided by Energion.com (an Amazon.com Associate) where indicated and by Amazon.com.