Preconceived Ideas In The Prophet’s Mind

In the biblical record we find some examples of prophets who had to be corrected due to preconceived ideas. One of the best illustrations is found in the way the Holy Spirit solved a problem that was limiting the capacity of the apostolic church to complete the great commission given by Christ to His disciples: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15, 16). It was a common belief among the apostles that only Jews could be part of the chosen people. The Holy Spirit had to correct this error so that the gospel could be taken to the entire world. As we saw in the previous chapter, in the case of the apostle Peter, a vision (Acts 10, 11), and, in the case of the apostle Paul, special revelations (Ephesians 3:3-6), corrected this idea in the minds of the apostles, and, through them, in the entire church.VOTS 28.2

In the Adventist movement we also find some occasions when the messenger of the Lord needed to be corrected due to some preconceived ideas. Once again, the best illustration is related to the fulfillment of the mission of the church. The Adventist movement, as well as the apostolic church, was commissioned to reach the entire world with the everlasting gospel (Revelation 10:11; 14:6). Nevertheless, our pioneers were limited in their understanding of that task, due to a theological error passed down from the Millerite movement. Today we call it the doctrine of the “shut door.” For a while even Ellen White accepted this idea: “For a time after the disappointment in 1844, I did hold, in common with the advent body, that the door of mercy was then forever closed to the world.” ^{3Selected Messages 1:63.} Some believers feel embarrassed or confused that the messenger of the Lord sustained such an idea. But in reality, it is an extraordinary illustration of how God deals with the case of a mistaken prophet. In subsequent visions, the Spirit corrected the error, first in the messenger’s mind and, through her, for all the believers.VOTS 28.3

The first question that comes to mind when dealing with the case of a prophet with erroneous ideas is: How can I be sure that the inspired writings do not contain errors coming from preconceived ideas in the prophet’s mind? The fact that the Holy Spirit corrected Peter, Paul, and Ellen White regarding the mission of the church gives us the assurance that the Spirit is in control of the message. The Holy Spirit corrects any idea that could take the church in a wrong direction.VOTS 29.1