The Striking Similarity Between the SDA “Three Holiest Beings” and the Mormon Godhead

Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) will often say, “We’re not like the Mormons when it comes to the Godhead.” But when you examine the language of Ellen G. White and compare it to Joseph Smith’s teachings, the similarities are far closer than most realize—especially in their denial of oneness of Being.

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1. Both use plural, separate “Beings” language.

• Ellen G. White — In Evangelism, p. 615, she describes the Godhead as:

  “The eternal heavenly dignitaries—God, and Christ, and the Holy Spirit—… the three holiest beings in heaven.” 

  She portrays Christ and the Holy Spirit as “heavenly dignitaries” alongside the Father in the “councils of heaven.”

• Joseph Smith — In Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 370, he taught:

  “They are three distinct personages and three Gods.” 

  He stressed they have different bodies, essences, and functions—united in purpose, not in nature.

• Problem: The biblical Trinity is one God in three Persons—not three separate divine beings. By calling them “beings” instead of “Persons” in the classical Christian sense, Ellen White mirrors Mormon thought: three divine individuals, united only in mission.

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2. Both imply a polytheistic-sounding structure.

• SDA usage: Ellen White’s phrase “three holiest beings” suggests three separate divine centers of consciousness, equal in authority, but not necessarily sharing one divine essence.

• Mormon teaching: Smith openly declared there are “three Gods” who are perfectly united in purpose (p. 372).

• Biblical refutation:

  • “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deut. 6:4)

  • “I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.” (Isa. 45:5)
    
    
    Scripture affirms one God in Being—not three beings.

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3. Both promote a “council in heaven” storyline.

• Ellen White: Describes Christ and the Holy Spirit with the Father in a heavenly council before creation or the plan of salvation. (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 36)

• Joseph Smith: Taught a literal council of Gods planning the creation (Abraham 3:22–24, LDS Pearl of Great Price).

• Problem: This framing can give the impression of multiple divine beings meeting to coordinate, rather than one eternal, coequal, coeternal Being acting in perfect unity.

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4. Both avoid historic creedal Trinitarian language.

• Historic Christian orthodoxy (Nicene and Athanasian Creeds) clearly states: “One Being, three co-equal Persons.”

• Neither Ellen White nor Joseph Smith used “one Being” language. Instead, they speak of “beings” or “personages” that are separate from one another.

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5. Both define “oneness” as unity of purpose, not unity of Being.

• Ellen White — Writes of the Godhead being “one in purpose” and “pledged themselves to save man” (Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 7, p. 62). There is no affirmation that they are ontologically one Being.

• Joseph Smith — Explicitly denies they are one Being:

  “They are one in purpose, in the same way any three men might be.” (Teachings, p. 372)

• Biblical contrast:
  
  
  Jesus says in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”
  
  
  This is not “one in purpose only,” but one in essence (Greek: ἕν, neuter—oneness of nature, not merely agreement).

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6. The Satanic deception factor.

This is a classic theological bait-and-switch: use the same labels (“Father,” “Son,” “Holy Spirit”) but redefine them. In theology, this is called equivocation—keeping the vocabulary but changing the meaning.

Just as Satan in Genesis 3 did not directly say “God does not exist” but distorted God’s character and words, these altered Godhead definitions present a different God under familiar names.

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Why This Matters

• SDA & Mormonism: Both redefine the Godhead as multiple beings who work together, rather than one Being who is God.

• Biblical Christianity: Teaches that there is only one God in Being, yet three in Person—coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial.

• Danger: Changing the nature of God—even in subtle wording—changes the entire foundation of the gospel (John 17:3).
  
  

Conclusion

Both SDA and Mormonism deny the ontological oneness of God.

• Mormonism does it openly: three Gods united in purpose.

• SDA writings of Ellen White do it subtly: “three holiest beings” united in mission.

But the Bible’s testimony is clear: there is one God (Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4) who eternally exists as three co-equal, co-eternal Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—sharing one divine Being.

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