Amalgamation of Man AND Beast: A Troubling Statement?
By Stephen Bohr
A few years ago one of my church members came to my office and by
the tone of his voice I could tell that he was greatly troubled. He told me
that while he was surfing the internet he came across one of those websites
that are inimical to Ellen G. White. His curiosity peaked when he read an
article which attempted to prove that Ellen White believed and taught that before
the flood, animals and humans had cross-bred and produced hybrid offspring that
were part human and part animal. He said: “How can I believe that Ellen White was
a true prophet when she taught such an unscientific concept?" I told him that Ellen
White did not teach any such thing and I promised to study the matter further to
give him a more detailed answer in the near future.
Here is the Ellen White quotation in question with the key
portions emphasized:
“But if there was one sin above another which called for
the destruction of the race by the flood, it was the base crime of amalgamation
of man and beast which defaced the image of God, and caused confusion
everywhere. God purposed to destroy by a flood that powerful, long-lived
race that had corrupted their ways before him.” Spirit of
Prophecy, volume 1, p. 69
According to the three page printout that the church member gave
me, strong expressions such as ‘base crime,’ ‘man and beast,’ ‘defaced
the image of God,’ and ‘confusion everywhere’ could not refer to
sexual relations between human beings; rather the article affirmed that Ellen White
believed that the confusion everywhere was the result of cross-breeding between
humans and animals. But was this assumption valid?
How to Study Difficult Statements
Long ago the apostle Peter affirmed that his colleague, the apostle
Paul, wrote some things that are hard to understand. But instead of blaming
Paul for not being clearer in his statements, Peter blamed those who hard
sayings:
“There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which
the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other
Scriptures.” 2 Peter 3:16 ESV
The same can be said about the writings of Ellen G. White. She
also wrote some difficult things to understand (under the guidance of the same
Spirit that guided the apostle Paul) which the ignorant and unstable today,
twist to their own destruction. The question is, how can we determine the true
meaning of these things that are hard to understand? The answer is that we must
allow Paul to interpret his own writings and Ellen White to interpret hers. That
is to say, we must go to other passages where the writers clarify what they
meant in the difficult passages.
So I decided to look up the key expressions in the controversial
quotation to find out how Ellen White used them elsewhere in her writings. In
this way I allowed Ellen White to be her own interpreter. The research was
rewarding indeed!
One Sin Above Another
In the controversial quotation Ellen White states that there was
one sin above another that led to the destruction of the world by the flood,
the sin of amalgamation of man and beast. Does she clarify elsewhere in her
writings what the sin of amalgamation was that led to the destruction of the
world? Was it the cross-breeding of humans with animals? Let’s allow Ellen
White herself to explain what the sin was:
“Unhallowed marriages of the sons of God with the daughters
of men resulted in apostasy which ended in the destruction of the world by a
flood.” Testimonies, volume 5, p. 93
So the amalgamation that led to the flood was the intermarriage or
mixing of the faithful and the unfaithful, not the sexual union of humans with
animals.
Base Crime
The article on the internet suggested that because Ellen White
wrote that amalgamation was a ‘base crime’ she could not have meant
simple illicit sexual relations between human beings because the expression ‘base
crime’ is too strong to describe sex between human beings. As did my
research, however, I discovered that Ellen White uses the expression ‘base crime’ (although she uses the words ‘base’ and ‘crime’ separately
in other places) only one other time in all of her published writings.
Describing the accusation that was hurled at Joseph by Potiphar’s wife when he
refused her adulterous advances, Ellen White remarks:
“And when he was accused, and a base crime was falsely laid
to his charge, he did not sink in despair. In the consciousness of innocence
and right he still trusted God. And God, who had hitherto supported him, did
not forsake him.” SR, p. 102
Thus Ellen White defines a ‘base crime’ as the sin of
adultery. This is a far cry from the idea that a ‘base crime’ must be
crossbreeding between humans and animals!
Meaning of ‘Amalgamation’
According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, which most likely
would have been the one that Ellen White used, the word ‘amalgamation’ is
defined as “the mixing or blending of two different things.”
The crucial question at this point is: According to Ellen White,
what were those two different things that were blended or mixed before the
flood? Was it humans with animals? Once again, let’s allow Ellen White herself
to explain what she meant by the word ‘amalgamation’. In the following statement,
notice how Ellen White uses the words ‘amalgamated’ and ‘confused’ when she
describes the danger of God’s faithful people uniting with unbelievers:
“There is constant danger that the obedient and the disobedient
in the world and in the nominal churches will become so amalgamated that
the line of demarcation between him that serveth God and him that
serveth Him not will become confused and indistinct.” Manuscript
Releases, volume 18, p. 26
And again:
“Those who profess to be followers of Christ, should be living
agencies, co-operating with heavenly intelligences; but by union with the
world, the character of God’s people becomes tarnished, and through amalgamation
with the corrupt, the fine gold becomes dim.” Review
and Herald August 23, 1892
Concerning the reason why the Jews so frequently lost their
identity as God’s peculiar people, Ellen White explains:
“It came to be a common practice to intermarry with the
heathen. The Israelites rapidly lost their abhorrence of idolatry. Heathen
customs were introduced. Idolatrous mothers brought their children up to
observe heathen rites. The Hebrew faith was fast becoming a mixture of confused
ideas.” FE, p. 499
Did you notice in these statements that Ellen White used the words
‘amalgamation’ and ‘confused’ which are the very words that appear in the
controversial statement that we are analyzing?
So, who were the ‘men’ that amalgamated before the flood? In Patriarchs
and Prophets which was an expansion of The Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4 where
the controversial statement is found, Ellen White clearly explained what she
meant by the amalgamation of man before the flood:
“For some time the two classes [the
female descendants of Cain and the male descendants of Seth] remained separate.
The race of Cain, spreading from the place of their first settlement, dispersed
over the plains and valleys where the children of Seth had dwelt; and the
latter, in order to escape from their contaminating influence, withdrew to the
mountains, and there made their home. So long as this separation [which is
the opposite of ‘amalgamate’] continued, they maintained the worship of God
in its purity. But in the lapse of time they ventured, little by little, to mingle
[a synonym of ‘amalgamate’] with the inhabitants of the valleys.
This association was productive of the worst results. “The sons of God
saw the daughters of men that they were fair.” The children of Seth, attracted by
the beauty of the daughters of Cain’s descendants, displeased the Lord by intermarrying
[in other words, ‘mixing’] with them. Many of the worshipers of God were
beguiled into sin by the allurements that were now constantly before them, and
they lost their peculiar, holy character. Mingling [which a synonym
of the word ‘amalgamate’] with the depraved, they became like them in
spirit and in deeds; the restrictions of the seventh commandment [the same commandment that Potiphar’s wife had tried to get Joseph
to transgress] were disregarded, ‘and they took them wives of all which they
chose.’ The children of Seth went ‘in the way of Cain’ (Jude 11); they fixed
their minds upon worldly prosperity and enjoyment and neglected the commandments
of the Lord. Men ‘did not like to retain God in their knowledge;’ they ‘became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.’ Romans 1:21.
Therefore ‘God gave them over to a mind void of judgment.’ Verse 28, margin. Sin
spread abroad in the earth like a deadly leprosy.” Patriarchs and
Prophets, pp. 81, 82
Man and Beast
It will also be noticed that Ellen White does not say that there
was amalgamation of man with beast. Both in the reference above and the
one that follows she refers to amalgamation of man and beast, not man with
beast. That is to say, humans amalgamated with humans and beasts with beasts!
“Every species of animals which God had created was
preserved in the ark. The confused species [of
animals] which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation,
were destroyed by the flood. Since the flood, there has been amalgamation of
man and beast, as may be seen in the almost endless varieties of species
of animals, and in certain races of men.” Spirit of Prophecy,
volume 1, p. 78
It will be noticed that immediately after saying that amalgamation
of man and beast continued after the flood, Ellen White states that the result
could be seen in the ‘almost endless variety of species of animals,’ and in ‘certain
races of men.’ The result of the amalgamation, in other words, affected the
animal kingdom (‘species of animals’) and the human kingdom (‘certain races of
men’) but no mention is made of a human/animal hybrid.
Defacing the Image of God
Also significant is the declaration that this amalgamation defaced
the image of God. What does Ellen White mean when she says that amalgamation of
man and beast defaced the image of God? Does she mean that the defacing was due
to the cross-breeding of humans with animals? Once again we must allow Ellen
White to interpret Ellen White:
“Polygamy was practiced at an early date. It was one of the
sins that brought the wrath of God upon the antediluvian world. Yet after
the Flood [do you remember that Ellen White wrote that there was also amalgamation
after the flood?] it again became widespread. It was Satan’s studied effort
to pervert the marriage institution, to weaken its obligations and
lessen its sacredness; for in no surer way could he deface the image of God in
man and open the door to misery and vice.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 338
What is the sin that defaced the image of God and opened the door
to misery and vice, that is to say, to confusion? Was it the interbreeding of
humans with animals? Of course not! Ellen White clearly explains that it was
the perversion of the marriage institution by the practice of polygamy!
In another place Ellen White describes how illegitimate
relationships between the Israelites and the nations that surrounded them
effaced the image of God:
“Commerce with other nations brought the Israelites into intimate
contact with those who had no love for God, and their own love for Him was
greatly lessened. Their keen sense of the high and holy character of God was
deadened. Refusing to follow in the path of obedience, they transferred their allegiance
to Satan. The enemy rejoiced in his success in effacing the divine image from
the minds of the people that God has chosen as His representatives.” Fundamentals
of Christian Education, p. 499
Ellen White repeatedly underlines the fact that unbridled passions
and intemperate habits defaced the image of God in man, but not once does she
affirm that illicit sexual relations between human beings and animals did so.
Regarding Satan Ellen White states:
“By his power he had controlled cities and nations until their sin
provoked the wrath of God to destroy them by fire, water, earthquakes, sword,
famine, and pestilence. By his subtlety and untiring efforts he had controlled
the appetite and excited and strengthened the passions to so fearful
a degree that he had defaced and almost obliterated the image of God in man.
His physical and moral dignity were in so great a degree destroyed that he bore
but a faint resemblance in character and noble perfection of form to the
dignified Adam in Eden.” Confrontation, pp. 34, 35
What can we learn?
What can we learn from what I have shared in this newsletter? I
believe that there are at least three important lessons we can glean that will
help us in our spiritual walk with the Lord.
First of all, there are a plethora of websites that despise Ellen
White and her writings. The vast majority of objections that these websites
raise against Ellen White have been soundly answered by the Ellen G. White
Estate on its website. What I have found is that most of the venom that is
hurled at Ellen White is a rehash of the objections that were raised in the
past by disgruntled former members such as Dudley M. Canright who lost
confidence in Ellen White because she constantly rebuked his pride and
self-sufficiency. Many of these websites are sponsored by disgruntled Adventists
who have an ax to grind.
My personal recommendation is that people not waste their time
reading these faith-destroying websites. Those who sponsor them have no desire
to embrace the truth. When the White Estate provides answers to their
objections they simply come up with new ones. Why waste our time on those who
have no desire to embrace the truth? The sole purpose of these websites is to lead people to doubt the prophetic gift of Ellen
White. While these websites mangle, mishandle and manhandle the writings of
Ellen White, many a sincere soul is turned against her writings for lack of
knowledge. This study on amalgamation is just one example of how these websites
put words in Ellen White’s mouth, twist her intended meanings, and fail to
allow her to explain her own writings. The second lesson we can glean from this
study is that it is rebellion against God for a Seventh-day Adventist to marry someone
who is not of the same faith. This may sound harsh but it is the truth. We have
been warned:
“Never should God’s people venture upon forbidden ground. Marriage
between believers and unbelievers is forbidden by God. But too often the
unconverted heart follows its own desires, and marriages unsanctioned by God
are formed. Because of this many men and women are without hope and without God in the world. Their noble aspirations are dead; by
a chain of circumstances they are held in Satan’s net. Those who are ruled by
passion and impulse will have a bitter harvest to reap in this life, and their
course may result in the loss of their souls.” Counsels
to the Church, p. 121
Someone might want to rationalize that it would be wrong to
classify a Christian from another denomination as an unbeliever. But Ellen
White has clearly explained the word ‘unbeliever’ as one who has not accepted
the truth for this time. She once wrote some wise counsel to a woman who was
laying plans to marry a non-Adventist:
“My sister, dare you disregard these plain and positive
directions? As a child of God, a subject of Christ’s kingdom, the purchase of
His blood, how can you connect yourself with one who does not acknowledge His claims,
who is not controlled by His Spirit? The commands I have quoted are not the word
of man, but of God. Though the companion of your choice were in all other
respects worthy (which he is not), yet he has not accepted the truth for
this time; he is an unbeliever, and you are forbidden of heaven to
unite yourself with him. You cannot, without peril to your soul, disregard this divine injunction.” Testimonies for the Church,
volume 5, p. 364
The final lesson we can learn is that our beloved church must be
very careful not to amalgamate with the world lest we lose our identity:
“Those who profess to be followers of Christ, should be living
agencies, co-operating with heavenly intelligences; but by union with the
world, the character of God’s people becomes tarnished, and through amalgamation
with the corrupt, the fine gold becomes dim.” Review
and Herald August 23, 1892
We must shun the temptation to embrace worldly beliefs and
practices and incorporate them into our church. Seventh-day Adventists must
remain distinct from the world. Our music, worship styles, evangelistic
methods, lifestyle and theology must be kept untarnished by the world.
The apostle Paul wisely warned the Corinthians:
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what
fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light
with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a
believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with
idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell
in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not
touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” ‘I will be a Father to you, and
you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2
Corinthians 2:14-18