One of the errors within the writings of Ellen G. White is the idea that Jesus–the Second Person of the Trinity was damned on the Cross by the Father. This is a ridiculous claim which is contrary to Scripture–a misinterpretation of the texts that describe Christ being a “curse” for us. One that is conscious of Trinitarian theology knows that a person of the Trinity can not be damned–the will of the Father is the will of the Son (God of God–Light of Light, True God from True God. Begotten, not made. Of one Essence of the Father)–and thus one Person can not damn another Person. You would destroy the Trinity if this was possible–and this is also a reason why the Patristics did not interpret these passages as Ellen White did.
Ellen White calls this interpretation (the idea that Christ was literally separated from the Father) the “correct view” (The Sufferings of Christ – PH169 15.1).
Oh! was there ever suffering and sorrow like that endured by the dying Saviour? It was the sense of his Fathers’s displeasure which made his cup so bitter. It was NOT BODILY SUFFERING which so quickly ended the life of Christ upon the cross. It was the crushing weight of the sins of the world, and a sense OF HIS FATHER’S WRATH. THE FATHERS GLORY AND SUSTAINING PRESENCE HAD BEEN WITHDRAWN FROM HIM, and despair pressed its crushing weight of darkness upon him, and forced from his pale and quivering lips the anguished cry. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (The Sufferings of Christ – PH169 9.1)
If the sufferings of Christ consisted in physical pain alone, then his death was no more painful than that of some of the martyrs. Bodily pain was but an item in the agony of God’s dear Son. The sins of the world were upon him, also THE SENSE OF HIS FATHER’S WRATH AS HE SUFFERED THE PENALTY OF THE LAW. It was these that CRUSHED HIS DIVINE SOUL. It was the hiding of his Father’s face, a sense that HIS OWN DEAR FATHER HAD FORSAKEN HIM, which brought despair. (The Sufferings of Christ – PH169 14.3)
The sin of the world, with all its terribleness, was felt to the utmost by the Son of God. The DISPLEASURE OF THE FATHER FOR SIN, and its penalty which was death, were all that he could realize through this amazing darkness. HE WAS TEMPTED TO FEAR THAT SIN WAS SO OFFENSIVE IN THE SIGHT OF HIS FATHER, THE HE COULD NOT BE RECONCILED TO HIS SON. (The Sufferings of Christ – PH169 10.1)
CHRIST FELT MUCH AS SINNERS WILL FEEL WHEN THE VITALS OF GOD’S WRATH SHALL BE POURED OUT UPON THEM. (The Sufferings of Christ – PH169 10.2)
HE ENDURED THE HIDINGS OF HIS FATHER’S COUNTENANCE, until he was led to exclaim, in the bitterness of his soul, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (The Sufferings of Christ – PH169 12.3)
Some have LIMITED VIEWS OF THE ATONEMENT. They think that Christ suffered only a small portion of the penalty of the law of God, and that while the wrath of God was felt by his dear Son, THE SUPPOSE THAT HE HAD, THROUGH ALL HIS PAINFUL SUFFERINGS, AN EVIDENCE OF HIS FATHER’S LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE, AND THAT THE PORTALS OF THE TOMB BEFORE HIM WERE ILLUMINATED WITH BRIGHT HOPE THAT HE HAD THE ABIDING EVIDENCE OF HIS FUTURE GLORY. HERE IS A GREAT MISTAKE. Christ’s keenest anguish was a sense of his Father’s displeasure. His mental agony, because of this, was of such intensity that man can have but faint conception of it. (The Sufferings of Christ – PH169 14.2)
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