But One Foundation Of Doctrine
No, we reply, Seventh-day Adventists have but one Bible. That is the one foundation of faith and doctrine. The church is built upon Christ, and all its doctrine upon the living word. All spiritual gifts are gifts to the church that is built upon the word. These gifts are to minister the word of God to us, and to lead us into the Scriptures, which are our one rule of faith.SPIAM 29.2
That has always been the teaching in this advent movement. In the first little booklet issued by James White, our early leader (who became the husband of Ellen G. Harmon), he wrote, in 1847: “The Bible is a perfect and complete revelation. It is our only rule of faith and practice.”—“A Word to the Little Flock,” p. 13.SPIAM 29.3
Again, he wrote in the organ of the movement, in 1854: “Every Christian is therefore in duty bound to take the Bible as a perfect rule of faith and duty. He should pray fervently to be aided by the Holy Spirit, in searching the Scriptures for the whole truth, and for his whole duty. He is not at liberty to turn from them to learn his duty through any of the gifts.”—The Review and Herald, October 3, 1854.SPIAM 29.4