Christ’s Sweeping Denunciations

Again, look at the words of Christ in denunciation of Chorazin and Bethsaida: “It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell.” Mrs. White’s statement about “the wicked world” no more requires us to insist that she means everyone in the world, than Christ’s words about Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum require us to believe that He meant that every person in those three cities was “rejected” of God. But we have never heard the idea even suggested by a commentator, that Christ meant that all in those three cities were doomed.EGWC 214.4

Or, take our Lord’s statement concerning Jerusalem, “that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee.” It is evident that Christ is here using the word “Jerusalem” to describe the whole Jewish people. No more fateful declaration was ever uttered against a people or against its capital city than the words of our Lord: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Commentators all understand that passage to mean that the Jewish people were “rejected” of God. But does anyone believe that our Lord meant that all Jews were rejected of God, and that all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were placed outside the pale of mercy? No. Our Lord said to His disciples that they were to begin their preaching in Jerusalem and go out over all Judea. And when the great preaching began there were thousands in Jerusalem who accepted the faith. Yet Mrs. White’s words about “the wicked world” are not one whit more devastating or inclusive than Christ’s words regarding Jerusalem.EGWC 215.1

In the light of these passages of Scripture, and many like them that might be quoted, we think it entirely consistent and reasonable to believe Mrs. White’s own interpretation of the debated clause; namely, “the wicked of the world who, having rejected the light, had been rejected of God.” And when we accept her interpretation, all the difficulty disappears, including the arguments of her critics.EGWC 215.2