What does Ellen White write about...
Adventistische Schriften über: "Should the 144,000 be understood symbolically?"
Answer
Adventists have disagreed on whether the number 144,000 is meant literally or symbolically. While some authors view it as a concrete number of believers who will be alive at the second coming, others interpret it as a symbolic expression for the entire believing community or for all saved children. These differing views reflect the tension between literal and figurative interpretations of apocalyptic writings.
Literal Interpretation – The Number Must Be a Concrete Quantity
»The number 144,000 must mean a definite number, consisting of exactly so many individuals. It cannot stand for a larger, indefinite number, for in another connection a number is introduced which is indefinite in its extent, and therefore it is called "a great multitude which no man can number." If the 144,000 were intended to represent an indefinite number, then John would have said: "And there were sealed a great multitude which no man could number, from all the tribes of the children of Israel." But instead he says: 144,000, twelve thousand from every tribe, a number that can easily be counted.«
Symbolic Interpretation – the Number Represents the Whole Company of the Saints
»A hundred and forty-four thousand, a number used in Revelation to denote the whole company of the saints.«
Symbolic Representation – the Number Stands for All Saved Children
»We have in this verse an enumeration of the whole number of the saved infants by the numbers 144,000, it being a perfect or square number, which, in my opinion, shows that all that are saved who die in early life. This refers to the whole class up to a certain age, which is best known to God.«
Original Sources (English)
Stephan Krol
Founder of EGW Vision
Why I built EGW Vision
Hello, I am Stephan Krol. I started this Ellen White website to make the writings of Ellen G. White and the Adventist pioneers easier to access for everyone.
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