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Ellen G. White's
Position in the Adventist Church
Testimony of Mrs. White
We will let Mrs. White speak for herself on
the subject:
"In ancient times God spoke
to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days he speaks to
them by the Testimonies." (5T 661)
Some contend that her books are inspired, but
her articles and letters were merely her personal opinions. She meets the issue
squarely:
"In these letters which I
write, in the Testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the
Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper expressing
merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision."
(5T 67)
She not only claims that all she has written
comes from God, but God has directed her in the writing as well:
"I am just as dependent upon
the Spirit of the Lord in relating or writing a vision as in having the
vision." (SG, Vol. 2, p.293)
In a letter to G.A. Irwin, under the date of
July 18, 1902, she wrote:
"He lays out my work before
me, and when I am puzzled for a fit word with which to express my thought,
He brings it clearly and distinctly to my mind."
A Position Taken By Some
The position taken by some is that a part of
Mrs. White's writings are inspired, and part is merely her own ideas; a position
strongly and repeatedly contradicted by the prophet herself. People take this
position to sidestep her errors and to avoid having to defend everything she
wrote, which in their hearts they know cannot be done successfully. But their
position would itself negate the honesty (and by implication, the inspiration)
of Mrs. White.
Are Her Writings an Addition
to the Bible?
It is affirmed and reaffirmed by minister and
layman that the writings of Mrs. White are not an addition to the Bible, nor
should they be placed on an equality with the Bible. This is so often stated
that it needs no proof; however we will cite a former editor of the R&H:
"The writings of Mrs. white
were never designed to be an addition to the canon of Scripture. They are,
nevertheless,the messages of God to the remnant church and should bereceived
as such, the same as were the messages of the prophets of old. As Samuel
was a prophet to Israel in his day, as Jeremiah was a prophet to Israel
in the day of the captivity, as John the Baptist came as a special messenger
of the Lord to prepare the way for Christ's appearing, so we believe that
Mrs. White was a prophet to the church of Christ today. And the same as
the messages of the prophets were received in olden times, so her messages
should be received at the present time. (R&H, Oct. 4, 1928)
Here we see the fundamental confusion of the
sect.
If her writings were revelations from God,
they are an addition to the Bible. If her writings were received the same as
Samuel, Moses, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist received their messages; if they
are received in the same manner and from the same source as the text of the
Bible, then they are on the same level with the prophecies of the Bible and
are an addition to the Bible.
They claim they are inspired in precisely the
same manner and to the same degree that the canon of the Scriptures is inspired.
Then is it consistent for them to teach that they do not consider them an addition
to the Bible?
They not only claim they came from the same
source from which we get our Bible, but they use them the same as we use the
Bible. They use them as proof texts.
Christian Scientists and Mormons are much more
honest, for they boldly proclaim that "Key to the Scriptures" and
"The Book of Mormon" are additions to the Bible.
The
above was taken from E.S. Ballenger's "Facts about Seventh-day Adventism"
[Published in the early 1950's]
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