EDITORIAL

As a young Christian I was a ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ devotee. I purchased and devoured every new Ellen G. White book or compilation that came off the press. I read The Great Controversy fifteen times, and even wrote a study guide for it. I wore out three volumes of this book with cross-referencing, marginal notes and constant use. In fact, I spent more time reading Ellen White’s books than reading the Bible.

One day, after enjoying a particularly nice desert at a relative’s house I commended her on her tasty custard and asked what it was made of. When she replied, “It’s very simple really; just eggs, milk and sugar,” warning lights flashed and bells went off in my head. Counsels on Diet and Foods says a mixture of eggs milk and sugar should never enter the stomach. I blanched, excused myself from the table, went outside and put my finger down my throat to get rid of the ‘poisonous mixture.’

After my marriage to Rosemary we worked our way through all nine volumes of the Testimonies in our morning worships. Even though we found them heavy-going, it was our religious duty, so we read them right to the end. We existed on two meals a day, because that is what Ellen White recommended, and, in harmony with her counsel, not a morsel of meat passed our lips. We lived by every word that proceeded from the pen of Ellen White, because, for us, her writings were the final authority, the Third Testament.

Then, in 1980, I died a mini death when I discovered that the person, whose writings I revered, was fallible, and her books not only contained historical and theological errors, but also wholesale copying from other authors. I didn’t want to believe any of this but the evidence was overwhelming. I felt betrayed and sick. I was so hurt I was unable to open a single book by Ellen White for two years.

I was particularly upset when I discovered that these problems with Ellen White’s writings had been known by leaders in the church for over 100 years, but had been kept under wraps for fear of disturbing the members. I was angry, particularly with the Ellen G. White Estate and the administrators that controlled it. By their duplicity they had kept us bound in error, thus preventing us from growing up in our understanding of the truth.

The world-wide reaction to these disclosures about Ellen White and her writings fell roughly into four categories: There were those who denied the truth of the revelations about Ellen White’s fallible humanity and continued to focus exclusively on her divine inspiration. Secondly, there were those who never cared much for the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ anyway, so weren’t disturbed by all this kafuffle. Thirdly, there were others who ditched Ellen White completely. One church member took her books to the dump and set fire to them. As the smoke ascended up to heaven he muttered, “There you are, God. I can’t work it out; maybe you can.” Finally, there was another group that took the thesis of Ellen White’s divine inspiration, and the antithesis of her fallible humanity, and came up with a synthesis—a more balanced way of understanding her role in Adventism.

In this issue of Good News for Adventists, we will only have room to touch on a few of the contentious issues surrounding Ellen G. White and her writings. We will, however, direct you to some readily available materials so you can draw your own conclusions regarding her continuing roll within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.