Throughout almost the whole lifetime of the Seventh-day
Adventist movement, which sprang out of the interdenominational Advent movement
of the early 1840's, there have been in circulation various charges and
accusations against Mrs. E. G. White. As the opening chapter will reveal, she
has played a unique and most important role in the life of the church. The
charges against her run the gamut from an accusation that she was a designing
woman who foisted upon her followers the plagiarized thoughts of others, to the
condescendingly pitying contention that she was a self-deluded hysteric who
sincerely thought she had visions.
The very fact that these charges are in almost constant
circulation tends in itself to create a considerable dust, and that dust tends,
in turn, to obscure the heavenly road for some of the Advent travellers, and to
distort, grotesquely, the movement for those who look on, and whom we wish to
have travel with us the upward road.
The pages of the church paper through a century have, from
time to time, contained vigorous articles in refutation of these attacks upon
the character, conduct, and teachings of Mrs. White. It is evident from the
record that our spiritual fathers believed that in taking this militant stand in
her defence they were defending something central to the whole movement. They
did not hesitate on occasion even to bring out special numbers of the Review
and Herald that featured a defence of her.*
Two Kinds of Charges
Two kinds of charges have been brought against Mrs. White:
(1) That she contradicts the Bible in certain doctrinal teachings. (2) That in
various ways in her life and conduct and counsel she
* For example, the Review and
Herald Supplement, August 14, 1883, and the Review and Herald Extra,
December, 1887. The latter contained as much matter as would be found in a small
book.
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fails to measure up to the specifications of a true prophet.
There is inevitably some overlapping.
The first has not been considered at any length in this book,
for the simple reason that such charges have been adequately considered in a
wide array of Adventist books. Mrs. White's teachings on doctrine are those held
by Seventh-day Adventists. Thus the defence of our teachings, as found in our
denominational works, is really a defence of Mrs. White, even as it is a defence
of the doctrinal soundness of every other person who believes and promotes those
beliefs.
Questions of Fact Considered
I have addressed myself primarily to the second kind of
charge, which, incidentally, constitutes the bulk of the accusations against
her. For example, Did Mrs. White suppress abandoned views? Did she plagiarize?
Did she give foolish counsel on a reform dress? These are questions of fact. In
answer, the facts have been presented—all the facts that bear on the
questions. Effort has been made to refute the charges against Mrs. White in
terms of documented evidence placed in true historical context. And by this
means it is hoped not only to quash the indictments against her but to make her
counsels and conduct stand out as eminently reasonable and consistent with what
would be expected of a messenger of God. In other words, I have sought to give a
positive quality to the treatment of what might at first blush seem to be merely
a negative undertaking.
In setting forth the various charges against Mrs. White I
have generally given a composite of the critics' arguments. When their exact
words have been used quotation marks have been employed, though references have
not been given. Those who have read the works of critics and turn to this book
for answers will have little trouble in discovering the source of the quoted
portions in the charges listed in the following chapters. They will also note
that D. M. Canright is often cited.* This is
because he first and
* See Appendix A, p. 537, for a
historical note on Canright.
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most fully set forth in print the major accusations against Mrs.
White. Others have largely copied from him.
In the very nature of the case this book cannot wholly escape
having a controversial overtone, for it meets face to face the militant and, I
regret to say, sometimes malicious charges that have been brought against Mrs.
White and Seventh-day Adventists. This overtone has been suppressed as far as
possible, but there are limits. Charges must be plainly stated and answers must
be plainly given if the book is to meet its intended purpose.
When the word “critic” is used throughout this book—and it
has been frequently used—reference is made to that kind of person who has
frankly set out to attack some feature of Mrs. White's life and writings. There
are others, sincere but troubled in mind, who have expressed perplexities and
sometimes doubts but who honestly wish to know the facts and are ready to listen
to an explanation such as is here presented.
Limitations to Facts, Evidence, and Logic
I am well aware that there are limitations to the power of
facts, evidence, and logic to meet charges and remove doubts. Anyone who has
written in defence of the Bible will agree with this. There are two reasons: (1)
We cannot always be certain as to what the Bible writer meant; because the
passage may be obscure, the historical context uncertain. (2) The mind is more
often the servant than the master of man's emotions and prejudices. How else can
we explain, for example, the refusal of the scribes and Pharisees to believe in
Christ, who gave the most convincing proofs of His divinity, or the inability of
sceptics to see in the pages of Holy Writ any evidence of the supernatural?
In this setting can be better understood the following words
from Mrs. White in regard to belief in the divine origin of her writings:
“Those who desire to doubt will have plenty of room. God does
not propose to remove all occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence, which must
be carefully investigated with a humble mind and a teachable spirit, and all
should decide from the weight of evidence.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for
the Church, vol. 3, p. 255. 2
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“God gives sufficient evidence for the candid mind to
believe; but he who turns from the weight of evidence because there are a few
things which he cannot make plain to his finite understanding, will be left in
the cold, chilling atmosphere of unbelief and questioning doubts, and will make
shipwreck of faith.”—Ibid., vol. 4, pp. 232, 233.
To provide that “sufficient evidence” on which to decide the
questions and charges at issue is the purpose of this work.
Explaining the Mysterious
However, I do not hope to be able to prove, as one would a
proposition in mathematics, that Mrs. White was what Seventh-day Adventists
believe she was, a spokesman for God. That cannot be done even for the prophets
of the Bible. Indeed, who can prove beyond all cavil and question that there is
a personal God? Who can hope by searching to find out the nature of God? In all
matters that touch the world beyond, an element of mystery is involved, a
mystery that exists because of our finite limitations of understanding. The
trusting Christian, if left unchallenged in his faith, is happy to go forward in
his life's program, admitting the element of mystery that transcends him. In
fact he finds in this mystery, which does not contradict his reason but simply
goes beyond it, the best ground for faith in God—for a God no greater than
ourselves would be no God at all.
But the Christian has never long been allowed to enjoy that
faith unchallenged. There have ever been those who would attempt to destroy the
Christian faith at one blow, not by demanding that the believer explain the
mystery, but by cynically declaring that there is no mystery to explain, that
all that seems mysterious can be explained in terms of natural phenomena
operating according to natural law. For example, the sceptic, instead of
believing Christ for the very works' sake, declares that these miraculous works
can be explained either as deceptive sleight-of-hand performances or in some
other natural way, or simply as legends.
When the issue is thus drawn the Christian, whose business it
is to witness for God and to win converts to the faith, must either desert the
field in defeat, exposed as a superstitious, credulous
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fraud, or else immediately challenge the sceptic. The latter
course is the One that defenders of the faith have consistently followed through
the centuries. They have challenged the naturalistic explanation of God and
Christ and the work of Bible prophets, and have shown that the sceptics'
explanations do not explain. Thus the defenders of Christianity have cleared the
air by the very act of restoring the mystery. They are now ready to call on men
to draw near once more to contemplate the mystery, and to give their allegiance
to Him who is the only true explanation of that mystery.
In harmony with these precedents I have proceeded in my
examination of the charges against Mrs. White. Nothing here presented will
remove the element of mystery in her visions, but rather the reverse. The logic
of her critics' charges is that she belongs either in the hospital as a pathetic
mental case or in jail as a cunning deceiver. They would explain all her visions
on a nonsupernatural basis. But the evidence set forth in the following pages
will show that the critics' explanations do not explain. I have sought to clear
the air by restoring the mystery, so that the reader may see that Mrs. White
rightly belongs on the mountain of God in the company of those who have heard
and then made audible the counsels of God to men.
Selecting Charges for Answer
In planning this book I have been confronted by the same
question that confronts the writer of a work in defence of the Bible; namely,
What charges shall be considered? No book would be large enough to deal with all
the charges, small and great, relevant and irrelevant, that have been brought
against the Bible. The defender of Scripture must decide which are impressive
sounding, representative, and currently prominent. On these he focuses, and all
his readers who are sincerely seeking for light conclude that if he has answered
these satisfactorily the case for the Bible is proved. Or at least that it is
not worth spending time on the other charges.
Even so with this present undertaking. Listed here for answer
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are all the charges against Mrs. White which are currently
prominent, representative, and impressive sounding. For good measure several
have been added that cannot thus qualify. In deciding on this list I have been
aided materially by Mrs. White's critics. An examination of their varied
writings enables one quickly to see what charges they have focused on through
the years. I have been aided even more effectively by the office of the Ellen G.
White Publications, which naturally is acquainted with all the major charges
that critics constantly present. All these are included in the list examined in
this book. Sincere, reasonable readers will not ask more than this, and it is
for such that this work has been written.
What benefit these pages may prove to the reader can only be
hopefully surmised. But this I know with certainty, and offer it here as a
personal testimony: After examining all the major charges against Mrs. White, I
rise from the task with a greatly strengthened conviction that she was, as she
herself modestly yet confidently affirmed, a frail handmaiden of the Almighty to
whom were given divine visions and revelations, that indeed there was manifested
in her life the great power of God. May all who read this book reach the Same
soul-satisfying conclusion.
Washington, D.C.
January, 1951.
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