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Visions
VISIONS. To Seventh-day Adventists the question of visions has a
unique interest because they hold that Ellen G. White received visions from God. In her
earlier experience the visions more often occurred during her waking hours, varying in
duration from a few minutes to nearly four hours. At such times much was revealed to her.
She received her first vision during waking hours in Portland, Maine, in December 1844
(see 1T 58–61). Her last open vision occurred in a public assembly on the Portland,
Oregon, campground in June 1884 (see General Conference Bulletin [1893], pp. 19,
20). At the same time, all through this period and continuing on until Mar. 3, 1915 (see Review
and Herald 92:24, Mar. 25, 1915; 92:3, Apr. 15, 1915; MYP 287), Mrs. White received
visions, or prophetic dreams, in the hours of the night.
A number of Ellen White’s visions during waking hours were
accompanied by physical phenomena, numerous eyewitness accounts of which have been widely
published. The first indication of the vision was usually an animated exclamation of
"Glory!" or "Glory to God!" often repeated two or three times. At this
juncture Mrs. White lost all consciousness of her surroundings. While president of the
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, George I. Butler, in 1874, gave a
contemporary eyewitness account of such visions: "They generally, but not always,
occur in the midst of earnest seasons of religious interest while the Spirit of God is
specially present. . . . The time Mrs. White is in this condition has varied from fifteen
minutes to one hundred and eighty. During this time the heart and pulse continue to beat,
the eyes are always wide open, and seem to be gazing at some far-distant object, and are
never fixed on any person or thing in the room. They are always directed upward. They
exhibit a pleasant expression. . . .
"While she is in vision, her breathing entirely ceases. No breath
ever escapes her nostrils or lips when in this condition. This has been proved by many
witnesses, among them physicians of skill, and themselves unbelievers in the visions, on
some occasions being appointed by a public congregation for the purpose. . . . When she
goes into this condition, there is no appearance of swooning or faintness, her face
retains its natural colour, and the blood circulates as usual. Often she loses her
strength temporarily and reclines or sits; but at other times she stands up. She moves her
arms gracefully, and often her face is lighted up with radiance as though the glory of
Heaven rested upon her. She is utterly unconscious of every thing going on around her,
while she is in vision, having no knowledge whatever of what is said and done in her
presence. . . .
"Calm, dignified, and impressive, her very appearance strikes the
beholder with reverence and solemnity. There is nothing fanatical in her appearance. When
she comes out of this condition she speaks and writes from time to time what she had seen
while in vision, . . . for many things have thus been related which it was impossible for
her to know in any other way" (Review and Herald 43:201, June 9, 1874).
On several occasions, while in vision, Ellen White lifted and held a large
family Bible on the outstretched hand for extended periods of time, at least on two
occasions repeating various verses from it. One weighing 18 pounds she held for nearly a
half hour. This has been testified to by many and competent witnesses.
Neither Ellen White nor those around her could induce, prevent, or
interfere with a vision. These experiences never left her worn or spent; on the contrary
they refreshed her. There were times when she experienced physical healing in connection
with a vision. In 1868 James White reported that, between 1844 and that time, Mrs. White
had had between 100 and 200 such visions.
Seventh-day Adventists do not cite any physical manifestations as
unanswerable proof that God gave visions to Ellen White. The supernatural physical
manifestations that accompanied the visions appear to have been simply a means of
engendering confidence; they were secondary, not primary, proof. They occurred mostly in
her earlier years before it was possible to judge her experience by the fruits of her
lifework (cf. Matt. 7:15, 16, 20). SDAs can now see the results in the richness of her
personal religious experience, in the elevated spiritual experience of men and women who
accept and follow her counsels, and in the progress of the church as it followed her
counsels.
In the experience of Ellen White, visions in the night were much more
frequent than the visions accompanied by the physical phenomena and were usually less
comprehensive in content and scope. All through her life experience it was not uncommon
for her to have visions while she was praying (TM 461), or even while she was writing or
engaged in public address.
Often it seemed that the information imparted to her was gained through
the ordinary organs of sense, such as seeing and hearing. In her introduction to The Great
Controversy she refers to "the scenes of the past and the future" that passed
before her, and tells of being "permitted to behold the working, in different ages,
of the great controversy" (pp. xi, x).
On this point Ellen White’s experience was like that of the biblical
prophets. "In the case of visions the scenery passed before their mind, something
like a panoramic view of a landscape, gradually unfolding, in symbolical imagery, forms of
glory or of gloom; accompanied with actions of a corresponding character, not unfrequently
exhibiting, as in actual occurrence, the future and distant events" (Cyclopaedia of
Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. 8, p. 648).
The impressions made upon her mind were deep and lasting, enabling her to
recognise months or years later a voice previously heard in vision or to identify persons
seen in the vision.
Ellen White wrote in 1860: "As inquiries are frequently made as to my
state in vision, and after I come out, I would say that when the Lord sees fit to give a
vision, I am taken into the presence of Jesus and the angels, and am entirely lost to
earthly things. I can see no farther than the angel directs me. My attention is often
directed to scenes transpiring upon earth.
"At times I am carried far ahead into the future and shown what is to
take place. Then again I am shown things as they have occurred in the past.
"After I come out of vision I do not at once remember all that I have
seen, and the matter is not so clear before me until I write, then the scene rises before
me as was presented in vision, and I can write with freedom. Sometimes the things which I
have seen are hid from me after I come out of vision, and I cannot call them to mind until
I am brought before a company where that vision applies, then the things which I have seen
come to my mind with force. I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating
or writing a vision, as in having the vision. It is impossible for me to call up things
which have been shown me unless the Lord brings them before me at the time that He is
pleased to have me relate or write them" (2SG 292, 293).
Some years later Ellen White remarked: "Although I am as dependent
upon the Spirit of the Lord in writing my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words I
employ in describing what I have seen are my own" (Review and Herald 30:260,
Oct. 8, 1867).
"I have all faith in God. I know the perfection of His government. He works at my
right hand and at my left. While I am writing out important matter, He is beside me,
helping me. 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. I feel that every
time I ask, even while I am still speaking, He responds, ‘Here am I’"
(letter 127, 1902) -- Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopaedia.
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