ISSUES ON ELLEN G. WHITE AND HER ROLE IN THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH (revised June 7, 2002) by Alberto R. Timm Lecture Presented at the General Conference Field Conference in Theology Greece and Turkey, April 29-May 7, 2002 and at the First International Conference on Ellen G. White and Adventist History Battle Creek, MI, May 15-19, 2002ISSUES ON ELLEN G. WHITE AND HER ROLE IN THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH. Alberto R. Timm, Ph.D. Professor of Historical Theology Brazil Adventist University College - Campus 2 Director of the Brazilian Ellen G. White Research Center Introduction Christianity has become a complex and heterogeneous religious mosaic, extremely divided about its understanding of the Bible.’ The clear meaning of God's Word has been overshadowed by anti-biblical assumptions derived from human traditions, human reason, personal experience, and modern culture. To rescue the interpretation of Scripture from such anti-biblical assumptions, God provided, according to the Seventh-day Adventists, a modern, non-canonical manifestation of the gift of prophecy in the life and work of Ellen G. White (1827- 1916). Since the early days of their movement, Seventh-day Adventists have expressed their trust in the prophetic gift of Ellen White, implicitly or explicitly, not ‘only in books and articles? but also in their various official statements of beliefs® ‘An insightful overview of the complex mosaic of Christian denominations in the United States of America is provided in Frank S. Mead and Samuel S. Hill, Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 10th ed. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1995). See also Malise Ruthven's The Divine ‘Supermarket: Shopping for God in America (New York: W. Morrow, 1989), *See Witness of the Pioneers Conceming the Spin of Prophecy: A Facsimile Reprint of Periodical and Pamphlet Articles Written by the Contemporaries of Ellen G. White (Washington, DC: Ellen G. White Estate, 1961), 8See e.g., A Declaration of the Fundamental Principles Taught and Practiced by Seventh-day Adventists (Battle Creek, Ml: Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, 1872), 11; Seventh-day Adventist Year Book of Statistics for 1889 (Battle Creek, MI: Review & Herald, 1889), 150; "Fundamental Principles of Seventh-day Adventists,” Words of Truth Series, No. 5 - Extra (July 1897), 10; 1931 Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1931), 379; Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, rev. 1981 (Washington, DC: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1981), 39-40.2 and most representative expositions of those beliefs.‘ As in many previous General Conference Sessions, the delegates of both the 1995 Utrecht and the 2000 Toronto General Conference Sessions also approved specific documents expressing their faith in that gift.® Yet, all such efforts have being unable to stop some Adventist individuals and specific groups from either questioning the validity of that gift or distorting some of its teachings. The present paper appraises briefly (1) the development of contemporary issues related to Ellen White; (2) some basic questions that deserve more serious consideration on this matter; and (3) a few practical strategies to build up confidence in her prophetic gift Development of Contemporary Issues Related to Ellen G. White To understand the basic contemporary issues of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in regard to Ellen White and her role within the denomination, it is helpful to examine (1) how non-Adventist and former Adventist criticisms to her prophetic ministry were accepted in some Adventist academic circles; (2) how independent ministries have misused her writings to accuse the denomination of apostasy; and (3) how both lines are presently popularizing their respective agendas in a world- wide basis by means of the World Wide Web and other resources. (1) Old Criticisms Under a New Academic Umbrella (1970-1985). Modern Adventist scholarly criticisms to Ellen White were largely stimulated by the Autumn-1970 issue of Spectrum (a non-official church periodical), in which Seventh-day Adventist scholars were encouraged to study her writings from a historical-critical perspective.° But the hermeneutical roots of such criticisms can be found already in the anti-Adventist writings of Dudley M. Canright (1840-1919), the most important and influential critic of Mrs. White and her work. Canright left the denomination in February 1887, after a period of spiritual and emotional ups- ‘See Seventh-day Adventists Believe... A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines (Washington, DC: Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1988), 216-29; George E. Rice, "Spiritual Gifts," in Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, Commentary Reference Series, vol. 12 (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2000), 610-50. "See "Statement of Confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy," Adventist Review (hereafter AIR), July 3, 1995, 30; "Resolution on the Gift of Prophecy Through the Ministry of Ellen G White,” AtR. July 4, 2000, 11 "See Roy Branson and Herold D. Weiss, “Ellen White: A Subject for Adventist Scholarship,” ‘Spectrum (hereafter Sp) 2 (Autumn 1970): 30-33; William S. Peterson, "A Textual and Historical Study of Ellen G. White's Account of the French Revolution,” ibid., 57-69. Cf. W. P. Bradley, "Ellen G. White and Her Writings," Sp 3 (Spring 1971): 43-513 and-downs,’ devoting the remaining thirty-two years of his life to the task of criticizing Seventh-day Adventism and its teachings, including Ellen White's prophetic ministry. His bellicose stand towards Mrs. White derived largely from his personal unwillingness to accept her counsels. He admired and defended her up to the time when she reproved him for "a course of action that was not right.” From that time on "he tured against her.'® Canright’s personal frustration had hermeneutical consequences on the way he viewed her prophetic ministry. No longer admitting that God was the supernatural source of her messages, Canright had to look for natural and psychological ways to explain both the content of her messages and the phenomena she experienced while in vision. He was not afraid of suggesting that Ellen White's visions were psychological trances derived from “nervous disease, a complication of hysteria, catalepsy and ecstacy," and that such pseudo- revelations occurred only during her sexual-fertile life, from puberty to menopause." He accused her, among several other things, of being “a great plagiarist""’ and of having believed in the erroneous shut-door theory,” Canright can be considered the father of criticisms to Ellen White, for he not only (1) systematized previous criticisms and (2) conceived new ones against her but also (3) anticipated almost all issues that would be raised against her in the future. Seventh-day Adventist authors produced helpful responses to his charges, but those responses could not avoid future reappearances of those "See Carrie Johnson, | Was Canright’s Secretary (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1971); R. W. Schwarz, Light Bearers to the Remnant (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1979), 484-70. "Dudley M. Canright’s most significant criticisms to Ellen White's prophetic ministry appear in his books Seventh-day Adventism Renounced: After an Experience of Twenty-eight Years by a Prominent Minister and Writer of that Faith (Kalamazoo, [Mll: Kalamazoo Publishing Co., 1888), 43-68; ibid., [2nd ed.] (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1889), 129-65; Life of Mrs. E. G. White, Seventh-day Adventist Prophet: Her False Claims Refuted (Cincinnati, [OH]: Standard Publishing Company, 1919) *arthur L. White, Ellen G. White (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1982), 6:436 "Canright, Seventh-day Adventism Renounced (1888 ed.), 49-60 “Canright, Life of Mrs. E. G. White, 189-206. bid, 103-44. "The most important Seventh-day Adventist replies to Canright’s charges against Ellen White are William H. Branson's In Defense of the Faith: The Truth About Seventh-day Adventists. A Reply to Canright (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1933), 327-67, and Francis D. Nichol's Ellen G. White and Her Critics: An Answer to the Major Charges that Critics Have Brought Against ‘Mrs. Ellen G. White (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1951),4 criticisms. Post-Canright non-Adventist critics usually just followed in his trail.'* More recent Adventist and ex-Adventist critics might deepen and expand some of his ideas, but very rarely is someone able to raise issues not already pointed out in Canright’s writings. It was in the early 1970s Canright's criticisms began to be echoed more perceivably within some Adventist academic circles. Not that those Adventist scholars faced the same spiritual and emotional crises as Canright did or that they derived their ideas directly from him, but the use of historical criticism (also known as the “historical critical method")"® led them almost to the very same conclusions. Benjamin McArthur, professor of American History at Southern Missionary College, pointed out in 1979 that the new generation of Seventh-day Adventist revisionists worked under the common presupposition that "the cultural milieu in which Ellen White lived and worked to a large degree shaped her writings on history, prophecy, health and, by implication, every other topic she discussed." As a result, "the nature of her inspiration" and "her authority in the church" were at issue. McArthur explained that since “orthodox belief and critical historical judgment are incompatible," "the problem is not that the Adventist historian lacks faith in God’s providential leading, but that there is no way for them to include it in historical explanation." If Canright's problem with Ellen White had been primarily of an existential nature, with hermeneutical implications, for the new generation of Adventist revisionists it was basically the acceptance of a new secular hermeneutical approach with existential implications. Although the ideological starting-points differed from one another, in both cases the supernatural divine element was completely removed from her visions. Consequently, the issues raised by modern revisionists were almost the same as Canright's. Once again Ellen White was strongly criticized, among several other things, for claiming to have received prophetic visions when such experiences were perceived only as psychological A classic example of Canrights influence on non-Adventist critics is Anthony A. Hoekema’s The Four Major Cults (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1963), 96-108, **The historical-critical method is a method of literary analysis used to study documents from the perspective of their indebtedness to the particular socio-cultural miieu in which they were produced. The method grew out ofthe Enlightenment assumption that history can be understood ‘without taking into consideration supematural intervention. Seventh-day Adventists scholars were explicitly encouraged to study Ellen White's writings from a historical-ctical perspective in the ‘Autumn-1970 issue of Spectrum, a non-official Seventh-day Adventist periodical published, since 1969, by the Association of Adventist Forums. "'B. McArthur, "Where Are Historians Taking the Church?" Sp 10 (Nov. 1979): 9, 115 trances."’ She was accused again of plagiarism'® and of having believed in the "See e.g., Ingemar Lindén, Biblicism, apokalyptik, utopl. Adventismens historiska utforming: USA samt dess svenska utveckling till 0. 1939 (Uppsala: [University of Uppsala], 1971), 103; Ronald L. Numbers, Prophetess of Health: A Study of Ellen G, White (New York: Harper & Row, 1976); Ingemar Lindén, The Last Trump: An Historico-Genetical Study of Some Important Chapters in the Making and Development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1978), 139-86; idem, Adventismen vid Skilevagen ({Sweden|: n.p., 1983), 17- 24; Ronald D. Graybill, "The Power of Prophecy: Ellen G. White and the Women Religious Founders of the Nineteenth Century" (Ph.D. diss., Johns Hopkins University, 1983); Bernadine L. Irwin, "A Psychohistory of the Young Ellen White: A Founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church” (Ph.D. diss., United States International University, 1984); Molleurus Couperus, "The Significance of Ellen White's Head Injury,” Adventist Currents, June 1985, 16-33; Dennis E. Waite, "A Psychoanalytic and Archetypical Examination of Two Seminal Dreams and Visions of Ellen G. White” (Ed.D. diss., Western Michigan University, 1993), Responses to charges of psychological trances in Ellen White are found, for instance, in Ron Graybil, "Prophetess of Health: A Review" (Ellen G, White Estate shelf document, 1976); Ellen G. White Estate, A Discussion and Review of Prophetess of Health (Washington, DC: Ellen G. White Estate, 1976); idem, A Critique of the Book Prophetess of Health (Washington, DC: Ellen G. White Estate, 1976); "Ellen White and Health," Sp 8 (Jan. 1977): 2-36; Rlobert] W. Olson, Physicians Say Ellen White's Visions Not Result of Epilepsy," AtR, Aug, 16, 1984, 4; Donald | Peterson, Visions or Seizures: Was Ellen White the Victim of Epilepsy? (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1988). **See e.g,, [Walter T. Rea], "A Comparison of the Writings of Mrs. E. G. White and John Harris ~ 1842, Daniel March - 1867, William Hanna - 1863, Alfred Edersheim - 1886" (N.p. n.p., [1979}); idem, The White Lie (Turlock, CA: M & R Publications, 1982); idem, "Sketches from the Life of Paul: Forerunner of Acts of the Apostles" (Unpubl. ms,, 1982), AHC; idem, "The Great Controversy" (Unpubl. ms., 1983), AHC; idem, "Desire of Ages" (Unpubl. ms., 1983), AHC; idem, “The Pirates of Privilege" (Unpubl. ms., 1984), AHC; idem, "The Makings of a Prophet” (Unpubl ms., 1986), AHC; idem, "Did the Prophet See Kings?” (Unpubl. ms., 1988), AHC: Lindén, ‘Adventismen vid Skiljevagen, 35-64. Responses to charges of plagiarism in Ellen White's writings are found, for example, in Ellen G. White Estate, "The Desire of Ages" (Ellen G. White Estate shelf document, 1979); Raymond F. Cottrell, "The Literary Relationship between The Desire of Ages, by Ellen G. White and The Life of Christ, by Wiliam Hanna” (Ellen G. White Estate shelf document, 1979); Walter F, Specht, "The Literary Relationship between The Desire of Ages, by Ellen G. White and The Life of Christ, by Wiliam Hanna~Part II" (Ellen G. White Estate shelf document, n.d.); Robert W. Olson, “Ellen G. White's Use of Uninspired Sources" (Ellen G, White Estate shelf document, 1980); Neal C. Wilson, "This | Believe About Ellen G. White,” AtR, Mar. 20, 1980, 8-10; Keith S. Parmenter, “The Ellen G. White 'Borrowings'~What Are the Facts?," Australasian Record, July 28, 1980, 4; Shirley Burton, “Applications of Inspiration: What the Media Overlooked," Pacific Union Recorder, Nov. 10, 1980, 2, 4; Arthur L. White, "Ellen G. White and Her Writings,” AtR, Nov. 27, 1980, 7-9; Wiliam] G. Jfonhsson], “Reflections on Ellen White's Inspiration," ibid., 12-13; Robert W. Olson, One Hundred and One Questions on the Sanctuary and on Ellen White (Washington, DC: Ellen G. White Estate, 1981), 64-111; John J. Robertson, The White Truth (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1981); Ron Graybil, "Did Mrs. White ‘Borrow’ in Reporting a Vision?," AtR, Apr 2, 1981, 7; Vincent L. Ramik, "Memorandum of Law Literary Property Rights, 1790-1915" (Washington, DC, Diller, Ramik & Wight, Ltd., Aug. 14, 1981); Editorial, "Ellen White's Use of Sources,” AtR, Sept. 17, 1981, 3; Editorial, “There Simply Is No Case" (interview with Vincent L.erroneous shut-door theory.” Ellen White stated, back in 1887, that "we have far more to fear from within [the church] than from without,"*? and those words have been clearly fulfilled also in regard to the criticisms to her prophetic ministry. While Canright left the church by his own initiative, before starting to publish his criticisms against Ellen White, many spokesmen of the new generation of Adventist revisionists kept their church membership to be able to criticize Ellen White from within the denomination as alleged fellow-believers.”" The disfellowshiped Canright made many anti-Ellen White disciples in the broader Evangelical world and perhaps a few ones within Seventh-day Adventism, but he did not succeed, during his lifetime, to infiltrate Seventh-day Adventism with his ideas. Five decades later, Canright's criticisms started to be echoed more perceivably within some Adventist scholarly circles. Nurtured and propagated by several Adventist follow-believers of high learning and charismatic personality, those criticisms shook a far larger proportion Ramik), id., 4-6; Editorial, “The Story Behind This Research’ (interview with Warren L. Johns), ibid., 7; Ron Graybill, "E. G. White's Literary Work: An Update" (An edited and annotated transcript of tape recording of presentations made in the moming worship services at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Nov. 15-19, 1981), Warren H. Johns, "Ellen White Prophet of Plagiarist?,” Ministry (hereafter Min), June 1982, 5-19; Ellen G, White Estate, "The Truth About The White Lie,” supplement to Min, Aug. 1982; George Rice, Luke, a Plagiarist? (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1983); Fred Veltman, "Full Report of the Life of Christ Research Project," 4 vols. ({Washington, DC: Ellen G. White Estate], 1988); idem, "The Desire of Ages Project," 2-part series in Min, Oct. 1990, 4-7; Dec. 1990, 11-15; "Olson Discusses the Veltman Study" (David C. Jarnes's interview with Robert W. Olson), Min, Dec. 1890, 16-18; Herbert E. Douglass, Messenger Of the Lord: The Prophetic Ministry of Ellen G. White (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 1898), 456-65, See e.g., Lindén, Biblicism, apokalyptik, utopi, 68-84; idem, Last Trump, 92-105; Rolf J. Poehler, "... and the Door Was Shut’: Seventh-day Adventists and the Shut-Door Doctrine in the Decade after the Great Disappointment” (Term paper, Andrews University, 1978); Desmond Ford, Daniel 8:14, the Day of Atonement, and the Investigative Judgment (Casselberry, FL: Euangelion Press, 1980), 350-61; Ingemar Lindén, 1844 and the Shut Door Problem (Uppsala: Distributed by Almgvist & Wiksell International, 1982). ‘The charges raised against Ellen White for having believed the erroneous shut-door theory are responded to in P. Gerard Damsteegt, Foundations of the Seventh-day Adventist ‘Message and Mission (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977), passim; Robert W. Olson, "The ‘Shut Door’ Documents" (Ellen G. White Estate shelf document, 1982); Arthur L. White, "Ellen G. White and the Shut Door Question: A Review of the The Experience of Early Seventh-day Adventists Believers in Its Historical Context." rev. ed. (Ellen G. White Estate shelf document, 1982); idem, Ellen G. White (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1985), 1:256-70; Douglass, Messenger of the Lord, 500-512, 549-69. E.G. White, "The Church's Great Need,” RH, Mar. 22, 1887, 177. ?'See Alberto R. Timm, "A History of Seventh-day Adventist Views on Biblical and Prophetic Inspiration (1844-2000)," Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 10 (Spring-Autumn 1999) 513-20,7 of Seventh-day Adventists in their trust in Ellen White than Canright did in his days. Much of the impact was due to the fact that almost every new critic who appeared on the stage claimed originality to his or her discoveries, without acknowledging any indebtedness to Canright's groundwork studies on those very same topics. So, many people, unaware of the historical roots of the issues, were led to believe that finally a very significant long-suppressed truth came to light. The 1970s and early 1980s were the most prolific period of historical- critical studies of Ellen White. But the 1990s saw the publication of Dale Ratzlaff's The Cultic Doctrine of Seventh-day Adventists (1996), criticizing many of Ellen White's teachings,” and Dirk Anderson's White Out (1999), down- playing her whole prophetic ministry.” As former Seventh-day Adventists, Ratzlaff and Anderson are much in tune with Canright in his criticisms to Ellen White.* Both books are throwing many anti-Ellen White seeds into some Adventist circles that are not fully aware of the historical roots of such criticisms. (2) Rereading Ellen White from the Perspective of Early-Adventist Historical Tradition (1985-1998). The disruptive effect of modern historical critical studies of Ellen White challenged some retired ordained ministers and conservative church members to establish, since the mid-1980s, independent “reform ministries" within the church, trying to uplift her prophetic authority by leading people back to early-Adventist doctrinal traditions.* A major landmark in this process was the launching in 1985 of Our Firm Foundation,® the most widespread independent Adventist periodical to speak for their cause. But the roots of those ministries can be traced back to Robert J. Wieland and Donald K. Short, who began to blame the leadership of the church in the early 1950s for Dale Ratzlaff, The Cultic Doctrine of Seventh-day Adventists (Sedona, AZ: Life Assurance Ministries, 1996), passim. Dirk Anderson, White Out (Alvarado, TX: Into All World Wide Web, 1999) *The allusion to Ellen Harmon's presence at the Israel Dammon trial (Anderson, White Out, 44-55) is perhaps the only significant point in which Dirk Anderson went beyond Canright in criticizing her. Cf. Douglass, Messenger of the Lord, 473-76. *For further study of those independent ministries, see issues: The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Certain Private Ministries ([Silver Spring, MD]: North American Division, [1992)); "The ‘Seventh-day Adventist Church & Certain Private Organizations," supplement in AtR, Nov. 5, 1992; "Decision on Hope International and Associated Groups by a General Conference-appointed Committee,” Min, Aug. 2000, 28-31, **This magazine, published by Hope International, should not be confused with the Adventist Classic work titled Our Firm Foundation: A Report of the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Conference Held September 1-13, 1952, in the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church, Takoma Park, Maryland, 2 vols. (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1953).8 rejecting the so-called "1888 message" of righteousness by faith;” and M. L. ‘Andreasen, who accused the leadership in the late 1950s for leading the church astray from the Adventist traditional teachings of Christ's atoning priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary and His fallen nature during the incarnation.”* Being advanced within the denomination since the 1950s, such criticisms assumed a more bellicose tenor from the mid-1980s on. A vast amount of statements from Ellen White's writings were used to prove that the denomination actually rejected not only the 1888 message but also the early Adventist understandings of both the atonement and Christ's fallen nature during the incarnation. Since many church leaders and theologians did not see those teachings as in full harmony with either the Scriptures or Ellen White's writings, some independent ministries decided to prociaim those teachings as actual tests. of fellowship for the Adventist church. In response to those ministries, the North- ‘American Division issued in 1992 an official document disapproving their disruptive work,” and the General Conference published in 2000 an updated Robert J. Wieland and Donald K. Short, "1888 Re-examined" (Manuscript presented to the GC leaders, 1950). See also idem, 1888 Re-examined, rev. and updated ed. (Uniontown, OH 1888 Message Study Committee, 1987); idem, 1988 Re-examined: A Review of What Happened a Hundred Years After 1888 (Paris, OH: 1888 Message Study Committee, 1989), Responses to charges of rejection of the "1888 message" are found, for example, in George R. Knight, Angry Saints: Tensions and Possibilities in the Adventist Struggle over Righteousness by Faith (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1989); idem, A User-friendly Guide to the 1888 Message (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1998), 2M. L. Andreasen, "The Atonement" (9-part series) and other open letters, in The M. L. Andreasen File: Manuscripts and Letters Pertaining to the Evangelical Conferences of 1955-1956 (St. Maries, ID: LMIN Publishing, 1988); idem, Letters fo the Churches (Conway, MS: Gems of Truth, n.d). See also Ralph Larson, The Word Was Made Flash: One Hundred Years of Seventh- day Adventist Christology, 1852-1952 (Cherry Valley, CA: Cherrystone Press, 1986); J. R. Zurcher, Touched with Our Feelings: A Historical Survey of Adventist Thought on the Human ‘Nature of Christ (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1999), Responses to charges related to the Seventh-day Adventist understanding of atonement and Christ's nature during the incarnation are found, for example, in Norman R. Gulley, Christ Our ‘Substitute (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1982); Eric C. Webster, Crossourrents in Adventist Christology (Berrien Springs, Ml: Andrews University Press, 1992); George R. Knight, The Pharisee's Guide to Perfect Holiness: A Study of Sin and Salvation (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1992); Woodrow W. Whidden II, Ellen White on Salvation (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1997); idem, Ellen White on the Humanity of Christ (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1997), Denis Fortin, book review of J. R. Zurcher’s Touched With Our Feelings, Andrews University ‘Seminary Studies 38 (Autumn 2000). 342-44, See Issues: The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Certain Private Ministries; "The Seventh- day Adventist Church & Certain Private Organizations,” supplement in AtR, Nov.'5, 19929 document in the same tone.*” But those official documents did not prevent such ministries from building a certain kind of more-faithful-to-Ellen-White "church within the church." By proclaiming that the church and its leadership are in full apostasy from the so-called “historic Adventism," independent ministries have generated within the church not only an anti-organizational attitude but also a desire for a more serious restoration of early-Adventist teachings. Consequently, many church members are looking today not only for Ellen White's own writings but also for the teachings of several of her contemporary fellow-believers. As helpful as this “restorationism" might be to keep the Adventist identity, it leads very easily towards artificial rereadings of Ellen White's writings. In love with the faith-uplifting approach of nineteenth-century Adventism, some people are tempted, first, to read the writings of other early-Adventist authors and assume that all their teachings not explicitly condemned by Ellen White in her own writings were fully endorsed by her. The next step is to look for endorsements of those teachings by means of selective and one-sided rereadings of Ellen White's writings. Strange as it might sound, this has been exactly the hermeneutical rational some people are using today to prove, for instance, that Ellen White was as much an anti-trinitarian as some of her fellow believers." Too much emphasis on the authority of early-Adventist doctrinal traditions might lead people, even unconsciously, to accept early-Adventist history almost as "inspired" as Ellen White’s own writings. Historical-critical studies assume that her writings were simply generated by the nineteenth-century North-American religious-cultural environment. Traditionalistic studies suggest that those writings have to be interpreted from the perspective of other nineteenth-century Adventist authors. In both cases, too much emphasis is placed on the role of tradition in the understanding of her writings. We should study Ellen White's writings in the light of the historical context in which they were produced, but without falling into the extremes of either historical criticism or traditionalism. (3) Challenged by a World-wide Globalization of Criticisms (1998- ). In the pre-Web world, issues related to Ellen White and her prophetic ministry had a limited circulation within Seventh-day Adventism, Most of those issues were spread out in the English language through books, a few magazines, or some other publications. Internal criticisms to Ellen White mushroomed here and there within the denomination, but still ina much limited geographical scope. Yet, with *-Report on Hope Intemational and Associated Groups," AtR, Aug. 2000, 34-37; "Decision on Hope Intemational and Associated Groups by a General Conference-appointed Committee,” Min, ‘Aug. 2000, 28-31. See also Woodrow W. Whidden, "The Adventist Church and Independent Ministries," Min., Aug 2000, 14-15, “Some of Ellen White's statements about the Trinity appear in the book compiled from her writings titled Evangelism (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1974), 613-17,10 the development of the World Wide Web and the establishment of certain anti- Ellen White Web sites, such as Dirk Anderson's “http://www.ellenwhite.org” (which by early 1998 became strongly anti-Ellen White),°? those criticisms began to spread in a world-wide basis among those Seventh-day Adventists and non- Adventists who have direct or indirect access to the Internet. Translators are being recruited to make those criticisms available in other languages. But even if formal translations are not yet available in a specific language, many readers of that language might have access to translator-programs for computers which help them to grasp at least the basic ideas of the critical texts. Ellen White declared that in the last days "every wind of doctrine" would be blowing (cf. Eph 4:14) and the members of the church would "individually be tested and proved." | am personally convinced that the Internet is playing a very crucial role in helping to fulfil those predictions. A serious globalization of criticisms to Ellen White and distorted interpretations of her writings is taking place. In the past, those issues were usually raised successively and more perceivably through the circulation of specific publications, meaning that old issues tended to be replaced eventually by new ones. But today, almost all issues of the past and present are simultaneously and less perceivably available at the homes and offices of all church members that have access to the Internet, not allowing local pastors to know exactly how many of his church members are being ideologized by those issues. ‘Such massive spectrum of criticisms to Ellen White and distorted interpretations of her writings are targeting the church in a time when many new (and defenseless) converts are joining the denomination without enough knowledge to respond to those challenges. Prebaptismal and postbaptismal Bible studies are today, in some parts of the world, not always as strong as they used to be, and have not succeeded in vaccinating new believers against those issues. This has left new converts considerably vulnerable to the above-mentioned challenges. The Seventh-day Adventist Church built, over the decades, a strong arsenal of responses in the English language to face those questionings. But, on the other side, an increasing number of criticisms and doctrinal distortions are being translated today into several other languages, and the church seems not really prepared to face such a wide spectrum of challenges. Tim Poirier mentioned in April 2002 the existence, in English, of "about two dozen negative Web sites (many being personal Web pages) and most sharing the same material" Tim Poirier, e-mail to Alberto Timm, Apri 1, 2002 Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1948), 6:80, 463."1 Basic Questions that Deserve More Serious Consideration An appraisal of the historical development mentioned above is helpful to understand the basic challenges the Seventh-day Adventist Church is facing today about the understanding of Ellen White and her prophetic ministry. The doctrinal and ecclesiastical unity of a church is being challenged, as already seen, by historical-critical studies of Ellen White, early-Adventist-tradition rereadings of her writings, and a world-wide globalization of both approaches. To face those challenges, Seventh-day Adventists need to define more precisely where they stand in regard to Ellen White and her role within the denomination. There are at least three basic questions we should address before moving into the level of practical strategies. (1) Is belief in the prophetic gift of Ellen White an optional or required matter for contemporary Seventh-day Adventists? The acceptance of Ellen White's prophetic gift has become, since the early 1970s, one of the most divisive issues of Seventh-day Adventism. On the official level, the church actually subscribes to Statement 17 of the 27 Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists, which reads as follows, One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. As the Lord's messenger, her ‘writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by Which all teaching and experience must be tested. (Joel 2:28, 29; Acts 2:14-21; Heb. 1:1-3:; Rev. 12:17; 19:10) But on the practical level, not all church members and ministers fully accept the content of this statement. Some Adventists even argue that one might “Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists~Church Manual Revision,” AtR, May 1 1980, 25-26; Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, rev. 2000, 16th ed. (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2000), 14-15. The original English wording of this particular statement has been slightly changed in some translations. The expression “as the Lord's messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth’ was translated, for instance, into German (Adventecho, June 1, 1981, 8) as “die Schriften dieser Botin des Herm sind eine fortwirkende, bevollmachtigte Stimme der Wahrheit’ (the writings of this messenger of the Lord are a continuing, authorized voice of truth) and into French (Revue adventiste [France], Apr. 1981, 4) as "les écrts de cette messagére du Seigneur sont une source constante de vérité qui fai autorité" (the writings of this messenger of the Lord are a constant source of truth which is authoritative). The word “authoritative” was translated into both Spanish (Manual de /a Iglesia, rey. ed. [Montemorelos, Mexico: Associacién Editorial nteramericana, 1984], 38) and Portuguese (Manual da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia (Santo André, SP, Brazil: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 1981], 35) as “autorizada" (authorized),12 use Ellen White for spiritual encouragement but not for defining doctrinal truths.°* This brings into question the affirmation of the above-quoted statement that "her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth,” which we believe implies that they "were not given to take the place of the Bible" but only to provide "a clearer understanding of it."** On one hand, if we recognize that Christianity (including Protestantism) is extremely divided about the interpretation of Scripture, and that Ellen White's prophetic gift is one of the most important unifying factors of the Adventist message (cf. Eph 4:11-14), then we have to admit also that the denial of that gift opens the church to the very same pluralism that is destroying today the doctrinal identity of other denominations.*’ On the other hand, if we consider Ellen White's prophetic gift a test of church fellowship and begin to remove from church membership all those who simply do not fully accept that gift, we are going beyond Ellen White herself on this matter. Speaking about some groups of new believers, she stated in 1862, There should be no trial or labor with those who have never seen the individual having visions, and who have had no personal knowledge ofthe influence of the vision. Such should not be deprived of the benefits and privileges of the church, if their Christian course is otherwise correct, and they have formed a good Christian character. ‘Some, | was shown, could receive the published visions, judging of the tree by its fruits ‘Others are like doubting Thomas; they cannot believe the published Testimonies, nor receive ‘evidence through the testimony of others; but must see and have the evidence for themselves. ‘Such must not be set aside, but long patience and brotherly love should be exercised toward them until they find their position and become established for or against. If they fight against the visions, of which they have no knowledge; if they camry their opposition so far as to oppose that in which they have had no experience, and feel annoyed when those who believe that the visions ‘are of God speak of them in meeting, and comfort themselves with the instruction given through vision, the church may know that they are not right. God's people should not cringe and yield ‘and give up their liberty to such disaffected ones. God has placed the gifts in the church that the church may be benefited by them; and when professed believers in the truth oppose these gifts, A classic exposition of this notion appears in Ford, Danie! 8:14, the Day of Atonement, and the Investigative Judgment, 333-425, A170-A269, passim, See also Herold Weiss, "Formative Authority, Yes; Canonization, No,” Sp 16 (Aug. 1985): 8-13, *E. G. White, Testimonies for the Church, §:663. For further study of the Seventh-day ‘Adventist understanding of the relationship between Ellen White's writings and the Bible, see T. Housel Jemison, A Prophet Among You (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1958), 364-74; "The Inspiration and Authority ofthe Ellen G. White Writings: A Statement of Present Understanding as Revised June 14, 1982," AR, July 15, 1982, 3 (also published in Min, Aug. 1982, 21); "The Inspiration and ‘Authority of the Ellen G. White Writings: A Statement of Present Understanding," AtR, Dec. 23, 41982, 9 (also published in Min, Feb. 1983, 24) "See Robert S. Folkenberg, "A Malignancy Called Pluralism,” Perspective Digest 3, no. 3 (1998): 15-21. For a study on the impact of pluralism on the United Methodist Church, see Jerry L. Walls, The Problem of Pluralism: Recovering United Methodist Identity (Wilmore, KY: Good News Books, 1986).13 ‘and fight against the visions, souls are in danger through their influence, and itis time then to labor with them, that the weak may not be led astray by their influence.*® From this statement we might conclude that a church member who does not yet fully accept yet Ellen White's prophetic gift should not be removed from church membership, except if his or her negative influence is leading others to oppose and criticize that gift.°° (2) Should the Seventh-day Adventist Church allow to be baptized into its membership people who do not accept Ellen White's prophetic gift? This is a very important subject because how people are joining the church today will determine to a large degree the level of commitment of future generations of Seventh-day Adventists. Once again we are faced here with a serious tension between the official position of the church and some non-official practices. ‘On the official level, we have, besides Statement 17 of the 27 Fundamental Beliefs (quoted above), also Question 8 of the Baptismal Vow, by which candidates for baptism are requested to answer the following query, "Do you accept the biblical teaching of spiritual gifts and believe that the gift of prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the remnant church?“° The Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual warns that all candidates for baptism should be thoroughly instructed, prior to baptism, on all matters examined by the Baptismal Vow.‘" But noteworthy, Question 8 does not mention "Ellen G. White” explicitly by name. By contrast, on the practical level, there is a strong tendency in some places to baptize people who just profess a subjective relationship with Christ, without any concern about knowing if they really subscribe to the Baptismal Vow, which includes Question 8 on the “gift of prophecy." Consequently, an increasing “E.G. White, Testimonies for the Church, 1:327-28. For further study of whether belief in Ellen White's prophetic gift should be made a test of church fellowship or not, see Francis M. Wilcox, The Testimony of Jesus: A Review of the Work and Teachings of Mrs. Ellen Gould White (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1944), 136-43; Roger W. Coon, “Belief in Ellen G, White's Prophetic Gift: Should It Be Made a Test of Church Fellowship?" rev. version (Lecture outline for the class GSEM 534 "The Writings of Ellen G. White,” Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University, 1994), “Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual (rev. 2000 16th ed.), 33, *"Ibid., 29-35. The importance of thorough prebaptismal instruction of the candidates for baptism is well addressed in Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1946), 306-21; Roy A. Anderson, The Shepherd-Evangelist: His Life, Ministry, and Reward (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1950), 257-74; Paulo Cilas da Silva, "Séries de Estudos Biblicos da Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia no Brasil: Breve Historia e Andlise Comparativa do Seu Conteudo" (Doctor of Pastoral Theology diss., Centro Universitario Adventista de Sto Paulo, Brazil, 2001), 15-69.14 number of people are joining the church today without any commitment to (and sometimes even without any knowledge of) the Adventist belief on Ellen White's prophetic gift. The present generation of Adventists might not yet perceive the full impact of this uncommitted trend, for there are still committed people within the church to provide balance on this matter. But if the church consciously accepts into its membership people who do not trust Ellen White's prophetic gift, the church will face, sooner or later, a major internal crisis in this area Insightful statements on prebaptismal acquaintance with Ellen White's prophetic gift are found in the writings of Francis M. Wilcox, Francis D. Nichol, and Arthur L. White. F. M. Wilcox, who was one of the first five Trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate, wrote, Inasmuch as the labors of Mrs. E.G, White have entered so largely into the development of the second advent movement, candidates for church membership should be made acquainted with the divine ministry to which she was called, and the influence of her labors and writings through the years. Opportunity should be afforded them to read her published books. When this instruction has been given candidates, but lle question ever will be raised as to faith in the doctrine of spiritual gifts being made a test of church fellowship, If, as the result of this investigation, the one contemplating church membership arrives at settled convictions in opposition to this doctrine, he naturally will not wish to unite his interests with a church that holds it as a part of its religious faith. In any event he should be encouraged to wait until he has time and opportunity for more mature study of the question.*? F. D. Nichol, editor of The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, declares, Now, because we should delay baptizing a person until he understands and accepts Mis. White, does it therefore follow that we should promptly disfellowship him in the event he might later become blurred in hs faith and give up belief in her? We think not. When we take someone into the church we view him from then on as a part of the fellowship of believers, and hence we have a heightened responsibilty for his soul. If one of the church family wavers on some point Of belief we should seek to help him to come into full faith again, and we should continue our endeavors to help him as long as there is hope. But if discord and rebellion develop, as they sometimes do, they create a new situation that may finally require disfellowshiping to protect the peace and stability of the church *® And Arthur L. White, secretary of the Ellen G. White Estate for more than 40 years, adds that belief in the Spirit of prophecy is usually considered a test of acceptance of new members into the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but it is not made a test of fellowship in that we would disfellowship a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who may for some reason have lost 2wiicox, Testimony of Jesus, 137. Francis D. Nichol, Why | Believe in Mrs. E. G. White (Washington, DC: Review and Herald 1964), 106.15 his confidence in the Spirit of prophecy, unless that individual becomes belligerent and disturbs the church of which he is a member, because of this. Many internal crises could be avoided if the church would take more seriously into consideration the advise found in the above-quoted statements. (3) What could the church do to minimize the negative effect of distorted misreadings of Ellen White's writings among its members? Besides the problem of disbelief in regard to Ellen White's prophetic ministry, the church is facing today, as already pointed out, strong winds of misreadings of her writings and misinterpretations of her teachings. Independent ministries are not reluctant to impose upon the church their private interpretations of those writings as a test of fellowship.“ Those who agree with their interpretations are regarded as in good standing with so-called “historic Adventism,"* but those who disagree are viewed as in apostasy from the Adventist faith. Furthermore, many other self- sufficient individuals are suggesting a vast spectrum of other unacceptable interpretations of those writings. Such interpretations are being spread around by voice, private publications, photocopied materials, as well as through the Internet. Except for the English language, the denomination has not yet been much concerned in building up, in other languages, a serious network of convincing answers to those challenges. In many instances, the distortions of Ellen White's writings arrive much earlier than the sound and balanced interpretations. This happens especially in those places of the world where the trust in Ellen White is not strong or where there is a lack of financial resources to pay for good translations of such answers. Whenever wrong interpretations are propagated prior to the right ones, the church is in serious danger. Some studies have demonstrated that those who arrive first with their concepts (even if they are wrong) have much more chance of keeping the individual ideologically with them than those who arrive later (even if they are right).‘” “arthur L. White to George E. Carter, May 8, 1958, Q&A 25-K-5, EGWE ((talics supplied). ‘Some of the those independent ministries were critically evaluated by the North-American Division in Issues: The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Certain Private Ministries (Silver Spring, MD: North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, 1992) and "issues: The Seventh- day Adventist Church & Certain Private Organizations,” supplement to AIR, Nov. 5, 1992: and by the General Conference in "Report on Hope International and Associated Groups," AIR, AUG 2000, 34-37; "Decision on Hope Intemational and Associated Groups by a General Conference. ‘appointed Committee,” Min, Aug. 2000, 28-31 A helpful critical analysis of the expression “historic Adventism” is provided in /ssues, 35-52. See David G, Myers, “Reasons for Unreason," in Martin Bolt and David G. Myers, The ‘Human Connection (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1984), 37-47.16 The church is waiting around the world for convincing answers to the great challenges of our days. Homiletic answers to scholarly questions might not always work as well as expected. More then ever, we need the discernment granted by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:10) to perceive forthcoming issues and to vaccinate people in advance against them, without anticipating crises or popularizing error. Church members want to know exactly what we believe and where we stand Practical Strategies to Build up Confidence in Ellen White’s Prophetic Gift To build up confidence in Ellen White's prophetic ministry we need to move more effectively into the life of the local churches. Many practical suggestions could be presented, but | would like to highlight here only seven of them. (1) To evaluate more effectively the overall profile and commitment to Ellen White's writings of the professors and teachers that work in the Seventh- day Adventist educational system. Special attention should be given to the professors of the Theological Seminaries and Schools of Pastoral Training that are preparing the new generations of ministers for the church. It would be very sad if, in the ministerial training level, the church loses confidence in Ellen White's prophetic gift (2) To develop more effective strategies for building up the faith of thousands of new converts (including children and young people) who are added daily to the Seventh-day Adventist Church around the world, so that they might better understand Ellen White and her role in the church. Massive baptisms of new converts with little doctrinal knowledge is conspiring against the future of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its doctrinal identity (3) To develop more effective strategies to stimulate the reading of Ellen White's writings among those church members who simply do not read her writings. The Ellen White illiteracy of many church members is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges the church is facing today in several parts of the world. Much further discussion is need to develop more effective strategies in this specific area, (4) To provide less expensive Ellen White books to developing countries with economic crises. The independent ministries are flooding some of those countries with inexpensive copies of Ellen White books. This has generated, at least in some place, a real crisis of administrative credibility for the church. A few church workers have actually left church employment to begin working with those ministries. To print Ellen White books in some of those countries might be far less expensive than to import them from countries with a stronger economy. (5) To provide convincing answers to the major issues the church is facing today around the world. Those issues include not only strong criticisms to Ellen White and her prophetic ministry but also the use of many of her statements out of context and queries about the trustworthiness of official compilations from her17 writings. It is not enough just to know about the existence of answers to those issues in English. They have to be made available also in other languages, according to the actual needs of each specific area of the world field. | am more and more convinced that the church should establish major Web sites, dealing with Ellen White, in the most representative languages of the Adventist world Besides English, there are already a few, but even those could be improved significantly to become more effective and helpful for both ministers and church members. (6) To vaccinate church members against the distorted interpretations of Ellen White's writings. | believe that time has come in which Adventist ministers should teach church members that not all materials available today are worth reading, because of their faith-destructive approach. Under the label of Democracy and the excuse that we have to "test everything” and "hold on to the good" (1 Thess 5:21), many distorted theories are finding room within the church. The "broader knowledge" offered by the serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden did not help very much either her or even us (see Gen 3). King David stated that he himself would not like to have any kind of knowledge that was unfair (see Ps 101). (7) To develop strategies at local churches to strengthen truth in Ellen White's prophetic ministry. A helpful strategy to encourage people to read Ellen White's writings is the idea of choosing every year one of her books as the "book of the year." In the South-American Division, this program has shown itself very helpful for the church. For 2003, plans are being made to adopt Herbert Douglass's book Messenger of the Lord as the book of the year. The book will be studied on Wednesday evenings in the local churches or in small groups, with the help of a Study Guide and a CD-ROM with PowerPoint presentations. Another plan that can strengthen the Adventist trust in Ellen White's prophetic guidance is the establishment of Ellen G. White Study Centers (at institutions listed in the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook) and Ellen G. White Mini- Centers (at Adventist schools and local churches). In Brazil, by the end of 2001, there were already 18 Ellen G. White Mini-Centers intended to make accessible for church members materials related to the study of (1) the Bible, (2) Ellen White's writings, and (3) Seventh-day Adventist Church History.* Many other ideas could be added here, but these can provide us a starting point for further discussions on what the church could do, on the practical level, to build up confidence in the prophetic gift of Ellen White. ‘Summary and Conclusion The present paper provided initially a brief historical overview of the development across time of major issues related to Ellen White. The early doubts “See Alberto R. Timm, "Minicentros White no Brasil," Revista Adventista (Brazil) (hereafter RAIB}), Dec. 2000, 12-14; Redagao, “Bibliotecas proféticas,” RA(B), Dec. 2001, 25.18 and criticisms about her prophetic ministry were systematized by D. M. Canright between 1888 and 1919, which provided the ideological platform for all future criticisms of Ellen White. Since the early 1970s, however, such criticisms started to be echoed more and more clearly within some Adventist scholarly circles. By the mid-1980s, independent ministries and individuals start to criticize the church leadership for not accepting their private interpretations of Ellen White's writings And by early 1998, almost all those criticisms began to be made more effectively accessible to the world through the World Wide Web. As a result, both Seventh- day Adventists and non-Adventists are exposed today to an extremely challenging network of systematized criticisms of Ellen White's prophetic ministry Within the present context, the Seventh-day Adventist Church needs to address more seriously the following three questions: (1) Is belief in the prophetic gift of Ellen White an optional or required matter for contemporary Seventh-day Adventists? (2) Should the Seventh-day Adventist Church allow to be baptized into its membership people who do not accept Ellen White's prophetic gift? And (3) What could the church do to minimize the negative effect of distorted misreadings of Ellen White's writings among its members? Effective practical strategies should be developed to build up confidence in Ellen White's prophetic gift in local churches. We are living today in a time when the nature and function of Ellen White's prophetic ministry are being seriously challenged and the opinions about it are becoming more and more polarized. On one side are those who are tempting the church to replace the solo authority of the Bible by the writings of Ellen White. On the other side are those who are not afraid to put aside those writings as meaningless and culturally pertinent only to 19th-century North America. Beside those who openly join either one camp or the other, there are also those uncommitted watchers who are simply waiting to see how the struggle will finally end (cf. 1 Sam 2:12-36). The church needs today, more then ever, a divinely-anointed leadership able to bring true balance to this struggle. The church membership wants and needs to know exactly what we believe and where we stand. It is not a easy task to be a true prophet, or even a mere spokesman of a prophet, but God promises to shelter in His arms those who are faithful to His commission. As stated in 2 Chronicles 20:20 (NIV), "Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”