Inspiration/Revelation: What It Is and How It Works

Part III: The Relationship Between the Ellen G. White Writings and the Bible

By Roger W. Coon

GOAL STATEMENT

This continuing education study material is intended to serve as a refresher course for class­room teachers who are called upon in religion courses to explain the methodology God employed in communicating His divine truths and expecta­tions to human beings alienated from His presence because of their sinful condition. For other teachers, this continuing education course may serve to strengthen their commitment as Seventh­day Adventist Church members to the work of one believed to have been God's most recent prophet, Ellen G. White, in a day when her prophetic gift and contribution to this church are being increas­ingly questioned and challenged.

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

After studying Part III of this continuing educa-

* Approved by the North American Division Office of Edu­cation for 0.5 Continuing Education Units Credit or 5 contact hours.

Associate Secretary, Ellen G. White Estate General Conference of SDA

VOL. 44, NO. 3, FEBRUARY-MARCH, 1982

tion minicourse, following:

you should be able to do the

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Understand Ellen G. White's role as a modern prophet in the light of the experi­ence of the eight literary but noncanoni­cal prophets of the Bible.

Evaluate the reasons offered against the idea of degrees of inspiration taken from empirical observation, logic, and faith.

Evaluate the reasons offered against the idea of degrees of authority based on the experience of the Old Testament proph­ets Nathan and Gad in their ministry to King David.

Understand what Ellen White intended to teach (and, just as important, what she did not wish to convey) by her analogy of the "greater light/lesser light."

Understand the three functions of Mrs. White's writings as they relate to the

17

Herald Pub. Assn., 1945), p. 184. "Ibid. "Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts (Washington, D.C.: Review and

Herald Pub. Assn., 1945), vol. 3, p. 34. "Selected Messages, Book I, pp. 304, 305. " Desire of Ages, p. 786. " Selected Messages, Book I, p. 304; Desire of Ages, p. 786. '° Desire of Ages, p. 786. " Selected Messages, Book I, p. 305. "Early Writings, p. 184. " Ibid.; Desire of Ages, p. 786. " Selected Messages, Book I, p. 305. " Selected Messages, Book I, pp. 306, 307. "Daniel 12:1, 2; Matthew 26:64; Revelation 1:7; 14:13. ,- Early Writings, p. 285; Great Controversy, p. 637. '" LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers (Wash­

ington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1954), vol. 4, pp. 1021-1048.

" "Sabbath Conferences," Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, p. 1255.

"' Cited in Spiritual Gijis, vol. 2, p. 93. " Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (Mountain View,

Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1915), p. 110. " Selected Messages, Book I, p. 206. " Life Sketches, p. 111. " Comprehensive Index lo the Writings of Ellen G. White (Mountain

View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1963), vol. 3, p. 3214. " Selected Messages, Book I, pp. 206, 207. " Life Sketches, p. 111. " Selected Messages, Book I, p. 207. '" Ibid. Italics supplied. °' Ibid. "" Life Sketches, p. 111. " Froom, op. cit., pp. 1046, 1047. " For a more detailed step-by-step analysis of the formulation of our

doctrines, see Froom, op. cit., pp. 1021-1048; and Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White, Messenger to the Remnant (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1969), pp. 34-37.

" Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 691. "Ibid., p. 67. Italics supplied. The use of "merely" should alert the

reader to the fact that Ellen White was not claiming that she never got ideas or materials from the writings of others, but rather that what she wrote was always in harmony with the messages God gave her in vision.

" Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 667, 668. '"Ibid., p. 667. " Ibid., p. 668. '"Ellen G. White, Christ in His Sanctuary (Mountain View, Calif.:

Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1969), p. IO.

" Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 83. "" Ibid., p. 671. "' Ibid., p. 64. "'Ibid., pp. 687, 688. " Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers (Washington, D.C.: Review and

Herald Pub. Assn., 1948), p. 302. Italics supplied. _ _____ _ , Selected Messages (Washington, D.C.: Review

and Herald Pub. Assn., 1980), Book 3, p. 52. "' Ibid., p. 38. " Ibid., p. 32. " Letter 50, 1906; cited in Graybill, Ministry, op. cit., p. 9. ""Selected Messages, Book I, p. 161. "Ibid., pp. 161, 162. " Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 691. " Ibid., p. 79. " Ibid., p. 675. " Ibid., pp. 675, 676. " Ibid., p. 674. " Ibid., p. 672. " Ibid., p. 691. " Ibid., p. 66. '" Ibid., p. 674. " Ibid., p. 664.

'00 Ibid., p. 678. '"' Ibid., p. 680. '"' Ibid., p. 668. '"' Ibid., p. 66. '°' Selected Messages, Book 3, p. 84.

"' Ellen G. White, Counsels on Sabbath School Work (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1938), p. 84.

_ _ _ _ _ __ , The Story of Prophets and Kings (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1943), p. 626.

'"' Arthur L. White, "The Position of 'The Bible, and The Bible Only' and the Relationship of This to the Writings of Ellen G. White," unpublished document, Ellen G. White Estate, General Conference of SDA, Washington, D.C., January, 1971, 37 pages.

"" Ibid., pp. 19, 20. The appendix material in this monograph is especially helpful, consisting in part of reprints of periodical articles by J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, and Ellen G. White.

"' Review and Herald, January 13, 1863; cited in Robert W. Olson, IOI Questions on the Sanctuary and on Ellen White (Washingtcln, D.C.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1981), p. 40. The entire editorial appears as Appendix D in the Arthur White monograph.

"" Review and Herald, June 9, 1874; cited in White monograph, p. 12.

'" Questions on Doctrine, p. 89. '" Selected Messages, Book I, p. 201. Italics supplied.

VOL. 44, NO. 3, FEBRUARY-MARCH, 1982 33