The Gift that is Prophecy, part 4
Mentone January 2, 2016
Good morning, church family. It’s possible that someone here, or viewing on the internet might be a first-time visitor, so please let me offer a word of explanation. Our church, the Seventh-dayAdventistChurch, was begun officially in 1863, and one who played a large role in its founding was Mrs. Ellen G. White, whom we believe was used by God in a prophetic ministry.
Because last year was the 100th year anniversary of the passing of Sister Ellen White, we’ve been reviewing the blessing of her ministry and seeing how God used this woman to guide His church.Last time I shared with you this perspective on the role of Ellen White’s writings as they relate to the truths of the Holy Bible, the Scriptures. You’ll probably hear me repeat this little illustration again, because I believe that in simple terms it explains why God gave us the “Gift that is Prophecy.” Here it is.“A telescope doesn’t change stars; it just makes their light brighter and easier to see.” What this means is that the “stars,” which are the gems of truth found in the Bible, are not changed by what she wrote. But they are illuminated and made easier to see. Does that make sense?
First, we looked at the biblical evidence of what prophecy is and how the existence of the ministry of prophecy is anticipated within God’s last-day remnant people, noting what Joel 2:28, 29 state, as well as I Thessalonians 5:16-23 and Revelation 12:17 and 19:10. As mentioned we believe that the ministry of prophecy was given through a woman named Ellen White.
Secondly, we took a brief look at her personal life and saw that although injured when only 9, and enduring many physical hardships through her lifetime, she nevertheless fulfilled God’s commission for her task, writing some 100,000 handwritten pages of manuscript, being the most prolific female American author on any subject, and the most translated female author in the history of literature.
Thirdly, we compared the experiences of biblical prophets while in vision with that of Ellen White, and saw that they bear much in common. While in vision, she did not breathe, yet her heart continued to beat. She lost her physical strength, and then was endowed with supernatural strength, just as the prophets in Bible times experienced.
But “physical phenomena” is just one of many “tests of the prophets” that the Bible outlines. Others are that their predictions come to pass, that their messages conform to Scripture, that their fruits bear a testimony to their origin, and that the messages uplift Christ. In all these aspects I submit to you that the writings of Sister Ellen G. White meet the criteria established by Scripture as being given by God. We do not place her writings equal to or certainly not above Scripture. But we do recognize that they are inspired writings, given by God’s Spirit to guide and bless His last-day Church.
As I’ve always said, if anyone has a question or a doubt about the authenticity of her writings, I ask only two things. Read for yourself what she wrote. Just read for yourself any book, Desire of Ages, Patriarchs and Prophets, Great Controversy, and then ask yourself these two questions: 1) Is there anything in these books that contradicts what is given in the Bible? 2) Do I understand the Bible better and am I drawn closer to Jesus by reading her writings? I sincerely believe that anyone approaching her writings, being fair-minded and unbiased, will reach the same conclusion that I have reached, that is that her writings bear the impress of divine inspiration.
Having said that, we recognize that there are questions and concerns that have been raised concerning her ministry, and today we wish to address a few of those matters. We don’t wish to belabor these points, for more than adequate answers have been provided by excellent writers through the years.
King Solomon preached, “There is nothing new under the sun.” The criticisms leveled today are merely the echoes of challenges from the past, which is an advantage in two distinct ways. First, since the questions buzzing around today were launched many decades ago, more than adequate answers have been provided by more than adequate scholars. There is a second advantage, which we will mention in a moment.
Because this field of study is so large, so extensive that many, many hours would be needed to discuss even a fraction of the issues involved, what we wish to do today is give a bird’s eye view of the subject and point you to the resources available for further study. I will confess that for the serious, unbiased student, I am convinced that more than sufficient material is available to answer the questions and concerns that have been raised.
At the outset, let us note that the existence of criticisms and complaints should not surprise us. In fact, to the contrary, if there were no challenges, questions or concerns, that would no doubt be a cause for doubt. All that one has to do is take a quick review of the treatment that God’s messengers received in times past to know that eroding confidence in the ones appointed by God as His agents has been a studied pattern by the evil one. And we should note that the ill treatment has been headed, not by those who make no claim for following God, but rather those who have professed to be God’s people.
What was the experience of Moses, whom God used to lead His people out of Egypt? For his trouble he was accused of bringing them out for personal advantage. On occasion they threatened to stone him. The prophet Isaiah was sawn in half. Jeremiah was rejected by most and tossed into a dirty, dingy dungeon. Judah’s King Jehoiakim took a pen knife to his writings and burned them in the fire. Remember that this malice was practiced by whom? By the heathen? By pagans? No, it was launched by those who claimed to be following God! Stephen in his brilliant defense asked the Jews, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?” Acts 7:52.
The Apostle Paul had to deal with those who marginalized his prophetic commission. If you read the book of II Corinthians you will see how he reluctantly and modestly defends his calling.
And Jesus, the greatest Prophet of them all, was sent “last of all” to the chosen people, only to suffer cruelty and crucifixion. The pattern is clearly laid out within the Bible story, that ones whom God used to share His messages of love were routinely denied, ignored, ridiculed and rejected. You might expect that if Satan knew that the Lord intended to give truth, instruction and encouragement to His children, that he would be ready, as the birds in Jesus’ parable, to snatch away the seeds of the Gospel.
So it is to be expected that if God chose a human instrument through which to deliver messages of comfort and correction, that Satan would be standing by, eager to discredit and denounce. This he has done through the pen, by the voice and more recently through the internet. Sad to say, most often the objections have been fired by former Seventh-day Adventists, some of whom we’ll mention in a minute or two. Don’t be shocked by that fact either. Remember that it was Lucifer, one of God’s chief angels, a “covering cherub” who stood closest to God’s throne, who became His most bitter enemy.
Now, it is true that you can’t spend all your time dealing with the charges and attacks made against you, or nothing positive will ever get done. The story of Nehemiah is relevant here. While he was busy working on rebuilding the city wall of Jerusalem, he was invited to come down and engage in a meeting with his enemies. His reply was, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Nehemiah 6:3. It would be inadvisable to chase every rabbit trail no matter where it leads.
Nevertheless, balance is needed, and periodically attention should be given to the criticisms of detractors, and reasoned answers offered in a courteous tone. This was the example of our Lord. When facing charges, the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled, in that “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 53:7.
But at the same time, when adjured by the high priest as to whether He was the Son of God, Christ answered and said, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:64. The quibbling questions of curiosity- seekers He had no time for, but there was an occasion when for Him to remain silent would not have been the right thing to do.
In the same way our church has on occasion brought forth answers to the objections of those who have raised questions, and I submit that for the honest seeker of truth, they will discover them to be more than satisfactory in answering the criticisms raised.
Here are some of the resources that are available, many of them without charge if you access to the internet. A few of the books that go into much greater detail than what we will do today in addressing these concerns are EllenG. White and Her Critics, by L. E. Froom. With its excellent information, appendices and bibliography, its 700 pages provide an invaluable resource. There is a hardback book available, but it can be viewed for free on the web.Just put that title in your search engine and scroll till you see the pdf file. His answers are backed by solid evidence, and he addresses head-on the challenges raised by our detractors.
Also, there is the fairly recent Ellen White Under Fire by Dr. Judd Lake, from which we will draw heavily today. His book has the advantage that it discusses those criticisms that are so readily circulated on the internet by those who wish to discredit us and the ministry of Ellen White. His book is very readable, and well worth having. In addition to that, there are the books Believe His Prophets by Denton Rebok and Prophet of Destiny by Rene Noorbergen.
The White Estate has valuable material available at their website. ( For anyone who wishes to study further into these questions, these volumes provide a wealth of information. But, we’re getting a little ahead of our story! We need to go back into history for a moment and review the emergence of some of the early groups and individuals who unsheathed the sword of criticism.
It is important that we spend some time reviewing what took place inthe past to give us a broad perspective on this matter, because as King Solomon said “There is nothing new under the sun.” Nearly every one of the challenges and criticisms voiced today are nothing more than a resurrection of criticisms expressed by former challengers, and more specifically by one person, whose life experience we’ll look at in just a moment.
Early on, there were two groups, the so-called “Messenger Party,” and the “Marion Party.” Those involved in what became known as the Messenger Party nurtured disenchantment (mark it well: often a leaven to brewing the ale of criticism) because in 1853 Sister White had given a testimony of correction to two Adventist ministers (Case and Russell) who had wrongfully accused a certain lady of speaking a vile word. They also accused James White for overcharging people in the sale of books and bibles. They were offended by Sister White’s reproof, and began denouncing her ministry, publishing a paper called Messenger of Truth,which they expected would take the place of the Review and Herald. Hence their name, the Messenger Party,
By November of 1854, the Review and Herald issued a response to the charges brought, but this seemed only to add fuel to the fire. By the next year the issue had fomented to the point that the brethren decided to take a more aggressive approach. But Sister White was given a vision in which God instructed them to bear patiently the attacks made against them, alluding to the Nehemiah counsel. In 1855 the situation was reviewed at a major conference held at Battle Creek, Michigan, and the church decided to focus on their mission primarily, and not let Satan divert them from their commission. The impact of the Messenger Party was short-lived.
The Marion Party was so named because they were headquartered in Marion, Iowa. In 1863 the church officially organized, and ratified the name Seventh-day Adventist. Two pastors (B. F. Snook and W. H. Brinkerhoff) who opposed both organization and the choice of the name (they preferred “Church of God”), began to raise opposition. In addition, they rejected the influence of Sister White, and thought that James was exercising power far beyond what was appropriate. In this we find a strong parallel with the experience of Israel as recorded in the book of Numbers, in which episodes are recounted when the leadership of Moses was challenged.
In 1865 James and Ellen White met with them in Iowa and answered their questions and objections, and both men apologized and wrote letters to the Review and Herald expressing their contrition and repentance. However, this was not to last very long, and within weeks the campaign of slander and mud-slinging was revived with even greater vigor. In 1866 they published the book, The Visions of E.G. White, Not of God.In this volume they charged that Ellen White contradicted herself and the Bible, that she wasn’t inspired, that she taught that probation had closed for the entire world after October 22, 1844 (the “shut-door” theory), and that the Church had elevated her writings to be essentially “another Bible.” It is interesting to note that the substance of their 39 criticisms has lasted more than a century and a half.
Uriah Smith wrote an extensive answer to the charges made and published a five-part series in the Review and Herald of July of 1866, in which he methodically answered the objections raised. Later in 1868 Smith expanded his work into a 144-page book titled, TheVisions of Mrs. E. G. White, a Manifestation of Spiritual Gifts According to the Scriptures. This is available free in pdf format online.
H. E. Carver, who took the lead after Snook and Brinkerhoff, in 1870 published Mrs. E. G. White’s Claims to Divine Inspiration Examined.Although he didn’t mention Carver by name, James White’s article in the Review and Herald of June 13, 1871 addressed the points raised by him.
Another member of the Marion Party, A.C. Long wrote Comparison of the Early Writings of Mrs. White with Later Publications. He argued that the church was suppressing earlier material and hiding it from the public eye, an objection that still lingers today on current websites. He alleged, “Fifty-nine lines of her first three visions are omitted from her late published works.”
What are the facts? Ellen White’s writing ministry began when she started having visions, and these were published in various forms; pamphlets, articles and “broadsides.” When the material was later collected and published in a more permanent form, Early Writings, it is true that there were some deletions or omissions from the entire body of earlier productions. This was made out to be a major scandal by Long, who charged the church of “suppression.”
The Church felt that it was appropriate to respond, and in August of 1883 in a Review and Herald Supplement, gave 16-page answer to the objection. More than that, the supposedly “suppressed” material had already been reprinted in its entirety, in the book Word to the Little Flock, reprinted copies of which were made available to anyone who requested, and is available today free online.Sister White herself answered Long’s criticisms, something she rarely did. Her response can be read inSelected Messages, vol. 1, p. 60.
Miles Grant was another critic of Sister White, and the Review and Herald of April 14, 1874 contained a response to his charges. White herself addressed the charges he leveled in a letter she wrote to John Loughborough. See Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 74. Not short on energy, Grant traveled to Italy and rented space on a hall directly above where Sister White was speaking, for the purpose of refuting and denouncing her ministry.
Now we come to the one who might be called the “Father of Ellen White Criticisms” (according to Dr. Lake), whose life we will take a few minutes to review at this time. That man was Dudley Marvin Canright. How many have heard of his life story before? We would say, the strange and sad, contradictory and paradoxical life of D. M. Canright. To understand Adventist history and experience, you must be somewhat acquainted with his biography and work. An excellent resource for this background is the book, now available free on the web, I Was Canright’s Secretary, by Carrie Johnson, 162 pages in length.You can also find it on Amazon.com. We will mention the second distinct advantage at this point.