Ellen White and Adventism

No other one person has had as great an influence on the development of the Seventh-day Adventist church as Ellen White.

Since the very beginning, Seventh-day Adventists have had differences of opinion as to the precise nature of the role which Ellen White should occupy in the church. These have assumed even larger proportions since ease of communication has made possible increased knowledge about the historical context in which she lived and wrote. Thus the questions our ancestors left unresolved lie unanswered on our desks while new questions are arising in our minds and threaten to divide us. 

We offer some materials from those who are currently wrestling with these issues, as well as some historical documents and original Ellen White materials.

Articles by Arthur Patrick and Bert Haloviak set the pace and direction for our choice of materials on this site as they provide current analysis and historical information of the kind we believe can help us move in the directions necessary in order for the writings of Ellen White to continue to have a significant and relevant role in the Adventist church of the twenty-first century. 

Links to the EGW Estate site provide on-line access to all of Ellen White's published works, including books, magazine articles, pamphlets, and many of her personal letters as well as to biographies and analyses of her life and contributions to the SDA church.

 Published this year and already headed for a new printing, we are privileged to be able to bring you this entire book for reading on-line, even though it is also still "in print" and available for purchase in book form..  More Than A Prophet covers the same ground as do his two earlier books combined, but it does so in a more scholarly format with much more detail and reference material.  More Than A Prophet not only addresses the usual questions and attacks by her critics, but also examines the nature of inspiration, comparing how the wide variations in how Bible writers wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit with how Ellen White wrote... under the inspiration of that same Holy Spirit. 

Surfing the Ellen White Information Wave in 2006

By Arthur N. Patrick, D.Min., Ph.D

Arthur Patrick has for several years led the way for us in these Ellen White studies.  He has now added a number of short papers, all bound together in an annotated "index page".  In this, he introduces over a dozen of his own papers, all of which may be accessed  for reading on-line.  In his papers he introduces us to other writers in the Ellen White Studies field.... some of whom agree with him and some who disagree.  These will provide many hours of informational reading.  Allow time and plan many return visits.

A paper prepared for the Being Adventist In 21st Century Australia conference, September, 2002.

A paper prepared for the Being Adventist In 21st Century Australia conference, September, 2002.

By Arthur N. Patrick, D.Min., Ph.D.

A paper prepared for the South Pacific Division Theological Conference, February 2003.

Re-visioning the Role of Ellen White for Seventh-day Adventists Beyond 2000 and other papers

By Arthur N. Patrick, D.Min., Ph.D.

Dr. Patrick, now in very active retirement, continues to write, lecture, publish and serve the SDA church in the South Pacific Division.  In his several papers we present here, Patrick presents a historical look at the church's use and understanding of Ellen White, as well as a vision for the future. He states his position succinctly and gives us his vocabulary in the abstract of his title paper,  which reads in part, "If a large amount of new information about its heritage comes to a religious movement within a short space of time, three reactions are likely to occur: reversion, rejection, and transformation. An unprecedented quantity of fresh data about the life and writings of Ellen White and the history and thought of the Seventh-day Adventist Church emerged between 1970 and 1982. . . . For the unity of Adventism and the coherent fulfillment of its mission, administrators, teachers, pastors, and laity need to maximize the potential of the transformationist stance."

Ellen White and the SDA Church

By Bert Haloviak

Bert Haloviak is the Archivist of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist church.  In this paper he gives an historical analysis of different views toward the work of Ellen White during and in the years immediately following her death.  He sees these historical differences as foundational  to our present-day understanding of the differences among us as to the use and relevance of her writings for us today.

The 1919 SDA Bible and History Teachers Conference

Recent and historic manuscripts which present and discuss the issues raised about Ellen White's inspiration at this meeting of Adventist scholars and church leaders.

How the Spirit of Prophecy Met a Crisis: Memories and Notes of the Living Temple Controversy

By W. A. Spicer

An historic manuscript in 17 parts, written in 1938 but published here in its entirety for the first time, giving a first-hand account of the pantheism crisis at the turn of the century. 

I Was Canright's Secretary

By Carrie Johnson

First-hand account of what Dudley M. Canright -- the some-time ardent defender and later bitter opponent of the Seventh-day Adventist church -- was really like. Canright's books are still often quoted as authoritative by critics of the Seventh-day Adventist church, making relevant this portrait of the man behind the books, Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, and The Life of Mrs. E. G. White.

Letter to the Brethren and Sisters in Camp Meeting at Ballarat

By Ellen G. White

Letter written to the assembled Seventh-day Adventists at the 1899 camp meeting in Ballarat, Australia, published here in its entirety for the first time. Here Ellen White makes clear that a spirit of criticism is "Satan's science."

From Sinai to Golgotha

By Alden Thompson

Series of six articles first published in the Adventist Review in 1981, showing how God's progressive revelation has moved from "command to invitation, from fear to love," with illustrations from Scripture and the life and writings of Ellen White.

Between Ellen and Hell – Learning to Live With Imperfection

By Robert Wolfgramm Ph. D.

Personal experience essay, in which the author reminisces on learning to tell "the difference between legalism and gospel-good-news, between a childish and a child-like faith."