Scripture warns that there will be false prophets who will be given demonic power to produce miracles which will deceive many people. Ellen believed that her "guides" were angels of God, but she accepted revelations from them that were contrary to scripture; so did she herself adequately test the spirits that came to her?  Was Ellen deceived by demons because she failed to test their messages against the word of God?

If one is to listen to the vast number of testimonies from those who have left the occult and practice of witchcraft in order to follow Jesus, they will hear countless testimonies of supernatural experiences and astral projections (a medium being gifted, by a vision, the experience of seeing others through the movement and eyes of demons).

It is evident Ellen that was spoken to and at times inhabited by spirits. We are individually commanded by God to test those spirits by testing their message against the truth He has already spoken, to see whether or not they are from Him.

 

Scripture:

• “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:15-23

 

• “For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24

 

• “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

 

• “But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” 2 Peter 2:1

 

• “Do not quench the Spirit, do not utterly reject prophecies, but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

 

• “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.” Deuteronomy 13:1-5

 

•  “As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, And like a man overcome by wine, Because of the Lord And because of His holy words. For the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course is evil And their might is not right. “For both prophet and priest are defiled; Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the Lord. “Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them, They will be driven away into the gloom and fall down in it; For I will bring disaster upon them, The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.  “Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in deceit; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says concerning the prophets:  ‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood And make them drink poisonous water, For from the prophets of Jerusalem Ungodliness has spread into all the land.’”  This is what the Lord of armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They tell a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘Disaster will not come on you.’ But who has stood in the council of the Lord, That he should see and hear His word? Who has paid attention to His word and listened? Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back Until He has performed and carried out the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it. I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied. But if they had stood in My council, Then they would have announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds. “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far off? Can a person hide himself in hiding places So that I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord. “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the deceitfulness of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they report to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? The prophet who has a dream may report his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word truthfully. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is My word not like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares!’ Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and reported them and led My people astray by their lies and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them nor command them, nor do they provide this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:9-32

 

Evidence of Spirits by Supernatural Occurrences

 

Supernatural strength, speaking without breathing:

• “Sister Ellen was taken off in vision with extraordinary manifestations, and continued talking in vision with a clear voice, which could be distinctly understood by all present, until about sundown. Sargent, Robbins, and French were much exasperated, as well as excited, to hear Sister Ellen talk in vision, which they declared was of the devil; they exhausted all their influence and bodily strength to destroy the effect of the vision. They would unite in singing very loud, and then alternately would talk and read from the Bible in a loud voice, in order that Ellen might not be heard, until their strength was exhausted, and their hands would shake so they could not read from the Bible, but amidst all this confusion and noise, Ellen’s clear and shrill voice, as she talked in vision, was distinctly heard by all present. The opposition of these men continued as long as they could talk and sing, notwithstanding some of their own friends rebuked them, and requested them to stop. But said Robbins, ‘You are bowed to an idol: you are worshiping a golden calf.’  “Mr. Thayer, the owner of the house, was not fully satisfied that her vision was of the devil, as Robbins declared it to be. He wanted it tested in some way. He had heard that visions of Satanic power were arrested by opening the Bible and laying it on the person in vision, and asked Sargent if he would test it in that way, which he declined to do. Then Mr. Thayer took a heavy, large quarto family Bible which was lying on the table, and seldom used, opened it, and laid it open upon the breast of Ellen while in vision, as she was then inclined backward against the wall in the corner of the room. Immediately after the Bible was laid upon her, she arose upon her feet, and walked into the middle of the room, with the Bible open in one hand, and lifted up as high as she could reach, and with her eyes steadily looking upward, declared in a solemn manner, ‘The inspired testimony from God,’ or words of the same import. And then, while the Bible was extended in one hand, and her eyes looking upward, and not on the Bible, she continued for a long time to turn over the leaves with her other hand, and place her finger upon certain passages, and correctly utter their words with a solemn voice. Many present looked at the passages where her finger was pointed, to see if she spoke them correctly, for her eyes at the same time were looking upward. Some of the passages referred to were judgments against the wicked and blasphemers; and others were admonitions and instructions relative to our present condition.” The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, p. 242 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1140.1498#1499 

 

• "I will here state some facts respecting her third vision, the one given in her father’s house, mentioned in Chapter XIII, page 212, as related to me by Mrs. White’s father and mother, by her sister, Mrs. Sarah Belden, and others.  In the room where the vision was given, there was lying on the bureau a very large family Bible. It was one of an edition printed in Boston by Joseph Teale, in the year 1822. The book is eighteen by eleven inches, four inches in thickness, and weighs a little over eighteen pounds. While in vision, she arose, and took this heavy Bible on her left arm, the book lying open, and held it out at right angles with her body; and then for over half an hour, with her right hand, turned from place to place, and pointed to different texts of Scriptures, which she repeated while her eyes were looking upward, and in an opposite direction from the book. Her sister Sarah (afterward the wife of Stephen Belden), or, at times, some other person present, looked at every text to which her finger pointed, and saw clearly that in every instance she was repeating the scripture upon which her finger was resting. Mother Harmon said her daughter Ellen in her natural condition “was unable, for lack of strength, to lift that heavy Bible from the bureau; but in the vision she held it as easily, apparently, as though it were only a pocket Testament.”   Here, indeed, was a wonder!—a delicate girl, weighing only seventy pounds, holding a heavy Bible for over half an hour in a position in which a strong man could not hold it for two minutes; again, turning from place to place to texts of Scripture which proved in every instance to be the text she repeated, while her eyes were turned upward and in an opposite direction from the book; and lastly, a voice emanating from a person with no movement of the lungs or breath in the body, and repeated correctly the designated texts of Scripture,—this surely is above the charge of being produced by human agency, or as being the effect of disease. Those who saw it regarded it as most clearly a manifestation of the Spirit of Him who spake from the burning bush. Such manifestations as these in Miss Harmon’s third vision, where known, carried convincing proof that a power more than finite was in the visions.” The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, p. 236 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1140.1462#1463 

 

• “The Adventist meetings at that time were held in the house of Mr. Curtiss. Mrs. Frances Lunt (formerly Miss Frances Howland), of Oakland, Cal., gave me the following statement, dated Jan. 19, 1890:—   “I, with my father’s family, attended the meetings of Sister Harmon in Topsham, in 1845, and during these meetings she had a vision. It was the first time we ever saw her in vision. One of those old-fashioned Bibles [the Teale Family Bible, weighing eighteen pounds] was owned by Brother Curtiss. This big Bible was taken from the bureau by Sister Harmon while in vision, and texts of Scripture were pointed out by her as she turned from leaf to leaf, while her eyes were looking upward, and away from the book. The texts she repeated were either words of instruction, encouragement, or reproof. Another peculiarity of the manifestation at that time was the position of the book. It was held on her open hand at an angle of forty-five degrees, and no one else was able to hold any book at a similar angle without its slipping at once from the hands; but Sister Harmon held this Bible at that angle for several minutes, as firmly as though it was stuck to her hand, she passing meanwhile from one to another in the room.” The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, p. 237 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1140.1468#1468 

 

• "Mrs. M. C. Truesdail, of Trenton, Mo., dated Jan. 27, 1891. She says:  'I was fifteen years old in 1845, and was present at the time of Sister Harmon’s first visit to Topsham, when she had the vision at the house of Brother Curtiss, where she took up the great family Bible and held it up in a position in which none of the others could hold a book on the hands without its slipping off at once. Sister Harmon was in vision over two hours. It was the most wonderful manifestation of the power of God I ever witnessed, and I have seen her in vision more than one dozen times. These were always occasions of deep solemnity and self-examination, but this exceeded them all. O! how we trembled as the Majesty of heaven instructed us through his feeble instrument; as she read to us passages so comforting and appropriate in our trying position; such as Hebrews 2:2, 3; James 5:7, 8; Hebrews 10:35, 39; 1 Peter 1:7; Luke 12:32-37, besides many others, holding the large family Bible so high that I was obliged to stand on a chair to read where she was pointing. I do not think Sister Harmon was over two inches the taller.'  Such manifestations convinced the candid that some power more than human was controlling the humble instrument, and calls come from various parts of New England for her to come and deliver her testimony.” The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, p. 238 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1140.1473#1473 
  • If just one person saw Ellen in vision over 12 times, and she is said to have had thousands of visions, there is evidence Ellen was in vision more often than any of the biblical prophets. This is something to consider, since this is not consistent with the way in which God gave visions to anyone beforehand. 

 

Supernaturally Reciting Scripture:

• “Mrs. Frances Lunt (daughter of S. Howland), on the 19th of January, 1890, said to me: “There was at the side of the room where the meetings were held, a table upon which were a number of books of various kinds, among which were several Bibles of ordinary size. While in vision, Mrs. White rose to her feet, went to the table, picked up a Bible without touching another book, and holding it open above her head with her left hand, with the index finger of the right hand pointed to the text of Scripture she was repeating as she stood before the person for whom it was designed, and then placed the open book on the chest of the person before whom she repeated the scripture. Returning to the table, she took another Bible, and in the same manner repeated another text of Scripture and placed the open Bible on the chest of the individual she was addressing. This act was repeated to about half a dozen persons; after which in a graceful manner, she took her seat in a chair, while her eyes were all the while looking upward and away from the book.” Of this Mrs. Truesdail says: “I was present [April, 1847] when Sister White went to the table and picked up one Bible after another from among the books that were on the table, laying the Bible on the breast of the one for whom she had a text of Scripture. This was done while her eyes were uplifted toward heaven. On this occasion she held the Bible above her head while speaking to me; and then she placed it upon my breast. The passage given me was 2 Corinthians 6:17.”  In a letter from Mrs. Frances Lunt, she gives the names of three persons who were present on this occasion, and on whom the Bibles were laid while Mrs. White talked to them on the text for each, and among the names was that of Mrs. Truesdail.” The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, p. 244 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1140.1510#1511 

 

A Vicious Horse Supernaturally Tamed:

“Shortly after this meeting in Topsham, another striking incident occurred in connection with the visions, which I will relate as told me by Elder Bates:  Elder White had the use of a partly broken colt and a two-seated market wagon, which was constructed without a dash-board, but had a step across the front of the wagon, and an iron step from the shafts. It was necessary that extreme care be taken in driving the colt, as in case the lines or anything touched his flanks he would instantly kick furiously, and he had to be held in continually with a taut rein to keep him from running. This colt belonged to a party to whose place they wished to go, and as Elder White had been used to managing unbroken colts, he thought he would have no serious trouble with this one. Had they known, however, that during its frantic demonstrations it had previously killed two men, one by crushing him against the rocks by the roadside, he might have been less confident.   On this occasion there were four persons in the wagon, Elder White and his wife upon the front seat, and Elder Bates and Israel Damon on the back seat. While Elder White was giving his utmost care to keep the horse under control, Mrs. White was conversing about the truth, when the power of God came down upon the company and she was taken off in vision, seated in the wagon. The moment she shouted “Glory!” as she went into vision, the colt suddenly stopped perfectly still, and dropped his head. At the same time Mrs. White arose, while in this state, and with her eyes looking upward, stepped over the front of the wagon, down on to the shafts, with her hands on the colt’s haunches. Elder Bates called out to Elder White, “The colt will kick that woman to death.” Elder White replied, “The Lord has the colt in charge now; I do not wish to interfere.” The colt stood as gentle as an old horse. By the roadside the bank rose up some six feet, and next to the fence was a grassy place. Mrs. White, with her eyes still upward, not once looking down, went up the bank on to the grassy plot, then walked back and forth for a few minutes, talking and describing the beauties of the new earth. Then, with her head in the same posture, she came down the bank, walked up to the wagon, stepped up on to the steps, with her hand on the rump of the colt, and so up on to the shafts, and into the wagon again. The moment she sat down upon the seat she came out of vision, and that instant the horse, without any indication from the driver, started up, and went on his way.   While Mrs. White was out of the wagon, Elder White thought he would test the horse, and see if he was really tame or not. At first he just touched him with the whip; at other times the horse would have responded with a kick, but now there was no motion. He then struck him quite a blow, then harder, and still harder. The colt paid no attention to the blows whatever, but seemed as harmless as the lions whose mouths the angels shut the night Daniel spent in their den. “It was a solemn place,” said Elder Bates, “and it was evident that the same Power that produced the visions, for the time being subdued the wild nature of the colt.” The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress, p. 261  https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1140.1619#1620 

 

 

Evidence for Possible Astral Projection

• “Again and again I have been taken by my guide to hear words and assertions which were untrue, but which were spoken with great earnestness in order to captivate the minds of men with reference to authors and their books, and in regard to money and how it should be used.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, p. 188 https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/63.974#1010 

 

• “Dear Brother Church: In the night season I was visited by a heavenly messenger who said, “Follow me.” …”Your case was also presented before me, and I saw that you were not walking in the light.” Letters and Manuscripts, Vol 6, Letter 8 (1890) https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14056.5046001#5046001