This is an investigation into the writing of Ellen. G White with the purpose of comparing her words with what is written in scripture. The authors of this website both grew up members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and attended grade school, high school, and universities affiliated with the organization. A few years into our marriage, we began this investigation into Ellen as a personal and independent study when we entered a challenging chapter in our spiritual walks. We were in a place where we needed to re-build our faith from the ground up. We started at the very beginning, examining the evidence for a Creator and the reliability of the scriptures. In the end, we found overwhelming evidence for the validity of the Bible, and have since been able to confidently rededicate our faith in Jesus as the Messiah. 

 

The next step in our process was to investigate the fundamental beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. The church endorses Ellen as a messenger who received visions from God, and her writings are endorsed as the "Spirit of Prophecy." The church states her writings hold prophetic and instructional authority over believers.  We had never tested her literary works against scripture with the prayerful request for God to show us whether she was truly His messenger. Our investigation over the next couple years was shockingly informative and difficult to digest. We were ultimately led to the belief that Ellen was not God's messenger, and we needed to embrace scripture alone and the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are grateful to our parents, who introduced us to our Creator. And we also appreciate the many aspects of truth that were given to us by many loving Seventh-day Adventists. This investigation is not an effort to crumble the faith or foundation of others, but to seek the truth even when it is uncomfortable. 

 

As believers, it is our conviction that every individual has the personal responsibility to understand the faith they represent. If they choose to invite others into their denomination, they must take accountability for the doctrines which that denomination teaches. Ellen claimed that her messages came from thousands of visions and conversations with her “Counselor” or “Guide.” Her claims of speaking in God’s name must be thoroughly tested in light of the fact that God holds individuals accountable for speaking in His name, as well as the severe warnings He has given us regarding false teachers and prophets. 

 

“Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:12

 

"You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, because Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7

 

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How will we recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you are not to be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy 18:21-22

 

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says: “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing! Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins. You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build up a stone wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord. They see deceit and lying divination, those who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word! Did you not see a false vision and tell a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” Ezekiel 13:2-7

 

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Matthew 7:15

 

"For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." Mark 13:22

 

"And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness." 2 Corinthians 11:12-15

 

We believe testing Ellen is critical due to the effect we have personally seen her writings have upon our community and people we love. Ellen herself stated that her books "should be in the library of every family and be read again and again” (T. vol. 5, p. 681).  Many Christians struggle to dedicate time to study scripture as it is. With Ellen's writings containing more written words than the Bible itself, and with her encouragement for her works to be read "again and again," there is hardly room left for a Seventh-day Adventist to study scripture on a deep and independent level. We believe Ellen's writings have overshadowed the truth written in the scriptures, and see a different gospel presented in the scriptures than the one presented by Ellen. Many people have suffered a fear of condemnation heavily promoted by Ellen. We have also seen people embrace Ellen's habit of condemning other's who do not adhere to her writings, as well as witnessed people give up altogether on a hope for salvation due to their belief that they do not meet the high standard. 

 

We decided to publish our research so that others who are seeking to compare Ellen's teachings to scripture can do so with the help of many resources in one place. The intent is to compare her words with scripture, and any commentary we have given is for the purpose of providing context to the best of our knowledge. Almost every quote listed here from Ellen White can be found on the EGW Writings website (egwwritings.org), owned by the Ellen G. White Estate which claims to hold "the complete published writings of Ellen White." These are her words. Personally, we have decided to take her at her raw word, not at the interpretation of various pastors and church members who are living a century after her death, who often attempt to ignore or alter the direct implications. Our hope is for the reader to look for themselves and go to the estate's website to read her quotes in further context if desired, in order to make a personal and independent determination of what they believe the truth is. 

 

For Seventh-day Adventists, it can be very intimidating to test the words of Ellen. This is partly due to the fact that she herself warned believers not to fall away from her teachings, or otherwise risk being lost. The gospel of Jesus however, does not depend on the reliability of Ellen. If one comes to the conclusion that Ellen was not a messenger of God, the truth and promises of God still stand with an immovable foundation. One can rest in the promise that God so loved the world that He came into the flesh in order to take the punishment of every sin onto Himself. He promises eternal life for anyone who repents and puts their faith in Him.  We hope this will be an encouragement and inspiration for others to search the scriptures for themselves, trusting God's promise of the Holy Spirit to guide each individual into the truth.

 

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