The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1

Interpretation

After first considering the thematic scope and focus, inspiration and authority, and context of Ellen White's letters and manuscripts, the reader is better prepared to move into the interpretation process. Many helpful principles for interpreting Ellen White's writings are found in George R. Knight's Reading Ellen White. Herbert E. Douglass's Messenger of the Lord¹⁴ provides additional insights. It is instructive to highlight here a few of those principles that can provide a starting point for interpreting her letters and manuscripts. 1EGWLM 37.1

The reader should be aware of at least three basic levels of interpretation and their respective sets of principles. One is the historical level, in which the specific historical context of the document being studied is reconstructed, with special emphasis on the time, place, and circumstances in which it was produced. 1EGWLM 37.2

Closely related to this level is the context discovery mentioned above, including the recognition of the personal characteristics of those to whom the document was originally sent. Such historical reconstruction should provide a trustworthy hermeneutical framework in which the reader can distinguish between those elements that are time-conditioned (the particulars of time and place) and those that are applicable to all times and places (universal principles).¹⁵ While contextual studies help to identify particulars of time and place, comparative studies between Ellen White's writings and the Scriptures help to identify universal principles in her writings. 1EGWLM 37.3

Another basic level of interpretation is grammatical, which seeks the correct understanding of the language used in the document under study. Some expressions might carry a uniquely Adventist sense that differs from their most common use. Other terms have changed in meaning over time and mean something today that is quite different from the meaning in Ellen White's day. But usually the literary context itself helps to make clear the likely meaning of the words within the text that is being studied. To avoid imposing artificial meanings on the documents, the reader should define as precisely as possible what the text actually says and what it does not say. 1EGWLM 37.4

A third hermeneutical level is the thematic interpretation. Ellen White's letters are best understood by comparing them with the correspondence to which she was responding. Unfortunately, much of that correspondence is not extant or easily available today. However, in her own letters, she often mentioned the issue to which she was responding. 1EGWLM 37.5

Additional insights might be found in earlier and later letters she sent to the same person, or even to other people with whom she corresponded about the matter. Furthermore, the reader should be sure that the interpretation of the specific statement is in harmony with the clear teachings of Ellen White's other statements about the same subject. The teaching of the given statement should be kept in balance with correlated themes found in Ellen White's other writings. 1EGWLM 37.6

Some might suppose that the more Ellen White wrote about a given subject, the more importance we should give to that subject within the overall scope of her writings. As a general rule, one could assume that she wrote more about her favorite topics than about peripheral ones.¹⁶ However, as a prophet, sometimes she had to deal persistently with unbiblical theories (such as pantheism) because of the unwillingness of some people to give them up. Therefore, the reader should not oversimplify the interpretation of Ellen White's writings by suggesting an artificial hierarchy of importance based merely on the amount of time and space she spent on each of the various topics she addressed. 1EGWLM 38.1