Understanding Ellen White

The human person

Sometimes people will claim that they have a message from God when in fact what they say is the product of their own imagination, neither from God nor from Satan. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has had a number of such persons in their ranks, for example, Anna Garmire, Anna C. (Phillips) Rice, Margaret Rowen, ⁵ and more recently, Jeanine Sautron. ⁶ Ellen White was at times accused of falsely claiming divine inspiration for her writings. Her visions, it was said, were due to hysteria and epilepsy. ⁷ However, the supernatural phenomena associated with her visions have been so extensively documented⁸ that in her case the visions could come only from God or from Satan. ⁹ While in vision, she was utterly unconscious of everything transpiring around her; she did not breathe during her visions, which lasted from a few minutes to more than four hours. This was repeatedly proven by closing the mouth and nostrils by hand. ¹⁰ Her husband, James White, wrote in 1868, UEGW 230.2

Immediately on entering vision, her muscles become rigid, and joints fixed, so far as any external force can influence them. At the same time her movements and gestures, which are frequent, are free and graceful, and cannot be hindered nor controlled by the strongest person. UEGW 230.3

On coming out of vision, whether in the day-time or a well-lighted room at night, all is total darkness. Her power to distinguish even the most brilliant objects, held within a few inches of the eyes, returns but gradually, sometimes not being fully established for three hours. This has continued for the past twenty years; yet her eyesight is not in the least impaired. ¹¹ UEGW 230.4

J. N. Loughborough at the General Conference in 1893 testified, “I have seen Sister White in vision about fifty times. . . . She has been examined while in vision by skillful physicians, and we have testimonials from them which declare that the phenomena of her visions are beyond their comprehension.” ¹² UEGW 230.5