Understanding Ellen White

Prophetic authority does not mature¹⁴

There are also those who suggest that the later writings of each prophet, and even of the accumulated prophetic body, are more accurate and reliable than the early ones. ¹⁵ One writer on this topic argues that “the growth from Sinai to Golgotha, from command to invitation, from fear to love, is a Biblical pattern” that “is also reflected in the experience and theology of Ellen White.” ¹⁶ It is argued that it took the Israelites “1,400 years to make the journey from one mountain [Sinai] to the other [Golgotha],” and it took Ellen White sixty years of life until the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference, where “the bright rays of light from Calvary finally dispelled the last shadows of Sinai.” ¹⁷ So, in this opinion, “on the one hand stands the ‘encouraging’ God of Steps to Christ and The Desire of Ages [both published after 1888]; on the other, the ‘discouraging’ God of the Testimonies [several of which were published prior to 1888] .” ¹⁸ UEGW 58.3

This “maturing” theory raises some serious questions: How long does it actually take for a prophet’s writings to mature? If historical maturity was reached only at Golgotha, should we consider all pre-Golgotha prophetic writings as immature? Would one suppose that Paul reaches the culmination of his theology with 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, which are practical books, rather than in his earlier writings, such as Romans and Galatians? If Ellen White’s writings reached maturity only after forty years of her prophetic ministry, what can we say about those canonical prophets with a much shorter ministry? Would not this approach place the reader as the judge of Scripture and of Ellen White’s writings? UEGW 58.4

Whatever direction one chooses to go in answering these questions, it seems that there is only one acceptable solution for such tensions: early prophetic writings may be less comprehensive or refined than later writings, but they are equally trustworthy and reliable, because their trustworthiness and reliability rest not on the prophets themselves but rather on God who revealed Himself through the prophets. UEGW 59.1