Understanding Ellen White

2. Study Ellen White’s writings in the light of Scripture

It is a temptation for some people to study the Bible through the eyes of Ellen White. In fact, that is exactly what some Adventists have advocated. For example, in the struggle over the identity of the “daily” of Daniel 8 early in the twentieth century, those who advocated the older position held that the new view would subvert the denomination’s theology because a statement in Ellen White’s Early Writings supported the traditional Adventist interpretation. S. N. Haskell argued that to make any changes in the established position would undermine Ellen White’s authority. He was quite explicit on his view of the relation of her writings to the Bible. “We ought,” he wrote, “to understand such expressions by the aid of the Spirit of Prophecy [i.e., Ellen White’s writings]. . . . For this purpose the Spirit of Prophecy comes to us. . . . All points are to be solved” in that manner. ⁴ UEGW 67.4

Ellen White disagreed with that approach. She requested that her writings “not be used” to settle the issue. “I entreat of Elders Haskell, Loughborough, Smith, and others of our leading brethren, that they make no reference to my writings to sustain their views of ‘the daily’. . . . I cannot consent that any of my writings shall be taken as settling this matter.” ⁵ UEGW 67.5

She had taken the same position at the 1888 General Conference Session when some were seeking to use her writings to identify the nature of the law in Galatians. Her response to that attempt was that they should not use her writings to prove the point, but should rather “go to the Bible and get the Scripture evidence.” “If you will search the Scriptures on your knees, then you will know them and you will be able to give to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is within you.” ⁶ UEGW 68.1

Ellen White never viewed herself as the final divine commentary on the Bible. Never did she take the position that “you must let me tell you what the Bible really means” She always pointed her readers to the fact that her prophetic function is one of “bringing [them] back to the word [the Bible] that they have neglected to follow.” On another occasion, she penned that “little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light [her writings] to lead men and women to the greater light [the Bible] .” ⁷ UEGW 68.2

To Ellen White, the Bible “is the only rule of faith and doctrine” and she advocated that people study that Book as God gave it. ⁸ She ever pointed her readers to the Bible as God’s guide for their lives. And it is within the context of the biblical message that her writings have meaning and significance. Thus it is absolutely crucial that we study her writings in the light flowing out of the Bible rather than to study the Bible in the light of her writings. UEGW 68.3