The Gift of Prophecy

Ellen G. White Uses Scripture as the Authoritative Word of God

Ellen G. White’s use of Scripture is significantly influenced by her high view of Scripture. ⁵ While clearly affirming that biblical authors freely wrote biblical books using their individual style of writing, she took for granted the ultimately divine origin of the Bible and believed that God guided the biblical writers in receiving and communicating the divine message. Thus she consistently accepted the Bible as the Word of God and had “implicit faith in the Bible as a whole as it is.” ⁶ In this sense she used the Bible as “an unerring counselor, and infallible guide,” ⁷ and as an “unerring standard.” ⁸ For her the Bible was the result of a supernatural process of divine revelation and inspiration where the human and the divine harmoniously and inseparably worked together. “The Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a union of the divine and the human. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man. Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that ‘the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us’ John 1:14.” ⁹ As such the Bible is characterized by a “simple beauty of language” and an “unerring truthfulness.” ¹⁰ Consequently, Ellen White treated Scripture with respect and deference throughout her lifetime, and valued the authority of the Bible above any other authority, including her own prophetic ministry. She did not deify Scripture; to her God alone is infallible. ¹¹ But she also firmly believed that “His word is true” ¹² and that the Bible is “reliable.” ¹³ Thus for Ellen White the Bible is the ultimate norm and the standard for all Seventh-day Adventist doctrines, faith, and practice. “The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of God’s will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience.” ¹⁴ Ellen G. White uses the Bible as the highest authority for faith and practice in the church. ¹⁵ This leads to a second related aspect of her use of the Bible: the sola Scriptura principle. GOP 302.1