Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Appendix J: Deleted Passages Examined

The charge of “suppression” that has been brought against Mrs. E. G. White is quite exclusively in terms of deletions from her earliest writings, that is, those writings that precede the publication of Experience and Views in 1851. Most critics cite only those deletions which they allege teach the shut-door doctrine, and declare that the deletions are to be explained as an attempt to cover up the fact that Mrs. White thus formerly believed and taught. A few critics cite one or two more deletions which they declare are to be explained as an attempt to cover up other abandoned views. They have only one explanation for these deletions they discuss; namely, that they were intended to conceal formerly held views. EGWC 619.1

Let us, therefore, examine all of Mrs. White’s earliest writings to see what deletions were made. When we speak of deletions we obviously do not mean minor grammatical changes, or the change of a word, a phrase, or possibly even a sentence, provided that it neither adds to nor subtracts from the line of thought being presented. To list these minor deletions with necessary context to make them intelligible, would needlessly encumber this discussion. Suffice it to say that if no critic through all the years has found in such minor deletions any possible ground for a charge, such deletions must be transparently harmless and pointless so far as the charge of “suppression” is concerned. In fact, we shall cite a number of substantial deletions which critics, quite uniformly, and for reasons that will become evident, have never quoted. EGWC 619.2

The regular practice of critics has been to cite the few standard exhibits of deleted passages that appear to teach the shut door, and then remark that lack of space prevents their citing a great many more that teach this and other abandoned doctrines. The reader’s imagination is supposed to do the rest. This argument by implication and insinuation, aided by imagination, we wish to expose by examining all of Mrs. White’s writings that were published up to the time of the printing of Experience and Views in 1851. These writings appear in the following: EGWC 619.3

The Day-Star, a first-day Adventist paper, in 1846. EGWC 620.1

The broadside To the Little Remnant Scattered Abroad, April 6, 1846. EGWC 620.2

The broadside A Vision, April 7, 1847. EGWC 620.3

The tract A Word to the “Little Flock,” May 30, 1847. EGWC 620.4

The broadside To Those Who Are Receiving the Seal of the Living God, January 31, 1849. EGWC 620.5

The paper Present Truth, in issues of 1849 and 1850. EGWC 620.6

Review and Herald Extra, July 21, 1851. EGWC 620.7

In some instances Mrs. White’s contribution appearing in one of the foregoing seven, is a first printing, other times a reprint. These contributions may be divided into three groups: EGWC 620.8

1. Those reprinted in full—or with no more than minor grammatical changes—right through to their printing in Experience and Views. EGWC 620.9

2. Those reprinted in Experience and Views with deletions or additions. EGWC 620.10

3. Those not included, even in part, in Experience and Views. EGWC 620.11

So far as the question of “suppression” is concerned it obviously focuses on groups 2 and 3. EGWC 620.12

Mrs. White’s earliest contributions frequently carry no title, only a salutation, as “Dear Brethren and Sisters,” or simply “Dear Bro. ------,” in the case of letters to individuals. Sometimes one contribution may contain more than one vision or subject, with only dividing spaces, or dividing lines, to indicate the introduction of the second vision or the new line of thought. For purposes of identification we have given a descriptive title to all the clearly defined subdivisions of her earliest contributions that were not later published under a title in Experience and Views. When a title is given in the early printings we have used it within quotation marks. For the purpose of this investigation we have divided Mrs. White’s earliest writings into twenty parts. These we shall now consider in their chronological order. EGWC 620.13

These earliest writings will not be traced beyond the publication of Experience and Views in 1851. With only minor editorial or grammatical changes, which no critic seems to have questioned, Experience and Views was reprinted in 1882 as the first half of Early Writings, a work still current. We shall give, in each instance, not simply the reference in Experience and Views, if the contribution is included in it, but also, parenthetically, the corresponding reference in the current printing of Early Writings. The text of the deleted portions that will be quoted is that of the last printing. EGWC 620.14