A Critique of the Book Prophetess of Health

The Menopause and the Open Visions

On pages 180, 181 the relationship of the open visions to menopause is discussed. Prophetess of Health does not actually say that the two were linked, but strongly implies this, and many readers would probably conclude that there was a strong possibility of a causal relationship. CBPH 85.7

But the mere fact that the open visions ceased at some point after menopause means nothing. They also ceased after a whole lot of other events in Mrs. White’s life. The date of the menopause she fixes as 1869. CBPH 85.8

When did her last open vision occur? Two dates have been suggested: 1879 and 1884. The basis for the 1879 date is a letter by Merritt G. Kellogg to his brother John Harvey Kellogg dated June 3, 1906, from which we quote: CBPH 85.9

When in Australia in 1894 I boarded in Mrs. White’s family, and while with her there I asked her how long since she had a vision. She then told me that she did not know if she had had one since her husband died [in 1881]. She said she might have had one in the night at one time when in Portland, Oregon, but she thought it was a dream. She said Sister Ings was with her in Portland at the time. CBPH 85.10

I [saw] Sister Ings a few days ago and asked her about it. She knew nothing of Mrs. W. having a vision in Portland; never saw her in vision in Portland; never saw her in vision. I asked W. C. when his mother had the last vision he knew anything of. He said it was in 1879, before his father died. I was down in Oakland a few days ago and I had an hour’s visit with Sister L. M. Hall. I asked her many questions about her travels and association with Mrs. W., also about Mrs. W.’s visions, and when she had the last one of which Mrs. Hall had any knowledge. She said that the last one was in 1879 before Brother White’s death. CBPH 85.11

The basis for the 1884 date is a statement made to the 1893 General Conference Session by Elder J. N. Loughborough. This statement was made 13 years nearer the event than that of Kellogg: CBPH 85.12

I have seen Sister White in vision about fifty times. The first time was about forty years ago, when Brother Oswald Stowell was very sick. CBPH 85.13

Her last open vision was in 1884, on the campground at Portland, Oregon.—The General Conference Bulletin, 1893, 19, 20. CBPH 85.14

Which account should be accepted? J. N. Loughborough was present at the Portland, Oregon, campmeeting in 1884. [See The Signs of the Times, June 5, 1884, p. 10; and The Signs of the Times, July 17, 1884, p. 10]. On the other hand, Kellogg reports the testimony of three important witnesses—Ellen White, Mrs. Ings, and W. C. White—which tend to support the earlier date. But even if the 1879 date is accepted, it still falls 10 years after the time we know Ellen White was experiencing menopause. CBPH 85.15

Prophetess of Health also states that after menopause “her public visions apparently grew less and less frequent” (page 181). There is no evidence for this. To establish such a thesis would require a statistical analysis of the frequency of the visions before and after menopause. No such statistical study has ever been attempted, and it is doubtful that any accurate statistics could be gleaned from the sources since Mrs. White’s references do not always specify what vision she is talking about or when that vision occurred. CBPH 85.16

In Ellen White’s experience, as with the Bible prophets, visions were given during the day accompanied by physical phenomena and during the hours of the night while the prophet slept. See Numbers 12:6, Daniel 7:1, 2, Joel 2:28. The latter were spoken of as “visions of the night” or “dreams.” CBPH 86.1

In her early experience the public visions were quite frequent and there were night visions. There was a gradual shift to the visions of the night and after 1884 she received her instruction entirely in night visions. These became less comprehensive and more frequent as time advanced. CBPH 86.2