Ellen G. White and Her Critics

What James White’s Statement Reveals

This statement by James White supports the conclusion we have already reached, that there were those, beginning with 1845, who held the view that Mrs. White is alleged to have held up to the year 1851. But his statement also reveals that he did not share this view. And the very way he expresses himself indicates that he had thus far not ventured an explanation of the 666. He was not the kind of man to conceal the fact that he had formerly held a wrong view. ^* No, James White, up to 1860, evidently had not reached any conclusion as to how to understand the 666. But he goes still further and gently ridicules the view that the number 666 applies to a list of “organized bodies.” EGWC 289.7

Is it reasonable to believe that he would have used ridicule in describing this view if his wife had believed it and written in support of it at any time? Evidently when he endorsed the prophetic chart in early 1851, which included a statement identifying the 666 with the Protestant churches, he must have been giving one of those general endorsements that did not indicate agreement with every detail. Good men often do that today when endorsing books—or other good men! EGWC 290.1

We may therefore reasonably conclude that whatever Mrs. White may have intended by her words in the deleted passage, she did not intend to teach that the “666” represented the total of Protestant churches. And with this further conclusion reached, we most surely are warranted in ending our examination of the charge, for the real basis on which it rests has disappeared. EGWC 290.2