Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Two Mistaken Ideas Corrected

There is only one sentence in this mark-of-the-beast paragraph that seems not clear in terms of the interpretation now long held by Seventh-day Adventists; namely: “I saw that the number (666) of the Image Beast was made up.” Though we may not be sure just what Mrs. White meant by those words, we can, at least, free the sentence from two unwarranted conclusions drawn from the text itself. EGWC 290.3

1. The claim is that Mrs. White teaches in this particular sentence that the “number” was “made up” at the time she wrote, 1847, because she used the past tense, “was.” EGWC 290.4

But that does not necessarily follow. In fact the context disproves it. In the immediately preceding paragraph she describes what is patently a future event, but she uses the past tense, for which she had Bible precedent. ^* “The wicked thought that we had brought the judgments down on them. They rose up and took counsel to rid the earth of us, thinking that then the evil would be stayed.” Then comes the paragraph about the number of the beast, with its phrase, “was made up.” This is followed by a paragraph that opens thus, in description of a coming event: “In the time of trouble, we all fled from the cities and villages, but were pursued by the wicked, who entered the houses of the saints with the sword.” The paragraph continues on in the past tense. Yet it is very clear that she is speaking of a future and not a past event. EGWC 290.5

It is evident, that whatever Mrs. White may have meant in this key sentence in dispute, nothing can be made of the fact that, as it comes down to us, it reads in the past tense. Or perhaps we might say that, viewing this sentence in its context, the reasonable conclusion is that Mrs. White is really speaking of the future and not of the past. Which only further weakens whatever argument has been built on this sentence. EGWC 291.1