Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Three Important Conclusions

Mrs. White says that “since the flood” there “has been amalgamation of man and beast,” and adds that the results may be seen in (1) “almost endless varieties of species of animals,” and in (2) “certain races of men.” There are several important conclusions that follow from this passage: EGWC 314.3

1. Mrs. White speaks of two clearly distinguished groups that testify to this amalgamation. There are (1) “species of animals” and (2) “races of men.” There is no suggestion that there were species part man and part animal. But how could there be amalgamation of man with animal and the result be anything else than hybrid man-animal species. She does not even hint of subhuman monsters or caricatures of man. On the contrary, as just noted, she speaks unequivocally of “species of animals” and “races of men.” EGWC 314.4

2. Mrs. White speaks of the “almost endless varieties of species of animals” that have resulted from amalgamation. Now the standard attack on Mrs. White in the matter of amalgamation is that she reflected the thinking of those who believed the fiction of man-animal crosses. If we rightly understand that fiction, as it has been wafted through the centuries by the winds of credulity, a few large, mythical creatures of antiquity were supposed to have resulted from a union of man with animals. And these creatures were always supposed to reveal both human and animal features. But there is nothing in the ancient fiction that supports the idea that “almost endless varieties of species of animals” were the result of an unnatural cross of man with animals. Mrs. White is here certainly not expressing an ancient, mythical view. Not even the credulous pagans, wholly devoid of biological knowledge, would have thought of entertaining such an idea. How much more reasonable to interpret the passage to mean that these “almost endless varieties of species of animals” resulted from an amalgamation of previously existing forms of animal life! EGWC 314.5

3. Mrs. White calls upon the reader to look about him for proof of what she is saying. In other words, whatever this amalgamation has been, its fruitage is evident today. “As may be seen,” she says, “in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men.” But can anything be “seen” in our day that would provide support for the ancient myth of beast-men? Certainly there is nothing in the savage races of some remote heathen lands that even suggests a cross between man and animals. ^* And if the most degraded race of men does not suggest such a cross, much less do any species of animals suggest it. But the results of the amalgamation of which Mrs. White speaks “may be seen” by the reader. EGWC 315.1