Ellen G. White and Her Critics

The Proof of a Good Guide

A guide need not build roads in order to provide proof of his genuineness and worth, he needs only to be able to distinguish between roads, and to lead travelers on the right one. And is it not part of the task of one who speaks for God to direct us, amid the maze of paths on the journey of life, to that path which will most surely and safely carry us forward to our destination? It is through the voice of His prophets that the Lord sometimes fulfills the promise: EGWC 398.2

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21. EGWC 398.3

If Mrs. White needed divine illumination in order to be able to discern between the paths that were said to lead to health—and they were many and often at right angles to each other—then we have really met the charge that she gave no evidence of knowing more than was current knowledge in her day, and that thus her visions are proved frauds. EGWC 399.1

But we do not say that Mrs. White simply pointed out the right road. She also blazed new trails when there was no road, or when all the roads led astray. That is evident as one compares her writings with those of other health reformers. EGWC 399.2