Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Effects Produced by Mrs. White’s Letters

But look, now, at Mrs. White’s letters. What was their effect upon the church, and by “church” we may think both of the members of a local church company and of the whole body of believers known as Seventh-day Adventists. Here comes to light the amazing quality of those letters. Quite generally the most heartening results followed the receipt of a letter, either by an individual or by a church company—conviction of sin, confession of wrong, revival, and reconsecration. EGWC 510.1

Let anyone read the letters that appear in the nine volumes of Testimonies for the Church—and the letters there are typical—and then ask himself: Do these carry any of the telltale marks of the gossip? We have no doubt what the answer will be. The strength of the critic’s attack lies in the fact that his readers, with rare exceptions, have never read any of those letters. EGWC 510.2

Now, Seventh-day Adventists are the same flesh and blood as other men. It is no easier for them to accept rebuke than it is for others. How do we explain their readiness, in the majority of instances, to accept contritely the rebukes and counsels that came in the letters to them? The critic may seek to make a last stand here and answer: The poor people were so bewitched by her bold claims that they blindly accepted her words, though those words were often counter to the facts. EGWC 510.3