Ellen G. White and Her Critics

The Tottering Edifice and the Wayfarer

Thus we come to the end of our examination of a charge that has impressed many through the years. Reared, ostensibly, on a foundation of medical books, with an ex-Adventist minister as its architect, and reinforced by the testimony of ex-Adventist doctors, the mental-malady edifice has awed many a wayfarer with its pretentious form. Doubtless we have not demolished it in the minds of those who still wish to keep it probably nothing could do that. But we think that the unprejudiced wayfarer, journeying the road to the kingdom, will no longer be impressed. He will note that medical books have disappeared from the foundation, and that the reinforcing material has crumbled under cross-examination. More than that, he will note that the whole structure is listing dangerously, as if a strong force were pushing it over, the force of Mrs. White’s long record of service and devotion released against it. EGWC 85.4

And if through a broken window of the fast-toppling structure he hears some critic cry out to him: “Mrs. White had hallucinations,” he will be ready to reply: “Indeed! She is more remarkable than I had thought. Deluded creatures see strange sights, but no one else can see even the shadow. But what Mrs. White saw in mystic lines we see hardened into brick and mortar, into sturdy buildings that house Christian schools, publishing plants, and medical institutions.” EGWC 86.1

Or if from the swaying roof of the foundationless structure another critic steadies himself to call down to the wayfarer: “Mrs. White heard strange voices,” he will be ready to answer back: “Truly, she was most remarkable! Demented creatures hear voices, but no one else even catches the echo. But multitudes have heard through Mrs. White, the sound of a Voice that has stirred them to holy living, to sacrificial zeal, to worldwide missions, and to increasing devotion to Him whose Voice is the guide of all true Christians.” EGWC 86.2

And with that the wayfarer will doubtless hasten out of range of the tottering structure, amazed that it holds together and that there are still men and women who fondly cling to it. EGWC 86.3