Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Limitations to Facts, Evidence, and Logic

I am well aware that there are limitations to the power of facts, evidence, and logic to meet charges and remove doubts. Anyone who has written in defense of the Bible will agree with this. There are two reasons: (1) We cannot always be certain as to what the Bible writer meant; because the passage may be obscure, the historical context uncertain. (2) The mind is more often the servant than the master of man’s emotions and prejudices. How else can we explain, for example, the refusal of the scribes and Pharisees to believe in Christ, who gave the most convincing proofs of His divinity, or the inability of skeptics to see in the pages of Holy Writ any evidence of the supernatural? EGWC 17.3

In this setting can be better understood the following words from Mrs. White in regard to belief in the divine origin of her writings: EGWC 17.4

“Those who desire to doubt will have plenty of room. God does not propose to remove all occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence, which must be carefully investigated with a humble mind and a teachable spirit, and all should decide from the weight of evidence.”—ELLEN G. WHITE, Testimonies for the Church 3:255, 2 EGWC 17.5

“God gives sufficient evidence for the candid mind to believe; but he who turns from the weight of evidence because there are a few things which he cannot make plain to his finite understanding, will be left in the cold, chilling atmosphere of unbelief and questioning doubts, and will make shipwreck of faith.”—Testimonies for the Church 4:232, 233. EGWC 18.1

To provide that “sufficient evidence” on which to decide the questions and charges at issue is the purpose of this work. EGWC 18.2