Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Most Effective Proof for Bates

But let us take our reasoning one step further. If God sought to impress the mind of the astronomically-minded Bates, how more effectively could we imagine His doing it than by giving to His humble handmaiden a vision within the limits of 1846 astronomical knowledge, yet so surpassingly vivid and detailed as to convey the impression that she was actually gazing upon the sight? If the Lord did not permit her to see beyond what the telescopes of that day could reveal as to the number of moons, why does that prove her a fraud? She did not say, “I saw that there are only four moons that circle Jupiter,” or, “I saw that there are only seven moons that circle Saturn.” She did nothing remotely resembling this. According to Loughborough, who provides the only record of her words, she simply said: “I see four moons,” “I see seven moons,” et cetera. EGWC 98.2

Do prophets always “see” all the truth of God at one time? A study of the Bible permits us to answer, “No.” Moses was given much divine illumination, more than any Bible prophet, perhaps. He received, for example, instruction that was to ease the hard lot of the slaves in those cruel slave-holding days. But he did not “see” that there should be no slaves at all. Was his claim to being a prophet therefore fraudulent? Obviously the answer is “No.” Then why charge that Mrs. White was a fraud because she did not see all that there was to be seen in the heavens! EGWC 98.3