Caution! Handle With Care

“Don’t worry, be happy!” So sang the singer in a popular song from the early 1990’s. The same thought is echoed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church after more than a century of mounting evidence indicating thatEllen White was not prophetically inspired by God.

A recent editorial by Eugene F. Durand in the Church’s Adventist Review listed a number of things Durand said he had originally believed but later discovered to be myths: Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock, Teddy Roosevelt charging up San Juan Hill, Columbus discovering the world is round, and so on. After addressing these “myths” of American history, he concluded by writing: “Unlike American history, the more our (SDA) fundamental beliefs are examined, the brighter they shine, the more sure they become, and the more reasons we find to believe. You need not fear waking up some morning and finding out that the Adventist faith you have been taught through the years is not true. This is no hit–or–myth proposition.” — Eugene F. Durand, “Hit or Myth?” in Adventist Review, November 12, 1992, p. 5.

To paraphrase an old tobacco commercial, when it comes to giving up cherished myths, most Seventh-day Adventists would rather fight than switch. Thus, this word of caution to you. Do not think facts will changethe minds of Seventh-day Adventists about Ellen White. Remember, their life, identity, and religion requires Ellen White.

If you share the facts you have discovered about her with her supporters in the Church, you will be viewed as an apostate. More than this, your apostasy will be seen as definite fulfillment of her prediction that “bright lights will go out.”… As a result of your “apostasy,” and in spite of all the facts to the contrary, they will believe even more strongly in Ellen White’s divine inspiration. You can be certain that her supporters will bolster their faith in Ellen White by presenting several of the following statements:

1. Ellen White predicted she would be called a false prophet.

EGW: “I have been told that many who give heed to the false science of the enemy would denounce my work as that of a false prophet.” — Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 52, written in 1906.

Notice that Ellen White claimed divine inspiration for her idea that those, including you, who denounce her work are under the influence of Satan. Be aware that frequently this is the attitude her believers have towards even their loved ones who leave the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her supporters go on to reason that since you have concluded Ellen White is a false prophet, then she really is a trueprophet because she predicted that some would call her a false prophet.

When you stop to think about it, their circular reasoning is very easy to answer. You see, like weather forecasters, false prophets are at times right…It is their false prophecies and false teachings that mark them as false prophets. You determine which “prophet” is true and which is false by comparing them with the Bible.

Did Ellen White contradict the Bible? Yes, therefore God’s Word tells you she cannot be a true prophet. Did all of her unconditional prophecies come to pass? No, therefore God’s Word tells you she cannot be a true prophet. Was she honest about the source of her writings? No, therefore even her Church’s own Veltman study tells you she was untruthful. The fact Ellen White predicted she would someday be called a false prophet simply indicates that, like all charlatans, she knew her myths would eventually be exposed to the light of truth.

2. Ellen White predicted Satan’s last deception will be to make of none effect her testimonies.

EGW: “The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God.”— Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 48, written in 1890. Many Seventh-day Adventists believeanyone who points out errors in Ellen White’s writings is doing the work of Satan and opposing God. But is that belief valid? No, God’s people are encouraged to analyze what is presented as truth to see if it agrees with God’s Word:

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true.” —Acts 17:11.

Under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration Paul did not accuse people of doing the work of Satan simply because they went to their Bibles to authenticate his teaching. Instead, Paul said they were “of more noble character” than those who blindly accepted what they had been taught. However Ellen White charged modern Christians who follow the example of the Bereans with doing the work of Satan.

https://blog.lifeassuranceministries.org/2020/10/01/12-caution-handle-with-care/