A Message to Seventh-day Adventists about Ellen G. White

by Ted Noel

Seventh-day Adventists are very much accustomed to seeing quotes from Ellen G. White in discussions of doctrine. They will also note that there are almost no such quotations on this page (except in the Rio de Janeiro statement on Bible study methods, which was issued by the SDA church).

There are three fundamental reasons why I do not quote from E. G. White. The first is reflected in the name of this site: The Bible Only. Put bluntly, if I can't show a point of doctrine from the Bible, I won't believe it or teach it. I will not allow anything less than the Bible, fully inspired and inerrant, to be my guide of faith. 

Second, it should be noted that the SDA Church has refused to set forward a statement of creed other than absolute reliance on the Bible. E. G. White is not accepted by non-SDA's as a prophet, so she has no credibility with them. To try to teach from such an unacceptable source is the height of folly.

The final reason is the advice of E. G. White herself. In the very first statement she published we find these words.

"I recommend to you, dear reader, the word of God as the rule of your faith and practice. By that Word we are to be judged. God has, in that Word, promised to give Visions in the 'LAST DAYS;' not for a new rule of faith, but for the comfort of his people, and to correct those who err from Bible truth." Experience and Views, 13 (See also Early Writings p. 78) 1851

Fifty-two years later we find this statement.

"Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light." Review and Herald, Jan 20, 1903, p. 15

This page will follow E. G. White's advice scrupulously, and quotes from her writings will appear only when she makes an exegetical point so well that it cannot be made without her words, or in a discussion about SDA doctrines where it becomes necessary to use her writings to expound a doctrine.