Space For Doubt

For those not SDA who follow this blog, this is 100% an article you can skip. It has no bearing on your theology.

The SDA doctrine of present truth is as follows:

Present truth is the principle that certain biblical truths are relevant to God’s people at specific times in history. God sends the Holy Spirit to reveal truths that help us better understand how to interpret and apply His Word in a present moment.

Do you know who is effectively a barrier halting SDA progression in present truth? Do you know whose adherents have become the biggest obstacle to present truth, despite this person championing its use?

Issues EGW poses:

• Disagreements with the Bible
• Failed Prophecies
• Flawed reasoning and logic
• Extreme plagiarism
• Her visions contained material already published
• Unimpressive “successful” prophecies
• Shade on those who doubt and question
• Shade on those who believe in science’s ability to discern information (a topic she did not understand)

I’m going to skip the biography, because who cares. If she matters/mattered to you, you know who she is. If you don’t know who she is, she doesn’t and shouldn’t matter.

These are all things I have discovered in my own study. Out of the desire for succinctness, I will only include a few.

Disagreements with the Bible

Her interpretation of “Sons of God” in Genesis 6:4 is wrong. She claims these were humans. Nowhere else in the Bible is this phrase used for humans. That’s an invention that is very post-biblical, and very much in disagreement with the Bible itself.

It’s also a bit ironic, since she develops much of her “insight” of the workings of Satan and Demons from the apocryphal book of Enoch. It is in Enoch that these very fallen angels are the ones who come in to the Daughters of Men in Genesis 6:4. We see this reiterated in the NT in the book of Jude, which quotes Enoch directly.

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She disagrees with the Bible in how long Noah knew about the coming flood. She claims he preached for 120 years about this coming disaster.

Noah is 500 years old when he fathers Shem, Ham, and Japheth. God then dictates the command to build the Ark (and why) to Noah at some point after this. We know because God says the following within the same edict:

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. – Gen 6:18 NIV

The flood happens when Noah is 600 years old. With the above knowledge, Noah’s sons were likely 30+ years old. That leaves 70 years left before the flood.

There is a known (likely forged) book lost to time that does cover this. It is known as the Book of Jasher. (There are references to this book in Joshua 10:13 and  2 Samuel 1:18)

The Book of Jasher was republished in an English translation in 1887, that would have also been available to Ellen White prior to her 1890 release of Patriarchs and Prophets (where we find this idea). She actually lifted considerable information in other writings from the book of Jasher. See here.

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Failed Prophecy

In her 1856 vision, she claims the angel told her this:

“I was shown the company present at the conference. Said the angel, ‘Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus.’ ” – EGW

Her estate and her apologists go to great lengths to explain how her prophetic failure here is not a failure. That all prophecies are implied as conditional (how convenient!).

It’s a tortured argument, and directly contradicts the test they themselves claim Ellen White passes with flying colors.

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Ellen White claimed Jesus would come in her lifetime and that she would be part of the remnant.

In her early writings, page 15.2-16.1 she says the following:

Then the angels ceased to sing, and there was some time of awful silence, when Jesus spoke: “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts shall be able to stand; My grace is sufficient for you.” At this our faces lighted up, and joy filled every heart. And the angels struck a note higher and sang again, while the cloud drew still nearer the earth.

Then Jesus’ silver trumpet sounded, as He descended on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire. He gazed on the graves of the sleeping saints, then raised His eyes and hands to heaven, and cried, “Awake! awake! awake! ye that sleep in the dust, and arise.” Then there was a mighty earthquake. The graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality. 

Ellen White is claiming to be part of the remnant that is left. It is very clear her being present is not after Jesus raises the dead, as just a few sentences later (within the same vision), she dictates that Jesus then sounds His trumpet and then the dead are raised.

She is now dead. This did not happen. The prophecy failed.

Faulty Reasoning and Lack of Common Sense

Ellen White claims every species of animal was on the ark. That is a physical impossibility. Even the very theologically conservative Ark Museum has acknowledged this. Anyone that can do basic geometry can easily deduce this from the given dimensions of the Ark. I write about this more here.

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Ellen White claims the post-flood tower of Babel builders had a goal to build the tower higher than the flood waters reached. That is a comically absurd thing to think for three reasons.

1.) This assumes such a tower could even be built. The Biblical floodwater height was so tall that no building today even gets a decent fraction of the way there. A building of the materials indicated would get nowhere close before collapsing under its own weight.

2.) This assumes the people of the day were so stupid, that they thought this was possible. That in itself is a problem because there were literally still people alive that had been in the flood! Not to mention these people were advanced enough to apparently create the at-the-time-not-yet-discovered building material science. (I covered this in another post) They were also men of renown around (the Nephilim), in addition the wisdom of the general populace being held in high regard by Ellen White herself.

3.) The Bible does not say this anywhere.

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Ellen White plausibly references dinosaurs with two illogical claims:

1.) God created them but killed them off due to knowing how much smaller the post-flood people would be.

2.) Humans created them using essentially genetic engineering (amalgamations)

Both are ridiculous arguments. If a human was 11ft tall, it was still going to be eaten by a giant T-Rex. It would still be gored by huge triceratops. It would still be ripped apart by a pack of velociraptors. Just a doubling in size does nothing except perhaps slightly prolong your death.

If humans created them, that creates a mountain worth of problems. I write about that more here.

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Plagiarism/Copying/Sourcing of Ideas

Many remark about Ellen White’s continued development of Biblical stories/events as impressive. They claim this shows she is inspired.

What they don’t know is that most of the time these ideas were lifted from someone else’s work.

As mentioned in the Jasher example above, she regularly pulled material from sources that are derided as demonic and non-canonical by SDAs today. Consider the following published papers on Academia.edu.

• Forgotten Scriptures Allusions to and Quotations of the Apocrypha by Ellen White
• Adventism’s Hidden Book: A Brief History of the Apocrypha
• Endorsing the Septuagint: Ellen White and Her Later Views of the Apocrypha
• Ellen G. White and the Apocrypha

Ellen White seems to be under no particularly discernible “light of inspiration.” She is simply borrowing, sometimes massaging, and re-releasing material already written.

This is well known in scholarly circles and by some SDA pastors. In the well known and decidedly Adventist (albeit open-minded) publication AdventistToday, an editor who answers questions under the column of “aunt sevvy.” says this:

It wasn’t until the last 50 years or so when word got out that Ellen White plagiarized other writers extensively, and most of her books were composed by her assistants. (For what it’s worth: there are church leaders who knew this all along and deliberately chose to hide this fact from members.) – Aunt Sevvy

Even her own legacy foundation admits the following:

That she read and derived material from many of these volumes and others is evident in the fact that she used at least 50 source works in writing The Desire of Ages. W. C. White explained that his mother “was a rapid reader” and admired the language in which other writers had presented to their readers the scenes which God had presented to her in vision, and she found it both a pleasure, and a convenience and an economy of time to use their language fully or in part in presenting those things which she knew through revelation, and which she wished to pass on to her readers. – Ellen White Estate

The above bold text is a real mic-drop statement, and is one I haven’t heard argued before. Let’s be real here. She read this other material, then had some hallucinations about it, and called it a vision from God. This is an admission by a significant witness, her son, that her material was already freely out in the wild.

They also go to great lengths to explain why we now (in the last several decades) see (with modern computing power allowing quick comparisons) how many of her ideas are lifted from others. She often did not cite her sources, and regularly seems to pass these ideas off as her own.

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EGW as a Barrier to Present Truth

Here’s the ultimate issue with Ellen White. She is the roadblock to further present truth. That’s simply the truth.

The SDA church cannot change any stance on which she had input. They cannot accept a present truth if it deviates in any way from her. They can add to her, but they cannot change anything. That is ironic considering she says the following:

SDAs quite literally, in the real world, take the position that their expositions of scripture are without error. Again differing from what their “prophet” has told them.

Here we go! She is advocating against reading scripture in light of doctrine. We see this with apologists ALL. THE. TIME. They let their dogmas inform their Bibles of what is allowed to be true.

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Theological, Psychological, and Intellectual Damage

Here’s why SDAs are being left behind by most other protestant denominations.

But apart from Bible history, geology can prove nothing. Those who reason so confidently upon its discoveries have no adequate conception of the size of men, animals, and trees before the Flood, or of the great changes which then took place. Relics found in the earth do give evidence of conditions differing in many respects from the present, but the time when these conditions existed can be learned only from the Inspired Record. – Patriarchs and Prophets P113

Geology can prove nothing? Tell us more about how you don’t understand science. The inspired record contains no such details to be gleaned that Geology provides.

This and similar views of hers keep SDAs rooted in a staunchly anti-science stance (as far as its disagreement with her or their interpretation of the Bible).

It may be innocent to speculate beyond what God’s word has revealed, if our theories do not contradict facts found in the Scriptures; but those who leave the word of God, and seek to account for His created works upon scientific principles, are drifting without chart or compass upon an unknown ocean. The greatest minds, if not guided by the word of God in their research, become bewildered in their attempts to trace the relations of science and revelation. – Patriarchs and Prophets P114

Lady….the Bible is factually unreliable! You yourself have admitted this in your other writings! (She elsewhere claimed only God is infallible, not the Bible. She admitted to factual errors in scripture.) This only gives your followers reason to doubt modern scholarship, science, reasoning, and logic. Quit waffling in your opinions.

Also scientists are not bewildered in their attempts to trace the relations of science and revelation. YOU were bewildered by science. There is a difference and you clearly did not understand that difference.

She is the reason many feel so guilty about doubting. She has been turned into a cudgel against questioning and doubt. She herself waffled back and forth in her writings from saying we should doubt, to discouraging those who might doubt. It’s no surprise which position gets picked up by traditional SDAs and which one is conveniently ignored.

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I’ll share here a very recent story before I wrap this up. The full article can be found here.

A prominent evangelist and staple in conservative Adventist media, Day now says he can no longer support some of the denomination’s key doctrines, such as the investigative judgment or the church’s claims about the writings of Ellen G. White. Insisting his intent is not to attack Adventism, Day launched his YouTube channel to create space for what he called “honest, respectful, and prayerful investigation” into Adventist teachings. His decision, shaped by over nearly three years of private study and spiritual reflection, has sparked strong reactions within Adventist circles and has drawn concern from institutional leaders.

A turning point came after Day replied to a social media post someone made quoting White on the subject of eating meat. He responded, “Are you aware that [this] contradicts the Bible, and therefore we are not to consider those statements inspired nor authoritative?”

Soon after, he was called into the administrative office at 3ABN and questioned for publicly expressing theological concerns. The meeting, he said, made it clear that challenging White’s authority—even respectfully—was viewed as undermining the ministry’s foundation.

This story should concern all SDAs. No one gives a damn if your church proclaims from the mountain tops that the Bible alone should be the sole authority. If those words differ from the real world actions the church takes, then it is a meaningless statement.

The truth is, that traditional conservative SDAs take EGW above the Bible all the time. Right, wrong, or indifferent, I would say a great many Adventists would privately acknowledge this reality.

EGW had her heart in right place. She pointed to Jesus primarily. But she seemed to suffer from extreme religious OCD, likely made worse by a traumatic brain injury. This brain injury appears to have induced subsequent seizures and hallucinations about material she had read.

Many of her “successful” prophecies upon closer inspection are nothing to speak of. Take her prediction of the Civil War. That’d be like me predicting the Russian invasion of Ukraine a month beforehand. Everyone at the time would’ve been like “well no duh. We all watch the news too.” Then you have the failed prophecies of course.

Until Seventh Day Adventists throw off the heavy yoke of EGW, they will never be free to progress.

As time goes on, she will be come less and less relevant for the Millennial, Gen Z, and future generations. Her influence will fade into history. The question is will the SDA church tag along with her?

Peace

P.S. Cheers to you Ryan Day. Welcome to the club. Most of us here have left for similar reasons. I remember being told I was on a slippery slope to losing my faith entirely by questioning and doubting. However I have taken up residence on that slippery slope, and let me tell you…the view from here is phenomenal.