With the sole exception of Agatha Christie, Ellen White is said to be the most translated female writer in the history of literature Her writings covered topics of theology, evangelism, Christian lifestyle, education and health (she also advocated vegetarianism). She was a leader who emphasized education and health and promoted establishment of schools and medical centers.

During her lifetime she wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books; but today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. Among her works is the popular Christian book, Steps to Christ.

Believed by Seventh-day Adventists to be inspired by God, her books have influenced many.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church states in its 28 Fundamental Beliefs:

"#18. The Gift of Prophecy:One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White . As the Lord's messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. (Joel 2:28, 29; Acts 2:14-21; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 12:17; 19:10.)" (see )

Several of her homes are historic sites. The first home that she and her husband owned is now part of the

Early Life

On her way home from school at the age of 9 years, Ellen Harmon was struck in the face with a rock thrown by an older school girl. The trauma put her in a coma for three weeks, and gave her health problems from which she never fully recovered. In her weakened state, she was unable to return to school, and never completed any further formal education. The injury also caused her to black out suddenly, even when in the middle of a conversation.

In 1840, at age 12, her family became involved with the Millerite movement, a movement that created emotional turbulence for her. Through attending William Miller lectures, she felt that she was a guilty sinner and was filled with terror about being eternally lost. She describes herself as spending nights in tears and prayer, and being in this condition for several months. She also describes moments of pure bliss while having positive religious experiences. Eventually, the association with the Millerites caused her Methodist church to disfellowship her and her family.

Visions

It was shortly after experiencing the Great Disappointment of 1844 that Ellen started having her first visions. At random times, often when in church or prayer meetings, Ellen would be taken into vision. The visions would last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

She described the vision experience as being surrounded in bright light. In these visions she would be in the presence of Jesus or angels,

The first vision was a depiction of the Adventist people following Jesus, marching to the city (heaven). This vision was taken by those around her as an encouraging sign considering the devastation of the Great Disappointment. She was encouraged both in visions and by fellow church members to more broadly share her visions, which she did by a mix of public speaking, magazine articles, and books.

The writings of her visions are generally either reproof or encouragement to individual people or the Adventist church collectively, theology, and prophecy. Her series of books "Testimonies for the Church" contain a large amount of this material. The speaking and writings of her visions played a significant part in establishing and shaping the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her visions and writings were used, and are still used in church policy and as a resource of devotional material.

Criticisms

One of the first and most prominent critics of Ellen White was D.M. Canright. The criticisms he makes in his 1919 book, Life of Mrs. E.G. White, Seventh-day Adventist Prophet: Her False Claims Refuted are largely the same as those pointed out by modern Ellen White critics. These include:

• plagiarism
• supposed failed prophecy (Although her prophecy revolves around the end of time — which has not yet come — she also wrote of tall buildings in New York brought down by fire in the sky during a 1906 visit to the city. Her Adventist defenders maintain that this prophecy is strikingly similar to the attacks on September 11, 2001 in New York)
• suppression of damaging writings (As of 2006, those writings have been released. They center around the supposed infallability of the Pope.)
• progression of maturity in vision as she ages (attributed by Adventists to a closer relationship with God — such as Enoch was alleged to have had)
• visions incongruent with later scientific knowledge (rather than biblical knowledge)
• hypocrisy since she advocated a vegetarian lifestyle, but ate chicken or turkey on occasion when vegetarian fair was scarce

Many of her critics attribute her visions to her head injury, arguing that her symptoms match disorders such as temporal lobe epilepsy.

Another criticism is her teaching of amalgamation or inbreeding of animals and humans to explain the origin of blacks and native americans. She stated, "But if there was one sin above another which called for the destruction of the race by the flood, it was the base crime of amalgamation of man and beast which defaced the image of God, and caused confusion everywhere.

Every species of animal which God had created were preserved in the ark. The confused species which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation, were destroyed by the flood. Since the flood there has been amalgamation of man and beast, as may be seen in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men." (From Ellen White's book Spiritual Gifts, v. 3, pgs. 64, 75)

A more recent criticism (and incredibly damaging to the church and individuals in the church) of Ellen White was Ronald Number's Ellen White: Prophetess of Health.

Responses

Recently a number of books have been published attempting to more objectively examine Ellen White, yet retaining the Seventh-day Adventist churches position on the validity of her prophetic gift. Two examples, are Don McMahon's book examining the accuracy of Ellen White's medical statements and Graeme Bradford's book Prophets are human

Writings Online

• Ellen G. White

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