On October 30, 1980, Religious News Service contained a release captioned -

"REVERED ADVENTIST PROPHET BORROWED FROM MANY SOURCES, RESEARCHER SAYS"

This was evidently picked up from a story appearing on Page One of the Los Angeles Times (Oct. 23, 1980) written by its Religion writer, John Dart. Other clippings coming to this desk indicate that the Associated Press also picked up this report. Thus whether we like it or not, the controversy over Ellen G. White and her writings is no longer a "family affair" but has now become a part of the "town gossip."

The researcher, Elder Walter Rea, who during the time of his research served as pastor of the Long Beach Seventh-day Adventist Church, is now preparing a manuscript based on his findings. He indicated in the interview given to Mr. Dart that he had not found a major work by Mrs. White which did not use previously published sources. "The precise extent borrowed in Mrs. White's writings is probably incalculable because of paraphrasing, Rea said. But in White's book on Jesus, The Desire of Ages, Rea has found repeated parallels from six different non-Adventist sources." (LA Times, op. cit., p. 1) The acknowledgment of Rea's assertions reaches into the highest hierarchy of the Church. The president of the General Conference, Neal C. Wilson, commenting on the report of the 19-member committee appointed to hear Elder Rea's evidence, noted - "The initial report from this very competent committee indicates that in her writing Ellen White used sources more extensively than we have heretofore been aware of or recognized." (Adventist Review, March 20, 1980, p. 8)

There is no need to compound sources which indicate that Ellen G. White borrowed either in part or extensively from the works of others. The problem is far deeper and more grave than this, and did not surface in this present exposure. Since the problem has now reached the secular press, the whole of the problem involving the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy needs to be squarely faced. I am not duly troubled over the matter of Ellen White's literary dependence for these reasons:

1) I do not believe in verbal inspiration, but rather in thought inspiration. This means simply that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the thought of God was conveyed to the human instrumentality and it was left to the human instrument to verbalize that thought in the best language possible. With the limited formal education possessed by Ellen G. White, I can understand her feelings of inadequacy to convey the thought of God, and thus she would seek the best words possible from whatever source could be obtained to convey these inspired concepts.

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2) Believing as she did and correctly so that "as the moon and the stars of our solar system shine by the reflected light of the sun, so, so far as their teaching is true, do the world's greatest thinkers reflect the rays of the Sun of righteousness," (Ed., p. 14) - it presented no problem to Ellen G. White to use the words of these men to convey the thoughts that God's Spirit gave to her.

3) When a person accepts the call of God to be His messenger, God in turn accepts and works with the human inadequacies of that messenger. God does not transform a prophet into a faultless, inerrant, sinless automaton, but condescends to let His message come through the frailty of the human mind, lips and pen. Men themselves limit the choices of God to be an instrument through which He can convey His messages. Remember that Ellen G. White was the third person approached to speak for God to His remnant people. Further, keep in mind that when God wished the message of Righteousness by Faith given to His professed people, He chose two other messengers - A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner. (TM, pp. 91, 95) [If one wished a special research project, he should check the echo within the writings of Ellen G. White of the sentiments of both Jones and Waggoner, and compare the time of the writing of each. It might surprise one, what he would find. In my extensive reading from this period, I have sensed this, but was undisturbed, because I realized that Ellen G. White perceived truth as reflected from the Sun of righteousness in those especially revealed to her as messengers of the Lord to His people.]

The reaction of the hierarchy to the Los Angeles Times feature article was not long in coming. Religious News Service on Friday, November 21, 1980, carried another release, this time captioned -

"ADVENTIST PROPHET'S CRITIC LOSES HIS MINISTERIAL POST."

The reason given by Harold Calkins, president of the Southern California Conference, for the revocation of Elder Walter Rea's credentials was "the negative influence of Mr. Rea's conclusions circulated worldwide." Elder Rea in the same release stated it more bluntly - "the basic reason for [my] dismissal was that [I] granted an interview on [my] findings to the Los Angeles Times. They're upset it got out." Interestingly, the matter over Ford also "got out." True it "hit" only the religious press; but when confronted with this "leak," the officials of the Church "emphasized that the church follows a longtime practice of granting its members the right to be heard on any issue affecting the church's teachings. 'The church has a history of being gentle with its creative people,' commented SDA education executive Richard Hamill." (Christianity Today, Feb. 8, 1980, p. 64)

Regardless of how one feels about Rea's work, there is a message here that we dare not overlook. You can question a basic fundamental pillar of the Church's teachings, such as the sanctuary doctrine, but so long as you give lip service to the writings of Ellen G. White, which Ford did, you can have six months plus leave with pay, and do all the research you wish to sustain your heresy, but let one question the Ellenology created by the hierarchy, and you are in deep, serious trouble. [Let me state at this point, lest I be misunderstood, and misquoted - I believe that God bestowed upon Ellen G. White, the spiritual gift of prophecy, and chose her to be a messenger to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.]

The Adventist Review has also reacted. In the latest issue (Nov. 27, 1980) at the time of this writing, two articles are presented - one an editorial by the

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new associate editor, Dr. William G. Johnsson, and the other a modified letter by Dr. Arthur L. White to his children. In the editorial and in the letter, the assertion of Elder Walter Rea regarding the church's claim was challenged. Rea is quoted as saying - "The important thing is that she and the denomination always claimed that she didn't copy and that she wasn't influenced by anyone," (LA Times, Oct. 23, 1980, p. 3) This Drs. Johnsson and White deny. Apparently Elder Arthur L. White needs to have his memory refreshed. He prepared a syllabus for Course S-570 at Andrews University Theological Seminary - Prophetic Guidance in the Advent Movement. Lesson 5 - "Presenting the Prophetic Message" has the following points in its summary:

6. In describing the visions, Mrs. White used her own words.

MEMORIZE: "Although I am as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in writing my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words I employ in describing what I have seen are my own, unless they be spoken to me by an angel, which I always enclose in marks of quotation." - Review and Herald, Oct. 8, 1867 (p. 15)

8. She was aided by the Spirit of God in choosing fit words:

"I have all faith in God . . . He works at my right hand and at my left. While I am writing out important matter, He is beside me, helping me. He lays out my work for me, and when I am puzzled for a fit word with which to express my thought, He brings it clearly and distinctly to my mind. I feel that every time I ask, even while I am still speaking, He responds, 'Here am I.'" Letter 1-127, 1902 (pp. 15-16)

Having taken this class under Dr. Arthur White at the Seminary in 1965, the emphasis as given in this Syllabus is what was stated to the class. Elder Rea is absolutely correct in his assertion in the Los Angeles Times interview. At no time did Elder White present to the class the W. C. White letter (May 13, 1904) from which he now quotes to prove Eld. Rea's observation wrong. (See Adventist Review, Nov. 27, 1980, p. 7, Footnote #1) Did he not know of the existence of his own father's letter in 1965, or is it now convenient to reveal its contents? Then how does the W. C. White statement square with what Sister White wrote just two years prior? This question has not been answered.

Summarizing the magnitude of our present predicament, Dr. Donald R. McAdams, president of Southwestern Adventist College at Keene, Texas, has written:

The significance of this debate can hardly be overemphasized. Ellen White is so central to the lives of Seventh-day Adventists that her words impinge on practically every area of Adventist teaching and practice both individually and institutionally. Our dress, our diet, what we read and how we spend our leisure time are all influenced greatly by what we believe the Lord revealed to us through His servant, Ellen White. Our interpretation of the Bible, especially the texts which support some of our landmark doctrines, rests on Ellen White. (Spectrum, Vol. 10, #4, p. 40)

We have produced for ourselves an Ellenology as great in magnitude as the Catholics

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have created in their Mariology, or should we use the term - Ellenolatry - for our problem, and the term - Mariolatry for the Catholic veneration. This should never have been.

The testimonies of Sister White should not be carried out in front. God's word is the unerring standard. The Testimonies are not to take the place of the Word. (Letter 12, 1890)

God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. (SP, IV, p. 413)

In the Word of God is contained everything essential to the perfecting of the man of God. (IHP, p. 133)

At a meeting in the Battle Creek College library in connection with the 1901 General Conference Session, Sister White told the assembled group:

Don't you quote Sister White. I don't want you ever to quote Sister White until you get your vantage ground where you know where you are. Quote the Bible. Talk the Bible. It is full of meat, full of fatness. Carry it right out in your life, and you will know more Bible than you know now. You will have fresh matter - 0, you will have precious matter; you won't have to be going over and over the same ground, and you will see a world saved. (Spalding-Magan Collection, p. 174)

If this counsel had been followed, was being followed today, many of the most devoted followers of our present Ellenolatry, along with their massive compilations, would be out of business. Tragically, those who will be the most shocked by the reaction they will meet as a result of this unfavorable publicity regarding the writings of Ellen G. White are those who can quote avidly from her writings, but who are illiterate in the Word of God. And while many will wish to blame the liberals in our midst for the present predicament, those devotees of an Ellenolatry will have to take their share of the responsibility. With every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. We are reaping today the reaction to our own folly. Add to this the criminal use made of the writings by the hierarchy of the church to keep the laity in submission to their dictates by quoting Ellen G. White to sustain any project and program - right or wrong - and you have the explanation of the megaton explosive that has been detonated.

Now having written all of this, and noting results which involve most every segment of the Church - the liberals, the conservatives, and the hierarchy, along with the sincere devotees of the Ellenolatry which has been created for them by the Ellen G. White Estate and the Self-supporting Institutional leadership, we need to address ourselves to a more serious problem involving the writings as published under the authority of the Estate. To bring this into sharp focus, note two concrete illustrations.

In Prophets and Kings, p. 605 in the paragraph beginning - "The trying experiences that came to God's people in the days of Esther were not peculiar to that age

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alone" - note the sentence:

Some who today are living on the earth will see these words fulfilled.

Keep in mind that this book was published posthumously in 1917. This chapter, as an article appeared in the January 23, 1908 issue of the Review & Herald. The sentence cited above was not in the paragraph or in the article at all, but rather this sentence:

In the near future we shall see these words fulfilled [Rev. 12:17], as the Protestant churches unite with the world and with the papal power against commandment keepers.

Who altered this paragraph, and substituted sentences? Not Sister White - for she was dead! This matter of the manipulation of her writings is far more serious than any literary borrowing.

Let us observe another illustration. In Acts of the Apostles, p. 246 is to be found this sentence:

Listen as he [Paul] makes plain the work of the Redeemer as the great high priest of mankind, - the One who through the sacrifice of His own life was to make atonement for sin once for all, and was then to take up His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary.

Where did this sentence come from? It is clearly contradictory to the position taken in Ellen G. White's earlier writings, and the endorsement which she indicated the Lord had given in regard to the research of Crosier following the great disappointment in 1844. It is even contradictory to the rest, of the paragraph:

that His death was the antitype of all the sacrificial offerings, and that His ministry in the sanctuary in heaven was the great object that cast its shadow backward and made clear the ministry of the Jewish priesthood.

In the ministry of the Jewish priesthood, the atonement was made by the priest after the offering had been killed by the sinner. And in Hebrews it states that Christ "if he were on earth would not be a priest, seeing there are priests that offer gifts according to the law." (Heb. 8:5) Interestingly, no pre-publication of this article has been found to date so that it can be checked as in the case of the chapter in Prophets and Kings. However, this chapter did appear in the 1883-publication of Sketches from the Life of Paul, pp. 98-109, in which this comparative thought is to be found:

He [Paul] brought his hearers down through the types and shadows of the ceremonial law to Christ, - to His crucifixion, His priesthood, and the sanctuary of His ministry, - the great object that had cast its shadow backward into the Jewish age. He, as the Messiah, was the Antitype of all the sacrificial offerings. (p. 103)

Nowhere is to be found in the 1883 edition the controversial sentence as written in Acts of the Apostles. Again who did this? Who is responsible for introducing

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into these later books, sentiments and theology so contradictory to the original and consistent positions to be found in Ellen G. White's earlier writings? And the only place where this clarification can come from is the Ellen G. White Estate! The source of the alteration of her writings needs to be pursued to its ultimate no matter whose historical image becomes tarnished in the process.

An unpublished manuscript now about three years old - Ellen G. White and the Protestant Historians: The Evidence from an Unpublished Manuscript on John Huss - has brought to light some very interesting data. The author, Dr. Donald R. McAdams, president of the Southwest Adventist College, tells of his discovery and the significance of that discovery as follows:

During the summer of 1973, I had the good fortune to spend two months at the White Estate in Washington D. C., in connection with another research project. While there I became aware of several manuscripts which have been accepted as portions of the first draft of Great Controversy. As far as I know none of these manuscripts have ever been transcribed into typescript or even read except for an isolated page, here and there. The longest manuscript, consisting of 64 sheets of full-sized writing paper, with writing filling the front of each sheet and on 11 pages filling some portion of the back, is the original draft in Ellen White's own hand of the half-chapter in Great Controversy dealing with Huss. (pp. iii & iv.)

This research manuscript cannot be released for publication because the White Estate will not give permission for the release of the autograph upon which this research is based. However, Dr. McAdams has summarized his findings. Besides there being evidence of literary dependency for historical detail upon the work of James A. Wylie, The History of Protestantism, something else also became apparent. The summary reads:

Study of the Huss manuscript also revealed that Mrs. White's literary assistant at the time, Miss Marion Davis, not only improved Mrs. White's English language usage but also played a very significant role in deleting a large amount of original material dealing with the spiritual significance of events and adding additional material from Wylie. (Spectrum, Vol. 10, #4, p. 34)

What this research revealed should be carefully noted. Not only did the autograph reveal a literary dependence for historical detail, but much of the writing that was verily Ellen G. White in origin was deleted by the literary assistant, and in its place, more from Wylie was substituted. Thus the issue is not that Ellen G. White borrowed to convey inspired thought, but that her writings have been manipulated, and altered by others. This full story needs to be revealed, and the alterations and additions corrected. But who can be trusted to do this task?

How shall one react to this traumatic situation?

1) Accept the simple Statements of Belief as formulated by our spiritual fathers which in the areas under question stated:

a) The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, contain a full revelation of His will to man, and are the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

b) That the Spirit of God was promised to manifest itself in the church through certain gifts, enumerated especially in I Cor. 12 and Eph, 4; that these gifts are not designed to supercede, or to take the place of, the Bible which is sufficient to make us wise unto salvation, any more than the Bible can take the place of the Holy Spirit; that, in specifying the various channels of its operation, that Spirit has simply made provision for its own existence and presence with the people of God to the end of time, to lead to an understanding of that word which it had inspired, to convince of sin, and to work a transformation in the heart and life; that those who deny to the Spirit its place and operation, do plainly deny that part of the Bible which assigns to it this work and position. (1889 Yearbook, p. 148, 150)

2) Know from your Bible the basis for the great fundamentals of the Advent Movement.

3) Recognize that God did place upon Ellen G. White a spiritual gift - the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy.

4) Those statements to be found in the writings of Ellen G. White-wherein there appears to be questionable quotes, hold in abeyance until further light can be cast upon them. Keep in mind that history itself has been distorted and managed to cast a more favorable light upon the workings of "the man of sin."

5) Those statements which are contrary to the positions of theology taken by. Ellen G. White in her earlier writings, lay aside until it can be determined who and under what circumstances these were inserted into her latter publications.

6) Remember that "the very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God." (Letter 12, 1890) Then lift up your heads and rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh.

DID YOU NOTICE THE FOLLOWING ACTION TAKEN AT THE ANNUAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCH?

Voted, 1. To approve the establishment of an Interchurch Relations Council of up to 20 members.

2. To designate B. B. Beach as the secretary of the Council.

(Adventist Review, November 27, 1980)

Is this now the beginning of the approach to the World Council of Churches, since we have brought our Statement of Beliefs in harmony with their Constitutional requirements?

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ANDREASEN'S POSITION CLARIFIED

In reading the facsimile reproduction of the documents reporting The Seventh-day Adventist Evangelical Conferences of 1955-1956, a brother in Australia was concerned with T. E. Unruh's evaluation of Elder M. L. Andreasen's position. Unruh inferred that prior to his death, Andreasen withdrew his charge that the Church leadership had altered its historic faith. (See Adventist Heritage, Vol. 4, #2, 1977, pp. 44-45) This brother loaned us a copy of a letter he had received from Elder Andreasen. It is reproduced on the next page of this thought paper. You will observe that Elder Andreasen wrote - "No I have not recanted. The denomination is departing from the fundamentals. And I must protest." Knowing personally the integrity of Andreasen, he never altered this conviction regardless of what Unruh wrote, and I also know Unruh personally. One wonders what Andreasen would say, if still alive, in regard to the positions taken in the Consensus Statements voted at Glacier View. (Actual copy of M.L. Andreasen's letter.)

UN-ZONED RELIGIOUS ASSEMBLIES

"Two home Bible groups in Los Angeles were ordered to 'cease and desist' by the Department of Building and Safety because the residences where they had been meeting were not zoned for 'church' purposes. Although both groups (of about 20 persons each) volunteered to eliminate their singing and to disperse the few cars that brought them to the residences, the Department said that these concessions were inadequate. The supervisor for the Department further stated that it would be the Department's policy to issue cease and desist orders against any religious meeting in a private home not zoned for church use even if 'just one' nonresident is present. However, city officials said that a house could be used for a beer party because that wouldn't be church related." (Faith for the Family, Oct., 1980, p. 23)

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Campus Chronicle Pacific Union College - Thursday, October 23, 1980 - Volume 57, Number 4

Denominations class attends mass - by Bev Olivier

Elder Wayne Judd, accompanied by 25 students in his American Denominations class, attended St. John the Baptist Church in Napa last Sunday. They attended the service to gain a practical understanding of the Catholic religion.

The director of worship asked for six students to collect the offering and three other students to carry the holy sacraments up to the priest.

"It was interesting to see the very antique ideas presented, yet the mood was very evangelical," said Judd.

"It was particularly interesting to see Adventist young people taking up the offering for the Catholic missions," said Judd. "The Whole spirit was very ecumenical."

Students attending the service commented that the service was people centered, not pulpit centered.

Other students commented that it was a very unfamiliar form of worship to them, but a very friendly atmosphere reigned. They enjoyed the participation of the congregation. One student felt that this participation kept the changing culture involved at all time. This may be what keeps people interested, he observed.

The service included songs, readings, a type of sermon, sacraments. The songs were sung to the music of a guitar, which gave a very modern air to the service.

None of the Adventist students felt out of place. Although many did not know what to expect, they participated in what they could.

"Overall it was a worshipping experience. We did not feel like outsiders," said Judd. The students agreed with the feeling. Judd said, "I sensed that, in part, the service had been directed toward us."

Following the service, Judd and the students went to Wong's Chinese Restaurant in Napa where they discussed their feelings of the experience over their meal.

- It is the rejection of Bible truth which makes men approach to infidelity. It is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy. - Signs of the Times, Feb. 19, 1894

THINK- On the night of July 4, 1776, King George of England wrote in his diary- "Nothing significant happened today." On the night of June 7, 1967, many an Adventist  who keep diaries likewise wrote in their diaries.

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From M. L. Andreasen,

1921 Academy Place,

Glendale 6, California

(Postmark on envelope: June 8, 1959.)

Dear Brother:

Thank you for your letter. Let me assure you that I am in good health - not a mental case, not senile, not even dead, as has been reported. But I am so busy that I cannot keep up with my correspondence - I am all alone in my work.

No, I have not recanted. The denomination is departing from the fundamentals. And I must protest.

And God still lives so I am of good courage.

Sincerely,

Your brother,

(signed) M. L. Andreasen.