EGW: More than a Prophet? ------------------------- "Others have called me a prophetess, but I have never assumed that title. I have not felt that it was my duty thus to designate myself. Those who boldly assume that they are prophets in this day are often a reproach to the cause of Christ....MY WORK INCLUDES MUCH MORE THAN THIS NAME SIGNIFIES. I regard myself as a messenger, entrusted by the Lord with messages for His people....MY COMMISION EMBRACES THE WORK OF A PROPHET, BUT IT DOES NOT END THERE. It embraces much more than the minds of those who have been sowing seeds of unbelief can comprehend." Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 36. "In ancient time God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His spirit. There never was a time when God instructed His people more earnestly the He instructs them now concerning His will and the course that He would have them pursue. But will they profit by His teachings? Will they receive His reproofs and heed His warnings? God will accept no partial obedience; He will sanction no compromise with self." Testimonies, Vol. 4, pp. 147-148 [Compare this with the Bible - Hebrews 1:1-3 "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, BUT IN THESE LAST DAYS HE HAS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."] "When men venture to criticize the Word of God, they venture on sacred, holy ground, and had better fear and tremble and hide their wisdom as foolishness. God sets no man to pronounce judgment on His word, selecting some things as inspired and discrediting others as uninspired. The testimonies have been treated in the same way; but God is not in this." Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 23. [Bear in mind that every time Mrs. White uses the word "testimonies" she is speaking of her own writings. She claimed that all she said in her writings came from God, and it was necessary to hear and obey her as much as the Bible.] "If you seek to turn aside the counsel of God to suit yourselves, if you lessen the confidence of God's people in the testimonies He has sent them, you are rebelling against God as certainly as were Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 66. "God is either teaching His church, reproving their wrongs and strengthening their faith, or He is not. This work is of God, or it is not. God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or of the devil. In arraying yourself against the servants of God you are doing a work either for God or for the devil." Testimonies, Vol. 4, p. 230. "The Spirit fell upon me and I was taken off in vision. I saw the state of some who stood on present truth, but disregarded the visions, -the way God had chosen to teach in some cases, those who erred from Bible truth. I saw that in striking against the visions they did not strike against the worm - the feeble instrument that God spake through; but against the Holy Ghost. I saw it was a small thing to speak against the instrument, but it was dangerous to slight the words of God. I saw if they were in error and God chose to show them their errors through visions, and they disregarded the teachings of God in visions, they would be left to take their own way, and run in the way of error, and think they were right, until they would find it out too late. Then in the time of trouble I heard them cry to God in agony - 'Why didst thou not show us our wrong that we might have got right and been ready for this time'... He spoke through visions, and he gave you up to your own ways, to be filled with your own doings." [1849 broadside] [Please understand that the phrase "Present Truth" has meant several different things in SDA history. At the time of this vision [1849] 'Present Truth' consisted of the Sabbath and the Shut Door - nothing else. The Gospel of Christ and His salvation was not preached at this time. EGW is saying here that unless you believed in her version of the Sabbath and the Shut Door you could not be saved. The 'Sabbath' EGW was keeping at this time began at 6:00PM on Friday and ended at 6:00PM on Saturday. Clearly this was not the Biblical OT Sabbath.] "I had been very sick, and yet had tried to speak to the people and the Lord had strengthened me greatly. I had not knowledge of my words. The Lord spoke indeed through me." Manuscript Release 59-1905 (White Estate) [Although Adventists insist, as Mrs. White did, that she was not *verbally* inspired, you can see that on occasion she did claim that she was. The above was taken from her diary for May 20, 1905. Here is another such statement from her:] "Before I stand on my feet, I have no thought of speaking as plainly as I do. But the Spirit of God rests upon me with power, and I cannot but speak the words given me. I dare not withhold one word of the testimony... I speak the words given me by a powere higher than human power, and I cannot, if I would, recall one sentence." (Diary, January 10, 1890) MS 22, 1890 (White Estate) [Adventists have always insisted publically that they did not consider EGW equal to the Bible. As you will see in the next quotation, this is true - they do not consider her equal - they consider her BETTER than the Bible:] "As Seventh-day Adventists we are uniquely fortunate in approaching this question. We are not left to find our way, drawing conclusions only from writings penned 19 centuries ago, which have come down to us through varied transcriptions and translations. Concerning inspiration, with us it is an almost contemporary matter, for we have a prophet in our midst... What is more, rather than having in our possession only relatively short documents or a handful of letters, as is the case with the extant records of the Bible prophets, we have the full range of Ellen G. White writings penned through a period of 70 years, embodying her published books, her 4,600 periodical aricles, and her manuscripts, letters, and diaries. We have also the testimonies of her contemporaries - eyewitness accounts of those who lived and worked closely with her. Both she and they discussed many points touching on the visions and on the manner in which the light was imparted to her, and how she, in turn, conveyed the messages to those for whom they were intended. In other words, the eyewitnesses discussed the operation of inspiration... Further, she wrote in a modern language, so a large number of people today can study her writings in the original language, without needing to depend on a translation. Rarely, too, is it necessary to depend upon a transcription." Inspiration and the Ellen G. White Writings, reprint, p. 3. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~