Ellen White & Adventism

[Gregory Matthews]

October 20, 2025

Ellen White is one of several people who were foundational to the mission and development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Whatever one might think of her ministry, she cannot be dismissed. Her influence did not end with her death more than 100 years ago. Her many writings remain and are often quoted today. Yet, they are often misunderstood. With the passage of much time, the story of her life and ministry has generated some of what I call pious fiction. This is often laudatory and celebrated with good intent by people who believe it, but it may lack documentation. 

SDA pious fiction should not be cons considered to be unusual. The story of Christianity in general and the development of the Protestant and Catholic groups also contain such material. People want to know the history of important organizations in their lives. They want to think of them as flawless and in a positive manner. Such is not reality. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is not perfect. The last time I read of an imperfection in SDA Church was yesterday in a report of an SDA pastor who will likely be tried in a criminal court.

Ellen White was human, imperfect and fallible. In honoring her ministry to the SDA Church, she should not be glorified beyond her humanity. God used her, while she was an imperfect human. God can use us, imperfect as we may be.

 My purpose in this thread is to inform our readers of important sources of information related to her life and ministry. Some will focus on her life, and others will focus on her ministry. Some will attempt to dispel our resident pious fictions. Others will attempt to present her writings in a proper manner for usage. This will include understanding how she developed them.

 For the moment, I will lock this thread. I will decide later whether to unlock it. This will likely take some time to develop. Today, I am busy with distributing food to the needy. But, I will work on developing this thread. Blessings on all.

[Gregory Matthews]

* Anderson, Eric, Editor.  Reclaiming the Prophet  This 180-page book was officially withdrawn from circulation by  the SDA Church, shortly after it was published.  Probably no more than 300 copies of the book were actually sold.  For further information related to the book see:

The following are two reviews of the above book.

https://atoday.org/reclaiming-the-prophet-a-thorough-review-2/

For part 2 of the above review, see:

https://atoday.org/reclaiming-the-prophet-how-to-believe-in-ellen-white/

https://whiteestate.org/about/issues1/ref-lib/statement-regarding-reclaiming-the-prophet-an-honest-defense-of-ellen-whites-gift/

*  Graybill, Ron wrote a PhD thesis (Johns Hopkins University--1983) that focused on the role of EGW in AMerican religious life.  See:  https://www.amazon.com/Power-Prophecy-Religious-Founders-Nineteenth-ebook/dp/B0842YXXMQ

his thesis has been published as a book.  I wrote a review of it here in Club Adventist.  you may read it at:

* Knight, George R.

HE has written a number of books on SDA beliefs, history and Ellen White.  The following link will inform you as to 31 such books.

* McAdams, Donald R.  

Ellen White & The historians: A Neglected Problem and a Forgotten Answer.  Oak & Acorn, 2022, 228 pages.

The following contains a good review of the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Ellen-White-Historians-Neglected-Forgotten/dp/B0B6XX39MW

*White, Aurther L. in the grandson of Ellen White.  He was not trained as a historian.  He made it his life work to promote his grandmother's ministry to Adventism.   In the early 1980s he wrote a 6-volumn history of EGW's life and ministry.  Each book contained about 450 to 500 pages.  He w s assisted in this work by Ron Graybill, for about 13-years, who obtained a PhD. degree from Johns Hopkins University for the work he did on American Religious History.   That relationship with White came to an end.  Information on that can be found at:   https://atoday.org/atss-ron-graybill-a-new-creed-for-a-new-day/

*Valentine, Gilbert M. 

Ostriches and Canaries: Coping with change in Adventism, 1966 - 1979.  Oak & Acorn, 456 pages.  This book is not focused on Ellen White.  I have included it in this listing as I believe it to be of value.

he has written a number of books which include SDA history and also Ellen white.  the following link will inform as to some of them.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gilbert+valentine+book&adgrpid=1331510994806289&hvadid=83219727798132&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=91004&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83220497603387%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=22562_13531026&mcid=7c257860140b3538b4627f6f86ff9c35&msclkid=747a04bee544172af3fa6c493cc28e52&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_9h8ojluhvq_e

 

[Gregory Matthews]

When I began this task, I expected to quickly finish it.  I really did not understand the amount of material available on Adventism, that was of good quality.   I soon came to realize that I could not list it all.  So, the above is simply a summary.  Enjoy. May it be a blessing to you.  I will now unlock this thread.

Gregory Matthews

 

[phkrause]

I received this in an email. Thought that maybe others would like to watch this on Sabbath at 2:30!!   They Tried to Ban It. This Sabbath at Loma Linda, Hear the Authors Speak for Themselves

 

Dear AT Readers,   This Sabbath, November 8, 2025, from 2:30–4:30 pm PT, join us in the Loma Linda University Church auditorium for a bold, historic panel on the much-discussed new book Reclaiming the Prophet: An Honest Defense of Ellen White’s Gift.   This candid, once-in-a-generation conversation—jointly presented by Adventist Today, Spectrum, and the LLUC Sabbath Seminars class—brings together leading Adventist scholars for a deep, unfiltered discussion of Ellen White’s prophetic role.   Chaired by the book’s editor, Eric Anderson, the panel features contributing authors:   Terrie Dopp Aamodt, Niels-Erik Andreasen, Jonathan Butler, Lawrence T. Geraty, Ronald D. Graybill, and Gilbert M. Valentine.   If you’re anywhere near Southern California, be there in person—the room will be electric.   Can’t attend in person? Watch the live stream here:   ? https://www.lluc.org/live   Adventist Today readers joined forces to fund this global broadcast—now it’s time to experience the conversation we made possible together.   Thank you and see you soon!     The AT Team

[Gustave]

Who tried to ban it? If I have time I plan on watching this - does anyone know if the Trinity will be addressed in this stream? I've up against the wall on a large project I'm managing so I have little time for the next two weeks but I would like to see this if the subject of the Trinity will come up! 

[Gregory Matthews]

*  The White Estate attempted to ban the book.

*  I seriously doubt that the subject of the Trinity will be addressed.  I do not know.

* The entire book has been placed on the Internet and can be downloaded.

*  The following is a copy of the Table of contents of the book, which may suggest the discussion subjects:

INTRODUCTION Eric Anderson HOW THIS BOOK WAS BORN THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ELLEN WHITE HOW TO READ THIS BOOK

PART ONE Who Was Ellen White? 17

CHAPTER ONE ELLEN WHITE WAS A WOMAN Terrie Dopp Aamodt 33

\CHAPTER TWO EMBRACING ELLEN WHITE: WHAT HER DEFENDERS AND DETRACTORS MISUNDERSTAND Jonathan Butler 51

CHAPTER THREE MESSENGER WITH A NEW ENGLAND STYLE Gilbert M. Valentine PART TWO How to Read Ellen White 73

CHAPTER FOUR THE PROPHET AS PREACHER Paul E. McGraw 85

CHAPTER FIVE ELLEN WHITE AS A DEVOTIONAL WRITER Denis Fortin 97

CHAPTER SIX “GOD WANTS US ALL TO HAVE COMMON SENSE”: ELLEN WHITE’S GUIDELINES FOR INTERPRETATION Eric

Anderson PART THREE How to Believe In Ellen White 111

CHAPTER SEVEN WHAT MY TEACHERS NEVER TAUGHT ME George R. Knight 125

CHAPTER EIGHT TURNING POINTS Donald R. McAdams 149

CHAPTER NINE ELLEN WHITE FOR TODAY: A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AFFIRMATION Ronald D. Graybill and Lawrence Geraty 157

AFTERWORD WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Niels-Erik Andreasen 173

APPENDIX ELLEN WHITE FOR TODAY: AN APPEAL 174 CONTRIBUTORS 176

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS [These page numbers are at the tops of each page, thus the contents of page 9 are seen below]

[Gregory Matthews]

The following article by Gordon Bietz is an interesting comment on the Book, Reclaiming the Prophet.

https://spectrummagazine.org/culture/a-critical-look-at-reclaiming-the-prophet/

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Zoom Seminar, Saturday, November 8,  The focus will be on the history and role of EGW.  People who are not members of the SDA Church are welcome to attend and participate.

[Gregory Matthews]

The following is a critical article that examines the rationale for the publication of the book, Reclaiming the {rophet and its removal from sale y the White Estate.  It is an article t hat should be read by all.

https://spectrummagazine.org/views/our-long-white-winter-of-discontent/

 

[Gregory Matthews]

I believe that conference has been posted on the Internet at the following link: 

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

The above video lasts for close to 2 hours.  I am about 90 minutes into watching it.  I will finish later.  One point;  It suggests that the White Estate was not the major player in banning the book, rather it was Pacific Press.  

The book and discussion clearly informed that the messages of Ellen White came from multiple sources, some of which were clearly human.  I found it very helpful to understand that from this perspective that her use of the phrase "I was shown." should not be limited to divine sources but clearly include her human sources.

[Kevin H]

23 hours ago, Gregory Matthews said:

The above video lasts for close to 2 hours.  I am about 90 minutes into watching it.  I will finish later.  One point;  It suggests that the White Estate was not the major player in banning the book, rather it was Pacific Press.  

The book and discussion clearly informed that the messages of Ellen White came from multiple sources, some of which were clearly human.  I found it very helpful to understand that from this perspective that her use of the phrase "I was shown." should not be limited to divine sources but clearly include her human sources.

Just like with Jeremiah 24's vision of the bad figs. Human source, but special insight

[Gustave]

My question is how this information would be digested by Seventh-day Adventists? I've primarily followed Ellen White from the early Millerite movement in the context of the Trinity Doctrine being rejected. As everyone here knows Ellen White was originally a "Trinitarian" but began articulating / confirming anti-Trinitarian teachings subsequent to her marriage to James White. There is no point in Ellen's writing's where I can find a nexus event where she conceded that what she had previously said about the Trinity was in error, so I'd be extremely interested in hearing if anything was developed within this think-tank where those who studied this issue said that many of her statements pertaining to the Trinity were heretical and what they plan to do about it. 

[Gregory Matthews]

In a short response to the question:  I am not aware of EGW ever repudiating her early understanding of the Trinity.  From my perspective, she simply moved on, slowly, over a period of time, to a more orthodox position.

In an Internet search, which I did today, I came up with the following statement, which I think may have come from the White Estate, I could be wrong.

Ellen White's statements on the Trinity are complex and have been interpreted in various ways. While some of her writings suggest a Trinitarian view, particularly regarding the eternal nature of the Son and the Holy Spirit, she did not explicitly reiterate her position on the Trinity in a way that would be considered a retraction.

• Statements on the Trinity: Ellen White's writings include references to the eternal nature of the Son and the Holy Spirit, which some interpret as a Trinitarian perspective. 

   

  2
• Adventist Belief: The Seventh-day Adventist Church maintains that the belief in the Trinity is based on biblical evidence, not on Ellen White's writings. 

   

  1
• Historical Context: Ellen White's views evolved over time, and her writings have been subject to interpretation, with some Adventists questioning the authenticity of her statements regarding the Trinity. 

   

  1

  
  In summary, while Ellen White's writings contain statements that could be interpreted as Trinitarian, the official beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are based on biblical texts rather than her personal statements.

[Gregory Matthews]

One of the interesting persons in the above video is Ronald D. Graybill.  "Ronald Graybill’s early scholarship earned him an invitation to the Ellen G. White Estate to assist Arthur L. White in writing a six-volume biography of his grandmother. During his 13 years at the White Estate, Ron completed his doctorate in American religious history at Johns Hopkins University,. . .."  The policy of the White Estate, at that time, required that all citations from the files of EGW's original writings, must be approved prior to any publication.  Of course, Graybill had total access to those files.  He included in this thesis one quotation, without obtaining formal permission to do so.  For that he was removed from his position at the White Estate. 

His thesis has been published.  The following is a review of that book which also contains some additional information.

https://spectrummagazine.org/culture/visions-and-revisions-textual-history-ellen-g-whites-writings-book-review/

As a correction to the above statement, the following book is actually Graybill's thesis, which is sold by Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Prophecy-Religious-Founders-Nineteenth/dp/1708222642/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1OW73Q3O5UYGW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NfgsgVtZU1Bd2vFOqN4Un3Zk48IxQs7FneKfIAtALFZcRD9rqS_qGcpQwe3bSh-FlYdjL7OwUvCrAJHFlQYw3TmNuDUYvE_R60fO45KfCU2t8i8H1yQlZMAg5jsVLnNhXldEeCXU8MmVgdeNRpCW7g.EOwj5ZRuBUPLSKaFGbzbTzmiaDkEaxYfFxj0qWx_fjI&dib_tag=se&keywords=Ronald+D.+Graybill+book&qid=1762872335&sprefix=ronald+d.+graybill+book%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-2

The following is a major discussion of Graybill's departure from the White Estate.

https://www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/Periodicals/Spectrum/1983-1984_Vol_14/22253185.READER_008.pdf

 

[Gustave]

Graybill is interesting, a while back he appeared on a podcast with a man named Deni Fortin and another SDA Scholar where Ellen White's reliance (and love) of what Protestant's call 'The Apocrypha' was documented and discussed. A good part of that discussion was the necessity of setting correct expectations for the Church for Ellen White after the surfacing of all this information coming to light - evidently a good amount of it came from Mr. Graybill's work while at the White Estate. Here is that video.

 

[Joe Knapp]

I am thoroughly enjoying chapter 1.   It answers so many questions I had about her life. 

[Gregory Matthews]

Denis Fortin is a scholar of impeccable repute.  Dr. Graybill spent more than a decade, i think, working in the White Estate before he left.  He probably knows the files of the White estate better than any living person today. who is not directly employed by the White Estate.

[Gustave]

Mr. Fortin, in the video described the utter shock he experienced when through his study of the Great Controversy something like the 1st four chapters were 90 % plagiarized from a book titled "paradise lost" by an Arian man named "Milton". Fortin again expressed shock when he found out Ellen White taught that the Apocrypha was part of the Bible and that the British Bible Society was doing the work of Lucifer by campaigning to remove the Apocrypha from the King James Bible. Ron Nelson, toward the end of the video, sort of blows up in a funny way about how the Church will deal Jesus believing the Apocrypha was "Scripture". 

This video was done a while back and the last part of it was discussing how Scholars needed to get ahead of this new information and start work on re-defining how members of the SDA should view Ellen White so that they are not devastated when this information becomes more known to the "conservative" SDA's in the pew.  

I assumed that all three people in that video I posted were "conservative" SDA's. Dr. Graybill was pretty explicit that he was not and I got the same impression of Dr. Fortin. All three said the issues they discovered about Ellen White's use of the Apocrypha and her basically copying paradise lost needed to be studied much deeper because it would cause large problems down the road. 

[Gregory Matthews]

A number of books have been published that examine Ellen White and her writings.  The truth is coming out.  But, the reality is that we do not always know exactly what the truth is.  For example:  The demonstration that a passage in her writings came from a historian does not prove that EGW copied it from that historian.  Perhaps she got it from another source?  That is a position that is taken by some SDA scholars, on some of her citations.   IOW, they really do not think she read that much in the other historians.

Secondly, there is another issue of debate:  Who is responsible for the problems that are attached to EGW and her work?  To what extent is she responsible?  To what extent is SDA leadership responsible?  There is a group within Adventism that places primary responsibility upon SDA leadership in 1919, after the death of EGW in 1915.

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

There is a reality that all students of the SDA Church must face.  Ellen White is an early cofounder of what is now the SDA Church.  I do not believe that she has as much influence on the development of SDA doctrine as some would propose that she had.  I will be teh first to say that she played a major role in the administrative development of the SDA Church. She had major roles in our entry into missions, education, healthcare, and publishing.  We would not be a denomination of 23 million people today if it were not for her role in our development.  I believe that God used her.  But, God uses imperfect people.  She was not divine.  She was human.  she was not always correct in her theology.    No human is.

Other denominations acknowledge that their early leaders were imperfect.  Gustave would be the first to acknowledge that there have been Popes who were imperfect.  Why can we not do the same.  Why can we not admit that Ellen White was a human, who was imperfect, but still used by God.  God has used me in spite of my being imperfect., as all humans are.

[Gregory Matthews]

An important article:

https://atoday.org/you-dont-have-to-believe-ellen-white-is-a-prophet-to-be-an-adventist/

I believe that God used Ellen white.  Ellen white preferred to be called a messenger" and not a prophet.   I have no problem with those who call her a prophet.  I simply expect them to acknowledge her humanness.     

 

[Gustave]

Many truly horrible and evil Catholics of all ranks have existed throughout history - chaff exists in every wheat harvest. I was just wondering if the recent video about reclaiming Ellen White came about due to the Scholarship of Deni Fortin and Ron Graybill and most recently Matthew Korpman. What Matthew discovered about Ellen White and her teaching on what Protestants call the Apocrypha was jaw dropping.

[Gregory Matthews]

The answers to your questions are mixed.

Matthew Korpman:  His work is not widely known and is just beginning to attract the attention of people.  Yes , there has been some minimal knowledge.  But he has expanded our knowledge beyond that and it is just beginning to become known beyond scholarly circles.

EGWs use of sources:  It has been well known for many years that she did make some use of sources.  But, little attention was paid to this.   Early people, whom I will not mention, were often dismissed.  Thinking of one, I accepted his evidence and dismissed some of his conclusions as I did not consider the conclusions to be of scholarly value.   Of another person, his work was generally of value, but for other reasons it was dismissed by some.   

The real turnabout in Adventist thinking came when individual scholars began to be able to publish their work outside of the standard Adventist publishing houses.    Oak and Acorn was one such Adventist  source of publishing.  Avondale Press was another.  When the individual authors began to be able to publish by using places like Amazon, a flood of new material became available to the Adventist membership in general.

George Knight and Ron Graybill are two authors who have contributed much to making information available to the general Adventist membership.  Others have made information available in areas related to EGW and also in other areas of spiritual importance.

Adventism is changing as it is being challenged.

 

 

 

[Gustave]

Thanks for clarifying Pastor Matthews! Dr. Fortin said that he was in utter shock with what he discovered and believed the common conservative / devout Adventist would need some help making it through this information making its way down to the pews. Ron Graybill said that it was a hard enough hit to know Ellen White endorsed the Apocrypha but to find out that Jesus believed that the Jewish Festival of Lights marked the cleansing of the holy temple was a very tough thing to deal with. I'll be rooting for those scholars in their efforts to keep learning about these things.