History Of Seventh Day Adventism Religion Essay

George R. Knight believes that there are several approaches to reading and understanding the writings of Ellen G. White. Ellen White's writings are inspiring, insightful, and engaging. However, they can also be vague, nebulous and just downright confusing. By the time of her death in 1915, she had written over 24 books, with two more ready for publication; over 5,000 periodical articles within publications of the church; over 200 tracts and pamphlets; and thousands of handwritten letters. All told, her literary productions total approximately 100,000 pages. (Whiteestate.org 2001) Her works are extremely polarizing within the church, with the far-right believing her works are the direct words of God, and the far-left (many of which are not even members of the SDA church) believing that her visions are the result of a temporal lobe injury, sustained when she was just a young girl. With these interpretations, and the plethora of those in between, George R. Knight seeks to bring an open-minded, scholarly approach to the dividing compositions of Ellen G. White.

George Knight begins his handbook on Ellen White by clarifying what Inspired Counsel really means. He believes that although inspired works seem contradictory, they are really just meant for different people, different times, and different situations. The real purpose of the first chapter is summed up by the following passage:

"And just as a good physician prescribes different therapies for different people with similar problems, so does God. His counsels for one person may appear to be the opposite of those given to another. That is why the readers of Ellen White's writings must do much more than mindlessly apply quotations from her pen to their lives. Readers must not only read, but read intelligently and responsibly; they must not only apply the counsel but do so intelligently and responsibly. (Knight 15)"

Throughout this book, Knight persistently encourages the reader to understand the context of White's writings. Not only the context of her other works, but also that of the time period (the cultural atmosphere, the popular beliefs, movements, teachings etc.). Without this contextual understanding, Ellen's writings are highly subject to misunderstanding, misquoting and complete misinterpretation.

Many far-right SDA believers sometimes use Ellen White's writings in ways that supersede the teachings of the Bible. Knight does not believe this is the true nature of her writings. In short, he believes that Ellen White puts it best, that her writings are "a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light (the Bible). (Knight 17)" White's works should serve as an addendum, but in no capacity should it replace any part of the Bible. The following chapter serves to only support this stance, and repeatedly quotes Ellen White stating that her writings are in no way, shape or form a substitute for the Bible. To believe so would border on heresy, and would completely undermine the work that White put into guiding people to the Holy Bible. It is essential to realize that Ellen White rejected her infallibility and that she actually struggled with many of her interpretations of the Bible.

The rest of Knight's "Preliminary Considerations" deal with the unofficial and official statuses of White's compilations. Many of her works were published and compiled posthumously, and may not be exactly what she intended. However, her works, well known and obscure both have their place in the Seventh-Day Adventist theology. A final consideration is in the plan of action when dealing with the writings of Ellen White. Just as with the Bible, all study should begin with a prayer for both direction and understanding. Also, it is extremely important to approach study with a receptive mindset. Knight also believes that we should engage in study with a tone of faith, rather than outright doubt. With all of the above in mind, Knight believes that the reader is now ready to begin study of Ellen White's work. He outlines his directions into ten "Principles of Interpretation," which will all be covered, but not necessarily on a point-to-point basis.

Knight believes that the reader should look at the "big picture" of White's messages. Branching out and looking for things that are new and different is an unsafe path to misunderstanding. The big picture provides the ever-important context for all other points, and it is a principle that applies not only to White's works, but to the Bible as well. The minor points of her teachings have repeatedly been misused to push agendas, but it is, once again, important to realize the big picture of her teachings, and in essence, the context in which those minor points reside.

Arthur White, Ellen's biographer is also another strong believer in understanding the context and information contained within Ellen's teachings. Time, and time again, I have heard people take one line from a work of Ellen White (or erroneously attribute a quote to her), and watched as they formed that single thought or sentence into an argument. However, when all information on that topic is looked at, the fallacy of the unsound argument is laid bare. Crosschecking Ellen's teachings against all available information, from her and other sources is crucial in having a complete understanding of her messages. However, delving too deep into her words, and extracting interpretations that White had no intention of relating, is another peril that can occur when studying Ellen's works, and even the Bible. At the same time, this can never be used to vindicate ignorance. Each person must do their research, but do so with common sense.

Context (time, place, culture, and literary) is what most people seem to get wrong when considering Ellen White's writings. Quotations from Ellen do not always solve the problems that we face today. Many of her teachings are relevant for the time that she lived in. It was a time of great change; a time of racism, temperance, emerging science/healthcare, and rapid development in all aspects of society. It is commonly misunderstood that God did not dictate Ellen White's health message word-for-word. Many of her ideas were actually the prevailing theories of the time (see hydrotherapy), and do not seem as contradictory when compared to the beliefs of her time period. However, her teachings cannot be easily be discounted just because of a chronological disparity. Water, although not very useful for enemas (other than clinical settings), is still a great therapeutic option (Mineral springs, Spas, overall hydration). Understanding the fundamental principles of her messages give them universal implementations.

In summary, many, if not all the seemingly contradictory statements of Ellen White can be resolved by simply looking at the context of her writings. In an age where simple one-lined blurbs are the preferred forms of information dissemination, it is increasingly inconvenient and, quite frankly, difficult to go back and look at the contextual relationships of simple statements made by an author over one hundred years ago. However, as a church and as a society, we open ourselves up to exploitation and manipulation without the critical analysis skills required to debate and renounce fallacious thoughts and theories. Much like Ellen White believed, we as readers, scholars, and a Church must find a place of moderation, and reject extremist ignorance in all it's shapes, forms, and embodiments.