Ellen White and her writings

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Ellen White and her writings
How to make sense of old books Denis
Fortin Brisbane, Australia, February 2005
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The need for correct interpretation
Any sacred text, such as the Bible, written years
ago require that some basic rules be used in
order to understand what was written. Time,
culture, geography, and language create barriers
that sometime make it difficult to understand
what someone wrote.
3
What is hermeneutics?
Hermeneutics is the science and methodology of
interpretation. What does the prophet mean by
what the prophet says? What the words mean and
do not mean.
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The importance of hermeneutics
Listen as for your life to what saith the
Scripture. It is of supreme importance that you
hear aright. . . . Your salvation depends on you
hearing aright, and receiving with meekness the
engrafted Word (UL 50).
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Jesus was misinterpreted
"He Judas would introduce texts of Scripture
that had no connection with the truths Christ was
preaching. These texts, separated from their
connection context, perplexed the disciples,
and increased the discouragement that was
constantly pressing upon them. Yet all this was
done by Judas in such a way as to make it appear
that he was conscientious.
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Jesus was misinterpreted
"And while the disciples were searching for
evidence to confirm the words of the great
teacher, Judas would lead them almost
imperceptibly on another track. Thus in a very
religious, and apparently wise, way he was
presenting matters in a different light from that
which Jesus had given them, and attaching to His
words a meaning that He had not conveyed." (DA
719).
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Ellen White was misinterpreted
"Many men take the testimonies the Lord has given
. . . picking out a sentence here and there,
taking it from its proper connection context,
and applying it according to their idea. Thus
poor souls become bewildered, when could they
read in order all that has been given, they would
see the true application, and would not become
confused. Much that purports to be a message
from Sister White, serves only the purpose of
misrepresenting Sister White." (Selected Messages
144)
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Ellen White was misinterpreted
Those who are not walking in the light of the
message, may gather up statements from my
writings that happen to please them, and that
agree with their human judgment, and, by
separating these statements from their
connection, and placing them beside human
reasoning, make it appear that my writings uphold
that which they condemn. I charge you not to do
this work. To use my writings thus . . . is
misleading and inconsistent." (Letter 208, June
29, 1906)
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Cases of misinterpretation
a. "Health Reform" b. Diet c. Dress d.
Recreation/Amusement e. Education
theory/practice f. Religious experience/practice
g. Racial issues h. Cultural issues i. Debt j.
Homemaking
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Dangers of interpretation
Danger 1 That in explaining, we
"explain-away" Rules of interpretation can be a
cloak under which to hide a watering down of the
clear intent of the word of God, by
spiritualizing the obvious intent of the passage.
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Dangers of interpretation
Danger 2 The "everything-is-gray" syndrome In
endeavoring to correct one extreme view, there is
always the potential danger that, in reaction,
one will go to the opposite extreme. In
attempting to correct the erroneous view that all
things in life are black-or-white, we may,
unwittingly, create the wrong impression that
nothing is clear, or absolute.
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Reasons for rules of hermeneutics
1. Intended meaning of some words may not be
obvious. 2. A figure of speech may distort the
intended meaning. 3. Words in any language
evolve and change meaning.
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Reasons for rules of hermeneutics
4. Cultural factors may affect meaning. 5.
Circumstances often affect meaning. 6. The same
word in different contexts may mean something
different.
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Rules of Interpretation
Rule 1 Study all the applicable counsels
before drawing your conclusions. Rule 2 The
time, place, and circumstances of the giving of
certain messages should be considered. Rule 3
One should try to discover the principle involved
in any specific counsel.
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First rule
Study all the applicable counsels before drawing
your conclusions
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Nothing to say
1. Cinema and videos 2. Radio programs 3.
Television 4. Contraception 5. Abortion 6.
Cremation 7. Organ transplant
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Little to say
On other topics she had little to say 1. Life
insurance 2. Two special resurrections
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Eggs anyone?
In a sermon in the Battle Creek Tabernacle on
March 6, 1869, Ellen White raised the question of
inconsistency in the practice of health reform
in relationship to daily Christian living.
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Eggs anyone?
"You place upon your table butter, eggs, and
meat, and your children partake of them, . . .
and then you come to meeting and ask God to bless
and save your children. How high do you think
your prayers go?" (Testimonies 2362)
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Eggs anyone?
That same year (1869) she also wrote a letter to
a "Brother and Sister E." In a simple sentence
she stated flatly "Eggs should not be placed
upon your table." Why? "They are an injury to
your children" (2T 400).
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Eggs anyone?
This raises a logical question Is "your table"
to be understood in the singular, referring
specifically (and only) to the table of Brother
and Sister E or does "your table" refer
collectively to the tables of all Seventh-day
Adventists?
22
Eggs anyone?
"In some cases the use of eggs is beneficial"
(Testimonies 7135) "In some cases of persons
whose blood- making organs are feeble e.g.,
anemia . . . milk and eggs should not be wholly
discarded." (Ministry of Healing 320)
23
Eggs anyone?
"While warnings have been given . . ., yet we
should not consider it a violation of principle
to use eggs from hens that are well cared for and
suitably fed. Eggs contain properties that are
remedial agencies in counteracting certain
poisons" in the body. (Testimonies 9162)
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Eggs anyone?
What, then, precipitated this warning to Brother
and Sister E? An examination of the internal
context (Rule 2) reveals that both of the
adolescent sons in the "E" family were unable to
keep their sexual passions under control.
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Eggs anyone?
One example of extremism happened in the life of
Dr. Daniel Kress who became anemic from his
abstinence of all animal products without a
proper wholesome diet in replacement.
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Eggs anyone?
Ellen White recommended that he change his eating
habits and eat a raw egg in a glass of grape
juice two or three times a day in order to
receive "the nourishment that he greatly needed."
(Letter 37, 1904, in Counsels on Diet and Foods,
367)
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Eggs anyone?
Relevant for us today is the warning, with its
promise, penned in 1901. She declared that "the
time will come" when we will need to discard from
the diet all animal products but "when the time
comes . . . God will reveal this. No extremes
in health reform are to be advocated" (Letter 37,
1901, to Bro. and Sister D.H. Kress, in CD 358,
359).
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Eggs anyone?
She did not tell when that time would come, nor
how God would then reveal it to his people but
the implication is clearly left that intelligent
persons, sincerely and earnestly desirous of
doing Gods will, will clearly understand when
that time has fully come.
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Second Rule
The time, place, and circumstances of the giving
of certain messages should be considered
30
General Principles Regarding the Importance of
Context
1875 "That which can be said of men under
certain circumstances cannot be said of them
under other circumstances" (3T470).
31
General Principles Regarding the Importance of
Context
1904 God wants us all to have common sense,
and He wants us to reason from common sense.
Circumstances alter conditions. Circumstances
change the relation of things. (3SM 217).
32
General Principles Regarding the Importance of
Context
1911 "Regarding the testimonies of Ellen G.
White, nothing is ignored nothing is cast
aside but time and place must be considered"
(1SM 57).
33
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
1875 "When the judgment of the General
Conference, which is the highest authority that
God has upon the earth, is exercised, private
independence and private judgment must not be
maintained, but be surrendered." (Testimonies
3492)
34
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
1895 "The voice of the General Conference has
been represented as an authority to be heeded as
the voice of the Holy Spirit. But when members
of the General Conference Committee become
entangled in business affairs and financial
perplexities, the sacred, elevated character of
their work is in a great degree lost." (Ms 33,
1895, in MR 1118)
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Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
1896 "The voice from Battle Creek which has been
regarded as authority in counseling how the work
should be done, is no longer the voice of God."
(Letter 4, July 1, 1896)
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Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
1898 "It has been some years since I have
considered the General Conference as the voice of
God." (Letter 77, August 26, 1898)
37
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
However, at the General Conference session of
1901, following all the administrative changes
made to the structure of the church, Ellen White
began a further change in her position. She went
back to her 1875 position regarding the authority
of the General Conference.
38
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
"The people in the church have lost confidence
in those who have the management of the work.
Yet we hear that the voice of the Conference is
the voice of God. Every time I have heard this,
I have thought it was almost blasphemy. The
voice of the Conference ought to be the voice of
God, but it is not, because 1 some in
connection with it are not men of faith and
prayer, they are not men of elevated principle. .
. . 2 Two or three voices are not to control
everything in the whole world field." (Ms 37,
April 1, 1901, pp. 1, 8)
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Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
"That these men should stand in a sacred place,
to be as the voice of God to the people, as we
once believed the General Conference to be, that
day is past. What we want is reorganization. We
want to begin at the foundation, and to build
upon a different principle.(1901 GC Bulletin, p.
25)
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Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
"I was never more astonished in my life than at
the turn things have taken at this meeting
Session. This is not our work. God has
brought it about. Instruction regarding this was
presented to me as the Session progressed, but
until the sum was worked out at this meeting, I
could not comprehend this instruction. God's
angels have been walking up and down in this
congregation."
41
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
With the changes 1 in leadership personnel
(many new leaders were elected many former
leaders were changed, or retired), and 2 in
organizational structure, it now becomes clear
that Ellen White is reverting to her 1875
position, and now is opposed to the 1890s
position (which she initially brought into the
1901 GC Session).
42
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
Only two months later (June 1901), Ellen White
became aware, and very concerned, that her eldest
son, J. Edson White, was now erroneously taking
pre- 1901-Session statements of his mother, and
misapplying them in the post-1901- Session milieu.
43
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
"Your course would have been the course to be
pursued, if no changes had been made in the
General Conference Session just closed. But a
change has been made, and many more changes will
yet be made and they were, at the 1903
Session, and subsequently, and great
developments will yet be seen. No issues are
to be forced.
44
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
"It hurts me to think that you are using the
words which I wrote prior to the Conference to
apply them now. Since the Conference great
changes have been made.
45
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
"A terribly unjust course has been pursued in the
past. A want of principle has been revealed.
But in pity to His people, God has brought about
changes. . . . The course of action which before
the Conference might have been a necessity is no
longer a necessity, for the Lord Himself
interposed to set things in order. . . ."
(Letter 54, June, 1901)
46
Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
1909 God has ordained that the representatives
of His church from all parts of the earth, when
assembled in a General conference session,
shall have authority (9T 261).
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Is the voice of the General Conference the voice
of God?
1911 "God has invested His church with special
authority and power which no one can be justified
in disregarding and despising, for he who does
this despises the voice of God (AA 164).
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Riding a bicycle
1894 "There seemed to be a bicycle craze. Money
was spent to gratify an enthusiasm. . . . A
bewitching influence seemed to be passing as a
wave over our people there. . . . Satan works
with intensity of purpose to induce our people to
invest their time and money in gratifying
supposed wants. This is a species of idolatry. .
. . There were some who were striving for the
mastery, each trying to excel the other in the
swift running of their bicycles" (8T 51-52).
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Riding a bicycle
Understanding the context of the time when Ellen
White made this comment is crucial to properly
understand her thought. The fad of buying
bicycles showed (a) poor stewardship of time and
money, and (b) gave rise to competition, rivalry
and strife for supremacy.
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Riding a bicycle
"Toward the end of the last century the American
people were swept with a consuming passion which
left them with little time or money for anything
else.... What was this big new distraction? For
an answer the merchants had only to look out the
window and watch their erstwhile customers go
whizzing by. America had discovered the bicycle,
and everybody was making the most of the new
freedom it brought. . . .
51
Riding a bicycle
"The bicycle began as a rich man's toy. Society
and celebrity went awheel.... The best early
bicycle cost 150, an investment comparable to
the cost of an automobile today.... Every member
of the family wanted a wheel,' and entire family
savings often were used up on supplying the
demand." (Frank Tripp, "When All the World Went
Wheeling," The Readers' Digest, December 1951,
pp. 121-23)
52
General Principles Regarding the Importance of
Context
1911 "Regarding the testimonies of Ellen G.
White, nothing is ignored nothing is cast
aside but time and place must be considered"
(1SM 57).
53
GOAL Balanced View And Practice of truth
5 miles
A
Reluctant Hesitant
2 miles
B
Eager Zealous
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GOAL Balanced View And Practice of truth
Ellen White sent to Church A a 5 mile testimony
5 miles
A
Reluctant Hesitant
Church B received A 2 mile testimony
2 miles
B
Eager Zealous
55
BUT By mistake, the testimonies were switched and
each church received the wrong testimony. Yet,
each church followed faithfully the testimony it
received.
A
Still 2 miles to goal
B
Now 3 miles beyond goal
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Caution on going too fast
1872 "We should be very cautious not to advance
too fast, lest we be obliged to retrace our
steps. In reforms we would better come one step
short of the mark than to go one step beyond it.
And if there is error at all, let it be on the
side next to the people" (3T 21).
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James Whites words of caution
"She works to this disadvantage, namely she
makes strong appeals to the people, which a few
feel deeply, and take strong positions, and go to
extremes. Then to save the cause from ruin in
consequence of these extremes, she is obliged to
come out with reproofs for extremists in a public
manner. (continued)
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James Whites words of caution
"This is better than to have things go to pieces
but the influence of both the extremes and the
reproofs are terrible on the cause, and brings
upon Mrs. W. a three-fold burden. Here is the
difficulty What she may say to urge the tardy,
is taken by the prompt to urge them over the
mark. And what she may say to caution the
prompt, zealous, incautious ones, is taken by the
tardy as an excuse to remain too far behind"
(Review and Herald, March 17, 1868).
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Caution about the use of context
While context clearly is of very important
consideration for our understanding of
background, cause-effect relationships, etc.,
context, too, can be misused. We must be
exceedingly careful that we beware of too much
explaining, lest in the end we wind up by doing
too much excusing.
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Third rule
One should try to discover the principle involved
in any specific counsel, and its applications
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Whats a principle?
Definition A principle is an unerring,
unchanging rule of human conduct or behavior.
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Whats a principle?
The characteristics of a principle are -
Universal a principle applies to all men and
women in all places (the horizontal aspect). -
Eternal a principle applies to all historical
time periods and never changes (the vertical
aspect)
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Jesus commandment
Love your neighbor as yourself. This is a
universal and eternal principle.
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Counsels and applications
Eternal and universal principles are applied to
particular contextual situations through specific
counsels. Applications of principles may change
as the circumstances which call them forth change.
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Driving and harnessing a horse
In 1903, Ellen White wrote this counsel to young
women Girls who "could learn to harness and
drive a horse . . . would be better fitted to
meet the emergencies of life" (Ed 216-217).
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Driving and harnessing a horse
What shall we do with this counsel and how shall
we understand it in our modern society? Is it
imperative that our Seventh-day Adventist schools
teach a girl how to harness and drive a horse?
67
Driving and harnessing a horse
Internal Context Ellen White is urging girls, as
well as boys, to obtain a practical education
(the principle), in order to be better fitted to
meet life's emergency situations. External
Context Rural communities of 1903.
68
Driving and harnessing a horse
Application today Learn important skills that
every one needs to cope with life. Basic auto
care and maintenance, minor tune-ups
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Driving and harnessing a horse
Since both men and women have a part in
home-making, boys as well as girls should gain a
knowledge of household duties. To make a bed and
put a room in order, to wash dishes, to prepare a
meal, to wash and repair his own clothing, is a
training that need not make any boy less manly
it will make him happier and more useful. And if
girls, in turn, could learn to harness and drive
a horse, and to use the saw and the hammer, as
well as to rake and the hoe, they would be better
fitted to meet the emergencies of life. (Ed
216-217)
70
Cooking on the Sabbath
"Cooking upon the Sabbath should be avoided" (6T
357). "On Friday let the preparation for the
Sabbath be completed. See that ... all the
cooking is done" (6T 355).
71
Cooking on the Sabbath
Context In Ellen White's day "simple" cooking
was itself a very complex, time-consuming
operation requiring lots of work. Even "simple"
cooking required "work."
72
Cooking on the Sabbath
Principles 1. Nothing that could be done on the
previous six working days should be left to
Sabbath hours (6T 354). 2. All unnecessary
"work" should be avoided.
73
Cooking on the Sabbath
Application of the Principles 1. Self-timing
ovens and microwave ovens. 2. Cooking is no
longer the time-consuming, labor-intensive chore
of yesteryear. 3. Whatever preparation that can
be done on Friday should still be done on Friday.
74
Taking a bath on the Sabbath
"On Friday let the preparation for the Sabbath be
completed. See that all clothing is in readiness
and that all the cooking is done. Let the boots
be blacked and the baths taken." (6T 355)
75
Three simple rules
1. Take into consideration all that has been
written on the subject before drawing some
conclusions. 2. Consider the context, the time,
the situation, and the circumstances. 3. Find
the principles behind the specific counsels.
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Following these three simples rules will help us
avoid extremism in our understanding of Ellen
Whites writings. Properly understanding these
writings is what matters most. Seeing the
truthfulness of the message that will transform
our lives is a precious experience.