Portal:Seventh-day Adventist Church/Selected article/3
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The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes that church co-founder Ellen G. White was inspired by the Holy Spirit and possessed the spiritual gift of prophecy which was exhibited in her writings. Her works are officially considered to hold a secondary role to the Bible, but in practice there is wide variation among Adventists as to exactly how much authority should be attributed to her writings. With instruction she claimed was received in visions, White made administrative decisions, gave personal messages of encouragement or rebuke to church members, and played a major role in doctrinal development.
The debate concerning the validity of her prophetic gift has always been heated, both from within and outside the Adventist church. This debate reached a climax in the 1970s and 80s, and since then the church's position has modified somewhat to place greater emphasis on her humanity and fallibility. Non-Adventists typically believe she was not a prophet, with many such as Walter Martin seeing her as a genuine Christian nonetheless, and some others as an unchristian deceiver. Criticisms include her literary borrowing from other writers, some of her doctrinal positions taken, and her alleged prominence in the church.
Typical mainstream Adventist scholars today believe:
- she was inspired by God... yet she was not infallible (without error)
- her writings are important to and relevant to the Adventist church today... yet must not form the basis for doctrine
- her writings are inferior to the Bible and non-canonical... yet superior to ordinary Christian literature
- she was culturally conditioned to some degree... yet she was not limited to the culture of her day only, but transcended it to some degree
- she borrowed from other authors... yet was not without discrimination in her inspired usage
There has always been significant variation in the Adventist church regarding White's inspiration. Today both critics and mainstream Adventists believe that segments of the church exist which overuse her writings. A small minority of the church believes she was infallible. Many "Conservative" Adventists tend to place greater emphasis on her writings and less emphasis on her humanity and fallibility than other Adventists. "Progressive Adventists" (usually referred to as "Liberal" Adventists) tend to view her writings as primarily devotional and pastoral in nature rather than doctrinal. It is generally known among Adventists that a large percentage of those in leadership positions do not believe fully in her inspiration.
