Ellen White is not the founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  She was certainly an important part of it's beginning and growth.  She was part of a small group of believers who in the mid 1800's began studying the Bible together seeking to know the truth. They were not willing to just accept their churches doctrines that were often based more on tradition than the Bible.  Ellen began receiving visions as a teenage girl.  These visions sometimes confirmed conclusions that the group had reached about the Bible.  They also sometimes forced her to change her own opinions and misconceptions.  Her story is quite remarkable.   I don’t' have room to share it all here. 

            Ellen White functioned in a similar manner as Paul did to the early church.  She wrote letters, encouraged and counseled people and held them accountable.  She gave advice in both spiritual and practical matters.  From understanding the free gift of God's grace to how to keep a clean, healthy home.  She wrote lots of books, letters, and articles during her long life.

            Often Seventh-day Adventists are afraid to talk about Ellen White.  They are afraid that people will think we are weird or get the wrong impression.  Even within the church it can sometimes be a touchy subject.  I think the biggest reason for this is the labels that we use and the contemporary misconceptions that comes along with those labels.

            People often refer to Ellen White as a "prophet".  First let's talk about what a "prophet" is and then we'll examine why she rejected that label.

            When someone uses the word prophet, often we think of predicting the future.  The reality is, in the Bible a "prophet" is simply someone who communicates a message from a god to humans.  In Bible times prophets were everywhere. Every god had his prophets.  To tell someone you were a prophet back then would not have raised the eyebrows it does now. It would be like telling someone you are a doctor or teacher today.  It was a totally accepted profession. Prophets were the mouthpiece of their god or gods. 

            The God of heaven, the true God who we believe in, also had prophets to communicate his messages to men.  Much of the Old Testament (if not all) is written by those prophets.  They do occasionally predict the future. (Daniel is a good example of this). But the majority of their work was counseling people to be faithful to God and helping them to make wise decisions.  They often warned what would happen if God's will or plan was ignored. Here is a good example of this:

Jer 35:15  "Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: 'Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.

            God's prophets often have a good relationship with Him, but not always.  Balaam acted as a prophet and delivered a message for God.  He certainly was not seeking God's will and actually led God's people astray for money. (See Numbers 22, Rev 2:14)

            Prophets were humans just like us.  James 5:17 says that "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours."  Prophets are not perfect people. Most of God's prophets that we read about in scriptures, however, had totally surrendered their lives to God and put their trust in him. If you take time to read about them you will find out they were also very human.

So basically a prophet is just a human that delivers a message from God to his people.

It is clear that God has had many such prophets or messengers.  The Bible aslo gives us the idea that God is not going to stop communicating with his people. In fact it seems that God will speak thorough more people.  Here are some verses that support this idea.  Take time to go read the context.

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD does nothing Unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets.

Joe 2:28  "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.

Peter pointed to this verse in Joel on the Day of Pentecost.  In the New Testament church, prophesying was a common occurrence.  Paul encourages us to desire this spiritual gift, even above others.

1Co 14:1-3  Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.  For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.

It should not be unusual or uncomfortable for Christians to talk about prophets and prophesying.  However the word "prophet" today is a loaded word that make one think of mass suicides and strange cult practices. This is why I believe that Ellen White did not call herself a prophet.

She herself did not use that word.  I think she understood the baggage that that word carried. She simply referred to herself as God's messenger. God gave her messages, and she delivered them.  This was not an easy job, for often the messages that she was asked to deliver did not make her very popular.  There were times when she said she would rather die than have to deliver a message that she was given.  Just because she delivered messages from God does not mean that everything she said was divinely inspired.  Nor does it mean that she never made mistakes or never sinned.  She was a weak human just like us.  She found her strength in surrendering to a God she loved.

To our western minds it is hard to accept that someone may receive visions and inspiration directly from God.  But if we accept the Bible as truth, it is clear that God does use humans in this way.  There are many questions that can be raised about this.  There are many different opinions on how to handle the writings of someone like Ellen White.  I say before you read those opinions about her, it would be wise to actually read something she wrote, in it's context.  There are many websites dedicated to discrediting Ellen White just as there are many website dedicated to discredited the Bible or Free Market Economics for that matter.  Before reading what other people say about her, read what she actually said.  Only then can you really make a decision.  Just as with anyone who claims to be communicating a message from God, we need to hold what she says "up to the light" (the Bible) to make sure it does not contradict what we have been taught.  (The Bereans did this with Paul, see Acts 17:10-11).  Ellen White never put herself on a position above, or even equal to the Bible.  She considered herself to be a "lesser light" pointing to the true light, the Bible.

If you are interested, here are a few books that would be a good place to start. 

Steps to Christ - A short book describing the essence of the gospel.

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings - Applications of Christ's Sermon on the Mount

Christ's Object Lessons - Applications of Christ's parables

The Desire of Ages - The story of the life of Christ.

Many of these can be found on amazon or ebay for fairly cheap.  I have some of these that I would be happy to loan someone.  Most of her writings are also online at www.whiteestate.org.

This is a huge topic. I have really only scratched the surface.  Please ask questions.  I would love to hear someone else's opinion on this also.  I am by  no means the authority on this subject.

Thank you so much for your response!  This gave me some info to chew on for the next week or so. 

You have a terrific way of explaining things!

Adam does have a terrific way of explaining things. Thanks so much Adam for taking the time to write all this out. I find it quite helpful.

-paul