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Top Embarrassing Statements of Ellen G. White

Self-Abuse (Masturbation)

Drinkning Tea is a Sin and can Cause Disease

Did Mrs. White Practice what she Preached on Diet?

Contradictory Testimonies on Pork

More Bible Contradictions

Ellen White and Failed Prophecies

Does Mrs. White Pass the Biblical Tests of a Prophet?

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Top Embarrassing Statements of Ellen G. White

Quote on Cancer

"People are continually eating flesh that is filled with tuberculous and cancerous germs. Tuberculosis, cancer, and other fatal diseases are thus communicated." (The Ministry of Healing, p.313).
Quote on Shaving on Sabbath
"The violation of the fourth commandment is not confined to the preparation of food. Many carelessly put off blacking their boots, and shaving, until after the beginning of the Sabbath. This should not be. If any neglect to do such work on a working day, they should have respect enough for God's holy time to let their beards remain unshaven, their boots rough and brown, until the Sabbath is past. This might help their memory, and make them more careful to do their own work on the six working days." (Signs of the Times, May 25, 1882).

What Seventh-day Adventist pastor obeys this counsel?

Quote on World Population

"The human family was presented before me, enfeebled. Every generation has been growing weaker, and disease of every form visits the human race.... Satan's power upon the human family increases. IF THE LORD SHOULD NOT SOON COME AND DESTROY HIS POWER, THE EARTH WOULD SOON BE DEPOPULATED." (E.G. White, Testimony No.8, p.94, in Spiritual Gifts III-IV, Battle Creek, Steam Press, 1864, emphasis supplied).

According to the Korea Times of May 14, 1998 the world population began the century at 1.6 billion and will hit 6 billion before the year 2000. Should the world last, population experts fear that there may be as many as 27 billion people living on the face of this planet by the year 2150. Are we facing a problem of DEPOPULATION or OVERPOPULATION? If this prophecy was wrong, how many of her other prophecies, like the ones in the Great Controversy, are also wrong?

Quote on Cosmetics

"Many are ignorantly injuring their health and endangering their lives by using cosmetics…when they become heated…the poison is absorbed by the pores of the skin, and is thrown into the blood. Many lives have been sacrificed by this means alone." (Healthful Living, p.189).

Now the request - Please provide openly the names of the deceased and the obituary references to these many cosmetic deaths.

 

Quote on Geology

Mrs. White describes the cause of earthquakes: "At this time immense forests were buried. These have since been changed to coal, forming the extensive coal beds that now exist, and also yielding large quantities of oil. The coal and oil frequently ignite and burn beneath the surface of the earth. Thus rocks are heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. The action of the water upon the lime adds fury to the intense heat, and causes

earthquakes, volcanoes, and fiery issues. As the fire and water come in contact with ledges of rock and ore, there are heavy explosions underground, which sound like muffled thunder. The air is hot and suffocating. Volcanic eruptions follow; and these often failing to give sufficient vent to the heated elements, the earth itself is convulsed, the ground heaves and swells like the waves of the sea, great fissures appear, and sometimes cities, villages, and burning mountains are swallowed up." (Patriarchs and Prophets, p.108).

The real cause of earthquakes: "The immediate cause of most shallow earthquakes is the sudden release of stress along a fault, or fracture, in the earth's crust, resulting in the movement of opposing blocks of rock past one another. This causes vibrations to pass through and around the earth in wave form." (The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Copyright, 1995 by Columbia University Press.) Volcanic eruptions are not caused by coal and oil burning beneath the earth's surface. They are caused by rising magma, regions of molten rock material, beneath the earth's surface.

Quote on Genetics

Mrs. White believed that acquired physical characteristics would be passed down genetically to the next generation:

"By lacing, the internal organs of women are crowded out of their positions. There is scarcely a woman that is thoroughly healthy. The majority of women have numerous ailments. Many are troubled with weaknesses of most distressing nature. These fashionably dressed women cannot transmit good constitutions to their children. Some women have naturally small waists. But rather than regard such forms as beautiful, they should be viewed as defective. These wasp waists may have been transmitted to them from their mothers, as the result of their indulgence in the sinful practice of tight-lacing, and in consequence of imperfect breathing. Poor children born of these miserable slaves of fashion have diminished vitality, and are predisposed to take on disease. The impurities retained in the system in consequence of imperfect breathing are transmitted to their offspring." (Health Reformer, November 1, 1871).
"But my waist is naturally slender, says one woman. She means that she has inherited small lungs. Her ancestors, more or less of them, compressed their lungs in the same way that we do, and it has become in her case a congenital deformity." (Health Reformer, October 31, 1871).

The idea that acquired physical characteristics are passed genetically to the next generation is nothing more than a myth. There is no scientific evidence that acquired physical characteristics can be passed down to the next generation. It was simply a 19th century myth that has been discarded by the modern medical community.

Quote on Wigs

"Fashion loads the heads of women with artificial braids and pads, which do not add to their beauty, but give an unnatural shape to the head. The hair is strained and forced into unnatural positions, and it is not possible for the heads of these fashionable ladies to be comfortable. The artificial hair and pads covering the base of the brain, heat and excite the spinal nerves centering in the brain. The head should ever be kept cool. The heat caused by these artificials (sic) induces the blood to the brain. The action of the blood upon the lower or animal organs of the brain, causes unnatural activity, tends to recklessness in morals, and the mind and heart is in danger of being corrupted. As the animal organs are excited and strengthened, the moral are enfeebled. The moral and intellectual powers of the mind become servants to the animal." (The Health Reformer, October 1, 1871, paragraph 9).

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Self-Abuse (Masturbation)

If you are a child, this is NOT for you!

According to Mrs. White, self-abuse was the cause of a wide range of dangerous diseases and afflictions:

"Children who practice self-indulgence (masturbation) previous to puberty, or the period of merging into manhood or womanhood, must pay the penalty of nature's violated laws at that critical period. Many sink into an early grave, while others have sufficient force of constitution to pass this ordeal. If the practice is continued from the age of fifteen and upward, nature will protest against the abuse she has suffered, and continues to suffer, and will make them pay the penalty for the transgression of her laws, especially from the ages of thirty to forty-five, by numerous pains in the system, and various diseases, such as affection of the liver and lungs, neuralgia, rheumatism, affection of the spine, diseased kidneys, and cancerous humors. Some of nature's fine machinery gives way, leaving a heavier task for the remaining to perform, which disorders nature's fine arrangement, and there is often a sudden breaking down of the constitution; and death is the result." (Solemn Appeal, 1870, p.63).
"They do not realize the exceeding sinfulness of this degrading sin, which is enervating the system and destroying their brain nerve power." (Testimonies, Vol. 2, p.347).
"He had practiced self-abuse until he was a mere wreck of humanity. This vice was shown me as an abomination in the sight of God. The results of self-abuse in them is seen in various diseases, such as catarrh, dropsy, headache, loss of memory and sight, great weakness in the back and loins, affections of the spine, the head often decays inwardly. Cancerous humor, which would lay dormant in the system their life-time, is inflamed, and commences its eating, destructive work. The mind is often utterly ruined, and insanity takes place." (Appeal to Mothers, 1864, pp.25, 27).

Mrs. White believed that the following ailments or diseases were caused by masturbation: brain weakened; cancerous tumors; catarrh; dropsy; eye-sight weakened; headache; head decay; insanity; kidney disease; liver disease; lung disease; memory loss; nervous system damage; neuralgia; pains in the system; premature death; rheumatism; spinal weakness and spinal problems.

Analysis

Above statements proven false by science:

Medical research during the 20th century has completely disproven the old myths that masturbation leads to insanity, stunts your growth, causes blindness, etc. Research done by Masters and Johnson and other scientists showed no adverse short-term or long-term effects from masturbation. Researchers found that on average, those who masturbated had no higher incidence of disease, eye-sight problems, or insanity than the general population. There was also no difference in life expectancy. Even among Seventh-day Adventist physicians, there is now a near universal belief that masturbation does not cause the above illnesses.

"From a 20th-century medical perspective, I can assure you that this activity in no way affects mental or physical health." (Dr. Peter Gott, nationally syndicated medical columnist, August 12, 1997).

Mrs. White repeats the myths of the 1800's

For a good while, 1700-1900, Western medical wisdom viewed masturbation as draining vital energies and somehow related to mental illness. During the 20th century medical and scientific research proved the myths of the health ills of masturbation to be complete fiction.

QUESTION: If Mrs. White's testimonies about self-abuse were wrong, which of her other testimonies are also wrong and how can we tell the difference?

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DRINKING TEA IS A SIN AND CAN CAUSE DISEASES

"The indulgence of... tea, coffee, tobacco, or liquor, is intemperance, and is at war with the laws of life and health. By using these forbidden articles a condition of things is created in the system which the Creator never designed. This indulgence in any of the members of the human family is sin!" (Evangelism, p. 266, written in 1899).

"Tea and coffee drinking is a sin, an injurious indulgence, which like other evils, injures the soul." (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 425, written in 1896).

We will not find the drinking of tea mentioned anywhere in Scripture. Neither will we discover any proclamation in the Bible that drinking tea is a sin! Never does the Bible tell us to repent of the "sin" of drinking tea!

As ludicrous as it seems today, Ellen White specifically stated that tea, as a beverage, "loosens tongues" and contributes to gossip: "When these tea and coffee users meet together for social entertainment, the effects of their pernicious habit are manifest. All partake freely of the favorite beverages, and as the stimulating influence is felt, their tongues are loosened, and they begin the wicked work of talking against others." (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 423, written in 1890).

Tea and its Effect on Health

Even from a health standpoint Ellen White had a negative view of drinking tea. For example, she stated that tea is a narcotic: "... People may be taught... and be educated to refuse all narcotics, - tea, coffee, fermented wines, and stimulants of all kinds, - and to discard the flesh of dead animals." (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 281, written in 1896).

She also stated that physicians were not to prescribe tea for their patients for it is ‘’harmful" and "poisonous to the system". "You will not prescribe flesh, tea, or coffee for your patients, but will give talks in the parlor showing the necessity of a simple diet. You will cut away injurious things from your bill of fare." (Ibid, p. 294, written in 1902). "If tea is offered, refuse it,... explain that it is harmful..." (Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 402, written in 1901). "Tea is poisonous to the system." (Ibid, p. 421, written in 1868).

As a matter of fact, Ellen White firmly believed drinking tea caused diseases: "Diseases of every stripe and type have been brought upon human beings by the use of tea and coffee and the narcotics, opium and tobacco." (Ibid, p. 421, written in 1887).

Now compare what Ellen White has told you, supposedly under the direct inspiration of God, with what modern science has discovered regarding tea. Scientists report that drinking green and/or black tea can:

• Reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack.

• Protect against several types of cancer.

• Provide equal or greater antioxidant power than many fruits and vegetables.

• And, since tea is one of the few natural sources of fluoride, help prevent cavities.

The myth that Ellen White's so-called "health message" was inspired by God is simply without foundation. Not only did her "health message" contradict God's Word, it also contradicted the laws of science.

EGW's Addiction to Vinegar

Did you know that Ellen White was a vinegar addict?  Consider her own account of that "terrible" addiction as it appears in a letter she wrote 1911:

"I had indulged the desire for vinegar.  But I resolved with the help of God to overcome this appetite.  I fought the temptation, determined not to be mastered by this habit.  For weeks I was very sick; but I kept saying over and over, The Lord knows all about it.  If I die, I die; but I will not yield to this desire.  The struggle continued, and I was sorely afflicted for many weeks.  All thought that it was impossible for me to live.  You may be sure we sought the Lord very earnestly.  The most fervent prayers were offered for my recovery.  I continued to resist the desire for vinegar, and at last I conquered.  Now I have no inclination to taste anything of the kind.  This experience has been of great value to me in many ways.  I obtained a complete victory." (Ellen G. White, letter 70, 1911, reproduced in Counsels on Diet and Foods, page 485).

Do you think Ellen White was really "very sick" for weeks because of her "desire for vinegar?"  Do you think it really was true that "all thought it was impossible for me to live?"  Or are those statements simply more of Ellen White's exaggerations?  Do you know of anyone who is, or who ever has been, addicted to vinegar?  No?  Well then, if Ellen White would lie about such an insignificant matter as her "desire for vinegar," creating a life-threatening crisis over vinegar, then do you really think she told the truth about her "visions" and her "conversations with angels?"

Furthermore, why did Ellen White condemn the use of vinegar when Jesus drank it on the cross? "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19:30).

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Did Mrs. White Practice what she Preached on Diet?

Mrs. White and meat-eating

Did Mrs. White practice what she preached regarding eating meats? Note what she wrote in 1869:

"I have not changed my course a particle since I adopted the health reform. I have not taken one step back since the light from heaven upon this subject first shone upon my pathway. I broke away from everything at once, from meat and butter, and from three meals. I left off those things from principle. I took my stand on health reform from principle." (Testimonies, Volume 2, pp. 371-372).

Mrs. White claimed to have taken her stand prior to 1869, yet four years later we find her eating deer and duck:

"A young man from Nova Scotia had come in from hunting. He had a quarter of deer. He had traveled 20 miles with this deer upon his back. He gave us a small piece of the meat, which we made into broth. Willie shot a duck which came in a time of need, for our supplies were rapidly diminishing." (Manuscript 11, 1873. Released by the Ellen G. White Estate, Washington, D.C., April 11, 1985; MR 14, p.353).

Mrs. White was still privately eating unclean meat a full 13 years after her public commitment! In this 1882 excerpt from a letter to her daughter-in-law, Mary Kelsey White, she expresses her fondness for herring and oysters:

"Mary, if you can get me a good box of herrings, fresh ones, please do so. These last ones that Willie got are bitter and old. If you can buy cans, say a half dozen cans of good tomatoes, please do so. We shall need them. If you can get a few cans of good oysters, get them." (Letter 16, 1882, dated May 31, 1882, from Healdsburg, California).

According to Dr. John Kellogg, Mrs. White celebrated her return from Europe in 1887 with "a large baked fish." When she visited the Battle Creek Sanitarium during the next several years, she "always called for meat and usually fried chicken," much to the consternation of Kellogg and the cook who were both vegetarians. At the various camp meetings she attended, her lax dietary habits became common knowledge, thanks in no small part to her own children. Kellogg recalled once hearing Edson (J.E.) White standing in front of his mother's tent calling out to a meat wagon that visited the grounds regularly:

"Say, hello there! Have you any fresh fish?" "No," was his reply. "Have you got any fresh chicken?" Again the answer was "no," and J.E. bawled out in a very loud voice, "Mother wants some chicken. You had better get some quick." (Kellogg letter to Ballenger, January 9, 1936).

Years after his mother's death Willie White told of his mother's difficulty in giving up meat. He described the difficulty in finding vegetarian cooks, and of lunch baskets filled with turkey, chicken, and tinned tongue. (Prophetess of Health, pp.171-172).

It was not until 1894 that Mrs. White finally gave up meat eating at the insistence of a Catholic woman! Catholic? Yes, you read it right. The SDA’s are supposed to be anti-Catholic.

"I have a large family, which often numbers sixteen. In it there are men who work at the plough, and who fell trees. These have most vigorous exercise, but not a particle of the flesh of animals on our table. Meat has not been used by us since the Brighton (Australia) Campmeeting (January, 1894). It was not my purpose to have it on my table at any time, but urgent pleas were made that such a one was unable to eat this or that, and that his stomach could take care of meat better than it could anything else. Thus I was enticed to place it on my table. The use of cheese also began to creep in, because some like cheese; but I soon controlled that. But when the selfishness of taking the lives of animals to gratify a perverted taste was presented to me by a Catholic woman, kneeling at my feet, I felt ashamed and distressed. I saw it in a new light, and I said, I will no longer patronize the butchers. I will not have the flesh of corpses on my table." (Spalding and Magan, p.38).

Apparently her heavenly communications with angels were not enough to convince Mrs. White to give up meat. It took a Catholic woman begging her to give up meat on the basis that it was wrong to take the lives of animals! It makes one wonder how much confidence she had in her own visions!

Mrs. White on butter

Mrs. White said she gave up eating butter in 1869. She further stated in 1870:

"No butter or flesh-meats of any kind come on my table." (Testimonies, Volume 2, p.487).

Seventh-day Adventist president A.G. Daniels, who knew Mrs. White for over 40 years, stated at a conference meeting in 1919:

"I have eaten pounds of butter at her table myself, and dozens of eggs."
Mrs. White on cheese and eggs

"Cheese is wholly unfit for food." (CDF 368).

"Cheese should never be introduced into the stomach." (Testimonies to the Church, Volume 2, p.68).

"Eggs should not be placed upon your table. They are an injury to your children." (Testimonies to the Church, Volume 2, p.400).

"We bare positive testimony against tobacco, rich cakes, spirituous liquors, snuff, tea, coffee, flesh meats, butter, spice, mince pies." (Testimonies to the Church, Volume 3, p.21).

Mrs. White places "meat, butter and cheese" in the same category as tobacco and liquor. This is contrary to the Bible for Jesus Himself ate fish. (Luke 24:41-43). In John 21:9-12 we find that Jesus prepared flesh meat and said to his disciples, "Come and eat." The Bible tells us that Jesus ate butter (Isaiah 7:15). Mrs. White said, "Do not eat," but Jesus said, "Come and dine." Paul said, "that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; …commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (1 Timothy 4:1,3). The Bible clearly declares that to teach to abstain from meats is a "departing from the faith".

Did Mrs. White believe her own testimonies?

Now, it is obvious from these quotations that Mrs. White wasn't following the very health principles that she claimed she received from God and insisted others follow. Her practices were clearly not in line with her teachings. Jesus had something to say about people who placed burdensome requirements on others while not obeying those requirements themselves:

"For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." (Matthew 23:4).

In the Didache, an early Christian document believed to have been written around the first century A.D., the author advises early Christians on how to identify a false prophet:

"If any prophet teaches the truth, yet does not practice what he teaches, he is a false prophet." (Didache 11:10).

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Contradictory Testimonies on Pork

Mrs. White frequently warned against pork:

"Never should one morsel of swine's flesh be placed upon your table." (Testimonies, Volume 2, p.3).

What few are aware of is a testimony written in the late 1850's in which Mrs. White rebukes the Curtis family in Iowa for not eating pork. (Note: This testimony was written prior to Mrs. White's visit to the Jackson's health institute in New York).

"If God requires His people to abstain from swine's flesh, He will convict them on the matter. He is just as willing to show His honest children their duty, as to show their duty to individuals upon whom He has not laid the burden of His work. If it is the duty of the church to abstain from swine's flesh, God will discover it to more than two or three. He will teach His church their duty." (Testimonies, Volume 1, p.206).

Mrs. White also says of pork that it is nourishing and strengthening food:

"They who labor with their hands must nourish their strength to perform this labor, and those also who labor in the Word and doctrine must nourish their strength. They should eat of nourishing and strengthening food to build up their strength. I saw that your views concerning swine’s flesh would prove no injury to you if you have them to yourself; but in your judgment and opinion you have made this question a test." (Testimonies, Volume 1, pp.206,207).

Analysis

A Testimony of God's Spirit?

Brother and Sister Curtis studied their Bibles and came to the conclusion that eating pork was wrong. How did Mrs. White respond? Did she congratulate them for their good, scholarly Bible study? What message does God have for them? Is God pleased that this family is ahead of their time in realizing the dangers of eating pork? Apparently not!

Mrs. White soundly rebuked them! If brother Curtis's health practices were in accordance with God's health plans, why would God's messenger rebuke him?

H.E. Carver, an early Adventist who was friends with the Curtis family, shares what happened to this family:

"Brother and Sister Curtis were among my most intimate friends for many years, and as we lived side by side a portion of the time, I knew some of the circumstances connected with the vision instruction given above. Sister Curtis was a very conscientious woman, and becoming satisfied, long before any movement was made in that direction by Elder and Mrs. White, that pork-eating was injurious, she tried to banish it from the table. This produced trouble. Sister Curtis was a sincere believer in Mrs. White's divine inspiration, and from the extract given above, it appears that she must have written to her for instructions, which she received as above; and that professedly through vision. Brother Curtis also stated that Elder White had endorsed on the back of the letter the following in substance: That you may know how we stand on this question, I would say that we have just put down a two hundred pound porker." (Mrs. E.G. White's Claims to Divine Inspiration Examined, 2nd edition, 1877).

Was God the source of Ellen White's testimonies? Or were others influencing her? Why the strong rebuke of this family? Could it be because James White had come out in favor of eating pork a few years earlier?

James White's article on pork

In 1850, James White wrote an article defending the eating of pork by Christians. Here is how he concludes the article:

"Some of our good brethren have added ‘swine's flesh’ to the catalogue of things forbidden by the Holy Ghost, and the apostles and elders assembled at Jerusalem. But we feel called upon to protest against such a course, as being contrary to the plain teaching of the holy scriptures. Shall we lay a greater ‘burden’ on the disciples than seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and the holy apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ? God forbid. Their decision, being right, settled the question with them, and was a cause of rejoicing among the churches, and it should forever settle the question with us." (The Present Truth, Vol. 1, November 1850, No. 11, "Swine's Flesh").
But in her book, Testimonies to the Church, concerning this matter Ellen White wrote:
"It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the Ten Commandments." In other words, eating a slice of bacon is a sinful as committing adultery. And, "the use of swine’s flesh is contrary to his (God’s) express commandments". (Testimonies to the Church, Volume 2, pp.70,96; respectively).

In the Seventh-day Adventist "Amazing Facts" booklet on page 3, the question is asked, "but I like pork, will God destroy me if I eat it?" Answer: "This may be shocking, but it is true and must be told. The Bible positively states that all that eat "swine’s flesh," the "mouse" and other unclean things will be destroyed with fire at the coming of the Lord."

Which Testimonies are right and which are wrong? Not only do they contradict each other but they are unbiblical.

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More Bible Contradictions

Can Ministers eat meat?

Ellen G. White: "Let not any of our ministers set an evil example in the eating of flesh-meat. Let them and their families live up to the light of health reform. Let not our ministers animalize their own nature and the nature of their children." (Spalding and Magan, p.211).

Holy Bible: "And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover (lamb) with you before I suffer:" (Luke 22:15).

NOTE: The traditional passover dinner which Jesus ate with His disciples included eating a roasted lamb: "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." (Exodus 12:8).

When Elijah was by the brook Cherith, "… the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook." (1 Kings 17:6).

Why did God feed Elijah with bread and "flesh" if that would set an "evil example"? Why not bread and cucumbers; or bread and carrots?

Is it a sin to be sick?

Ellen G. White: "It is a sin to be sick; for all sickness is the result of transgression." (Counsels on Health, p.37 and Health Reformer, August 1, 1866).

Holy Bible: "So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown." (Job 2:7).

NOTE: How could all sickness be the result of transgression? God Himself said that Job was "a perfect and an upright man." (Job 2:3). Paul had a "thorn" in his body that was making him weak. (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Was it a sin for Paul to have this condition in his body?

It is a matter of record that Ellen White was frequently ill. Does this mean that she was a frequent sinner?

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ELLEN WHITE AND Failed Prophecies

Mrs. White and her followers claim that she had the "spirit of prophecy" from December 1844, to the end of her life, August 1915, seventy-one years. During these long years she wrote over twenty volumes. All this time she claimed that the future was being revealed to her, and predicted what would happen. Here her claims can be examined and tested.

God's prophets foretold definite things to occur; named persons and cities, and told what would happen to each. Joseph foretold the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine (Genesis 41); Samuel told Saul that the kingdom would be taken from him and given to another (1 Samuel 15:28); Isaiah named Cyrus two hundred years before he was born (Isaiah 44:28); Jeremiah foretold the fall of Babylon (Jeremiah 51); Jesus warned of the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24). Scores of such cases could be given.

But where are the fulfilled predictions of Mrs. White during her seventy-one years of prophesying? What definite events did she foretell to occur at definite times and to definite cites? Where are these prophecies? At first she did venture to foretell a few things definitely, but they all failed.

After that she invariably put everything in general terms, not venturing to name definitely any persons or cities or places or time. She predicted different things all in general terms. Anyone could do that safely, without any prophetic gift. If she really had the spirit of prophecy, that should have been the outstanding feature of her books. Instead of this, her ‘Testimonies’ and other books are devoted almost wholly to personal matters, expositions of the Bible, and to practical subjects regarding Christian conduct and duty, the same as any intelligent religious teacher could write.

Once in her early work she did venture to predict the curse of God upon a definite person, Moses Hull. In 1862 he was about to give up his faith in Adventism. Mrs. White wrote him thus: "If you proceed in the way you have started, misery and woe are before you. God's hand will arrest you in a manner that will not suit you. His wrath will not slumber." (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 430,431). Mr. Hull lived on many long years to a ripe old age, and nothing of the kind predicted happened. After this she threatened many, but always in general terms.

Predictions About the Civil War

The Civil War of 1861-65 placed Seventh-day Adventists in a trying position. They could not engage in war and keep the Sabbath. She says:

"January 4, 1862, I was shown some things in regard to our nation." (Testimonies, Vol.1, p.253).

"It is all a bitter denunciation of Lincoln's administration and his management of the war. Every move had been wrong, and only defeat was prophesied. Mr. Lincoln, in his need, asked the prayers of all Christians, and appointed days of fasting and prayer. Of these Mrs. White said: ‘I saw that these national fasts were an insult to Jehovah. A national fast is proclaimed! Oh, what an insult to Jehovah’!" (Testimonies, Vol. 1, p.257).

That was the way she sympathized with Mr. Lincoln and the nation in the hour of need. Again, Mrs. White said:

"This nation will yet be humbled into the dust. When England does declare war, all nations will have an interest of their own to serve, and there will be general war." (Ibid, p.259).

It never came. Here, again, her prophecy was a complete failure. Our nation was not humbled into the dust. England did not declare war.

Mrs. White interpreted the Civil War as a sign of the end of the world, just as Adventists had interpreted the European war. She says:

"The scenes of earth's history are fast closing." (Ibid, p.260).

Under the heading, ‘The Rebellion,’ she says:

"The one all-important inquiry which should now engross the mind of everyone is, Am I prepared for the day of God? Time will last a little longer." (p.363).

Since then two generations have gone. Mrs. White, Elder White, and all who then preached and heard that warning, are laid away. They needed no such warning, for they did not live to see that day, as she then predicted. Failure, failure, failure is marked by ineradicable letters against all her predictions.

During those dark days of the Civil War, Mrs. White privately warned our married people not to have any more children. Time was so short, and the seven last plagues were so soon to fall, that children born then would be liable to perish. But children born since then are now grandparents!

MORE OF Ellen G. White's failed prophecies

  1. "I have seen that the 1843 chart (William Miller's) was directed by the hand of the Lord and that it should not be altered that the figures were as he wanted them." (Early Writings, p.64, edition 1882). (The chart mentioned predicted the end of the world in 1843).

  2. Ellen White loses the vision: "In our frequent change of location in the earlier history of the publishing work, and I have crossed the plains no less than 17 times, I lost all trace of the first published works. And here I pause to state that any of our people having in their possession a copy of any or all of my first views, as published prior to 1851, will do me a great favor if they will send them to me without delay." (Selected Messages, Book 1, p.60).

  3. E.G. White prophesied the world would end in 1843, 1844, 1845 and 1851: "Now time is almost finished, (1851) and what we have been 6 years in learning they will have to learn in months." (Early Writings, p.57).
  4. "I saw the state of the different churches since the second angel proclaimed their fall (in 1844). They have been growing more and more corrupt. Satan has taken full possession of the churches as a body. Their professions, their prayers and their exhortations are an abomination in the sight of GOD." (Spiritual Gifts, Vol 1, p.189).

  5. White blames her failed prophecy on the members of the Seventh-day Adventist church: "Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history." (Selected Messages, Book 1, p.299).
  6. Concerning some of her revelations: "In one of her visions her accompanying angels told her that the time of salvation for all sinners ended in 1844. She now claims the door of mercy is still open. In another vision she discovered that women should wear short dresses with pants and she and her sister followers dressed this way for eight years. But the ridiculous custom has now been abandoned." (Biederwolf, Seventh-Day Adventism, p.81).

  7. She also affirms that her visits to heaven were easily made: After having left there during one of her visits an angel "handed me a green cord coiled up closely. This he directed me to place next to my heart, and when I wished to see Jesus, take from my bosom and stretch it to the utmost. He cautioned me not to let it remain coiled for any length of time lest it should become knotted and difficult to straighten."

  8. "I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: Some food for worms, some subject to the last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus." (Vol.1, p.131).

    NOTE: This statement was made in 1856 and every one present in that meeting is now dead. Obviously, this was a false prophecy. Some SDA's, in trying to extricate themselves from the dilemma of this false statement, have argued that had God's people been faithful the Lord would have come long ago. But this excuse will not hold water, because God knew ahead of time what would happen. And Mrs. White made no conditions for the fulfillment of her prophecy. Her statement is plain and to the point.

  9. "Thousands have been induced to enlist with the understanding that this war to exterminate slavery, but now that they are fixed, they find that they have been deceived, that the object of this war is not to abolish slavery, but to preserve it." (Vol.1, pp.254,258).

    NOTE: We know now that the Civil War in the USA did indeed abolish slavery. Mrs. White was wrong.

  10. "Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters which gave us the day and hour of Jesus coming. When God spoke the time, He poured upon us the Holy Spirit." (Vol.1, p.59).

    NOTE: In this reference Mrs. White claims that the Lord gave her the day and hour of His coming. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels in heaven, but my Father only." And, of course, we know today she was wrong because Jesus did not come when she expected Him.

  11. On pages 42-45 of Early Writings, Mrs. White describes a closing of a door in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, and an opening in the most holy place (in 1844), that the "midnight cry" was finished at the seventh month 1844, (see p.43), that then was the "sealing time", and that the time for salvation for sinners had passed (p.45).

    All the above statements have been proven false by the fact that Christ did NOT return to earth in 1844. The "midnight cry" WAS NOT FINISHED IN 1844, FOR THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT HE DID THIS AT HIS ASCENSION (See Hebrews 6:19; 9:24). The time for the salvation of sinners did NOT pass in 1844. If it did WE ARE in great trouble (LOST) TODAY!

  12. Mrs. White taught that in the communion service the sisters should wash the feet of the brethren (Early Writings, p.117).

NOTE: Now this is considered so out of order that even SDA's do not follow this instruction.

Why Her Prophecies Failed?

"Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history." (Selected Messages, Book 1, p.299).

She blamed it on the Seventh-day Adventist church members!

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Does Mrs. White Pass the Biblical Tests of a Prophet?

The Apostle John commands us to test the prophets:

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1).

The reason John gives for us to test the prophets is because there are many false prophets. Jesus also warned of false prophets in the last days:

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24).

Jesus says that false prophets will arise who appear so much like true prophets that even the very elect will be in danger of being deceived by them! Therefore, it is critically important that we test the prophets and prove whether or not they are of God.

TEST #1: Prophecies must be fulfilled

THE False Prophecy of 1856

Mrs. White made a SPECIFIC prediction of a future event. Probably her most famous failure was made in 1856. While attending a conference she predicted that some of those attending would be "translated" without seeing death. Obviously, all the participants at that conference are all dead now, thereby making the prophecy false. This prophecy is unique because most of Mrs. White's references to future events are couched in vague generalities.

"I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus." (Testimonies, Volume 1, p.131).

Did the Angel lie?

Notice that only the Father knows the day and the hour He is returning:

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:36).

Notice that the angels do not know the day and the hour of Christ's return! If the angels do not know this information, how could they tell Ellen White that some of those present at the 1856 conference would be translated?

Think about this:

God is omniscient. He is all-knowing. He knows the future. God knows the exact day and the exact hour He is returning to earth. (Matthew 24:36). He has known that exact day and exact hour since before the world was created.

God cannot lie. (Titus 1:2). Therefore, it is an absolute impossibility that God could have told His angels He was returning within the life span of the people at the 1856 conference. If He had told

his angels that he was returning in the 1800's, while knowing all along that the day and hour were yet far into the future, He would be a liar.

Why would God, who knows the exact time of His return, allow His angel to tell His prophet something which He knew all along was NOT going to happen?

"But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:20,22).

Some have suggested that predictions written out in the Great Controversy, such as the United States in prophecy and enforced Sunday observance, appear to be coming to pass, and this proves Mrs. White to be a prophet. The idea of Sunday observance being the "Mark of the Beast" was first advanced by Joseph Bates in the 1840's before he even met the Whites. The United States in prophecy, the "mark of the beast," the "image to the beast," had all come out earlier in James White's book, "Life Incidents", published in 1875. Comparison shows that words, sentences, quotations, thoughts, ideas, structures, paragraphs, and even total pages were taken from it and put in Great Controversy.

TEST #2: Cannot have falsehood in their visions

"Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 23:32).

In the period of 1844-1850, a time when Mrs. White was receiving frequent public visions, she claimed on a number of occasions to have seen in vision the door of salvation shut for all those who were not part of the 1844 Millerite movement. This was an absolute falsehood, and this doctrine was eventually discarded by the Adventists in the early 1850's. Mrs. White's visions were successful in convincing a few early believers that the door of salvation was shut. In other words, Mrs. White's visions convinced her followers to believe a false doctrine!

TEST #3: Cannot steal writings from others

The Bible identifies false prophets as those who steal their writings from others:

"I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour." (Jeremiah 23:21,30).

Much has been written on Mrs. White's extensive plagiarism of the writings of others. Prior to the publication of Walter Rea's, The White Lie, in 1983, Adventists maintained that 8% to 10% of Mrs. White's work was copied. The SDA church hired Adventist scholar Dr. Fred Veltman to examine the Desire of Ages and he found 30% or more, depending upon the chapter examined. After great expense and almost eight years of research, Veltman confirmed what other studies showed, that depending upon the material examined, the copy work could be as much as 90%. Dr. Veltman noted:

"Implicitly or explicitly, Ellen White and others speaking on her behalf did not admit to and even denied literary dependency on her part."
"I must admit at the start that in my judgment this is the most serious problem to be faced in connection with Ellen White's literary dependency. It strikes at the heart of her honesty, her integrity, and therefore her trustworthiness." (Ministry, December 1990, pp.11,14).

Dr. Don McAdams, an SDA scholar, stated in the 1980 Glendale meeting:

"If every paragraph in the book Great Controversy, written by Ellen White, was properly footnoted, then every paragraph would have to be footnoted."

TEST #4: Cannot contradict the Word of God

"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

A close examination of Mrs. White's writings shows:

Notice other portions of this book and examine the evidence.

TEST #5: Must acknowledge Paul's writings as God's Commandments

"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 14:37).

Did Mrs. White follow Paul's commandments? Because this is very controversial, let us allow the Word of God to speak for itself. Just three verses earlier Paul gives a commandment to the church:

"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).

"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." (1 Timothy 2:11-12).

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Page 3 of 4 Topics

Top Embarrassing Statements of Ellen G. White

Self-Abuse (Masturbation)

Drinkning Tea is a Sin and can Cause Disease

Did Mrs. White Practice what she Preached on Diet?

Contradictory Testimonies on Pork

More Bible Contradictions

Ellen White and Failed Prophecies

Does Mrs. White Pass the Biblical Tests of a Prophet?

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