One of the most distinctive characteristics of Ellen White’s prophetic ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist Church was her consistent ability to maintain balance, both in theological matters and in practical Christian living. Guided by God’s wisdom, she demonstrated a deep understanding of the tension between the ideal and the real. In her writings she consistently articulated a vision of the ideal while recognizing the limitations and complexities of a fallen world. It is this balance that has helped and shaped Seventh-day Adventist theology and practice. Let me illustrate with two examples.
Balanced Theology
By the 1880s the Seventh-day Adventist Church was heading toward a significant theological crisis centered on the question of salvation: How is one saved? Given the Adventist emphasis on the Ten Commandments, particularly the Sabbath commandment, some within the movement began to drift toward a legalistic understanding of salvation by works.[1]
This tension came to a head at the 1888 General Conference Session in Minneapolis, where A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, two young Adventist theologians, presented Christ and His righteousness as the sole basis of salvation. Ellen White agreed with their theological emphasis, but she was especially concerned with the spirit in which the debate was carried out. “My burden during the meeting was to present Jesus and His love before my brethren,” she wrote, “for I saw marked evidence that many had not the spirit of Christ.”[2]
Ellen White was convinced that Adventist theology needed a Christ-centered realignment. For several years following the conference, she traveled and preached together with Jones and Waggoner, championing the message of righteousness by faith. “If our ministering brethren would accept the doctrine which has been presented so clearly—the righteousness of Christ in connection with the law—and I know they need to accept this,” she urged, “their prejudices would not have a controlling power, and the people would be fed with their portion of meat in due season.”[3]
It is not coincidental that Ellen White’s most Christ-centered publications came after this pivotal moment:
- Steps to Christ (1892)
- Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing (1896)
- The Desire of Ages (1898)
- Christ’s Object Lessons (1900)
- The Ministry of Healing (1905)
As a church, we are continually called to maintain this balance in the proclamation of our beliefs. As Ellen White advised: “Every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary.”[4]
Ellen White continually appealed to ‘common sense’ in interpreting her writings.
Balanced Practical Living
Ellen White’s counsel also brought needed balance to the everyday practice of Christian life. Her sensible approach to Adventist education provides a compelling example.
Deeply committed to educational reform, Ellen White advocated for Adventist schools to be located in rural areas, far from the moral dangers of urban environments.[5] She believed that “true education means more than the persual of a certain course of study. . . . It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers.”[6] In her view such wholistic education was best achieved in natural settings where students could also learn practical life skills.
By the early twentieth century, however, industrialization drew many families into urban centers. As the urban population grew, Adventist evangelism flourished, but families in the cities found it difficult to send their children to rural schools. In response Ellen White adjusted her counsel. “So far as possible,” she wrote, “these schools should be established outside the cities. But in the cities there are many children who could not attend schools away from the cities; and for the benefit of those, schools should be opened in the cities as well as in the country.”[7]
Her recognition of the complexity of life was grounded in an important principle: “Circumstances alter conditions. Circumstances change the relation of things.”[8] She consistently cautioned against rigid or extreme applications of her counsel. “We see those who will select from the testimonies the strongest expressions and . . . make them of force in every case,” she warned. “Thus they produce unhealthy impressions upon the minds of the people. . . . Let not individuals gather up the very strongest statements, given for individuals and families, and drive these things because they want to use the whip and to have something to drive.”[9]
Her son W. C. White echoed this concern in a 1913 letter to C. W. Irwin: “When we take what she has written, and publish it without any description, or particular reference to the conditions existing when and where the testimony was given, there is always the possibility of the instruction being used as applying to places and conditions that are very different.”[10]
Conclusions
Several important principles emerge from these examples. First, Ellen White’s writings must be read in context. Understanding the historical and situational background is essential for accurate interpretation and balanced application. Second, many of Ellen White’s counsels reflect the ongoing tension between the ideal and the real. Rather than ignoring the challenges of real life, her prophetic voice sought to bring balance and avoid extremes. Extremes are always dangerous.
As James White rightly observed: “Mrs. [White]’s labors are made very hard, and, sometimes perplexing, by reason of the course of extremists, who think the only safe position is to take the extreme view of every expression she has written or spoken upon points where different views may be taken. These persons will often hang upon their interpretation of an expression, and push matters at all hazards, and utterly disregard what she has said of the danger of extremes. . . . Now they stand between her and the people, and paralyze her testimony, and are the cause of divisions.”[11]
Finally, Ellen White continually appealed to “common sense” in interpreting her writings. “God wants us all to have common sense, and He wants us to reason from common sense,”[12] she advised. As we read Ellen White’s writings, may we do so with careful balance, informed understanding, and spiritual discernment.
[1] See, for example, George I. Butler, The Law in the Book of Galatians: Is It the Moral Law, or Does It Refer to that System of Laws Peculiarly Jewish? (Battle Creek, Mich.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn,, 1886).
[2] Ellen G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials (Washington, D.C.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1987), vol. 1, p. 216.
[3] Ibid., p. 164.
[4] Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1915), p. 315.
[5] Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education (Nashville: Southern Pub. Assn., 1923), p. 312.
[6] Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1903), p. 13.
[7] Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 9, p. 201. (Italics supplied.)
[8] Ellen G. White, Selected Messages (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1958, 1980), book 3, p. 217.
[9] Ibid., pp. 285-287.
[10] W. C. White to C. W. Irwin, Feb. 18, 1913.
[11] James White, “To a Brother at Monroe, Wis.,” Review and Herald, Mar. 17, 1868, p.220.
[12] E. G. White, Selected Messages, book 3, p. 217.