“If I … heard a preacher enlarging on (Ellen White’s miracles), I would have my doubts. That is I would want to know if he saw it (the miracle). He would have to say, No, he never did. Then I would ask, ‘Did you ever see the man that did see it?’ And he would have to answer, ‘No, I never did.’“ — A. G. Daniells, General Conference President, at 1919 Bible Conference, Spectrum, vol. 10, number 1, pp. 28, 29
If you became a Seventh-day Adventist as a result of attending evangelistic meetings, you probably heard about miracles associated with Ellen White’s visions. If you attended Seventh-day Adventist schools you were taught about the miracles associated with Ellen White’s visions. Visit the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, or the White Estate, or Ellen White’s home, and you’ll be told about more miracles associated with Ellen White’s visions.
Ellen White’s link to the miraculous and supernatural contributes greatly to her mystique and authority within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. What Adventists say about those miracles is interesting from two perspectives.
First, Seventh-day Adventists scorn any miracles associated with non-Adventist pastors or healers. Over the years Seventh-day Adventists have produced numerous books and articles indicating that, virtually without exception, all non-SDA miracles are of the devil, or the result of mass hypnosis, or trickery. Over and over again you will hear sincere Adventists deny non-SDA miracles by quoting two Bible texts:
“For false Christ’s and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect — if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.” — Mark 13:22-23.
“They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.”— Revelation 16:13-14.
Second, Seventh-day Adventists immediately reverse their general position on miracles when they speak about Ellen White. For many Adventists, miracles validate Ellen White’s inspiration. This inconsistent approach to miracles is hardly ever questioned by new converts or modern Adventists, but it was seriously questioned by those who had worked directly with Ellen White for decades.
For example, one of the most cherished miracles associated with Ellen White’s visions is the one in which she is now said to have held a large 18-pound Bible at arm’s length for approximately 45 minutes while in vision. What you are not told is that the original account claims she held that Bible, not for 45 minutes, but all afternoon until sunset (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, pages 78, 79). And it was said that Bible did not weigh just 18 pounds, it weighed approximately 40 pounds (see A. G. Daniells’ statement on pages 115-116).
What is especially appealing about the modern version of this “miracle” is that the White Estate does have a large 18-pound Bible on display that is supposed to be the very Bible Ellen White held (see photos on page 90). If you were at the 1990 General Conference session in Indianapolis, you saw hundreds of Adventists from around the world standing in line for the privilege of being photographed holding that Bible. Even the strongest person can barely hold it at arm’s length for more than a minute. The obvious conclusion is that if frail little Ellen White held it in her outstretched hand for 45 minutes during vision, she would have required supernatural strength — therefore she must have been inspired by God. And if she was inspired by God, then she certainly is His trusted “messenger” to the “Remnant Church.”
Now, if the story was true would it prove Ellen White was divinely inspired? What about Indian fire walkers of Singapore running barefoot across 30 feet of blazing coals without being burned? Does that “miracle” prove they are inspired by God? What about Hindus who insert three-foot long spears and hooks into their flesh without pain or loss of blood? Does that “miracle” prove they are inspired by God?
Why do Adventists express great skepticism about miracles until they are associated with Ellen White? Why do Seventh-day Adventists need to have Ellen White’s ministry confirmed by “miracles?” Is it because inwardly they suspect her ministry cannot stand on its own?
So what about that miracle — did Ellen White really hold that 18-pound Bible in her outstretched hand for 45 minutes while in vision as the modern version claims? The evidence says no, it never happened! Notice what author Wallace D. Slattery uncovered about this myth:
“Today the White Estate admits that any evidence that she ever held up any large Bible for a great length of time is tenuous and cannot be validated. My aide in my last SDA teaching position in Pennsylvania was a great-granddaughter of Sister White. I discussed this supposed event with her, and she agreed that undoubtedly it never happened. She telephoned her mother, who worked at the White Estate in Washington, D.C., and asked her, ‘Why do you still show that big Bible to people who come in, when you know that the event never took place?’ Her mother answered, ‘But you should see their faces when they see it!’“ — Wallace D. Slattery, Are Seventh-day Adventists False Prophets?, p. 5., published in 1990 by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
That is a modern answer to the question. But what about those who lived a hundred years ago and worked with Ellen White — did they believe in her miracles? Arthur G. Daniells, the General Conference President who worked closely with Ellen White for thirty years, warned Seventh-day Adventist leaders:
“Now with reference to the evidences (miracles): I differ with some of the brethren who have put together proof or evidences of the genuineness of this gift, in this respect, — I believe that the strongest proof is found in the fruits of this gift to the church, not in physical and outward demonstrations. For instance, I have heard some ministers preach, and have seen it in writing, that Sister White once carried a heavy Bible — I believe they said it weighed forty pounds—on her outstretched hand, and looking up toward the heavens quoted texts and turned the leaves (pages) over and pointed to the texts, with her eyes toward the heavens. I do not know whether that was ever done or not. I am not sure. I did not see it, and I do not know that I ever talked with anybody that did see it. But, brethren, I do not count that sort of thing as a very great proof. I do not think that is the best kind of evidence. If I were a stranger in an audience, and heard a preacher enlarging on that, I would have my doubts. That is, I would want to know if he saw it. He would have to say, No, he never did. Then I would ask, ‘Did you ever see the man that did see it?’ And he would have to answer, ‘No, I never did.’ Well, just how much of that is genuine, and how much has crawled into the story? — I do not know. But I do not think that is the kind of proof we want to use. It has been a long time since I have brought forward this sort of thing, — no breath in the body, and the eyes wide open. That may have accompanied the exercise of this gift in the early days, but it surely did not in the latter days!’“ — Quoted from the minutes of the 1919 Bible Conference, published in Spectrum, vol. 10, Number 1, pp. 28, 29.
Notice that the highest official of the Seventh-day Adventist Church — a man who had worked closely with Ellen White for some thirty years — stated that those so-called miracles did not accompany Ellen White’s visions during his acquaintance with her. He stated that he had never met anyone who had seen those miracles occur, nor had he met anyone who even knew anyone who had seen those miracles. Remember, he was speaking to more than fifty people, seventeen of whom were the highest leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church! And not one of them objected! Not even one of them stood up and charged Elder Daniells with misrepresenting the facts. No, they all knew Elder Daniells was telling the truth!
But what about the lay people who witnessed Ellen White’s very first visions? Were they convinced by her miraculous phenomena? No, many of them also rejected her so-called “miracles.” For example, early in 1847 one witness wrote a letter to Elder James White, telling him in no uncertain terms what he thought about the “visions” his wife (Ellen White) was supposedly receiving:
“I cannot endorse sister Ellen’s visions as being of divine inspiration, as you and she think them to be. … I think that what she and you regard as visions from the Lord, are only religious reveries, in which her imagination runs without control upon themes in which she is most deeply interested.” — A Word to the ‘“Little Flock,” p. 22, written early in 1847.
Did you catch that? Read it again: “I think that what she and you regard as visions from the Lord, are only religious reveries, in which her imagination runs without control upon themes in which she is most deeply interested.” That’s what a number of thinking people concluded.
What about the Church’s own medical doctors at the Battle Creek Sanitarium? What was their view concerning Ellen White’s visions and miraculous manifestations? Two of Ellen White’s doctors said:
“Mrs. White’s visions were the result of a diseased organization or condition of the brain or nervous system.” — Dr. William Long, chief physician of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, written July 12, 1869, quoted in Are Seventh-day Adventists False Prophets?, p. 39.
“You are undoubtedly right in ascribing Mrs. E. G. White’s so- called visions to disease. It has been my opportunity to observe her case a good deal, covering quite a period of years, which with a full knowledge of her history from the beginning, gave me no chance to doubt her attacks to be simply hysterical trances. Age itself has almost cured her.” — Dr. Fairfield, written December 28, 1887, Ibid.
That was the medical diagnosis regarding Ellen White’s visions, and it is substantiated by the chart on page 129 of this book.
The question President Daniells asked: “Just how much (of the miraculous) has crawled into the stories” can now be fully answered. Remember, Daniells stated that if there were any so-called miracles associated with Ellen White’s visions, they only appeared in the very early years. And they were without any corroborating written statements from credible eye-witnesses.
Those were the years right after 1844 when Ellen and her friends were experiencing very marked, raucous “manifestations” of the “Spirit.” That Pentecostal atmosphere created problems for early Adventists when their noisy meetings disturbed the peace. Several meetings were broken up by the police, and the leaders arrested. The April, 1845 issue of the Daily Eastern Argus published in Ellen White’s home town of Portland, Maine carried this account:
“The proceedings of the professors of this belief (Millerism), have been such, that the officers of Norway and some other towns in the vicinity have felt it their duty to take means to put a stop to them. … On Wednesday (April 23), one of the leaders, well known as Joe Turner, another named Harmon (Ellen White’s maiden name), with one or two others were arrested at the house of Mr. Megquier, in Poland, by the Selectmen of that town.” — Quoted in Adventist Currents, April, 1988, p. 34.
A year later, April, 1846, supporter Otis Nichols wrote a letter to William Miller in which he claimed a “miracle” briefly prevented Ellen Harmon’s (Ellen White’s) arrest on one occasion:
“There have been a number of warrants for her arrest, but God has signally protected her. At one time a sheriff and a number of men with him had no power over her person for an hour and a half, although they exerted all their bodily strength to move her, while she or no one else made any resistance.” — Ibid.
Were the officers really unable to arrest Ellen White for an hour and a half? A similar incident involving Ellen White and officers of the law is especially noteworthy because of the parallels it contains. In addition we can compare the sworn testimony presented the day after in court, with Ellen White’s published version of the incident as she remembered it some fifteen years later.
This incident occurred in a private home in which Ellen White, Elder James White, Elder Israel Dammon, and more than eighteen others were holding a noisy Pentecostal-style meeting. While the meeting was in progress, officer Joseph Moulton was sent with a number of deputies to arrest Elder Dammon for vagrancy and disturbing the peace. What follows now is, first of all, Ellen White’s account written 15 years after the fact. Then you’ll read the court records transcribed the day after the incident. Carefully notice the discrepancies as you read these two accounts:
EGW
- “The next day, which was the first day of the week, while I was speaking, two men looked into the window. We were satisfied of their object. They entered and rushed past me to Elder Dammon. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon him, and he fell to the floor helpless. The officer cried out, ‘In the name of the State of Maine, lay hold of this man.’ Two seized his arms, and two his feet, and attempted to drag him from the room. They would move him a few inches only, and then rush out of the house. The power of God was in that room, and the servants of God with their countenances lighted up with his glory, made no resistance. The efforts to take Elder Dammon were often repeated with the same effect. The men could not endure the power of God, and it was a relief to them to rush out of the house. Their number increased to twelve, still Elder Dammon was held by the power of God about forty minutes, and not all the strength of those men could move him from the floor where he lay helpless. At the same moment we all felt that Elder Dammon must go; that God had manifested his power for his glory, and that the name of the Lord would be further glorified in suffering him to be taken from our midst. And those men took him up as easily as they would take up a child, and carried him out.” — Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, pp. 40, 41, written in 1860.
Did you notice these “miracles” happened on “the first day of the week” Sunday? Apparently God didn’t mind Adventists worshiping together on Sunday even though Ellen White claimed worshipping on Sunday was the “mark of the beast”! But, was this really a miraculous demonstration of God’s power, as Ellen claimed? Did God’s Spirit really hold Elder Dammon helpless on the floor for forty minutes? Did God really sap the strength of twelve policemen so they could not lift Elder Dammon off the floor? Is it really true that no one in the room resisted the officers? Fifteen years later as Ellen White made these claims, was she really telling the truth?
No, Ellen wasn’t truthful according to sworn testimony presented in court the very next day when Israel Dammon stood before the judge and was tried on the charges:
“Joseph Moulton, sworn. ‘When I went to arrest prisoner, they shut the door against me. Finding I could not gain access to him without, I burst open the door. I went to the prisoner and took him by the hand and told him my business. A number of women jumped on to him — he clung to them, and they to him. So great was the resistance, that I with three assistants, could not get him out. I remained in the house and sent for more help; after they arrived we made a second attempt with the same result — I again sent for more help — after they arrived we overpowered them and got him out door in custody. We were resisted by both men and women. Can’t describe the place — it was one continued shout!’“ — Taken from court records printed in Piscataquis Farmer, vol. 3, no. 31, Dover, Maine, Friday, March 7, 1845, regarding the case of State of Maine vs. Israel Dammon, heard on Monday, February 17, 1845.
Not one of the 39 witnesses at that trial contradicted Sheriff Moulton’s account. Would you agree with Elder Daniells that a lot of the supernatural “crawled into that story” between the day 39 witnesses gave their sworn testimony in court in 1845 and the day 15 years later in 1860 when Ellen White wrote out her “recollections” of the incident?
Now, think about this: if Ellen White, claiming to write only what the Holy Spirit brought to her mind, can be so wrong about the details of such a simple event; could her friends be expected to keep their facts straight when they wrote months and years later without the benefit of divine inspiration, and without numerous secretaries and book editors to correct their “recollections?” Did you know enough questions were raised about the accuracy of Ellen White’s memory that her supporters found it necessary to prepare a short document in 1860 to verify her claims? That document appears on page 302 of Spiritual Gifts, volume 2, and is signed by five “witnesses”:
“We bear cheerful testimony to the truthfulness of the statements relative to Elder Dammon, on pages 40, 41. As near as we can recollect we believe the circumstances of his arrest and trial to be fairly stated. H. A. Hannaford, Wm. T. Hannaford, D. S. Hannaford, James Ayer, Sen., Mrs. R. W. Wood.”
But according to the court transcripts, not one of the five “witnesses,” was at Israel Dammon’s trial! Therefore they could not possibly have testified as to their “recollet(ions)” concerning his trial! Also notice that three “witnesses” were all members of the same Hannaford family.
But what about Mrs. R. W. Wood? Here is what she said about that document:
“In a private letter dated May 16, 1888, Mrs. Wood denies that she ever signed this statement and she did not know that her name was attached to it until many years after. She also denies the accuracy of Mrs. White’s statements regarding the affair (Dammon’s arrest). She was present and remembered the experience very well, and her account does not agree with Mrs. White’s account. If they would forge Mrs. Wood’s name to a document they would forge other names; therefore we have good reason for doubting the value of their testimonials.” — Quoted in Adventist Currents, April, 1988, page 31.
Examining the evidence makes it increasingly clear that there are stark discrepancies between what Ellen White and her supporters claimed and what was presented in court. Those so-called “miracles” were only fanciful embellishments serving to prop up a false prophet’s false claim to divine inspiration.
As you have examined the evidence presented thus far, have you concluded Ellen White was not divinely inspired? If that is what you are thinking, be aware your decision will cause you to be in violation of at least five of the official 27 doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For each of these five doctrines was derived, supported, defined and refined by Ellen White’s visions/teachings and lacks Bible authority. Here is a brief list of these non-Biblical doctrines currently held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church:
- Doctrine #12 — The Seventh-day Adventist Church is “The Remnant Church.”
- Doctrine #17 — Ellen White had the gift of prophecy and thus her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth.
- Doctrine #20 — All tithes to be remitted to local Conference, then a portion to Union, and then a portion to General Conference entities instead of remaining in the local church.
- Doctrine #21 — Abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, cokes, cards, jewelry, make-up, theater, dancing, et cetera.
- Doctrine #23 — Christ began his high priestly ministry in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary on October 22,1844. This was also the beginning of the “investigative judgment.”
One-fifth of the official doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are based upon, derived from, and supported by the myths of Ellen White. But there is more: most of the remaining 22 doctrines are tainted by her teachings. Knowing this, can you maintain your spiritual integrity and also be a member of a Church which promotes the false gospel of a false prophet? Can you in good conscience invite friends to your Church knowing that directly or indirectly they will hear the myths of Ellen White — knowing if they choose to become members they will be required to affirm their belief in her myths and her false gospel?
Paul clearly teaches that our salvation is at stake if we are diverted from the true Gospel of the Bible and believe a counterfeit:
“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By thisgospelyouaresaved,ifyou holdfirmly tothe wordIpreachedtoyou.Otherwise, youhavebelievedinvain.” — 1 Corinthians 15:1-2.
White Washed. Copyright © 2011 by Sydney Cleveland. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2011. Revised and enlarged 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2011. All Scripture quotations—except where otherwise noted—are from Holy Bible, New International Version, © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.
White Washed is a comprehensive look at Ellen White’s prophecies, practices and publications. Sydney Cleveland examines her claims of inspiration, her dreams and visions, the doctrines she endorsed, her personal practices which opposed her teachings, and the effects of her claims on the Seventh-day Adventist church. This book is a well-documented overview of the little-known reality about Ellen White and her long service to Adventism.
- White Washed - July 1, 2021
- 13. A Word to Aspiring Prophets - October 8, 2020
- Appendix B – SDA Jewelry and Dress - October 8, 2020