E. E. Cleveland: “I believe in the Testimonies. Mrs. White’s writings are the world’s only inspired Bible commentary. They constitute the most serious challenge to Christian living that has come to the church since John’s Patmos Revelation…” E.E. Cleveland, Assoc. Sec., Ministerial Association, General Conference of SDA’s. As quoted in, Facts and Comments About the Spirit of Prophecy, (Review & Herald Pub. Assoc., 1975). p. 14.
Stanley Harris: “…and yet, my dear friends, she did one of the greatest works that I have ever known since John the Revelator. She’s to me one of the greatest prophets that has ever lived. Why? Because she had the same gift Daniel had…”—Stanley Harris, SDA pastor, cassette tape “Greatest Prophet Since John,” from God’s Last Call, tape #811.
SDA Sabbath School Quarterly: “The Bible and the writings of Ellen White are inerrant…” —Feb. 11, 1978, Sabbath School-Quarterly; Teacher’s Edition, p. 112.
Official SDA Position, 1928: “As Samuel was a prophet of Israel for his day, as Jeremiah was a prophet of Israel in the days of captivity, as John the Baptist came as a special messenger of the Lord to prepare the way for Christ’s coming, so we believe that Mrs. White was a prophet to the church of Christ today.” –Official position of the SDA Church taken in 1928.
Louis Venden: “I do not believe there is a difference between the degree and quality dimension of the inspiration of any biblical writer and Ellen White….I believe that The Desire of Ages, for example, is just as high in quality or degree of inspiration as the Gospel according to Luke…What is the best way to keep it all in perspective and end up with Ellen White being for this church what Luke was for his generation and not one whit less in contribution and authority?” –Louis Venden, as quoted on cassette tape, “The Wilson Committee-Rea, on Ellen G. White.”
Glacier View Document: “…Her authority transcends that of all non-inspired interpreters of the Scriptures…” –Cassette tape August 23, 1980, Pacific Union College in a discussion on Glacier View with Charles Bradford and Philip Follett. Follett was quoting from an official Glacier View document: “The Relation of Ellen White’s Writings in Doctrinal Studies.”
SDA Book: “Elder I. H. Evans, the General Conference representative at the conference declared: ‘When the statement from Sister White is read, I am sure that the majority of our brethren will feel as we feel tonight—that the Lord has spoken, and we will obey.’”—Quoted in Merlin Neff, The Invincible Irishman, (Pacific Press Publishing Assoc.), p. 484.
Alden Thompson: “…Second, I began to realize how creative Ellen White had been in interpreting the Old Testament. As I compared her interpretations in Patriarchs and Prophets with Scripture, I found them much more understandable than the bare Old Testament narratives….I liked what Ellen White did, but upon reflection I decided that I had probably been slighting the Bible in favor of Patriarchs and Prophets…”—Alden Thompson, SDA pastor and professor at Walla Walla College, as quoted in Adventist Review, December 17, 1981, article entitled “The story of a Pilgrimage,” p. 7.
Morris Venden: “I’d like to take this position that if you do not believe in the gift of prophecy, based on what the Bible has to say on it, then you don’t believe in the Bible… The primary purpose of the gift of prophecy in relationship to Scripture is to confirm Scripture truth. We took the position last time that the Gift of Prophecy has equal authority with the Bible and equal inspiration with the Bible.”—Morris L. Venden, Cassette tape #MV-312 “Church Body Building.” Venden was specifically referring to Ellen G. White and the gift of prophecy in the Seventh-day Adventist church.
Ron Graybill: “The quality of inspiration of Ellen White is equal to the Bible writers….”—Ron Graybill, at that time Assoc. Sec. EGW Estate, in talk given at Southern Missionary College, September 27, 1980.
Kenneth Wood: “Ellen G. White was inspired in the same sense as were the Bible prophets.”—Kenneth H. Wood, Editor Review, as quoted in Adventist Review, September 4, 1980, p. 15.
Don Neufeld: “…She was inspired by God as were the biblical writers…”—The late Don Neufeld, assoc. Editor, Review as quoted in Douglas Herbert Edger, What Ellen Has Meant to Me, (Review & Herald Publishing Assoc., 1973), p. 157.
Robert Olson: “I believe that both Ellen G. White and the Apostle Paul were true prophets who wrote under the influence of the Holy Spirit. My reason for believing in the inspiration of one is identical with my reason for believing in the inspiration of the other.”—Robert Olson, Sec. EGW Estate, Ibid., p. 165.
Thomas H. Briggs: SDA medical director of the State Tuberculosis Hospital, London, Kentucky, and lay preacher; “The Ellen White books were written in English, my mother tongue. They did not have to be translated out of Greek or Hebrew. I can get the meaning on some things better from them than from the Bible directly. She makes the historical and contextual background more interesting and clear.” Ibid., p. 30.
Raoul Dederen, professor of systematic theology and chairman of the department of theology and Christian philosophy, Andrews University Seminary. “I have found her writings to be an inspired, reliable commentary on the Bible…. What I am saying is that I believe the writings of Ellen G. White are inspired of the Lord. We can safely trust them, and this gives us an authoritative understanding of the Sacred Scriptures.” Ibid., p. 86.
Richard Hammill: President of Andrews University. “I believe Ellen G. White was a messenger of God and that her writings are inspired instruction from God for my personal well-being.” Ibid., p. 105.
D.A. Delafield: “Insofar as Ellen White’s role in the church is concerned—whether pastoral or canonical—I think we must here give pause and rethink the acceptance with ease of [Dr. Desmond] Ford’s proposition. In his forum talk at P.U.C. he indicated that Ellen White’s role was pastoral and not canonical. This is a gross perversion of the truth… The real conflict and issue today is this: Are Seventh-day Adventists being conditioned to view Ellen White as pastoral and not canonical? Shall we accept the view that a Seventh-day Adventist theologian is more dependable than a Seventh-day Adventist prophet? I highly respect many of our Seventh-day Adventist theologians. I have sat at their feet and been taught by them. I admire and respect them highly. I would like to remind you, however, that you can search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single text marking out theologians as having the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures indicate, however, that prophets have a gift of the Holy Spirit. Ellen White had that gift, and she was canonical insofar as doctrinal interpretation authority is concerned….”—Letter from D.A. Delafield trustee of the EGW Estate, to P.C. Drewer, June 24, 1981. Note: Delafield’s letter was tampered with and the phrase that EGW was “canonical insofar as doctrinal interpretation” was later deleted.
Philip Follett: “… The writings of Ellen White are inspired in the same sense as the Bible is inspired….”—Taken from cassette tape “What Happened at Glacier View,” PUC, August 23, 1980.
Robert Olson: “Thank you for your letter of February 6, in which you made reference to Elder Walter Rea’s meeting in Glendale, California. I think you have somehow gotten the wrong impression of that meeting, because it took no particular courage on my part to vote the way I did. All of the votes of the committee were unanimous. There was no problem with any of the actions that were taken. When we acknowledged that Ellen White had engaged in a certain amount of literary borrowing, we were not diminishing her authority as a prophet in the least. The brethren here in the General Conference do recognize that most of our people do not understand how inspired writings were developed, not only in the case of Ellen White, but also in the case of the Bible authors…”—Letter from Robert Olsen, Secretary, EGW Estate to Eryl A. Cummings, February 21, 1980.
1883 Statement: “Our position on the Testimonies [Mrs. White’s writings] is like the keystone to the arch. Take that out and there is no logical stopping place till all the special truths of the message are gone. Nothing is surer than this, that this [Adventist] message and the visions [of Mrs. White] belong together,” Review and Herald, Supplement, August 14, 1883.
Publisher: “We believe she has been empowered by divine illumination to speak of past events which have been brought to her attention with a greater minuteness than is set forth in any existing records, and to read the future with more than human foresight.” Publisher’s preface, The Great Controversy.
School Curriculum: “A week after her first happy vision Ellen received a second vision in which God called her formally to work for Him as a prophet.” Moving Out, Unit 4, p. 115.
Ellen G. White: “If you lessen the confidence of God’s people in the testimonies [Mrs. White’s visions and dreams] He has sent them, you are rebelling against God.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 66.
Ellen G. White: “In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper expressing merely my own views. They are what God had opened to me in vision—the precious ray of light shining from the throne.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 67.
Ellen G. White: “In ancient times God spake to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the Testimonies of His Spirit… The Lord has seen fit to give me a view of the need and errors of His people.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 661.
Note: Compare the above quote with Hebrews 1:2. It appears that EGW has usurped Christ as God’s final word to mankind.
Ellen G. White:“When I send you a testimony of warning and reproof, many of you declare it to be merely the opinion of Sister White. You have thereby insulted the Spirit of God.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 661.
Ellen G. White: “Those who are reproved by the Spirit of God should not rise up against the humble instrument. It is God, and not an erring mortal, who has spoken to save them from ruin.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 3. p. 257.
Note: Ellen White clearly says that her words are the very words of God. Either Ellen White spoke for God, was deceived from an early brain injury, or Adventism is a deceptive cult.
Note: The author did not compile this list and does not know who did. He checked what sources were available and found the quotes to be accurate. However, he was unable to check all of the quotes.
- Appendix E: Statements by Seventh-day Adventist Leaders Regarding the Authority of the Writings of Ellen G. White - March 5, 2026
- Appendix D: Select Bibliography - March 5, 2026
- Appendix B: Questionable Statements by Ellen G. White - February 26, 2026