Lesson 5: “Revelation and Inspiration”
COLLEEN TINKER | Editor, Proclamation! |
Adventist, have you ever wondered how to understand the apparent contradiction of believing that Ellen White was inspired exactly as the Bible writers were inspired yet believing that her equally-inspired writings were not as authoritative as Scripture? Or have you wondered how she could have been inspired exactly as the Bible writers were yet delivered doctrines that contradict the clear teaching of Scripture?
If her counsels teach things a person wouldn’t understand from reading the Bible without her explanations, how have you harmonized the cognitive dissonance of these ideas? If her revelations and biblical interpretations reveal “truth” that outsiders don’t have, then why are her writings not held to be as important as Scripture? Moreover, if her writings are NOT at the level of Scripture, why must you believe what she says at all—especially when what she teaches is not taught in the Bible?
What exactly is your authority?
This week we’re diving into the fifth lesson of the fourth quarter’s Sabbath School curriculum for 2026 entitled “Revelation and Inspiration”. The gaslighting is heavy in this lesson. The author’s agenda is to impress the reader with the necessity of holding Ellen White close, believing she was a prophet in the order of the “non-canonical” biblical prophets who did not write Scripture but who delivered information from God that Adventists must believe and practice if they are to be ready for Jesus to come. At the same time, the authors try to help the reader believe that not all of Ellen’s words were inspired by God.
The confusion is real.
Separating Revelation and Inspiration
The lessons did a surprising thing that I haven’t seen before; they attempted to define revelation as a process separate from inspiration. For example, on page 66 of the Teachers Comments the author says,
Revelation was a vertical event in which God communicated truth to human recipients, while inspiration was the horizontal process of preserving and transmitting that truth to others. This process occurred through both oral proclamation and the writing of Scripture. Many prophetic messages were first spoken before being recorded (Isa. 7:3, 4; Jer. 7:2), as was Jesus’ teaching (Matthew 5–7). Scripture is the culmination of revelation, serving as the authoritative deposit of divine truth for doctrinal and spiritual guidance.
If you feel confused—so do I! In general, Christian theologians do not attempt to make “revelation” vertical and “inspiration” horizontal. For example, the New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by InterVarsity Press, says this:
Biblical inspiration should be defined in the same theological terms as prophetic inspiration: namely, as the whole process…whereby God moved those men whom he had chosen and prepared (cf. Je.1:5; Gal. 1:15) to write exactly what he wanted written for the communication of saving knowledge to his people, and through them to the world. Biblical inspiration is thus verbal by its very nature; for it is of God-given words that the God-breathed Scriptures consist.
Thus, inspired Scripture is written revelation, just as the prophets’ sermons were spoken revelation. The biblical record of God’s self-disclosure in redemptive history is not merely human testimony to revelation, but is itself revelation.—New Bible Dictionary, third edition, Downers Grove, Illinois, Inter-Varsity Press, reprinted 1997.
Notice that this definition includes the normal understanding that God gave the Bible writers the very words He wanted them to say. The words they wrote were “God-breathed”, and the text that the world has received is thus “God-breathed”. We have received the miracle of God’s own self-revelation given to His chosen and inspired writers, and we can believe the words to mean exactly what they say.
Why the confusion, then, in the Sabbath School lesson? Why the determined effort to separate God’s “revelation” from the actual written words of the prophets? The answer is simple: the authors of the lesson are attempting to justify the fact that Ellen’s writings are full of errors while still trying to retain the idea that she received revelation directly from God—and they are simultaneously asserting that the Bible has internal errors just as Ellen’s writings have errors. They are attempting to separate God’s revelation of ideas to the prophets from the words they actually wrote. In fact, they cannot embrace the normal understanding of “inspiration” and “revelation” and continue to say that Ellen’s writings are “inspired”.
Look, for example, at how the lesson explains Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 3:16,17. Here, first of all, is the text as rendered in the Legacy Standard Bible:
All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.—2 Timothy 3:16, 17 LSB
Now look at what Monday’s lesson says:
There is some discussion about the best translation of 2 Timothy 3:16, but most Bible translations render this passage in a similar way, emphasizing that the whole Bible is of divine origin (2 Pet. 1:20, 21)
One Bible commentator explains that “it seems more likely that Paul is contemplating scripture as a whole here and that he would say that the whole of scripture is ‘profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness,’ than that every scripture passage is profitable in these ways.”—G. W. Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), p. 445.
Notice that George Knight takes a liberal position assuming that not all passages of Scripture are equally profitable and applicable for us today. If you compare Knight’s comments with the quote from the InterVarsity New Bible Dictionary above, you will see that their conclusions disagree. The normal evangelical understanding of Scripture’s inspiration is that God directed the words He gave the writers, and we can assume the text to be without errors in the original manuscripts.
Adventism, though, must take the position that the words of Scripture are not inerrant. They say that the intention of Scripture as a whole is infallible, but the specific passages may be more or less applicable and even may contain some errors.
In fact, I was specifically taught in Adventist junior high school that the Bible was INFALLIBLE but not inerrant. This refusal to consider the Bible inerrant is necessary in order for them to preserve their view of Ellen White’s inspiration. It’s also necessary in order to attempt to harmonize her teachings with the Bible.
Adventists know that she has great internal inconsistencies. Her words are “all over the map”, with her views about salvation, with contradictory statements about Jesus Himself, and also with specific tri-theistic teachings about God which were her final authorized legacy to Adventism. Scholars know that she never endorsed the Christian Trinity, but they consider her “heavenly Trio” and her “three great Worthies of heaven” to be the correct view of our triune God.
Letting Herself Off the Hook She Herself Created
Ellen also spoke out of both sides of her mouth as she commented on the importance of her own writings. Friday’s lesson says this as it attempt to bolster Adventists’ trust in her:
Third, Ellen G. White noted that not all of her human experiences and communications were inspired. “There are times when common things must be stated,” she advised, “common thoughts must occupy the mind, common letters must be written and information given that has passed from one to another of the workers. Such words, such information, are not given under the special inspiration of the Spirit of God.”—Selected Messages, book 1, p. 39. It is important to realize this distinction as we read and relate to her writings and experiences, particularly her correspondence and diaries.
Knowing Ellen G. White’s understanding of revelation and inspiration helps us avoid extremes and read her counsels prudently with understanding.
Ellen revealed a punitive nature and sometimes hurtful reactions to people whose deeds she disliked. Her letters to her son Willie, for example, contain statements we can’t help but believe she meant when she said, for example:
The Lord loves those little children who try to do right and He has promised that they shall be in His kingdom; but wicked, naughty children, God does not love. He will not take them to the beautiful city, for He only admits the good, obedient and patient children there. One fretful, disobedient child would spoil all the harmony of heaven.—1 Letters and Manuscripts, Lt. 3, 1860, par. 3.
Yet no matter how much damage control the White Estate attempts to do today to suppress and to explain away Ellen’s disturbing letters and punitive actions illustrated in her letters to her young son as she and James travelled for extended periods and left their children with caretakers, they concurrently promote the eternal relevance of her writings.
This attitude is what she herself stated about her own writings. Look, for example, at this quote:
Abundant light has been given to our people in these last days. Whether or not my life is spared, my writings will constantly speak, and their work will go forward as long as time shall last. My writings are on file in the office; and even though I should not live, these words that have been given to me by the Lord will still have life and will speak to the people.—22 Letters and Manuscripts, Lt. 371, 1907, par. 19.
These words about the eternality of her writings appears on the egwwritings.org website while the page is loading. The organization continues to teach and promote Ellen’s writings as having scriptural-level significance. Only God’s word is living and active, as Hebrews 4:12, 13 says:
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account [to give].—Hebrews 4:12, 13, LSB
Only God’s word is eternal, revealing truth and reality to mankind in perpetuity. Yet Ellen claimed this kind of eternal life and importance for her own writings, and the Seventh-day Adventist organization promotes them as necessary for its members to embrace and believe along with the Bible.
In reality, Adventists cannot read the Bible and understand what it actually says because Adventism has interpreted Scripture through the lens of Ellen White’s “eternal” commentary. The Adventist worldview is formed by Ellen’s writings, and Adventists interpret Scripture through her lens.
Equating Ellen with Paul
The Teachers Comments end with some startlingly truthful admissions. The authors attempt to diminish Paul by equating him with Ellen, and they even quote her own statement in which she replaces Jesus with herself in Hebrews 1:1:
It is important to note that not all her writings stemmed directly from visions. She used memory, cross-referencing, and historical research, particularly in works such as The Great Controversy. She also borrowed and adapted expressions from other writers when they effectively conveyed her message. As did Paul, she sometimes applied divinely revealed principles to specific situations without having received a new vision.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen G. White’s experience of inspiration was identical to that of biblical writers. As she stated in 1876: “In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His Spirit.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 147, 148
Ironically, the lessons this quarter have repeatedly referred to Hebrews 1:1,2 to say Christ is the center of prophecy and of the prophets’ messages—even this week, this passage was among the week’s readings. Let’s review Hebrews 1:1,2:
God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days spoke to us in [His] Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds,—Hebrews 1:1,2 LSB
Notice that Ellen replaced God “in these last days spoke to us in [His] Son” with “in these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His Spirit.”
Ellen is not referring to general Spirit-inspired inspiration; she is referring to her OWN TESTIMONIES which she claimed were from God. In fact, she made this claim about her revelations:
I know your danger. If you lose confidence in the testimonies, you will drift away from Bible truth. I was fearful that many would take the very position of questioning doubt they are now taking, and, in my distress for your souls; I warned you. How many will heed the warning? As you now hold the testimonies, should one be given crossing your track, correcting your errors, you would feel at perfect liberty to accept or reject any part, or the whole. And that which you will be least inclined to receive, is the very part most needed. God and Satan never work in co-partnership. The testimonies either bear the signet of God or that of Satan.—Pamphlet 117 par. 84.3
It is plain to see that Ellen White claimed scriptural-level authority for herself. She inserted her own writings into the text of Hebrews 1:1, and she said that if people reject her writings, they will eventually drift away from Bible truth!
When Richard and I were leaving Adventism, this very warning would come to my mind and cause me moments of paralyzing fear. I had learned this warning from grade school onward. Today the organization is still teaching members to embrace Ellen in the same way: disbelieving Ellen will mean disbelieving God. It will mean losing salvation!
What hubris, for this woman to bind the consciences of millions of Adventists for over 170 years to believe and obey HER!
Ironically, the Teachers Comments end with a conclusion based on a book by Jud Lake, Ellen White Under Fire: Identifying the Mistakes of Her Critics [Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2010], chapter 5, pp 90–102. Jud Lake, then a professor at Southern Adventist University, wrote this book in response to our founder Dale Ratzlaff’s published works exposing Ellen White to be the fraud and false prophet that she was. Here is how the author attempts to harmonize the opposing views they hold about Ellen White’s writings:
For now, we may point out that, although it is logical to maintain equality of revelation-inspiration experience among the Old Testament, New Testament, and the postcanonical gift of prophecy, the subject of authority and the canon of Scripture are different. While there are no degrees of inspiration, there are degrees of authority, and postcanonical prophets (such as Ellen G. White) do not have the same authority as the biblical canon.
These kinds of self-contradictory explanations, this kind of gaslighting that confuses the reader and chains them to guilt and fear if they dare to question the prophet remind me of a statement I heard years ago from an Adventist psychologist: “If you break from sincerity, you ultimately break from reality.”
That man was right. Adventists have played with definitions and endorsed Ellen White’s appropriation of scriptural-level authority for herself, and they continue to bind the consciences of Adventist members to a nineteenth-century false prophet who taught a different gospel, a different Jesus, a different trinity, and a physicalist definition of humanity which replacing Jesus’ final word to the world WITH HER OWN WRITINGS!
Adventists live in a unique worldview that mimics Christianity on the surface but underneath enslaves the members to hopeless striving to achieve obedience and goodness. Adventists have broken from sincerity; they have long known that Ellen’s testimonies were laced with inconsistencies plagiarism, and extra-biblical mandates, but Ellen White is the glue that holds this organization together. Without her and her unique doctrines of the investigative judgment and the eternality of the Sabbath, Adventism would collapse.
Adventism has broken with truthfulness—with sincerity—and today Adventists live in a false reality, a worldview that places their own free will at the center of the universe, that makes Satan a powerful adversary fighting against Jesus, and that makes God a self-limiting deity who will not interfere with anyone’s free will. Adventists live in an upside-down worldview that blinds them to biblical reality.
Adventist, I implore you: turn to Jesus and ask Him to show you what is real and true. Ask Him to remove your Ellen White lens and to show you who He really is. Ask Him to reveal to you your own true need of a Savior, and ask Him to remove you from the great deception that Ellen White has bequeathed as her legacy to every Adventist.
The Lord Jesus warned us of false prophets:
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There [He is],’ do not believe [him]. For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”—Matthew 24:23, 24 LSB
I appeal to you: look at the evidence. Ellen White is one of those false prophets about whom our Lord Jesus warned us. See Jesus calling you to Himself, and let go of your grip on Ellen White. See her for the deceiver that she is, and allow the Lord Jesus to truly be your final word.
Trust Jesus, His death for your sin, His resurrection on the third day, and believe Him! When you believe Him and entrust yourself fully into His care, letting go of the fear and the false assurances of our former false prophet, you will know a joy and peace that you have never known before.
Trust Jesus alone today. He will hold you, and He will never let you go! †
This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.
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