is here no intention to disparage, in any way, the sincerity and earnest Christian devotion of Mrs Ellen G. White, or the probably genuine nature of her relationship to God. However, her interpretation of her own experiences and particularly that of the precious Word of God is another matter completely.

herself would have readily agreed, all teaching that claims to be a Christian truth must be directly tested against the Bible itself. In this regard Mrs White is unfortunately exposed as a false teacher as the following will show, no matter how sincere her motivations may have been.

Concerning her responsibility for the contradiction between the Bible and her doctrinal distinctives, it should be remembered that Ellen White was limited by –

is a most serious responsibility, however, for everyone who accepts a Christian identity to humbly verify their faith from its founding documents – the Bible – such as in the Bible's own example of this:

Especially is this true when someone speaks to give direction to fellow Christians.

A particular difficulty at the time for any that may have had a differing interpretation to Mrs Ellen White was that her teachings were often presented as a direct 'divine revelation', and so to differ with her was to appear to be disloyal to the Lord Himself.

White's basic error was a misinterpretation of Daniel Chapter Eight's 2300-days,

particularly common along the American East Coast and in Britain in her time. 

Led by William Miller, dates from March 21, 1843, to March 21, 1844 had been calculated for Christ's Return.
Eventually, a date that was later dubbed 'The Great Disappointment' of 22 October 1844 AD was accepted.

misinterpretation of Daniel, which led to this sad error, was caused by gross ignorance;
ignorance about both –

'2300 days' of Daniel (which was falsely interpreted as 'years) is, in its original language, actually "2300 evenings and mornings".
In fact, the angel speaking these words even refers to this vision under the title of "vision of the evenings and mornings" – that is days – certainly not 2300 'years' (Daniel 8:14,26).

While others acknowledged misinterpretation after Christ's failure to return for His Church on the publicized date, the intensity of Ellen White's persuasion led her to find theological reasons for the non-event without surrendering the date. (The Jehovah's Witnesses movement went through a similar process concerning their own date of 1914 AD).

As her heart-aching need to find reason for Christ's non-return grew, the Sinai Law came to hold greater interest for her. Israel's Ten Commandments began to take the place of Christ Himself as the standard or measure against which all would be judged, and in particular its Sabbath day observance carried through from the Edenic state of humanity's relationship to its Creator.

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the worst effect of the doctrinal distinctives of Mrs White has been to hedge-in the Seventh-day Adventist movement behind a set of teachings that have given them the appearance of a separate cult, in spite of sharing the fundamentals of the faith with the general body of the Christian Church.

Her obsession with the Sabbath Day has made this division more effective than that of many sects within Christianity. It has placed the movement that has followed her teachings in the same separatist mentality as that shared by the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses which lie outside the faith of Christ. 

This is tragic, as it has permanently divided the precious Church of Jesus over the triviality of on which day to attend a church service.

Worse, it has issued the ultimate damnation of fellow-believers as being under the 'mark of the Beast' for those who celebrate Christ on the day He rose from the dead – as the first churches clearly did (1 Cor.16:2) – even though the first day of the week had been specifically prescribed by God for both the Festivals of First Fruits (fulfilled in Christ's resurrection) and Pentecost (fulfilled in Christ giving the Holy Spirit).

opprobrium that has been heaped upon 'Sunday-worshipping churches' needs to be profoundly repented of, and the true focus of Christianity restored. For –

The Sabbath is not a sign to bear. It is a instrument of blessed rest. People – loved and atoned for – are the focus of God's heart; certainly not a sabbath-club of the 'obedient'.

Following Luther and other reformers of European Christianity (who in this regard were simply children of their own time), Ellen White trawled Europe's history to 'prove' the Antichrist to be, not an individual (as the Bible anticipates), but an institution, namely – the Papacy.

In the chapter 'Impending Conflict' of her 1888 book 'The Great Controversy', Ellen White foretold that, soon:

Yet, more than a century later, nothing but the very opposite has occurred!

This is supposed to be the whole Church in the last days. Any believers who are disobedient to this seventh-day mark of identification are not a part of the Lord's remnant church and are therefore eternally lost.

Beguiled by the mistranslation of the word 'Azazel' – "goat for Azazel" (Hebrew 'goat for removal' Leviticus 16:8,10,26) for the annual ritual scapegoat, as though it was a person, and therefore Satan – Ellen White developed a unique theology concerning sin. 

Instead of our sins being dealt with, once for all, under God's justice by the suffering of Christ – to White, the crucifixion simply removed sins from believers (while they are in spiritual probation), and in Christ's ascension the sins were taken to Heaven, where from 1844 the record of each believer is being examined to see if these sins have been truly repented of so that Heaven's Sanctuary can be cleansed of them. (Does Christ need time to find this out? I thought He was divine!).

Later these sins will transferred to Satan for ever as our 'scapegoat' substitute. (And I thought that Christ had already fulfilled the substitute role).

Dependant upon the King James Version, and misunderstanding Scriptures (that spoke of God's judgment on Israel's land, in which it would be left desolate and empty), as referring to the planet as a whole, Ellen White taught that the Earth is the Bottomless Pit to which Satan will be banished for a thousand years. Therefore the Earth will be without inhabitants, except demons, during this time. 

This is in such contradiction to the New Covenant's expectation that the resurrection of believers would also liberate the Earth from its bondage imposed by God's curse at the Fall!

Christ's Church are only "bridesmaids" at Christ's marriage to the political capital of His kingdom – the New Jerusalem. This "bride" is a huge cubic city to house the Lord's people and which descends to this planet after its blighted millennium.

What a sad debasement of the precious Bride of Christ, for which He died (Eph.5). 

In fact, the New Jerusalem is simply the fulfilment of Israel's sanctuary of both the Tabernacle and the Temple, hence its cubic shape. It has no temple, for it is the people of God in whom the Lord dwells, the Church, the precious Bride of Christ! Christ needs no capital but His people!

teaching is particularly strange when one notes that the Seventh-day Adventist movement itself correctly believes that the Christian church is the "Jerusalem which is above" (MA 1988, p.139).

Euphemisms, such as "sleep in the grave", disguise the fact that Ellen White did not believe in life without the body. In other words, human beings are simply animated bodies. Soul, mind, spirit, etc., are thus functions of the body, which explains her strange religious view of vegetarianism. (See below)

To a certain extent this view was a negative reaction to the growth of Spiritism in her time. She saw the general view of the immortality of the soul (life after death) as making the church vulnerable to communications with demons disguised as the departed spirits of the dead.

Ellen's perversion of this Bible teaching is very sad, for it robs the believer of a precious reality that was such a strengthening to the Apostle Paul in prison: – that to be absent from the body meant to be with Christ (Phil.1:21-24).

White insisted: 
God designed humans and animals to be completely vegetarian. Meat eating is only a temporary accommodation to a special circumstance, and should be avoided as far as possible. Animals were never meant to be killed.

She wrote:

in complete contradiction of her teaching, the Bible teaches, among other, that:  • Only humans had access to the Tree of Life to prevent ageing and death – animals died naturally before Adam sinned.
(Remember, the "death came by sin" statement in Romans refers to the human race only!).

said, for those who respect the Bible – as the precious Word of God, that is . . .

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Bibliography

• Ellen G. White (Mrs)  1888  'The Great Controversy'.  USA: Pacific Press. (Text copyright 1950).
• Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists 1988  'Seventh-day Adventists Believe ... A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines.'  Hagerstown, Maryland, USA: Review and Herald Publishing Association.

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Sabbath Observance

Chronology of Confusion

His Bride's Day!

1844AD Sanctuary Doctrine

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