Guarding Against A Distorted Use (Part VII)

There is one phase of the work of the trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate which the reader may not have detected in that por­tion of Mrs. White's "will" which outlines their duties. It has been clearly seen that to them was committed the custody of Mrs. White's published works and manuscript files to be used in the manner specified by her. We wish now to call attention to the fact that with the ownership and control of these properties, there is closely linked the responsibility for their safekeeping and the prevention of their misuse. This division of the work is one which calls for careful study and clear discernment. The trustees recognize that care must be ex­ercised in the use of the writings, both pub­lished and unpublished, not only by themselves, but by all workers and lay members as well.

Misleading Use of the Testimonies

There is grave danger that an individual having reached some cherished conclusion and desiring support of his theory, will take a sentence here and a paragraph there, from the Testimonies, and place them in such a setting as to give a meaning entirely different from the original when its context is candidly con­sidered. The possibilities of such a wrong use of the writings was recognized by Mrs. White in a letter written June 28, 1906. In it she states:

"Those who are not walking in the light of the message, may gather up statements from my writings that happen to please them, and that agree with their human judgment, and, by separating these statements from their con­nection, and placing them beside human rea­sonings, make it appear that my writings up­hold that which they condemn."—Letter 208­1906.

Such misrepresentation is manifestly unfair, both to the reader of such a compilation and to the author of the writings. The dangers along this line were pointed out by Mrs. White as the reasons why she could not grant free use of her writings to those who wished to make compilations:

"Many from among our own people are writ­ing to me, asking with earnest determination the privilege of using my writings to give force to certain subjects which they wish to present to the people in such a way as to leave a deep impression upon them. It is true that there is a reason why some of these matters should be presented; but I would not venture to give my approval in using the testimonies in this way, or to sanction the placing of matter which is good in itself in the way which they propose.

"The persons who make these propositions, for aught I know, may be able to conduct the enterprise of which they write in a wise man­ner; but nevertheless I dare not give the least license for using my writings in the manner which they propose. In taking account of such an enterprise, there are many things that must come into consideration; for in using the testimonies to bolster up some subject which may impress the mind of the author, the ex­tracts may give a different impression than that which they would were they read in their original connection."—"Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies for the Church," p. 26.

Since Mrs. White's decease, the trustees have been appealed to by a number of persons for permission to use the Testimonies in compila­tions which they felt urged to publish. In many cases, they were not able to grant such permission because of the dangers of an unfair use of the writings.

As the work progressed,—that of presenting in published volumes that which had been re­vealed to her,—Mrs. White and her publishers availed themselves of the protection offered to authors through the copyright laws, and all of the later books were registered in the Copy­right Office of the United States and in some foreign lands. This, in a great degree, has served as a check against the misuse of the published writings.

Personal Testimonies

Through the years there have been some who by one means or another have obtained pos­session, in whole or in part, of testimonies of counsel and reproof which have been sent to individuals in days past. These they have copied and passed on to others, and sometimes they have sent them out broadcast, inferring that the messages were of general application and intended for all. Those who have engaged in such circulation of these testimonies are usually unacquainted with the circumstances connected with their writing, and have been led to conclusions which cannot be maintained when all the facts are known. Regarding the unauthorized use of personal testimony mat­ter, Mrs. White wrote:

"As a sample of the way in which Brother S. has compiled this pamphlet, I will give the following incident: I wrote a private letter to one of our ministers, and in kindness, think­ing that it might be a help to Brother S., this brother sent a copy of it to him; but instead of regarding it as a matter for his personal help, he prints portions of it in the pamphlet, as an unpublished 'Testimony,' to sustain the position he had taken. Is this honorable? There was nothing in the 'Testimony,' to sus­tain the position Brother S. holds; but he misapplied it, as many do the Scriptures, to the injury of his own soul and the souls of others. God will judge those who take un­warrantable liberties and make use of dis­honorable means in order to give character and influence to what they regard as truth. In the use of a private letter sent to another, Brother S. has abused the kindly efforts of one who desired to help him."—"Testimonies to Ministers," p. 33.

Great care must be exercised in making se­lections from the writings for general circula­tion, that subjects be not presented in an un­balanced manner. The trustees sense keenly the care that must be taken in placing in gen­eral circulation hitherto unpublished testi­monies. They do not trust merely to their own judgment in this, but secure the help of other workers of long experience who give careful study to the manuscripts to ensure that fair and wise selection has been made. All new matter which is placed in general circulation by the trustees is considered not only by them, but by experienced members of the Gen­eral Conference Committee. There is ever kept in mind the importance of the factors of time and place, so forcefully set forth by Mrs. White in these words:

"Regarding the testimonies, nothing is ig­nored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered. Nothing must be done untimely."—"The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church_t" p. 25. [Italics mine]

Unauthenticated Statements

While speaking of the use of the writings, we would set forth a point which should be more carefully guarded on the part of a few of our brethren, and that is the use of state­ments attributed to Mrs. White, but with questionable authorship. Sometimes state­ments which are without foundation or which are incorrect are made from memory as to what Sister White said. With the abundance of instruction, regarding the authorship of which there is no question, there is no good reason for anyone to make use of statements which come to him in written or printed form, or as rumors purporting to be the words of Mrs. White, but which have no satisfactory source reference. Such are often misleading, sometimes they are fantastic, and sometimes directly contrary to the instruction to be found in the published volumes, or the manuscripts on file.

The cause of truth will be advanced if all will take a consistent, well-balanced view of the writings. While some are indifferent to the instruction given in the "Testimonies," there are those who take extreme posi­tions of averred allegiance. Both do harm to themselves and to the influence of the writings of the Spirit of prophecy. We are told:

"There is a class of people who are always ready to go off on some tangent, who want to catch up something strange and wonderful and new; but God would have all move calmly, considerately, choosing our words in harmony with the solid truth for this time, which re­quires to be presented to the mind as free from that which is emotional as possible, while still bearing the intensity and solemnity that it is proper it should bear. We must guard against creating extremes, guard against en­couraging those who would either be in the fire or in the water."—"Testimonies to Minis­ters," pp. 227, 228.

In closing this article, we appeal to each to study the writings in their setting, and to give heed to the messages of courage, of coun­sel, and of caution. We ask that all guard against a one-sided interpretation, which dis­torts the meaning of the writings. We plead for the consistent following of the instruc­tion as exemplified in the life of the messenger chosen of God to bear these precious mes­sages to His people.