While teaching Adventist heritage classes at Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, Tennessee, United States, Jud Lake was confronted with many anti-Adventist and anti-Ellen White Web sites. He began a detailed investigation of these criticisms and the church’s response. Ellen White Under Fire is the product of this investigation.
The book is divided into three parts. Part one shows the need for the book by illustrating the intensity of the attacks on Ellen White on the Internet and also covers the history of the criticisms of Ellen White, focusing specifically on the story of D. M. Canright.
Part two, the core of the book, deals with the larger issues underlying the criticism of Ellen White: her inspiration, authority, and the interpretation of her writings. Part three affirms the evangelical, biblical framework of Ellen White’s prophetic ministry, and deals with practical issues relating to the defense and advocacy of her prophetic gift. The concluding chapter contains the author’s personal testimony as to why he believes in the prophetic ministry of Ellen White.
Four appendices supplement the body of the book. Appendix one contains seven contemporary views of Ellen White, five of them are Adventist and two are non- Adventist. Appendices two and three are historic statements in defense of Ellen White by Uriah Smith and John N. Andrews. The last appendix provides a list of resources online and in book form that give specific answers to the charges against Ellen White.
In the chapters dealing with Ellen White’s inspiration, the author clearly defines the terms revelation, inspiration, and illumination and explains that “Scripture knows no degrees in the inspiration of its text or of its writers” (103). And Ellen White “had the same kind of revelation-inspiration experience as did the biblical writers” (104). When it comes to the issue of what kind of inspiration Ellen White experienced (dictation, verbal, thought, etc.) the author opts for the “whole-person model” of inspiration (128, 129). This means inspiration affects not only the thoughts (thought inspiration), but also the words, though not in the same sense as in the verbal-inspiration theory. The difference between the latter two is somewhat hazy.
Against the charge that Adventists have dual authorities—the Bible and Ellen White—the author points out that Scripture predicts the presence of the prophetic gift in the time of the end (Rev. 12:17; 19:10; 22:8, 9). Furthermore, he explains that, like the noncanonical prophets, her inspiration was the same as the canonical prophets, but her authority was not the same as the authority of the canonical writers (173), i.e., her authority, like the authority of the noncanonical prophets, was a circumscribed authority, limited in its scope and function. “Her scope was limited to the specific audience to which she ministered—Seventh-day Adventists, and to the period of her ministry—the end of time” (175). Hence her writings do not violate the sola scriptura principle of “the Bible and the Bible alone” (176).
The interpretation of the writings of Ellen G. White is an important topic addressed quite well in this book. The principles used for the interpretation of her writings are similar to those used to interpret Scripture. The two vital principles that are most often violated by those who seek to discredit Ellen White are the literary and historical context of her statements. Time, place, and circumstances are the keys to unlock many of her seemingly difficult statements. The author cites several examples to show that those “who ignore the literary context of Ellen White’s writings inevitably end up ignoring the historical context” (189).
Ellen White Under Fire is easy to read. It provides a careful analysis of the major issues in the writings of Ellen White—inspiration, authority, and interpretation. And it deals honestly with the difficulties in her writings, as well as with the critics. The chapter summaries are useful for students and teachers in reviewing the material, and the extensive endnotes provide an excellent resource for further studies. The book would have been further enhanced by topical and author indices. Nevertheless, the book will be a real help for those confronted by a multitude of Web sites and books attacking Ellen White. Every pastor needs to have a copy as well as every church member.
