Verbal or Thought
Inspiration?
Regarding
the issue involved with whether or not Ellen White had verbal or thought
inspiration, one would think that the following statements would suffice, but
that is not the case with some individuals like Vern Bates and Danny Winters.
In
addition to the following statements, these points should be considered:
·
If Ellen White were
dictated to by the Holy Spirit, she would have had no need to consult the books
of other writers. She said God lead her to such books that she might better
express what she was shown.
·
The White Estate
makes no bones about the fact that Mrs. White’s helpers made some grammatical
changes in her writings.
·
Ellen White would
not be concerned with her use of words if they were dictated by the Holy
Spirit.
“Although I am as
dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in writing my views as I am in receiving
them, yet the words I employ in describing what I have seen are my own, unless
they be those spoken to me by an angel, which I always enclose in marks of
quotation.”—Review and Herald,
Oct. 8, 1867, p. 260.
Choosing Words Carefully.— “I am exceedingly anxious to use words that will
not give anyone a chance to sustain erroneous sentiments. I must use words that
will not be misconstrued and made to mean the opposite of that which they were
designed to mean.” E.G.
White, Manuscript 126, 1905.
"It
is NOT the WORDS of the Bible that are INSPIRED, but the men that were
inspired. Inspiration acts NOT on the man's words or his expressions but on the
man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with
thoughts. But the WORDS receive the impress of the INDIVIDUAL MIND. The divine
mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and
will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God."-- Manuscript 24, 1886 (written in Europe in 1886). 1SM
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