A
NOTICE REGARDING MORE THAN A PROPHET
Dr. Graeme
Bradford, retired professor from the Theology Department of
Avondale College, recently authored a privately-published
book entitled, More Than a Prophet: How We Lost and Found
Again the Real Ellen White. The Foreword and advertising
incorrectly state that the manuscript was evaluated favorably
by officers of the Ellen G. White Estate. In actuality, while
recognizing elements of the book on which we can agree, the
White Estate staff has strong concerns regarding several of
the viewpoints expressed in the book.
Included
among these concerns are the following:
- The
book expresses the view that prophets in the New Testament
and beyond generally carry less authority than Old Testament
prophets, and that the individual and/or congregation must
separate the wheat from the chaff in the messages even of
genuine prophets. Such a view confirms people in the human
tendency to accept what they like in inspired writings and
to reject as “chaff” the things with which they disagree.
- The
book suggests that because Ellen White used sources in her
writings relating to history, prophecy, health, or theology,
the views she expressed may have originated more from her
contemporaries than divine inspiration. Her depiction of
end-time events, for example, as found in The Great Controversy,
is portrayed as deriving primarily from the expectations
of 19th century North American Adventists, having
little application to today’s global society.
- While
the White Estate staff recognizes that Ellen White was fallible
and subject to human frailties—not unlike the biblical prophets—we
maintain that certain positions taken in the book do not
fairly reflect the understanding of Ellen White and her
associates regarding her prophetic ministry, and fail to
represent fully Ellen White’s prophetic contributions to
the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
A review
of More Than a Prophet will be offered at this site
in the future. For a well-balanced discussion of God’s system
of communication with human beings, we recommend The
Voice of the Spirit, by the former director of the
White Estate, Dr. Juan Carlos Viera, and Messenger
of the Lord, by Dr. Herbert E. Douglass.
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