Ellen White: Inspirational or Inspired?
To be certain, I have never been taught by anyone in the Seventh-day Adventist church that Ellen White is equal to the Bible. The Church’s official position is that the Bible and Ellen White agree on doctrine.
The weakness of the “official” position is that it opens Ellen White to criticism, because anyone who objectively studies Ellen White will tell you that she changed her mind and was consistently editing her materials to keep up with her theological growth. She also over emphasized the term “I was shown” and made it seem that her guardian angel was feeding her information when much of her material was based on her intuitive understanding of visions and dreams AND reading books from other scholars.
I think it is safest to put Ellen White into the inspirational but not a Bible prophet category. She has authority only when backed with a proper understanding of the Bible.
Stephen Beagles
(January 6, 2026)