Chapter 16

David Lin

IN the January-March 1982 issue of the Collegiate Quarterly is an article by Jack Provonsha titled, "Was Ellen G. White a Fraud?" The appearance of this article is important for two reasons: (1) It violates the current policy of our administrators to avoid controversial topics, and (2) it attempts to answer the question with modern skeptic philosophy.

A Sabbath school quarterly normally does not contain controversial matter. This particular issue, however, presents the arguments of Walter Rea that Ellen White is a fraud, and Jack Provonsha's reaction to his charge. Dr. Provonsha first states that "I find the idea of Ellen G. White being a fraud both logically and emotionally repugnant." Then the following marginal quotations in bold type give the gist of his thinking:

We see things . . . not as they are but as we are. (p. 103)

Ellen White had her personal "delusional system." (p. 103)

The prophetic "delusional system" would tend to place the prophet back in those times before modern copyright ethics. (p. 104)

The prophetic "delusional system" would tend to place the prophet back in those times before modern copyright ethics. (p. 105)

Pride is the special sin of the "remnant people." (p. 105)

The spirit of the prophets is a spirit of eternal openness and expectancy. . . . (p. 105)

It seems that the editors of this Quarterly particularly appreciated Dr. Provonsha's application of the "delusional system" to Ellen White, because they emphasize this point three times in the marginal quotations, two of which are identical--repetition for added stress. A footnote on page 105 says, "The term is a technical term and could be misleading, so a word of caution is necessary. Delusion suggests pathology. Indeed there are pathological delusions which represent so great a degree of perceptual distortion as to produce isolation and destructive behavior--destructive to others and to the self. But there is normally in perception delusion also."

This footnote begins with a word of caution. But what is the caution? One should expect Provonsha to say that one should not conclude from this article that the writer thinks Ellen White was deluded. But on the contrary, the words which follow the "caution" actually strengthen such an impression, implying that Ellen White's delusional system had pathological factors. Because she was sickly, says he, her ailments aggravated her mental delusions. That is what one gathers from the footnote.

This assessment is in keeping with the spirit of the main presentation. Dr. Provonsha starts out feeling "repugnant" to the idea that Ellen White was a fraud. But he apparently thinks there is no way getting around what Walter Rea has presented, so he indulges in some modern philosophy to leave us with the impression that although Ellen White was not a fraud, she could have been deluded.

The fact that this Collegiate Quarterly was edited by a staff of ten members and passed by a nine-man reading committee appointed by the General Conference implies that our leading brethren regard Jack Provonsha's article (the only one published in this Quarterly in answer to Rea's charges) as the best answer we have. But in fact it raises more questions than it settles. Such a controversial topic should either be omitted from the Quarterly or, if included, make a fair presentation of both sides of the issue. To present Rea's charges and then argue that Ellen White was only deluded and not a fraud is actually to abandon our defenses.

In fairness to Provonsha we should point out that he does not say that Ellen White was deluded. On the contrary, after introducing the "delusional system" as a universal phenomenon in the perception process he says that "The prophet is therefore selected, not because he is able to perceive things absolutely 'as they really are,' but because he or she is the best (least distorting) vehicle available at the moment of need." Ibid., 103

In other words, among a group of human beings affected by the "delusional system," Ellen White could have been the least affected. Nevertheless this sentence is emphasized: "Ellen White had her personal 'delusional system' as a member of the human race." Two additional marginal captions give this term triple emphasis.

What is the effect? This Quarterly, which has a circulation of 20,000, is placed in the hands of undergraduates in Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities. Most of them are still in their teens, just learning to be "thinkers and not mere reflectors of other men's thoughts." But instead of teaching them to think God's thoughts after Him, it initiates them into the philosophy of the noted skeptic Immanuel Kant. Thus our Quarterly violates its own maxim by affecting the thoughts of a man who doubts the existence of God. And the "delusional system," so ably played up by

Professor Provonsha, is introduced as a basis for our thinking. Its application to Ellen White can serve as a dangerous precedent, teaching our young people not to be sure of anything. The next step would be, How can we be sure of the Scriptures?

It should be pointed out that the "delusional system," bandied about in learned circles as a technical term, has misleading connotations, so it is not scientifically accurate. Provonsha says, "Since our way of looking at things (our perception of reality) may not precisely correspond to actual reality, it is appropriate to speak of our perceptual bias as a 'delusional system.'" This is an exaggerated term, because the common understanding of "delusion" has to do with something wholly false. One accepted definition is, "false opinion or belief, especially one that may be a symptom of madness." Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Perceptual bias may lead to an imperfect perception of actual reality, but it cannot be properly called a delusion, though sometimes it may be an illusion. The expression "perceptual bias" is good enough and does not need a substitute. It certainly is less misleading to speak of Ellen White's perceptual bias instead of her "delusional system." This term may cause no difficulty in a philosophy classroom, but it will certainly create wrong impressions when used in a Sabbath School Quarterly and applied to Ellen White. The way the editors stress it will inevitably leave the impression in the minds of our college youth that Professor Provonsha teaches that Ellen White was deluded, despite his protests to the contrary.

Apart from this wrong editorial emphasis, Provonsha's application of the "delusional system" to Ellen White alone reveals his personal bias in this controversy. Since his article opens with a summary of Walter Rea's charges against Ellen White, then his application of the "delusional system" should begin with Walter Rea. The first question to be faced is "In what way did Walter Rea's delusional system influence his judgment of Ellen White?" Coming down to facts, Provonsha should first examine the dependability of the evidence produced by Rea, and the conclusions he draws therefrom, to determine the extent of his delusions and the resultant delusion his book is creating among its readers. Instead of Rea's exaggerated conclusion that eighty per cent of Ellen White's writings are borrowed, a scientific check will find that eight-tenths of one per cent comes closer to reality. Further study will reveal that while Ellen White was "the best (least distorting) vehicle available at the moment" God needed her, Walter Rea was the worst (most distorting, ñ80%) vehicle available at the moment the devil needed him. And after noting that "the prophetic 'delusional system' could tend to place the prophet back in those times before modern copyright ethics," Dr. Provonsha should observe that Walter Rea's delusional system would tend to obsess him with the most stringent demands of modern copyright ethics.

I am not being sardonic. I am just pleading for fair play. It is unfair to theorize that the "delusional system" is common to all men and then in practice apply it only to Ellen White. Another person it should apply to is Jack Provonsha himself. He should say in all humility, "Since I am chairman of the department of Christian Ethics at Loma Linda University, I should be first to practice the Christian ethic of admitting that I too have my personal 'delusional system' as a member of the human race. And because my perceptual bias may cause me to err, I may be deluded about the whole thing, so all I have said about Ellen White may not correspond to reality." Such an admission will agree with the following observation made in the Columbia Encyclopedia, 1946 edition, p. 1638:

Thoroughgoing skepticism is logically untenable because in denying the possibility of any truth, the skeptic denies the truth of his own statement.

Jack Provonsha is "deluded" on at least on one major point: the source of Ellen White's enlightenment. He writes: I suspect that a prophet, who felt the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit while reading in his or her library would be even less inclined to give credit to the human author of the momentary words he or she was reading. The sense of the divine presence--the "light" behind those words--would seem so intense that it would seem inaccurate, indeed almost blasphemous, certainly demeaning, to attribute the enlightenment to a human source.

Provonsha assumes that Ellen White received enlightenment of the Holy Spirit simply by reading the works of others, just as "all of us have had the experience, while reading, of feeling that God has spoken to our hearts in something we have read." Throughout his article he does not mention visions as a major source of her spiritual knowledge, perhaps because it is embarrassing for a man of learning to speak of them, or simply because he doubts their genuineness. But to ignore or wholly to deny her visions and attribute all her enlightenment to the reading of other authors certainly is a warping of historical fact, because there are scores, if not hundreds, of validated instances of her receiving in vision divine instructions to write letters addressed to particular groups or persons concerning concrete problems. These letters were sometimes mailed across the continent or the Pacific Ocean and delivered at the precise moment to meet certain critical problems which had just arisen, and there is evidence that all these letters contained details which Ellen White could not have known except through divine illumination. These historical facts prove that she actually received direct communications from God, and if we want to avoid perceptual bias and form least distorted conclusions regarding the question "Was E.G.White a fraud?" we should take all these facts into consideration. But isn't it strange Jack Provonsha makes no mention of them? Does not his refusal to look into them prove that his delusional system is giving him an extremely distorted view of this problem?

After ascertaining that Ellen White indeed received direct visions from God, we may conclude that she did not have great difficulty in the perception process. Since Provonsha admits that only God can perceive reality as it really is, then he should agree that God can also cause His chosen instrument of communication to perceive and understand His message as accurately as practical purposes require. Ellen White's experience confirms this fact, for she testifies that God often gave her "repeat" visions to make sure she saw things clearly. We see then that her chief difficulty was not in the perception process. Her difficulty, according to her own words was in efficiently communicating what she saw and felt. She often lamented her lack in such words as these:

Oh, how inefficient, how incapable I am of expressing the things which burn in soul in reference to the mission of Christ! I have hardly dared to enter upon the work. There is so much to it all. And what shall I say, and what shall I leave unsaid? . . .

I walk with trembling before God. I know not how to speak or trace with pen the large subject of the atoning sacrifice. I know not how to present subjects in the living power in which they stand before me. I tremble for fear lest I shall belittle the great plan of salvation by cheap words. I bow my soul in awe and reverence before God and say, "Who is sufficient for these things?" Letter 40, 1892

The Chinese have a saying, "Trying to fathom the depths of a nobleman's soul with the yardstick of a knave." After reading these words by our humble prophet, Walter Rea's wild charges show up to be such a yardstick. They hardly merit a reply. Says the Lord, "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself, but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." Psalm 50:21. Every honest soul who has read Ellen White's writings and entered into the spirit of her utterances can see that such a godly woman was wholly above deception, so Rea's charges roll away like water off a duck's back. (Read Olson's 101 Questions for details.)

Now we have a factual picture of Ellen White, who after receiving visions connected with the great controversy between Christ and Satan, keenly felt her lack of literary training and her inability to express in human language what God had revealed to her. Yet it was this very sense of her inadequacy that goaded this underprivileged woman to master English rhetoric as best she could, and her style did improve rapidly. In the process of learning she collected many literary gems which aptly expressed important spiritual truths, and placed them in a common treasury, from which she drew and incorporated them into her writings with the sole purpose of uplifting Christ and winning souls. Even then, a comparison of the passages she borrowed with their original wording reveals that almost invariably she improved on them, making them more concise, forceful, and attractive, which shows that she certainly was not an ignorant imitator.

As for giving credit, the "Light that lighteth every man" should rightfully get all the credit. When Ellen White felt certain choice quotations ought to be rescued from their age-old hiding places and widely propagated, she regarded it her duty to publish them in the spirit of "the Lord hath need of them." Matthew 21:3. Incidentally, Christ's command for His disciples to untie the ass and her colt without first asking permission of the owner can be called a breach of etiquette. The owner could have made an issue of it and charged the disciples with theft--(if he had been Walter Rea).

Our church leaders must not lose the initiative in this crisis. We should accept the challenge as a God-sent opportunity, take full advantage of the free publicity--negative though it may be--"and it shall turn to you for a testimony." We must not yield under the pressure of the ungodly elements among us who are trying to snicker the Spirit of Prophecy out of court. We must not falter under Rea's rabid attacks and lose our bearings. Nor should we try to meet him half way. Jack Provonsha's introduction of the "delusional system" is ill-advised and settles nothing. As we have pointed out, Ellen White's difficulty did not lie in the perception process, so all the talk about "learning theory" is extraneous. God chose this woman to speak for Him not because her "delusional system" was least distorting (all this pompous talk is a vain attempt to fit God into Kant's philosophy), but because His express purpose has always been to choose the weak to confound the strong that no flesh should glory in His presence. 1 Corinthians 1:29

The statement that the learning theory based on Kant's idealism is "generally accepted" is also open to challenge. These words should be modified by adding, "in certain parts of the world." For in other regions, especially where dialectical literalism is dominant, Kant's philosophy is widely repudiated. Hegel, Marx, Engels, and Lenin were definitely the equals of Kant in mental caliber, if not superior to him. Their scholarly criticisms of Kant make men wonder who is the wiser sage. And if you have the time and patience to wade through the works of philosophers ancient and modern, you will still have difficulty deciding which school comes closest to the position of Seventh-day Adventists, much less to say which learning theory should be applied to Ellen White. The wisest thing is to leave worldly philosophy with the world and be content to work Sola Scriptura. Our philosophy should be the positivism of Jesus Christ, who prayed "Thy word is truth," and emphasized His words with "Verily, verily I say unto you" and "It is written."

We should not remain on the defensive. We must go on the offensive, giving tit for tat. The devil is trying to bluff us into submission so that we will take the Ellen White books out of circulation and be ashamed of our glory. We will do the opposite: promote these books with a vengeance! We will sell them to our people and also to the world. From now on every one of our publishers, distributors, and colporteurs should make the Spirit of Prophecy books, especially the Conflict Series, their chief sales item. No, some will say, Walter Rea has ruined E. G. White's reputation; her books won't sell. I am persuaded otherwise. I believe God will work wonders for us by turning this crisis into a blessing. I appeal to every consecrated colporteur who makes soul-winning his goal to try the following canvass:

Have you heard or read about Walter Rea's attacks on a great religious writer Ellen White? Well, the public media are making a sensation of it, so more and more thinking people want to know for themselves the truth about Ellen White's writings. One most important work is The Great Controversy. This book tells us of events which are soon to take place. No other writer has presented these vital truths more forcefully, and many readers have decided that Ellen White was indeed an inspired prophet of God. About a hundred years ago she wrote this prophecy (turn to The Great Controversy, 624):

"Persons will arise pretending to be Christ himself, and claiming the title and worship which belongs to the world's Redeemer."

Today this is happening before our eyes. You've seen in the papers the full-page ads about Maitreya, who claims to be Christ. Very soon you will see another prophecy fulfilled: (same page)

"As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. . . ." (read full passage)

Now if you didn't read this book, you'd possibly be deluded by such a supernatural character, but Ellen White foretells that it will be the devil himself, so you will not be deceived. Now I've brought this book for you and I'm sure you'll get a lot of vital information from it and will not be taken by surprise when supernatural manifestations appear.

This book not only tells you about the startling changes and calamities that will soon befall our planet, but will also help you to prepare for them and have the courage to face the future by trusting in God. Ellen White could not have copied such prophetic material from other books because no other book written before her contained such detailed accounts of things to come. She received them by direct revelations from God. Here the author says (turn to "Author's Introduction," page 13, and read):

"Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the long-continued conflict between good and evil have been opened to the writer of these pages. . . ." (read full passage)

And when you've finished reading this great book, you'll be able to decide for yourself who is a liar--Ellen White or Walter Rea.

David Lin

September 15, 1982

RETURN TO INDEX