They stand on the highest plane. On this point Uriah Smith, an editor and fellow worker, declared: TAWL 14.3
1. They tend to the purest morality. They discountenance every vice, and exhort to the practice of every virtue.
2. They lead to Christ. Like the Bible, they set Him forth as the only hope and Saviour of mankind.
3. They lead us to the Bible. They set forth that Book as the inspired and unalterable Word of God.
4. They have brought comfort and consolation to many hearts. They have strengthened the weak, encouraged the feeble, raised up the despondent. They have brought order out of confusion, made crooked places straight, and thrown light on what was dark and obscure. 3Uriah Smith, “The Visions—Objections Answered,” The Review and Herald, June 12, 1866, p. 9.
How is it that thousands have been led to the Saviour through reading The Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ, and The Great Controversy? How is it that The Ministry of Healing, published in 1905, has never had to be revised while medical books survive but a decade or two? TAWL 14.4
On Ellen White’s death, the staid weekly journal, The Independent, published in New York City, traced the high points of Ellen White’s experience in an article titled “An American Prophetess.” Then speaking of the fruits of her ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist church, the journal stated: TAWL 14.5
These teachings were based on the strictest doctrine of inspiration of the Scriptures. Seventh-day Adventism could be got in no other way. And the gift of prophecy was to be expected as promised to the “remnant church” who had held fast to the truth. This faith gave great purity of life and incessant zeal. No body of Christians excels them in moral character and religious earnestness. 4The Independent, Aug. 23, 1915, pp. 249, 250.