Inspiration and Infallibility

A very natural question may arise at this juncture: “If the Bible and Mrs. White’s writings are inspired, should we not expect them to be free from all error or mistakes? Are they not infallible?”BHP 196.1

We must answer, Inspiration and infallibility are not identical. Ellen G. White never claimed verbal inspiration for either her own writings or the Bible itself. Neither did she claim infallibility for herself or the Bible writers.BHP 196.2

On infallibility she said:BHP 196.3

“In regard to infallibility, I never claimed it; God alone is infallible. His word is true, and in Him is no variableness or shadow of turning.” Ellen G. White letter 10, 1895.BHP 196.4

At another time she wrote:BHP 196.5

“God and heaven alone are infallible.” The Review and Herald, July 26, 1892.BHP 196.6

Infallibility does not belong to Ellen G. White. She never claimed it. Infallibility does not belong to any man—only to God. Therefore even the authors of the Scriptures are subject to possible human error and inaccuracy. The remarkable thing is that there are so very few inaccuracies in all the twenty-five million words written by Mrs. White.BHP 196.7

If you ever find anything in Mrs. White’s writings that to you seems without doubt to be a mistake—a historical inaccuracy, a mistake in geography, arithmetic, or chronology—just remember that Mrs. White never claimed infallibility, and that her inspiration is in no wise affected by such a slip of the pen. It might even turn out that Mrs. White herself was not responsible for the mistake at all.BHP 197.1

I believe that right here it would be helpful if we all understood how Mrs. White did her work; then we could see the impossibility of her being infallible, and wherein came the inspiration. Ellen G. White herself was not a highly educated person. Her formal schooling consisted of only a few grades. A stone thrown by a schoolgirl hit her on the face, broke her nose, and caused a physical deformity. Because of the shock that came to her, she dropped out of school and never had the opportunity to go on and learn to spell correctly every word in the dictionary or to write perfectly every grammatical construction. She never enjoyed that privilege, but the remarkable thing is that God could take such a humble instrument, lacking in some of those things we consider so essential in the educated person, and could work through her to accomplish the marvelous things we see in all of her grand books that are in our hands today. That indeed is a most remarkable accomplishment.BHP 197.2

She herself says that when she began to write her hand was so feeble she could not write very long without pain. But the angel said, “Write, and write the things that have been shown to you.” She says of herself, “The more I wrote, the easier it became to write,” and that before long she could write page after page with a flowing hand for hours at a time, and never tire. That was another remarkable thing with regard to the servant of God.BHP 198.1

A vision of something would be given to her, or some circumstance, some situation, some need, would be presented to her, and then she would sit down to write what she had seen or heard. The longest vision, about four hours, in which she saw the conflict of the ages from the beginning to the end, took her many, many weeks to write out.BHP 198.2

How did she write? She took her pen and paper and wrote as the Spirit of God impressed her to write, setting forth that which she had seen in the vision. She paid little attention to the commas and the semicolons, the colons and the periods. She did not stop even for a misspelled word. She was writing to get the thought on paper.BHP 198.3

Now I do not claim to be an inspired or inspiring writer, but when I write I do it in about the same way as Sister White did. And so do many other writers.BHP 198.4

When Mrs. White had finished the manuscript, which was written very swiftly, she turned it over to a secretary. May I add here that the handwriting is an interesting study. In the very early days it was small and neat, and the letters were well formed and careful, but as with some of the rest of us, as she grew older her writing became less legible, and the writing she did near the end of her days is not so easily read. Yet her secretaries, who worked with her for years, could read it off just like printed material.BHP 198.5

Her handwritten manuscript was turned over to a secretary, who copied it on the typewriter, correcting the inaccuracies in spelling, punctuation, and so forth. Did I say “inaccuracies”? Yes. The Holy Spirit does not teach one how to spell. It takes hard work to learn how to spell, and God will not perform a miracle and make up for our mistakes in spelling.BHP 199.1

We read that when the redeemed appear in heaven they will stand in the form of a hollow square, and to each one will be given a crown and a harp. I have often wondered how God is going to fulfill the statement He makes that when the angels sound the note the whole assembly with their harps will play in perfect harmony and accord. I do not know one note from another. I have never learned to play any instrument. I cannot sing. I have no musical ability whatsoever. When we get over there, and I assure you that I am planning to be there, I do not know just how I shall be able to play that harp and be in harmony with all the rest. I think God will then have to work a miracle, and I believe He will, but He has not promised to work a miracle in my spelling, neither did He in Mrs. White’s spelling. Yes, there are some misspelled words in the original manuscripts. Does that destroy my confidence in the writings? Not in the least.BHP 199.2

So this secretary would do the mechanical work and hand the manuscript back to Mrs. White. Then she studied it very carefully to make sure that every word was in the right place to convey the correct thought. She often added a phrase here or a sentence there. After she had gone over it carefully, it went back to the secretary to be typed again in a clear, correct copy. Again it went back to Mrs. White, so that once more she could make sure that the wording was just what it should be. She read it again to make sure it conveyed the correct thought, and signed her name “E. G. White” on the finished copy. This is what we call thought inspiration in contrast to verbal inspiration. Mrs. White never claimed verbal inspiration, and now you can understand the reason why. The very method of doing her work would make it impossible to have verbal inspiration.BHP 200.1

In Jeremiah 36:2, God said, “Jeremiah, take the roll of a book, write in that book the messages that I have given to you.”BHP 200.2

So Jeremiah called his secretary, Baruch, and told him, “Baruch, bring a scroll, get your pen and your ink, and have everything all ready. I am now going to dictate to you the messages God has given me.” Thus it was that he dictated, and Baruch wrote down the messages.BHP 200.3

I assure you, dear friends, when we think of the work of the prophet as being done in that way, there will be no difficulty in our minds if one or two little inaccuracies should appear in the many printed books and the thousands of periodical articles that came from the pen of Ellen G. White. Very few people in the history of the world have produced more in volume, in quantity, than did Ellen G. White in the seventy years of her activity as a messenger for God.BHP 201.1

The remarkable thing is that for so long a period of service there should be such a unity and a harmony of thought throughout all the writings, from the very first page to the very last page. To me this is one of the greatest evidences of the inspiration of the writer.BHP 201.2

Not everybody has been given the privilege of spending some sixteen months sitting near the vault at the Ellen G. White Publications office and reading those most interesting and wonderful manuscripts. That, however, was my privilege. I consider it to be the most important period in my life. It gave me an opportunity for which I had longed, but which I never thought possible of fulfillment. I want to tell you frankly that to spend days and weeks and months doing little else but live with those writings was a wonderful experience. I thank God for it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and may I say that my confidence in the gift of prophecy, and in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy, is stronger today than ever before. I have no question regarding the gift or the instrument used by God.BHP 201.3

Mrs. White was a very reasonable person. If she was anything, she was a very human person. As I read those letters and manuscripts I found letters addressed to Willie, or Edson, or some other member of the family, and they were characteristic letters of a good mother, a fine Christian. In those letters she often spoke of the common affairs of life, her journeys, the places she visited, and the people she saw. I would say that such things are not inspired. Therefore, we should not say that every letter she ever wrote, under any and all circumstances, was an inspired testimony. We must not claim for her what she did not claim for herself.BHP 202.1

Mrs. White herself drew a distinction between the common and the sacred. Here is how she put it:BHP 202.2

“There are times when common things must be stated, common thoughts must occupy the mind, common letters must be written and information must be given that has passed from one to another of the workers. Such words, such information, are not given under the special inspiration of the Spirit of God. Questions are asked at times that are not upon religious subjects at all, and these questions must be answered. We converse about houses and lands, trades to be made, and locations for our institutions, their advantages and disadvantages.” Manuscript 107, 1909, quoted in Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White, Messenger to the Remnant, p. 117.BHP 202.3

It thus becomes apparent that Ellen G. White—BHP 202.4

1. Never claimed infallibility either for herself orBHP 202.5

for the writers of the Scriptures. “God alone is infallible.”BHP 203.1

2. Never claimed verbal inspiration either for her own writings or for the Scriptures.BHP 203.2

3. Did claim thought inspiration both for her own writings and for the Scriptures.BHP 203.3

4. Did not look upon her writings as being comparable to the “commandments of God,” but saw them as “reproofs,” “counsels,” “warnings,” “encouragements,” “messages,” “testimonies,” “cautions.”BHP 203.4