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Ellen G. White: The Australian Years: 1891-1900 (vol. 4)

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    Why Did She Copy from Others?

    Responding to this question in 1928, W. C. White wrote significantly of how this reading aided her:4BIO 378.1

    Notwithstanding all the power that God had given her to present scenes in the lives of Christ and His apostles and His prophets and His reformers in a stronger and more telling way than other historians, yet she always felt most keenly the results of her lack of school education. She admired the language in which other writers had presented to their readers the scenes which God had presented to her in vision, and she found it both a pleasure and a convenience and an economy of time to use their language fully or in part in presenting those things which she knew through revelation, and which she wished to pass on to her readers.—WCW to L. E. Froom, January 8, 1928.4BIO 378.2

    W. C. White mentions to Froom several other reasons as well that are worthy of thoughtful consideration:4BIO 378.3

    The great events occurring in the life of our Lord were presented to her in panoramic scenes as also were the other portions of the great controversy. In a few of these scenes, chronology and geography were clearly presented, but in the greater part of the revelation the flashlight scenes, which were exceedingly vivid, and the conversations and the controversies, which she heard and was able to narrate, were not marked geographically or chronologically, and she was left to study the Bible and history and the writings of men who had presented the life of our Lord to get the chronological and geographical connection.4BIO 378.4

    Answering still further the questions put to him by Elder Froom in 1928, W. C. White explained further:4BIO 379.1

    Regarding the reading of works of contemporary authors during the time of the preparation of these books, there is very little to be said, because when Sister White was busily engaged in writing, she had very little time to read. Previous to her work of writing on the life of Christ and during the time of her writing to some extent, she read from the works of Hanna, Fleetwood, Farrar, and Geikie. I never knew of her reading Edersheim. She occasionally referred to Andrews, particularly with reference to chronology.4BIO 379.2

    The knowledge that Ellen White read from other authors, and at times employed some of their phraseology, has led some to lose sight of the fact that the many visions given to her by God through the years constituted the main source of her information and insights. Were it not for these visions, she would never have written on the life of Christ. Her reading was primarily an aid in presenting precious truths through her pen.4BIO 379.3

    W. C. White mentioned Hanna, Fleetwood, Farrar, Geikie, and Andrews. He did not recall that she had read Edersheim, although recent study indicates that at some point she had. These were the books Ellen White had easy access to and was familiar with, and probably the ones she took with her to Australia. There were some others, but not a great number. It has been reported that there is evidence of some similarities in wording to expressions in twenty-five or thirty other authors. Ellen White did not carry a great library around with her, nor did she take such to Australia where she thought to stay only two years, or to New Zealand for the three months she expected to labor there. The time in New Zealand grew to ten months, as mentioned earlier, and she did considerable writing on the life of Christ while she wintered there.4BIO 379.4

    The numerous authors some have referred to is most likely accounted for in the fact that it was a prevailing practice for one commentator to borrow the wording of another, considering truth common property. It could well be that some of the books Ellen White had easy access to may have contained materials traceable to a number of authors. Ingram Cobbin in his preface to his Condensed Commentary and Family Exposition of the Holy Bible, page iv, declared: “All the commentators have drawn largely from the fathers, especially from St. Augustine,” and then points out the borrowings of one from another, naming authors so involved. See Ellen G. White and Her Critics, pages 404-407, for insights into the literary borrowing of commentators.4BIO 380.1

    W. C. White in his letter to Froom made a further important point that should be taken into account:4BIO 380.2

    Another purpose served by the reading of history, Life of Our Lord [Hanna, 1863], and Life and Epistles of St. Paul [Conybeare and Howson, 1851, 1852] was that in so doing there was brought vividly to her mind scenes presented clearly in vision, but which were, through the lapse of years and her strenuous ministry, dimmed in her memory.4BIO 380.3

    The full W. C. White letter appears in Selected Messages 3:453-461, as a portion of appendix C.4BIO 380.4

    The reader who turns to Ellen White's first writing in 1858 on the life of Christ as found in Spiritual Gifts, 1:28-79, or Early Writings, 153 to 192, will find a vivid and clear narration, at times enhanced by details found neither in the gospels nor the writing of others.4BIO 380.5

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