Chapter 5—The Visions

Mrs. White suffered a head injury as a child and bouts with ill-health throughout her life. Could her visions have been related to her injuries or illness? Could they have been caused by hypnosis, mesmerism, or epilepsy? ^{1The White Lie, pp. 170, 208, 211-213.}

The attempt to discredit the work of the Holy Spirit by attributing it to natural causes is as old as the Bible itself. After all, the miracles of Pentecost were attributed to drunkenness. Once one rejects belief in a divine source of the visions, it is to be expected that natural explanations will be sought.TAWL 9.1

Early in her experience Ellen White’s visions were thought by some to be the result of mesmerism, an early form of hypnotism. She was just beginning her work as the Lord’s messenger, and the next time she felt the power of God come upon her, she began to doubt and resist the vision. She was reproved and struck dumb for twenty-four hours. In the following vision she was shown her “sin in doubting the power of God,” and was told that this was the reason for being struck dumb. “After that,” she said, “I dared not doubt, or for a moment resist the power of God, however others might think of me.” ^{2Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 89.}TAWL 9.2

Some who questioned her visions, beginning with D. M. Canright in 1887, attributed them to epileptic seizures, noting that there were similarities between the two. As the visions began, she lost her strength; later during the vision she regained it, sometimes exhibiting superhuman strength. During the visions she did not breathe. Her eyes were open, yet she did not recognize others in the vicinity. Because these physical experiences remotely resemble seizures, it has been suggested by critics that her visions were not visions at all.TAWL 9.3

F. D. Nichol, in his book, Ellen G. White and Her Critics, asks the question: “How should a prophet act in vision?” He notes that because prophets are people, they have physical and nervous systems, and as a vision is not a normal state, it should be expected that certain non-normal experiences would take place. ^{3Nichol, op. cit., pp. 57, 58.}TAWL 9.4

Daniel experienced a loss of strength, then extra strength. He was struck dumb and there was no breath in him (Daniel 10). Balaam fell into a “trance,” “having his eyes open” (Numbers 24). The effect on John was that he “fell as dead” (Revelation 1:17). When Saul of Tarsus had his first vision “he fell to the earth,” “trembling” (Acts 9). After a vision Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, was “speechless” (Luke 1). At times critics of the Bible have tried to explain visions as being the result of mental illness, too.TAWL 9.5

One characteristic familiar to continuing seizures is what is called “diminished mental capacity.” Simply stated, the mind is weakened with repeated occurrences. It is estimated that Ellen White had about 200 open visions and some 1800 prophetic dreams. The open visions in the earlier years were accompanied by physical phenomena. If these were not visions, but epileptic seizures, we would expect mental deterioration through the years. We find no such evidence. On the contrary, there was observable development of her capabilities. She speaks of better health in later years than in her younger years. Thousands of pages of handwritten material from her pen do not contain any evidence of a progressive decline in her ability.TAWL 9.6

Furthermore, where is a single example of anyone whose frequent seizures enabled him to guide a church so wisely and counsel a people so helpfully? What is most important, after all, is the message conveyed by the visions, not the specific way in which God conveys that message.TAWL 9.7