Metaphors to Interpret the Analogy
There are perhaps four metaphors that can be used to help us understand what Mrs. White intended to teach from her “greater light”/“lesser light” analogy (and in so doing keep us from misinterpreting it):IRWHW 76.5
1. Time and geographical relationships. The Bible is God’s universal message for all men for all time. Its 66 books were written by approximately 40 literary, canonical prophets over a period of approximately 1,500 years, and the Bible has represented the will of God for all mankind for between two and three millennia. On the other hand, the literary but noncanonical prophets—eight are mentioned in the Old Testament, and Adventists today put Ellen White into this category—wrote primarily for their own time and people. Thus the canonical prophets may be seen in this narrow distinction to be the “greater light,” and the noncanonical prophets may be seen as the “lesser light.”IRWHW 76.6
2. Tester/testee relationship. Every nation in the world, from ancient Egypt with its Pharaonic cubit to modern nations with their meter and kilogram, have maintained national standards of line and mass measurement in which precision and accuracy are of paramount importance. Without such, no nation could function. Commerce and trade, the building professions, and mass production would be an impossibility.IRWHW 76.7
A visitor to the museum adjoining the library of the United States National Bureau of Standards at Gaithersburg, Maryland, will see on display the original National Prototype Meter No. 27 which was the U.S. national reference for line measurement from 1893 until 1960 (when the meter subsequently was defined in terms of the light emitted by electrically excited atoms of the gas krypton-86).IRWHW 76.8
After the Treaty of the Meter was signed at Sèvres, France, in 1875, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures made 31 prototype meters and kilograms of platinum (90 percent) and iridium (10 percent), a substance especially noted not only for exceptional durability but also for a low coefficient of expansion and contraction. The signatory powers drew lots (the U.S. thereby acquired Meters Nos. 21 and 17 and Kilograms Nos. 4 and 20), and these new standards were sent to the national capitals of the participating nations. There these were preserved in an environment in which humidity and temperature were stringently controlled. (The technician who works with the national kilogram in Gaithersburg, for example, is not allowed to touch the metal weight—moisture from her fingers could affect its weight! She must also wear an aluminized apron to deflect body heat away from the standard.)IRWHW 76.9
In addition to the national reference standards of length and mass, the National Bureau of Weights and Measures also has “working standards” of exactly the same length and weight, made of the same materials. If you suspect your yardstick or ruler is an incorrect length, you could take it to Gaithersburg and compare it with one of the working standards.IRWHW 77.1
Incidentally, the working standards are indistinguishable from the national reference standard; the only difference between them is that one was arbitrarily chosen by lot for its elevated position as the standard of the nation. IRWHW 77.2
Now to the application: The national standard could be seen as the “greater light“: the working standard could be seen as the “lesser light.” Or in an equally valid analogy, the working standard could be seen as the “greater light“: the ruler or yardstick you bring to have tested would thus be the “lesser light.”IRWHW 77.3
The national yardstick is never tested by your hardware-store yardstick; likewise, the Scriptures are never tested by the writings of Ellen G. White. However, if and when our store-bought articles of measurement are tested by the authority and found to be totally accurate and reliable, we do not hesitate to use them as an authoritative standard—but always in relationship and reference to the ultimate accepted standard (the “greater light”).IRWHW 77.4
3. Forty candles/one candle. Place 40 identical lighted candles at one end of a table, and another lighted candle at the other. (The Bible was written by about 40 different authors, and Ellen G. White’s writings, of course, by one author.) Since 40 candlepower is greater than one candlepower, so the Scriptures may be seen to be the “greater light,” while the writings of Ellen White are seen as the “lesser light.”IRWHW 77.5
It is especially important in this context, however, to remember that what is emitted, by either the 40 candles or by the single candle, is “light.” And Ellen White’s analogy of the sun and the moon as superior/inferior lights is particularly apt because the light that is radiated by the two orbs in the heavens is all the same kind of light. The moon has no light of its own; it simply reflects the light of the sun. Light is light; whether from the sun—or the Son. And if the light that is in you goes out in darkness, “how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23).IRWHW 77.6
It is also worth remembering that these metaphors we call parables are generally intended to teach one truth and one truth only. If pressed too far, they will break down. For example, while Ellen White is to some extent well represented by the one candle, the fact remains that the bulk of her writing exceeds by many times the total word content of the Old and the New Testaments combined (the “greater light”). The analogy should not be carried too far!IRWHW 77.7
4. National Map/State Map. Many travelers in the United States take with them an atlas to aid them in navigating the nation’s highways. Many atlases have a double-page map of the 48 contiguous States at the beginning, followed by individual single-page state maps. The national map would thus be seen as the “greater light,” the State map as the “lesser light.”IRWHW 77.8
Two applications are worth making here: There is no disagreement between the representation of Maryland, for example, on the two-page national map and on that of the single-page state of Maryland map. However, there is substantially more detail on the “lesser light” state map of Maryland than there is on the “greater light” national map.IRWHW 77.9
In concluding our discussion of this “greater light”/“lesser light” analogy, it is probably worth noting that, on the basis of Ellen White’s own statements, it would seem to be an improper distortion to assert (as do some modern critics) that by this figure she meant that the Bible had greater inspiration or authority than her writings. IRWHW 77.10