Ellen gould harmon white biography

In early life they became earnest and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In that church they held prominent connection, and labored for the conversion of sinners, and to build up the cause of God, for a period of forty years. During this time they had the joy of seeing their children, eight in number, all converted and gathered into the fold of Christ.

Ellen White was a woman of remarkable spiritual gifts who lived most of her life during the nineteenth century , yet through her writings she is still making a revolutionary impact on millions of people around the world. During her lifetime she wrote more than 5, periodical articles and 40 books; but today, including compilations from her 50, pages of manuscript, more than titles are available in English.

She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender. Her life-changing masterpiece on successful Christian living, Steps to Christ, has been published in more than languages. Her writings cover a broad range of subjects, including religion, education, social relationships, evangelism, prophecy, publishing, nutrition, and management.

Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. Sons and Daughters of God. The Southern Work. The Spirit of Prophecy. Spiritual Gifts. Steps to Christ. Story of Jesus. The Story of Redemption. Rochester, NY: James White, Testimonies for the Church. Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work. Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce. White Estate, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers.

Testimonies to Southern Africa. Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods. That I May Know Him. This Day With God. Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing. To Be Like Jesus. The Truth About Angels. The Upward Look. The Voice in Speech and Song. Welfare Ministry. With God at Dawn. Ye Shall Receive Power. Graham, Roy E. Ellen G. New York: P. Lang, Numbers, Ronald L.

The photo is part of the public domain. Bibliography The bibliography is from the complete published Ellen G. She published a series of pamphlets titled Health, or How to Live that described her guidelines for healthy living. Thus began a lifelong crusade for health reform. White advocated a strict vegetarian diet that included whole grains and only two meals a day.

Butter, tea, and coffee were strictly forbidden as were medicine, tobacco, and alcohol. Hydratherapy, the use of water baths and wraps, was used as a treatment for disease. These were not unique ideas in the mid-nineteenth century. Before the Civil War , preachers and medical doctors advocated fresh air, vegetarianism, and abstinence from tobacco and alcohol as alternatives to traditional medical treatments such as blood letting, blistering, and purging.

Medical clinics, called water cures, opened across the country before the Civil War. These health reform ideas were readily available in publications and some people suggested that White took her ideas from medical doctors who had previously published articles on the topic. White claimed that she never read their articles before writing down the ideas she received in visions.

In , a vision inspired White to establish the church's first health institute to care for the sick and to teach preventive medicine in an atmosphere of Adventist spirituality. It operated under the direction of John Harvey Kellogg , who later invented Cornflake breakfast cereal and founded the Kellogg Company. The institute attracted patients from around the world.

The sanitarium left the control of the church in following a dispute between White and Kellogg. Despite the fact that health reform was a defining characteristic of the church, the White family continued to suffer health problems throughout their lives. Henry White died of pneumonia at the age of 16 in During the s, the Whites traveled extensively on behalf of the church.

Much of their work was in the west, where they established Pacific Press Publishing Association. White spoke at camp meetings, churches, conferences, in town squares, and even prisons. Temperence was a frequent topic and in it was reported that White spoke on that topic to an audience of 20, people in Groveland, Massachusetts. The church's membership increased five-fold between and James White's health deteriorated in the late s and he died on August 6, White became even more involved in the church and her son Willie took on more responsibilities.

In the s, White began spreading the Adventist message worldwide. She traveled to Europe in and lived in Australia for nine years beginning in White established a bible school and a sanitarium in Australia. When she returned to the United States at the age of 71, she moved to Elmshaven, a rural town in northern California, from which she traveled throughout the South preaching to African Americans.

White spearheaded a reorganization of the church in In , she moved its headquarters from Battle Creek to suburban Washington, D. She also established medical schools to train doctors for the church's health facilities. White continued writing, completing a number of books and articles between and In total, White wrote 26 books and numerous articles and pamphlets.

Together with her diaries and other writings, she produced more than , pages in her lifetime. In February , White broke her hip in a fall. She was confined to a wheelchair and died five months later, on July 16, , in Elmshaven, California, at the age of She was buried beside her husband and sons in Battle Creek, Michigan. After White's death, the Seventh Day Adventist Church continued to grow and draw inspiration from her teachings.

Church membership increased from , in to more than The church's network of schools and hospitals has also expanded. White's books are still considered a major source of inspiration in the church. According to Jerry Moon in The Adventist Trinity Debate, [ 53 ] although her earlier visions and writings do not clearly reveal the Three Persons of the Godhead, her later works strongly bring out the teaching of "the Third Person of the Godhead".

Some scholars have denied that Ellen White was a major influence in the Adventist shift toward Trinitarian doctrine and have argued that early Adventism had neither an Arian, Semi-Arian, nor Trinitarian theology, but rather a materialist one. White's earliest essays on education appeared in the autumn editions of the Health Reformer. The manner of instruction should be varied.

This would make it possible for the "high and noble powers of the mind" [ 56 ] to have a chance to develop. To be qualified to educate the youth she wrote , parents and teachers must have self-control, gentleness and love. White's idea of creating a Christian educational system and its importance in society are detailed in her writings Christian Education , and Education White expounded greatly on the subjects of health, healthy eating and a vegetarian diet.

In her book Counsels on Diet and Foods , she gives advice on the right foods and on moderation. She also warns against the use of tobacco , which was medically accepted in her day. White wrote in The Ministry of Healing : "Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. White Encyclopedia recognizes that her assertions about masturbation are contrary to 21st century scientific opinion.

She is the founder of many health sanitariums, the most famous of which are the Battle Creek Sanitarium [ 60 ] and the Loma Linda Sanitarium, which is now named the Loma Linda University Medical Center. The largest proportion of Seventh-day Adventist vegetarians is in North America where over half of the members are vegetarian or vegan.

Her health reform writing focused on human health but her statements also included compassion towards animals, which was unusual for her time. A survey conducted in found that White was the 11th most-read author in Brazil. According to one evangelical author, "No Christian leader or theologian has exerted as great an influence on a particular denomination as Ellen White has on Adventism.

White has undoubtedly been the most influential Seventh-day Adventist in the history of the church. The Ellen G. White Estate, Inc. There are 15 additional research centers located throughout the 13 remaining divisions of the world church.

Ellen gould harmon white biography

The mission of the White Estate is to circulate Ellen White's writings, translate them, and provide resources for helping to better understand her life and ministry. At the Toronto General Conference Session the world church expanded the mission of the White Estate to include a responsibility for promoting Adventist history for the entire denomination.

Several of White's homes are historic sites. The first home that she and her husband owned is now part of the Historic Adventist Village in Battle Creek , Michigan. The "Elmshaven" home is a National Historic Landmark. White inspired and guided the foundation of Avondale College , [ 75 ] Cooranbong , leaving an educational legacy from her time in Australia.

In , the restored White house of Sunnyside was reopened to the public. The home has architectural elements of New England adapted for Australia. In Florence , Italy, a street is named after White. White had a major influence on the development of vegetarian foods and vegetarian food product companies. In the U. In , the New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists listed 33 Adventist-affiliated vegetarian restaurants, most that were located inside the United States of America including six in Texas.

In , an opinion column in Australian beef industry publication Beef Central was critical of the influence of the Seventh-day Adventist church in shaping national food policy traced to White and the founding of the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company , which manufactures Veggie Delights plant-based meats. White which was later expanded again by White and several authors who covered the remainder of her life.

Published in , it remains in print as Life Sketches of Ellen G. White abbreviated as LS. The most comprehensive biography of White is an extensive six-volume work called "Ellen G. White: A Biography" written by her grandson, Arthur L. Thousands of articles and books have been written about various aspects of Ellen G. White's life and ministry. A large number of these can be found in the libraries at Loma Linda University and Andrews University , the two primary Seventh-day Adventist institutions with major research collections about Adventism.

An "Encyclopedia of Ellen G. White" is being produced by two faculty at Andrews University: Jerry Moon, [ 83 ] chair of the church history department, and Denis Fortin, [ 84 ] dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. Red Books: Our Search for Ellen White is a play about White, a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church , and the various perceptions of her throughout the history of the church.

It was based on interviews collected from over individuals. The title derives from White's books , which were traditionally bound with a red cover. White, "Her guidance and advice, obtained through Bible studies, as well as dreams and visions revealed by God, guided the steps of the Church in becoming a worldwide movement of compassion in the areas of health, education, community development and disaster relief.

Most Adventists believe White's writings are inspired and continue to have relevance for the church today. Because of criticism from the evangelical community, in the s and s church leaders such as LeRoy Edwin Froom and Roy Allan Anderson attempted to help evangelicals understand Seventh-day Adventists better by engaging in extended dialogue that resulted in the publication of Questions on Doctrine that explained Adventist beliefs in evangelical language.

Kenneth Samples, a successor of Martin in his interaction with Adventism, also denies White's prophetic claims yet "believe[s] she, at minimum, had some good biblical and theological instincts". Early Sabbatarian Adventists, many of whom had emerged from the Christian Connection , were anti-creedal. However, as early as Adventists produced a statement of beliefs.

They refined this list during the s and formally included it in the SDA Yearbook in with 22 belief statements. In , the Adventist Church officially adopted 27 Fundamental Beliefs, to which it added a 28th in The Scriptures testify that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and we believe it was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G.

Her writings speak with prophetic authority and provide comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction to the church. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. Employing an expression found in Rev. Roger Coon wrote a lecture arguing that certain followers of the religion were engaging in "equal but opposite dangers" in their view of White.

He described one group that overdeified her, and one group that "picks and chooses" from what teachings they follow of hers. Critics have voiced doubts as to the reliability of Ellen G. White as a prophetess and the authenticity of her visions. Ronald L. Numbers , an American historian of science, criticized White for her views on health and masturbation.

Coles for her arguments against masturbation. Other critics have accused Ellen White of plagiarism. One such was Walter T. Rea , who argued against the "original" nature of her alleged revelations in his book The White Lie. Intellectual property attorney Vincent L. Ramik undertook a study of Ellen G. White's writings during the early s, and concluded that they were "conclusively unplagiaristic.

The full 2,page report of the "'Life of Christ Research Project" is available online, [ ] [ ] along with an abridged version. Coon, [ ] David J. Conklin, [ ] Denis Fortin, [ ] [ ] King and Morgan, [ ] among others, undertook the refutation of the accusations of plagiarism. At the conclusion of his report, Ramik states:. It is impossible to imagine that the intention of Ellen G.

White, as reflected in her writings and the unquestionably prodigious efforts involved therein, was anything other than a sincerely motivated and unselfish effort to place the understandings of Biblical truths in a coherent form for all to see and comprehend. Most certainly, the nature and content of her writings had but one hope and intent, namely, the furthering of mankind's understanding of the word of God.

Considering all factors necessary in reaching a just conclusion on this issue, it is submitted that the writings of Ellen G. White were conclusively unplagiaristic. That Ellen White borrowed from other authors was openly acknowledged by herself cf. GC xi—xii and by people close to her cf. Robert Olson, secretary of the Ellen G. Paul by W.

Conybeare and J. Howson in writing Sketches From the Life of Paul At the time of her death, White had several copies of the Crowell publication in her library. The public secular press accused Ellen G. White of extensive plagiarism, claiming that this was her general practice, and concluded that "Mrs. White is a plagiarist, a literary thief. Contents move to sidebar hide.

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. American author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For other people named Ellen White, see Ellen White disambiguation. This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral.

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