Is the story of Ellen G. White holding up a big Bible fact or
fiction?
Early in 1845, while in vision at her parents' home in Portland, Maine,
17-year-old Ellen Harmon (later White) picked up their large family Bible and
held it on her outstretched left arm for 20 to 30 minutes. The story was
documented by J. N. Loughborough who interviewed those who witnessed the
vision, including Ellen's father, mother, and sister. The Bible (on display at
the Ellen G. White Estate) weighs 18½ pounds (8 kilos) and was printed
by Joseph Teal in 1822. W. C. White, Ellen White's son, also reported hearing
of the incident from his parents. There are other reports of Ellen White
holding large Bibles while in vision, including an eye-witness account printed
in Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, pp. 77-79.
Such experiences should not be considered proof of divine
inspiration, as prophets must meet the tests set forth in the Scriptures; but
this experience, as well as other remarkable physical phenomena, were seen as
evidence by many early Adventists that Ellen Harmon's visions were of
supernatural origin.
Cursory readers of a 1919 discussion regarding the "big Bible" have
mistakenly concluded that the General Conference president, A. G. Daniells,
questioned the historicity of the incident. They have missed Daniells's point,
which he clarified when he was asked whether he was discrediting the miracle or
stating that he would not use such manifestations as a "proof" of inspiration.
He replied, "No, I do not discount them nor disbelieve them; but they are not
the kind of evidence I would use with students or with unbelievers. . . . I do
not question them, but I do not think they are the best kind of evidence to
produce" (Minutes of the Bible and History Teachers' Council, July 30, 1919,
pp. 2341-2344, 2360-2362).