At the time of her death Ellen White's literary productions totaled
approximately 100,000 pages: 24 books in current circulation; two book
manuscripts ready for publication; 5,000 periodical articles in the journals of
the church; more than 200 tracts and pamphlets; approximately 35,000
typewritten pages of manuscript documents and letters; 2,000 handwritten
letters and diary materials comprising, when copied, another 15,000 typewritten
pages. Compilations made after her death from Ellen White's writings bring the
total number of books currently in print to more than 130.
What is Ellen White's most popular
book?
Millions consider Ellen White's classic volume on the life of
Christ--The Desire of Ages--to be their favorite Ellen White book. But
her most popular book is Steps to Christ, which presents the essentials
of basic Christian living. First published in 1892 and since translated into
more than 165 languages, tens of millions of copies are in circulation.
Haven't some of Ellen White's writings been
suppressed?
All of Ellen White's published works (including those alleged to be
suppressed) are included on the White Estate's CD-ROM, The Complete
Published Writings of Ellen G. White. All of her unpublished works (letters
and manuscripts) are available for study at the 22 Ellen G. White-SDA Research
Centers located around the world. None of her writings are suppressed.
Critics point to certain deletions in early publications as an evidence
that James and Ellen White (or church leaders) attempted to suppress statements
supporting erroneous beliefs. It is a fact that some of the early writings that
have been reprinted through the years have had sentences and even paragraphs
deleted from them and other revisions made. The question really is twofold: a)
May a true prophet revise or delete or perhaps even not preserve his God-given
messages? b) What were Ellen White's motivations in the changes that were made
in her writings?
The Bible reveals that God's messengers exhibited a degree of freedom in
deciding what to write and how best to present it. Many prophets delivered
messages orally, and thus no written account was preserved at all. In addition,
God did not see fit even to preserve the messages of some prophets who had
written out their messages (see, for example, 1 Chron. 29:29). Jeremiah tells
us that when he re-wrote his message for king Jehoiakim he "added besides unto
them many like words" (Jer. 36:32), implying that he was not confined to the
use of only his original words in expressing his message.
In responding to the charge of suppression in 1883, Ellen White wrote,
"So far from desiring to withhold anything that I have ever published, I would
feel great satisfaction in giving to the public every line of my writings that
has ever been printed" (Selected Messages, 1:60). Such a statement would
hardly be made by one whose motivation for changes in her writings was to
suppress embarrassing statements. At the same time, an author has the right
(some would say, duty) to make sure that his or her ideas are expressed as
clearly as possible--even if this should mean deleting and/or revising passages
liable to be misinterpreted by readers. An examination of Ellen White's alleged
"suppressions" is found in F. D. Nichol's Ellen G. White and Her
Critics, pp. 267-285 and 619-643.