How can one be 100% assured that the writings of Ellen G. White have been changed? Those could be wrong just as the later editions. How can one be sure? There are so many discrepancies out there. I am really truly seeking for answers...Thank you very much
Good question. The closest you may get is to purchase/find the photofacsimile reprint editions of:
Spiritual Gifts, Vols. 1 - 4. Spririt of Prophecy Vols. 1 - 4 Sketches from the Life of Paul
These are available through the Adventist Book Centers. They are black hardcover books. Because they are photofacsimile reproductions, they should be exact photocopies of the original books. There does not appear to be any manipulation.
If you have deep pockets, you can search out the originals.
The first step, of course, is to cross reference the statement in question with scripture. If there is still difficulty, then look at the rest of her written work. If after you have exhausted both of those routes, do as Gordon has outlined. Is there a specific thing you have issues with or just in general? Is there something that offends you in it? I am sure there have been changes because people like Leroy Froom have admitted to such activity. Not only this, there were editors and others who have had their hands in the cookie jar... One that comes to mind is Marian Davis... I have just seen a document that says there have been no lasting significant changes to her work but since the denomination thinks they can justify the trinity with a few of her statements, there is a big problem.
The closest you may get is to purchase/find the photofacsimile reprint editions of:
Spiritual Gifts, Vols. 1 - 4. Spririt of Prophecy Vols. 1 - 4 Sketches from the Life of Paul
Those are the best recommendations. As a close second I can recommend Story of Redemption and Patriarchs and Prophets also seem pretty intact. Story of Redemption is a compilation of the most early original works. It was a pleasant surprise for me when I read it. So many new "bits" of information that I had not read anywhere else.
Yes Newbie, Story of Redemption is real gem in one volume.
Though Story of Redemption is a compilation from 1947, it was drawn from Spirit of Prophecy Vols. 1, 3, 4, Early Writings, and one excerpt from a 1904 Signs of the Time article.
Early Writings (1882) itself draws on her first(?) three books dated 1851, 1854 and 1858, this last one being Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1.
Robkevbri, This is a question that i asked myself a long time - just how can we be sure that we are getting the words that Ellen White actually wrote? Fortunately, as Gordon mentions, there are some fascimile versions being printed today. There are places such as LNF that have used copies of the original books for sale at times. I was able to buy a set of SOP 4 volumes for around 40usd i think around 20 years ago. Also purchased an original 1892 Steps to Christ that really helped wake me up to something fishy with the books.
The best place i know of to get fascimile copies of the original books is at vbates.come (Echoes from the Past).
Story of Redemption is mostly good, as is everything i've ever seen with Ellen White's name on it, but being a compilation, as most all every book with her name on it is, it must be kept in mind that it is not direct from the mind of God in this manner.
JQN, the trinity doctrine is very clear in the Bible. Please stop bringing your satanic-doctrine into every post here.
May we return to our roots, and heed the words God gave his prophets.
Doesn't this question involve the whole matter of how inspiration works? These same questions have been raised about the Bible. I like this statement in Selected Messages:
"It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man's words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God."-- Manuscript 24, 1886 (written in Europe in 1886). {1SM 21.2}
The words are the vessel, the thoughts are the treasure. Comparing scripture with scripture helps to eliminate some of the errors we would come into by taking one scripture and making too much of the particular words, but it doesn't guarantee that we will arrive at truth, since truth comes by revelation, and not just by study. How then can we get the original thoughts that God put into inspired works, be they the Bible or other writings?
Well the Holy Spirit inspired the thoughts, and the same Holy Spirit must work on our minds and hearts to inspire the same thoughts again. This means our hearts must be ready to obey the truth, we must approach the word with reverence.
Since the Holy Spirit is able to reveal truth even through a weak vessel (and fallen humanity is a weak vessel), I don't worry so much about some changes made to inspired writings, be they the Bible or the writings of Ellen White. Most likely those who made the changes don't understand all the thoughts that the Holy Spirit has put into the original words, and therefore, even if they wanted to, cannot distort them so much that all these thoughts would be hidden.
I've looked at many different Bible translations, yet I am confident that the essential truths can be reached through any of them...even if I prefer some translations for their beauty of language.
