The following is number 8 in Dirk Anderson’s list of contradictions between Ellen G. Whites writings and the bible:
Ellen White:
"God loves honest-hearted, truthful children, but cannot love those who are dishonest. . . . The Lord loves those little children who try to do right, and he has promised that they shall be in his kingdom. But wicked children God does not love. . . . When you feel tempted to speak impatient and fretful, remember the Lord sees you, and will not love you if you do wrong." (An Appeal to the Youth, pp. 42, 61, 62)
The Bible:
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) "Love your enemies" (Luke 6:27).
His comments:
Ellen White was supposedly in constant communication with heaven through dreams, visions, and angelic visits. How could someone with a direct line to heaven be so terribly wrong about the character of God? Mrs. White said God does not love wicked children. This is in direct opposition to the teaching of Christ.
"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing..." (1 Tim. 6:3, 4).
The above quote by Ellen White is actually three quotes in one, the first from one article, and the last two from another. In fact, these are not merely articles, these are personal letters written to her little children while away at missionary work. Let’s take a look at the first quote together:
“Dear children, your mother has not forgotten you. She thinks of you many times every day. We hope you will be good and faithful children. I have been thinking, what if either of you should be taken sick and die, and your father and mother see you no more? Would you be prepared to die? Do you love God better than any one else? Can you forget your play to think of God, to go away alone and ask him for Jesus' sake to forgive your sins? I know that much of your time is taken up with your studies, and with doing errands; but, dear children, don't forget to pray. The Lord loves to have children pray to him. And if you really repent and feel sorry for your sins, God will forgive your sins for Jesus' sake.
When you do wrong don't conceal your wrong, but heartily and honestly confess it. This I believe you will do. I have confidence in you that you have tried to do it. Continue to do so, and we shall love you better than if you kept your wrongs concealed. God loves honest-hearted, truthful children, but cannot love those who are dishonest.” -AY 42.1.
Can you sense the worry of a mother taken from her children to do a work of God? Can you see that she is simply trying to, in the simplest form that a little child could understand, warn them of the danger of not having a constant relationship with Jesus Christ? This is not a book she is writing dear friends, this is not an article written to the church, to elders, or even to souls who know not the Lord Jesus Christ… this is a humble letter, written with the anxious desire to make her children ready for the soon return of the Lord. Sin is a serious matter, and taking it lightly will result in eternal damnation:
Romans 6:23
(23) For the wages of sin is death…”
Ezekiel 18:20
(20) The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
Matthew 25:46
(46) And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Ezekiel 9:5-6
(5) Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
(6) Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.
We ask our readers… how else would you explain in simple terms to a, perhaps 5 or 6 year old child, that they must remain true Christians in order to avoid the fires of hell? In order to avoid being “slain” and put to death? In order not to lose their salvation? The fact is, that if they don't allow the Holy Spirit to change their behaviors, they will lose their souls!
How else would you break down theological terms to a child who is still trying to learn his ABCs? We find that this accusation is but an exaggerated attempt to prove Ellen White a false prophet.
Notice with us the next few sentences:
“Many times I ask myself the question, Will my dear children be saved in the kingdom? I cannot bear the thought of their being shut out of the City with the wicked. I love my children, but God says that only the good and holy can be saved. And if you will overcome your wrongs, love one another, and be at peace among yourselves, the Lord will bless and save you. You cannot be good, or do right, in your own strength. You must go to God and ask him for strength. Ask him that his grace may influence your hearts, and make you right. Believe the Lord will do it; trust him to do it. You can be little Christians; you can love and serve God.” -AY 43.1
Isn’t it obvious, by now, that her only concern was the salvation of her children and that these were the simplest ways that she could explain the seriousness of sin to them?
To God the Father, we are all as little children. How else could God have, for example, explained the plan of salvation, along with the instruments used in heaven (the heavenly sanctuary), but by painting to them a box with furniture’s upon the earth? Through the simplest ways, God designed the earthly sanctuary to be something the children of Israel could behold, in order for them to understand the work being performed for them in heaven.
Notice the next quotes:
The Lord loves those little children who try to do right, and he has promised that they shall be in his kingdom. But wicked children God does not love. He will not take them to the beautiful City, for he only admits the good, obedient, and patient children there. One fretful, disobedient child, would spoil all the harmony of heaven. When you feel tempted to speak impatient and fretful, remember the Lord sees you, and will not love you if you do wrong. When you do right and overcome wrong feelings, the Lord smiles upon you.”
Our critic is upset at the choice of words Ms. White used, but he failed to see the result of such stern rebukes. In the midst of this letter, the White Estate placed the following comment:
“By the blessing of God and his mother’s instructions, Willie (her son) has overcome the impatient spirit which he sometimes manifested when quite young, and he now possess a most affectionate, amiable, and obedient disposition. A.P.P.”
The bible says:
Proverbs 22:6
(6) Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
It also says:
Ephesians 6:4
(4) And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture (greek: education) and admonition (greek: attention, rebuke, warning) of the Lord.
Her concern was to help her children be what the Father in heaven wanted them to be, little Christians. And through the teachings of their mother, by the grace of God, the results have been good ones.
The bible teaches that “by their fruits ye shall know them” if whether they speak truth or no (Matthew 7:20). The fruits manifested by the teachings of Ellen White towards her children have born good fruit. Perhaps our critics would have preferred it for Ms. White to tell her children that God still loves them, despite their sins. Do you truly believe that such a teaching would have resulted the way it did? When we teach our children that sin is not really that serious, we have failed in our mission towards saving them, because they grow up not understanding the seriousness of sin, and thereby don’t strive “to enter in at that strait gate” –Luke 13:24. Yet, see how serious God views the sin problem, that not even little children will escape his wrath:
2 Kings 2:23-24
(23) And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
(24) And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. (see also Ezekiel 9:6).
In another letter, dated October 30, 1859, she said in a letter to her children:
“We do not wish to drive you, dear boys, but help you to do right. We love you. No others can love you as we do. None can feel the interest in you that we do. We feel very anxious that you should be kept from sinful ways and evil habits.”
Such are the concerns expressed by a compassionate “mother” towards her little children. We invite all to read her many letters to her children at the White Estate, and see for themselves that her only concern was in these letters was the salvation of her children, and that these were the only ways she could explain the “seriousness” of sin to them.
Because the quotes were arranged by Mr. Anderson the way they were, some have felt that Ms. White was wrong in our she expressed herself to her children. But if they were but read in their proper context, you would notice nothing less then a compassionate, worried, anxious mother, trying her very best to teach her children the right things, while thousands of miles away from them doing missionary work. If anything, this shows her faithfulness and willingness to sacrifices from her time to teach her children the straight and truth. How many of us could learn a lesson or two from such acts of love?
According to Marriam-Websters dictionary, the definition for the Greek word “eisegesis” is:
eisegesis: the interpretation of a text (as of the Bible) by reading into it one's own ideas
Many times a text is interpreted incorrectly simply because the reader does not allow the text to explain itself through the broader context. Instead they apply their own ideas to that text. Much of this happens because of the negativity already conceived in the mind of that individual before they read the writings of the author. By what we have just read above, this was the error commited by our critics against thees personal letters written by Ellen White to her children. There is a bible verse with which many honest bible students commit this same mistake:
Romans 9:13
(13) As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (see also Malachi 1:2-3)
When this text is interpreted the way many interpret it today, it would go against the character of an all loving, merciful God, who has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” –Ezekiel 33:11. Groups such as Israelites (the christian denomination) build their theology on texts like these, claiming that God hates certian individuals, while he loves others. Much of the reasons why they interpret this text this way stems from how they have been taught by their leaders, or, perhaps, their own personal hatred towards others of different races. But if the broader context is considered, this contradiction disappears.
Let us compare this kind of Hebraic speaking to a lecture given by our Lord Jesus Christ:
Luke 14:26
(26) If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
The same error is commited with Jesus’ words. People read “into” the text what they, maybe even sincerely, believe what it says. But is Jesus literally calling his followers to “hate” their family, or to hate himself, despite Jesus' claim that we must love our neighbor “even as we love ourselves?” “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.” -Romans 9:14.
Let us compare Luke’s account, with Matthews:
Matthew 10:37
(37) He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
From this comparison we see that Luke viewed Jesus’ words in such a serious way that he explained it the way he did.
God did not hate the person of Esau, but hated his sin. He hated his acts towards his brother Jacob. He hated the “hate” Esau had for his brother. But he did not hate Esau as a person, for God loves even the wicked, and desires them to repent and change their ways. He loved the world, this “wicked” world, so much, that he sent “his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in should not perish, but have everlasting life.” –John 3:16.
Much of Ellen White’s texts have been treated the same way… they have been eisegeted. Sometimes when her words are read without the broader context, as is done with Romans 9:13, readers misinterpret it, sometimes applying their own preconceived ideas to the text. The whole point with regards to her comments was simply that she was trying to teach her children that God hated their sinful acts, much like how God hated Esau’s sinful acts. This is how, as a mother, she felt she could communicate to her children the seriousness of a sinful and unchanged lifestyle.
