Do Seventh-day Adventists believe that the writings of Ellen G. White
are equal to, or an addition to, the Scriptures? If the Bible is
all-sufficient, why do we need Ellen White's writings?
Seventh-day Adventists do not place Ellen White's writings on the same
level as Scripture. "The Holy Scriptures stand alone, the unique standard by
which her and all other writings must be judged and to which they must be
subject" (Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , p. 227). Another way of
framing this question is to ask why the church should need any of the promised
gifts of the Holy Spirit. Ellen White answered this question in the
Introduction to her book The Great Controversy Between Christ and
Satan:
"In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for
salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative,
infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the
revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience. "Every scripture inspired of
God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete,
furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16, 17, R.V.).
"Yet the fact that God has revealed His will to men through His Word,
has not rendered needless the continued presence and guiding of the Holy
Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised by our Saviour, to open the
Word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings. And since it was
the Spirit of God that inspired the Bible, it is impossible that the teaching
of the Spirit should ever be contrary to that of the Word.
"The Spirit was not given--nor can it ever be bestowed--to supersede the
Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the Word of God is the standard
by which all teaching and experience must be tested. . . .
"In harmony with the Word of God, His Spirit was to continue its work
throughout the period of the gospel dispensation. During the ages while the
Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament were being given, the Holy
Spirit did not cease to communicate light to individual minds, apart from the
revelations to be embodied in the Sacred Canon. The Bible itself relates how,
through the Holy Spirit, men received warning, reproof, counsel, and
instruction, in matters in no way relating to the giving of the Scriptures. And
mention is made of prophets in different ages, of whose utterances nothing is
recorded. In like manner, after the close of the canon of the Scripture, the
Holy Spirit was still to continue its work, to enlighten, warn, and comfort the
children of God" (The Great Controversy, pp. vii, viii).