An edited and annotated transcript of a tape recording of presentations made in the morning worship services at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, November 15-19, 1981

In closing, let me read a summary of statements that I think capsulize [sic] what we know at this point about the scope and the nature of Ellen White’s literary borrowing.

1. Mrs. White read carefully and extensively in the books and articles written by conservative Protestant religious figures of her time. She had several favorite authors. She made use of a number of books from each of them. She also drew materials from a wide range of other books and articles. Thus, we can say that she read more widely in non-Adventist sources and made more extensive use of those sources then we had previously understood. And as I pointed out, we still have some of these books in the Ellen G. White library.

2. Next, Mrs. White borrowed not only the words and phrases used by these authors, but in some cases, followed the outline of their expositions and drew from [their] facts, illustrations, thoughts, and concepts.

3. The material borrowed by Mrs. White included historical, geographical, and chronological information, as well as devotional material, theological concepts—we saw some of those in the material that we presented from Melvill—and scriptural and prophetic expositions. She also employed extra-Biblical comments on the lives of various Biblical characters, often turning the speculations and conjectures of her sources into statements of positive fact. Sometimes similar use was made of their comments on the thoughts and activities of supernatural beings, that is, God, Satan, and their respective angels.

4. These borrowings—now we’re going to talk about Mrs. White’s books as a whole and which of them involved borrowings—these borrowings occurred not only in the historical sections of the Great Controversy, but also in its prophetic sections. They appear in descriptions of the content of specific visions given to Mrs. White. It would be unwise at this point to assert that there is any particular book written by Mrs. White or any type of writing from her pen in which literary borrowing will not be found.

5. In cases where we have Mrs. White’s handwritten draft of something she borrowed, this handwritten version is usually closer to the literary source than is the published version which followed. This difference should generally be attributed to the work of Ellen White’s literary assistants in editing her material for publication—a work that she approved. There are also times when Mrs. White uses a borrowed idea on several different occasions herself, using slightly different words each time.

6. Many of the beautifully expressed thoughts, that is, many of the literary gems found in Mrs. White’s writings were borrowed from other authors. This fact, together with the knowledge that her writings were polished by literary assistants, leads us to avoid the suggestion that the literary beauty of her writings is an evidence of her divine inspiration.

7. It is impossible at this time to say what percentage of Mrs. White’s writings involve borrowed material. This is so because only a fraction of the many books she owned and read have been examined. The borrowings range from vaguely similar thoughts and verbal echoes to very close and continuous borrowing of long phrases and nearly complete sentences. Verbatim borrowing of complete sentences is extremely rare, but in portions of Ellen White’s writings where borrowing has been noticed, close paraphrasing is very common. Another reason why it is difficult to say what percentage of Mrs. White’s writings involved borrowed material is that much of what Mrs. White wrote first appeared in letters, later in articles, and finally in books. This means that there is a great deal of repetition of the same or similar material. Because of this repetition it is difficult to say how much writing Mrs. White actually did, and thus impossible to say with statistical precision what percentage of the total might involve borrowing from other authors.

That summarizes what we know at this point.

What Graybill did not say:

The files of the White Estate had referred to a book by William Hanna called The Life of Christ.6 Within twenty?four hours after the Loma Linda meeting, therefore, I had obtained Hanna's book. From that time on, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know.

Spectrum, a journal published independently by the Association of Adventist Forums, gave a background account of a January 1980 committee meeting at Glendale, California. This meeting was called by General Conference President Neal C. Wilson at my urging that consideration be given to the scope of the findings of Ellen White's literary indebtedness. Eighteen of the church's appointed representatives went on record that what my research showed was alarming in its proportions but that the study should continue-with additional help.7

Likewise, Spectrum later reported my dismissal by the church8 (after thirty?six years of service) primarily because of the disclosure article initiated and written by religious editorJohn Dart and published in the Los Angeles Times.9 Not one of the officials doing the firing had ever talked with Dart. Not one had seen the research on which the article was based. The heart of the issue itself was not important to church officials. It was necessary only that someone be punished so that others would stay in line and so that both Ellen White and the Seventh?day Adventist Church would appear to be innocent of any wrongdoing.

In view of what I have observed, experienced, and learned, I have thought it proper and necessary to record for future generations the findings of my ongoing study. These coming generations will want to know the truth about what has been unearthed from the past. It will be a part of what they will take into consideration in their religious experience and judgments.

Despite much good counsel to the contrary, I have chosen the title THE WHITE LIE for my book. I do not apply that term separately and only to Ellen G. White. When we (any of us) give our consent or support to perpetuating a myth (in whole or in part) about any person or any thing, we ourselves are thereby party to a white lie. The message of this book is to help reveal to all of us that often we do indeed carry on a legend.

The worst lies that are told are often the ones told in religion- because they are told in a way that the assumption is that God endorses them and that therefore they are for our good. That that good can, and does, become harmful, wrongful, and even evil does not usually occur to those zealous persons who promote legends in the name of God.

In this study I have intended to deal not only with the facts as I have found them but also with their outworking in the church and in us personally as I have come to view that outworking. I hope also to leave a lesson or two for those who may be looking for such lessons.

Much study remains to be done on the question of why some of us accept as much as we do from whomever we do. What thing is it deep within us that is tapped to make us react as unquestioningly as we do to unreliable information-so that we make it "truth" and let it govern our thinking and our lives?

At this stage in my thinking, if there is blame left to be assessed or portioned out, I must accept much of it for having been so gullible, without adequate study or research on my own part, as to consent to much of that which was originally portrayed to me as "the truth" but which, in fact, contains much untruth that diverts us from that about which we ought to be concerned primarily. The major regret I have is that time will not allow me to correct some of the misinformation that I myself unwarily "bought" and passed on to others as the white lie.

Every institution, every corporate entity, every established system- whether political, economic, social, or religous-must have its patron saint. That saint may be a founder, a benefactor, a charismatic leader, or a long?dead mystic figure. Regardless of the category or the time period of existence, the patron is venerated even if he was a vampire; he is canonized even if he was a con artist; he is given sainthood even if he was a known sinner.

There is something in the human mind that seeks to create the unreal-to imagine or pretend that something is so even if all logic says it is not so. What is unseeable we claim is a vision; what is fallible we label perfection; what is illusory we give authority. Much study has been given to why we want to believe, and indeed have to believe, the "permissible lie." For my purpose here, it is enough to say that we do so -and we seem to have to do so. For if we reject the fantasy we now hold, probably we will find or invent another in our effort to keep from facing reality.

The sellers of nostrums for fantasizers (who tend to hold psychic manifestations in awe) are the supersalesmen of the psychic. They are the ones who manipulate, maneuver, and massage the conscience of those they wish to convince. In all times and in all places, they have been the magicians that led the populace to believe that the emperor really was dressed with the unseeable, and that those who will listen and come to them for counsel and guidance (for which, of course, proper payment must be given) will be among the few who really do see what isn't there to see.

The element that is essential, without exception, to any con game is the lie. To be sure, it is a white lie, a small thing that deviates from the truth a little, over and over until, with the passing of time and under the right circumstances, it expands into an enormous hoax.

The techniques of the supersalesmen are few, but absolutely essential. They consist of playing down the humanity of the one to be venerated; exalting the venerated one's virtues to the level of the miraculous; denying access to reliable source records and facts of the significant past; appealing to the inclination to be superstitious (or at least gullible); and buying time.

One Webster dictionary edition says that a white lie is a minor lie uttered from polite, amiable, or pardonable motives; a polite or harmless fib.

The fact of Ellen White's borrowing or plagiarizing has been documented and acknowledged by recognized representatives of the Seventh?day Adventist Church over the years. But the information revealing the extent of her literary dependence has been deliberately kept from lay members until independent researchers began to make the facts public. Thus new problems arise because of these discoveries that have not yet been faced by the Adventist people or their present leaders. For example:

1. Why did Ellen change most, if not all, of the copied author's speculations and suppositions into absolutes, so that the copywork made it appear that she was always on the scene of action in some "visionary" form, when obviously she wasn't?

2. How do the footnotes and Bible texts she copied as fillers from others meet the criteria established for inspiration?

3. How do the abuse and misuse of others' material on an extensive scale fit into the ethics of either her time or ours?

4. Inasmuch as the extent of the copywork makes it certain that for Ellen to have done it all herself was humanly impossible, who among her helpers gets the credit for her "inspiration"?

5. Whose authority are we now dealing with?

We much acknowledge that since the beginning of the 1844 movement a great many people have regarded Ellen White as Adventism's principal authority. They must now find room for adjustment in their thinking (and, for many, in their living) on a level different from that of the past. This could be very distressing. Whether or not the situation in which the church now finds itself fits our definition of a white lie, and whether or not the fib has been harmless to one's own personal values, way of thinking, and life experience, each person will have to judge for himself.

To understand, in a small way, how people arrive at where they are is possible only if one looks at where they have been, what manner of salesmen sold them the trip, and what motivated them to go. It is not possible to view all these aspects in one lump. But we will touch on what circumstances make a "true believer," what kind of supersalesmen have sold the wares, and what happens to those who buy.

Books such as The Status Seekers, The Permissible Lie, and The True Believer10 hint at the connection between all disciplines-economic, social, and religious. In all these disciplines salesmen sell their product by using the white lie. Though the salesmen of social and economic ideas claim to be interested in your present, they are really more interested in theirfuture. Salesmen of the psychic claim to be interested in your future, but what they are really interested in is their present. All hucksters sell the white lie in whatever size or shape they think their public will buy. Adventists know and accept these facts of life about the systems of others; but they believe that their own system is "different" and therefore better. Very little study has been offered to prove or to disprove their belief.

Most people accept the fact that there are few, if any, holy men left selling merchandise in social or economic or political reform. What is harder for them to acknowledge or accept is that there are likewise few, if any, saints in religion. There are no holy men or women except as we ourselves make them so by our own wishful thinking. Because we have always with us this pretense factor, it is easy for the supersalesmen of religion to gain control through our own quirks and consciences and to exercise authority over our minds and actions. There have been many on this planet who have sold themselves to the world as saints offering salvation for the future-when in reality they were just supersalesmen who, by instilling guilt and fear and by bending their followers to their own will, have robbed us of our freedom to think.

As you read, keep in mind that someone has sold you the idea that what you believe deep within yourself is "unique" and has authority from God, the highest court of appeal; that you are "different" because of this authority; and that you will be "saved" if you follow the rules. The problem with this line of thinking is that your truth may be only your saint's interpretation of truth, and the pronouncements you have accepted as authority may be ideas your saint borrowed from others.

This, I think, is what the study will show concerning Ellen G. White. And if the same amount of information were available on the saints of other groups, the same would be true of them as well. Why we still want to believe what we have come to believe is what the white lie is all about.

In this odyssey that we take together, the supersalesmen will be the clergymen, the preachers, the reverends, the divines-who more than any professionals have been granted license (both by the people themselves and by the state) to peddle their wares to the unwary, to project their fears on the fearful, and to sell their guilt to the remorseful.

The patron saint will be Ellen Gould White, the canonized leader of the Seventh?day Adventist Church-who symbolizes all saints of whatever faith, and through whom the adherents approach their concept of God and seek to obtain the unobtainable salvation by appeasement of or through that saint.

The true believers will be the unwary, the fearful, the guilt-ridden, the overzealous, the well?intentioned, the unquestioning. Lacking personal confidence in God, they seek him through their chosen saint, who they think has an unfailing pipeline to the heavenly places.

Inasmuch as the body of the material presented has to do with the "literary appropriation of works of others," I too have copied from everybody. With no sense of shame I have used material that has been lifted, borrowed, or otherwise taken outright from whatever source available or thought necessary to use for evidence and clarity.

I would gladly glve credit to all those who, by whatever method and from whatever source, brought forth material for my use so that readers may see the evidence for themselves and know the nature and extent of the Adventist white lie. But because of the nature of the subject and the administrative and peer pressures brought to bear on both position and person, those many to whom I am indebted cannot be named.

This book seeks to trace the birth, growth, and full bloom of the white lie in Adventism. It cannot explain all the strings that bind us, Gulliver?like, on our travel-because access is thus far denied to many sources of the facts. It can only point the reader to certain sources so that he can see for himself what is there to be seen.

I do not seek to show those who, having eyes, do not wish to see, or to shout at those who, having ears, do not wish to hear. But because someone has an obligation to the generations that will follow, this material is put forth to light a little candle in a world of superstition and fear and guilt. It may be that the flame, though even a small one, can help light the path to the real Saint of all saints-Jesus Christ.

Walter Rea: the Author