Who is Ellen G. White, and Why is She Important to Adventists?

What’s more, she had a prolific writing ministry, putting out approximately 100,000 pages of books, articles, tracts, pamphlets, and letters. She is the most-published female non-fiction writer and the most-translated American non-fiction writer.¹

Even today, her writings continue to touch the lives of millions of people around the world.

To give you an overview of who Ellen White was and why she is significant to the Adventist Church, we’ll look at six areas of her life:

1. Her legacy
2. Her early life
3. Her middle life and service as God’s messenger
4. The later life and ministry
5. Her writing and speaking
6. Her involvement in other initiatives in the society

Let’s jump right in.

Ellen White’s legacy

Ellen G. White was born on November 26, 1827, in Gorham, Maine, and lived 87 full years until she died on July 16, 1915, in St. Helena, California. She dedicated 70 of these years (1844–1915) to an extensive writing, speaking, and prophetic ministry as she helped found and establish the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

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Here is a summary of her legacy:

1. Smithsonian named her as one of the 100 most significant Americans of all time.
2. She served as God’s special messenger to call people’s attention to the Bible and Jesus’ soon return.
3. Led by the Holy Spirit, she provided counsel for the early Adventist Church as an organization, and for individual members regarding different situations.
4. She was a prolific writer of more than 5,000 articles and nearly 50 books. Today, her writings have been compiled to make more than 140 English titles. They are all under legal custody of the Ellen G. White Estate in Silver Spring, Maryland.
5. She is the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature and the most translated American author of either gender.
6. She was heavily involved in health reform during an unhealthy time for America, soon after the Industrial Revolution.

With that overview, we’re ready to take a dive into Ellen White’s life story. We’ll look at who she was and what she did, from her early life and ministry to the end of her life.

Ellen White’s early life

Ellen White was born to Robert and Eunice Harmon on November 26, 1827. Her maiden name was Ellen Gould Harmon. Together with her twin sister, Elizabeth Harmon, they were the youngest in a large family of eight children.

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They lived on a small farm near the village of Gorham, Maine, in the United States. There, Ellen White and her siblings enjoyed the beauty of the countryside with its mountains, valleys, and farm animals. But sometime between 1831 and 1833, they moved to Portland, Maine, where Ellen White’s father could better devote himself to the trade of hatmaking.²

In 1837, while Ellen White was walking home from Brackett Street School one day at the age of nine, an unfortunate accident changed her life forever.

One of her classmates threw a stone at her and hit her in the face. This injured her nose severely. After being unconscious for three weeks, she slowly recovered. For some time, she had shaky hands and her eyes couldn’t see well when she attempted to read or write. And even with her recovery, her physical health remained so frail that she had to end her formal education at third grade—which makes the accomplishments of her lifetime even more incredible!

Nearly 50 years later, she looked back at this experience and said:

“This misfortune, which for a time seemed so bitter and was so hard to bear, has proved to be a blessing in disguise. The cruel blow which blighted the joys of earth, was the means of turning my eyes to heaven. I might never have known Jesus, had not the sorrow that clouded my early years led me to seek comfort in Him.”³

Despite her physical suffering, Ellen White saw this experience as a way in which God was preparing her for a great work ahead. A work where He would bless the world through her service, her intellect, and her devotion to Jesus as we’ll see.

Ellen White’s conversion

As a girl, Ellen White wanted to follow God but struggled with feelings of guilt, doubting whether God could accept her. But in 1840, at the age of 12, Ellen White attended a Methodist camp meeting in Buxton, Maine, with her parents and gained a new understanding of the love and sympathy of Jesus. There, she gave her heart to Him. ⁴ A couple years later, she asked to be baptized at Casco Street Church and become a member of the Methodist Church.

Also at this time in the US, several revival meetings were being held by the Millerite Movement, led by William Miller, a farmer-turned-minister who preached that Jesus would return in a few years.

In fact, one Millerite, Samuel Snow, predicted that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844.

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Ellen White attended one of the Millerite revival meetings with her family. And in June 1842, she accepted the teachings and joined the Millerite Movement. With confidence, she looked forward to Christ’s second advent. Though naturally timid and reserved, she overcame her fear of speaking up and worked earnestly to show her young friends that Jesus was coming soon.

But on October 22, 1844, Jesus didn’t come.

Like all the other Millerites, she was greatly disappointed.

But instead of giving in to despair, she joined those who decided to study the Bible and pray for understanding about where they had gone wrong. And not longer after, she received some of her first visions and God’s call to be His messenger. More on that next.

Ellen White’s middle life

From the age of 17 to her late 30s, Ellen White was instrumental in laying the foundation for the beginnings of the Adventist Church.

It all began on one December morning of 1844, when she was just 17 years old.

She was praying with four other women, when she received her first vision from the Holy Spirit. The vision showed the Advent people journeying toward heaven, looking forward to Christ’s second coming. This represented how God was guiding people into the truths, despite their disappointed expectations of His return. And they need not look back with regret for the experience they’d gone through with the Millerites’ overzealous prediction.

They’d later learn that though they were wrong on the event which happened that day, something had happened that they needed to find out through further Bible study.
Soon after her first vision she received another, in which God instructed her to share with other Advent believers what she’d been shown.

So began the public ministry that would last the rest of her life.

From then on, God provided guidance, encouragement and comfort to His people through her testimony.

We’ll look at the next 21 years of her life and ministry (1844–1865), specifically:

• Her marriage and family
• Her discovery of the Sabbath truth in the Bible
• Her role as God’s messenger
• The start of publishing her writings
• The organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
• Her involvement in health reform in Adventism

Let’s begin with her family life.

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Ellen White’s marriage and family

In late August of 1846, Ellen Harmon married James White, a young Adventist preacher at the time. They met in Orrington, Maine, where she traveled to speak.

They were married for 36 years until James’ death on August 6, 1881 in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Together they had four sons:

1. Henry Nichols (born August 26, 1847, in Gorham, Maine, and died December 8, 1863 in Topsham, Maine)
2. James Edson (born July 28, 1849, in Rocky Hill, Massachusetts, and died May 30, 1928, in Otsego, Michigan)
3. William Clarence (born August 29, 1854, in Rochester, New York, and died September 1, 1937, in St. Helena, California)
4. John Herbert (born September 20, 1860 and died December 14, 1860, in Battle Creek, Michigan)

Unfortunately, only two of the boys grew to adulthood. Henry died at 16 years old, and John Herbert at just a few months.

Discovery of the seventh-day Sabbath

Early in their ministry and just a few weeks after their marriage, James and Ellen learned about the Sabbath from a tract published by another prominent Adventist, Joseph Bates.
The tract’s title was “The Seventh-day Sabbath, a Perpetual Sign.” It showed from Scripture that the seventh day was still the biblical Sabbath.

Convinced that the views were biblically correct, they began to keep Saturday, instead of Sunday, as the Sabbath.

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Then six months later, on April 3, 1847, Ellen White received another vision, this time on the Sabbath. She saw a temple in heaven and inside were the Ten Commandments. A ring of light encircled the fourth commandment (the Sabbath commandment).

This vision both confirmed the importance of the Sabbath doctrine and gave believers confidence in it. ⁵

From this time on, the Whites and Joseph Bates worked together to unite the Advent believers on the Sabbath message. These three formed the nucleus that led to the founding of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Ellen White as God’s messenger

Seventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen White had the spiritual gift of prophecy, meaning she received messages from God to strengthen the church and point people back to the Bible (Ephesians 4:11–16). During her lifetime, she received about 2,000 dreams and visions that helped with developing Adventist doctrine, establishing the church and its institutions, and giving guidance on practical topics like education and health.

The Sabbath vision is a good example of how Ellen White’s visions and counsels helped develop Adventist doctrines or initiatives.

Usually, the members of the church would study the Bible about a topic that came up. They’d pray for understanding of God’s Word and unity on a given belief. And in many situations, God would then give Ellen White a vision that confirmed their understanding.

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This was the case with key Adventist beliefs like the heavenly sanctuary.

Due to this, the Advent believers came to regard Ellen White as having the gift of prophecy. A gift just like one of the other spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12:6–8, 1 Corinthians 12:8–10, and Ephesians 4:11.

However, Ellen White herself never referred to herself as a prophet. She was very clear that she was only “the Lord’s Messenger.”⁶

But she exhibited striking similarities to Bible prophets in various ways—from the way she received the visions to the nature of her messages. For example:

• She would go into visions in which she lost all physical strength and would seem to not be breathing (Numbers 12:6; Daniel 10:7–8, 17). ⁷
• She encouraged and initiated the church’s evangelism work (Acts 13:1–2; 16:6–10).
• Her messages edified the church (1 Corinthians 14:3–4; Ephesians 4:12).
• She warned of false teachings (Ephesians 4:14).

Above all, she passes the biblical tests for a true prophet found in the Bible, such as:

• Their teachings harmonize with the Bible (Isaiah 8:20).
• They reveal the fruit of godly character (Matthew 7:16–20).
• Their predictions come true (Deuteronomy 18:20–21).
• Their messages inspire godly change (Ezekiel 13:10).

Ellen White’s visions were varied and catered to different contexts. The topics included:

• Church doctrines, initiatives, and the general state of the church
• Heaven
• The end times
• Bible prophecies and their fulfillment in history
• Explanations of unfulfilled Bible prophecies that are yet to happen
• Current issues and events during her time, like the American Civil War
• Counsel to specific members of the church

As they continued to study Bible prophecies, Adventists found that one of the key characteristics of God’s people in the end times is that they have something called “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17, NKJV).

Revelation 19:10 defines the testimony of Jesus as the “spirit of prophecy.”

With a firm belief that Jesus was coming soon, they knew they should strive toward the characteristics of God’s people as Revelation described.

So, they welcomed Ellen White’s prophetic gift since it fit with the biblical description. And people have often referred to them as the “Spirit of Prophecy” or the “Testimonies” since they were inspired through the prophetic gift.

However, it’s important to note that not all her writings or talks were inspired.

Since she was like any other human being, with relationships and a life, she had some “common writings” too. Things like letters to her children, friends, and relatives; and diary entries about her day to day homemaking.

So it’s always important to differentiate between writings God gave her and her other writings—though reading even the common writings is always refreshing since she was generally a wise woman with remarkable intellect and excellent common sense.

Today, one of the fundamental beliefs of the Adventist Church has to do with the gift of prophecy demonstrated by Ellen White.

And this demonstration has been preserved through her writings. Let’s look at how she began publishing her writings in the first place.

The start of publishing her writings

The work of publishing Ellen White’s writings is linked to the establishment of Adventist publishing houses. This began on November 18, 1848, when she received a vision on the topic. ⁸

In it, she received instruction for her husband to begin publishing a small paper containing Bible truth and send it to the scattered Advent believers. This paper would grow into the massive publishing work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

So, in the summer of 1849, James White started publishing a paper called The Present Truth (later known as The Review and Herald). It contained articles by Ellen White and other Adventists on various subjects.

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By 1851, Ellen White had written and published her first book, which is now pages 11–127 of Early Writings. She continued contributing to periodicals that James put out, too.

In March 1858, she received another vision about a spiritual conflict described in the Bible. A conflict between Christ and His angels and Satan and his fallen angels that began before the creation of the earth and will continue to the end of the world.

She published it in a 219-page book titled Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1, The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels and Satan and His Angels, in the summer of 1858.

The book was well received by the church with its eye-opening description of biblical end time scenes.⁹

This struggle between God and Satan, (and therefore good and evil) became known as the Great Controversy. It has become a key Adventist belief and a critical framework for studying the Bible.

Organization of the Adventist Church

In the early 1860s, Ellen White actively supported the collective efforts to set up church and conference organizations. This organization became necessary to manage different aspects of the fast growing movement.

Finally in May 1863, they organized into a denomination as the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Ellen White and the health reform initiative

Ellen White promoted principles of a healthy lifestyle (nutrition, exercise, sunlight, rest, and more) and encouraged the Adventist Church to do the same. She became what historian William David Barry called “one of the most important health advocates from Maine.”¹⁰ She wrote four original books on health, and many of her other writings on the topic were compiled into six more books. She was also responsible for helping start Adventist health centers, including what’s today known as Loma Linda University and Medical Center.

Dr. Clive McCay, a researcher and nutrition professor at Cornell University, read Ellen White’s books on health and commented that she had a “knowledge beyond her times.”¹¹

Back then, many of the church workers were suffering from poor health and even death due to overwork and other preventable causes. Personal hygiene and the treatment of disease in the nineteenth century had little resemblance to what they are today.

So two weeks after the organization of the church, Ellen White received another vision on the relation of physical health to spirituality.

It showed the importance of following good principles in self care and highlighted the benefits of nature’s remedies—fresh air, sunshine, exercise, and pure water. She also learned that vegetarianism had many advantages over the meat-based diets that were common during her time.

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As a result of this vision, she started advocating the importance of health reform to the church leaders. She and James compiled and published a 64-page pamphlet called Health, or How to Live.

Soon, the health message came to be seen as part of the message of Seventh-day Adventists.
On Christmas Day of 1865, Ellen White received another instruction. That Adventists should establish a health institute to care for the sick and to teach people about healthy living.¹²

The first one—the Western Health Reform Institute—was opened in Battle Creek, Michigan, in September 1866.
And from this, Adventists continued to establish health clinics, which have matured into the vast Adventist healthcare system we know today.

Ellen White’s later life and ministry

After its organization, Ellen White remained a strong, nurturing influence to the Church. She continued to write and travel to encourage believers and help missionary efforts at home and abroad.

It’s also during this period that her husband’s health began failing, and he died in 1881.

In this section, we’ll look at her life and ministry from 1866 to the end of her life in 1915. We’ll explore her involvement in:

• Broadening the denomination’s work to the West Coast
• Establishing Adventist education
• Encouraging the start of the denomination’s work overseas
• Helping the church in Europe and Australia
• Reorganizing the Church
• Finishing her work before her death

Broadening the denomination’s work to the West Coast

In 1872 and 1873, James and Ellen White went to California and started working on projects on the Pacific Coast.

On April 1, 1874, Ellen White received another vision. In it, she saw how the denomination’s work was to expand and develop in the western states and also overseas.

This led to having evangelistic meetings in Oakland, California, just a few weeks later. James White also began publishing the magazine, Signs of the Times. Then he set up a publishing house, the Pacific Press.

And by early 1878, the church had started a health institution near St. Helena, California.

Over in Michigan, the Adventist Church was growing, too—in the area of education.

Establishing Adventist education

In 1872, a man named Goodloe Bell started a small school for some Adventist youth who wanted to learn. It became the first school sponsored by the Adventist Church.

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To encourage the Church’s educational pursuits, Ellen White wrote a pivotal essay titled “Proper Education.” The principles she presented in this essay remain as the blueprint of Adventist education to this day.

By the fall of 1874, the Church opened its first educational institution: the Battle Creek College in Michigan.

Just a day prior to the college’s dedication on January 4, 1875, Ellen White received another vision concerning the church’s role in spreading the gospel internationally. So, the Battle Creek College became the first of many colleges to train missionaries for the gospel work, both at home and abroad.

Encouraging the start of the denomination’s work overseas

Back on April 1, 1874, Ellen White had seen a vision of the church’s mission work expanding overseas. She saw that printing presses would be set up in other lands and that well-organized work would develop in vast world territories Adventists had never thought of entering.

And with calls for a missionary to be sent to Europe, she encouraged the church to venture abroad.

That same year, the Church sent John N. Andrews to Europe as its first overseas missionary. He set up headquarters for the European Adventist Church in Basel, Switzerland, where he started a publishing house and a French periodical.

From this point on, many more mission stations were established in other parts of the world.

Helping the church abroad

Between 1885 and 1900, Ellen White traveled internationally twice: first to Europe for about 2 years and later Australia for 9 years. Because her husband had died in 1881, her son William (Willie) became her traveling companion.

Europe

She and Willie traveled throughout Europe from 1885 to 1887. They spent time at the headquarters in Switzerland and also made trips to England, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
That’s when she saw in person the printing presses she’d seen in her January 3, 1875, vision! They were located in Basel, Switzerland, and Christiana (now Oslo), Norway.
Through her counsels, she greatly influenced the establishment of right policies and plans for the work in Europe.

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She also made two trips to the Waldensian valleys in Italy. There, she visited places she had seen in vision in connection with the Dark Ages and the Reformation. These historical eras were an important part of her book The Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4, that had been published in 1884 (which was an expansion of the Great controversy vision she had seen in 1858).

It covered Christian history from the destruction of Jerusalem to the end of the world.

After she returned to America, she edited the book to spell out the details of the scenes involving those places in Europe. The result was the book known today as The Great Controversy (first published in 1888 and later revised in 1911).

In between her time in Europe and her next trip to Australia, Ellen White attended the General Conference (GC) Session of 1888 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

There, she saw the need for the Church to have a more Christ-centered message. So in the following months, she traveled and preached, seeking to unify the Church on the doctrine of righteousness by faith.

She also worked on her masterpiece, the book Steps to Christ, which was published while she was in Australia in 1892. It focuses on how we can become practical, loving, and lovable Christians through a relationship with Jesus.

Australia

By 1891, the Church was pioneering the work in Australia. And again, the Church’s leaders asked Ellen White to go and help with this work. Traveling with Willie and several assistants, she reached Australia in December 1891.

And just like in Europe, she recognized the printing presses in Australia as among those she’d seen in the January 1875 vision.

In 1894, she provided support for the organization of the territory into a union conference—the first administrative structure of its kind in Seventh-day Adventist history.

Here are some of the other things she accomplished while there:

• She advocated for the establishment of Avondale College.
• She gave financially to support the Australian mission.
• She supported the establishment of a health institution and the building of churches.
• She wrote articles weekly for the different periodicals in North America and corresponded with denominational leaders.
• She completed four more books, including the Desire of Ages, an excellent commentary on the life of Jesus.

After nine years in Australia, Ellen White returned to the United States and made her home at Elmshaven, near St. Helena in northern California.
From there, she traveled to attend the GC session of 1901 in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Reorganizing the Adventist Church

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At the 1901 GC Session, she boldly called for a reorganization of the church’s structure.

Because of the structure set up during the early days of the denomination, only a few people held leadership positions. But now that the church was growing rapidly, it needed to distribute responsibilities.

So, they set up different departments and created union conferences as intermediate organizations between the General Conference and the local conferences.

Ellen White also advised that the General Conference be moved from Battle Creek to the East Coast.

And two years later, the denominational headquarters moved to Takoma Park, Maryland, near Washington DC. (Today, it’s in Silver Spring, Maryland.)

Finishing her work

During and after the time of the Church’s reorganization, Ellen White wrote intensely.

In just a few years, she published a number of books—The Ministry of Healing, Education, Testimonies for the Church, volumes 7 and 8.

She also encouraged the start of medical missionary training on the Pacific Coast. This resulted in a college at Loma Linda and the Paradise Valley Sanitarium near San Diego.

At the age of 81, Ellen White attended the 1909 GC session in Washington.

In her talks, she emphasized some basics of the Adventist faith—commitment to Christ, healthy living, evangelism and the three angels’ messages. And at the end of her very last address, she picked up the Bible, opened it, and held it up with trembling hands. Then she firmly stated:

“Brethren and sisters, I commend unto you this book.”¹³

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That was to be her last General Conference session.

And what a final charge she gave to the church leaders! The Bible was to be their foundation and their guide.

She went home and intensified her efforts to finish a number of books on various essential instructions to the Church. She completed three more by the end of 1914.

Then on the morning of February 13, 1915, she fell and broke her left hip. And for the next five months she was confined to her bed or a wheelchair. She died on July 16, 1915, at the age of 87.

She was laid to rest by her husband’s side at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Ellen White’s writing and speaking

Ellen White wrote and spoke consistently throughout her lifelong ministry on topics such as personal spirituality, the life of Jesus, Bible prophecy, education, and health. She wrote over 100,000 pages by the end of her life and had 24 books in print at that time. After her death, many of her other works were published, increasing that number to 128 titles.

Ellen White preached and spoke publicly at important church meetings and other local events, providing counsel, warnings, and encouragement and even calling out harmful behaviors.

For example, in August 1877 she addressed a large audience of up to 20,000 people at Groveland, Massachusetts, on the topic of Christian temperance.

She also maintained a personal ministry and spoke to individuals, families, or small groups.

Some of her sermons and talks have been recorded. But it’s through her writings that most of her messages live on.

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Ellen White’s gift as a writer is incredible, considering she only had a formal education up to third grade.

Yet, she was led by the Holy Spirit to write widely, addressing a variety of topics—religion, education, social relationships, evangelism, prophecy, publishing, nutrition, and management.

Through her pen, God provided guidance on various issues during her time and for the formation and growth of the Church.

Even today, that guidance remains relevant for both the Church and believers.

Her most well-known books are:

• Steps to Christ, a classic book on the Christian journey
• The Desire of Ages, a book on the life of Christ
• Christ’s Object Lessons, which covers Jesus’ parables
• The Great Controversy, a key book on Christian history, prophecy, and end-time events
• The Ministry of Healing, practical lessons from Jesus’ work as a healer

Over the years, the Ellen G. White Estate has also compiled her writings into titles covering specific topics. For example:

• Practical topics like the book Counsels for the Church
• Devotional books like Maranatha and Our High Calling
• Thoughts on prayer in the book Prayer
• Books on health, like Counsels on Diet and Foods
• Books on education like Fundamentals of Christian Education
• Books on social life in areas such as family relations and marriage like Adventist Home and Child Guidance
• Books on Christian dating and courtship like Letters to Young Lovers

Apart from her books, her letters—typically counsel to individuals—contain much wisdom too. They were published (without the full name of the recipients) because they were found useful for situational learning that could help certain readers.
Her correspondence with church leaders remains useful today as well. The principles still provide management and leadership instructions for church leaders and administrators.
Want to take a peek at Ellen White’s work? Find all her writings in digital or audiobook format at www.egwwritings.org.

Ellen White’s involvement in other major initiatives

Ellen White also advocated for positive change in various issues involving social justice and religious liberty. She encouraged the Church to be sensitive to the needs of others and relieve suffering as Jesus would.

And she herself took action, caring for poor and orphaned children and helping them get an education.

She also took part in other positive initiatives in her community. Initiatives like:

Temperance movements

Ellen White was a vocal advocate for the temperance pledge, encouraging church members to sign it.

The pledge was a promise to abstain from tobacco, alcohol, and narcotics—substances that have been shown to negatively affect health and mental judgment.

Better treatment of women

She believed women have an important role in society, in ministry, and in the family. She had much to say about how women should be respected for their perspective and advocated that both genders view one another as complementary in all endeavors—just as God created them to be.

One example of her advocacy for women’s rights is when she called for better pay for female church workers.¹⁴

Equality between the races

Ellen White supported the abolitionist movement, calling slavery a blot on America’s history. She encouraged the Church to reach out to enslaved people and relieve their suffering.

In 1891, Ellen White appealed to church leaders to reach out to Black people in the war-torn American South.

Three years later, her son Edson built a steamboat and used it for about a decade as a floating mission for Black people in Mississippi and Tennessee. Later, Oakwood College began in Huntsville, Alabama, as a technical training institute for Black youth.

And Ellen White cared about people of all races and ethnicities. During her time in Australia, she was sensitive to the mistreatment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders.

Ellen G. White was God’s humble servant

Ellen White loved her Lord and poured out her life in service to Him.

As an avid Bible scholar and God’s messenger to His children, she was instrumental in the founding and development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church during her lifetime.

And beyond her lifetime, God uses her writings to inspire and counsel many, including church leaders and members.

Yet with all these achievements, she only wanted to be remembered as “a messenger for God.” Nothing of high rank.

She never claimed to be perfect or to be any better than any other human being.

Photo by Photo by Burst

She only claimed to be a recipient of spiritual instruction from God and His Word—the Bible.

Adventists recognize the priceless gift Ellen White has been to their lives and the Church. Because we uphold the biblical doctrine of spiritual gifts—including the gift of prophecy—we recognize that she passes the Bible’s tests of a true prophet of the Holy Spirit.

But we don’t elevate her writings to the same level as Scripture. And we certainly don’t worship her, as they recognize she was a regular human being. She was merely willing to be used by the Holy Spirit in a special way. So Adventists honor her as a humble servant of God who has contributed a lot to our faith community.

And because of the remarkable ways God used her, we often talk about her and share her books.

But again, the whole point of her counsel was to point people back toward Scripture. So reading all her writings is not a requirement to become an Adventist but rather a valuable way to draw closer to God.

One of her books that has impacted thousands of lives and drawn them to Jesus is Steps to Christ.

1. “How Many Books and Articles Did Ellen White Write?” Ellen G. White Estate. [↵]
2. White, Arthur, Ellen G. White: The Early Years: 1827–1862, vol 1., p. 19–22. [↵]
3. White, Ellen, Review and Herald, Nov. 25, 1884. [↵]
4. White, Ellen, Life Sketches of James White and Ellen G. White, p. 135–143. [↵]
5. White, Ellen, Early Writings, pp. 32–35. [↵]
6. Douglass, Herbert, Messenger of the Lord, p. 170. [↵]
7. White, W.C., “The Visions of Ellen G. White” [↵]
8. White, Ellen, Publishing Ministry, pp. 15–17. [↵]
9. White, Ellen, Early Writings, pp. 133–295. [↵]
10. “Maine Woman Founded Church, Converted Followers to Vegetarianism,” Portland Press Herald. [↵]
11. Quoted in Nichol, Francis D., Why I Believe in Mrs. E. G. White, 1964, p. 57. [↵]
12. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 489. [↵]
13. White, Arthur, Ellen G. White: The Later Elmshaven Years: 1905–1915 (vol. 6), p. 197. [↵]
14. White, Ellen, “Women as Workers in the Cause of God,” Manuscript 43a, 1898, p. 1. [↵]

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