Bruce Weaver's Biography

Bruce Weaver Bio

Actually I did the research and wrote the article in 1986-1987. I had left Adventism in early 1982 or late 1981. My point of doing it was fourfold:

  1. Using a fresh and original approach, to thoroughly research an article on Ellen White exclusively utilizing historical and public domain documents which were beyond the jurisdiction and control of the Ellen White Estate.
  2. To demonstrate that no matter how damaging and disconfirming the evidence may be, faith in her work would continue largely undaunted.
  3. To prove that when her fantastic stories and accounts are probed closely, the available evidence would reveal a different story emerging and that her credibility would tend to suffer.
  4. To leave a parting shot which would hold its own, being airtight enough so as to not be easily refuted by church apologists.

The response from the church personally towards me as a result of the publishing of this article has been one of silence as I am out of range in that I am no longer employed by the church nor do I seek to harass the denomination. On the other hand, I have not been invited to dialog about this at any time in any public or private Adventist forum. That speaks for itself.

That being said, I was the victim of considerable intimidation and pressure while I was a Seminary student at Andrews University (1979) and as a minister in the Arkansas/Louisiana conference in 1979-1980. I was the first one to be eventually forced out of the ministry in February 1980, prior to the media attention devoted to Walter Rea and Desmond Ford. I was the one who brought the extent of the plagiarism issue with EGW to the attention of Andrews seminary faculty and Walter Rea.

In the fall of 1978, I copied a list of books which was in Ellen White's library at the time of her death. Then I systematically haunted [visited] used book stores and theological libraries to acquire copies of a number of these works and examine them for evidence of plagiarism. Furthermore, I discovered documents secreted away in White Estate files which proved that the White Estate was attempting to manage the nature and conclusions of a study being launched into the growing issue of plagiarism in Ellen White's writings. You can well guess some of the political machinations which that elicited!

Bruce Weaver
March 27, 1999

Category: Testimonies