Is the Bible Enough?
By , last updated Jan.
Ellen White's followers were instructed that her Testimonies were more than good counsel. They were divine revelation. She claimed her writings existed because Seventh-day Adventists had failed to understand the Bible, and then described her books encircling Scripture itself, as though completing what God had begun. Like Joseph Smith with the Book of Mormon, she placed her own words beside the Bible's, claiming God now spoke through her as He once spoke through prophets and apostles.
But decades later, the tone changed. The woman who once stood shoulder to shoulder with Scripture suddenly called herself a "lesser light." Her followers were told the Bible was enough and that her writings existed only to lead them back to it. Yet this admission raises a question too dangerous for many to ask: If Ellen White's purpose was merely to point to the Bible, why do her followers still cling to her writings? Once the sun rises, who still needs the flashlight?
Ellen White's Claims for Her Writings
In 1882, Mrs. White claimed her testimonies were given because Seventh-day Adventists were ignorant of the Bible:
If you had made God's word your study, with a desire to reach the Bible standard and attain to Christian perfection, you would not have needed the Testimonies.1
In the same paragraph she placed her writings on par with the writings of Holy Scripture:
I took the precious Bible and surrounded it with the several Testimonies for the Church, given for the people of God. Here, said I, the cases of nearly all are met. ... God has been pleased to give you line upon line and precept upon precept.2
Just as the Mormons added the Book of Mormon to the Scriptures, Mrs. White, described in visual terms how she placed her Testimonies side-by-side with the Holy Word of God. She also claimed God speaks to His people through her, just as in times past He spoke through the Bible authors:
In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days he speaks to them by the testimonies of his Spirit.3
On Par? Or a Lesser Light?
In 1903, 21 years after her prior statements, an older and somewhat humbler Ellen White says thus of her writings:
I cannot express in suitable language to the churches the things which the Lord has presented before me. I need not try. You have the Word of the living God. Study this for yourselves most earnestly.4
Mrs. White says she is unable to express what she saw in vision and she does not even need to try to do so. Why? Because the SDA people apparently now have access to the Bible. She commands them to study the Bible. She explains her new philosophy about her writings further in this next quote:
Little heed is given to the Bible, and the Lord has given a lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light.5
The entire purpose of her writings, by her own admission, is simply to lead people to the Bible. If that is true—and the believer in Ellen White must believe it is true because he believes her to be inspired—then after an SDA discovers the Bible, they can safely discard the writings of Ellen White. Once the fireplace has been lit, the match is no longer needed. The fireplace produces far more heat than the match. The match can be discarded. Likewise, Mrs. White's writings have already served their one and only purpose and are therefore no longer needed. They can be discarded.
How can one be sure of that? Ellen White called John the Baptist "the lesser light, which was to be followed by a greater [Christ]."6 Do Christians today study the teachings of the lesser light, John the Baptist? No, of course not. They study the teachings of Christ, the greater light. The New Testament is filled with the writings of Christ, not John the Baptist. Why then should SDAs study the lesser light of the writings of Ellen White? Once they have discovered the greater light, the Bible, they no longer have need of the lesser light! When the sun is shining down brightly upon you, you don't need to turn on a flashlight in order to read a book. You put the flashlight away. Once SDAs find the Bible, they need to put the writings of Ellen White away. They have served their purpose and are no longer needed. In fact, they could be a distraction from one receiving truth from the greater light.
As noted at the beginning of this page, Mrs. White acknowledged her writings were unnecessary once a person discovered the Bible:
If you had made God's word your study, with a desire to reach the Bible standard and attain to Christian perfection, you would not have needed the Testimonies.7
If SDAs had studied the Bible, instead of Ellen White's lesser light, they would not have needed her Testimonies. Therefore, why don't SDAs spend their time studying the greater light instead of the lesser light?
Is the Bible Enough?
Is the Bible enough? Do people need a modern addition to the Bible to address current issues? Are Ellen White's writings needed to direct people back to the Bible? Are they needed to help people discern what are the truths of the Bible?
Jesus delivered "the faith" or the doctrines of the church to his apostles. One must assume Jesus was successful in delivering the doctrine because He was the greatest teacher who ever walked this earth. Even Mrs. White calls Him the Great Teacher many times in her writings. A great teacher will deliver the lesson to their students. Jude said "the faith" was already "delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3). The apostles and those who knew the apostles, recorded "the faith" in the New Testament. This revelation has been sufficient to guide the Church of God for two thousand years.
But what about the last days? Do we not need further light in order to live a godly life in these last days? Paul answers that very question:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 1 Timothy 3:16,17
Scripture contains everything necessary for a child of God to be "perfect." The Greek word for "perfect" is artios which means, "complete, sufficient, completely qualified." The Bible is complete. It is sufficient. Nothing else need be added to it. In fact, other writings may distract not only from one's time for studying the Scriptures, but may also lead a person down incorrect paths.
The writings of "Church Fathers" are unnecessary
What about the storms of the last days? Don't believers need Ellen White to keeps them from falling? Jesus addressed this in His teachings. He said that His sayings were like a "rock," and that if people heard and obeyed his sayings, they would not fall during the storm (Matt. 7:24-27). It is the words of Jesus that will keep His people safe in the last days, not the words of Ellen White.
The author of Hebrews explains: "In these last days spoken unto us by his Son," whose words were recorded faithfully in the New Testament (Hebrews 1:2). God speaks to people through His Word, and His Word is the Holy Scriptures. The Bible, the inspired, inerrant revelation of "the faith," is His one and only written instrument to inspire His followers with faith and hope:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17).For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope (Rom. 15:4).
Thus, the Bible is sufficient to make believers perfect and complete, to inspire believers with faith and hope, and to show believers their duty towards God and man. A book that is "complete" needs nothing added to it. It is done. It cannot be improved upon. The Bible is the complete and perfect revelation of God's plan for mankind. The Bible needs no additions. SDAs would do well to heed the words written by the apostle John in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible:
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book (Rev. 22:18).