The Doubters

By Dirk Anderson, last updated July 2025

Mrs. White encountered doubters from the very beginning, even amongst her own people. In 1855, she wrote that her visions were being curtailed because of disbelief:

I saw that the reason why visions have not been more frequent of late, is, they have not been appreciated by the Church. ... Many of those who have professed faith in them, have not heeded them.¹

It is interesting to note that many Adventists doubted her visions, not just a few.

Over the years, some who doubted Ellen White's visions, such as A.T. Jones and Dr. Kellogg, left (or were expelled from) the SDA Church, others remained in the sect. Following is a list of SDA leaders who remained in the church while having reservations about Ellen White and her testimonies:

Joseph Bates, Adventist Pioneer - A witness to some of Ellen Harmon's early visions, Bates was, in his own words, "for a long time unwilling to believe that it [the visions] was any thing more than what was produced by a protracted debilitated state of her body."² Later, Bates' doubts were erased when she conveniently had a vision on his favorite subject, astronomy.

J.N. Andrews, Adventist Pioneer - In a testimony many believed aimed at J.N. Andrews and Uriah Smith, Ellen angrily rebukes those "closely connected" with the Whites in the work who had "witnessed the manifestations of the power of God many times" and yet "allowed Satan to control their minds" with doubt.³ Andrews later confessed to James White that the testimonies caused such "terror and distress" to him that he felt he could not "make that use of them that is such a blessing to others."⁴

J.N. Loughborough, Adventist Pioneer - SDA minister Henry Brown wrote the following in his memoirs in 1984:

Elder Loughborough had been holding a series of lectures to us on the terrible cost of salvation for man. It meant that very God had to yield himself as a ransom. I think this is the belief by all Protestants today. He tells the story that the angels went to the Father to plead that they might die for the human race rather than Jesus die, and that God had said to them, 'No, if we would save man, God must die in his stead.' And that is a Biblical truth.

But there appeared in one of the Adventist magazines at the time a statement by Mrs. White in which she said, 'When Christ was crucified it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die, that would have been impossible.' (Letter #250, 1904. Review and Herald 1882 article, The Upward Look.)

I took this down to Elder Loughborough. I didn't know at the time that he was in an uncertain state -- he could not accept Mrs. White as a prophetess, which we will bring in later. I said, 'Elder, you say that God was to be sacrificed. But here Mrs. White says a human body was all that was required. Is it true that all the world was saved through the death of a human body? Or was it a God that died?'

I could see the sadness on the face of the elder man in which he shook his head sadly and said, 'Henry, that should never have been printed. They printed it a long time ago and I insisted that it not be printed again. Now I see they have done it again.'⁵

James White, Co-founder of the SDA Church - From the very beginning, James seemed to doubt some of his wife's visions. In an early vision, Ellen White wrote:

I saw those who have been baptized as a door into the churches, would have to be baptized again as a door into the faith. Those who have not been baptized since 1844 will have to be before Jesus comes.⁶

As a result of this vision, many Adventists who had been previously baptized into Christian churches were re-baptized after 1844. However, James refused to be re-baptized. He reportedly told John Loughborough that he would have to "examine the Bible in regard to it."⁷ Obviously, James did not believe all his wife's visions aligned with Scripture.

At times James seemed to have little interest in Ellen's testimonies directed toward him:

I shall use the old head God gave me until he reveals that I am wrong. Your head won't fit my shoulders. Keep it where it belongs, and I will try to honor God in using my own. I shall be glad to hear from you but don't waste your precious time and strength in lecturing me on matters of mere opinions.⁸

In later years, James was notorious for ignoring his wife's health testimonies. Mrs. White lamented that she could not take James along with her on her travels because he had "habits of eating and sleeping" that did not "impress the people correctly."⁹ She felt that James undermined her authority:

You do not mean to do it, but many times you lessen faith in my testimonies by unguarded expressions and views and feelings which you manifest.¹⁰

In his later years, James annoyed Ellen by accusing her of "being led by a wrong spirit."¹¹

Other Family Members of Ellen White - Of Ellen White's seven siblings, only sister Sarah would formally join the SDA church. Brother Robert accepted the Sabbath, but died before the formation of the SDA church. Sister Mary expressed some interest in the church but never joined. Ellen White blamed it on others, writing:

J. Turner labored to turn my friends and even my relatives against me, and he succeeded in a measure.¹²

Mrs. White lamented that her son Edson was "pursuing your own course of action independent of Willie's and my advice and counsel."¹³ Edson later wrote back to his mother saying, "I have no religious inclinations now in the least."¹⁴ Later, when Edson made charges that his brother Willie was influencing the testimonies, Mrs. White retorted:

I am cut to the heart when I think that my son gives occasion for disbelief in the testimonies that God has given me for his people, causing the confidence of some to be shaken.¹⁵

She urged him to stop expressing his doubts regarding her testimonies:

If you do not decidedly change your course of action, you will do more to weaken the confidence of the church in the integrity of the Testimonies than all other influences combined can do.¹⁶

Franklin E. Belden was Ellen White's nephew. He wrote many hymns for the SDA Church. In 1888, at the General Conference session, he questioned Ellen White’s inspiration, supposing she was being influenced by W. C. White, A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner. Later, while working at the SDA Publishing House in Battle Creek, he reportedly said, "I have not known of one soul being converted through the reading of Great Controversy."¹⁷ He continued to harbor doubts about Ellen White for the remainder of his life. Shortly before he died he is reported to have said about her: "Do you still believe in that woman?"¹⁸

Uriah Smith, Editor of the Review and Herald - Uriah Smith and his wife Harriet had their doubts regarding Mrs. White. Although he defended Ellen White early in his career, after receiving a testimony he believed to be inaccurate, Uriah expressed his doubts for a period in the early 1880s. He wrote in a letter to a fellow Adventist minister, "It seems to me that the testimonies, practically, have come into that shape, that it is not of any use to try to defend the erroneous claims that are now put forth for them."¹⁹

A.G. Daniels, General Conference President - Daniels was a close associate of the White family for over forty years. Despite that, he apparently had his own personal doubts about Ellen White and her testimonies. In 1919, he convened a secret conference with top SDA leaders to discuss the role of Ellen White in the church. Among his many comments he expressed some doubt regarding her health testimonies, "I have eaten pounds of butter at her table myself, and dozens of eggs. I could not explain that in her own family if I believe that she believed those were the Lord's own words to the world."²⁰

Ellen White, Prophetess - Yes, surprisingly enough, even Ellen White sometimes doubted her own mission. After the failure of her shut door visions in the early 1850s, Mrs. White became less prominent for a period of time. James decided not to publish her visions in the Review and Herald. With limited public exposure, her visions became less frequent, and finally, in 1855, she concluded her "work in God's cause was done," and she had "no further duty to do."²¹

She not only doubted her mission, but she apparently doubted her own testimonies. Her practices on eating meat, wearing jewelry, paying tithe, and other issues seem to indicate she sometimes had little regard for her own testimonies.

Her Home Church - Even Mrs. White's home church seemed to doubt her. In 1880, she lamented:

While some in Battle Creek have professedly believed the testimonies, they have been trampling them under their feet. But few have read them with interest; but few have heeded them.²²

Many Ministers - Many ministers privately expressed their doubts about Ellen White and her testimonies. This became an increasing problem after the death of James White. Some suspected that Mrs. White was being influenced by others. A mini-crisis of doubt arose in 1888 after she adopted E.J. Waggoner's view on the law in Galatians 3. Waggoner took the Protestant position that it was the Ten Commandments. At that time, SDAs understood the it to be the ceremonial law. This understanding was based on a vision Ellen White had in 1856. A number of SDA ministers were aghast that Ellen adopted Waggoner's position which was contrary to her own vision. Many ministers began to doubt her, fearing she was falling under the influence of others. She rebuked them soundly:

God did not raise me up to come across the plains to speak to you and you sit here to question His message and question whether Sister White is the same as she used to be in years gone by. I have in many things gone way back and given you that which was given me in years past, because then you acknowledged Sister White was right. But somehow it has changed now, and Sister White is different.²³

After the 1888 crisis passed, another crisis developed in Battle Creek in the early 1900s. It seems many of the older ministers began to doubt both Ellen White and the SDA Sanctuary doctrine. Mrs. White laments:

Ministers who have been believers in the foundation truths that have made us what we are—Seventh-day Adventists; ministers who went to Battle Creek to teach and strengthen the truths of the Bible, are now, when old and gray-headed, turning from the grand truths of the Bible, and accepting infidel sentiments. This means that the next step will be a denial of a personal God, pulling down the bulwarks of the faith that is plainly revealed in the Scriptures. The sanctuary question is the foundation of our faith.²⁴

In 1902, Mrs. White complained that sect leaders doubted her to an alarming extent:

I have but very little confidence that the Lord is giving these men in positions of responsibility spiritual eyesight and heavenly discernment. I am thrown into perplexity over their course; and I desire now to attend to my special work, to have no part in any of their councils and to attend no camp-meetings nigh or afar off. My mind shall not be dragged into confusion by the tendency they manifest to work directly contrary to the light that God has given me. I am done. ... When I attend the different meetings, I am compelled to deal with men standing in responsible places who I know are not exerting an influence that God can endorse.²⁵

Conclusion

Not only did critics doubt Ellen White. Her closest associates, her friends, and even her own family members had doubts about her. It was not just later generations who would doubt her. The people who knew her and heard her had their doubts about her. This was especially true in her early years, when her "visions" supported the false doctrine of the shut door of salvation. In a letter written in 1851, she lamented:

The visions trouble many. They [know] not what to make of them.²⁶

Ellen complained that the editor of the open door Adventist newspaper, the Advent Herald, said that her "visions were known to be 'the result of mesmeric operations.'"²⁷ Some felt that Mrs. White's testimonies were not always originating from visions, but rather that she "had been told circumstances" by other people in the church.²⁸ This widespread doubt is also mentioned in an article in 1883, where she admitted many doubted her strongly enough to publicly question her calling:

These attacks have been repeated hundreds of times during the past forty year...²⁹

In 1919, S.N. Haskell wrote that many viewed Ellen White "as a good woman, albeit not necessarily inspired."³⁰ These people had good reason to question and doubt Ellen White. After all, she failed most of the Biblical tests of a prophet.