Ellen White's Contradictory Behavior on DepressionBy Dirk Anderson, July, 2021 Ellen White expressed in no uncertain terms that Christians should not be depressed: Christians will not be mournful, depressed, and despairing.1 Mrs. White is clear that Christians have no right to be depressed, and if one is depressed, their behavior misrepresents Christ. She assures her followers that Satan is pleased by their depression: Do not utter one despondent word: for such words please Satan.11 Not only does she teach that is Satan pleased when people are depressed, she also claims his plans are more successful against depressed individuals: Satan's craft is most successfully used against those who are depressed.13 It is apparent from these quotes that Ellen White believed depression to be a state of mind that no Christian should ever engage in. According to her, it misrepresents Christ, saps the life forces, is pleasing to Satan, and makes Satan's work more effective.
Uninspired CounselThe quotes above are sufficient evidence to demonstrate that God did not inspire Ellen White's writings. The most horrifying message to convey to a depressed Christian is that their condition misrepresents Christ and pleases Satan. Depressed individuals are already suffering enough without having to bear the added guilt and shame of somehow not being good enough for God! Most people have little or no control over their depression. Depression often has a physical cause in the biology of the brain. Christians are not told they are being unChristlike when they get the flu. Neither should they be told such words when they have depression. A depressed person can no more will themselves free of depression than a person with Diabetes can will themselves free of that illness. Illness, whether mental or physical, affects all humans. In fact, many Biblical heroes were challenged with depressive episodes. For example:
The Bible does not condemn any of these people for being unChristlike. A number of Christians have been candid enough to admit their battles with depression. Mother Teresa and Charles Spurgeon both faced episodes of depression, and yet their lives testify to their Christ-likeness. There are many in the church who suffer from depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health: "Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States," with over 17 million adults in the United States having "at least one major depressive episode" in 2017.15 This number represents one out of every twelve Americans, and it does not even consider minor episodes of depression. Rather than condemning all these people and making them feel like they are a failure and a disappointment to God, true believers will show concern for those with a mental disorder.
Mrs. White's Depressed Behavior Contradicts Her TestimoniesMrs. White should never be criticized, condemned, or judged for struggling with lifelong depression. She is deserving of empathy and understanding. However, for the sake of truth, it must be pointed out that while she chided and shamed other depressed church members for being unChristlike, she was acting in the same manner. The following evidence reveals that she was in a state of depression for most of her life.
ConclusionOne would think Ellen White would have some empathy for depressed individuals since she was depressed most of her life. Instead, she ridiculed them as a "very bad representation of Christ." This no doubt caused them great shame and humiliation over a condition they had little or no control over. Like the Pharisees who "tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders," she saddled depressed people with the burden of condemnation (Matt. 23:4 ESV). The worst part is that people believed her words were inspired, thus implying to them that God also condemned them for their depression. What a cruel burden to bear through life! Since Ellen White was depressed most of her life, was she a "very bad representation of Christ?" Or, were her writings on depression falsehoods? You decide.
Citations1. Ellen White, Child Guidance, 146. Also, Review and Herald, Apr. 15, 1884. 2. White, Signs of the Times, June 3, 1903. Also, Bible Training School, February 1, 1910, par. 6. 3. White, Manuscript 141, 1908, par. 5, (23LtMs). 4. White, Letter 5, 1888. 5. White, Pacific Union Recorder, December 26, 1912, par. 3. 6. White, Medical Ministry (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1932), 326. 7. White, Review and Herald, October 13, 1904, par. 10. 8. White, Letter 22, 1886, par. 2 (4LtMs). 9. White, Signs of the Times, September 29, 1898, par. 11. 10. White, Letter 41, 1893. Note: It is contradictory that Mrs. White said depression makes a person a "very bad representation of Christ" when 15 years earlier she wrote: "They [the disciples] had frequently seen him [Jesus] depressed, but never before so utterly sad and silent" (Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, p. 94). How could depression be a "very bad representation of Christ" when she admits that Christ himself was "frequently...depressed?" It seems that if a Christian was frequently depressed as she says Christ was, then that would, in fact, be a good representation of Christ. Perhaps Marian Davis noticed this discrepancy, because when this statement was republished in Desire of Ages in 1898, the part about depression was missing: "Never before had they seen Him so utterly sad and silent" (Desire of Ages, 685). 11. White, Review and Herald, April 7, 1904, par. 19. 12. White, Signs of the Times, September 29, 1898, par. 10. Also, Manuscript 70, November 6, 1897, "Diary." 13. White, Acts of the Apostles, 363. 14. White, Desire of Ages, 662. 15. "Major Depression," NIMH, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression, extracted July 4, 2021. 16. White, Life Sketches, 195. 17. Ibid., 198. 18. Ibid., 273. 19. Ibid., 305. 20. White, Review and Herald, January 10, 1856, par. 1. 21. White, Letter 5, 1857, (1EGWLM 545). 22. White, Diary, January 12, 1859. 23. White, Diary, January 16, 1859. 24. White, Diary, January 22, 1859. 25. White, Diary, March 8, 1859. 26. White, Diary, April 2, 1859. 27. White, Diary, May 19, 1859. 28. White, Diary, June 3, 1859. 29. White, Manuscript 6, 1859 (2MR 347). 30. White, Letter 1, 1861. 31. White, Letter 21, 1862. 32. White, Testimonies, vol. 1, 578. 33. White, Diary, February 10, 1868. 34. White, Diary, February 21, 1868. 35. White, Testimony for the Church, No. 15 (1868), 8. 36. White, Diary, April 30, 1868. 37. White, Life Sketches (1915), 197. 38. White, Diary, June 13, 1873. 39. White, Diary, August 14, 1873. 40. White, Letter 7, 1876 (7MR 278). 41. White, Letter 13, 1880. 42. White, Letter 51, 1887. 43. White, Review and Herald, July 23, 1889, par. 7. 44. White, Bible Echo, January 1, 1892, par. 13. Also, Review and Herald, February 16, 1892. 45. White, Letter 8, 1893. 46. White, Letter 88, 1894 (MR926 29). 47. White, Diary, Manuscript 180, 1898, par. 12 (13LtMs). 48. White, Diary, January 17, 1898. 49. White, Letter 96, 1899, par. 3 (14LtMs). 50. White, Letter 205, 1900. 51. White, Manuscript 14, 1903, par. 42. 52. White, Letter 139, 1904. 53. White, Letter 232, 1906. 54. White, Letter 334, 1908. 55. White, Australasian Union Conference Record, September 30, 1912.
Category: Hypocrisy
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