Ronald Numbers and the Quest for the Historical Ellen White
Dr. Ronald Numbers, one-time history professor at Loma Linda University, challenged parts of that story when he spoke May 26 at the youth chapel of the Loma Linda University church. He had come by invitation of the Association of Adventist Forums and Adventist Today to deliver the second Richard Hammill Memorial Lecture. Numbers has been known as the author of Prophetess of Health, a work that described Ellen White’s teachings on health reform as being strongly influenced by popular ideas of her time.
Numbers said that historians typically begin their study of prominent characters and happenings by examining the social milieu in which these occurred, looking for original manuscripts, newspaper accounts, letters, and similar documents. Many of the current ideas held by church members about Ellen White are the product of carefully nurtured idealistic myths that contribute to the representation of her as very closely resembling Biblical prophets. But in the past thirty years Adventist church historians, with access to some 20,000 pages of manuscript material, have found that she had a very human side as well. Their discoveries and publications have not always been welcomed by church administrators.
Numbers questioned the oft-repeated statement that Ellen White had a scanty education, terminated by an accident that occurred to her in the third grade when a classmate threw a stone at her. He pointed out that she had a large library and read widely, and was asked at one point to teach reading to a group of young children. She was intelligent and scholarly and devoted countless hours to study and reflection, laying a solid foundation for many of the church’s beliefs and practices.
Ellen White was very much interested in health matters, but unlike popular preachers of her time she did not engage in public healings; people were not drawn to her public presentations by the prospect of cures for themselves or others. On the other hand, many came to witness the way in which she herself was healed of illness. Often she was too weak to mount the podium by herself, and had to have assistance. Once there, the Spirit would become manifest and she would miraculously gain strength for a vigorous sermon. She was often plagued with bouts of depression and wrote frequently about her physical ailments, which included five attacks of paralysis. She was free to describe the illness of other people as the result of their “violation of nature’s laws,” but she ascribed her illnesses sometimes to God’s ways of keeping her humble, or the result of intervention by Satan and his angels. In her early comments on health she referred to the use of wigs as leading to insanity, and she spoke of “cancerous humors,” which in later revisions of her work were called simply germs. The wigs-insanity link was deleted.
Ellen White was frequently described as being “in vision,” especially early in her work with the church. Historians have discovered that there were many who saw visions in her day. In the small town of Portland, Maine, there were seven Millerite visionaries. Associated with such visions there were often other manifestations like fits, trances, and “mesmerism” spells. Dr. Fred Hoyt discovered an old newspaper story of a trial in 1845 of one Israel Damon in New England about this time. Damon and other witnesses testify to the ecstatic utterances and body movements manifested by Millerites, including the young Ellen Harmon and James White. This was also the milieu of the “shouting Methodists,” who engaged in enthusiastic religious activities.
Comparatively little has been written about Ellen White’s private and family life. One of the most notable findings was an old trunk filled with letters written by Ellen White to her “dearest friend” and confidant Lucinda Hall. These letters reveal that the White marriage had deteriorated in the mid-1870s to the point where Ellen and James had to be separated for extended periods. Ellen would apparently trump her husband by citing her direct inspiration from God, and therefore her superior understanding and authority in marital conflicts.
Numbers pointed out that Ellen White was a very complex person, with much that was admirable and some that was very human. Adventist historians through the years, however, have been apologetic, crediting her with only good things and disparaging everyone who crossed her path.
Numbers concluded that Ellen White received considerable attention from sources outside the church for her role in health reform and creationist thinking. Secular historians have termed her “one of the great trinity of American female prophets,” along with Mary Baker Eddy and Anna Lee. Another called her “one of the most prominent women in American history,” and one who had played a key role in innovation in American religion.
What may be the overall effect of research like this into a key aspect of the Adventist story? For some Adventists who hold that Ellen White was very close to being divine, writing books that stand on a par with those produced by the biblical prophets, the first reaction may be denial or anger. A demonstrator in the back of the meeting hall May 26 exemplified this by his loud shouts of denunciation. Other Adventists, however, recognizing the concept of incarnation, partly divine and partly human, are likely to find the new information illuminating and an aid in interpreting her writings in contemporary terms. The story is amplified by replacing the mythological with the real. We’ll all feel better when we know who the real Ellen White was.
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