Ellen White’s Stature and Her Authority in Photos

Today, the Gift of Prophecy Symposium, co-hosted by the Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, the Ellen G. White Estate, the Biblical Research Institute, the Center for Adventist Research at Andrews University, and the Ministerial Association of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, begins on the campus of Andrews University. Scholars and administrators from around the world have convened there to discuss the life and ministry of Ellen White in light of the Gift of Prophecy.

One way of talking about Ellen White's significance–and her ongoing authoritative voice–within the Adventist community is through words, as the Gift of Prophecy Symposium will do. And as, in fact, Will Eva did in his recent Spectrum column, "The Challenge of Ellen White's Ongoing Spiritual Authority." 

Another way of doing that is through images, which in their own way tell stories of Ellen White's significance and her authority within Adventism. The accompanying slide presentation does that. Among the images below, all of which come courtesy of the Ellen G. White Estate, are images of Sister White among various groups of workers, portraits of her at various times in her life, and images of her six ministerial credentials.

I exchanged messages briefly with the White Estate on the topic of her credentials. All of the credentials read "ordained minister," however the White Estate maintains that Ellen White was never ordained by the laying on of hands, and they provide some documentary evidence to support that idea. Nevertheless, she was given ordained minister credentials six times, which speaks to her authority as a licenced woman minister in her own day and age. The White Estate did not elaborate on what exactly her ordained minister credentials did mean.

Here are collected images from Ellen White's life that tell stories in their own ways.

The Authority of Ellen White in Photos by Jared Wright (Spectrum Magazine)

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