Ch. 5 - Example A

The Copywork Charge

As I explained on Chapter 5's main page: --

What I wish to illustrate is how vastly more powerful it is, when assessing Ellen White's claims to inspiration, if you don't just read a critic, but rather read the critic and then go examine a thing for yourself. What is worked up and handed to us by a critic may put the EGW inspiration claim ever so much to the test; but the reality (if you dig to find it for yourself) is almost always magnitudes against her.

I've had two recent examples of this, that I think are quite illuminating, where I saw something by a critic and then decided to see what I'd find if I went looking for myself.

The starting point was a website called "Ellen G. White: Prophet? or Plagiarist?" which quoted two passages that Ellen White claimed to have received by special inspiration from God but in fact got from books in her library. The messages from God were actually:

a passage from Larkin B. Coles;

a passage from Daniel March.

Here are the parallel passages and the charge as given by the web site.

Larkin B. Coles

What she "got from God"	Where she actually got it
I was shown that one great cause of the existing deplorable state of things is that
parents do not feel under obligation to bring up their children to conform to physical law.	Parents are also under obligation to teach and oblige their children to conform to physical law . . . .
Mothers love their children with an idolatrous love and indulge their appetite when they know it will injure their health and thereby bring upon them disease and unhappiness . . . .	How strange and unaccountable that mothers should love their children so tenderly as to indulge them in what they have occasion to know may injure their constitutions and impair their happiness . . . .
They have sinned against Heaven and against their children, and God will hold them accountable.	May many children be delivered from such mothers, and from such cruel kindness
The managers and teachers of schools	The managers and teachers of schools
Ellen G. White Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 141 Testimony 22 (1872)	Larkin B. Coles Philosophy of Health, pp. 144-145 Boston: William D. Ticknor & Co. (1849, 1851, 1853)

In other words, something purportedly seen in a vision was actually seen in a book by Larkin B. Coles.

And here is something similar involving

Daniel March

White claimed total inspiration:	She copied this from Daniel March:
In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper, expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision -- the precious rays of light shining from the throne.
Yet on the same page . . .
If you refuse to believe until every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of doubt is removed, you will never believe. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to faith. Faith rests upon evidence, not demonstration. The Lord requires us to obey the voice of duty, when there are other voices all around us urging us to pursue an opposite course. It requires earnest attention from us to distinguish the voice which speaks from God.	We must not defer our obedience till every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of mistake is removed. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to faith, for faith rests upon probability, not demonstration. . . . We must obey the voice of duty when there are many other voices crying against it, and it requires earnest heed to distinguish the one which speaks for God.
Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 27 1882	Daniel March, Night Scenes in the Bible, Phil.: Zeigler, McCurdy & Co., 1923; p88

These I believe are worthwhile points. Almost anyone not previously committed to Ellen White will perceive the situation as being one in which the woman pretended to get from God what she in fact got from her library.

On the other hand, a believer will look at this and not change their mind. Instead they say, "She may have been shown it by God, and later found it conveniently worded in a book. So why shouldn't she make use of a passage that states what she had already seen?" And this explains how something could have come to Ellen White from God and also have come from a book known to have been in her library.

It occurred to me that something right from the start shot down this explanation, and that was the length and complexity of the passage plagiarized. It would be one thing if Ellen White lifted a phrase. But here she was copying entire sentences -- and even consecutive sentences. That something this complex would come from God and then be found while reading a book would be vanishingly unlikely.

So I got to wondering. Was either parallel merely what someone had noticed? Was either parallel in fact part of something longer? If so, it would stretch the above "explanation" even further past the shattering point. (Stretch it so far that no one could look at the evidence and honestly say they still believed it.)

I had a photocopy of Coles' Philosophy of Health, so I got it out along with a copy of 3T and did some digging. What I found were the Coles/White parallels you see below. Compare them with the parallel given by the critic and see if you don't feel some of the force of what I mean when I say that a critic may look good, but the reality usually goes against the EGW claim far worse.

Here, then, is what I found when I compared this part of 3T with Coles' book.

L. B. Coles

Philosophy of Health

1853

E. G. White

Testimonies, Vol. 3

1872

The strange abandonment of principle
which characterizes this generation

[ 141.0 by violating
the laws of life and health ]

is almost enough to dishearten . . .
Instead of seeking after a true knowledge
of themselves

. . . they foolishly and wickedly inquire,

"What shall I eat,

and wherewithal shall I
enjoy the present hour?"
                                       --143.

The . . . community
.is exceedingly obtuse
.on this subject.
.With the .great. majority,

appetite is the only law
which governs.
                                       --137.

The strange absence of principle
which characterizes this generation,
and which is shown in their
disregard of
the laws of life and health,

is astonishing.
.Ignorance prevails
.upon this subject . . . .
.With the majority,
their principle anxiety is,

What shall I eat?
what shall I drink?
and wherewithal shall I
be clothed?

. . . appetite is the .great. law
which governs . . .
--140.1

If .the majority of men .. . . --140.1

Obedience to the laws of health
should be made
a matter
of individual and personal duty.
It is
every individual's
duty to study
.the laws of his being .. . .
Ignorance . . . on
.this subject .is sin.
--140.2

The moral powers are weakened
because men and women will not live in
obedience to the laws of health
and make
.this .great .subject
a personal duty . . .

.The majority of men .and women

remain in ignorance of
.the laws of their being .. . .
--140.2

If a man chew
or smoke tobacco till

the electric forces of his nervous system
are .undermined,
or the vital properties
of his .blood .are .corrupted . . .
and he consequently
be laid upon
a premature dying couch,

[ 139.0 .bring upon themselves .]

would his
.sickness and death
be properly considered
visitations of Providence?
To send a note to church
in such a case,
. . . would be insulting to Heaven.

. . . a .dispensation of .Heaven . . .
--141.

They indulge the depraved appetite
in the use of slow poisons
which .corrupt the .blood
and .undermine
the nervous forces,

and in consequence
.bring upon
.themselves sickness and death.

Their friends call the result of this course
the .dispensation of .Providence.

In this
they insult Heaven.

--140.2

[a] Parents are also under obligation
to teach and oblige their children
to conform to physical law
for their own sakes.

[c] How strange and unaccountable .that
mothers should love their children
so tenderly
as to indulge them
in what they have occasion to know
may injure their constitutions
and impair
their happiness . . .
May many children be delivered
from such mothers,
and from such cruel kindnesses!

[ 144.2 to more or less extent ]

[b] The mother . . . commits a crime

against her offspring,
against humanity, and .against Heaven ,
for which God will hold her
responsible . . .
--144.3

I was shown
that one great cause of the existing
deplorable state of things is that
parents do not feel under obligation
to bring up their children
to conform to physical law.

Mothers love their children
with an idolatrous love
and indulge their appetite
when they know
that it will injure their health
and thereby bring upon them disease
and unhappiness.

This cruel kindness
is manifested
to a great extent
in the present generation . . .
They [the mothers] have sinned
.against Heaven .and
against their children,

and God will hold them
.accountable .
--141.1 - .2

The managers and teachers of schools

. . . are under obligations
to secure such facilities for exercise . . .
. . . .to preserve health .. . .
--145.1

The managers and teachers of schools

. . . .to preserve health .. . .

. . . necessary
exercise . . .

--141.3

This paragraph draws on Coles only minimally. Yet even here, some of what is allegedly from God actually came from Coles.
This opportunistic use of a source, copying closely from one paragraph but larding the copywork with isolated words or phrases from another paragraph (almost always one that lies open while copying from the main one), runs all through Ellen White's "borrowings," and is yet another thing that makes the result most implausible to have been something priorly "shown" her by God.

and regulations
in regard to observance of dietetic law,
as are adapted
to preserve the health,

promote
the literary
progress,
and secure to the world
the usefulness of their pupils.
And students

owe it to the world
that they
so walk in obedience to law,
as to render
their existence


and advantages
a blessing to society.
                                       --145.1

All
. . . are under obligation to exert
.an influence .. . .
.by example and precept .. . . .
his influence by word or deed
is constantly telling
                                       --146.2

The students' employment and amusements
should have been regulated
with reference to physical law
and should have been adapted
to preserve to them the healthy
tone of all the powers of body and mind.
Then a practical knowledge of business
could have been obtained while
their literary
education was being gained.

Students . . .
should . . . see and feel that
society has claims upon them and
that they
should live in obedience to natural law
so that they can,
by their existence
.and influence ,
.by precept and example ,
be an advantage
and blessing to society.

It should be impressed upon the youth that
all
have
an influence

that is constantly telling
--142.1

I'd found so much when I pursued Coles/White that I decided to see what I'd find if I pursued March/White. I ordered a copy of Night Scenes from the Bible through inter-library loan, and here's what happened after I brought the book home.

I opened to p. 88-89: the pages on which I expected to find the statement about how we mustn't defer obedience till every shadow is removed, and about how faith rests upon probability not demonstration. My purpose was to see if this was all that Selected Messages had plagiarized, or if some of March's material before and after the passage had also been plagiarized.

I read the two pages by Daniel March and to my surprise didn't find the faith/demonstration passage at all. What I did find was something else, and although I had never read a book by Daniel March in my life it sounded familiar: --

We must not think that God was more interested in the world in ancient times, when he spoke by miracles and prophets and apostles, than he is now when he speaks by his written word and by his holy providence. The heart of the Infinite Father never yearned toward his earthly children with a deeper or more tender compassion than now . . . There never was a time when God was doing more to govern, to instruct and to save the world than he is doing now. To those who look for him the tokens of his presence are manifest everywhere . . .

So I checked it against the EGW writings and found that (sure enough) it was a chunk of March used by Ellen White.

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

Ellen White

Testimony 24

1875

The heart of the Infinite Father
never yearned
toward his earthly children
with a deeper and more
tender compassion
than now . . .
There never was a time
when God was
doing more
to govern, to .instruct
and to serve the world
than he is doing now.

To those who look for him

the tokens
of his presence
are manifest everywhere . . .
--88-89

The heart of God
never yearned
toward His earthly children
with deeper love and more
compassionate tenderness
|than now.
There never was a time
when God was
ready and waiting to do more

for His people
than now.
And He will .instruct
and save all who choose to be saved
in His appointed way.
Those who are spiritual
can discern spiritual things and
see tokens
of the presence and work
of God everywhere.
--3T 455.02

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Testimony 27 1876
We must not think that God was more interested in the world in ancient times when he spoke by miracles and prophets and apostles, than he is now when he speaks by his written word and by his holy providence. There never was a time when God was doing more . . . to instruct . . . than he is doing now. --88-89	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. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now. --4T 147.04

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Testimony 33 1889
We must not think that God was more interested in the world in ancient times when he spoke by miracles and prophets and apostles, than he is now when he speaks\| by his written word and by his holy providence. There never was a time when God was doing more . . . to instruct . . . than he is doing now. --88-89	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. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now. --5T 661.01

Thus the very first thing I read, on opening Night Scenes in the Bible, had gone into the "inspired" Ellen White writings.

From there the situation became almost comical.

I tried again to find March's passage on faith vs. demonstration. Thinking that the critic at the website might have simply inverted a couple digits, I turned from p. 88-89 to p. 98-99. Again I found nothing on faith versus demonstration. But I did find some lines having a nice ring. So I decided to see if they also had been pressed into inspired service.

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Testimony 27 1876
There are deep mysteries in the word of God -- unsearchable mysteries in Divine Providence -- mysteries past finding out .in the plan of redemption . . . --98	There are deep mysteries in the word of God; there are unexplainable mysteries in His providences; there are mysteries .in the plan of salvation that man can never fathom. --4T 163-164

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

Ellen White

Testimony 29

1880

         There are deep mysteries
in the word of God --

unsearchable mysteries
in Divine Providence --
mysteries past finding out
.in the plan of redemption .. . .
      God's providence is the school
in which he is ever
setting before us the true aims of life.
The term of instruction
takes in all our earthly days.
None are too young,
none are too old
to learn,
if only they heed

the Divine Teacher
who "guides with his eye,"

and who whispers to the wanderer,
"This is the way -- walk ye in it."
                                       --98-99

         There are deep mysteries
in the word of God,
which will never be discovered by
minds that are unaided by the Spirit of God.
There are also
unsearchable mysteries
.in the plan of redemption
which finite minds can never comprehend . . .

        God's providence is a continual school,
in which He is ever
leading men to see the true aims of life.

None are too young,
and none too old,
to learn in this school
by paying diligent heed
to the lessons taught by
the divine Teacher.
He is the True Shepherd,
and He calls His sheep by name.
By the wanderers His voice is heard, saying:
"This is the way, walk ye in it."
                                       --4T 444.01

I then spent 15 or 20 minutes skimming through March to catch sight of knowledge or uncertainty or demonstration and thus finally find the passage I had originally set out for. After fruitless searching, and becoming curious about that consecutive chain of White/March plagiarisms (two for two: better than Shaq at the free throw line!) I decided just for the heck of it to take a passage at random and see if it also had gone into the writings of Ellen White.

I closed March's book and let it open. What lay before me was a description of the feast of Belshazzar. Would two-for-two become three-for-three?

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Ms 50, 1893 1893
[b] in the hour of their wildest mirth . . . [a] The handwriting appeared upon the wall of the banqueting-room --297	At the very moment when the feasting was at its height .a bloodless hand .came forth and traced on the wall of the banqueting room the doom of the king and his kingdom . . .
There is nothing said or done . . . that can escape the Infinite Eye . . . .The bloodless hand that wrote in flaming letters . . . is ever writing upon every heart: "God is here -- God is everywhere!" . . . We cannot hide anything from him . . . We cannot escape our accountability to him . . . --298	. . . there is nothing said or done that is not recorded on the books of heaven. The mystic characters traced by .the bloodless hand testify that God is a witness to all we do . . . We cannot hide anything from God. We cannot escape from our accountability to Him.
Whatever we do, wherever we are, we can never cease to be responsible to him. --301	Wherever we are and whatever we do, we are responsible to Him whose we are . . .

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White The Signs of the Times 1894
Whatever we do, wherever we are, we can never cease to be responsible to him. For he has appointed us to do his work. He has given us the means, the faculties and the opportunity, and he holds us answerable for using them well. --301	Whatever we do, and wherever we may be, we are God's property, and we can never cease to be responsible to him. He has given us faculties, privileges and opportunities, and he holds us responsible for the use to which we put his intrusted gifts. --ST 11-26-94 05

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Special Testimony to the Battle Creek Church 1882
Whatever we do, wherever we are, we can never cease to be responsible to him. For he has appointed us to do .his work . He has given us the means, the faculties and the opportunity, and he holds us answerable for using them well. So far as we are true to our high destiny, we are warranted in looking upon ourselves as co-laborers with the Builder of all worlds, ambassadors of the eternal King, executors of the supreme Will. Thus our accountability to God, fully accepted and faithfully met, will raise us above everything that is mean and selfish and impure. It will make us believe and feel that we always have something great and glorious and good to live for. It will make us earnest, cheerful and strong under all the burdens, .discouragements .and difficulties of life.	Whatever we do, whatever we say, wherever we are, we can never cease our responsibility to God. He has appointed our work. [sentence] God has given us the means, the faculties and the opportunities, and he holds us accountable for using them well. When we work with a single eye to God's glory . . . we have praise of God, and may consider ourselves as co-laborers with him, as building for eternity. Every one, whether ministers or lay members, are God's embassadors, executing .his work .. . . The Judge standeth before the door. Our accountability to God, fully accepted and faithfully met, will balance our characters . . . We shall be, through the grace given unto us, raised above everything that is mean and selfish and impure. [sentence] It will make us realize that we have something great and good to live for. This close connection with God will make our lives earnest, cheerful, and strong under difficulties, hopeful amid .discouragements that will be the lot of all.
What the world wants most is men in whose minds the great thought of responsibility to God is ever present -- men who are made strong by the consciousness that they are doing God's work, and they mean to do it so as to receive his approbation. --301-302	. . . The church now most want men whose minds can comprehend and bear the thought of their responsibility to God, -- men who are made strong by the consciousness that we are doing God's work, and that they will do it with fidelity. --PH155 22-23

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

Ellen White

The Health Reformer

1878

. . . he has appointed us .to do his work.
He has given us
the means, .the faculties .. . .
he holds us accountable
for using them well . . .
we are
warranted in looking upon ourselves as
co-laborers with
the Builder of all worlds,
ambassadors of the eternal King . . .
Thus our accountability to God,
fully accepted and faithfully met,
will raise us above
everything that is mean and selfish
and impure.
It will make us believe and feel
that we always have
something great and glorious and good
to .live for .
It will make us
earnest, cheerful and strong
under all the burdens, discouragements
and difficulties of life.
--301

.Our faculties .are given us

.to be used in the work .of God; . . .
we shall be

co-laborers with
the Creator of the universe,
ambassadors for Christ.

We shall be elevated above
the taint of selfishness
and moral defilement;
and the thought
that we are .living for
a grand and noble purpose,
fulfilling the design of our being,
will make us
earnest, cheerful, and strong
under all discouragements
and difficulties.
--HR 04-01-78
"The Apostasy of Solomon"

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

Ellen White

The Youth's Instructor

1873

. . . .our accountability to .God . . .
will raise us above everything
that is mean and selfish and impure.

It will make us believe
.and feel
that we always have something
great and glorious and good to live for.
It will

make us earnest, cheerful and strong
under all the burdens,
discouragements and
difficulties of life.
--301

They .may feel
.their accountability to
labor with Jesus Christ in the
great plan of saving souls. If youth
.will feel
their responsibility before God,
they will be elevated above everything
that is mean, selfish, and impure.
Life to such will be full of importance.
They will realize

that they have something
great and glorious to live for.
This will
have an influence upon youth to
make them earnest, cheerful, and strong
under all the burdens,
discouragements, and
difficulties of life . . .
--YI 09-01-73 18

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

Ellen White

The Signs of the Times

1881

So long as we have a conscience
we must have a voice within us to tell us that
God's eye is ever fixed
upon us,
and that we must give account to him
for all we do
and for all we
are.
That infinite and awful .Witness .is
in every storehouse, workshop
and place of business
every day of the week
and every hour of the day.
His eye scrutinizes
every transaction in trade,
every quality in goods,
every degree of fidelity or neglect in .work .
His ear catches every word . . .

There is nothing said or done or thought
that can escape
the Infinite Eye.
.In the deepest solitude
we must all have one companion . . .
Whatever we do,
.wherever we are,
we can never cease to be responsible to him . . .
So far as we are true to our high destiny

we are
warranted in looking upon ourselves as
co-laborers with
the Builder of all worlds . . .
Thus our accountability to God,
fully accepted
and faithfully met,
will
raise us above everything that is
mean and selfish and impure . . .
. . . so as to receive his approbation.
--297-298, 301, 302

God's eye is fixed
upon every individual,
and every one must render an account to him
for all they do,
and for what they
permit themselves to be.
.Wherever we are,
in storehouse and workshop,
in all our business,
every day in the week,
and every hour in the day,
his eye scrutinizes
all our .works ,

his ear listens to our every word.
.In the deepest solitude
every act and word of our lives
has still one .witness , --
the infinite God.

When we are true to the high destiny
which he has marked out for us,
we become

co-laborers with
him.
If our responsibility
be fully and heartily accepted
and faithfully discharged,
it will

secure for us the joyful commendation . . .
--ST 10-06-81 12
"An Unwise Marriage"

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White The Ministry of Healing 1905
the only safeguard . . . is not to drink at all. If none ever took a .temperate .glass [etc.] --296	the only safeguard for the .temperate .man is total abstinence. --446.02

The best one yet -- and a good indication that Ellen White didn't plagiarize (as per the claim by the White Estate) at the rate of 1 or 2%.

At this point I fished out my copy of The White Lie, which I supposed had been the source for much at the website, and found that March's elusive disquisition on faith vs. demonstration was on p. 201-202. Sure enough, there was the passage. And sure enough, it also had undergone the usual multiple plagiarism. Here is what I found when I looked for uses of it in the Ellen White writings.

[1]

Her first use of it seems to have been in Letter 22, 1872. As March's book was published in 1869, we see that Ellen's use of it started early. Notice how closely her letter follows March.

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	E. G. White Letter 22 1872
The word of the Lord comes to us all, and it is a message of light and salvation. --202.01	The word of the Lord has come to the people of San Francisco in messages of light and salvation.
If we [ 202.01 neglecting to ] [ 12 lines down: improve the opportunities of the present ] wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn and our path left to us in darkness . . . The argument which convinces today if rejected, may have less force tomorrow. To have better opportunities in the future we must improve the opportunities of the present with prompt and willing hearts.	If they neglect to improve the present opportunity and wait for louder calls or greater light, the light which has been given may be withdrawn and the path be left in darkness. The light which shines today upon the people and upon the church, if not cherished, will have less force tomorrow. To have better opportunities and great light in the future we must improve the blessings of the present with willing hearts.
We must not defer obedience till every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of mistake is removed. [ below: will never yield to faith ] The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to faith, for .faith .rests upon probability, not demonstration.	Those who defer their obedience till every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of mistake is removed will never believe and obey. A belief that demands perfect knowledge will never yield. Faith and demonstration are two things.
	Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
	.Faith .rests .not .upon probability.
We .must obey the voice of duty when there are many other voices crying against it, and it requires earnest heed to distinguish the one which speaks for God.	It has been our work to obey the voice of duty even when many voices may be raised in opposition against it. It requires discernment to distinguish the voice which speaks for God.
He [Elijah] obeyed the Divine voice which sent him forth at the peril of his life. --201.01	The messengers of God .must obey the .divine .voice which sends them with a disagreeable message, even at the peril of life and if there is not one to sustain them.

[2]

That was 1872, and a letter. By the following year she was paraphrasing March's passage into a Testimony.

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	E. G. White Testimony 23 1873
	I was shown that God has laid upon my husband and myself a special work . . . 3T 258.01 [ The testimony begins with "I was shown." ]
And the word of the Lord which enjoins a great and perilous duty is the one which we are most likely to receive with doubts and fears. We must not defer obedience till every shadow of uncertainty . . . is removed. The doubt that demands .perfect knowledge will never yield to faith, for faith rests upon probability, not demonstration. We must obey the voice of duty when there are many other voices crying against it, and it requires earnest heed to distinguish the one which speaks for God. --201.02	The word of the Lord, spoken through His servants, is received by many with questionings and fears. And many will defer their obedience to the warnings and reproofs given, waiting till every shadow of uncertainty is removed from their minds. The unbelief that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to the evidence that God is pleased to give. He requires of His people faith that rests upon the weight of evidence, not upon .perfect knowledge . Those followers of Christ who accept the light that God sends them must obey the voice of God speaking to them when there are many other voices crying out against it. It requires discernment to distinguish the voice of God. --258.02
The word of the Lord comes to us . . . If we wait for louder .calls or better opportunities, .the light may be withdrawn and our path left to us in darkness. The argument which convinces to-day, if rejected, may have less force tomorrow. --202.01	Those who will not act when the Lord .calls .upon them, but who wait for more certain evidence and more favorable opportunities, will walk in darkness, for .the light will be withdrawn . The evidence given one day, if rejected, may never be repeated. --258.03

[3]

That was March's passage in Testimonies, Vol. 3.

Here's how it went into Volume 4.

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

E. G. White

Testimony 26

1876

And the word of the Lord
which enjoins
a great and perilous duty
is the one which we are most likely
to receive with doubts and fears.
We must not defer obedience
till every shadow of uncertainty
.and every possibility of mistake
.is removed.

The doubt that demands .perfect knowledge
will never yield
to faith,

[ cp. above perfect knowledge
will never yield ]

. . . faith rests
upon probability,
not demonstration.
--201.02

The voice of the Lord
bidding
His faithful ones "go forward"
frequently tries their faith
to the uttermost.
But if they should defer obedience
till every shadow of uncertainty

was removed
from their understanding,
.and there remained
.no risk of failure or defeat,
they would never move on at all.
Those who think it impossible
for them to yield
to the will of God and have faith
in His promises
until all is made clear and plain . . .
will never yield
at all.
Faith is

not .certainty of knowledge . . .
--4T 27.04

[4]

Next is how March's passage (and, indeed, much of the chapter) went into the Testimonies, Volume 5.

This last example may be the most interesting. She starts by making the strong claim (p. 67) that her testimonies, her articles, even her letters are what God has opened before her in vision: precious rays of light from the throne --

When I went to Colorado I was so burdened for you that, in my weakness, I wrote many pages to be read at your camp meeting. Weak and trembling, I arose at three o'clock in the morning to write to you. God was speaking through clay. You might say that this communication was only a letter. Yes, it was a letter, but prompted by the Spirit of God, to bring before your minds things that had been shown me. In these letters which I write, in the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision -- the precious rays of light shining from the throne.

-- and then presents, as rays from the throne, just about every moralizing passage from Daniel March's chapter on the prophet Elijah.

Put yourself in the mind of a follower in 1882. Having just been told that her articles and testimonies are not her own opinions but are rays of light from the throne of God, would you have ever supposed that what comes next is a series of paraphrases from Daniel March?

Would you have thought this an honest thing, or even a decent thing, to do?

Here, then, are her 5T statements with their Daniel March parallels.

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	E. G. White Testimony 31 1882
We must not defer our obedience till every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of mistake is removed. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge .will never yield to faith, for faith rests upon probability, not demonstration . . . We must obey .the voice .of duty when there are many other voices crying against it, and it requires earnest heed to distinguish the one which speaks for God. We must cherish the impulse of conscience in the moment when it urges us to action, lest it cease from its promptings and we are left to the blind .guidance of appetite and passion. --201.02	If you refuse to believe until every shadow of uncertainty and every possibility of doubt is removed you .will never believe. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will never yield to faith. Faith rests upon evidence, not demonstration. The Lord requires us to obey the voice of duty, when there are other voices all around us urging us to pursue an opposite course. It requires earnest attention from us to distinguish .the voice .which speaks from God. We must resist and conquer inclination, and obey the voice of conscience without parleying or compromise, lest its prompting cease and will and impulse .control .
The word of the Lord comes to us all, and it is a message of light and salvation. If we wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn and our path left to us in darkness.	The word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted His Spirit by determining not to hear and obey. .This voice .is heard in warnings, in counsels, in reproof. It is the Lord's message of light to His people. If we wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn, and we be left in darkness.
.No man can tell how much .he may lose by once neglecting to comply with the call of God's Spirit and word commanding him to perform some great and sacred duty. Many would give everything they have . . . to hear again the call which they . . . neglected. The argument which almost .convince s to-day, if rejected, [201.02 guidance of appetite and passion] may have less force to-morrow. To have better opportunities in the future we must improve the opportunities of the present with prompt and willing hearts. --202.01	By once neglecting to comply with the call of God's Spirit and His word, when obedience involves a cross, many have .lost much -- .how much they will never know till the books are opened at the final day. The pleadings of the Spirit, neglected today because pleasure or inclination leads in an opposite direction, may be powerless to .convince , or even impress, tomorrow. To improve the opportunities of the present, with prompt and willing hearts,
Nothing will help us more in the discharge of duty than [ 201.02 .cherish ] the feeling which made Elijah speak of himself as standing before the Lord of hosts . . . he would not do what would offend the eyes of the Eternal King. [ 203.02: .the Infinite One ] He had no fear before a human .monarch because his mind was holden by the more awful presence of a Sovereign whose empire is the universe and who holds in his hand the destinies of time and eternity . . . --202.02	is the only way to grow in grace and the knowledge of the truth. We should ever .cherish a sense that, individually, we are standing before the Lord of hosts; no word, no act, no thought, even, should be indulged to offend the eye of .the Eternal One . We shall then have no fear of man or of earthly power, because a .Monarch , whose empire is the universe, who holds in His hands our individual destinies for time and eternity, is taking cognizance .of all our work .
Let us . . . cultivate the feeling that in every place we stand before the Lord, .in every . . . work we are doing the will of the Most High . . . and then the whole of life will have a meaning and a sacredness which earthly honors can never give . . . --203.01	If we would feel that in every place we are the servants of the Most High, we would be more circumspect; our whole life would possess to us a meaning and a sacredness which earthly honors can never give. --69.1
. . . The thoughts of the heart and the words of the lip, and all the acts of the outward life, will be most worthy and appropriate when the presence of the Infinite One is most deeply felt. --203.02	The thoughts of the heart, the words of the lips, and every act of the life, will make our character more worthy, if the presence of God is continually felt.
. . . In every place let your adoring heart be ready to say, "Lo! God is here." . . . Every walk in life shall be made . . . pure . . . --204.01	Let the language of the heart be: "Lo, God is here." Then the life will be pure . . . --70.01
. . . the indulgence of ease and .a life of .pleasure . . . It is .the ruin of .too .many .that they set their hearts upon having all their good things in their lifetime. --207.02	.Many are ruined by their desire for .a life of .ease and pleasure . . . They set their hearts upon having the good things of this life.
.It is not the chief end of man to achieve what the world will applaud as success. [ 222.01 the better life to come ] It is our main business in life to show ourselves true men, loving righteousness, hating evil, and willing to take such measure of present happiness and success as flows from obedience to the truth. There is unconquerable strength which begins with the confession of weakness . . . The great loss which we have most need to deplore is the loss of earnestness to do right, the loss of strength to resist temptation, the loss of faith in the everlasting principles of truth and duty. --221.01	This is human success, but .is it not won at the expense of future, eternal interests? The great business of life is to show ourselves to be true servants of God, loving righteousness and hating iniquity. We should accept gratefully such measures of present happiness and present success as are found in the path of duty. Our greatest strength is realized when we feel and acknowledge our weakness. The greatest loss which any one of you in Battle Creek can suffer is the loss of earnestness and persevering zeal to do right, the loss of strength to resist temptation, the loss of faith in the principles of truth and duty. --70.02
The poorest man . . . has something to live and die for so long as he preserves the integrity of his own conscience. The most .successful man .. . . is the man who gives himself most earnestly to the cause of God and truth, and who never bates one jot of heart or hope in his good work, whatever difficulties and delays he may have to meet. --221.01	Let no man flatter himself that he is a .successful man unless he preserves the integrity of his conscience, giving himself wholly to the truth and to God. We should move steadily forward, never losing heart or hope in the good work, whatever trials beset our path, whatever moral darkness may encompass us.
[1] Never say "It is enough," long as you have one wrong disposition in .your own heart to subdue -- . . . long as patience and faith and love and devotion to duty are the great lessons to be taught and learned -- long as God says he will never forsake the soul that trusts in him and seeks his aid -- long as the crown of life is offered only to him that overcometh. [3] there is something to do . . . for the better life to come. [2] . . . while life lasts --222.01	Patience, faith, and love for duty are the lessons we must learn. .Subduing self .and looking to Jesus is an everyday work. The Lord will never forsake the soul that trusts in Him and seeks His aid. The crown of life is placed only upon the brow of the overcomer. There is . . . earnest, solemn work for God while life lasts. --70.03

Even the "spiritual counsels" in her writings can in fact be paraphrasings from a book in her library.

At this point I decided to try something else.

I wanted to know: Just how much of March's book did Ellen White use altogether? To what extent did she plunder old March? Judging from the critical website, the answer might seem to be "Just an occasional plum." But the real answer seemed to be: without mercy.

Out of four Daniel March passages, all four had been used by Ellen White. Which gives the impression that most of March can be found somewhere, in some fashion, in Ellen White.

I decided to try an experiment to see how far this might be true. There are 26 chapters in March's book, each of which is drawn from a story in the Bible, and each of which ends with a big two-to-three-page final moral. Let us take five of these "final morals" and see how many were used by Ellen White. These five selections from March, added to the previous ones, will give an idea of how much she used (or didn't use) March, and thus an idea of how much the EGW writings consist (or don't consist) of paraphrased materials.

I chose the following five chapters --

5 - The Last Night of Israel in Egypt

10 - Jonah's Night at Nineveh

15 - Jesus' Night on the Mountain

20 - The First Night after the Resurrection

25 - The Teachings of Night

and decided to see how many of their moralizing endings went into the writings of Ellen White. Here is what I found.

Chapter 5:

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the
Bible

1869

Ellen White

Advent Review &
Sabbath Herald

1886

We are all living
in the land of bondage and of death.
We are bound

with chains which are
. . . impossible to break.
--122

We are living
in a land of bondage and of death.
Multitudes are enslaved
by sinful customs and by evil habits,
and their fetters are
difficult to break.
--RH 09-14-86 08

It's not much -- but enough to show that she'd been here, looking for material to use.

Chapter 10:

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Advent Review & Sabbath Herald 1887
In the vision of the Apocalypse, four mighty angels were seen holding back the four winds of the earth's perils and sorrows, and forbidding them to blow till God's servants were sealed and safe . . . But he leaves the ministers of vengeance to pour all their tempests and thunders upon the dark way of transgression. Set it down, then, as a first article of your practical faith -- the servants of God are always safe. The way of obedience to him, however hard and dark it may seem, is always the path of life.	Four mighty angels are still holding the four winds of the earth. Terrible destruction . . . accidents by land and sea; the loss of life [etc. etc.] . . . the angels hold the four winds, forbidding the terrible power of Satan to be exercised in its fury until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads . . . The ministers of vengeance will pour all the terrible judgments upon a God-forsaken people. The way of obedience is the only path of life. -- RH 06-07-87 13
The law of duty is supreme. It claims authority over reason and conscience, over talents and possessions, over everything that is greatest and noblest in man. It admits no rival, makes no abatement of its high demands, enters into no compromises with any opposing power. The voice of duty is the voice of God in our souls. Obedience to its claims brings us into living and personal agreement with the highest law in the universe. --241-242	What is my duty? . . . Talents, possession, everything that is great and noble in man he calls to be exercised in his work. Duty admits no rival, enters into no compromise with any opposing powers. The most precious friends and relatives must not step in between your duty and your God. The voice of duty is the voice of God in our souls. Obedience to its claims brings us into living personal agreement with the highest law in the universe . . . -- par. 14

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Letter 21a, 1893 1893
[b] . . . Every moment of ease or self-indulgence secured by neglecting the Divine call to earnest and self-denying duty, sows the seed for harvests of sorrow and . . . remorse. [a] Every step upon the path which God forbids is a step toward destruction. --241	Every gratification or indulgence secured by neglecting the divine call to earnest, self-denying duty, is sowing the seed for a harvest of like kind. Every step in the path that God has forbidden is a step toward destruction. --14MR 11.02
The way of obedience to him, however hard and dark it may seem, is always the path of life. The law of duty is supreme. It claims authority over reason and conscience, over talents and possessions, over everything that is greatest and noblest in man. It admits no rival, makes no abatement of its high demands, enters into no compromises with any opposing power. The voice of duty is the voice of God in .our souls . Obedience to its claims brings us into living and personal agreement with the highest law in the universe. It lends greatness to the humblest occupation, crowns the lowliest position in life with glory and honor, brings man into alliance with God, associates him with plans and purposes that have existed in the Infinite Mind from eternity . . . In every act of duty we go out of ourselves, and beyond the narrow scope of present interest and selfish gratification --242	[a] The way of obedience to God, however hard and trying it may seem to you, is always the path of life. The law of duty is supreme. It claims authority over reason and conscience, over talents and possessions. It will admit no rival, and will not for one moment abate its high demands. It enters into no compromise with any oppressive power of earth. [c] Obedience to God brings .the soul .into agreement with the highest laws in the universe. It imparts dignity and true greatness to the humblest occupation where Christ can preside. It crowns the lowliest position in life with the highest honors, bringing men into alliance with God and binding up His interests with plans and purposes that have existence in the infinite mind from eternity. [b] In every act of duty we are hiding self in Jesus. We reach out beyond ourselves, beyond the narrow scope of selfish and present gratification. --11.02 - .03
. . . we present the homage of our .heart s to the supreme and eternal Sovereign . . . . . . No man can cease to believe that he ought to do God's will . . . We can no more flee from duty than we can flee from the presence of the infinite Jehovah. It is only by obedience to him that we can have peace. You may not think so now. It may seem to you that much is to be gained and little to be lost by denying for the present God's claim upon your heart. But in that gentle whisper of duty, which you now so easily deny or suppress, is the very hiding of God's infinite power over you to make you happy . . . --243-244	. . . not to secure a mere assent to the truth, but for .heart .service. He desires the homage of your soul. You cannot cease to believe that you ought to do the will of God. You can no more release yourself from the claims of duty than you can flee from the presence of God. It is only in obedience to God that you will realize true happiness. You may not think so now, because your senses are not spiritually awake. It may seem to you that much is to be gained and little is to be lost by remaining in a large degree insensible to the claims of God upon our heart, and deaf to His voice. But in the whispering of the Spirit of God to you is the power of God to quicken and elevate your mind and make you happy . . . --12.01 - .02

Chapter 15:

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Signs of the Times 1889
. . . .God .. . . a Being they can address as a personal Friend --339	they can address .God .as their Father and Friend --ST 11-04-89 01

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

Ellen White

Testimony 23

1873

But let them go up to the mount of God
where man meets his Maker
in humble, trusting prayer . . .
look only to Him

who sees everything at one view
and governs everything
with a word.
. . . he will
hear their voice and attend to .their wants .
And then the darkness . . . will vanish
from their minds.
. . . In every act of sincere prayer
the soul comes into living contact
with the infinite Mind.
We see no

face

bending over us with looks of compassion.

[sentence]

No .hand is .let down for us to grasp.

--339-340

If you come to God,
feeling helpless and dependent, . . .
in humble, trusting prayer
make .your wants .known to Him
whose knowledge is infinite,
who sees everything in creation,
and who governs everything
by His will and word,
He can and will
attend to your cry
and will let light shine
into your heart and all around you;
for through sincere prayer
your soul is brought into connection
with the mind of the Infinite.
You may have no
remarkable evidence at the time that
the face
of the Redeemer is
bending over you in compassion
and love, but this is even so.

You may not feel His invisible touch,
but His .hand is .upon you.
--323.02

Daniel March

Night Scenes in the Bible

1869

Ellen White

Historical Sketches

18??

. . . to make their way
along the dark and crooked paths . . .
. . . Let them
leave all the false guides
which they have been following,
and look only to Him who
sees everything
at one view
.and governs everything .. . .

he will hear their voice
and attend to their wants.

. . . to grope their way
among dark and crooked paths . . .
. . . strengthen them
not to put confidence in false guides,

but to obey and worship Him only who
made .and governs everything .
"He sees and knows everything,"

they continually repeated to themselves.
"He will hear our prayers,
and attend unto our wants . . ."
Such was the character,
such the motives, of the Waldenses
of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Consider the statement: "He sees and knows everything. He will hear our prayers, and attend unto our wants."

Is this something that Ellen White by inspiration heard the Waldenses of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries genuinely saying?

Or, wasn't it, rather, something she lifted from a book -- a book having nothing to do with the Waldenses, but one from which she had paraphrased some previous lines?

What do you say about a person who claims to be the messenger of the Lord, and claims to have knowledge she in fact doesn't have?

Chapter 20:

None that I could find.

Chapter 25:

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Patriarchs and Prophets 1890
In all the living tide of human faces .flow ing --522	.flow ed in a living tide --301.02

Daniel March Night Scenes in the Bible 1869	Ellen White Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing 1896
the burning effulgence of his glory --524	the effulgence of His glory --49.02

* * *

Of nine samples from March's book (the above five, plus the one from the critical web site, plus the three I had looked up while trying to find it), Ellen White used 1 sample not at all, 2 samples very slightly, and the remaining 6 samples with varying degrees of heaviness. And some of these latter she used very heavily indeed.

That samples from one writer can be found so consistently in the writings of another would be possible only if the latter writer was a heavy taker from the former.

And that leads to some questions about Ellen G. White: not only about her ethics, but even more about her purported inspiration. How likely is it, for instance, that messages from God would repeatedly align with things written by a previous writer?

(On the other hand, if Ellen White had little originality of her own and wasn't receiving material from God, what else could she do, if she was to write a great deal, but plagiarize? Getting ideas and fine writing from neither her own unoriginal mind nor from God, she would have to get them from earthly sources such as books. That a producer of tens of thousands of pages was a heavy plagiarizer is no surprise.)

Even a little plagiarising would be, for most writers, highly damning. Why should one particular writer, who did it massively, be given a free ride?