Ellen G. White’s Statements in Their Original Context on the Heathen Being Saved

Abstract

This article is a study of a number of statements found in the writings of Ellen G. White on the experience of the heathen who have not heard about Jesus or God’s law. A brief section on the historical theological setting during the lifetime of Ellen White, specifically as it relates to the question of the eternal destiny of the heathen, will preface the primary portion of the study. The question of the eternal destiny became a major discussion issue, in the wider Protestant world, during the lifetime of Ellen White. It was also an issue that John Wesley addressed on a few different occasions in his sermons. The Wesleyan approach to the issue is mirrored in many ways in the writings of Ellen White. This article seeks to highlight some of these. The main sections of the study contain analysis of three chapters in White’s writings, one from each of the following: The Desire of Ages, Christ’s Object Lessons, and Prophets and Kings with a few additional notes on some other passages she wrote. The goal is to place the statements of Ellen White on the heathen within their literary context in order to have a more complete understanding of these statements. Part of the reason this is needed is because these quotations are often quoted without reference to their wider setting, and sometimes in contradictory ways. For Seventh-day Adventists the question of the unevangelized has not always been clearly answered either from Scripture or the writings of Ellen White. This article seeks to shed some light on Ellen White’s understanding in order to create a balanced view of Ellen White’s statements on the eternal destiny of the heathen.