As part of its ongoing campaign to make Ellen White’s writings more accessible to Adventist church members, the White Estate has created a new publication – Ellen White: Visionary for Kids.  Written in a webzine style with numerous pictures of Ellen White and other Adventist heroes from the past, this publication is designed to make the prophet’s writings more accessible to young Adventists who previously would have been unable to read them.  According to the White Estate website, the publication fills the need to “enhance [children’s] spiritual walk with Jesus”.  In the first issue, a carefully-cultivated picture of Ellen White is presented, often written from a child’s perspective.  For example, in a section entitled “Did You Know?”, a story of Ellen White’s experience in Australia is recounted, framing her ministry as being at the center of Satan’s attacks: “[At] Australia’s first camp meeting in 1894 the devil was angry and determined to interfere with Mrs. White’s powerful preaching. I think Satan was especially angry about her subjects: Jesus, The Ten Commandments, Sabbathkeeping, The Second Coming of Christ, and The Signs of the Times.” Also included are “Ellen’s Top Ten Mission Tips”, an Ellen White crossword puzzle, and an Adventist pioneer word scramble, complete with kid-friendly colorized pictures.  Also featured is an editorial piece by 16-year old author Evan Knott, who disparages the lack of knowledge among his peers for Ellen White’s work, reminding them of her place in the Adventist fundamental beliefs.  “Far too often people don’t pay attention to the conclusion their church has reached about Ellen White. Others are sometimes confused and conclude that what Ellen White wrote goes against the Bible because of what they have heard their friends say.” Drawing parallels with Jeremiah and Noah, Knott exhorts his young readers to pay attention to Mrs. White: “As we come closer and closer to the end of this world we are becoming more asleep to the prophet of our time, and many of us will be caught off guard.” Certainly at the age of 16 and perhaps knowing nothing but Adventism, the author can be excused for equating preparedness for the second coming with reading Ellen White’s writings.  But the adults who edited this material should know better.  Where is the gospel in this publication?  Where is “Christ and Him crucified?” Instead of teaching children about Jesus from the Bible, the kids are given an additional source to consider, implying that knowing Ellen White is the key to knowing Jesus and in the process, his true identity is further obscured.

Thank-you Greg for bringing this to our attention.

I have many questions, but paramount in my mind is, why not a webzine.....Jesus Christ: Visionary for Children?

Instead of a magazine focusing on Ellen White to “enhance children’s spiritual walk with Jesus”, why not just talk about Jesus straight from Scripture?

I guess that is a question that is self answering, as we all know the answer.

Good luck on the boards, may God be with you as you prepare.

Randy

The SDA church has no choice but to brainwash the kids, or there will be no SDA church in the future, and the church leadership knows this.

I was brought up believing that everything written by Ellen came directly from God. It took years to get rid of the cultic mentality that Ellenology brings.

At this thread there are examples of the terrible letters that Ellen wrote to her own kids:

http://www.forthegospel.org/forum/viewthread/132/

There was no gospel presented in my day, and the adults who are propagating this stuff also have no gospel.

Stan

This is so sad!  It vivdly brings to mind my personal experience as a teenager. 

I joined the Cincinnati SDA Church in the spring of 1959. I was 15 years old.  I enrolled in Mt. Vernon Academy the next school year.  I was so gung-ho about Adventism that I quickly became an EGW fanatic.  I studied “Messages To Young People” like it was the Bible!  Most of my academy schoolmates thought I was a religious freak - and I was.

My favorite EGW quote (which I can still recite from memory) was:

“When we reach the standard that the Lord would have us reach, worldlings will regard Seventh-day Adventists as odd, singular, straightlaced extremists.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, pg. 289.

Ellen’s “standard” was my focus and spiritual goal, guaranteed to bind me in legalism and fear. 

It was not until I was a junior in college, at Andrews University, that I came to understand the Gospel - in second-year Greek class, under the tutelage of Ivan Blazen.

Yet it took me another thirty years to escape the spell of Adventism over me.  How many wasted years of stunted or nonexistent spiritual growth, with all of the accompanying mistakes and confusion and sins that legalism breeds.

I am glad God redeems everything in our messed-up lives when we at last surrender it all to Jesus!

Bob

John 3:16
I found that website when I was looking for something about EGW.  I wanted to cry for all the SDA children who will be brainwashed by this information.
I went to SDA schools all my life and I never, never questioned what I was taught.  It was not the thing to do.  This was in Southern California during the late forties and all of the fifties.  I know, I am aging myself!
God very gently, persistently tugged at me until I finally let go of everything SDA 3 years ago.  He had been working on me for a long time.
It is kind of funny, thinking about what is going through my mind right now.  The pastor that married my ex and I gave us EGW books for our wedding.  They were in white.  I read both of them, but my ex would not.  Oh, was I angry at him, but I married him anyway.  The funny thing is now I am no longer SDA.  He has not been SDA since we married.
I sent him an email about two years ago, but it came back to me because his email would not accept it. I apologized telling him why I am no longer SDA.
I am so glad my son is not SDA and is not exposing his son to the SDA religion. 
God has been good.  Since I left for good, God has shown me how he has led me in the way I raised by son and how I relate to my sisters and brothers.
Yes, I want to cry for the current SDA children.  So I pray that God take care of them.  God is so Awesome.
Diana

Will the cronies at the GC when pressed,also be so adamant that this information is not “endorsed officially” by them like they did with that excuse for a bible by Blanco?
Will they say in years to come, that these students were too obsessed with Ellen White quotes and used them indiscriminately, when they finally see the true Jesus and become “formers?”
I can see Jesus weeping as he did over Jerusalem. I remember as well, when I was forced to learn that statement about “Jesus waiting with longing desire for his character to be reflected...” blah, blah, blah,during Pathfinders. Such a lie.What does a young child know or care about all that?
Has that 16 year old young man even read the bible in depth in order to be telling others about Jeremiah or the “Jewish nation having to wait hundreds of years for a message from the Lord?” The people on this forum will admit to not reading the bible indepth until later in life.
The 16 year olds I used to see in the church were interested in music that made the older folk upset,or checking out the next guy or girl, not what the “fundamental belief on the gift of prophecy” states. Not that he is a stupid kid or anything, but the adults who are using him should be ashamed of themselves. And some are afraid to say that Ellen is a false prophet,believed in a false Jesus,was a medium really, not even a prophet, and the SDA church is a cult? I have no problem with saying that!

Greg, thanks for bringing this to our attention.  There does seem to be a real effort on the part of the church to introduce and legitimize Ellen G. White early in SDA children’s lives and place her into the fabric of their religious experience.  This can also be seen with other books like the one mentioned a while back about the Sanctuary doctrine aimed at kids found here and with the promotion of the Clear World Bible for Kids- a convenient way to infuse EGW directly into the “Bibles” of highly impressionable youngsters. 

Randy, I couldn’t agree with you more.  Why not help place kid’s focus on Christ rather than all of these peripherals?  This was my experience growing up unfortunately.  Lots of emphasis on things like Sabbath-keeping, eating healthfully, not dancing or listening to quetionable music, etc., etc., but little emphasis on Christ.  I remember in third grade we had a Catholic kid in my class in my small SDA school who’s Mom had the audacity to send ham sandwiches with him to school for lunch.  One day at lunch we told him he wouldn’t go to heaven because he was eating pig and went to church on Sunday—pretty soon we had him in tears.  It was around that time that an attempt was made to asassinate the pope and we teased him pretty hard about that, as well.  What great little Christian kids we were.  Not long after this his parents yanked him out of our school.

Well, with the risk of dodging in a shooting gallery, here goes…

The simple facts are, that EGW is there. The church’s views on EGW are there. Kids are being raised in the SDA church. Ergo, the beliefs of EGW are still there for the kids.

How should they respond?

You guys have to see this from an SDA perspective, not a former’s perspective.  As nice and pat as it would be for you for the SDA church to abandon EGW, it is not the current reality, nor it will it be.

So, if it is there, how is it being dealt with?

The issue is not should there be EGW propaganda. There is going to be EGW apologetic that our youth are exposed to whether you like it or not.  The issue needs to be, how is it being portrayed?

Ask yourself this, formers...would you want these kids to be exposed and introduced to EGW the way you were? Do we want a new generation of SDA kids to learn an infallible, verbally inspired EGW? Do you want them to grow up confused as ever when they learn EGW a certain way then go on the internet where a harsh dose of reality hits them over the head and makes them bitter Christians, or worse, moves away from Christianity all together as was the experience of some of you?

Our kids must be taught correctly so they can make an informed decision. The ‘all or nothing’ approach from both historic SDAism and former-Adventism is not a well informed and logical approach to choose to reject or accept EGW.

I don’t want to see my youth choose EGW by accepting slavish devotion and infallibility of EGW which ignores contextual, historical and theological errors any more than I want them to reject EGW by reading bitter, one sided diatribe from former-Adventist websites. It is not helping our youth by brainwashing them by proof-texting to support a one sided opinion (and yes, formers, I believe that the anti-EGW rhetoric is just as brainwashing as the historic EGW).

If my kids want to know more about who EGW is and why I believe she is inspired, I will make them read Graeme Bradford’s “More Than a Prophet”. Then when they have a balanced view, I would encourage them to read the one sided opinions of SDA apologists and SDA critics.

Then they will be ready to make up there minds.

Greg, My first post disappeared and I thought it was lost. Now I see it was posted.I thought I was getting the “Jess syndrome.”
My re-write said,” will they, the GC, some time in the future, when these students find the real Jesus, also say like they are saying now, that those formers were obsessed with Ellen White and did not have a “balanced view” of the prophet? The ones who follow the party line and become intrenched in the lies will re-write the “more than a prophet” books and update the “biblical perspectives” web site.
I see that someone beat me to that little phrase.
Why can’t we just tell people where to find such and such in the BIBLE, or better yet, “read your bible like the Bereans?” That would be too easy. No sales to boost their salaries in that method.
Must it be said once more that former Adventists are bitter Christians?

Hi Phen, for some reason your last two posts were flagged by the spam filter, so I had to allow them through manually.  As far as I know, the spam filter does not take theology into consideration when blocking a post!

If anyone else notices their post not going through immediately, assume it was the spam filter and I will send it through as soon as I see it.

And just to add my quick two cents to this discussion, I have a hard time justifying a publication that portrays Ellen White in a way that is inconsistent with history (and reality).  If “Ellen White 2.0” must be created so the kids won’t suffer too much by being exposed to version 1.0, why not finish the job by teaching about Jesus from the Bible rather than running it through her?

Greg

Phen, I didn’t say that if you read it. I said ‘bitter diatribe’ against EGW. I rarely see a ‘well informed, objective’ perspective when I read the attacks on EGW.

This is my point.

Usually it is uncompromising devotion or complete unobjective criticism with neither side seeing the other’s or even listening to the other.

I am not worried about SDA kids learning about EGW. I am concerned with them being barraged by these conflicting and confusing perspectives.

As for ‘Why don’t they just learn Christ and follow the bible?” This is not the point or the objective of discussion. Again, you must take this as a given and still understand that EGW is there and will always be there and needs to be dealt with. Wishing for ‘what should be’ and ‘what could be’ isn’t going to change the objective reality of ‘what will be’. This must be dealt with as it’s own entity and it will be.

So how can it be approached best? That is the question.

by Greg
And just to add my quick two cents to this discussion, I have a hard time justifying a publication that portrays Ellen White in a way that is inconsistent with history (and reality).

Have you (and Phen for that matter) read the book? Perhaps it would be wise for the formers on this website to put their perspective and bias on the shelf (as I would encourage historic SDAs as well) and read Bradford’s book in its entirety before judging it.

[quote author="Guibox"]
Have you (and Phen for that matter) read the book? Perhaps it would be wise for the formers on this website to put their perspective and bias on the shelf (as I would encourage historic SDAs as well) and read Bradford’s book in its entirety before judging it.

Guibox, I have not read Bradford’s book in its entirety, but do I need to read his book to determine whether or not Ellen White’s words square with the Bible?  It seems to me, the better option is to cut out the middleman and go straight to the source.

As Phen said, this is what Paul encouraged the Bereans to do and it is still wise counsel.  Even Ellen White recommended testing her writings by the Scriptures and to cast her aside if she was not in harmony with them.

Greg

Guibox,
I did read some of that book. I have read a lot of the convoluted explainations that Bacchoicchi wrote as well. I have been an SDA, for YEARS. I KNOW what it is all about. I have gone on now. I am NOT going back. I don’t want to read any more twists and turns and pretzel type discussions about a proven false prophet. She is in the same category as Joseph Smith and all the other disturbed self apointed mediums. If they were living today, they would all have their turn on Montel Williams’ show.
She did NOT have the Spirit of Prophecy as the bible states! The canon is closed and she is not a part of it. I don’t want to read anything else that she wrote if I can help it. It is bad enough reading it here. My bible is good enough for me. Jesus is slowly washing that junk from my mind, and has taken away the thick, dark, suffocating veil that is draped all over the SDA church.
Call that harsh. You are welcome to your opinion. Give me Jesus.
The false prophets in the bible were called just that- FALSE.

Phen, if you truly believe that way, then you won’t spend another minute either discussing it or trying to dispute it, will you?

What I find with many formers is the equivalent of “Oh no, I can’t watch anymnore of that scary movie!” All the while peeking through their fingers.

If you feel that strongly, you won’t waste any more time on it. I believe that many formers should simply move on with their walk instead of wallowing in what they claim to be free from, like the type of conduct I see at FAF. 

Posted anonymously by: Anonymous

[quote author="guibox"]
I am not worried about SDA kids learning about EGW. I am concerned with them being barraged by these conflicting and confusing perspectives.

Guibox, what could be more conflicting and confusing than a false prophet? The barrage does continue. The defenders of egw vs the defenders of the Gospel.

[quote author="guibox"]
Perhaps it would be wise for the formers on this website to put their perspective and bias on the shelf (as I would encourage historic SDAs as well) and read Bradford’s book in its entirety before judging it.

Guibox, have you put your perspective and bias on the shelf? You seem very blind to the fact that egw contradicts the very essence of the Gospel. Calling a self-proclaimed ‘more than a prophet’ a false prophet is in no way bitter diatribe. We call it as it is. If they speak not according to the Scriptures guess how much lesser their light really is! No book, not even Bradford’s book, can erase the blatant contradictions that came from the pen of egw. Bradford’s book will not succeed in making a false prophet acceptable.

Remember that whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.

Guibox,
You make a good, upstanding, solid SDA.You just love telling people what they should or should not do, and what they “truly believe.”
As I recall, this site is by former SDAs. As I said before, you have a problem with former SDAs on the FAF forum and you need to get over that.Why do you keep referring to what you read on FAF? You should take your own advice and not read anything on that forum don’t you think? If a person cannot speak on this forum without your snide remarks, then Greg was incorrect when he said that this was a safe place to be.
Keep it that way and stop fussing about my supposed “wollowing.” We are in this life together and I do consider you as a brother in Christ not withstanding our opposing beliefs.