Scripture is God’s message for all time and all people. It is the measuring rod, the yardstick against which everything else has to be measured— the supreme guide for every Christian. The writings of Ellen White, on the other hand, are God’s messages for a particular people, His remnant church, at a particular time in history, the end time. Her writings aren’t a new or additional standard of doctrine but a help for the church in the time of the end. Hence her writings have a different purpose from that of Scripture. They are the “lesser light to lead men and women to the greater light” (CM 125). GP 75.3
In 1982 Ministry magazine published the following statement of affirmations and denials issued by the Biblical Research Institute in regard to the Ellen G. White writings. 1General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, “The Inspiration and Authority of the Ellen G. White Writings,” Ministry 55, no. 8 (August 1982): 21. Although it never became an officially voted statement of the church, it is a good summary of the relationship between the writings of Ellen G. White and the Bible. GP 75.4