Practical Application

After reconstructing the original context of Ellen White's personal writings and trying to understand what they meant to the original readers, one is better prepared to make a practical application of the message of those writings to the life of the modern reader. But the task of transposing a nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century prophetic message into a twenty-first-century culture has polarized interpreters.1EGWLM 38.2

Some, using a traditionalistic approach, impose upon the current generation ancient particulars of time and place, making them universal principles. Others, using a culturalistic approach, discard universal principles along with the ancient particulars of time and place. Both extremes end up confusing laws, rules, principles, and counsels within the inspired writings.1EGWLM 38.3

While traditionalists tend to elevate counsels objectively to the same level as laws and commandments, culturalists tend to lower laws and commandments subjectively to the same level as counsels. To avoid those extremes, one should seek to discern the universal principles that lie behind and support the particulars of time and place.1EGWLM 38.4

A classic example of this is found in Ellen White's counsel that girls should “learn to harness and drive a horse” in order to be “better fitted to meet the emergencies of life.”^{17Ellen G. White, Education, pp. 216, 217.} A traditionalist would simply overlook any change of context and argue straightforward that since Ellen White stated it at one time, all girls of all times and places should “learn to harness and drive a horse.” On the other hand, a culturalist would assume that since our transportation modes today differ significantly from those in Ellen White's day, her statement should just be disregarded as outdated and senseless.1EGWLM 38.5

By contrast, a balanced interpreter would not only acknowledge the modernization of transportation but also ask, “Is there any significant universal principle behind her counsel?” The most natural conclusion would be that girls should learn how to operate the most common transportation means available today. In some places of the world those resources might still be horses, donkeys, or camels, but in others they have been replaced over the years by bicycles, motorcycles, cars, helicopters, and airplanes. It does not matter what kind of device is being used—the basic principle is that girls should be prepared to meet “the emergencies of life,” even in matters of transportation.1EGWLM 38.6

There is the danger, however, of deriving empty “principles” out of statements that already carry concrete principles previously defined within Scripture in an unchangeable form. For example, from the fourth commandment of the Decalogue (Ex. 20:8-11) one might be tempted to draw the principle that human beings should merely keep one day of the week, but the commandment itself specifies this day as the seventh day of week (verse 10). Therefore, it would not be appropriate to interpret the principle as being merely the choice of any day of the week as the Sabbath.1EGWLM 39.1

Furthermore, there are also symbols of religious loyalty that have to be respected even when there is no evident reason for their selection. An example is the command to refrain from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:15-17), when there was apparently nothing dangerous about the fruit itself (cf. Gen. 3:6). These few examples illustrate the basic principle that divine commandments take precedence over, and even define, how principles are applied.1EGWLM 39.2

The reader should also not allow literary and hermeneutical technicalities to take the place of personal commitment to the inspired message. In Ellen White's writings one will find abundant advice and encouragement, warnings, and words of hope. Many of the counsels deal with real circumstances of daily life, such as marital relations, educating children, and living healthfully. The reader should take advantage of the counsels provided by not confining their message merely to their original setting, but also allowing them to speak to our present circumstances.1EGWLM 39.3