“Only A Letter”

In our day believers have also appeared expressing similar objections regarding the modern prophet. “Can Ellen White express theological opinions if she was not trained in theology?” some ask. “Her opinions regarding health must have depended on the specialists of her time, since she had no medical training,” others say. These objections may be discarded out of hand if the believer accepts the postulate that the prophet has another Source of information—the Holy Spirit. In fact, this contemporary prophet does not need to be a theologian to transmit true theological information. Nor does she need to be a doctor to communicate correct health counsel. She does not need to be a teacher to offer correct counsel regarding teaching methods or orientation. The prophet has access to a different source of information that we describe as the “testimony of Jesus” or the gift of prophecy and therefore does not need any of these things.VOTS 74.2

In her own day, Ellen White received objections to the authority of her writings, especially her letters. The comment, “it’s only a letter,” was often heard. The answer was not long in coming:VOTS 75.1

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. ^{5Selected Messages 1:27.}VOTS 75.2

This epistolary model of inspiration and revelation may seem to resemble the letters that we ourselves write regularly; but it is different. The notable difference is that the letters written by a prophet come from a mind inspired by the Spirit of God. Their counsel and orientation may well be blended with greetings, requests, and even the common matters that usually appear in a letter. The counsel in the letter, however, is not commonplace. It is divine counsel received through a unique model of inspiration—the epistolary model.VOTS 75.3