Chapter 8—White Estate Research Policies

The White Lie is replete with criticism of the restrictive research policies of the Ellen White Estate. What is the White Estate doing to facilitate research, and what restrictions are imposed? ^{1The White Lie, pp. 32, 59, 84, 87, 163, 197, 198, 200, 205, 218.}

In 1982, at the time The White Lie was published, research in Ellen White’s unpublished materials was guided by the “manuscript release” policy. This policy accomplished three purposes:TAWL 12.6

• It acquainted church leaders with materials going into general circulation.

• It made sure that the letter or portion of a letter which was requested for release was accompanied by enough context to make its meaning clear.

• It protected the privacy of pioneer workers and church members whose mistakes or sins may be revealed in the confidential messages the Lord gave to His messenger to be passed on to them.

Operating under this policy, research in Ellen White’s letters and manuscripts was pursued by hundreds of students each year. Every month the White Estate Board of Trustees approved “manuscript releases” at the request of seminary students and others from around the world. Six Ellen G. White-S.D.A. Research Centers were in operation in various parts of the world, encouraging study in Ellen White’s unpublished materials.TAWL 12.7

All through the years since the 1930s when graduate studies were first taken up by Seventh-day Adventist educators, the White Estate staff has encouraged and assisted in research by those developing their master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. Recognition of this may be found in the introductory pages of scores of such documents.TAWL 12.8

In the years since 1982, six more Ellen G. White-S.D.A. Research Centers have been established in various parts of the world and a third branch office has opened at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. (The Research Center at Loma Linda University became a branch office in 1985.) To further facilitate research in the unpublished materials, the White Estate is in the process of placing all of Ellen G. White’s letters and manuscripts on CD-ROM, as it has done with all of her published works.TAWL 12.9