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    Economy of Revelation

    It seems that there is an “economy of revelation” in the experience of prophets. That is to say, the Lord does not tell the prophet what he can discover for himself. The apostle Paul was told by others of a problem in the house of Chloe. Then he sent counsel based on vision. See 1 Corinthians 1:11.WDEGWB 3.2

    Ellen White, too, was not always given all details in vision. She advocated a reform dress suggesting that the skirt should hang about nine inches from the floor. In related counsel she had said that the skirt should reach a little below the top of a ladies’ boot. In still another place she said the skirt should clear the street an inch or two without being lifted by hand. Some Adventist women saw an apparent contradiction, so she dealt with the question:WDEGWB 3.3

    The proper distance from the bottom of the dress to the floor was not given to me in inches (The Review and Herald, October 8, 1867).

    She then described a vision in which she had seen three groups of women with skirts of varying lengths—too long, too short, and just right. She made a dress like she had seen and wore it. Other Adventist ladies followed her lead. But the question lingered—How many inches from the floor was correct? Her comment was:WDEGWB 3.4

    When the subject of inches came up, in order to secure uniformity as to the length everywhere, a rule was brought and it was found that the length of our dresses ranged from eight to ten inches from the floor (Ibid). (Emphasis supplied.)

    Is it surprising that the prophetic messenger went to the aid of a ruler to determine a proper dress length? Not if we know that prophets were left to describe visions in their own words. Ellen White later dropped her advocacy of this exact style of dress. One style was not to be adopted for all time.WDEGWB 3.5

    In this same article Ellen White made a familiar statement:WDEGWB 3.6

    Although I am as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in writing my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words I employ in describing what I have seen are my own, unless they be those spoken to me by an angel, which I always enclose in marks of quotation (Ibid).

    Some who have read these comments have interpreted her to mean that she claimed never to use any human aids in her writing. But we can see she used a rule to find the length of a dress. When she says here that “the words... are my own” she obviously means words of her own choosing. At times this clearly includes quoting others.WDEGWB 3.7

    At another time someone was disturbed because she had written that there were forty rooms in a hospital. He said he had lost confidence in her because there were only thirty-eight rooms. Her reply was:WDEGWB 4.1

    There has never been revealed to me the exact number of rooms in any of our sanitariums; and the knowledge I have obtained of such things I have gained by inquiring of those who were supposed to know (Selected Messages 1:38).

    Speaking of her writing on the life of Christ and The Great Controversy, her son, W C White, says:WDEGWB 4.2

    The great events occurring in the life of our Lord were presented to her in panoramic scenes as also were the other portions of the Great Controversy. In a few of these scenes chronology and geography were clearly presented, but in the greater part of the revelation ... she was left to study the Bible and history, and the writings of men ... to get the chronological and geographical connection (Selected Messages 3:459, 460).

    There clearly was an “economy of revelation.” W C White wrote at another time:WDEGWB 4.3

    She was left to study the Bible and history to get dates and geographical relations and to perfect her description of details (Selected Messages 3:462).

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