Ellen White’s Eyes While in Vision

Hodder and Couperus claim that Ellen White’s visions were characterized by “staring or eye-rolling.” ^{21Hodder and Holmes, pp. 160, 161; Couperus, p. 21.} This is an interesting allegation, but what are the facts as reported by eyewitnesses?ViOSe 23.3

John Loughborough, an eyewitness, records that:ViOSe 24.1

Her eyes are always open, but she does not wink; her head is raised, and she is looking upward, not with a vacant stare, but with a pleasant expression, only differing from the normal in that she appears to be looking at some distant object. ^{22J. N. Loughborough, The Great Second Advent Movement (Fort Worth, Tex.: Southern Publishing Association, 1905), p. 204.}

George Butler, another eyewitness, agrees with Loughborough. He says:ViOSe 24.2

[Her] eyes are always open, and seem to be gazing at some far-distant object, and are never fixed on any person or thing in the room. They are always directed upward. They exhibit a pleasant expression. There is no ghastly look or any resemblance of fainting. ^{23Ibid. (emphasis supplied).}

So far as this researcher has been able to determine, not a single witness ever stated that Ellen White’s eyes rolled or that she stared while in vision.ViOSe 24.3