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Ellen G. White and Her Critics - Contents
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    Three Important Conclusions

    Mrs. White says that “since the flood” there “has been amalgamation of man and beast,” and adds that the results may be seen in (1) “almost endless varieties of species of animals,” and in (2) “certain races of men.” There are several important conclusions that follow from this passage:EGWC 314.3

    1. Mrs. White speaks of two clearly distinguished groups that testify to this amalgamation. There are (1) “species of animals” and (2) “races of men.” There is no suggestion that there were species part man and part animal. But how could there be amalgamation of man with animal and the result be anything else than hybrid man-animal species. She does not even hint of subhuman monsters or caricatures of man. On the contrary, as just noted, she speaks unequivocally of “species of animals” and “races of men.”EGWC 314.4

    2. Mrs. White speaks of the “almost endless varieties of species of animals” that have resulted from amalgamation. Now the standard attack on Mrs. White in the matter of amalgamation is that she reflected the thinking of those who believed the fiction of man-animal crosses. If we rightly understand that fiction, as it has been wafted through the centuries by the winds of credulity, a few large, mythical creatures of antiquity were supposed to have resulted from a union of man with animals. And these creatures were always supposed to reveal both human and animal features. But there is nothing in the ancient fiction that supports the idea that “almost endless varieties of species of animals” were the result of an unnatural cross of man with animals. Mrs. White is here certainly not expressing an ancient, mythical view. Not even the credulous pagans, wholly devoid of biological knowledge, would have thought of entertaining such an idea. How much more reasonable to interpret the passage to mean that these “almost endless varieties of species of animals” resulted from an amalgamation of previously existing forms of animal life!EGWC 314.5

    3. Mrs. White calls upon the reader to look about him for proof of what she is saying. In other words, whatever this amalgamation has been, its fruitage is evident today. “As may be seen,” she says, “in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men.” But can anything be “seen” in our day that would provide support for the ancient myth of beast-men? Certainly there is nothing in the savage races of some remote heathen lands that even suggests a cross between man and animals. *In the middle of the nineteenth century, when some dark recesses of the earth had scarcely been touched by explorers, strange stories were often told as to the kind of savages who dwelt there. Probably some who first read Mrs. White’s amalgamation statements unconsciously allowed these strange stories to determine their interpretation of the passages. Needless to say, now that all the savage races are fairly well known, the testimony of those who have come in contact with them is that though they may be depraved, they are exceedingly human in every respect, and need only the opportunity to acquire the white man’s habits and vices! Mrs. White does not comment on the phrase, “certain races of men.” She gives no details as to how the races intermingled after the Flood, nor does she say that such postdiluvian intermingling was a “base crime.” We need only to note that she makes the simple statement that “amalgamation” produced “races of men,” not races part man and part animal. And if the most degraded race of men does not suggest such a cross, much less do any species of animals suggest it. But the results of the amalgamation of which Mrs. White speaks “may be seen” by the reader.EGWC 315.1

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