Conclusion
What do Seventh-day Adventists say, then, about the infallibility and inerrancy of the prophets? “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.”IRWHW 70.2
The Bible writers themselves were not infallible men. However, the Holy Spirit who inspired them was infallible. Their revelations (“this treasure”) came directly from an infallible God. These inspired men communicated the message as fallible men, using imperfect human language (“earthen vessels”) as the medium of that communication.IRWHW 70.3
With regard to Ellen White, the question was raised while she was still alive, “Do Seventh-day Adventists regard Sister White as infallible?”IRWHW 70.4
The question was answered in the pages of the Review and Herald in 1883 by W. H. Littlejohn in a succinct, forthright statement:IRWHW 70.5
No. Neither do they believe that Peter or Paul was infallible. They believe that the Holy Spirit which inspired Peter and Paul was infallible. They believe also that Mrs. White has from time to time received revelations from the Spirit of God, and that revelations made to her by the Spirit of God are just as reliable as revelations made by the same Spirit to other persons. IRWHW 70.6
The Seventh-day Adventist denomination today still holds that Ellen White was reliable, trustworthy, and authoritative as a prophet of the Lord.IRWHW 70.7
The Adventist church maintains that she was inspired in the same manner, and to the same degree, as the prophets of the Bible; and yet, paradoxically, the church holds also that we do not make her writings another Bible, nor do we even consider them an addition to the sacred canon of Scripture.IRWHW 70.8
The explication of this position more fully in a discussion of “the proper relationship of the writings of Ellen G. White to the Scriptures” will be the subject of part 3 of this series.IRWHW 70.9
With Peter one may declare with courage and confidence, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day drawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).IRWHW 70.10