Ellen White's Health Plagiarisms


Dr. J.H. Kellogg, a long-time associate of Ellen White, explains how he discovered Ellen White's plagiarism of health reformer L.B. Coles:
Dr. Kress was down in Detroit, and he ran across the book eight or ten years ago--Cole's Philosophy of Health, and he came to me with great interest and he said:
"I have discovered a book here that reads just like [Ellen White's book] How to Live. Such a wonderful thing that the Lord should put this into two minds at different times, but the curious thing about it is that this book was written before How to Live was written."
I said, "Dr. Kress, I know all about that. I have got the book in my library. It is Cole's Philosophy of Health, isn't it?"
"Yes"
"Now, I know all about it. His book was in my library, and sister White had access to it when How to Live was written, and that is the explanation of that. There is no miracle about that." (Interview with J.H. Kellogg as published in Spectrum, vol. 20, no. 3, p. 58)

Ellen White and Joseph Smith: Kindred Prophets
Joseph Smith's claims (below) are found in Doctrine and Covenants to which Ellen G. White had access from the time she was a small child.

Did Ellen White copy her first "vision"?
by Dale Ratzlaff


There is creditable evidence pointing to the conclusion that Ellen White copied her first “vision” from Joseph Turner.
Ellen White’s first two visions taught that the door of mercy was closed for everyone outside the little band of Adventists. While they had given up the shut door teaching for a short time, her visions corrected this “error” and the door was shut—again.

Compare Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith with Ellen White!

Similar Early Experiences
Similarities in Message and Mission

Ellen White's Plagiarism of Apocrypha and Fiction

This page examines some of the fictional and questionable sources that Mrs. White used in writing her books.

APOCRYPHA

The term "apocrypha" is derived from the Greek word meaning "hidden" or "secret". These books are considered by scholars to be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. They were not accepted into the Jewish canon formed late in the 2nd century AD. The Reformers did not consider these books on a par with the rest of the Scriptures; thus the custom arose of making the Apocrypha a separate section in the Protestant Bible, or sometimes even of omitting them entirely. In 1827, Protestant Bible societies took a definite stand against it. The Catholic view, expressed as a doctrine of faith at the Council of Trent, is that the Apocrypha is canonical Scripture.
In their early career, Ellen and James White held the Apocrypha in high regard. In 1847, James quoted from it in his publication "A Word to the Little Flock", and Ellen made the following comments from a vision she had several years later:
I saw that the Apocrypha was the hidden book, and that the wise of these last days should understand it. (Manuscript 4, 1850)

Ellen G. White -- the Myth and the Truth
by Å. Kaspersen

10 -Plagiarism


Patriarchs and Prophets

The book Patriarchs and Prophets (1890, 1913) comprises the first volume in the Conflict series, and is heavy laden with plagiarized material.

In particular, material from Edersheim's Bible History: Old Testament, vol. 1-4, has been the cornerstone for Patriarchs and Prophets. In addition, material and thoughts from John Milton'sParadise Lost (1667) has found its way into Ellen White's book. It is very striking to glance at the chapter sequence in Edersheims work and Ellen's book. They are identical, and in the same order. This can hardly be called accidental.

The story in Patriarchs and Prophets about Satan's fall in heaven etc., shows striking similarities with John Miltons famous work from 1667, Paradise Lost. Ellen White received a copy of Milton's book from J.N. Andrews, who commented on that, but she tells that she "placed it on a high shelf". Maybe she had read Milton's book after all - before Andrews handed her a copy?