Ellen White Fails the Predictive and Orthodoxy tests for

true prophets
By Dr Thabani Maphosa, BDS

Oct 10 2015

Ellen White fails the predictive test

Ellen white prophesied that the Adventist system of systematic benevolence worked ‘ like magic’ but it
dismally failed to sustain the Adventist cause.

This system has been carried out and has worked like magic. It liberally
sustains the preachers and the cause. Testimonies Vol 1 pp 376

Systematic benevolence was adopted by the Seventh Day Adventists as a means of funding their work.
Within two years, however the system had proven to be a complete failure.

Our people had not been taught upon the subject of tithes and offerings very well when I first
began to labor, and the treasury was poorly supplied with funds. In our church the first effort
to regulate the matter • of funds for evangelistic work occurred in the early seventies of last
century. It was proposed by those having the business in charge for the church members to
assess the value of their respective properties and pay each year one per cent to the church
fund for evangelistic purposes. It was thought that property should yield ten per cent, and that
one per cent of the valuation should be equivalent to a tithe. In our church some estimated
their property at the amount for which they- were willing to sell it. Others sought for the town
assessor's list, which was less than half the cash value, and gave in the amount as a basis upon
which to pay to the evangelistic fund. And those who did not have property to list did not state
what they could do. The money was called "Systematic Benevolence." But the method did
not prove satisfactory, and it was discontinued with us after two years' trial, and
tithing according to the income of the individual was adopted in its stead. Lake Union
Herald Feb 24 1915 (Download a facsimile from the Adventist Archives
http://docs.adventistarchives.org/doc_info.asp?DocID=120971)

For a history of Systematic Benevolence see the White Estate document entitled ‘The History and Use
of the Tithe’ (http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/Tithe-H&U.html)

Here are some of Mrs White’s prophecies (more commonly known as ‘testimonies’) on the matter of
systematic benevolence.

The plan of systematic benevolence is pleasing to God. Testimonies Vol 1 pp 190

I saw that there should be order in the church of God, and that system is needed in carrying
forward successfully the last great message of mercy to the world. God is leading His
people in the plan of systematic benevolence, and this is one of the very points to
which God is bringing up His people which will cut the closest with some Testimonies Vol 1
pp 191

According to Ellen White’s prophecy, systematic benevolence was a test of faithfulness to God.

I saw that in the arrangement of systematic benevolence, hearts will be tested and proved. It
is a constant, living test. It brings one to understand his own heart, to see whether the
truth or the love of the world predominates. Here is a test for the naturally selfish and
covetous Testimonies Vol 1 pp 221
 If Systematic Benevolence was truly a plan from God then why did it fail? Elder D.M Canright who
later became one of Ellen White’s fiercest critics recounts how he was responsible for the
discontinuance of systematic benevolence and the adoption of tithing as it is practiced today in the
Adventist church

I was the one who made that change. In the winter of 1875-6, Elder White
requested me to visit all the churches in Michigan and straighten up their finances, which
were in bad shape. I found them discouraged, and behind on their pledges, and
dissatisfied with the Systematic Benevolence plan. After studying the subject, I set that
plan all aside, and had the churches adopt the plan of tithing as practiced by that church
ever since. All were pleased, and the finances greatly improved. I went to Battle Creek
and laid the new plan before Elder White. He readily accepted it, and the change was
made general. The Life of Ellen White by D M Canright pp 23 (Download a free pdf of this book
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CFIQFjAJah
UKEwi6xPix0rLIAhWLOxoKHT6tCno&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthecreatorscalendar.com%2Fw
p-content%2Fuploads%2FLifeOfEllenWhite.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGdYBKKP1F-
XmVQPsCY6RTkuQxdAg&sig2=VF37h7viZo7Qq1wswLB3xw&cad=rja)

Canright’s claims are confirmed in the White Estate publication entitled ‘The History and use of the Tithe under
the subheading ‘A plan with some defects’ (http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/Tithe-
H&U.html#A%20Plan%20With%20Some%20Defects)

In 1876 the conviction came to leading brethren that there were defects in the plan, especially in
the basis on which the tithe was reckoned. The following comes from a special session of the General
Conference held early that year:

"Remarks were then made by Brother Canright on the subject of systematic

benevolence. Taking certain well-ascer-tained facts as a basis, he showed that if all would
come up to the Bible plan of S.B., the amount within our ranks would reach the sum of
$150,000 yearly, instead of about $40,000 as it now is. The Lord says, 'Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse,' and until this is done, the Lord will not be 'proved,' to see whether
He will not pour out a blessing so that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Brother
White followed with lengthy and stirring remarks on the same subject.

"Brother Canright offered the following resolutions on the subject of systematic benevolence,
which were unanimously adopted by the conference and congregation:

"Resolved, That we believe it to be the duty of all our brethren and sisters, whether connected
with churches or living alone, under ordinary circumstances, to devote one-tenth of all their
income from whatever source, to the cause of God. And further

"Resolved, That we call the attention of all our ministers to their duty in this important matter
to set it plainly and faithfully before all their brethren and urge them to come up to the
requirements of the Lord in this thing.

"Moved and carried that the chairman appoint a committee of three, himself to be one of that
committee, to prepare a tract upon the subject of systematic benevolence. The Chair appointed
D. M. Canright and U. Smith to act with him as that committee."--Minutes of the Special
Session of the General Conference, published in RH April 6, 1876, p. 108.

By the year 1878 a change had been made in the plan of figuring the percentage of giving or tithe,
shifting from approximately one percent per year to the total valuation of property to ten percent of the
actual income. The former plan was found to be defective. In one case on the old plan the tithe
amounted to $10 per month, while under the new plan of an actual ten percent of income, the
tithe amounted to $36 per month. The White Estate ‘History and Use of the Tithe’
Download The Review and Herald of April 6 1876
(http://docs.adventistarchives.org/doc_info.asp?DocID=89187)

Systematic Benevolence was a monumental prophetic failure. The white estate tries to explain it away by
issuing the following statement in Testimonies Vol I

PAGE 190, SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE--IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE MESSAGE, MEN
IMPELLED BY THE URGE OF CONVICTION WENT FORTH TO PREACH THE NEW-
FOUND TRUTHS. THEY WERE DEPENDENT FOR THEIR SUPPORT UPON THEIR OWN
LABORS OR THE FREEWILL OFFERINGS OF THE BELIEVERS. SUCH AN UNCERTAIN
METHOD WAS MORE OR LESS SPASMODIC AND FLUCTUATING. EARLY IN 1859 THE
NEED FOR A MORE CERTAIN PLAN WAS FELT, AND EARNEST STUDY WAS GIVEN TO
THE MATTER. THERE GREW OUT OF THIS STUDY THE PLAN CALLED SYSTEMATIC
BENEVOLENCE. IN HARMONY WITH 1 CORINTHIANS 16:2 GIVING REGULARLY ON
THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK WAS RECOMMENDED, AND, AS SUGGESTED BY 2
CORINTHIANS 8:12-14, AN EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY. THE PLAN CALLED FOR BRETHREN TO LAY BY IN STORE WEEKLY
FROM FIVE TO TWENTY-FIVE CENTS; THE SISTERS, FROM TWO TO TEN CENTS; AND
FOR PROPERTY OWNERS TO GIVE WEEKLY FROM ONE TO FIVE CENTS ON EACH
HUNDRED DOLLARS WORTH OF ASSETS. THE PLAN WAS GENERALLY RECEIVED
WITH FAVOR, AND HERE RECEIVED 715 THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE SPIRIT
OF PROPHECY. THE GREATEST SIN IN THE CHURCH WAS POINTED OUT TO BE
COVETOUSNESS. (PAGE 194.) SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE WAS NOT
PRESENTED AS A PERFECTED PLAN, FOR IT WAS ALSO STATED THAT "GOD IS
LEADING HIS PEOPLE" IN THE MATTER, AND " IS BRINGING " THEM UP. (PAGE 191.)
AS PLANS FOR SUPPORT OF THE WORK AND THE MINISTRY BROADENED, THE
SPIRIT OF LIBERALITY WAS ENCOURAGED MORE AND MORE UNTIL AT LENGTH
LIGHT FROM THE SCRIPTURES REVEALED THE SYSTEM OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
AS THEY ARE KNOWN IN THE CHURCH TODAY. Testimonies Vol 1 APPENDIX

A quick look through the bible will show that there is not a single instance where God has given his prophets a
‘defective plan’. Not once did God give a prophet a defective plan which the prophet would later have had to
update and revise in light of scripture. Does the White estate mean to tell us that the Holy Spirit couldn’t have
revealed the perfected plan right from the outset? The White estate clearly admits that the original Systematic
Benevolence plan was not in keeping with the Scriptures. The White estate in the above statement states that
the plan ‘received the endorsement of the spirit of prophecy’. The White estate claims that the Holy Spirit
through Ellen White endorsed a plan which was contrary to that which the same Holy Spirit had inspired in the
bible. Ellen White Failed to predict the Failure of Systematic benevolence. This System of funding the church
did not work ‘like magic’ after all.

Conclusion: Ellen white fails the predictive test.

Ellen White fails the orthodoxy test.

For a full discussion on tithing see my book Defusing the Malachi Bomb.

Below are just three of Ellen white’s prophecies (Testimonies) on the now ‘perfected plan’ of tithing. I will not
discuss the theological errors in these statements because i have already dealt with them fully in my book.

"I understand that you are also proclaiming that we should not pay tithe. My brother, take off
thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon you are standing is holy ground. The Lord
has spoken in regard to paying tithes. He has said, 'Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in Mine house.' . . . Counsels on stewardship pp 83.

"Very recently I have had direct light from the Lord upon this question, that many Seventh-
day Adventists 84 were robbing God in tithes and offerings, and it was plainly revealed to me
that Malachi has stated the case as it really is. Then how dare any man even think in his heart
 that a suggestion to withhold tithes and offerings is from the Lord? Where, my brother, have
you stepped out of the path? O get your feet back in the straight path again." Counsels on
Stewardship pp 84

The Lord has of late given me special testimonies to bear in regard to the
warnings and promises He has given through Malachi. After I had spoken with great
plainness to the church in Sydney [Australia], and was putting on my wraps in the dressing
room, the question was asked me, "Sister White, do you think my father should pay tithes? He
has met with great loss recently, and he says that as soon as he cancels his debt, he will pay
tithes." I asked, "How do you regard our obligations to God, who gives us life and breath, and
all the blessings we enjoy? Would you have our indebtedness to God continually
increasing? Would you rob Him of the portion which He has never given us to use for any
other purpose than to advance His work, to sustain His servants in the ministry? For the
answer to your question the prophet Malachi asks, 'Will a man rob God? . . . But ye say,
Wherein have we robbed Thee?'--as though there was a willingness to misunderstand this
subject. The answer comes: 'In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have
robbed Me, even this whole nation.' After such a statement, would I dare say to you, You need
not pay tithes as long as you are in debt? Shall I tell you to be sure to pay all you owe any man,
although you rob God to do so?" If all would take the Scripture just as it reads, and
open their hearts to understand the word of the Lord, they would not say, "I cannot see the
tithing question. I cannot see that in my circumstances I should pay tithes." "Will a man rob
God?" The consequence of 93 doing so is plainly stated, and I would not risk the
consequence. All who will take a wholehearted, decided position to obey God; who will not
take the Lord's funds--His own money--to settle their debts; who will render to the Lord the
portion that He claims as His own, will receive the blessing of God which is promised to all
who obey Him. Counsels on Stewarsdhip pp 92, 93

See Chapters 5 and 6 of Defusing the Malachi Bomb for my refutation of Ellen White’s prophetic
statements.

Conclusion: Both the ‘defective plan’ of Systematic Benevolence (by the admission of the White
Estate) and the ‘perfected plan’ of Tithing contradict scripture. Ellen White fails the orthodoxy test.

Yours in Christ

Dr Thabani Maphosa, BDS