Plagiarism and Literary Theft

It has long been known that Ellen White had taken material from many
sources and included them in her writings and books, without giving
credit to the original authors.
Many accounts of her 'visions' were nothing more than her saying "I was
shown" and then using the words of other authors to describe what she
claims had been revealed to her in visions.

Adventists are very defensive when the issue of Ellen White's Plagiarism
comes up.
However in many circles she is known as the 'Paraphrasing Prophet', the
'Plagiarizing Prophet'.

William Johnson (Editor of the Adventist Review) gives a conservative

estimate of her plagiarism in the book "The Great Controversy" alone, to
be about 20% - this is roughly 140 pages of material that was taken from
other sources, palmed off as original material from the pen of Ellen
White, and claimed to have come from divine inspiration. Her books
were sent to the publishers and sold for profit, with no credit given to
her external sources.

Adventists have been quick to justify this by saying the authors she
stole this material from were inspired so therefore, vicariously, so was
she. And they saw no problem with her taking from these sources, word
for word, page for page, and calling it divine revelation.

Let's look at an example of her copying here:

Link here for original article

The Adventist church has made many defenses from "There were no
copyright laws at that time", "The original authors did not suffer
financial losses because of her plagiarism", or "It was not plagiarism at
all but rather 'literary borrowing.'" - Adventists went as far as to hire
their own attorney to to 'investigate' and clear Ellen White of all
plagiarism charges... oddly enough the attorney's report is Copyrighted
and cannot be displayed without permission from the White Estate.

Hypocrisy to the Uttermost

Let's take a look at some statements concerning Plagiarism as

described by Uriah Smith and other early Adventists. Let's see from
their own words and publications; how they felt about plagiarism when
the issue had arisen after a denomination had supposedly taken a few
stanzas from an Adventist Hymn and used it in their Hymn Book.

Adventist Review and Herald Vol xxiv - Quote:

From Adventist Review and Herald Vol xxiv - Quote:"Plagiarism - This is
a word used to signify 'LITERARY THEFT', or taking the production of
another and passing them off as one's own... We are perfectly willing
that pieces of the Review, or any of our books should be published to
any extent, and all we ask is, that simple JUSTICE be done us, by DUE
CREDIT BEING GIVEN."

Adventists have identified Plagiarism as Literary Theft. They refer to

this act as unjust and ask that due credit be given

Theft by definition:
The act of stealing- to APPROPRIATE (IDEAS, credit, WORDS, etc.)
WITHOUT right or ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.- to TAKE surreptitiously or
WITHOUT PERMISSION- to claim CREDIT for ANOTHER'S IDEA

Adventists have condemned stealing and by doing so have applied guilt

appropriately to Ellen White.
According to the Adventist definitions and complaints given below Ellen
White is:
- Unjust
- Immoral
- A Thief
- A Great Sinner

From "Questions on the Sanctuary and on Ellen White":

“A plagiarist is one who pretends to have written an original article, but
who has borrowed it-perhaps STOLEN would be a more appropriate
word—FROM ANOTHER PERSON. Some people who would think it
A GREAT SIN to steal a bushel of apples or a dollar in money, have little
hesitation to STEAL THE WRITTEN THOUGHTS AND EXPRESSIONS OF
OTHERS and then palm them off as THEIR OWN. SUCH PERSONS NEED
TO HAVE THEIR MORAL SENSES SHARPENED, so that they shall
realize that it is as TRULY A THEFT to steal an article from
a BOOK or PAPER and SEND IT TO THE PRESS AS ORIGINAL, as it is to
steal anything else.” {QSEW 65.6}

Well this perfectly describes what Ellen White has done across all of her
books and writings. Taken from dozens of sources either paraphrased
or copied word for word, page for page. She published these books and
sold them for profit, without ever giving credit to the original authors.
But beyond this, she claimed the words were her very own used to
describe what God had revealed to her in vision.

Let's look at her quotes here:

"I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating or writing
a vision, as in having the vision. It is impossible for me to call up things
which have been shown me unless the Lord brings them before me at
the time that He is pleased to have me relate or write them." (Spiritual
Gifts, vol. 2, pp. 292, 293)
"Although I am dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord
in writing my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words I employ in
describing what I have seen are my own." (Review and Herald, Oct. 8,
 1867)

As we can see from the example above, the words are not her own.
They were stolen.
And looking at the statements from Uriah Smith and other early
Adventists concerning Plagiarism, it is clear that they understood what
it was, and rebuked the practice when they felt some had taken material
from their hymn book or an article in the Review. Yet they have
hypocritically given Ellen White a free pass on the literal HUNDREDS of
pages she had stolen from dozens of authors, and printed as her
original work. All while claiming these were from divine inspiration.

Take a look at some of these resources for more information on the

Plagiarism of Ellen G. White:
 Is Mrs. E.G. White a Plagiarist?
 The Paraphrasing Prophet
 Youth Instructor on Plagiarism

The video below is an excellent 5 part series which eamines the

plagiarism of Ellen G. White