EGW’s 100,000 Pages

During Ellen White’s 70-year prophetic ministry, she wrote approximately 100,000 pages, whereas the Bible contains approximately 1200 pages (English). Does this mean that Seventh-day Adventists consider Ellen White’s writings to be more important than the Bible?  There may be a few misguided Adventists who espouse this view, but the historic position of the church, which most Adventists espouse today, is that none of Ellen White’s writings are more important than the Bible (go here for historic statements from church leaders). Although Ellen White wrote many more pages than that found in the Bible, her prolific pen was devoted mostly to applying the Bible, magnifying the Bible, and exhalting the Bible.  At the conclusion of her first book, A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Ellen G. White(1851), which contained her early visions, she wrote: “I recommend to you, dear reader, the Word of God as the rule of your faith and practice. By that Word we are to be judged. God has, in that Word, promised to give visions in the “last days”; not for a new rule of faith, but for the comfort of His people, and to correct those who err from Bible truth” (64; reprinted in Early Writings, 78). If her purpose, as an inspired writer, was to exhalt the Bible and draw minds to it, then how can her writings (regardless of their size) be above that which she exhalts to the highest authority? While she believed her writings had authority, this authority bowed to the final authority of the Bible (read this important article for an explanation). According to the Seventh-day Adventist understanding, then, even if the Ellen White writings consisted of 500,000 pages, they would still be subordinate to the final authority of the Bible. Thus, the argument that Ellen White’s writings are considered more important than the Bible because they contain more pages is superfluous.