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ANDREWS GSEM 534 - Ellen G. 'White and the So-Called "Plagiarism" Charge: An Examination of Five Issues

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File0001File0002File0003File0004File0005File0006File0007File0008File0009File0010File0011File0012File0013File0014File0015File0016File0017File0018File0019File0020File0021File0022File0023File0024File0025File0026File0027File0028File0029File0030File0031File0032File0033File0034File0035File0036File0037File0038File0039File0040File0041File0042File0043File0044File0045File0046File0047File0048File0049File0050File0051File0052File0053File0054File0055File0056File0057File0058File0059File0060File0061GSEM 534Lecture OutlineRevised:April30, L999Ellen G. 'White and the So-Called "Plagiarism" Charge:An Examination of Five IssuesRoger'W. CoonIntroductionA- Signiftcance of the Topic1. Of all of the so<alled "problem" issues, two, perhaps, have been more successful indestroying confidence ln, and the credibility of, Ellen G. White, as a true, authenticprophet of the Lord, than any others:a. Certain statements she made in the realm of the scientific, which at fust hearingoften engender mirth--and doubts-because, superficially, they appear soimprobable, and "off-the-wall," as to make true believers not a littleuncomfortable, if not downright embarrassed.b. The so-called "Plagiarism" charge.2. With regard to the latter, a former SDA minister in Southem California has been theforemost exponent of this serious criticism in the L980's:a. Inthe LosAngelesTimes of Oct.23,L980 (andreprintedinTheWashingtonPosf,on Nov. 7, 198Q page C-1) he made three allegations:(1) Mrs. White is a thief: she stole the literary productions of otherauthors, and replaced their narne with her own.(2) She is, furthermore, a liar: for she repeatedly denied that she did thisthing.(3) She and her husband were shameless exploiters of their churchmembers: for they constifuted a "captive" merchandise marketupon which they forced her writings-requiring members to buythese many volumes--thus making an enormous personal fortuneat the expense of their poorer followers.3. Now, while all three charges are demonstrably false, some of the documentationamassed by this critic superficially appears to lend a certain credibility to hisallegations.a. The charge, whictu ultimately, goes to the very heart of the question of personalintegrity (and, therefore, of believability), is a most serious one--especiallyfor a prophet!4. A little historical perspective may be helpful at this point:a. This former minister was not the first to make these charges of allegedplagiarism (nor will he be the last); they have been raise before.L ite r a ry B o now ing/P log iar ism- 2b. And the charge raises a number of fundamental questions which the churchmust address.(1) Let us first examine some of the implications.B. Five Issues Identifted:1. The Deffnitional Issue:a. What is "Plagiarism?"b. What is "Literary Borrowing?"c. What is the crucial distinction between the two?2. The Biblical Issue:a. Is originality of composition a legitimate, valid test of an authentic prophet?b. Is there a Biblical precedent for the phenomenon of "literary borrowing?"(1) If so, to what extent is it observable?(2) Where?c. What is the significance of Solomon's declaration (in Eccl. \2:9,10) concerninghis own literary practice in the production of the Book of Proverbs?d. Is percentage of borrowing a legitimate issue?3. The Irgal Issuq Did EGW break any of the laws of the land in the pursuit of herliterary enterprise?a. What aspects of plagiarism are actionable in literary law?b. Was EGW (or, subsequently, her Estate) ever sued in a court of law for criminalviolation of the law?(l) Was she (or her Estate) ever even threatened with such a lawsuit?c. What definitive conhibution did commercial-law specialist Vincent Ramik makein l98l?4.The EthicaUMoral Issuq Was what she did honest,even if not technically criminal?Did she deceive (or attempt to deceive) her readers into believing that every wordthat she ever wrote was of original composition?a. Did EGW ever deny her literary borrowing?b. Conharily, in what specific categories of materials did she publicly acknowledgeutilizing prior literary materials of other authors?c. Was her church leadership (theo or now) guilty of a conspiratorial "cover-up,"in an attempt to protect her-and themselves?d. How have plagiarism charges surfaced almost cyclically, throughout SDAdenominational history?(L) Were theymet?(2) How, andbywhom?e. What major underlying problem faced church leadership at the 1919 BibleConference and Bible/History Teachers Conference?f. Was James \A/hite guilty of overstatement in his defense of his wife's literarypractices?(1) Did church leadership deal with that problem? How? When?g. Is the Farurie Bolton testimony credible, given her documented history of mentalL iterary B o rr ow ing/P lag ia r ism-3illness? (See APPendi* H.)5. The Practical Issue:a. How does an omniscient God effectively communicate truth to-and through--acomparatively uneducated prophet-+specially where a strictly "-"+ul-1n"&ur,i.ul view of inspirati-on is ruled out (as EGW herself precluded itsadmissibility)?b. What testimony lia W. C. White provide conceming the Angel Gabriel'sassurance to his mother of divine aid, vis-a-vis her physical andeducational limitations?c. what was EGW's four-point philosophy of sacred composition?d. Why did she borrow? What did she borrow?e. What did she leaveunborrowed?f. What h"lPfui insights are provided by:(1) Syndicated columnist James J. I0patrick, ]r.?(2) l9th-Century Amherst College President Heman Humphrey?AcknowledgmentsFour SDA scholars in particular have done exceptionally helpful research in thisarea, to whom I owe a significant debt of obligation in the preparation of thispresentation:(f) pr. Robert W. Olson, now-retired (1990) Secretary of the Ellen G. White Estate.(2) Dr. Ronald D. Graybrll, formerly an Associate Secretary of the White Estate,and, later, CMir of the Departrnent of History and Political Science, LaSierra University.(3) White Estate Archivist Timothy L. Poirier(e) pt. Fred Veltnan, former chair of the Pacific Union College ReligolDepartrnent, whose thorough study of literary bgnorying rn The Desire ofAgZs provides the most exhaustive study of its kind ever undertaken inSDA scholarly circles.I. The Deftnitional Issuei.. The late Dr. Charles E. Weniger, Dean of the SDA Theological Seminary and teacherof one of its courses in research methodology, often told his students that:a. "All researchbegins with the dictionary."2. And, at the outset, it is crucially important to distinguishbetween


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ANDREWS GSEM 534 - Ellen G. 'White and the So-Called "Plagiarism" Charge: An Examination of Five Issues

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