Seventh-day Adventists believe the writings of Ellen G. White are “an authoritative source of truth…”

     This is perhaps the underlying error of the SDA church. The Fundamental Beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists, No. 17, includes the following statement.
…As the Lord’s messenger, her [Ellen G. White’s] writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance , instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested (Emphasis added).
     SDAs believe the writings of Ellen G. White (EGW) are inspired on the same level as the Bible. Because she is the later inspired writer, many SDAs hold that her interpretation of the Bible is to be preferred over the meaning the biblical text itself conveys. While it is true that the writings of EGW contain good material, it is equally true that they contain gross error. Her early writings are legalistic and very condemning of nearly all other churches. She, with others of her time, saw the Catholic Church as “Babylon” and the “Harlot” of Revelation, but she did not stop with the condemnation of the Catholic Church. She called the Protestant churches which did not accept SDA’s unique teaching on the three angels messages of Revelation 14 “fallen churches” and the “daughters of Babylon.”
     Ellen White did not invent SDA erroneous theology, but she cemented it into the foundation of Adventism. The writings of Ellen White support, and are often the chief support, for all of their unbiblical doctrines. And here is the Adventist dilemma: many within Adventism would like to jettison EGW as “a continuing and authoritative source of truth” and the unbiblical doctrines supported by her writings. To do so, however, would cause a serious crisis in Adventism. To avoid this crisis, Adventist leadership has used over a dozen different tactics of dealing with known error without ever admitting to the error.