Daily Devotional, Year 4 – July 13 (Noble Bereans? Part 62: “Did Ellen G. White Plagiarize?”)

By admin On December 14th, 2022

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Daily Devotional, Year 4 – July 13

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Noble Bereans?

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Part 62:

“Did Ellen G. White Plagiarize?”

To read Part 1 of this series, click here…September 2nd (Noble Bereans? Part 1)

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“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica,

in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,

and searched the scriptures daily,

whether those things were so.”

Acts 17:11

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So, in this little series, the subject of those noble Bereans has been introduced. And today, it is still worthy of a little more exploration into another area of concern.

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Let’s review the key Bible passage… “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming there, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:10, 11

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St Paul Preaching (Raphael, 1515) – Wikipedia – US public domain

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AN OPEN-MINDED SPIRIT IN BEREA

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Okay, so those in Berea were more noble, because they:

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1. “Received the Word with all readiness of mind.”

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2. “And searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

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And because of this excellent, open-minded Spirit, the Bereans were ready to receive new teachings, which no doubt, conflicted with the supposed, “orthodox” teachings of that day.

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Thus, there was an open-minded love for truth which permeated their hearts, and a willingness to search the Scriptures daily, in hopes that these seemingly new teachings were indeed true!

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La Bible, Notre-Dame – cropped – Wikimedia – Share-Alike License

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TODAY’S CANCEL CULTURE

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A recent phenomenon we witness today, is what has become tagged as “Cancel Culture”.

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And this seemingly new phenomenon is the act of attempting to weaponize some misdeed or sin as a way to discount or even destroy some individual.

Some bits of academic bullying around us based on a thread by @hapyresearchers. – Public Domain – Wikimedia

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A CANCEL-CULTURE WORLD

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But as most us realize, this so-called “Cancel Culture” has been a favorite means of cancelling out some individual even as far back as the Garden of Eden, when Lucifer, speaking through a serpent, tried to cancel out the Creator God, by accusing Him of selfishness…“For God doth know that in the day in which you shall eat of it, ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil!” Genesis, Chapter 3.

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Yes, so many humans have been “cancelled” over the past millenniums, because of some accusation, either a true one but also many false accusations.

Eve & The Whispering Serpent – wwwsignsofheaven – Share-Alike License

Government Censorship – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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“Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity”

Matthew 23:28

And a very troubling aspect to today’s Cancel-Culture is to find fault with some person because of something they might have done or said in past decades. But one of the problems which critics of the cancel-culture point to concerning this current practice is that the morals of society are changing so rapidly that what some accused individual said or did years previous, were acceptable back in those decades.

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One example of this is how today’s cancel-culture fanatics have tried to cancel the founders of this nation because of some words or deeds they supposedly did, which were in sync with the commonly acceptable standards of those times.

Christopher Columbus Statue Torn Down at Minnesota State Capitol – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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“yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service”

John 16:2

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Now, many of us in the Christian community gaze out on our society and look with disgust at today’s cancel-culture for their dishonesty and hypocrisy.

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And yet, sadly, the Church has engaged in the exact same practice, many times!

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Book Burning – Santo Domingo y Los Albigenses – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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ELLEN G. WHITE

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For example, one of the most common criticisms which her detractors make is that Ellen G. White stole or plagiarized some of her writings.

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Well, what today’s church-leaders ignore is that back in the 1800’s, it was a commonly acceptable practice to borrow the writings of other Christian authors.

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As a matter of fact, Christian authors were mostly delighted to have their written thoughts shared by other authors! They viewed this practice as a glory to God, to think that their writings were shared!

Ellen G. White – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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JUDGING ELLEN WHITE BY TODAY’S AVARICIOUS STANDARDS

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And let’s not forget, that we now live in a day in which there are strict copyright laws, and very jealous attempt to prevent others from borrowing from another Christian author. But it wasn’t like this back in previous generations.

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For example, Ellen White was asked by various people to condense a rather large volume on the Book of Acts, written by another author. She made no effort to cover this up, as if she was some sort of plagiarist. No, she freely made clear that her simplifying that author’s work, was merely done to make the book more easily readable.

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But her critics today ignore that the laws and common practices in the 1800’s were vastly different from today’s stringent standards!

Ellen G. White – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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ELLEN WHITE’S OWN WORDS REGARDING BORROWING

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Ellen White often made use of literary sources in communicating her messages. In the Introduction to one of her most popular books the editors wrote:

“In some cases where a historian has so grouped together events as to afford, in brief, a comprehensive view of the subject, or has summarized details in a convenient manner, his words have been quoted; but in some instances no specific credit has been given, since the quotations are not given for the purpose of citing that writer as authority, but because his statement affords a ready and forcible presentation of the subject. In narrating the experience and views of those carrying forward the work of reform in our own time, similar use has been made of their published works”

(The Great Controversy, p. xii).

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As we can easily see here, Ellen White lived in a day in which Christians were delighted and honored to have their efforts magnified by others if that resulted in God and the Bible being magnified!

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Another historian wrote…“American legal history, Ramik issued a 27-page legal opinion in which he concluded “Ellen White was not a plagiarist, and her works did not constitute copyright infringement/piracy.” Ramik points out several factors that critics of Ellen White’s writings have failed to take into account when accusing her of literary theft or deceit. 1) Her selections “stayed well within the legal boundaries of ‘fair use.'” 2)”

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“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death”

Revelation 12:11

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Yes, there’s be a whole lot of cancelling going on throughout the ages.

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Burned at the stake.

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Tortured by cruel devices.

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Banished from the church.

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Families killed.

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Burned at the stake – Wikimedia – US Public Domain

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“The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil”

John 7:7

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And so, as already declared, the cancel-culture was alive and well, even from the original Garden, and to the day in which they cancelled Jesus, and to the apostles also being cancelled, and even the various Christian martyrs, who were cancelled.

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Crucifixion darkness – Jesus on the Cross – Gustave Dore – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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CANCEL-CULTURE COMING FOR CHRISTIANS

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And even the Bible prophesied that in these last moments, faithful Christians will likewise be cancelled, many forfeiting their jobs, livelihood, and even their very own lives simply because they boldly proclaim the true, unvarnished Gospel.

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“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

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Here is seen that Revelation 13:17 foretells of humanity’s last big cancelling of Christians, in which they will be prevented from buying and selling.

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ABOVE PICTURE: Mark of the beast – pub. dom. – Wikipedia

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“He that overcometh…I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels”

Revelation 3:5

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So, dear Christian, let’s get ourselves ready for the coming “time of trouble”, which is now already here!

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But praise be to God our Savior, who will bring us into that long-awaited Promised Land, in the earth-made-new. And in that wonderful and happy place, there will absolutely be no more cancelling!

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**And in that wonderful land, we (and all who loved Jesus throughout history) will live forever and ever, and there we will be forever happy and forever young!**

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Soldiers of the Cross-Armor Up

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me the heart of the Noble Berean as I search for truth. Give me a love for truth even though I may have to eventually stand alone from general consensus of the “group-think” mentality…

Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

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HEAVENLY OBJECT LESSON

“Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” Isaiah 24:23

When God created the Moon and the stars, He ordained them to “rule the night” (Gen. 1:16). The Moon, especially when it is full, can light your pathway through the night, as it reflects the light of the Sun.

So too, the Christian is to be a light to the world: to this sin-darkened world. But as the Moon must reflect the light of the Sun, in order to be a light to the world, so also must the Christian reflect the light of Jesus, to be a spiritual light to this planet in rebellion. Listen…

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“Ye are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

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However, during an eclipse, the Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, preventing that sunlight from shining on the Moon’s face. This is an incredible object-lesson about when the child of God allows the world to come between him and his Lord. Like the eclipse, that person no longer reflects the light of Jesus, because his or her love of this dark world of sin has eclipsed the light from the “Sun of Righteousness” (see Malachi 4:2).

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**And so, this is just one of the many poetic truths seen in the Moon. (For more on this subject of an eclipse, you may link to the article… “Lunar Eclipse & Spiritual Eclipse”)**

Dutch Painting: Um_moinho_dominando_a_baía_à_luz_lunar wikimedia US public domain

This is a drawing of a winter-time total lunar eclipse, first published in Bilder- (Picture Atlas of the Stemenwelt) in 1888

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TOMORROW:

September 29 (Eternal Torment? Part 2: “Proper Weights”)

Lady Justice – Not-so-blindfolded – Wikimedia & www.openclipart.com – Public Domain

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MINISTRY OF HEALING, BY ELLEN G. WHITE

ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this sampler of the audio book about the practical aspects of everyday living, such as diet and child rearing…

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Chapter 23 – “Diet and Health”

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Christ and the blind Pauper – Mironov – cropped image – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

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EXCERPTS FROM THE OPEN FORUM QUESTION/ANSWER RADIO TALK-SHOW…

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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this recording #215, a small 30 minute sampling of the late Harold Camping’s 90 minute nightly talk shows. This particular program aired in the last few years of his 50 year radio ministry, and includes caller’s questions regarding his teachings on “the end of the church age”…

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ABOVE PICTURE: Holy bible – cropped – Wikimedia – Creative Commons

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Those who are interested in using photos on this page may click on provided link below each photo, to get to Wikimedia Commons for various licensing details & tags, and all other necessary information on any particular photo. Most tall, narrow photos have been cropped or reduced by this website to make them a better fit on phone screens.

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