Give Attendance to Reading--2

4. Help on Literary Problems

Good and bad intermingled in literature. Of himself man cannot produce anything that is absolutely good or perfect. Such a result is impossible because human nature is depraved. By Adam's sin man's faculties became deranged beyond the power of all human therapies to restore. "Our natures are fallen and we cannot change them." Every merely human work of hand or brain must, therefore, embody some degree of defect or shortcoming or error; of no one may we say, See, here is a flawless painting or poem or deed, utterly right. This is a guiding maxim in dealing with things secular. From this self-evident truth, it follows that studying any subject from secular books means dealing to some extent with that which is objectionable or imperfect and being under the
necessity of distinguishing between the perfect and the imperfect or the good
and the bad. At the risk of seeming to insist on the obvious, we should emphasize this basic fact.

It is manifest that negative defects resulting from human frailty and limitations are very different from positive defects where truth or morality are opposed. Subjects, too, will differ greatly in these respects. The content of some, as arithmetic or chemistry, may seem almost free of defect. Others, like biology,
psychology, literature, are chosen fortresses, from which attacks, powerful and
subtle, are made by the evil one. The problem of the teacher of literature, then,
does not differ in kind from those of Christian teachers of other secular subjects, though it may differ in degree. All have to deal at least to some extent with mingled materials. A problem. "There is need of separating from our
educational work an erroneous, polluted literature, so that ideas which are the
seeds of sin will not be received and cherished as the truth" (CT 389). "Through the drama" Satan "has worked for ages to excite passion and glorify vice" (PP 459). "Novels should not find a place in the homes of those who believe in Christ" (ML 89). "Put away every novel" (MYP 286). "We do not need novels" (CW 147). Though some are not of as dangerous a character as others, "all are pernicious in their influence" (2T 236). "The readers of fiction are indulging an evil that destroys spiritually, eclipsing the beauty of the sacred page" (MYP 272).

It is not to be thought of that some of the instructions to the church, difficult though they may seem, were to be neglected or ignored. Through the Spirit of Prophecy God has ministered to raise up His remnant people and shape their  work. Through it, we believe, He is still speaking, telling us how to avoid danger and to do acceptable work. Rightly understood and followed, these inspired instructions lead to success. We have been warned against neglecting them or explaining them away. We have been assured that God means what He says (1T 518).

But how shall the Adventist teacher and student keep in good conscience toward God's counsels, such as the foregoing, and at the same time carry on satisfactorily some of the prescribed courses in literature? Can one teach what he has not read? Can students become prepared to pass examinations in modern literature without studying at least some of the leading novels of the period? How can the instructions be carried out? To teachers, students, parents, administrators, these are pressing questions. Suggested solution. Experience shows that it is not necessary to read novels or drama in order to teach modern literature and to prepare students to pass national examinations year after year. From other, better books one may get information that makes it possible to deal passably with an author's writings, principles, character, rank, and the like. What are these books?

Scholarly works have been prepared having to do with practically every writer of note in the world of letters, so that a more or less extensive literature as to an author, his writings, and the age in which he lived, is available for study. These works have been produced by men of reputation and scholastic attainments, who rank as specialists and authorities, having spent years to become expert about some novelist, dramatist, poet, movement, or period in literature, as Jonson, Keats, Hardy, the Victorian Era, Naturalism. A lifetime would not suffice us to equal their combined knowledge of all the writers exhibited in a gallery of literature so extensive as the English. For convenience these works may be divided into four classes:

a. Source materials, as autobiographies, letters, journals, records of
conversations, reminiscences, nonfiction which the author may have produced.

b. History and biography, as social and political histories; histories of the
literature of a period; studies in the history of thought; together with a range of
biographies that view a life in both light and shadow and with different
perspectives and points of view; volumes of profiles of modern writers, as
American Novelists of Today, which presents 575 novelists.

c. Literary criticism, as dissertations and other research papers, familiar essays and studies; scholarly studies of the novel and its development by types and periods; studies of the drama; critical articles and monographs dealing with the writer, his different works, listing and grouping them in order, with his
technique, his theories, social, political, religious, philosophical, and the like;
critical appraisals in periodical literature.

d. Reviews and digest, as the many-volume series Book Review Digest, to which a new volume is added yearly; Helen Keller's Reader's Digest of Books, which contains digest of more than 2,000 selected books; Frank N. Magill's Masterplots, in two volumes, with analyses of more than 500 books; New York Times Book Review; the Saturday Review; the Times (London) Literary Supplement; and others. In these digests and reviews one finds typically such data concerning a given work as the following:
Author's full name
Date of publication
Locale
Time of the action
Dramatis personae
Leading character or characters
Synopsis of the action
Penetrating comments on the thesis, spirit, style, etc.
Type of novel -- or drama or other work

From such reference works teachers may draw help in compiling material to be duplicated for students' notebooks as a model to guide in study and for help in reviewing, as a profile and critical estimate of a writer, with titles of some of his chief productions. To such reference works students may be sent to prepare assignments and develop projects. For example, an assignment may require students to prepare a similar profile on a selected writer; another may require the preparation of a summary of critical opinion of a book. And many others, as a definition of a movement, with note of its scope and results; identification and influence of a school of thought or writers. During the recitation hour the results of the students' work may be compared, discussed, appraised. Here is a wealth of material, more than one can find time for in any class.

This plan sets an example of regard for the counsel to the church; it conserves time. And the knowledge students thus acquire is better than what they could gain from reading several of one writer's novels. It is broader, many sided, presenting both pros and cons; it is the product of various minds. And while one by no means accepts all the evaluations there expressed, yet, all in all, it is a somewhat searching, critical estimate, which may serve both students and teachers as a basis for further study by providing something besides the teacher's personal statement or the student's inexperienced judgment.

It is a logical and common practice in literary study to go to these sources for information. What kind of man was the novelist or dramatist? What of the times in which he lived? What about his origins, environment, education, principles, etc? These natural questions, having to do with the man and his age, direct us to works such as those cited. But Adventist teachers and students can make a wider, more discriminating and effective use of them, grateful that they have been made ready and are at hand. Here is a mine to be worked more skillfully. Here are to be found facts that, properly selected and put in their due setting, help support sound evaluations of the writers and their works. Here is a work for us to do. All this may well receive emphasis.

We do not read books on magic or on the technique of the spiritist medium or on card playing, for example. Instead, we inform ourselves, so that we can warn men effectively against these evils. We may use the same principle in dealing with other objectionable books.

Manifestly, he who does not read the novel will miss many details that he who does read will get. This apparent handicap is to be accepted, just as the faithful have accepted seeming handicaps elsewhere - the conscientious student who accepts the missing of Sabbath classes; the mechanic who accepts loss of wages because of refusing to join a labor union or to desecrate the Sabbath; the
merchant who accepts loss of income because of closing his shop on the Sabbath.

The evil one always has put obstacles in the path of obedience. But the good conscience preserved by hearty obedience and the favor of God make seeming disadvantages to become sources of blessing. They provide occasions, too, for God to bear witness for His children and through them. It was so with Joseph, with Moses, with Daniel. It is so now.

"Those who would have that wisdom which is from God must become fools in the sinful knowledge of this age, in order to be wise. They should shut their eyes, that they may see and learn no evil. They should close their ears, lest they hear that which is evil and obtain that knowledge which would stain their purity of thoughts and acts. And they should guard their tongues, lest they utter corrupt communications and guile be found in their mouth" (AH 404).

Distinctive work. "God would have His people distinguished from the world in all things" (CW 122). See also 4T 580-1. In the teaching of the humanities, as in other things, the Seventh-day Adventist is to do a distinctive work. Teaching being one of the gifts of the Spirit, in literature, as elsewhere, the Adventist teacher is to leave the characteristic impress, decidedly apparent, of a Heaven appointed message and mission. Not of accident is it that the Bible is a work of consummate literary art. The other inspired writings also exhibit a literary power that ranks them, generally speaking, above secular works and next to the Bible. These facts may suggest the leadership to which we teachers are called--leadership not only in presenting the Bible as an unrivaled literary work but also leadership in the teaching of the best in secular literature. "It (the teaching in our schools) is not to be of an inferior order" (CT 539).

This identification includes more than the influence of a trained mind and a good character. "Our work is reformatory" (6T 126). We are to replan, reorganize, rebuild; to make vital changes. In our work in the classroom, the student is to see error and falsehood displaced. Morality is to be enthroned. And truth also, its parts being rescued from rubbish heaps, from centuries of neglect and abuse and restored to their proper setting, so that all may shine forth in native beauty and majesty. Sometimes we must hew through jungle to reach the old path, the good way, and uncover the ancient foundations to build on. It is not acceptable to be mere followers of custom: God calls His people to be wise leaders. Nor can the work be done once for all: it requires ceaseless effort. Like Nehemiah, we are ever to be alert to resist wily deceptions and devoted to the work of reconstruction. What "excellent things in counsels" God has sent to give good judgment, zeal, perseverance for this assignment of restoration. We suggest four things in which our teaching of literature is to be "distinguished": aim; methods; materials; evaluations.

Aim. Our aim is composite: (a) to develop literary appreciation and to teach literary principles and techniques; (b) to teach literary biography and history; (c) to enrich and broaden the mind as a means to the development of character, of fitness for translation. The student is to be led to obtain comprehensive views of the great lessons of life -- lessons of duty, of happiness; to see God's agency in the affairs of men -- the workings of Providence in the rise and fall of movements in the history of thought; to understand something of life's relationships and dependencies and of how wonderfully men are knit together in the great fabric of society. The attractions of truth, of noble language, of lofty imagery, of the poetic gift, with its mystery and its beauty and its power, are to be so presented that the student may gain power to recognize and choose what is excellent.

We did not originate our aim; we received it (ED 225). While it is addressed to every soul, and while it applies to all activity, yet it speaks especially to all who teach. Being fundamental, it claims a commanding voice in all we do. Everything is to be tested by it and made to conform. It is to come first in every proposed activity. It means a "singleness of mind and a peculiarity of training" not in accord with popular ideas. This Heaven-born aim, ever in our hearts and plans, would in itself set us apart as followers of Jesus.

Methods. Methods are vitally related to our aim. Only those methods should be used, manifestly, which support and help toward our objective. To do otherwise would be to work at cross purposes. Our aim excludes automatically every method and device that uses the motive of self-aggrandizement, that uses rivalry of competition (Ed 226). All plans for the student, rather, are to be designed to lead him to choose self-improvement as a life principle and to get training in it -- continual growth in power, in useful knowledge, in humility, in ministry. It is impressive to note that specific counsel has been given as to even the methods we should not use. "Christ taught in a way altogether different from ordinary methods, and we are to be laborers together with Him" (6T 153).

Materials. It would be absurd to propose that teachers should require students to read in their entirety all the writings listed under English literature. But the absurdity can bring vividly before us a principle that needs great emphasis, the principle of selection. Necessity forces every teacher of such literature to limit the area to be covered; to choose among writers and writings; in a word, to select. In the realm of literature, then, selecting is not a questionable classroom procedure. On the contrary, it is universal, unavoidable. Limitations of time and capacity make it compulsory. It may not be a fault to seem to labor the point. One should not think of selection as a hurtful restriction, but rather as it actually is, an expression of enlightenment, "the freedom and advantage of a superior way." To our Christian objective in this field, moreover, selection is of double importance. It is a fundamental of right education. Learning to select wisely is a valuable foundation element to be built into character in childhood and youth. In teaching literature, it is for us to make a larger, more discriminating use of this indispensable principle -- selection.

What material shall we select? And how much? Since the church has been instructed to impart literary training in its schools; also instructed about the kinds of writers and works to avoid, it is plainly our duty to omit what has been condemned and to choose the best from the remainder. Even that will have some undesirable elements, and we shall be under duty to separate as well as we can between the good and the bad. The need for this restricted range, mentioned in FE 445-6 and elsewhere, may be expressed by using Carlyle's words to say that studying secular literature "consists, as it were, in sifting huge rubbish-mounds and choosing, ever with more or less error, what is golden and vital."

To the question of what to select, let us suggest this as the foundation for an answer: choose from the least objectionable of those writers and writings which we have not been warned against. Choose from the best a writer has produced. Choose on the basis of moral and literary excellence, not on that of reputation or literary tradition. This question, however, raises an issue, one which concerns more than literature. It is whether we, parents, teachers, administrators, writers, shall select according to literary authorities or whether we shall lay out a different course as charted by the Spirit of Prophecy. Some feel that this would confine us within too narrow limits and prevent that broad culture which comes from acquaintance with the world's famous writers. Let us choose the narrower path; for here, let us say, we are confronted with a form of the "dilemma posed in Eden": obey and live; or eat of the forbidden tree and become as gods, knowing good and evil.

Some objectionable writers, productions, and classes of writers and writings, are specifically mentioned, to make more sure that we shall clearly understand as we study and seek to apply the counsels and warnings generally. In choosing writers and writings, let us ask, Were his over-all life interests and influence on the side of righteousness and truth? Does this selection provide "solid," "substantial reading," "encourage sincerity of life," "have a healthful, sanctifying effect on the mind?" In doubtful cases, let us lean to the safe side. Choice in reading, as in food and dress, is an individual responsibility. To choose well, we need first, doubtless, a desire to do God's will, a knowledge of the counsels, and a mind guided by the Spirit. We "are to be models of correctness in all relations of life" (FE 419).

It has been said that acquaintance with the world's great minds and books imparts culture. But "it is not necessary, in order to obtain culture, to read the folly, error, or wickedness of writers great or small. Our solution is to make a small selection of approved works for study -- pearls on a string. It includes selections from reputed masters whom yet we do not recommend wholly. It finds many a jewel in authors less noted but truly worthy. Our task is to finish the work committed to the church. What education is best for us? Granting that a social and intellectual culture may accrue from wide reading, we ask ourselves how much time we may consistently spend on this in view of the fitness we need for our mission. For we have not the objective of the world, and what fits the worldling does not fit us. We are in Operation Advent, and it requires a discipline not in accord with the routine of the world." In our courses in literature have we made appropriate use of selections from the Ellen White writings?

And how much? Choose less, much less than is customary. For a hundred years the enormous literary output has kept increasing the pressure in the courses, to cover more in a given time. All feel this pressure. Usually we ourselves lay out too much for courses and assignments. But bad as it is in itself, attempting too much means to impair the very special work we are to do. Teachers need more time than those in secular schools, even as our aim is higher and our task one which calls for more original work, nice discrimination, prayerful planning. History and science are mainly a record of the world without. Literature is mainly a record of the world within. Great literature, "the literature of power," is dynamic. Rightly administered, it means not only increase in knowledge but transformation. Our supreme concern is to bring about growth in the student -- mental, naturally; more important, spiritual. Growth takes time. "The efficiency of a school of literature depends on the mastering of a few good books."

If these choice selections be thought of as pearls on a string, let the "strings" be formed of comprehensive outlines, biographical and historical, specially prepared by us, each historical one covering, say, a social or political epoch but including great movements in thought, in philosophy, religion, the arts, developments in government, science, etc., as well as the fortunes of battle in the struggle between good and evil, that the student may see the relation of a writer to what were then issues in the conflict. Very high is the place such orienting outlines deserve. They register graphically the stamp we place on a writer, a literary movement. The preparation of such distinctive outlines is richly rewarding and lays claim to one's best efforts.

Evaluations. It is impossible to evaluate without a measure of value. What the right standard is for evaluating literature has been a controversial matter. It may be set as low as mere personal preference, or it may rise to the height of an established, permanent, universal rule. Personal preference, plainly, is not the answer; for that would spell annihilation of the concept of a general rule. There would then be, instead, as many "standards" conceivably as there are human beings -- and each one "right."

Does an enduring literary standard exist? Evolution answers No. "There is nothing changeless but change." In keeping with this idea, literature is almost universally presented in our age as a record of inevitable progression.

If there is a changeless standard as to good and bad in literature, on what does it rest? Does it rest on the canons of literary art exclusively as claimed in the dictum: "Every work of art is to be judged solely by the laws of the art which produced it"? Or does such a standard rest on two laws: first, the canons of morality; then, the canons of art? Literature has two parts: content and form -- ideas and their artistic expression. And its purpose is twofold: to inform and to uplift. Can a piece of literature be truly moral if it embodies no worthy thought?  To the Christian standard, thought is always the first thing; execution always the second.

As Adventist teachers, our purpose is not humanistic, not merely literary, but spiritual. Though we must deal with materials where good and bad are somewhat intermingled, yet we are not to think of our work as an almost sinful necessity. There is a Christian way to do whatever should be done. As our
objective is first of all spiritual, so our distinguishing standard for evaluating is
first of all moral as determined by the Bible and its elaboration by the Spirit of
Prophecy. This scriptural test is above all other tests, important though they are, as, for example, that of true or false; for there are recitals of bloodshed, crime, indecency, which are true to fact yet wholly evil. That a piece of literature be acceptable as measured by this great moral standard committed to the keeping of the church, is to our great objective the consideration supreme.

Guiding students in literary study means a responsibility to be alert to deal with unwarrantable omissions, emphases, definitions, interpretations, appraisals, conclusions, as they may appear -- defects which may result from limited or mistaken views, from prejudice, from intent to villify or deceive and which the untrained reader may not recognize or correct.

In a special sense we are in the world to bear witness to truth. In our field, we are to serve by setting it up anew where it has been cast down. History and biography are continually being rewritten now as in former ages, as influenced by those who want the record to appear more to their liking. It is for us to redress men and movements in our field which have thus suffered at the hands of historians, biographers, and critics, as Wyclif, Puritanism, Bunyan, Wesley, Ruskin, to name a few.

We should serve on occasion by lifting up worthy names from neglect and obscurity. It is not ours to join in disparaging the poets and poetry of common life as such. We are to show how truth reverses unjust literary judgments. This being the world's spiritual midnight, when gross darkness enshrouds men's hearts, popular or critical approval does not necessarily coincide with our estimate as to moral values. Instead, it is often the opposite. The very goodness of some -- their reverence for the Bible, for Christian principles in control of daily conduct -- has caused them to be passed by or maligned. What students today hear of Jean Ingelow and her "Brothers and a Sermon" or "High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire" or the spiritual beauties of Lucy Larcom's "Prayer on the Mountain" or Lanier's "Ballade of Trees and the Master"?

The presses pour out an endless flood of books. Proficiency in the art of writing being comparatively widespread, many of these books are skillfully written, but the number of them with a good moral influence is very small. Literary polish, captivating phrases, compression, clarity -- qualities like these are not primary to the verdict we are to pass; for the livery of Heaven may be appropriated to clothe the "literature of Satan." Sin and error parade in glittering array. Should students be set to read a questionable book merely to become acquainted with the brilliant style of a popular writer? Our standard has to do with more than the absence of vicious elements. It requires a choice between things in themselves good. It asks, Will this help in reaching the goal? Will time spent here be put to the best use? "There is much good reading that is not sanctifying" (FE 547).

Christ "could have astonished the world with the great and glorious knowledge" He possessed; "yet He was reticent and uncommunicative" (FE 338). He "might have opened to men the deepest truths of science." "But He did not do this." In all His teaching, He "brought the mind of man in contact with the Infinite Mind." In this, He left us an example to follow.

"The mind, the heart, that is indolent, aimless, falls an easy prey to evil. It is on diseased, lifeless organisms that fungus roots. It is the idle mind that is Satan's workshop. Let the mind be devoted to high and holy ideals, let the life have a noble aim, and absorbing purpose, and evil finds little foothold." --Education, p. 190.

"Children, I have a message for you. You are now deciding your future destiny, and your character building is of that kind which will exclude you from the Paradise of God. . . . How sad it is for Jesus, the world's Redeemer, to look upon a family where the children have no love for God, no respect for the word of God, but are all absorbed in reading storybooks. The time occupied in this way robs you of a desire to become effective in household duties; it disqualifies you to stand at the head of a family, and if continued it will entangle you more and more closely in Satan's snare. . . . Some of the books you read contain excellent principles, but you read only to get the story. If you would gather from the books you read that which would help you in the formation of your character, your reading would do you some good. But as you take up your books and peruse page after page of them, do you ask yourself, What is my object in reading? Am I seeking to gain substantial knowledge? You cannot build a right character by bringing to the foundation wood, hay, and stubble." --The Adventist Home, p. 416.

5 Definitions: Their Importance

"But what do the words mean? It's all a question of definition. It all depends on what you mean by the word."

These words or their equivalent constitute the response commonly heard when mention is made of the Spirit of Prophecy counsels against the reading of novels, stories, tales, and other fiction. The definition of words being the foundation on which this far-reaching assertion rests, one may feel justified in giving much time to studying definition making and the definitions of key words here. Definitions are obviously fundamental, being absolutely essential to clear communication.

Definitions. The making of exact definitions is not without its difficulties. In English there are half a million words but millions of meanings. Most words, consequently, are made to carry more than one. Common words often carry many. Slip has 30; run has 60. It is necessary to distinguish between these as the word is in use. Words change their meaning, lose old ones, take on new. To define such a word correctly, it is necessary to know when the passage was written and give the meaning the word then had. The personal element tends to enter and color the definition. It is hard to exclude it wholly. To some, home means a little heaven; to some, a hell. Some languages have no word even for our idea of home. Rarely used, concrete words of a single meaning, like kiwi or ampersand, are easy to define. Many common ones are hard. Some have successfully defied full definition, as poetry, life. Others are so vaguely bounded as to remain actually undefined, as realism, romanticism.

How many volumes have been written on philosophy, theology, metaphysics, for example, which are little more than a barren waste of verbal subtlety -- fine-spun, labored distinctions, almost devoid of life and light. And how unlike all that is the language of inspiration. Most refreshing is the contrast it presents. And surprising. One searches the Bible and the Spirit of
Prophecy almost in vain for an example of logical definition of a word. He finds appositives, identifications, synonyms, but few full definitions, only fragments.
And they are scattered apparently at random. The inspired writers show what seems a careless regard for definition, for the appearance of consistency and
order. What variations in the gospels, in the Lord's Prayer, the Sermon on the
Mount, in the wording of the parables and of quotations. After eighteen centuries of study, Christian scholars cannot be positive as to even the
chronological order of events in Christ's public ministry.

It is with definitions as with doctrines. The same principle is seen: no doctrine or meaning can be safely based on one text alone. For viewed in isolation, a single text is easily perverted and made to lead to wrong conclusions. A different rule has been laid down: comparison is to be made and a rounded whole carefully developed through a study of scattered parts. Holy men having written under divine guidance, we may believe that this characteristic of the inspired writings is significant, not accidental but intentional. It is in part the means by which God has placed His signature upon these communications through the principle of design, an attestation of their authenticity. It cannot be counterfeited. And one is compelled to study if he gets the truth. It is God's purpose that men shall study and compare, then decide as to doctrine or meaning on the weight of evidence. See Ed 123-4.

God's message to men was not made dependent on subtlety of definition. The truths of revelation are not committed to a particular vocabulary, the special possession of the expert or the learned. Instead, they are in plain common language. And while the wisest cannot fathom the depths of its simple
statements, yet the unlearned and the child can safely find the way. We should
remember the important injunction: "Consider what I say; and the Lord give
thee understanding in all things." We also should remember that the raising of
doubts about definitions has been one chosen means of trying to parry the
arrows of conviction and evade the claims of duty and truth. "But he, willing to
justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29). Have
observers been justified in saying that Seventh-day Adventists sometimes resort
to "definition juggling" and "label shifting" when confronted with their disregard
of the Spirit of Prophecy?

Fiction. The words "fiction" and "novel" are among those used by the Spirit of Prophecy to identify literature that is condemned. Let us start with the
Scriptures and approach the definition of "fiction" by noting first what it is not.
Three kinds of language are used in the Bible:
Literal
Prophetic symbols
Rhetorical figures: tropes, similes, parables, etc.

Literal: "Lot journeyed east"; "Jesus wept." The word "literal" means: "according to the letter,' or the natural or usual construction and implication of a writing or expression; conformable to the most obvious intent"; "of the senses of words, conveying the primary meaning." Whenever a word is used literally, all its elements are employed.

Prophetic symbols we may omit here. But rhetorical figures need study to
distinguish between the definitions of figures and those of "fiction."

"Figure. In rhetoric, a peculiar or special use of words; employment of words in forms, combinations, or meanings different from those properly or ordinarily assigned to them; the use of certain forms of speech to produce a special effect. When a word is used figuratively, most of its meanings are ignored. Usually only a single element is borrowed."

"Trope. A word or expression used in a different sense from that which properly belongs to it, or a word changed from its original signification to another for the sake of giving spirit or emphasis to an idea, as when we call a stupid man an ass or a shrewd man a fox. Tropes are chiefly of four kinds: metaphor, metonymy, synechdoche, and irony. But to these may be added allegory, prosopopoeia, hyperbole, antonomasia, and some others. Tropes are included under figures in a wider sense of that word. In a narrower sense, a trope is a change of meaning and a figure any ornament except what becomes so by such change."

"Parable. A comparison; similitude. An allegorical relation or representation from which a moral is drawn for instruction. Synonym: metaphor, comparison."

Although the Greeks and Romans classified and gave names to the figures of speech -- names still in use -- they did not originate the figures. One must go farther back to find their origin. In the morning of the world God used them in speaking to Cain, and later to Abraham and others. "Sin lieth at the door." "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth." "The earth hath opened her mouth." "A land flowing with milk and honey." "I bear you on eagles' wings." Figures enrich the writings of Moses, and John in vision heard the redeemed singing praise to the "Lamb." Figures of speech, or rhetorical figures, as they are called, have a noble origin. They are not essentially decorative but functional. The use of them springs from the nature of man's mind and its intrinsic modes and powers of expression.

Why were these expressions named "figures" of speech? What is the force of "figure" here? It means a body, an object, having shape or form. Rhetorical
figures were so named because, typically, such an expression brings to the mind an image, a picture, a "figure" of a body or object and often action associated with it. Thus figures add to the force and impressiveness of language by causing the imagination to throw an image on the screen and focus attention upon it. They are visual aids for the eye of the mind. The "figure" seen usually has the shape of a body named, as "on eagles' wings," by which one visualizes the spread pinions of eagles in flight. But the figure may be produced by a set arrangement of words or phrases as in climax, where the terms of a series are arranged so that each succeeding one rises above its predecessor in force. If considered thoughtfully, this too creates an image -- that of an inclined ladder or staircase, with its gradual ascent to the top. Climax was taken into English without translation from the Latin and Greek, it being originally in those languages the common word for ladder or staircase. Thus climax is a true rhetorical figure. And it is not essentially the product of cleverness or vanity. Rather, it has universal appeal and power because it accords with an innate law of the mind -- a law to which attention may be further drawn by noting the reverse form in anticlimax to produce humorous or burlesque effects. Abstract ideas can be made concrete and vivid through the pictorial power of figures of speech. They point up the truth of the proverb: "One picture is worth ten thousand words."

Metaphor is the basic figure of speech and thus deserves particular attention. Sometimes metaphor is used as a loose synonym for figurative language in general, it being so closely related to other figures, as allegory, apostrophe, simile, and others. It is a "figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used in place of another by way of suggesting a likeness or analogy between them." Metaphor results from "using an object for the sake of one of its qualities and so making the whole a symbol of a part," as "The pure blood of the grape." "All flesh is grass." "The night has a thousand EYES."

Metaphors appear in infinite multitude and variety, as it were, on all levels of communication, from highest to lowest. "He is the Rock." "Or jealousy with rankling tooth." "Fast bound in chains of silence." "Put some teeth in the law." "Jug" for jail; "bull" for policeman.

But metaphors are common in the predicate as well as in the subject and occur in any of their modifiers. Metaphors are not confined to nouns and noun phrases; they appear in every part of speech except pronouns. Verb: "Why wade through error?" "The pestilence that walketh in darkness." Adverb: "I talked astray." "Sorely perplexed." Adjective: "Summer is dead." "My pet peeve." Preposition: "Dollars hidden in your telephone." Verbals: "Eyes blazing with anger. "Burnt with hunger." "Make the horn of David to bud." Interjection: "A red!"

Allegory. When both subject and predicate are metaphors, the sentence is an allegory. In origin and nature it is as simple as that. Allegories may be short, or long, being classified according to length as phrase, sentence, and extended. "Jack Frost pencils the windows" is a sentence allegory, the subject "Jack Frost" being a metaphor and the verb "pencils" being a metaphor. It could be changed to a phrase allegory by destroying the predication: "Jack Frost pencilling the windows." Allegories may be extended through sentences or paragraphs and may fill a volume, as The Faerie Queene or The Pilgrim's Progress. The length is incidental, having nothing to do with the nature of the work. The essential element is that the subject shall be a metaphor, the predicate likewise, and each consistent with the other. If they are not consistent, we have not allegory but mixed metaphor, as "Ambition watered the sparks of genius," instead of "Ambition fanned the sparks of genius." Sentence allegories are used more often than we suppose: "Nature reprieves no offenders." "No blood covers our doorposts." "Time had plowed his venerable front." "My cup runneth over." "The arrow of death may strike our hearts today."

Allegory and parable are the "highest communication of which speech is
capable." The reason for this evaluation lies in the fact that using a metaphor in
both the subject and the predicate lifts the sentence at once entirely out of the
realm of the literal -- lifts the whole thought above the material plane. It is not
that all allegories or parables convey great truths. That is not the thought of the
evaluation. It is, rather, that allegory and parable are most effective means for
"spiritualizing thought," which means rising above the single fact to the principle which supports and validates it -- rising above the fact toward the ideal of which the fact is but an inadequate, unsatisfactory representation.

Parable has during the ages been classified as a figure of speech. It partakes largely of the nature of allegory. The definition in the Century Dictionary reads: "1. A comparison; similitude. Specifically -- 2. An allegorical relation or representation from which a moral is drawn for instruction; an apologue." "Parable is a process of the same kind as metaphor or allegory because in all these an outer resemblance is accepted as evidence of inner identity, or as evidence that, though the objects which are associated differ outwardly, they mean the same in a higher sense. Each of these figures is a species of idealization." Parable is taken from and agrees with the material side of life and is designed to carry the mind to some spiritual conclusion. It is a means of coming closer to the spirit of an idea, of giving to abstract thought the effect and potency of the visible and the concrete. A thousand sermons could not have conveyed what the parable of the prodigal son conveys to the human mind as to the Father's attitude toward sinners.

 

"Jotham's parable" (Judges 9:8-15) points to the antiquity of this figure. At the opening of the Christian era, "parable-teaching was popular, and commanded the respect and attention, not only of the Jews, but of the people of other nations." But Jesus lifted the parable up to unmeasured heights of power,
making it the vehicle of teachings instinct with divine energy, and causing it to
be forever associated with His name. He used this means to teach the people
because their interest "was aroused by figures drawn from the surroundings of
their daily life." And "in parables He rebuked the hypocrisy and wicked works
of those who occupied high positions, and in figurative language clothed truth of so cutting a character that had it been spoke in direct denunciation, they would not have listened to His words, and would have speedily put an end to His ministry." "No more effective method of instruction could He have employed"
(COL 21-2).

Some have attempted to classify Jotham's parable and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus as fiction because of the nature of the conversation. Others have been influenced by this theory, and in their view it weakens or discredits most of the condemnation of fiction by the Spirit of Prophecy, saying, "There is fiction in the Bible." The first sentence on page 260 of Christ's Object Lessons begins: "In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus," and seven times more in the chapter the classification is repeated -- "parable." And the church has from age to age so classified it. God, foreseeing these attacks, directed to safeguard against this danger. Not only is this a parable, in "figurative language," we are told; but the writer, speaking directly to the point of attacks, says: "The conversation between Abraham and the once-rich man is figurative." The Saviour knew of the ideas of many of His hearers, and "He framed His parable so as to inculcate important truths through these preconceived opinions."

A parable is not fiction; it is unliteral. An allegory is not fiction; it is unliteral. Both are examples of unliteral language. All figures of speech except such as are made so by an arrangement of words, are unliteral; not fiction. To say that a parable is fiction is to utter an untruth. The statement has the appearance of intent to mislead. To call a parable fiction is as false and unreasonable as it is to call an hyperbole a lie or to call a metaphor blasphemy. Would one say that the Spirit inspired David to write a gross lie, Psalm 119:136? "Rivers of waters." What a monstrous falsehood! Shall we profess to misunderstand Job's irony (12:2)? No. To make statements such as these questions suggest would be to speak utmost absurdity. How astonishing such preposterousness would be in chemistry or physics. But in religion how easy to embrace the unreasonable.

Fiction, then does not mean parable or allegory or any other figure of speech. What does it mean? It has four meanings, given thus: "1. A feigning or
imagining; as by a fiction of the mind. 2. That which is feigned or imagined;
esp., a feigned or imagined story; a false statement. 3. Fictitious literature;
specifically, novels. 4. Law. An assumption of a possible thing as a fact
irrespective of the question of its truth." We have not found meaning 4 in the
Ellen White writings, but 1 is employed in 2T 276. Meanings 1, 2, and 4,
however, which she so seldom if ever used, never appear in the counsels concerning books and reading. There, she uses only meaning 3. The word
"fiction," then, as found in this connection, has always only the common literary meaning, "fictitious literature."

It was the Holy Spirit who indited David's hyperboles. Figures of speech --metaphors, similes, parables, ironies, and the like -- bear Heaven's stamp of
approval: "He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures" (GC 7). But
fictitious literature is condemned. Parable and "fiction" in the sense of fictitious
literature, are distinct and separate. No sincere, informed person will ever call a
parable fiction or say, "There is fiction in the Bible." For the statement is both
untrue and specious, used because it is apparently though deceptively correct.
Thus employed, it is calculated to mislead, to create doubt as to the validity of
the instruction from the Spirit of Prophecy.

Novel defined. When attention is drawn to the condemnation of novels by the Spirit of Prophecy, the question is sometimes raised: "But what does the word mean here?" And in answer some take the position that since the novel had gone through a process of development during its life of a century and more when she first mentioned it, Ellen White did not mean to condemn the more modern works written with serious purpose and noble aim, as some novels of character, of criticism, of reform, and the like.

But rather that she had in mind only the old yellowbacks, the sensational dime novel, common in her earlier years, in which the interest lies only in romance, incident, dialog, the trivial, the low; so that Seventh-day Adventists should feel free to read "good" novels as works of ethical and cultural value. Let us now glance at the history of the novel in England and America.

"It is customary to date the first English novel with Richardson in 1740." The first century of its life was largely a time of development, the major part being played by Sir Walter Scott, who began the "flood of fiction," which has continued to the present. He created the historical novel and almost single-handedly achieved the popularization of literature by taking it from the control "of a few patrons and critics and putting it into the hands of the people as one of the forces which mold modern life." His romantic poems as one of the forces which mold modern life." His romantic poems and novels, faulty though they were technically, aroused intense enthusiasm and attracted thousands of readers "by their vigor, their freshness, their rapid action, and their breezy out-of-door atmosphere." After Scott's death in 1832, however, romanticism and the romantic approach lost favor as being overdone and staled. With the turn to realism in fiction, which took place shortly, plot and character study and motive and thought pattern came into the important place which they have held in the novel since that time.

For a hundred years the novel has remained fundamentally unchanged. It has varied superficially, as one should expect, to reflect popular ideas, viewpoints, and interests in war and peace, in religion, science, philosophy, and the like. Different ways of approach, different points of emphasis, new experiments in technique, have come and gone. But the great constant has been and is to treat imaginatively of human experience, character, personality, ideas, motives, fancies, in a plot. We see this fact mirrored in scholarly definition.

Let us repeat: during all the years, from her first published mention of the novel in 1856 to the present time, the definition and essential character of the novel have remained unchanged. One change, of course, has occurred -- a change which adds force to the warnings against it. It has naturally reflected and accelerated the steady, world-wide decline in morals which has marked the
history of the past hundred years.

Was it once only that Ellen White wrote against the novel? And when was it that she bore such testimony? Not once only, but repeatedly. For fifty years and more, beginning in 1856, when the modern novel had become established, she wrote with undiminished disapproval, as shown by the references and dates
given in this left-hand column:

1T 135 (1856)
2T 236, 410 (1868)
3T 151-2 (1872)
4T 497 (1879)
FE 92 (1884)
PP 459 (1890)
FE 163 (1890)
CW 147 (1899)
7T 203 (1902)
MYP 272 (1902)
MYP 286 (1906)
SD 325 (1906)
MH 445-6 (1909)
ML 89 (1911)
CT 120-1 (1913)
The names and titles below are listed merely to illustrate the fact that Ellen White was condemning the novel during its very golden age.

Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter (1850)
Thackery    Henry Esmond (1852)
Flaubert      Madam Bovary (1856)
Eliot            Silas Marner (1861)
Hugo           Les Miserables (1862)
Hardy          Far from the Madding Crd. (1874)
Turgenev    Virgin Soil (1876)
Meredith     The Egoist (1879)
Howells       A Modern Instance (1882)
Tolstoi        Anna Karenina (1886)
Sienkiewicz          With Fire and Sword (1890)
Zola             Rome (1896)
Henry James The Wings of a Dove (1902)
Galsworthy The Man of Property (1906)
Conrad        Under Western Eyes (1911)

Who were these writers, these novelists, who were her contemporaries?
Historians of literature and literary critics answer that they were master craftsmen. Of the multitude of novelists, they have been held to be among the
few who were the greatest and best. Theirs was the golden age of the novel. It
was during such a period as this, the very half century in which these eminent
novelists flourished, that Ellen White was commissioned to give the messages we are considering.

And the record is unmistakable as to the kinds of fiction which are condemned. Ellen G. White, it is clear, was aware that there is fiction of a better class and fiction of a worse class; that some novels are less pernicious and some more pernicious than others. "The world is flooded with novels of every description. Some are not of as dangerous a character as others. Some are immoral, low, and vulgar; others are clothed with more refinement; but all are pernicious in their influence" (2T 236). These distinctions, so carefully detailed
here in 1868 and in later years, as in MH 444-6, were clearly set forth, so that the reader might find no place for honest doubt that "high-class" fiction is as
specifically condemned as the low.

The range in time, too, is noteworthy. It was in 1868 that she wrote of the novel: "All are pernicious in their influence." Thirty-eight years later, in 1906, came these words: "Put away every novel" (MYP 286). In 1911 again: "Novels should not find a place in the homes of those who believe in Christ" (ML 89). And in 1913: "To those who feel free to read story magazines and novels I would say: You are sowing seed the harvest of which you will not care to garner" (CT 120). Thus throughout a period fifty-seven years long, which closed only two years before her death, she was inspired to condemn every class and quality of the novel. And the denunciations increased in frequency through the decades of her ministry.

"God did not, after giving us general directions, leave us to guess the way amid bypaths and dangerous passes." Instead, one finds in these counsels a wealth of instructive details:

"There are works of fiction that were written for the purpose of teaching truth or exposing some great evil. Some of these works have accomplished good. Yet they have also wrought untold harm" (MH 445). Uncle Tom's Cabin was such a book. "That book did good in its day to those who needed an awakening in regard to their false ideas of slavery." We see how very limited the "good" was,
and how carefully restricted the group was to whom it applied. The man who
received this testimony soon left the message and became its enemy. The reproof given him shows how wrong it is to use this testimony to try to find sanction for reading fiction:

"It seems wonderfully strange to me, considering all I have written in regard to the reading of exciting stories, to see a recommendation from your pen to read Robinson Crusoe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Aesop's Fables. My brother, you made a mistake in writing that article." "I was much surprised to read your
recommendation of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Robinson Crusoe, and such books. You
are in danger of becoming somewhat careless in your writing.

It would be well to give thought and careful study to whatever is to be
immortalized in print. I am really alarmed to see that your spiritual eyesight is
not more clear in the matter of selecting and recommending reading for our youth." "You (D. M. Canright) must be getting away from Jesus and His teachings and do not realize it" (5T 516-20).

Story. The Spirit of Prophecy uses the word "story" in most or all of its
meanings, which facilitates understanding the counsels about literature.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines it as follows:
"1. a. A connected narrative of past events." It is so used in GW 208: "The story
of Jesus' love."
"b. A history." So used in 4T 9: "The story of any person or people."
"2. a. An account of some incident." Such use in DA 177: "Nicodemus related to
John the story of that interview."
"b. A report; statement." Used thus in 1T 258, 330, 334.
"c. An anecdote, esp., an amusing one." Used in GW 152: "He should not bring
amusing stories into his preaching."
"3. In literature: (a). A narrative in either prose or verse: a tale; esp., a fictitious
narrative less elaborate than a novel." Many instances.
"b. The plot of a narrative." This use in MH 446; "Reading merely for the story."

The use employed in these counsels on reading is, naturally, that of sense 3a: "A narrative in either prose or verse; a tale; esp., a fictitious narrative less elaborate than a novel." Sometimes the word is used in its loose meaning, for example, as a synonym for "religious novel," in MYP 272. But in these admonitions about pernicious literature, it is used in its strict literary meaning as, for example, a synonym for "tale," in CT 134. See also the accompanying quotations.

"Story" is used to refer to both the fictitious and the true story if the true is of objectionable character: "Little do parents consider that injurious impressions are far more readily received by the young than are divine impressions; . . . If their minds are filled with stories, be they true or fictitious, there is no room for the useful information and scientific knowledge which should occupy them. What havoc has this love for light reading wrought with the mind! How it has destroyed the principles of sincerity and true godliness, which lie at the foundation of a symmetrical character. It is like a slow poison taken into the system, which will sooner or later reveal its bitter effects. When a wrong impression is left upon the mind in youth, a mark is made, not on sand, but on enduring rock" (5T 544-5).

Fictitious stories are specifically condemned: "Idle stories are attentively read, while the Bible is neglected. This book is our guide to a higher, holier life. The youth would pronounce it the most interesting book they ever read had not their imagination been perverted by the reading of fictitious stories" (CT 139). Tales of fiction." "A love for fictitious reading should be overcome at once" (CT 136).

In some passages the writer speaks of all pernicious stories together as a larger group, without pausing to mention the fictitious and the true again by name, so that such general expressions refer, no doubt, both to true stories which are unacceptable in character and to fictitious stories:

"The practice of story reading is one of the means employed by Satan to destroy souls" (CT 134).

"Through the agency of novels and story magazines, Satan is working to fill with unreal and trivial thoughts, minds that should be diligently studying the word of God" (CT 121).

"It troubles me to see in Sabbath-keeping families periodicals and newspapers containing continued stories which leave no impressions for good on the minds of children and youth. I have watched those whose taste for fiction was thus cultivated" (CT 132).

"Love stories, frivolous and exciting tales, and even that class of books called religious novels -- books in which the author attaches to his story a moral lesson -- are a curse to the readers. Religious sentiments may be woven all through a story-book, but, in most cases, Satan is but clothed in angel-robes, the more effectively to deceive and allure. None are so confirmed in right principles, none so secure from temptation, that they are safe in reading these stories" (MYP 272).

Stories in verse. Are the messages we are studying intended to include stories in verse? Objectionable poems of this kind, long or short, are fully covered by such general expressions as "romance," "frivolous and exciting tales," "immoral," "trashy," and others. Long narrative poems come up for consideration in the classroom. They occur only in the literature of the past and are comparatively few in number. "The Canterbury Tales," "Idylls of the King," "Evangeline" may be cited. In seeking to apply the instructions to poems, two considerations may be helpful:

Character of the poem, the author's purpose, and so on.

Age level of the student.

Most of them do not rate an assignment. Some that need notice on upper levels can be dealt with by comment and explanation or sample reading. The romances of the Dark Ages, which practically comprised European literature for centuries, are plainly excluded by their character; also, in the main, the tales which have been retold from them.

In our teaching, we have not used the tales from "The Canterbury Tales," but only the "Prologue," where Chaucer revealed himself and his skill by sketching his English contemporaries in memorable vignettes. "The Faerie Queene" we have viewed briefly, noting its symbolism, the quaint style, the scriptural allusions, the tone, as revelations of the poet's mind. Sample reading of only a short poem or two to illustrate Scott's love of romantic ballads and old tales, in which his mind had been steeped from childhood. No study assignments, only the reading of illustrative passages, from Wordsworth's long poems; but study of "Michael," "Old Cumberland Beggar," "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," and other short ones. For the "Idylls of the King" two or three assignments, perhaps "The Lady of Shallot" for lyricism and the "Passing of Arthur," where the poet seeks to impress the stamp of the modern mind. "The Princess," outdated by its theme, is no longer read. Older students might read "Enoch Arden" and study "Northern Farmer," "Dora," "Rizpah," and others, as expressions of Tennyson's interest in ethical and sociological matters, especially "The Palace of Art." None of Browning's long poems, as "The Ring and the Book," "Sordello," but study of his short dramatic monologues, as "Andrea Del Sarto," "My Last Duchess," "The Bishop Orders His Tomb," "Rabbi Ben Ezra," "The Grammarian's Funeral," and the like.

We would not devote time on lower levels to a study of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," to cite another example, despite the music of its lines. But college students, learning of the part acted by Coleridge and Wordsworth in bringing psychology into modern literature, could briefly study Coleridge's effort in "The Rime" to produce the effect of a powerful hallucination. "The Pennsylvania Pilgrim," considered Whittier's most highly finished and greatest narrative poem, deals sympathetically with the history and influence of the Quakers in early American life. "Snowbound," breathing the atmosphere of the poet's boyhood home and the influence of his loved sister, is a wholesome poem. Younger students and children should enjoy some of the beautiful passages and noble sentiments of "Evangeline" and other wholesome narrative poems, especially the shorter ones, as "The Cotter's Saturday Night," "The Village Blacksmith," "The Bell of Atri," and others.

Secular poetry as such is not mentioned, so far as is known, in the Ellen White writings. But narratives in verse, as in prose, are fully covered by our "marching orders."

With respect to other authors, as Sidney, Shakespeare, Jonson, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Byron, and others, it has been our plan in the classroom not to omit any major writer represented in the anthology being used, but to consider each one and his work -- whether poetry or prose -- as time allowed, in accordance with the general plan presented in chapter four.

What, then, are we to think about definitions and meanings? In the official writings of Mrs. E. G. White are words used correctly? Did she choose
discriminatingly when using multiple-meaning words? Are her utterances, as
well as those of the prophets, positive, assured? Or, on the contrary, is her
meaning left uncertain, to be decided by the reader's opinion, so that one is
justified in saying: "It's all a matter of definition. It depends on what you mean
by the word"?

God spoke to and through the seers. He gave the ability to write them out. The one is as truly essential as the other. Both were required. If the prophets used words that did not convey the very truth God had revealed, then His purpose was defeated. In such case, it was not His message which men received from the messenger, but something different. The prophet's communication, however, was not at all like that; it was the very opposite: "that which was written was upright, even words of truth."

"God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human
agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled them to do this work. He guided the mind in the selection of what to speak and what to write. The treasure was intrusted to earthen vessels, yet it is, none the less, from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed through the imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the testimony of God; and the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the glory of a divine power, full of grace and truth"  GC 8, 9, Edition of 1950).

We apply this to Moses and Isaiah. It applies as certainly to Mrs. E. G. White, whose prophetic ministry has been as truly authenticated as has that of any Bible writer. To deny the application to her is to take the same position about the Spirit of Prophecy writings as did the "higher critics" about the text of the Bible, dissecting, rejecting, accepting, correcting "mistakes," assigning meanings and origins. Her language is simple, idiomatic, authoritative. Her usage ranges as the thought requires from the broad or loose to the strict meaning. She holds to her natural style, avoiding the professional dialects, with their "learned terms." Yet her communications, even those dealing with the fields of specialized knowledge -- science, medicine, nutrition, literature, theology, etc., embodied though they are in simple words, are examples of precision in meaning and intent. It is of God's design that in all inspired writings, he who will may find a place for doubt. But he who would learn God's purpose for him finds guidance and peace of heart. "If you would obey their teachings, you would be assured of their divine origin" (5T 234).

"I state truth. The souls who love God, who believe in Christ, and who eagerly grasp every ray of light, will see light, and rejoice in the truth. They will
communicate the light. They will grow in holiness."... "The word of God speaketh truth, not a lie. In it is nothing strained, nothing extreme, nothing overdone" (TM 90).

6 "Confusing theories;" "cunning sophistries"

Being at war (Rev. 12:17), we must expect hostilities: battles and stratagems; assaults and treachery. The early church, Satan first sought to destroy by persecution. That failing, he took up new ground, changed tactics. Posing as a friend, he succeeded in bringing unconverted multitudes into the church, who corrupted its doctrines and polity, till at length the man of sin sat in the temple of God. What he had failed to do by force from without, he accomplished by sophistry from within.

Since it is "Satan's plan to weaken the faith of God's people in the Testimonies" (4T 211), and since "past history will be repeated" and "peril will beset God's people on every side" (TM 116), we may see a parallel between the early church and the remnant. Satan once sought to take Ellen White's life by accident and illness and to destroy her testimony by ridicule and calumny from without. But now, after a century, that is changed. Her noble life and writings have practically silenced such opposition and won praise from the world. Satan
therefore, as in the past, has taken up new ground, changed tactics. His "wiles"
are now his chief weapons. And the chief attacks are by means of "definitions,"
"interpretations," "explanations" that explain away; neglect; questioning and the
raising of doubts; subtle sophistries -- unsound and confusing ideas--advocated
within the church to try to gently rationalize the testimonies to harmonize with
our wishes, to facilitate or escape compliance.

As Satan brings some into the church (TM 46), so he seeks to keep in the church those with only a weakened faith in the Testimonies. Being reformers (3T 159), at war, we need to be "spiritually sharp and clear-sighted" (6T 150). No reformer can succeed if his mind is beclouded and uncertain of the truthfulness of his message. To the remnant were committed the oracles of the Spirit of Prophecy, as eyes to guide, revealing the plans, agencies, and wiles of Satan. What a triumph of cunning, then, if he should lead us to weaken the faith of one another!

The most dangerous oppositions are of the mind. We could hardly get more serious blows than those which unsettle the mind and impair spiritual eyesight. "Many today have veils upon their faces. These veils are sympathy with the customs and practices of the world, which hide from them the glory of the Lord" (6T 146). They cannot see the glory, the veils completely obscuring it. Published in 1900 about educational reform, these words express, no doubt, a principle of general application.

Among the serious oppositions are erroneous theories advocated by those who claim to be orthodox, with the only correct ideas, which tends to confuse and imperil souls. History tells how God sent messages of correction and gives the record of those who "put false constructions upon the Testimonies"; would
"lessen the confidence of God's people in the testimonies"; "quieted the convictions of the people" (4T 514; 5T 66; TM 235). Since history will be repeated, let us study it to become alert to present and future dangers. Against the testimonies Satan will war with greater cunning and guile. "Perilous times are before us. Everyone who has a knowledge of the truth should awake and place himself, body, soul, and spirit, under the discipline of God. The enemy is on our track. We must be wide awake, on our guard against him. We must put on the whole armor of God. We must follow the directions given through the Spirit of Prophecy. We must love and obey the truth for this time. This will save us from accepting strong delusions. God has spoken to us through His word. He has spoken to us through the testimonies to the church and through the books that have helped to make plain our present duty and the position that we should now occupy. The warnings that have been given, line upon line, precept upon precept, should be heeded. If we disregard them, what excuse can we offer?" (8T 298).

"The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the Testimony of the Spirit of God. ...Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony." "There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them" (1 SM 48).

No member, doubtless, would start out with such an attitude. It will come gradually. Insensibly, the "unsound arguments" and "sophistries" take effect. Those we now hear among us are of a nature to produce neglect, to lessen confidence, and, ultimately, to transform attitude. Considering some of them, as we now do in the following pages, can reveal how sophistry is used as a weapon of attack:

1. "Novel and storybook reading are the greatest evils in which youth can indulge" (3T 152).

Since Ellen White's death the foregoing statement has been attacked as a gross exaggeration, which embarrasses our claim of inspiration for these writings. The assertion "does violence to one's intelligence," one declares, "and cannot be believed." It must be explained away. And to clinch that argument, he exclaims, "I don't believe novel reading is worse than murder!"

There is no sin which is not inculcated in some story or novel. Every sin of the heart is not only inculcated but also excused, glamorized, and made enticing. Myriads of evil ideas are thereby implanted in the mind -- ideas that otherwise might never have been thought of. Fiction is indeed a vast university of evil, an enormous laboratory ever preparing new poisonous mixtures, a mighty fountain whose drugged streams flow as rivers ceaselessly. And in the so-called highclass fiction, the embellishments of language are used to disguise and divert attention from reprehensible teachings. For more than a century the sway of the novel and the short story has been the world's great literary phenomenon. The reason for these inspired words is plain to see. The statement is justified, as all God's utterances are. "His counsel is always reliable" (TM 90).

2. "The Bible contradicts the testimonies; for there is fiction in the Bible."

Let us examine a parallel argument: "The Bible contradicts itself; for John says, God so loved the world; then later, If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.'" This statement seems childish and beneath notice. But the fallacy needs study, for it has more deceptive forms. The fault lies in THE REPETITION OF A WORD IN TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MEANINGS. It is an absolute must to the logic of this sentence that the key word "world" have the same meaning in both clauses. But instead of that, it here shifts in meaning from one clause to the next. The word is repeated, but the meaning is not! In the first clause, "world" means "mankind"; but in the second, it means something altogether different: "the concerns of this life as opposed to those of the future life." Without warning, the argument artfully shifts mid-sentence to a different meaning -- really changes the subject -- so that the conclusion cannot follow. The incautious or unthinking reader is mystified or misled.

The same logic is used in the argument above. The word "fiction" has more than one meaning. One is defined as "that which is imagined," as "Our dream house, so fondly planned, is still only an architectural fiction." This meaning is not so commonly used. Ellen White, it seems, used it rarely, as in 2T 276. But invariably in this connection she used the common meaning, which is defined as "fictitious literature; specifically, novels." Since it can be truthfully said, however, that in most unliteral language the figures are "imagined," an argument is set up to this effect: "There is fiction (unliteral language) in the Bible; therefore the Spirit of Prophecy does not mean to condemn fiction (fictitious literature)"! Here is the same fallacy: the repetition of a word in two altogether different meanings. This change of key word meaning in mid-sentence makes the argument not only invalid but specious, reprehensive. There is no fictitious literature in the Bible.

3. "All imaginary dialog or action in poetry, parable, or the like, is fiction and thus condemned by the Spirit of Prophecy."

In debating there is a well-known device of overstating the position of an
opponent to try to gain a verdict against him by making his argument appear
ridiculous. In secular literature, as we have already noticed, we are dealing with
materials where the good and the bad are intermingled, not with the perfect.
Should one assert that imaginary dialog or action in poetry, as in "The Vaudois
Teacher," "Samson Agonistes," "Saul," "The Revenge of Hamish," and the like,
depreciates the denunciations of fictitious literature which we are considering, could he escape the scorn of scholars and the verdict of being either ignorant or unprincipled? Who would think of using such argument before a college or university faculty? No; efforts to embarrass the positions taken by the Spirit of Prophecy by exaggerating its assertions or confusing its meanings, do not refute them.

4. "In compiling Sabbath Readings for the Home Circle, Mrs. White included fiction, thus contradicting her teachings.

This 4-volume set of books, published 1877-81, comprised articles, poems, and stories selected from Ellen White's scrapbooks. The Readings were long a part of our regular denominational literature, notices of them appearing in the Signs of the Times and the Review and Herald, with the information that they were compiled by Sr. White. Many of the stories were published in the Signs. In an article in the Review of December 11, 1879, entitled "The Holidays," she wrote: "There are many who have not the books and publications upon present truth. Here is a large field where money can be safely invested. There are a large number of little ones who should be supplied with reading. The Sunshine Series, Golden Grain Series, Poems, Sabbath Readings, etc., are all precious books, and may be introduced safely into every family." As a youth, I read these stories, and I examined them in later years.

Sabbath Readings is, reportedly, the only work prepared by Ellen White that was issued anonymously. Official communications requiring a signature, this unsigned production was prepared in her unofficial, or private, capacity. It
would be unthinkable to claim freedom from error for it. On the contrary,
human works are bound to embody defect, or error, or shortcoming. It could not be otherwise, only words of heavenly inspiration being free of essential error. Moreover, if, in a piece of skillfully written narration, professional experts, as editors and writers, find it impossible from objective examination to distinguish unerringly between fact and fiction, how much more Mrs. E. G. White? Certainly, she could have read and clipped some fictitious stories. This is to be granted to begin with.

Of special interest in this connection are her reading and her scrapbooks. She was a devoted reader, four areas being noted:
(a) burdened as her soul was with the divine mission and message, the Bible and the revelations overtowered all else in her reading and study: "Searching what . . . the Spirit . . . did signify" (1 Pet. 1:11); (b) she watched religious trends from the journals of the conservative churches; (c) alert and interested in what was passing in the world, she read newspapers and magazines, briefly but on a wide range; (d) in a class by itself stands her personal project of culling stories and other materials for reading for children and youth.

Early Writings, her first book, published in 1851, carried a message about unsuitable reading. Sensing a responsibility as members for this light given the church, Elder and Mrs. White began to act, to guard against danger by filling a need. The next year, Elder James White established The Youth's Instructor. Later Mrs. White began to gather in scrapbooks reading materials for the young. There were then perhaps not three thousand Adventists in the world, with no trained story writers among them. Like most of the loads. It was, we may believe, providential that the free exchange of periodicals by editors in some different fields, as was then customary, provided her access at the office of the Review, without cost, to, presumably, the best serials of the day, which
facilitated her search for good reading matter, though not all the sources she
searched are known.

In going through exchange periodicals and others, she was reading materials where good and bad were intermingled, materials to be culled, some with one objectionable point (as consciousness in death or approval of theaters), some another, many more being rejected than chosen. Her work resembled that of professionals, as of a teacher of literature, who is bound to read objectionable
pieces as he examines productions in order to decide what to avoid and why and what to assign as suitable for students' study; or of a preacher, who must read false doctrine to be able to pin-point prophetic fulfillment and apostate powers.

A distinction: The reading and culling of stories was in discharge of a duty imposed by light sent to the church. Elder and Mrs. White were poor, and were carrying heavy burdens, Mrs. White sought to make personally an appropriate response. In other words, she was seeking to guard and benefit church members, not to get personal entertainment. It would therefore be misleading to point to her culling of stories as her reading practice in the sense of its being story reading for pleasure. It was a task which occupied her. To teach that because fictitious stories were possibly among those culled, it was therefore her "practice" to indulge in reading fiction -- would not that be to dishonor her by grave misrepresentation?

During a period of twenty years, as duties allowed, she kept adding from time to time to her scrapbook collection. Five scrapbooks are still in existence, but all are incomplete, selections having been removed, presumably to go into anthologies or to the Signs. The "No. 9" appearing in one book implies that eight had preceded it, but four are missing, their contents seemingly having been used, as in the Readings. Selections from her scrapbooks, as stated above, appeared years ago in the Signs and in anthologies, such as "Sunshine Series, Golden Grain Series, Poems, Sabbath Readings." The residue forms part of her literary remains, owned by the Ellen G. White Estate, Inc. The scrapbooks were never published as such, and the remnants of them are kept in the vault of the White Estate in Washington, D. C. Like her unpublished letters and manuscripts, they are not available for examination except by special request to the custodians.

In our day, some have questioned if all the stories in Sabbath Readings are true. With that in mind, a researcher has made an extended examination of the remains of her scrapbooks, for the purpose of trying to determine if she did clip fictitious stories, using the following as a guide in his study: her selecting of
stories will be found to be consistent with "the true meaning of the advice she
published in the Testimonies and elsewhere concerning fiction-reading."
(Emphasis his.) He went to Washington and received permission to study the
clippings at first hand. Not all the clippings carry the name of the publication
involved. With a list of such publications, the investigator visited large city libraries to examine files of old issues and make critical study of contents and
editorial policy. Some of the journals on exchange were secular, some religious,
some announced that fiction was included in their offerings. Editors reprinted
stories from exchanges, and not always was it possible to trace such indirect sources further. Many stories were anonymous, some bore the signature of the author, or contributor. The biographies of these contributors were searched for data: what of the author's background? Was he of record as a writer of fiction? The history of American magazines of the nineteenth century was studied, with the marked increase in the number of magazines, the secularization of different magazines that had been religious in their inception, the increasing tendency to publish fiction in their columns. The body of information assembled from all these investigations was in turn tabulated and weighed, and the conclusions drawn.

The investigator believes that there are "many" fictitious stories in the
scrapbooks. And he thinks it "highly probable" that there is no significant difference between the stories remaining in her scrapbooks and those she selected for publication in Sabbath Readings. The steps in reasoning leading to
his conclusion seem to be as follows:

It is very, very probable that she read fictitious stories in culling; for some exchange periodicals included fiction in their offerings, and it would be very improbable that she would verify the truthfulness before reading, many
publications and authors being involved and verification being thus very time-consuming.

It is therefore probable that she put some fictitious stories in her scrapbooks --and later, very probably, in Sabbath Readings.

And it is therefore probable that she used some other test than true-or-false as a basis for choosing.

It seems proper to speak of her culling and selecting stories as part of "her reading practices."

Probably her "reading practices" were in harmony with "the true meaning of the advice she published."

But the Testimonies invariably disapprove of fiction.

Therefore in her official writings, she used such words as fictitious, fiction, novel, with a private meaning, one that allows the reading of such fictitious stories as she selected.

Her convictions doubtless assured her that in using these special definitions, she was consistent with the light given her, as in the Testimonies. And readers will think her inconsistent only if they have prejudged her meaning and refuse to face these facts and adjust their understanding of her utterances accordingly.

To look now at the other side: The above argument rests on and is built up of probability. Could it possibly be otherwise, with compulsive evidence lacking and the actors having passed away, after a century?

But other probabilities and stronger evidence come to mind. Is it probable that Mrs. White, then an experienced woman thirty years of age, entered upon her search without thought of the problems to be met, as the growing use of fiction, the need of counsel and a rule for testing stories?

Is it probable that she did not enlist her husband's help? As parents, with the minds of their boys as reminders, did they not pray for guidance and success?

Is it probable that the thirty visions she had up to that time received, and her resulting ministry, did not intensify spiritual sensitivity and strengthen her
judgment?

Would neither the Spirit nor holy angel have warned if she were making
mistakes which would confuse the counsels already given and thus influence the church to the end of time?

"We have endeavored to avoid these errors," shows that the publishers helped to distinguish between factual and nonfactual narratives. "Sister Ings is devoting every evening to my scrapbooks" (Letter to W. C. White, written October 26, 1876) suggests other help of some kind.

If she culled 1,000 stories in order to find 1 acceptable, as indicated in the preface to volume 4, it would mean a probability of fiction in the 1,000 ten times as great as in the 1. Furthermore, those gathered in the scrapbooks were apparently culled again for publication, which would mean still less probability in the Readings and in the Signs. It seems altogether likely that those which were investigated, the residue, were rejects, set aside as choices were being made. Improbable frequency of coincidence is a treacherous supposition to trust in, as Esther and other Biblical stories show.

The investigator's conclusion that fictitious stories were probably included in the Sabbath Readings, supposes that Sr. White was thus, consciously or unconsciously, violating the instructions divinely given to the church. All through the years, did no leader -- editor, writer, teacher, physician, minister, especially her husband --notice such violation? The Spirit of Prophecy continuing meanwhile to speak against harmful literature and to call for high standards in reading, did it never occur to any dedicated Adventist to ask, "Are these stories true? Is our practice here in harmony with our teachings?" Are such suppositions reasonable?

Keen, watchful enemies, who used slander, even falsehood, to discredit
Adventists, how quick they would have been to flaunt contradiction if they could have truly identified fiction in the Readings, gloating over the exposure and trumpeting it to the world. Does their war against us, however, record any such attacks? Unable to deny a fact, if fact it were, what honest reply could Adventists have made?

Not so; three quarters of a century of silence, instead. Not, reportedly, until after the compiler and the publishers had died was the claim of fiction advanced --advanced not by nonmembers who were opposing the church, but by members, by professionals. Is not this timing significant? this silence? If she included fiction in Sabbath Readings, she did contradict the inspired instructions, as charged, her act being contrary to them.

The report of the investigation is incomplete, only part of the conclusion being stated. The major, the revolutionary, part is only implied, in the phrase "her true meaning," but underscored to show its key place in the thesis. Yet this part of the conclusion, though pivotal, is unsupported in the argument, is not even mentioned. Why was no evidence advanced?

The full conclusion seems to run thus: In her capacity as a private church member, Ellen White read and clipped fictitious stories, which are condemned in her official writings. Therefore such words as fictitious, fiction, novel, used in those writings, have unstated meanings which cannot be found in dictionaries, her true meaning being one that allows the reading of "good" fictitious stories. Or: Her official writings must be made to agree with her acts in her private life.

Is this argument sound? If she ascribed private, unannounced meanings to pivotal terms in putting into words the light shown her about reading, is it not highly probable that she did likewise in some other area; for she testified to
receiving heavenly illumination on many? Indeed, is there one vital area of
which she did not treat fundamentally? It is admitted that she never mentioned creating these alleged meanings and never stated them. Thus each reader is left to formulate them as seems to him best and to hold that he is "right." This proposition was not put forth until after her death. Since she, being dead, cannot tell what other private meanings she may have created, how is it possible to be sure of her meaning in any of her statements? Variant meanings being thus read into them, how could Ellen White's testimonies still be "what the Spirit saith" to the church? (Rev. 2:29). Did she create private meanings for "beer," "seance," "adultery," "disease," "ballroom," "sanctification," "worldliness"? Did Isaiah create private meanings for common words? or Paul?

We attribute only sincerity and noble motives to the investigator, even as we cherish for ourselves. It is the pursuit and defense of truth that is the work
assigned by the Master. This proposition demolishes Ellen G. White's
inspiration. It topples the whole structure of the work of the Spirit of Prophecy
in the remnant church. Though not intended to be such, this is actually an
undeclared attach on the Spirit of Prophecy under the semblance of loyalty and
support. If we take the position that Ellen White used words with other than
their true standard meaning, how could we possibly defend ourselves from the
charge that we resort to "definition juggling" when faced with our departures
from the testimonies? "There is one straight chain of truth, without one heretical sentence, in that which I have written" (Letter 329a, 1905). "There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God or of the devil" (4T 230). Jesus asked, "How readest thou?"

What about the evidence that the stories are factual, as in the "Preface" to volume 1 and the "Note to the Reader" in volume 3?

"These volumes will be found to contain the best lessons for the family circle, such as will inculcate the principles of obedience to parents, kindness and affection to brothers and sisters and youthful associates, benevolence to the poor, and the requirements of the gospel. These virtuous principles are illustrated by instances of conformity in them, or departure from them, in such a manner as to lead to their love and practice." Signed: COMPILER.'

"Instance" is defined as "an illustrative case or occurrence; an example."
(Emphasis added.) What sure, uncomplicated statements! Would she have
spoken thus if she had not known? Or was she practicing mental reservation about word meanings here?

"Note to the Reader": "Our Sunday-schools and youth's libraries are
cursed with religious fiction. We have endeavored to avoid these errors, in
giving to the public in this humble series, matter-of-fact lessons which appeal to the mind and heart relative to the everyday duties of life." This was signed
`PUBLISHERS.' "Matter-of-fact" as used here is defined as "adhering to, or
concerned with, fact; not fanciful or imaginative." (Emphasis added.)

When Sabbath Reading was published, Mrs. E. G. White was fifty
years old and had long borne testimony to the church about the evil effects of
reading novels, stories, and other objectionable literature. The publishers were
very close to Elder James White, as veteran writer-editor-counselor. And as
publishers, who were abreast of current story literature and contemporary life, in which they were acting an important part, they spoke from a special coign of
vantage. The question "Are these stories true?" evidently received very careful
consideration from the compiler as well as from the publishers and their
counselors. And they assured the reader that the stories were factual, not
fictitious, speaking to the point specifically in the words "instances"; "cursed with religious fiction"; "avoid these errors." And they spread their statements on the public record, where they have stood through the years, for both enemies and friends to read. In the investigation, neither this "Preface" nor the "Note to the Reader" was mentioned.

Other evidence was given, which was to be ever conclusive to the
church, even as it was conclusive to the generation which received it. Writing
officially in the Review of December 11, 1879, as quoted above, Mrs. E. G. White
called "Sabbath Readings" "precious books." But if they contain fictitious stories, then the Spirit here inspired her to praise as precious what He had previously inspired her to condemn as harmful. "I change not . . . nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips" (Mal. 3:6; Ps. 89:34). "I do not write one article in the paper expressing merely my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision -- the precious rays of light shining from the throne" (5T 67). To Seventh day Adventists those words are of unquestionable authority, inspired by the Holy Spirit, who moved the holy prophets of old. God answered Ellen G. White's prayers for wisdom to select stories for republication as verily as He answered Joseph's for wisdom to interpret the dreams.

NEXT