艾伦·怀特

怀爱伦（Ellen Gould White，1827年11月26日-1915年7月16日）是一位美国作家，也是基督复临安息日会的联合创始人。 她支持素食主义。12岁时，她接触了再临宗。她创办了多家健康疗养院。

Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American author, and was both the prophet and a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, she was influential within a small group of early Adventists who formed what became known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church. White is considered a leading figure in American vegetarian history. Smithsonian named her among the "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time".

White's biographer and grandson, Arthur L. White, estimated that she reported receiving over 2,000 visions and dreams from God. She verbally described and published for public consumption her accounts of many of these experiences. The Adventist pioneers believed them to be examples of the Biblical gift of prophecy. Her Conflict of the Ages series of writings describes her understanding of the role of God in Biblical history and in church history. This narrative of cosmic conflict, referred to by Seventh-day Adventist theologians as the "Great Controversy theme", became foundational to the development of Seventh-day Adventist theology. Her book on Christian living, Steps to Christ, has been published in more than 140 languages. The book Child Guidance—a compilation of her writings about child care and education—has been used as the foundation for the Seventh-day Adventist school system.

White was a controversial figure, and much of the controversy centered on her reports of visionary experiences and on the use of other sources in her writings. Historian Randall Balmer has described White as "one of the more important and colorful figures in the history of American religion". Walter Martin described her as "one of the most fascinating and controversial personages ever to appear upon the horizon of religious history". Arthur L. White, her grandson and biographer, wrote that Ellen G. White is the most translated female non-fiction author in the history of literature, as well as the most translated American non-fiction author overall. Her writings covered a broad range of subjects, including religion, social relationships, prophecy, publishing, nutrition, creationism, agriculture, theology, evangelism, Christian lifestyle, education, and health. During her lifetime she wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books. As of 2019 more than 200 White titles are available in English, including compilations from her 100,000 pages of manuscript maintained by the Ellen G. White Estate. Her most notable books are Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, and The Great Controversy.

Personal life

Early life

Ellen and her twin sister Elizabeth were born November 26, 1827, to Robert and Eunice Harmon at a home at State Route 114 in Gorham, Maine. She was the seventh of eight children. Robert was a farmer who also made hats using mercuric nitrate.

In March 2000, the Ellen G. White Estate commissioned Roger D. Joslyn, a professional genealogist, to research Ellen G. White's ancestry. Joslyn concluded that she was of Anglo-Saxon origin.

At the age of nine, White was hit in the face with a stone. This occurred while she was living in Portland, Maine, and attending the Brackett Street School. This, she said, started her conversion: "This misfortune, which for a time seemed so bitter and was so hard to bear, has proved to be a blessing in disguise. The cruel blow which blighted the joys of earth, was the means of turning my eyes to heaven. I might never have known Jesus, had not the sorrow that clouded my early years led me to seek comfort in him". A few years after her injury, Ellen, with her parents, attended a Methodist camp meeting at Buxton, Maine; and there, at the age of 12, a breakthrough occurred in which she had a conversion experience and felt at peace.